To make up for the last chapter, this one is a bit longer than the others. Thankyou for the reviews and story alerts! It really does make me happy so keep them up :-)

This chapter takes place at the start of the second book just in case you wanted to know but about half way through it should be pretty obvious whereabouts we are up to. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I dont own the harry potter series but i do own any of the stuff that you dont recognise.

Chapter 4 – Manipulation (sometimes it's the best way to get what you want and sometimes it's not)

"Where is that girl?" Moody muttered. "I knew I should have escorted her here myself. I knew it." Then he heard the sound of a door banging from around the corner and light, running footsteps getting steadily closer.

Grace hurtled around the corner.

"I'm here! I'm here!" she yelled as she came to an abrupt stop right in front of Alastor Moody.

"You are late," he scolded.

"I know, I'm sorry," she panted, trying to catch her breath and re-straighten her long black hair (the streak in her hair had been dyed purple for the occasion). "But I'm here now and that's what counts right?"

Moody rolled his eyes at her.

"Why are we doing it in the Fudge's office?"

"They obviously don't think you took the last one seriously enough," Moody answered. "You've been upgraded. Are you happy now?"

"Well I don't see why I have to be here at all anyhow," she complained. "All I did was use magic. I'm a witch for crying out loud, what did they expect?"

"You used it in the vicinity of a muggle."

"Yeah I know. I said I was sorry about that I swear I didn't know he was there and you're not telling me that I wouldn't be in more trouble if I had used a spell to check."

"You could have looked."

"I did! Apparently that method isn't completely fool-proof," snapped Grace, as the door opened in front of them and Arthur Weasley stepped out.

"Oh good you're here Grace. Are you ready to come in?"

"Yeah, sure Mr Weasley."

"Remember to be polite," said Moody gruffly.

"Yeah, yeah," said Grace.

"Polite, Grace," he stressed. She waved to show that she had heard him as she entered the room.

As she stepped in, she looked around the spacious office. Fudge was there along with Madam Bones and a few other people that she didn't recognise. Mr Weasley and Moody followed her in. She sat in the empty chair in front of Fudge's desk, across from the Minister himself.

"Ah Grace, we were beginning to think you weren't coming," said Fudge. "Can you please state for the record that your full name is in fact Grace Maria Blackseyer?"

"It is."

"And you live at the Malfoy Manor with your current guardians Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"And you have lived there for the last two years. Is that correct?"

"Yep."

"And in that time, this the….third time you have been in front of us?" Fudge said checking his notes. He looked up disapprovingly at Grace who did her best to keep her face as innocent as possible. "Okay Grace, what is your excuse this time?"

"I was practising transfiguration."

"Grace, you turned the man's car into a toy hippopotamus."

"In my defence I was going for a real hippo," replied Grace.

"The man saw you do it," said Fudge. "It doesn't matter what your intentions were."

"Like I said before, I didn't know he was there."

"You were unaware of the mans' presence?" asked Madam Bones, adding to her notes.

Grace nodded.

"Why did you use the car?" Madam Bones said curiously.

"I needed a large subject for the spell," shrugged Grace as though the answer was obvious.

"Grace," sighed the Minister. "This is the third time. You cannot do this anymore. While we admire your…..enthusiasm for learning, our laws are in place for a reason. If you continue to do this we will have to take your wand away."

Fudge looked unhappy about this and Grace knew why. He had been there for the other two Disciplinary Hearings and he had faced the same dilemma both times. If he ordered the snapping of her wand, the backlash from the wizarding world would be huge because of the combination of her high profile and young age. It would be the Ministry's fault for failing her. However, if he did not issue a punishment after she broke the rules, it would send out the wrong message to people. She could see his mind working furiously and bit back a smile. She decided it was time to put him out of his misery.

"Why don't you put me on probation?" she interjected as innocently as she could.

Fudge stared at her. "Probation?"

"Yeah probation," explained Grace. "As in a period of time were I will be on my best behaviour and if I break any more of your rules, I will have to face some serious consequences."

