Well Hello Hello Hello! Long time no see/Update. And for that I apologize greatly. I really do, life has just been so busy, and there are no excuses for this tardyness, but I apologize greatly. On another note, I also apologize for earlier chapters. I was reading them this morning to jog the old memory, and some of them, I just want to edit and edit and edit. But I have refrained from doing so, otherwise you wouldn't have this chapter. (Maybe I'll edit later on)

ANY WAY!

This here, this story, came out on top. You guys voted, you guys got it. :) I adore this story, along with all my other ones, but this is progressing the best, so I'm glad you all voted for it.

And before I start this chapter, I'd like to thank a reviewer, who honestly made my night when I first posted chapter 3, along with the chapters for all my other stories. He/She reviewed to each of those stories, and not just a supper short, 'Oh they were good' but a long, and detailed review for each. I loved reading them, reviews make me want to write and write and write. So thank you, Kermit 304, for putting a huge grin on my face. You are so awesome, thank you :)

Also, there was another reviewer whom I just loved reading their review, I'm glad you think Malfoy is an idiot. I was going for that helpless, totally not in his comfort zone kind of moment there. It will probably reoccurr over and over in this story. Because lets face it, parents arn't born, they're made. Which is why being an eldest can be slightly frightening, I mean, you are basically the testing experiment. But back to the review, I'm also so glad you think Hermione is 'just so... Hermione.' That made my day when I read that, because I really do want it to seem like these are the same characters, not just me as the author putting their names on things I would do. (Hate it when authors make characters into themselves, instead of investing themselves into there characters. I mean, sometimes it works, but honestly, you can't change the classics. If Hermione is an only child, you don't give her a little brother just cause you have one. So thank you, I appreciate this remark IMMENSLEY!) Thank you Call-Me-Crazy. Cuz I Am.

-Now, without further adieu, I hope you all don't kill me for the agonizing wait, but here is Chapter 4!


Her sleep was remarkable. One of the best sleeps she'd had despite her late start getting there. She didn't ever want to get up. If the house was on fire, she was sure she wouldn't even care. The mattress was delectably comforting, the pillows extremely soft, and the sheets were pleasant and tender against her skin. The bed smelled faintly of spring rain, or fresh air maybe. It had an earthy smell, fresh and pleasant. In fact the whole vicinity smelled as fresh and crisp as the changing of seasons, like when you step outside and you just know spring is on its way. Whatever it was, the smell was intoxicating leaving her feeling light and wispy. So needless to say when a little voice was heard whispering in her ear she tried her best to ignore it.

"Miss, Miss." The little voice would say. "Mistress Granger, I've been asked to wake you up." The soft, scrachy female voice said. But she ignored it, trying to shut it out.

"Miss, miss," The voice came again. Was that voice real or a figment of her imagination? "Miss Granger, please do wake up." She said sweetly, the volume of her voice only slightly louder than before.

"Miss Granger, oh please Miss Granger, Pipsy asks of you to awaken. Master Malfoy has asked me to wake you up quickly." She said, the pitch of her voice was now very high in her given state of panic.

The voice soft squeaky voice in her ear would not leave her alone. It was obvious whoever was trying to awake her at this time was not getting the message. She wanted to sleep. In her sleep muddled thoughts she caught bits and pieces of what the voice was saying, 'Mistress…. Awaken …. Malfoy…wake up….' Aftera few words ran circles all throughout her muddled mind she began stringing them together. 'Mistress Malfoy…. Awaken…. Wake up….' No that couldn't be right. Finally getting her words into an acceptable order, 'Mistress…. Awaken….. Malfoy….. Wake up…..' When the meaning of these words finally struck her tired mind, Hermione flinched in alarm.

