A/N

Whoa. What's this? A quick update! This can't be real- is it? Why yes, yes it is! I was going to wait and post this on the weekend but then I remembered it's a busy weekend for me (here in Canada it's Thanksgiving, and even with all the crazy going on in the world I am going to my dads for a nice turkey dinner, and seeing my sister on Monday, but keeping it to immediate family only!) and I wasn't sure I'd actually remember, or get around to, posting this! And I have some time this morning so I'm posting it now before I leave for work, which means I expect to see lots of reviews when I check my email on my lunch break! LOL

Even more shocking to posting this quickly- I'm already half way through the next chapter as well! I'm actually kind of hoping to wrap this story up by the end of the month- November I like to focus on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and likely won't update this story at all unless I find myself ahead of my novel with some spare time to work on this. Therefore, the ideal thing to do is have this complete before than but I can't make any promises because I don't want to rush the story either. So we shall see what happens!

Now on to the chapter!

"Hermione!" Ron's frown instantly changed into a wide smile as he saw the brunette walk through the door. Although he was still incredibly depressed over the Chudley Cannons loss, seeing her walk into his brothers flat turned his mood around instantly. He'd never admit it to her but he still had feelings for her, despite the fact she said they could never truly work out: she saw him as a brother and nothing more, but he knew they were soul mates.

"Hey Mione!" Harry exclaimed forcing a smile for his friend as well. "You missed the match- but we didn't exactly expect you to come anyways. Kinglsey said you'd been deep in mission mode so we didn't bother sending you an invite."

"Oh, that's um-." Hermione blinked as Harry hugged her with one arm, the other hand holding a bottle of butterbeer. Ron, she could tell, was a little tipsy as he downed the rest of his own drink. "That's okay- I mean, I don't really like qudditch, and-."

"How'd the mission go anyways?" Harry asked as Ron cracked open another bottle. "You left with such short notice- actually, you left without even saying goodbye. We didn't expect you to disappear for so long but-"

"You knew I disappeared?" Hermione asked sounding a little hurt. "And you didn't try to find me?"

"You were working." Harry stated sounding confused. His eyebrows furrowed together suddenly in concern as he lowered his voice. "Weren't you? I thought you were just undercover or something."

"I was-," Hermione quickly said, "I mean, that's how it started out, but-."

"But what?" Harry asked his voice suddenly changing to one more serious. "What happened on your mission? Were you hurt?"

"I mean- not exactly no, that's to say I-."

Harry reached for her elbow and pulled her away from the still open doorway, flicking his wand to close the door. Pulling Hermione into a corner he sent up a muffliato charm so they wouldn't be interrupted; Ron didn't even seem to notice as he was engaged in conversation with some woman in Chudley Cannon orange whom Hermione didn't know.

"Harry you know I don't approve of this charm," Hermione hissed.

Harry rolled his eyes for a moment before setting them straight on her. "Tell me what happened."

"Harry," Hermione groaned, "do we have to do this now? I'm exhausted and-."

"-and you look like you've been through hell, Mione! You're in these fancy dress robes I've never seen before- and they're ruined! You're wearing makeup and it's smudged everywhere! Your hair looks like it was elegant but is now mussed! Something happened to you and I want to know what it was. Now."

"You're too observant for your own good," Hermione mumbled annoyed.

"All part of being an Auror," Harry stated seriously. "Now start talking."

"Fine." Hermione huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "My mission started off a few months back- I spent two weeks searching forest after forest for some sign that a large dwelling of house elves were hiding out somewhere- I presumed a cave or something, but what I found instead was an abandoned mansion- an estate, actually, and-."

"Why was a dwelling of elves hiding in an abandoned estate?" Harry asked interrupting her. "Did they use to work there? Did they still feel some sort of connection to the land, or the owners? Maybe they were never released and felt compelled to stay there and-."

"Harry will you let me talk?" Hermione asked annoyed.

Harry stopped, eyes widening for a moment. "Oh- sorry Mione." His cheeks flushed as he nodded his head. "Go on."

"Thank you." Hermione took a breath and continued. "I found heavy wards around the estate but managed to break through them fairly easily-."