Fudge looked suspicious.

"Which brings me to my next subject," continued Grace when Fudge didn't reply. She could practically hear the jaws hit the floor around her. It didn't really matter to her what the others thought, it was Fudge that she had to convince.

"And what is your next subject?" he asked almost nervously.

"I want to live on my own."

The silence that followed was tense. It stretched on. Usually Grace would be dying to break it somehow but she knew that now was not the time. She needed to keep her mouth shut and let Fudge get used to the idea before she argued her point. Finally, Fudge spoke.

"You…er…want to…"

"Live on my own, yes."

"Erm…can I ask why?"

"Well the arrangement with the Malfoys clearly isn't working because like you said I have been here in front of you three times now. I think it would be best if I lived on my own, you know, learning the meaning of responsibility and all that. It's not like I can't look after myself, essentially I have been doing exactly that for a long time now. I'm also financially capable of not only buying my own house but hiring help too. Frankly, I can't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to live on my own."

"Because you are twelve," said Fudge looking at her in disbelief.

"Yes," she said brightly. "And that's why I need your permission."

"My permission?" he said faintly.

"If you said it was okay, nobody would be able to argue with it," Grace smiled sweetly.

Fudge thought about it for a moment, looking as though words had failed him. Then he spoke.

"What would this probation entail exactly?"

Grace smiled again. She knew that Fudge would not pass up the opportunity to make her toe the line. Twenty minutes later, a contract had been drafting signed by Grace, Fudge and five other witnesses stating that as long as Grace behaved herself in school (as determined by Dumbledore) and out (determined by Fudge), she would be able to live alone (with hired help).

"We will meet again in exactly a year's time to review the matter and Grace, as long as you have met all of the standards outlined in the contract, you can then be allowed to live in on your own."

"No problem Minister." Grace got up to leave with Moody and Mr Weasley right on her heels. As soon as the door had shut behind them, Moody rounded on her.

"Grace! What was that?"

"What was what?" she said.

"Did you get yourself a Disciplinary Hearing on purpose?" he hissed.

"Now Moody, what would make you think that?"

"Grace, this is serious. If it gets out that you did, you will be in real trouble," said Mr Weasley looking worried.

"And it did go awfully well in there for you, don't you think?" said Moody ironically.

"What can I say? I'm a lucky person." Grace saw that they were both still staring at her and rushed on. "I can go to my grave swearing that I did no such thing if that makes you feel any better. I don't know why you are getting so worked up about it, it all worked out well didn't it? Now who wants to come house shopping with me?"

...

Grace strolled through Diagon Alley slowly with Blaise by her side. When they were alone together like this he wasn't the over-confident idiot he was when everyone else was around and she liked him much better.

"Not that I don't like having you around Grace, but do you intend on going home anytime before, you know, Christmas?"

Grace sighed. She hadn't told anyone about what had happened at the hearing (she hadn't wanted to get her hopes up too much) but she had had a feeling that with the amount of time Lucius Malfoy spent at the ministry, he had probably already found out or he would soon. Either way, Grace thought it best to steer clear of him altogether so she had practically moved in with Blaise for the rest of the summer.

"I can go if you want Blaise," she shrugged and took a step away from him before he grabbed her and pulled back to his side.

"Oh no you don't," he said playfully. She giggled and went back to holding his hand and walking next to him; with her free hand she played with her necklace. "Seriously though Grace, has it really gotten that bad at the Manor?"

"Hey, I just want to spend more time with my boyfriend, is that okay with you?" Grace replied, looking at him with a slight smirk on her face. At the word "boyfriend", his expression changed from curious to pleased in an instant. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that it shouldn't be this easy to lie to her boyfriend but she pushed the thought away.

"So I told my mother I would meet her outside Gringotts, do you want to come or….?" Blaise said.

