A/N

Oh hey look, a quick-er update! I really do find it difficult to find time to just sit and write these days but I try and today I felt that little bite that told me I had to and so here is an update! Hope you like it!

Also thank you all so much for all of the reviews you give me! It's so wonderful knowing so many of you look forwards to these updates! I appreciate you all so much! So without further ado here's chapter 12!

Hermione didn't stop until she was past the boundaries of Malfoy Estate and stood surrounded by trees in the dark forest circling the perimeter of the building; only then did she stop, her breath coming out in pants, and glance back through the branches where she could just make out the building hidden among the limbs. Maybe she shouldn't leave after all. Had it been a rash decision to just flee like that? She knew what was at stake with Draco- and he was mere days away from his birthday. What if she didn't make it back in time to help him and he lost his powers forever? Would she be able to live with herself knowing that she was the cause of it all? That, if she had only just stayed, it never would have had to happen.

Was she even ready for that? Draco was right: they hadn't had a chance to talk about it. She hadn't planned on kissing him, she hadn't planned on falling for him, and she certainly hadn't planned on becoming his wife! But if she had learned anything from her time at Malfoy Estate it was that she couldn't control everything in her life- somethings were meant to be, and you couldn't fight fate. Her hunt for house elves had led her to a large dwelling of them hidden in a forest, which turned out to be Malfoy Estate. She'd made a choice to enter a seemingly abandoned building, only to find a man she had once feuded with in school. She had been determined to hate him- but it hadn't turned out that way, and instead she had fallen for him.

She may not have planned to marry a Malfoy- but there was a very good chance that was exactly what would happen, and not just because she wanted to save Draco's powers, but because she truly cared about him.

With a sigh she took a few steps back- Harry and Ron could wait a few more days, right? She could borrow Draco's Owl, send them a message, and than they would know she was just fine. Right? She knew what she had to do now, knew it had been a mistake to leave. She had to go back.

But as her foot reached the property line she hit an invisible barrier: the wards appeared to be back in place, stronger than they'd been before. Her hand fumbled for her wand- she had to get back in!- but despite her best efforts they wouldn't budge.

When once before she had been barricaded inside Malfoy Estate- she was now locked out of it.

"Draco?" Hermione tried calling starting to feel panicked, but she knew it was hopeless. He'd never be able to hear her from where she was, even if the wards weren't active. She bit her lip and looked around, suddenly recalling the thestrals which had attacked her that first day, and decided it wouldn't be safe to remain standing in one place for too long.

"I'll be back for you," she whispered with tears glimmering in her eyes. Letting out a long, slow, breath she stepped backwards again, clutched her wand, and spun on the spot, disappearing with an echoing crack.

Hermione wasn't exactly sure where Harry and Ron would be so she apparated to her flat first to see if they could possibly be there, however when she had her feet firmly back on the ground she found no disturbances, nothing out of place, and it looked as if no one had entered it in weeks- as it should considering she hadn't stepped foot in her own place in weeks. She found it odd that the Aurors wouldn't have come looking for her here, or at least looking for clues about her whereabouts.

Something wasn't right.

Deciding she'd stop at the Ministry so she could speak to the head of the Auror department directly Hermione dispapparated, only to find herself appearing in the atrium of the Ministry. She thought she might get screams of surprise at appearing after weeks of being gone but no one batted an eye at her, in fact a few people smiled and greeted her as if no time had passed at all.

It didn't make any sense.

"Miss Granger!" Whirling around she found herself face to face with the Minister himself- Kingsley Shackelbolt. She thought he may have sounded concerned but once she had the chance to look at him she saw nothing except pleasure at the sight of her. "How was your mission? Was it a success?"

"Mission?" Hermione blinked a few times until, finally, she understood what was happening- nobody was concerned about her disappearance because to them she hadn't disappeared at all- she was simply working. "Oh! Yes, yes I found a large dwelling of elves in a-, uh, well, an old estate house and-"

"What in Merlin's name were they doing there?" Kingsley asked curiously. "And why are you dressed like you fled from a party? Did the Quidditch match end that badly?"

"Quidditch match?"

"Yeah, Donaldson and Frankie were just discussing the results. The Chudley Cannons lost by a landslide- nobody thought the season would end like that but there you have it. How are Harry and Ron taking it?"

"I-." Hermione stuttered. For the first time in her life she was unable to answer a question. Her face flushed as she shook her head. "Actually, Minister, I-."

Now Kingsley was starting to look concerned. His eyebrows knit together as he took a step closer to Hermione and lowered his voice. "Hermione, are you alright?"

"I-," Hermione repeated but she was unable to say any more as an Auror approached them quickly interrupting their conversation.

"Minister, I'm sorry to intrude, but may I have a word? It's a little urgent."

Kingsley didn't take his eyes off of Hermione and waited for her to answer. Swallowing hard she nodded her head towards the Auror. "You go ahead. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked, still refusing to turn to the now impatient Auror beside him. "If there's anything you need-."

