Chapter 3

It's been a week, I know. But life has been so busy and i've just got off work. But here i am! Just wanted to say thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites :) you guys are the best! I know these chapters may be boring and long with lots of paragraphs, but I need to set up the background and the world before we can dive into Hogwarts. Now… onwards!

Squaring her shoulders and lifting her head up, Hermione made eye contact with Draco's father, taking in how he studied her critically, with a kind of look that assessed her whole being and seemed to be piercing into her mind. Her rescuers may seem friendly and well, unusual, but she wasn't going to let down her defenses. Letting her eyes sweep over Draco and who was clearly his mother, she mentally checked the escape routes in the room and steadied her hand on a fork, clenching it tight in case of a fight or flight moment. Draco, sensing she was tense, scooted closer to her and held her hand tightly, squeezing it twice to help make her feel better. Looking over at her new friend, she took in his bed head pale blonde almost silver hair and his bright grey eyes; sighing at herself for having a soft spot for him already. No one has treated her civilly for years ever since she escaped, and she wasn't about to let her guard drop too much. He'll be her exception.

"Well, Hermione, welcome to our home. We hope you have had a good rest and recovered from last night. Are you hungry? Do dig in; the elves would be hurt if you didn't at least nibble on your breakfast." Draco's mother's voice broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Tightening her hand around Draco's she smiled politely and nodded, the only form of communication she could use seeing as her feather and paper were across the table. Frowning just slightly, his mother snapped her finger and a sheet of paper and another bloody feather appeared in front of her. Nodding her thanks, Hermione grabbed the feather and began to write her reply.

"Thank you so much for rescuing me last night, though I'm sorry I passed out... I slept really good, thank you! And I'll make sure to at least nibble at this yummy looking breakfast." With the last stroke of her feather, hermione picked up the paper and was in the process of getting out of her chair to hand it to them when she glanced up and dropped the paper in shock, eyes wide as she took in the black script dancing in the air, an identical copy of what she wrote. Squeaking slightly, her hands gripped the fabric of her dress to hide the shaking. Magic. It was real. She wasn't the only one. Sucking in her breath, she picked back up her feather and wrote a series of questions, hands barely pausing to dot her I's and cross her T's.

Who are you?

Magic really exists?

How do you do it?

Can you teach me?

I can't remember things, can you help me?

Do you really use cauldrons?

Why aren't you green?

Sharing a look with her husband, Lucius held his wife's hand tighter before answering Hermione's questions. "Miss Hermione, my name is Lucius Malfoy and this is my wife, Narcissa Malfoy. We are pureblood wizards and witches with magic running through our blood. From that fire you displayed last night, we believe you are a witch too, which would enable us to teach you of our ways. As for your memory, we'll need to bring in a healer to see if there is anything we can do. Indeed we do use cauldrons to brew potions that have their own uses. I do not believe I understand your last question. We are just normal people, with normal skin tones." Watching as the little witch nibbled her lip as she processed the onslaught of new information, Lucius sighed heavily and let his wife take over next.

"See, Hermione dear… My husband and I had asked our legal representative to look into any missing child cases and it seems as though you do not pop up anywhere. We assumed you are an orphan and with that being said, we have gone through the motions of having you become our ward. Parents by name and paper only, but still parents. We planned to ask you to accept us, but it seems as though your current condition forbids you from voicing yourself. If you're agreeable, we can set up a check in with our personal healer and see if we can fix that issue." Tilting her head questioningly, Narcissa smiled warmly at the small girl that dropped right into their lap, thinking of having the daughter she'd always wanted. Not that she didn't love her son of course, but she just simply adored the thought of being able to dress up and raise a little girl of her own.

Hermione didn't dare to breathe as Narcissa described the legalities the couple had wanted to go through. Hyperventilating at the thought of not having to be alone or living on the streets, she almost forgot to breathe until she felt Draco hugging her, his warm body pressed against hers as he held her tightly in hopes of keeping her together and calming her down. Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and held him back just as tight, letting stray tears fall down her cheek, oblivious to the observing adults in the room.