Mistress? That didn't sound right. And why did the voice want Malfoy to wake up too? Where was she? Oh Merlin was he in her bed? Bolting up right she immediately regretted her rash decision. Falling back against the pillow was her almost immediate response in hopes to slow the blood rushing from her head. Pressing a hand to her face she tried to disperse the black dots clouding her vision, to no avail of course. When her dizzy spell finally took its leave she propped herself up just enough to see the contents of the room, then proceeded to open one eye in order to scan the room. The room was so bright, even with only one eye open she had to squint. The furniture was dark, but elegant. The room was spacious and appeared to be very costly. It reminded her of a hotel room, the under tone wall paint, the dark hardwood flooring, and the massive bathroom staring across from her. It was weird though, each element in the room had some sort of dark green as its accent colour. In the end, her conclusion was this; she was in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, dressed in unfamiliar clothes. Her conclusions, though correct, was unhelpful. Soon she was recalling last night's events, like an old movie on a theater projector, and the picture was once again complete. Now she began shaking her head for an entirely different reason. How did she get herself into such a mess?

It was quite a while before she noticed the small elf cowering on the ground near the bed. Apparently she'd given poor Pipsy quite a fright. It seemed the little elf had started very hesitantly to try and shake her awake, and when Hermione jumped due to her thought line Pipsy assumed she'd be punished. Her throat still sore from her night's sleep she could only croak her apology to the small elf. The humble house elf immediately stood to her feet only to bow as low as she could go while simultaneously spewing various requests for forgiveness. Her dress, a different one from the night before, was almost falling down over her head she was arched so low.

"I'm very sorry Miss; Pipsy should not have tried to awaken Miss in such a manor. Please forgive Pipsy," She squeaked. Then as if she was no longer speaking to Hermione she began muttering under her breath, "But Miss would not wake up, and Master instructed Pipsy to awaken Mistress Granger. No excuses, Pipsy knows better. Pipsy must be punished. Pipsy should know not to touch Master's Mistress." Before Hermione could do anything Pipsy fell to the floor and began hitting her head on the hardwood.

Throwing her covers off Hermione quickly rushed to Pipsy's side. "No, no, no, I'm sorry Pipsy. Please stop, it's just I was slightly startled." There was no change in Pipsy's actions. Resulting to physical force she grabbed Pipsy's hands and forced Pipsy to stop her previous actions. "I mean you no harm." She spoke slowly so the elf would understand her words. The small elf kneeled wide-eyed as she stared at the woman not only apologizing to her, but kneeling on her level.

"Thank you Pipsy, thank you for waking me up." She offered her kindest smile. Pipsy's manner reminded her so much of Dobby. If this was Malfoy's doing heads would roll. How dare he treat such a small, innocent little creature so pugnaciously? Her blood was boiling. Surely such close contact with the Malfoys was not good for her health.

"Mistress…" It seemed Pipsy was at a loss for words. Distracting Hermione from her previous thoughts she felt her cheeks flame as her boiling blood rushed to her face. It was such a ridiculous thought, yet still, there it was.

"Pipsy, I am not Malfoy's Mistress." She said quietly and gently hoping not to make the little elf think she was scolding her. She didn't know what Pipsy meant by that but whatever the case she didn't want her repeating it to Malfoy somehow. Her embarrassment would only add to his amusement.

"Pipsy is very sorry Miss, Pipsy did not mean to offend," She said lowering her head low so Hermione could see the back of her neck quite clearly. Dealing with such little creatures could be a very delicate task sometimes.

"No Pipsy it is quite alright. I am not offended." She smiled as she released Pipsy's arms, not realising till now that she was still holding them. Standing up she went and sat on the edge of the bed in hopes to remain partially at the little elf's eye level. She would have remained on the ground, but the floor was unimaginably cold and she was beginning to feel chills all over.

"Are you happy here Pipsy, do these people treat you well?" She knew that Pipsy may not tell her the truth, it was after all, common knowledge that speaking poorly of you master household was highly intolerable. Still, Hermione hoped that the little elf could trust her with such knowledge if she was indeed being abusively treated.

"Oh, yes. Very much! Master Malfoy and Misses Malfoy are very kind to Pipsy." Pipsy gave a toothless grin that just melted Hermione's heart. She seemed sincere, but she just had to double check.

"You're not being punished are you Pipsy? Malfoy's not laying his hands on you is he?" Hermione watched as she saw Pipsy's demeanour darken slightly. Was that a sign that the Malfoy's were still abusing their house elves?