"I promise." Hermione forced a smile to grace her face and, once again, nodded towards the Auror. "You're needed elsewhere Minister. Thank you for your time."

Kinglsey nodded, not looking convinced as he turned to leave. Hermione let out a long breath and closed her eyes, trying to centre herself, when his voice forced her eyes back open. "Miss Granger." Hermione looked back towards him, the Auror looking annoyed as Kingsley, once again, gave her his attention. "The gentlemen all gathered together in Diagon Alley at George's to watch the match- in case you were wondering where to find them."

Holding back the sigh she desperately wanted to release Hermione forced her face to remain neutral as she nodded. "Thank you Minster."

Kingsley nodded once more and finally turned back to the Auror and began to walk with him, the Auror whispering rapidly at him as they retreated down the hall.

With a destination in mind Hermione strolled back towards the apparation point and, taking a deep breath, spun on the spot thinking of nothing but Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Hello mother." Draco walked into the sitting room to find his mother in a comfortable arm chair sipping a glass of the finest elf made wine- finer, in fact, than the bottle Draco had served to Hermione hours before. Nothing but the best for the Mistress of Malfoy Manor, of course.

Narcissa hardly turned her head as her son spoke; she raised her glass to her lips and took a large sip before lowering it and continuing to stare into the fire. "I wasn't expecting you, Draco."

"And yet you don't seem surprised that I'm here." He drawled, walking over to the small table where a bottle of firewhisky sat, pouring himself a hefty glass.

"Truth be told I thought you'd be here weeks ago." Turning her head to the side she studied her son as he took his own large gulp. When he didn't answer her she continued. "I thought you may have some news to share after all this time. Apparently not." She downed the rest of her wine and snapped her fingers, an elf appearing instantly to fill it up again.

Draco sighed and took a few steps towards his mother. "I actually do have some news to share," he stated, his voice even. Narcissa glanced at him as she swirled her wine. "But it might not be the news you had hoped for."

Fear flickered briefly in her eyes, but in a flash it was gone, replaced by indifference. "Whatever do you mean Draco?"

Draco emptied his glass and began to pace in front of the fire as he gathered his thoughts. "Has Argon or Gerald sent any messages through the portraits to you?" he finally asked stopping directly in front of his mother and forcing her to look at him.

"There may have been a few whispers."

Draco swallowed down the growl that wanted to come out- his mother could be insufferable sometimes. "And what did they say?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh Draco, I don't know," she sighed as she gulped her wine. "Something about a girl showing up at the estate- using magic, saving you, falling in love with you-." She studied her son for a sign that her words were true, but he hid his emotions well. "Of course I didn't believe a word they said for I knew my son would tell me at once if he'd fallen for some girl, especially so close to his twenty first birthday."

Draco continued to stare at his mother silently, knowing she wasn't done yet.

She reached over and set her wine glass down before leaning forwards. "Yet it remains to be seen, darling, that these rumors may, in fact, be true, and yet you kept it a secret from me. Did it ever occur to you that I might want to know if my son had found his true love? That it might be beneficial to admit you'd fallen in love? Don't you think I'd want to know that you weren't going to lose your powers and doom this family's future existence?" Her voice slowly got louder until she was yelling and standing up, pointing her finger at him. "Did it ever occur to you at all that I might want to meet my future daughter-in-law? The mother of my grandchildren? The next Mistress of the family? Don't I have a right to know any of this?"

"Of course you do, mother!" Draco finally snapped, his words coming out in anger. He started pacing again and, with a flick of his wrist, his glass refilled and flew into his hand only for him to empty it within seconds. "Of course I wanted to share the news with you- expect I didn't know! I wasn't sure she was the one- I didn't want her to be the one!"

"Why ever not, Draco? From what the portraits have said the chemistry between the two of you was undeniable!"

Draco scoffed, "the portraits only told you what you want to hear- they left a few key parts out of the story, mother."

"Like what?"

Draco stopped and swung, his robes billowing around him as he faced his mother dead on and stared into her blue eyes, so much like his own. "Like the fact that 'the girl' happens to be one Hermione Granger- heroine of the war, Potters right hand, and a mudblood. Did you want to know those details, mother?"

Narcissa gasped and raised a shaking hand to cover her mouth as her eyes widened in shock; she slowly sunk backwards into her chair, her wine splashing onto her dressrobes as she took a sip trying to collect her thoughts as Draco stared hard at her. Finally she managed to whisper, "where is she?"

Draco chuckled darkly and magically filled his glass again. "Why do you care, mother?"

"Is she here?"

"No," Draco snorted. "I wouldn't bring her here- not after what your sister did to her in the drawing room that night-."

"Don't!" Narcissa hissed, teeth clenched together. "Don't speak of that night-."

"And why not, mother? Ashamed of what you did? Ashamed of how you sat by and did nothing while your sister tortured her?"