"You'll be okay, Hermione. You can stay with us now! And that means we can play together and learn about magic together! I'll teach you everything I know! I don't know a lot like my mum and dad, but we'll have a tutor for that! I can show you my practice wand too! We can't do a lot of magic on it though, since it isn't the real thing... But we can do plenty of other stuff!" Pulling away, Draco grinned brightly at her, his smile faltering seeing tears running down her cheeks.

"Please don't cry… Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?" keening slightly, Draco used his sleeping robe's sleeve to wipe away her tears, peering at her worriedly.

Sniffling, Hermione shook her head and hugged him again, a bit tighter. The two children stood there in silence as they held each other, oblivious to the amused and slightly emotional adults watching them. At the sound of a clearing throat, the two children parted, but fasted their hands together as though standing unified against the two adults in the room. Narcissa smiled fondly at them before sighing contently.

"My Little dragon, why don't you bring our new family member to her room so she can freshen up for the day? And you should too. Your tail is untucked and your hair unruly." Dismissing them with a casual wave of her hand, she smiled wider when she saw her son tug on his new friend's hand, pulling her to the dining room's main door leading to the foyer before whispering in her ear. The two curtsied and bowed respectively before leaving the room, no doubt running through the halls to do as they were bid. Leaning against her husband's arm, Narcissa linked her arm through his and held his hand, thinking of the future and pesky little family secrets as she gazed at the door in which they left.

Dashing through the halls, Draco's laughter echoed against the walls, making the portraits on the wall chuckle in amusement at the youngster, most likely drawing forth childhood memories.

"C'mon Hermione! Mum said we need to get cleaned up!" Skidding to a stop in front of her room, he took her palm and pressed it against the handle, unlocking the door and signing it to her magical aura only. Hermione felt a dull zing course through her body before the door swung open, revealing a slightly more personalized room, complete with a white chest overflowing with toys. "You get ready and I'll go clean up too! I'll be right back!" Draco said as he rushed off to his room, throwing a smile over his shoulder.

Walking into the room, Hermione took in the feel of the room, noting how airy and bright it felt. The carpets were lush beneath her healed soles and she swore it felt like walking on a cloud. Brushing a hand through her hair, she edged her way towards the vanity sitting between two floor to ceiling windows, adorned with snow white curtains. Sitting down on the stool, she carefully opened the drawers, nudging things aside to find a brush to tame her frizzy mane. Sighing,she laid her head on the tabletop and wished that she could somehow find a way to fix things as easily as snapping her fingers. At that thought, she heard a soft pop! From the corner of the room. Jumping in fright, hermione ran towards the windows, trying to ease one open in a flight instead of fight decision.

"Young miss! You can't open the windows! Young miss!" a soft distraught voice called out, freezing hermione. Turning around slowly, hermione's eyes widened as she took in a form of a Thing, standing in the corner of her room. No, not a thing. But an Elf if she recalled the Malfoys called them. Inching her way to the desk in the corner of the room, she rifled through the drawers until she found paper and a feather with a pot of ink.

"You're an Elf?" Hermione wrote out, holding the parchment so the elf could read.

"Yes I be an House Elf, young miss. Name is Jaime. Jaime was sent to help young miss!" The elf stood tall, ears flopping in her face slightly as she looked at her new young miss.

"I'm sorry… But an House Elf? What in the god's name is that?" Hermione asked incredulously, eyeing the elf skeptically as if it was just a costume and she was being tricked nearly 11 months early before Halloween.

"Yes, young miss. Jaime is a House Elf. We serve wizards and witches. Can't take care of themselves, that's why we take care of them. Such a pretty young miss. Jaime is proud to serve young miss!" Edging towards Hermione slowly as to not frighten her, Jaime guided her back to the vanity, sitting her down on the seat before summoning a brush, combing through her tangles softly. "Young miss will be taken care of, yes she will!" And with that, Jaime dove into her work, answering a shocked hermione's questions along the way while teaching her a bit about the magical world. Jaime understandably panicked when Hermione asked about freedom.

A/N : Sorry for the roughness of this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy my story nonetheless though! Please R&R! Leave any PMs or Reviews with questions and I'll see if i can answer without spoiling anything!