Chapter 1

A year and a half earlier...

Draco Malfoy appeared with a small pop! in front of the modest two story house and walked slowly through the garden and up to the front door. He was a few minutes early which was good. He liked to be early.

He rang the doorbell and stood back to wait. As his eyes scanned the garden, they came to rest on the huge tree standing in front of the upstairs windows. He had spent many hours hiding in that tree watching this house, for the last time around six weeks ago. Things had changed so much for him since then.

Six weeks ago he had been assigned to spy on Hermione Granger, and today he was picking her up for a date.

He glanced down and made sure his white oxford shirt was buttoned up straight. He didn't want Hermione's parents to think he was incapable of dressing himself.

The door opened, and Mr. Granger greeted him warmly. "Morning, Draco. Come in, come in. How are you this fine day?"

"Good morning, Mr. Granger," Draco said politely. He smiled as he followed Hermione's father through the house to the well-lit kitchen in the back.

It was still a little strange for him to be around Muggles.

The first time he had been invited to stay for supper with the Grangers, Hermione's mother had asked for he and Hermione to set the table. He had never laid out a table in his life and had no idea how to go about it. At Malfoy Manor, house elves managed all of the kitchen duties.

When they had gone into the dining room, Draco had first tried to cover up his ignorance with some old-fashioned Malfoy attitude. He had crossed his arms, put on his best haughty look, and announced "I don't know why you don't have a servant for this kind of work."

Hermione had looked at him shrewdly for a moment. "Never done this before, have you?"

So much for old-fashioned Malfoy attitude. When he had blushed and confided to her that he indeed didn't know what he was doing, Hermione had smiled at him, playfully kissed him on the nose, and then explained the art of Muggle table setting. It had actually been kind of fun after he got the hang of it.

Mrs. Granger was busy making tea when Mr. Granger and Draco entered the kitchen. She put everything on a tray and then joined them both at the table. Draco noticed the Muggle newspaper lying there opened to the world news section. He thought it must be horribly boring to have the pictures sit still like they did.

"Draco, how is your mother doing?" Hermione's mother asked him. She had served him a cup of tea as she asked this question, and he added milk before he answered.

"As well as can be expected, Mrs. Granger. There is still no word from my father, and no one is allowed to visit Azkaban right now."

She patted him on the arm sympathetically. The Grangers didn't understand the Wizarding World very well, but they did understand being worried about family.

Azkaban security had been tight since the Order of the Phoenix had captured most of Voldemort's Death Eaters. They didn't want any more escapes. Draco's mother usually got an owl from his father every two weeks or so, but she had not heard from him since the other Death Eaters had arrived there. Draco didn't know if it was because of tightened security or some other reason entirely.

Mr. Granger decided to steer away from the unpleasant topic. "So do you two have big plans for the day?"

Draco smiled gratefully. "We are going to picnic at the lake at Malfoy Manor. If that's permissible, of course."

"Of course! It sounds like a lovely idea," Mrs. Granger said.

Just then the door to the kitchen opened, and Hermione stepped through. She was beautiful. And she obviously didn't realize he was here yet. She had her nose pressed into a textbook, talking to her mother nonstop.

"Honestly, Mum, I don't know how on Earth I'm going to learn all these spells before NEWT's! And the reading list for Defense Against the Dark Arts! I'll be spending all night every night in the library! Some of these potions ingredients I have never even heard of..." Hermione trailed off. She finally looked up from her book to see Draco smirking at her. "Oh," she squeaked. "You're early!"

"Yes," Draco said, still smirking, "but take your time. Clearly you aren't through worrying yet."

"And clearly you're full of cheek this morning!" Hermione said, playfully punching him on the arm.

Draco smiled at her. "Are you ready to go? We need to check in with Mother before we go out to the lake."

"Yes, I am. Just let me run and get my bag."

Draco thanked Mrs. Granger for the tea and followed Hermione to the foot of the stairs. He waited while she ran up and retrieved her bag and a sweater. She looked so beautiful coming back down that he wanted to kiss her then and there. Of course, her father would probably strongly disapprove so he restrained himself.

Hermione saw the look in his eye as she came down the last few steps and blushed furiously. Oh yeah, she knew what he was thinking. He caught her hand in his as they left the Granger's to apparate to his home.

At Malfoy Manor...