"You were no better than me!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Draco roared, throwing his glass to the ground and smashing it as shards of glass scattered. "Don't you think I know I was a coward that night? I could have stopped it- I could have stopped her! Instead I did nothing and Hermione suffered for it."

Narcissa was breathing heavily as her sons words washed over her. "You have feelings for her."

"So what if I do?" he snapped. "What's it matter to you?"

"It matters a great deal, Draco! If she's the one- if she becomes your wife- if she-."

"She won't be anything to me, mother! I won't put her through that, I won't make her suffer the consequences of marrying a Malfoy! Her reputation is too good for that."

"So what?" Narcissa asked, her voice shrill. "You're just going to let your powers go? You're going to allow yourself to turn into a muggle because of some mudblood?"

Draco's wand was in his hand within a second as he pointed it at his mothers throat. Narcissa flinched as she saw her son's angry face- it was almost identical to Lucius's when he was tempered. "Don't you ever talk about her like that."

"You don't simply have feelings for her, do you, Draco?" Narcissa whispered, her heart pounding in her chest. "You love her."

"You know nothing about it," Draco hissed, lowering his wand and turning away to stare into the fire. "You know nothing about love."

He felt his mothers hand on his shoulder but refused to turn to her, keeping his eyes on the flickering flames before him. Her voice was quiet as she said, "I may not have loved your father in the traditional way- but I did love him in my own way, Draco. He was- is- my husband. We may have had an arranged marriage but you don't go through the life trails that we did without feeling something for each other. He had his flaws- but so do I. Neither one of us was perfect, but we were perfect for each other in our own twisted way."

"This isn't like that, mother."

"No, I doubt it is," she admitted with a sigh. "You were given a gift which many pure bloods aren't given, Draco- you were able to choose your life partner, able to fall in love on your own accord- able to find someone who was perfect for you. Do you really want to screw that up?"

"No." He admitted finally turning away to face his mother. "I don't want to lose her- I don't even want to lose my powers- but I had to let her go."

"You really do love her." A wistful look came over her face, an expression Draco had never seen on his mother before- it was almost romantic in the way she gazed off. "You need to go after her."

"I'd never find her."

"If you care about your powers at all, Draco- if you care about her- you'll be able to find her."

"How do you expect me to find her and marry her in less than ten days, mother?" Draco snapped. "I won't put her through that! She deserves a grand gesture, a big wedding- not some rushed ceremony to save my magic."

"She doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would want a big wedding, Draco." Narcissa pointed out, picking up her wine glass for another sip.

"No- but she would want her friends there, and no way would they accept me in such a short period of time."

"Hm," Narcissa said as she pressed her lips together. "I assume you mean Potter and the red headed boy?" When Draco didn't say anything she set her glass down again and crossed her arms over her chest. "I never thought you cared too much about what they had to say about you."

"I don't, but they're Hermione's best friends, mother. She'd never go through with marrying me if it made them turn on her."

"Some friends they'd be," Narcissa scoffed. "They should be happy for their friend- regardless of who she falls in love with!"

Draco laughed humorlessly, "you don't know Potter and Weasley very well, mother."

Narcissa sighed and picked up her wine glass again. "It seems like you're at a crossroad than, my dear, and you have a choice to make."

"I've already made it," Draco admitted. "It's why I'm here- to say goodbye."

"You still have time to reconsider, Draco."

Draco smiled sadly at his mother and shook his head. "I made my choice, mother. I knew letting Hermione go to her friends would be my downfall- but it was what I had to do to prove I love her."

"Did you tell her as much?" Narcissa asked, a curious tone to her voice.

Draco hesitated and shook his head slowly, "no- why?"

"There- there may be a loop hole," Narcissa suddenly said, her eyes going blank as her mind spun. "If- if the two of you confess your feelings for one another before midnight of your birthday- you might not actually have to be wed by than." Her eyes became clearer as she focused on her son. "Centuries have passed since the curse was made and the wording has gotten mistranslated time and time again but- I'm fairly certain the original curse doesn't state anything about being married by your twenty first birthday, merely that you find your true love by that time. But you have to tell her, Draco, and she has to say it back to you, otherwise-."

"The curse will be fulfilled." Draco nodded in understanding, a flicker of hope flaming within his chest. "Are you sure about this mother?"

"Not entirely, no," she admitted. "But it's worth a chance, isn't it? What do you have to lose, Draco?"

"My powers." He stated with a smirk.

Narcissa couldn't help but smile back. "You're already willing to lose those, son, so what difference does this make?"

"I guess it doesn't make any." Draco said with a sigh. "But it'll have to wait until morning- I am in no state to travel."

"Quite right," Narcissa agreed. "Your bedroom is set up, as always."

"Thank you mother." Draco leaned down to kiss her cheek before stumbling up the stairs of the manor and down the hall to his room, warmth spreading through him at the possibility of keeping his powers- and Hermione. He knew a good long sleep was in order if he was going to tell Hermione he loved her.