Description: Shortly after Hermione was born, she disappeared from her muggle home only to be found by Lucius Malfoy with only a blanket embroidered with her first name to identify her. Realizing that she's a witch, he and his wife adopt her, raising her as a pureblood. She is sorted into Slytherin, but that doesn't stop her befriending Harry and Ron. Because she and Draco are raised as siblings they're very close, but as they get older Draco's feelings for her begin to change and he thinks he must be losing his mind. Little does he know that Hermione feels the same way.

Everything changes when the school announces that they're going to hold a Halloween masked ball during their sixth year in order to try and promote friendship between the houses. What will happen during the dance? How will they react at the end of the dance when everyone is unmasked? Will they deny what happened or will they fall into the trap of forbidden love? What will they do when they are confronted with truth of Hermione's origins?

Disclaimer: All characters and magic belong to J.K. Rowling unless stated otherwise.

Prologue

October 1979

The sound of a wailing child jolted Narcissa Malfoy from her restless, her hand instinctively going to rest against her stomach and the child slowly growing inside her. She was almost three weeks pregnant now and still hadn't been able to get in touch with her husband yet. He was away on business for the Ministry and he hadn't told her where he was going or even that he was leaving.

She had been so happy when she found out four days ago, they had been trying to get pregnant for so long that she had started to wonder if they ever would, she had apparated to her husband's office at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to tell him the good news only to be told that he had been sent out on assignment. They wouldn't tell her where because it was considered classified. It was one of the few things she hated about being married to an Auror.

Thunder crashes outside, the sound loud enough and close enough to rattle the windows in their frames. The sound of wailing reached her ears again, making her scramble out of her bed. She rushed downstairs, calling for Dobby as she went.

When she reached the foyer she spotted Lucius standing there with his back to her bouncing gently while whispering softly.

"Lucius," she called while going to her husband's side. In his arms, wrapped in a little pale yellow blanket, was a little baby girl crying her lungs out. "Whose child is that?"

Lucius looked at her distractedly, still trying to soothe the crying infant. "I can explain," he said, worried that she might get the wrong idea about him suddenly coming home with a baby.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and took the unhappy child from her husband and immediately the child quieted. She raised an eyebrow at her husband, "Explain. Does this have to do with why you were gone for the past four days?"

Lucius sighed in relief at the silence. "Let me start from the beginning. We were sent out to raid a den of rouge werewolves that we'd been trying to track down for months, they had been kidnapping magical children and turning them. They had kidnapped twelve kids before we finally managed to locate their hideout."

Narcissa couldn't have hidden her shocked horror if she'd wanted to. "Oh those poor children," she said. She looked down at the baby in her arms and her dismay grew, "Is she…"

"No, no," he said quickly, "in fact, she's the only one who wasn't bitten or scratched. She was the youngest one there, the oldest was a seven year old boy with the rest being between the ages of three and six. We think she must have been taken within the last week or so. The other children are going to be kept under observation until the next full moon to see if they were infected."

Narcissa felt sick at the thought of what those poor children would have to go through if they turned and silently prayed for a miracle and that none of them would, but knew that some of them probably already had since this had apparently been going on for months now.

"I can't imagine what their parents must be going through," she said sympathetically. "But why did you bring this girl home? Where are her parents?"

"We don't know," he said running a hand through his long platinum blond hair. "According to the name on embroidered on to her blanket, her name is Hermione. No one by that name was reported missing, nor has any child her age been reported. We're making inquiries, but right now we're working under the assumptions that either her parents were killed the night she was abducted or she was an orphan to begin with. Either way, none of us are holding out any hope of finding the girl's parents."

Lucius grabbed his wife's waist, pulling her closer and kissed her forehead. "The Ministry has agreed to let us care for her until they can determine whether or not the girl has any family to be found. I know how badly you want to start a family my love," he said cupping her face in his hands, "and I know how disappointed you are at not having one yet, so I thought that maybe, if it turns out that we're right about this girl and find her family, maybe she could be ours'."

Narcissa felt tears forming in her eyes as she looked up at the man she loved and smiled. She leaned up and kissed him, so happy to have married such a wonderful man. "That would make me very happy," she said kissing him again. She turned to Dobby and handed the now sleeping child to the house elf before turning back to her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck, "To think that I would be so doubly blessed this week."

"Doubly," Lucius repeated pulling his head to search his wife's eyes. "Does that mean…"

Narcissa's smile widened and she nodded her head.

"You're pregnant," his tone was shocked, but then a huge grin spread across his face as he lifted his wife up into the air and spun her around in pure joy, "you're pregnant!"

Narcissa laughed at her husband's excitement before he silenced her with another kiss, though this one held much more passion in it.

His mind was reeling when he set her down and he was hit with a sudden realization. "Oh Merlin, we're not ready for this. Dobby, I want you to help Lady Malfoy look after Hermione." He started shouting for the other house elves, "We need baby supplies and food and… Oh bloody hell, we don't even have a nursery." He started issuing orders as soon as the house elves were assembled.

Narcissa laughed at her husband's manic planning and walked over to him, halting by grabbing his face and kissing him silent this time. "Calm yourself my love. The house elves started preparing a nursery four days after I found out. Do not panic, you are going to be a great father."

"Oh Merlin, I'm going to be a father," he said in amazement as a goofy grin spread across his face and he picked his wife up and spun her around again. "I love you Narcissa Malfoy," he said as he set her back down.

"And I love you Lucius Malfoy."