"Not once has Masters laid hands on Pipsy." Her voice was very stern as she backed a step away from Hermione. "Master Draco and Misses Malfoy have always treated us kindly. Master Lucius is also kind now that the mean man has left our home." Pipsy's grin was short and sweet before she went back to her darkened tone she'd spoken with before. Hermione knew by 'mean man' that Pipsy was referring to Voldemort himself. She wasn't sure what to believe. Pipsy's words, or her behaviour. In the confusion of it all Hermione couldn't stop herself from speaking on behalf of the S.P.E.W part of her.

"Pipsy you can trust me. I can help you if you or any of the others want out." Her futile attempt went down in flames.

"Pipsy is fine here Miss. All of us are happy here with Masters and Mistress Malfoy." The look Pipsy sent her way told her she better hold her tongue before she spoke again. It seemed she'd inherited that steely look from her masters running the house. Exhaling a sigh of defeat Hermione decided to move onto a new topic. She'd focus on this matter later when she could berate Malfoy one on one.

"Is Capella still asleep Pipsy?" She asked. It was the little girl's fault she was even in this snake den anyway. Capella probably was still asleep but if not she needed to be fed. And then there was the whole matter of what she'd do for the day. There was no doubt in her mind that just like the previous day she would end up caretaker for Capella during most of the day. She'd straighten out some sort of schedule with Malfoy later.

"Yes Miss. Pipsy asked Master about the little one but he said to await your instructions. Should Pipsy begin taking care of her?" The little elf asked. She nodded curtly to herself. It didn't surprise her that Malfoy would think of having the house elves look after her. But why he needed her permission was beyond her at this time in the day. She looked to see Pipsy standing in the doorway awaiting a verbal response.

"No that's quite alright Pipsy, I'll get Capella up and running." Satisfied with her answer Pipsy nodded and the pop that echoed through the large bedroom signalled her little elf friend had taken leave. Still in her borrowed night attire, she found herself navigating through the maze that was Malfoy Manor.

It shouldn't have taken long to find Capella's room, but her memory from last night was fuzzy due to her excessive tiredness and it made locating the random room she'd put Capella to bed in quite a difficult task. After ten minutes of wandering she was debating between calling Pipsy back to point her in the right direction, or actually seeking out Malfoy if this went on for too much longer. Luckily for her pride she didn't have to resort to either of those options.

"Take the next left girl." A voice to her right sounded. Whipping around, wand in hand, Hermione began searching for the voice that called to her.

"Oi, put down the wand lass, no one's gonna cause ya any harm." A similar voice spoke to her left. She didn't understand, the only one in this hallway was herself, and all these sleeping portraits.

"Over here girl." She was getting tired of this game. Annoyed with how this morning had started, she simply raised her wand and illuminated the entire hallway. Not that it was dark before, but everything was easily visible now.

Immediately tens of voices began mumbling at their sudden awakening. A few actually began spewing strands of profanities at the 'bloody wanker that turned on the sun'.

"Well now you've done it lass. Awoken the whole castle now." Spoke the second voice.

"Yes, job well done girl. We were counting on another three hours of peace before these snores woke up." Spoke the first.

"Alright enough! Where are you?" She watched as all the sleepy portraits pointed to, as far as she could tell, an empty frame. Stepping closer she watched as two figures gradually appeared. Inside the blank frame were two men, early thirties at the latest. Their hair was as white as snow, much like many of the Malfoy ancestors, but their hair was pure, it had not greyed into its colour. Their faces were thin, they're jaws structurally sound. Their height was the same, their weight the same, the even smiled the same. Where one smile curved to the right, the man on the lefts smile curved to the left. She wondered if she was seeing double they were so identical. That is aside from their attire, one wore British wizarding robes, while the other was dressed in old Scottish wizard robes.

"Done staring then girl?" Spoke the one on the right.

"Please stop calling me girl." Hermione glared as the man's smile turned into a smirk. That name made her feel quite inferrior to the portrait.

"Fine with me lass." These two reminded Hermione of Fred and George. They were really not helping her pending migraine.

"Don't call me lass either." Her glare switched from one to the other, not sure what to make of them.