"No, I have a few things to buy actually so I will see you in a bit?" replied Grace, excusing herself as kindly as possible. She didn't want to hurt his feelings but after spending the last two weeks living with him, she definitely needed some alone time.

"Okay babe, see you later," he said kissing her on the cheek and setting off up the street.

Grace set off in the opposite direction. She looked in a few of the shops as she went along and bumped into a few familiar faces. She saw Neville Longbottom with his grandmother, the Patil twins and even caught a glimpse of Pansy Parkinson walking out of Madam Malkins'. Walking past Quality Quidditch Supplies, Grace saw Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and she stood talking to him for a while. Grace liked him, when he wasn't obsessing over something Quidditch-related, he was actually a really nice person.

Finally she decided that the Zabini's must have finished in Gringotts by now and started to head back down the street towards the bank when something stopped her suddenly.

There, just across the street, was Lucius Malfoy standing just inside Flourish & Blotts and he did not look happy. Fantastic, she thought. Of all the rotten luck. Just as she started to back away hastily, she saw who he was talking to. She hesitated for just a second and then rushed towards the shop, knowing that she was bound to regret it.

"What's the use of being a disgrace to the name wizard, if they don't even pay you well for it?" Malfoy hissed as Grace entered the shop behind him.

"Uncle Lucius! Fancy seeing you here" she said brightly and smiling sarcastically.

Malfoy spun round to face her. "Why, Grace! What a surprise."

"I think you should probably back off now," warned Grace, lowering her voice.

"You do not give me orders," he snarled back. He towered over her threateningly, all thoughts of antagonising the Weasleys apparently forgotten.

Grace stared back defiantly. "Wouldn't want to make a scene now, would we?"

For a moment, Grace thought that she had misjudged the situation because Malfoy looked like he had every intention of making a scene. He glared at her furiously, hatred and anger practically radiating off him in waves. She saw his hand twitch slightly like it was dying to strike her down in the middle of Flourish & Blotts. Then he stepped back.

"Come Draco, we should go," he said, moving towards the door. He stopped as he got there and turned back to her now standing in front of the Weasleys and Harry.

"We will see you at home tonight, Grace."

Grace saw Draco looking sadly at her as he went to leave with his father.

...

Sitting on the train with the Slytherins on the way to Hogwarts was hard. She had wanted to sit with Harry, Ron and Hermione but she hadn't argued with Draco as he led her into the compartment and into the seat beside him. He had been trying to get her to talk to him since the night she had returned to the Manor but she hadn't said a word. She stared blindly out of the window as the memory flooded back.

Knowing that it would be pointless to try to runaway or avoid the Malfoys at all, Grace had gone back to the Manor straight from Diagon Alley. She had thought it would be best to just get it over with but as she saw the look on Lucius' face, she wished she had delayed the moment for a bit longer. If she thought that he had looked angry before, it was nothing to the pure rage that showed on his face now.

"I will not be humiliated in public again," he had vowed as he shut the door behind her.

She hadn't been able to walk for days afterwards.

"Grace?" Draco said tentatively bringing her from her thoughts. She ignored him. She knew she was being unfair, she knew it wasn't his fault or that there was nothing he could have done but she also knew that he had known what was going on and the idea that he had done nothing was too much for her.

Blaise was sitting opposite her. Unlike Draco, he hadn't persistently talked to her in the hopes of getting her to speak. Instead he had taken to staring at her, constantly trying to make eye contact with her. She had ignored him too, carefully avoiding looking at either of them.

Grace heard the door slide open. "Grace?" Unable to help herself, she looked up at the sound of the new voice.

Hermione was standing in the doorway and Grace looked at her confused. Hermione had never come over to the Slytherins ever. What could she possibly want? The Slytherins all looked dumbfounded too.

"Grace, have you seen Harry and Ron?"

Perplexed, Grace shook her head and found her voice. "Aren't they with you?"

"No," Hermione looked upset. "I have looked all over the train. Fred and George told me that they hadn't seen either of them since they got onto the platform."

"But where else could they be?"

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