Thanks for the reviews...again. I like how many comments I got about Hermione and Anteros' father. I was originally playing with the idea of Sirius, but I'm going to put that away for a later date...possible. My updating might be infrequent, as classes have started again. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Hermione stalked through the hallways and corridors, not really paying attention to where she was going. Any other time, she would have wondered and exclaimed over the antiques presented around her. But she was in just too terrible of a mood to really care.

She looked around and felt herself become more agitated. "Where is the damn kitchen?" she mumbled angrily under her breath.

A sudden pop had her turning around, her wand drawn. She secretly wished it was a Death Eater she could blast into the next millennium, but it was only a young house elf dressed in a dirty pillow case. The elf yelped at the drawn wand and cowered. "Twinkle is sorry. She not mean to make Mistress Riddle angry."

"Call me that name again, and I'll get really angry," Hermione snapped. As the elf cowered behind an armchair, Hermione sighed and put her wand away. She knelt down and said, "I'm sorry, Twinkle. I didn't mean to snap. Please don't call me 'Riddle', okay?" Twinkle nodded. She still looked scared, so Hermione smiled softly. "Can you show me the way to the kitchen?"

The house elf nodded and walked down the hall. Hermione followed, a bit calmer and watching Twinkle wring her tiny hands together. She looked over her shoulder nervously to make sure Hermione was following her, making the young witch feel even worse at her outburst.

"Twinkle," she said. The elf stopped and turned to face Hermione. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm upset and I'm jumpy in this house. Can you forgive me?"

Twinkle stared at Hermione as if she'd just presented her with a human dress. Slowly, the elf nodded. "Yes, Mistress. Twinkle forgives Mistress."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you," she said. "Now, how about the kitchen?"

Twinkle nodded and led her down the corridor. The kitchen was the size of a gourmet restaurant and equipped accordingly. She expected nothing less than the best for the Malfoy family, even if they didn't step foot into the kitchen on a regular basis. As Hermione stepped into the kitchen, the house elves stopped working and stared at her.

"Kitchen, Mistress," Twinkle announced.

Hermione nodded, a bit in awe of the entire set up. She looked down at the elf. "Would it be alright if I made something?"

"House elves can make breakfast for Mistress Ri-Granger," Twinkle said, flinching a bit after her slip up.

Hermione shook her head. "That's very nice, Twinkle. But it's not my breakfast I'm making. It's for Draco."

Draco opened his eyes as he heard someone enter his room, and saw Twinkle set a tray of food on the bedside table. She turned and smiled a bit at seeing him conscious. "Oh, Master is awake," she said joyfully. "Mistress Granger sent Twinkle with tray up for Master. Mistress said Master should eat and rest."

Draco slowly sat up, a bit sore still from the mark. He groaned slightly and slipped his hand to the small of his back. The skin felt hot to his touch. He looked at the house elf and said, "Twinkle, get me a mirror so I can see my back, will you"

The house elf nodded and popped away, returning a moment later with two large mirrors. She placed on in front of Draco and stood behind him with the other. Twinkle angled the mirror in her hands so Draco could see the reflection in the mirror before him. The mark was something like a tattoo. It showed a fierce wolf, teeth bared and its body in the motion of a hunter's pounce. It looked so detailed, as if it were able to jump off his skin in a second. After a little more studying, Draco voiced a thought that ran though his head. "It looks like Anteros...but he has white over his right eye, not his left."

Twinkle jumped down off the bed and collected the mirrors. "Mistress said for Master to finish food. Twinkle will put mirrors away." She popped out of the room.

Draco looked at the tray and smiled at the arrangement. There was a pile of fluffy pancakes, covered with a swirl of whipped cream, decorated with strawberries, and sprinkled with some powdered sugar; a mug of fresh black coffee, a small bowl of assorted diced fruit, a glass of what looked like misty water, and a note with his name written in the center.

He picked up the note and smiled at the feminine hand writing.

Draco,

I think you will like breakfast. The white drink is a potion to help you sleep. You need your rest. Twinkle has been most helpful and I have asked her to make sure you finish everything on the tray. I'll come by later to see how you're doing.