"And you didn't think to call for back up? You know my team would have been there in a second to help you-."

"Harry please," Hermione huffed, "I knew what I was doing and-."

"You could have been hurt, Mione!"

"I was fine!" Hermione snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "I made it safely into the estate and it appeared deserted with nothing but a few ancient portraits lining the halls. Curiously there was a single arm chair in front of a fire-."

"Don't tell me you sat down," Harry groaned raising a hand to his forehead to slap it.

"Naturally," Hermione shrugged.

"And what happened next?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Well-." Now Hermione paused. How was she going to break the news that she had been held hostage by Draco Malfoy- not hostage, exactly, but that the estate itself wouldn't let her leave? "I, uh,-."

"What are you two talking about over here?"

Harry's charm was shattered as Ron came barreling over and grabbed Hermione's arm, dragging her back towards the crowd. "Just because the Chudley Cannons lost doesn't mean we aren't celebrating! It was a hell of a match."

"Cheers!" George called, tipping back a bottle of firewhiskey.

Hermione winced, thinking of Draco and his drink of choice. She sighed a little sadly. "You know what? I think I'm going to call it a night. It's late and I am in desperate need of some rest. We'll talk more in the morning."

"Swear?" Harry asked giving her a knowing look.

Hermione sighed, but nodded. "Swear." She knew she had to come up with some way of breaking the news to them gently, but she wasn't sure how.

"Okay." Harry nodded once.

"I'm gad to see you are both doing well," Hermione added. "I thought- I mean, for a moment I thought you were both- sad, I guess, about me being gone for so long."

"You were gone a while," Harry admitted, than shrugged. "But we knew you were working. Actually, I was going to send you an Owl by next week if you hadn't resurfaced, but here you are."

"Here I am." She agreed walking back towards the door. She opened it and turned back to her friend. "I'll see you later Harry."

"We'll talk tomorrow, Hermione."

With a forced smile she nodded and closed the door, heading downstairs and to the apparation point. If Hermione was going to confront Harry about where she'd been she'd need a nice long sleep to get her wits about her.

"Start talking Mione."

Hermione sighed as she spun her coffee mug in her hand. Harry was sitting across from her at the table in her kitchen, looking as if he hadn't just been to a party the night before. Ron, on the other hand, had his head in his arms, one hand clutching a steaming mug of coffee, the other rubbing his temple.

Hermione had hoped that Harry would have forgotten their conversation from the night before but as luck would have it he was knocking on her door at eight thirty the next morning with a wincing Ron at his side. Hermione had hardy had enough sleep herself and knew she'd need a boat load of caffeine to help her get through the impending conversation.

"I'm not exactly sure I know where to start." She lifted her mug to her lips, stalling for time as she gulped. Harry raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "Okay fine. I told you about finding the dwelling of elves last night in the abandoned estate, right?" A snore emitted from Ron and Hermione and Harry both glanced at him, shrugged, then turned back to face each other. Maybe this was better, Hermione thought. Maybe Harry's reaction would be a little less- crazy, than Ron's would be. Taking a deep breath she continued. "when I entered the estate I discovered it wasn't as abandoned as I first assumed. In fact- there as a master who resided there."

"A master?" Harry asked, "you mean- the owner of the place?"

"Yes."

When Hermione didn't elaborate Harry leaned forwards a little. "And?"

"And I stayed there with him-"

"All this time?"

"Yes."

"But why, Mione? Who was he?"

"I'll get to that in a bit." Hermione stalled. "As to why I stayed... well, the estate wouldn't let me leave."

"What do you mean the estate wouldn't let you leave? Are you telling me that the house locked you inside?"

"Yes."

"But you managed to get out?" Harry clarified, looking confused and angry

"Look Harry- I know it sounds bad, but it actually wasn't. I wasn't completely alone, I had company, and I was fed and taken care of, and-."

"You aren't making any sense Hermione!" Harry finally snapped, slamming his coffee mug onto the table and causing Ron to jump, his head swinging upwards and looking around confused for a moment.

"What'd I miss?"