"The names Castor. This here's my younger twin brother, Pollux." Said the man who first spoke to her.

"I'm only a wee bit younger than ya, why must ye always be pointin' that out?" Spoke Pollux.

"Like, from Greek Mythology?" Hermione asked baffled.

"Well Yes," Spoke Castor.

"And No." Finished Pollux.

"You see we were named after them, but we aren't the great Castor and Pollux. However, we are quite, unimaginably great." Pollux nodded in agreement with his brother. However fascinating these two seemed, Hermione just didn't have time for them this morning.

"How do you know where I'm going?" She asked.

"We're the eyes and the ears of this castle dearie. We know everything." Spoke Pollux, his previous Scottish accent diminishing greatly. She furrowed her brows in thought almost simultaneously as Pollux winked her way. Now she was immensely puzzled.

"Don't mind him, we saw you stumble in with our youngest heir and a small child. We figure you're looking for the child since you glare almost as venomously at us as you do him." Castor smirked.

"Why does he speak with an accent and you don't?" She wondered if maybe they were separated at birth or something, but she didn't think the Malfoys would just drop off one of their precious children with strangers. Although, Mrs. Malfoy did just abandon Capella in the arms of her son.

"As the eldest brother, I was to stay here and maintain Malfoy Castle. Marry some top notch British pureblood heiress and keep the line running. Pollux here however was given the task to expand our bloodlines. So he was shipped off to marry some royal Scottish lass." Said Castor, as if he disapproved of the lady he spoke of.

"Its all about the power dearie. Back in those days it was either power, or money. And the only way you obtained either of those, was through allies. Strength in numbers dearie." Pollux offered his crooked grin and another wink before Hermione decided she could sit and discuss their backgrounds another day. She was famished, and she was sure Capella would be awake any moment. Hopefully she was past the age of crying to communicate. Otherwise her morning was about to get worse.

"A left you said?" She said, interrupting the reminiscence between the brothers.

"Impatient one aren't you. Well fine then. Your next left, straight for two more, and a right, last door with a slightly chipped crystal knob." For a man in a portrait, Castor sure knew his way around the manor.

Thanking them for their help she quickly sped off in the direction they instructed. Of course not before they 'bid her adieu' with their chorus of 'lasses' and 'girls'. Left, straight, straight, right, last door. Repeating the pattern in her head, eventually she found herself where she needed to be. Running down the hallway she checked the last door on the left to find the crystal knob intact. Moving to the door across the hall, without bothering to check, she pushed open the door and entered the room. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw the sleeping girl in her transfigured crib.

Walking over to Capella she saw the girl stretch before brushing the sleep from her eyes. Hermione never grew up around many children, being an only child and all, so taking care of a child was not in her area of expertise. But upon seeing this little girl offer her a small smile she knew she'd just have to learn. After all, how hard could it really be to look after a child?


How wrong Hermione is. Not that I'd know, I mean, I am no parent, not even close. But I know it can be exhausting so... we'll see how quickly she learns.

As you guys can tell, this was basically a filler chapter… And after such a long wait, I know it's a huge disappointment to all of you. But I'm really in the writing mood today so I'm going to try and get another chapter done, a much more fun chapter, with Draco and everything! So I'll maybe have that one up before the 7th. i.e. my first day back at school (Not excited…) (Used to love school. Now I don't know why that was ever the case...)

But thank you to all for reading this. It was fun, very different from how I originally intended this chapter to go. Please review because your reviews make me WANT TO WRITE! If you have something you'd like to happen in this story, maybe Draco falls in a fountain or something, any weird Idea, let me know, i'll see what I can do to include it. So review Please, I love them so much!

And I apologize so much for this delay. I really want to start updating more! But and I think now that this story is finally taking off it will be much easier to get motivated to do it. (I'll be putting a 2,000 word aprox on how much I can write to keep these chapters coming) And guys, feel free to PM me and be like um, Dini, you are just taking far too long girl, get it together.

Do that ^ It'll keep me in track. But honestly, talk with me guys, to know I'm connected with you readers really strikes my motivation and makes me want to impress you guys :)

-Thanks to all who read and reviewed,

Dini 3