"Your scar's been hurting?!" Hermione gasped, her jaw dropping open in horror.

I nodded slowly, anxiously tapping my finger on her desk.

"Since when?" Ron said at once, almost toppling off where he was perched on the arm of Hermione's chair.

"Since Christmas." Draco answered for me, reaching across to take my hand which I was now wringing, bringing it to his lap as he began to soothingly caress his fingertips over my knuckles.

"But that was weeks ago!" Ron bellowed, glaring accusingly at Draco. "Why are we just hearing about this now?!"

"Don't look at Draco like that!" I snapped angrily at Ron, "it was my idea not to say anything, I didn't want to worry anyone unnecessarily!"

Ron opened his mouth as though about to say something else, but Hermione placed a hand on his arm, shutting him up.

"This is worrying, Etta. This hasn't been the case since Voldemort was alive-" she began.

"Voldemort is dead!" Draco snarled, cutting her off. "Etta killed him twenty-two years ago - remember?!"

"Yes, Draco, Voldemort is dead," Hermione said in a rather patronising tone, "but don't forget that his allies have been showing movement for a few months now and these things all lead us to think that there is a possibility that Voldemort- or some trace of Voldemort- might be back."

"What about your Dark Mark?" Ron barked, his eyes narrowing.

"What about it, Weasley?" Draco snarled, his upper lip curling. I closed my eyes in disdain. The tension was becoming too much.

"Well," Ron answered brusquely, "have you felt anything? Even a twinge?"

"I see," Draco sneered, "back to being prejudiced against those with a Dark Mark are we, Weasley?"

"No, Draco." Hermione sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ron is simply trying to-"

"This has nothing to do with Voldemort!" Draco roared, cutting her off, "it's like you're all obsessed with reliving your glory days! The Golden Trio strikes again!"

"Draco!" Was the fucker forgetting whose hand he was holding?!

He looked at me and blinked, as though suddenly remembering who the fuck I was.

"I'm sorry, Etta," he said, closing his eyes, exhaling a heavy, deep breath, "I- I just hate the reminder of what I had to do, of who I was."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ron and Hermione exchange nervous, bewildered glances. It occurred to me that they had never seen this side of Draco before. His vulnerable side.

I brought my other hand up to clasp his own in mine. "Draco, you were nothing like the rest of them." I said quietly, but firmly. "You weren't the monster you think you were."

His grey eyes gave a small flicker, and I saw the rush of love and gratitude fill them as he looked back at me.

"This is all very touching," Ron barked, ruining the moment as per fucking usual, "but we've still got the issue of discovering why your bloody scar has been hurting in the first place! If you'd come to us sooner, then we may have figured it out by now!"

"Will you give it a rest, Weasley," Draco snarled. "This is exactly the reason why we didn't want to make a fuss. Etta has enough drama in her life to be dealing with without you getting hysterical about something that is probably nothing!"

"That's a bit rich considering you are the very reason Etta has had so much stress in her life!" Ron roared. "Bloody hell, You-Know-Who was nothing compared to the grief you've given her!"

Draco flinched, sitting up straighter as his face darkened in hatred. He looked as though he was going to say something, but then, glancing at me, he kept his lips firmly sealed.

"We all just need to calm down a moment," Hermione sighed, rubbing her face. "This is getting us nowhere. I think what we need to do is to agree that the next time you feel anything, Etta, it needs to be alerted. And perhaps stay away from Azkaban in future. Clearly the emotional stress of facing your past is not helping."

She glared pointedly at Draco as she said the last part. He fidgeted into his seat; jaw clenched.

I nodded, giving Hermione my word. But as I left her office, the bad feeling remained deep in the pit of my stomach.

And it wasn't going anywhere.

*****

Over the weeks that followed, I would often catch Draco looking at me, concern swimming in his eyes, but he never pushed the subject of my scar. He was determined that I was simply catastrophising. Maybe I was, but gut feeling hadn't always proven me wrong in the past.

And we were keen to enjoy 'us', making up for all the time we had missed out on being together. He stayed over most nights. In fact, he practically moved in, only going back to the Manor on occasion to make sure that the staff were looking after it properly. I never went with him, still feeling uneasy about the place and the ghostly presence of his wife.

As Easter approached, both Draco and I received owls from the boys requesting to stay on at Hogwarts.

I found myself inexplicably bursting into tears.

"Hey," Draco murmured, wrapping his arms tightly around me as I sobbed against his chest. "It's not as though we weren't expecting this. Students rarely return home for Easter due to the pressure of exams."

"I know, I'm sorry," I said, furiously wiping my damp cheeks on the sleeve of my shirt, "I'm just exhausted of wondering how they're going to take this. The anticipation is making me feel sick to the bone. I had mentally prepared myself for telling them next week, and now we are going to have to wait another term. Draco, half a year will have passed by the time we next see them!"

"Look, why don't I send Minerva an owl?" he suggested, tenderly stroking a hand through my hair. "See if she won't allow us a visit so that we can sit them down at school and explain the situation."

That suddenly felt like an attractive idea, and I felt the hopefulness rise in my chest. But then I immediately dismissed it, realising I was being completely selfish.

"Their exams, Draco." I said, shaking my head. "They want to stay on to study so that they can do their best. If we show up and give them news like this and then just leave, it could throw them into turmoil."

Our eyes met and he emitted a heavy sigh. He knew I was right, of course. And so, we continued as we were, feeling as though we were very much living in sin.

"At least we can still do things like this," Draco murmured above my ear as he massaged shampoo through my hair, "and I, for one, enjoy it very much."

We were in the bath together, candles flickering around us. Draco was positioned behind me, his legs cocooning mine beneath the bubbles.

I shivered as he gently grazed his teeth across my right shoulder. He softly chuckled, his warm breath tickling my skin.

"They're going to hate us, aren't they?" I said sadly. I honestly couldn't see how they wouldn't.

Draco paused, his hands stilling in my hair. Lowering them, he circled his arms around my middle, pulling me back against his chest as water noisily sloshed around us.

"They'll come around, eventually," he said, softly kissing the top of my ear, "once they get used to the idea."

I closed my eyes wanting to believe him. But really, I thought - Draco was being horrendously naive if he thought the boys were going to just shrug this off.

*****

July had reached us. Hogwarts was finishing for another year.

"Are you okay?" Draco's sleepy murmur being the first sound of the day on the morning that we were to pick up the boys.

"No," I replied heavily, twisting my body around to face him, "I really am not."

The idea, that only in a few hours time, we would be telling the boys the truth of Albus's parentage made me feel completely nauseous.

"Come here," he said, reaching out to pull me to him as he ardently pressed his lips against my brow. "It'll be okay, my love. We're in this together."

But that was what I was afraid of. I was terrified that the result of our confession will just blow us apart again.

After six months of living happily together, I had a horrible feeling it was all about to come to a crashing end.

Again.

***