Harry and Hermione ignored him as they stared at each other. "I'll tell you the whole story, Harry, but I need you to promise me you'll remain calm and withhold your judgment until the end. Can you do that for me Harry?"

Ron blinked, still coming out of his daze, and turned his head to stare at Harry as he waited for his answer.

Harry pressed his lips firmly together for a moment before answering her. "I don't like the sound of this Hermione-."

"Promise me, Harry," Hermione pleaded reaching over to grasp his hand softly in hers. "Please."

Harry let out a long breath before nodding his head stiffly once. "Fine. I'll listen without judgment."

"Promise?" Hermione emphasized.

"Promise."

"Okay." Hermione took a deep breath and let it slowly before starting her story. "That very first day, when I entered the estate, I sat down in a chair, and quickly discovered the house belonged to Draco Malfoy..."

Draco rolled out of bed late the next morning and hardly believed his eyes when he saw the sun shining brightly in his eyes from high in the sky. Ever since he moved into Malfoy Estate he'd drink himself into a stupor, awake from some nightmare at four in the morning, and be unable to fall into a proper sleep again before dragging him out of bed at the crack of dawn. When Hermione entered his life he found the nightmares were few and far between- but never completely stopped, and he still was never able to sleep past dawn.

But last night had changed that- why? Was it being in his childhood home? Was it being surrounded by his mother? Or was it something more than that- could it possibly be that he'd finally admitted his feelings for Hermione, and that was the reason he had slept so peacefully?

Hermione. Draco's eyes widened as he remembered the full conversation he had had last night, and the events which had taken place prior. Hermione had left him- and he had let her. But now he had to find her, had to come clean about how he felt- he had to tell her he loved her.

With a flick of his wand his robes were changed into clean ones and his hair was smoothed down. Without a second thought he raced down the hall and to the only fireplace that was connected to the floo network. He wasn't surprised to find his mother standing there with a mug of tea in her hand.

"Drink this first," she stated evenly. "There's a pepper up potion to help with the hangover I know you must be feeling."

"I don't need it."

"Drink it," she insisted, nearly thrusting the mug into his hand. With a sigh Draco tipped the contents back and within three mouthfuls the mug was empty and smoke was rising out of his ears. With a satisfied nod Narcissa turned to look at the floo network. "Do you have any idea where to start?"

"She works for the Ministry," Draco mumbled. "Perhaps I should start there."

"I don't think that's wise, darling," Narcssa stated slowly. "The Malfoy family haven't stepped foot within that Ministry for three years. We don't have the reputation we once had- where once our family walked through those walls with respect, we're now looked down upon as if we were the traitors of the world-."

"We were the traitors of the world, mother," Draco snapped. Narcissa's eyes widened as she glanced at her son. "We sided with The Dark Lord and set out to end half of wizard kind! Father was one of his most trusted allies- hell, even I was brainwashed to believe that what we were doing was right! But it wasn't, mother. Not to mention that for centuries our family has rigged elections, bought votes, and bribed Ministry Employees in order to get our way- and it's never been right!

"So yes, mother, we deserve to be treated like scum- because we are. But I'm not going to stand here and allow the way others view me stop me from finding the woman I love! Hermione is an employee of the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and that seems like as good a place as any to start looking for her."

Stunned into silence Narcissa could only stare as her son walked forwards and picked up the glass dish which held the floo powder within it. As he picked up some of the dust and flung it into the fire, the flames turned green and reflected in her eyes. Draco took a step forwards, but Narcissa stopped him.

"Wait." Draco moved his leg back and glanced at his mother, waiting for her to go on. Swallowing hard she said, "when you do find her- and I know you will Draco-" here she paused and licked her lips, dampening them as they'd grown dry out of nerves. "Can I- I mean, do you think I could meet her?"

Draco studied his mothers face for a moment looking for signs of humor- but there were none. Her eyes were somber, her mouth set firm- he knew she was being honest in her request.

Draco cleared his throat uncomfortably and nodded. "Yes mother- but only if she's willing to meet you. I won't force her into anything she doesn't want to do, and that includes socializing with my mother- the woman who stood by and watched while she was tortured." Before his mother could respond he placed both feet into the fire, shouted out his destination, and was whisked away.