Draco and Hermione apparated just inside the front gate. As they slowly walked up the drive, Hermione was very quiet. Draco could tell something was on her mind.

"What's wrong, Love?" he asked her gently.

"Nothing, really," she said. "I was just thinking about your mum. I've only seen her a couple of times and I don't know if she likes me very much yet. I'm hoping she warms up to me."

"Please don't think that. Mother really does like you. She just has a lot on her mind right now with everything that has happened lately and now Father not writing us. She thinks something has happened to him. Not that he ever cared much for us, but she still worries about him." Draco sighed as he looked up at the large house looming in front of them.

Hermione put her arms around him then, and Draco hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. He held her for a moment for continuing up the huge stone steps.

The doors opened as they reached them, and two ragged house elves stood there to assist them. As they entered the house, one of the house elves began to help Draco out of his jacket. The other house elf came around to help Hermione take off her sweater, and she frowned.

"Does Miss not want her sweater removed? Perhaps she is cold? I could build up the fire, Master Malfoy, Sir."

Draco glanced at Hermione, his eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Oh no, that's not it at all. I'm fine. I mean...I'm just not used to..." She quickly took off her sweater and handed it to the house elf. "Thank you very much."

Draco waved the elves away and grasped Hermione's hand again. If he felt a little uncomfortable around Muggles, it was nothing to how Hermione felt when she was in this house. He knew that, and he felt humbled she would overcome that just so she could be with him.

Why had he ever thought she was beneath him just because she wasn't a pureblood? She was a better human being than he could ever hope to be.

"Come on, Love. I forgot to get my hat and I need to go to my room to get it."

Draco led Hermione down the long hallways until they got to his wing of the house. His rooms were set apart on the opposite side of the Manor from his parents. It was almost as if he lived alone. He actually preferred it that way.

"Should we have dropped bread crumbs to find our way back?" Hermione grumbled when they reached his door.

He laughed out loud at that. "I'm sure I can get us out of here. If not, we can just jump out a window or something."

Hermione was stunned by the sheer size of Draco's suite. It was almost the size of the whole first floor of her house. There was a huge a huge bed with dark green coverings. A sitting area was arranged in front of a large fireplace along one wall. Off to one side, she could see a doorway that led to his bathroom.

"Wow, this is enormous," Hermione said.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You don't like it?"

"No, I like it very much."

"Why don't you sit down while I find my hat? I should only be a moment."

Hermione moved over to the sofa and sat down. "Draco..."

Draco looked back from the armoire he was going through. "Yes?"

"Forgive me, but I can't help wondering. Why didn't you just send a house elf for your hat?"

"Hmmm...," Draco said as he took out his favorite green cap and pulled it onto his head. "Maybe you are rubbing off on me."

Hermione smiled at Draco as he came around to join her on the sofa. "Really?"

He sat down and kissed her softly. "Or maybe I just wanted to see what my room looked like with you in it."

That earned him a blush. Her cheeks flushed the color of Gryffindor quidditch robes.

"So how does it look?" She asked him.

"Well," he said, his face inches from hers, "it looks like we should go now before we decide to just stay here."

She looked into his eyes for a moment. "I believe you're right."

Draco stood slowly and then reached down and pulled Hermione up with him. They left Draco's room and went in search of his mother. While they walked, Hermione held tightly to Draco's hand. She knew she could get lost in this huge monstrosity of a house if she wasn't careful.

They found Narcissa Malfoy in the back garden, drinking her tea and reading the Daily Prophet. Hermione hung back while Draco went to her side and kissed her on both cheeks. She clasped both of his hands in her own and smiled at him. Hermione could see that her smile did not quite reach her eyes. She looked tired. She was still regally beautiful, but stress was obviously taking a toll on Draco's mother.

"Good morning, my son. Where were you off to so early?"

"I went to pick up Hermione for a picnic on the grounds today. Have you been awake long?"

"A while now. I was going over the post. Still no word from Lucius," she said.

"I'm sorry, Mother."

"I just hope nothing has happened to him, Draco," Narcissa said, her voice quivering slightly.

"I'm sure he's fine." Draco turned and held his hand out for Hermione to join him.

"By the way, Son, Pansy stopped by this morning."

Hermione felt Draco tense.

"She said she had heard you were seeing a Mudblood and wanted to know if it was true."