-Hermione

Draco looked at the food and quickly scarfed it down. He'd been famished and weak from the mark, but felt immensely better after finishing the splendid breakfast. But he wasn't too sure about the potion. He'd rested long enough, in his opinion. He wanted to see what Hermione was doing. She'd said that Twinkle was to make sure that he'd finished everything.

He looked around and walked to the bathroom, potion in hand. He walked over to the sink, and poured it down the drain, rinsing the glass while he was there. Draco walked back to the tray and set the glass on it, calling out for Twinkle. She appeared with a soft pop. "I'm done with breakfast, Twinkle." The House elf nodded and took the tray. "Oh, where is Hermione, anyway?" he asked.

Twinkle smiled. "Mistress is in the kitchen. Mistress said that she would make cookies for house elves." She popped out of the room after that, leaving Draco to his thoughts.

What was with Hermione and making cookies for everyone? Well, she did seem calmer when in the kitchen. Maybe there was something to that. Draco got up and walked out of her room and down the drear corridors of his once called home. Now, it was just a house where he'd been raised. Everything that had seemed wonderfully exciting in his childhood, now had changed to dark and depressing. Except, as he stepped in to the room, the kitchen.

There, he was completely shocked at what he saw. The entire center island surface, which was the equivalent of three stove sizes, was covered in cookies. And it looked like there were more in the oven. The house elves were munching on some already, and Twinkle put a tray of mugs on the table for each of them.

"What's with all the cookies," he said to get everyone's attention.

It worked. The elves looked up a bit guiltily and a fizzy brown haired head popped up from behind a counter near the ovens. Hermione had flour on one cheek and her hair wad been pulled back into a ponytail to maintain the fizz, but was failing miserably.

"Draco," she chided, standing up to show a green and black apron tied around her waist. "You're suppose to be resting."

He shrugged. "Twinkle said something about cookies. Thought I'd grab one while I was up."

Hermione frowned. "You're not suppose to be up. That's the point of the potion."

"Didn't drink it," he said calmly, snatching a sweet.

Hermione looked confused. "Twinkle," she said, looking at the elf. "Didn't you saw that the tray was clean?"

"Yes, Mistress," Twinkle said.

Hermione looked back at Draco. He smiled and said, "I poured it down the sink. I've slept enough."

"You've only been resting for an hour or so. Hardly enough time to feel better after what you've been through," Hermione said, turning around with an oven mitt and bending over to lift another cookie tray from the lower oven.

Her shirt rode up and Draco almost dropped his half eaten cookie. "What's that on your back?" he asked.

Hermione straightened and turned around so fast that it was impossible not to notice her guilty expression. "What is what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent. It didn't work.

"On your back." Draco smirked a bit. "Does the Gryffindor Princess have a tat?"

Hermione blushed and pulled on the back of her shirt. "No," she said, turning redder.

Draco chuckled. "Oh, that's an awful lie, Hermione. Come on. What is it? A heart? A bird?"

Hermione blushed and said, "It's nothing."

Draco stared into her eyes and saw that she wasn't going to give up what the tattoo was. "Okay," he said, stepping back a bit in a sign of defeat. Hermione breathed a bit easier. "But your cookies are burning."

Hermione paled and turned around. The cookies were turning black under the heat. She grabbed the door and opened it, not knowing her skirt had ridden up again. Draco stared at the tattoo until it was once again covered with the shirt as Hermione saved the cookies. She turned and set the tray on the stove top.

"It's a wolf," Draco said. "And it looks exactly like my mark.

Hermione blushed and said, "I got it in America when I was 13. Didn't tell my parents about it and was sore for a week."

"Was it because your brother's Animagus form is a wolf?" Draco asked.

Hermione paused. A bit too long to be coming up with an answer. It was more of a delayed thought pause. As if she were going to keep something from him. He braced himself for a lie or some sort of excuse that would be lame. But he was surprised when she leaned forward and whispered those 5 words. "It's not his. It's mine."

AN: I hope you like the plot twists. I got a million of them. Well, review and tell me what you think of the story. Thanks for reading this far. You guys are great.