"Did you just say-" Harry blinked a few times, put a finger in his ear and pretended to clear it of wax, before continuing, "- Draco Malfoy?"

"Harry-."

"Tell me you're making this up." Harry urged her.

She glanced at Ron who's face was frozen in shock- mouth hanging open, eyes wide, and complexion pale; he hardly looked to be breathing. "Uh, Ron?"

"He's in shock," Harry said waving his hand at his friend. "As am I! Mione, please tell me this isn't true."

Hermione sighed and glanced down at her hands which were folded over her coffee mug. "I'm sorry Harry, but I can't lie to you like that."

"You've been spending all this time with Malfoy?" Harry clarified. "What did he do to you? Torture you? Kidnap you? Were you his hostage? Did he take advantage of you? How did you escape? No wonder you looked a mess last night, I'm sorry Mione, I should have-."

"Harry stop!" Hermione insisted, her voice louder than she intended. Harry broke off and leaned back in his seat a little, eyes widening in surprise at her tone. She let out a breath and continued in a calmer voice. "Look- it's- it's a little difficult to explain what happened while I was at Malfoy Estate but- Draco did nothing to harm me. In fact- he saved my life."

"Impossible!" Harry stated.

"It's not! Okay, I can't make this sound good so I'm just going to tell you as it is. When I first entered The Estate I was locked in- I couldn't get out. And no, before you accuse Draco of doing something, it wasn't him keeping me there. The house has magic of it's own and it- decided- to lock me in. No matter what I did I couldn't leave, and my magic wouldn't work either.

"Draco didn't know what to make of the situation so he threw me in the cellar- but I was only there for a short period of time before he came back and set me free. I still couldn't leave the house, but I was at least able to explore it on my own accord- if I so wished. He gave me an entire wing of the house and essentially told me to make myself comfortable while I was there.

"It wasn't ideal," Hermione admitted. She could see that Harry was biting his tongue against speaking out. "But we had to make the best out of our situation. At first I didn't trust him- in fact, if he hadn't saved me from the thestrals who knows what would have happened between us. But one night I was touring the estate and came across the wing he lived in. He- he didn't like me trespassing in his rooms and demanded I leave so I fled.

"I ran and ran and ran through the grounds of the Estate, but no matter how far or fast I went, I couldn't leave. The house had granted me an exit from the door, but not the land itself. That's when the thestral found me and- if it hadn't been for Draco it would have attacked me."

"Thestrals only attack when provoked," Harry quickly cut in. "They're drawn to blood, and pain, and-."

"I guess I forgot to mention I was bleeding," Hermione admitted. "When Draco found me he blasted apart a chair and a piece flew across the room and cut my face." Harry opened his mouth in rage but Hermione stopped him before he could get a word out. "It was an accident Harry! He wasn't trying to harm me. There is so much more to this story- and if you'd let me talk instead of constantly interrupting me, maybe I could get to the end of it."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled looking sheepish.

"That's quite alright." After another breath Hermione continued. "I quickly returned the favour that night. As Draco and I returned to the Estate we came across an Adder snake which Draco accidentally stepped on and caused it to go on the defence. It bit him- he couldn't walk! The Estate granted me some magic in order to save his life. I levitated him back inside, cured his wound, and bound his ankle. As a thank you Draco showed me the library."

Harry couldn't help but smile, "I bet that had an effect on you."

Hermione blushed, "not at first. I mean- I did appreciate the gesture and took it for what it was- a show of appreciation. But I knew there had to be something more going on than what Draco told me at the Estate. So I did some digging- and I was surprised at what I found."

"What did you find?" Harry asked. He glanced quickly over at Ron who was still sitting as still as a statue; every now and then his eyes would blink but he was hardly moving.

Hermione's heart began to pound as the words formed in her head. She didn't want to give away Draco's secret, but she knew she had to be honest with her friends. "The Malfoy family was cursed many years ago. Every heir- every male heir I should say- born to the Malfoy name must wed by his twenty first birthday lest he lose his powers forever. Draco's birthday is in nine days- and he has not yet been wed to his true love."

"What does that have to do with you?" Harry asked his voice sounding hesitant, almost as if he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"Harry-."

"Tell me Hermione."

"The reason the estate wouldn't let me leave- the reason it responded to my needs- the reason it wanted to keep me there was because it recognized something in me- some sort of connection to it's Master."

"Don't say it Hermione-." Harry begged in a silent voice.

"Harry- I'm Draco's true love. I know it's hard to believe, I know it's going to take some getting use to, but-."

"No."

Hermione blinked- and so did Harry, for it wasn't he who had spoken. Hermione slowly turned her head to look at her other best friend, the red head she had tried to date once upon a time. His face was no longer pale but flushed with anger, his eyes still wide but glistened with anger. She swallowed hard as she gazed into Ron's blue eyes. "Ron, I-."

"You- you can't sit there and tell us- tell me- that you are Draco fucking Malfoy's true love! The ferret who bullied you throughout Hogwarts! The death eater who stood by and allowed his aunt to torture you! Are you telling you you've forgiven him for everything he did to us? To you?"

"Ron, it's not like that-." Hermione tried saying, but Ron wasn't listening.

The chair crashed to the ground as he stood up suddenly and slammed his hand onto the table, causing his mug- which was still full- to tip over and spill cold coffee all over the table, not that anyone seemed to notice. "The man is scum, Hermione."

"You don't even know him."

Ron laughed humorlessly. "Don't know him? Hermione we grew up with him! Harry sat as witness at his trial! His father is in Azkaban and his mother lives alone in that freaking torturer chamber they call a house! Malfoy himself disappeared for years and you're telling me that after three years of believing him to be evil all of a sudden you think he's turned good?"

"Ron please listen," Hermione begged as tears began to glisten in her eyes. "You don't understand-."

"I understand well enough!" Ron snapped.

"Mate," Harry tried reaching out to place a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder but the red head brushed him off and strolled away towards the fire place.

"I don't want to hear anymore of this," he seethed, picking up a pinch of floo powder. "Clearly whatever happened to you in that place these last few weeks has caused you to go demented, Hermione! Call me when you've come to your senses."

Before either Harry or Hermione could say anything Ron stepped into the green flames and disappeared in a swish of his robes. Tears were now slowly falling down Hermione's face as she turned to look at Harry again. His eyes drooped solemnly.

"What did you expect to happen, Hermione?" he asked in a quiet voice. "Did you really expect him to take this news well?"

"No," she admitted with a sniffle. "But I didn't expect him to be so angry."

"This is Ron we're talking about Mione. He's hated Malfoy since the day they met. Malfoy did nothing but make fun of his family, his money, and his very being. The war hasn't changed Ron's opinion of him, and this probably won't either."

"What are you saying Harry?" Hermione asked, reaching up to wipe some tears away. "That I have a choice to make? My true love or my best friends?"

Harry sighed ad shook his head. "I'm saying that you have a lot to think about. If Malfoy is your true love- he'd understand, wouldn't he? He'd wait for Ron to come around- or at least be a little bit okay with it all?"

"Draco doesn't have that kind of time Harry," Hermione sighed. "His birthday is days away."

"Are you saying that in nine days you're going to marry Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked in disbelief. "You can't be serious Mione!"

"I don't have a choice Harry! If we don't than Draco will lose his powers forever. The consequences of not fulfilling his destiny means he will be nothing more than a muggle!"

"Maybe that's what he deserves, Hermione! After everything he's said about muggle borns and muggles and-."

"You don't know him like I do, Harry! He's changed! He doesn't believe any of that anymore. Do you honestly think he'd be willing to marry a muggle born like myself if he still had such prejudice views?"

"How do you know he isn't just using you to keep his powers?" Harry retorted, "how do you know he really loves you?"

Hermione shook her head as more tears flowed down her face and took a few steps back, away from Harry. "I thought you'd be happy for me Harry. I thought you'd trust me and my own judgment. I thought you'd understand. But I was wrong."

Not letting Harry say anything in response she rushed out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, slamming the door as the tears continued to fall.