I am sorry this took a while to continue and I am sorry if there are spelling mistakes, and I am sorry if this is reall short.

~*~

Virginia felt a tear welling in the corner of her eye as another tear ran down her other cheek. She ran to the side of the chair that Draco sat in, and sat on the floor, taking his hand in hers. His pale skin was cold, and his body was limp in defeat.

"They say she died in her sleep, she died peacefully" He whispered, his eyes not leaving the fire. A tear ran out of his eye and dried on his cheek.

"Draco, I am sorry, I am so sorry, I know that you loved your mother" Virginia whispered "I know you will miss her terribly."

"I will" he whispered as though he had finally realised how much he would miss his mother. Virginia held his hand tighter. His thumb stroked the back of her hand.

"Is there anything i can do, anything to make this easier for you Draco" She began "Anything"

"Just..." he began "Just sit with me for a while." Virginia nodded and rested her head on the arm rest of his chair, her hand still wrapped around his. They sat in silence, some where in the distance, some one was whistling a happy tune. Virginia could not help but wonder if it was one of her brother returning from the feilds. The sound of the whistling was soon overtaken by voices upstairs.

Virginia shuddered when she realised one of the voices was Malfoy. Even through Draco's sadness, she could not forget the hurtful and disgusting things that Malfoy had said to her earlier. She could not forget the way he looked at her, and the fear that had ran through her as she listened to his speak of her body. She knew that at that time, she should have been thinking about Draco's pain, but a selfish part of her thought of her own pain.

How could she comfort Draco through his distress when she was just as distressed. How could she make him feel safe when she didn't even feel safe in that home. But she just sat silently, and after a few minutes, she felt Draco stroking her hand.

"Will you come far a walk with me?" He asked softly. "I just can not sit here any longer"

Virginia nodded and stood, waiting for him to stand and then they left the house. Following the fence, they walked in silence for a few minutes.

"She has gone to a better place Draco" Virginia began. She had know idea what to say to him help him through his grief. She had luckily never lost any one before. She did not know what to say to comfort him "At least you know that she is no longer sick"

He smiled softly, and looked out to the horizon. The afternoon sun was slowly begining to fall. "She has left me alone with my father"

Virginia looked away from him as he mentioned his father. But nodded, urging him to continue.

"I fear my father sometimes, he is a powerful man. And I know that he sees me as less than him. He saw my mother as less than him. He sees everyone as less than him." Draco began "he believes the world is open for his choosing. He sees what he wants and manipulates the world around him to get that...My mother has left me alone with that."

Placing her hand on Draco's shoulder, she sighed "You father is a hateful man Draco, but you are off an age when you can move away from that, you dont have to be here if you dont want to."

"I could never leave" He replied softly.

"Not even to Boston?" Virginia asked, Draco sighed.

"There is nothing in Boston for me. There is nothing here for me. There is nothing anywhere for me" Draco began.

"You lie, their are many things here for you" Virginia whispered "You father, although he is distasteful, needs you"

"He does not need me here" Draco whispered "No one needs me here."

"That is not true, for I need you here" Virgina said before she had the chance to stop herself. "I need you, for how else would I learn how to read. Who else would help my brothers and I, if it had not been for you, then who knows what would have happened to me."

"You need me?" he asked, surprised. Virginia shrugged.

"Of course I need you, you are my friend and you mean alot to me." she replied, her gaze travelling out to the horizon

"You mean alot to me to" he told her softly, his hand making its way to her shoulders, pulling him closer to her side. Virginia expected herself to tense, just as she had when she had been close to Draco's father, but for some reason, Virginia felt relaxed in Draco's arms. He was nothing like his father, he was kind and soft where as Malfoy was disgusting and hurtful. Sighing, Virginia moved a little closer to him.

They stood in silence for at least an hour while the sun continued to set. "I should really get back inside" Virginia whispered, "I must prepare the evening meal for you and your father." reluctantly, she pulled away from Draco, taking a step back in the direction of the house. "Would you like to come with me?"

"I shall be there soon, I want to stay a little longer" He smiled. Virginia nodded and then turned back to the house.

Draco watched her leave, smiling softly to himself. He knew that Virginia was trying to help him overcome his loss, but he could not stop thinking of just how cute she was as she tried to comfort him. It was obvious that she had no idea what she should be saying to him, but she was trying to go with it anyway.

And he had surprised himself by pulling her into his arms. He had expected her to pull away, but she had not. He smiled. Having her in his arms had been the biggest comfort of all.

~*~

Entering the kitchen in the house, Virginia sighed when she saw that Malfoy had just exited through the other door with the Priest and the Doctors. She would finally have the kitchen to herself to cook, and then she could go home. She did not want to face Malfoy again, she could not face Malfoy again.

But not long after, the door opened, and Malfoy entered. He stood in the doorway, towering over her. She took a deep breath and busied herself with the work she had to do.

"I am sure you have been informed of my wifes passing" he began gruffly. Virginia looked up and nodded politely.

"Yes sir, I am sorry for your loss"

"It need not be a loss, young one" he began, stepping into the room. Virginia tensed. "I am now officially a very lonely man, young Virginia. Dont make me beg for what I want!"

Virginia took a step back from him, but ran into the table that she had been chopping vegetables on. Her hand landed on on of the knives and sliced it open. A sob escaped her as she looked down at her hand that was slowly being covered with blood. Malfoy grabbed her wrist.

"Silly girl" malfoy sneered, holding Virginia hand to his gaze. He held her bleeding hand tightly, and then pulled her closer to his body. Virginia struggled away from him, trying desperately to get away from his lust filled gaze and slimy hands. "You have hurt yourself, I want nothing more than to help you"

Virginia tried, once again to get away from him, but she could not. he had her trapped between the table and Malfoy's body. Malfoy reached behind her and took a towel off of the table, pessing it to Virginia's palm softly to stop the blood that was still gushing. Virginia was shocked at how gentle he was. It was surprising.

She would have been nice if he was not so disgusting.

"my bed will be empty tonight, Virginia" he told her softly.

"And it will remain empty" Virginia told him, unsucessfully tying the towel around her wrist. When she looked up from her hand, she saw Malfoy's hand coming towards her face. She could not move, she had no where to go.

The sound of Malfoy's palm striking her cheek echoed through the silent room.

"You still refuse me? You still refuse my wishes?" Malfoy sneered and then slapped her again, this time, Virginia slumbed back against the table, and then dropped to the floor. Burying her face away from Malfoy and holding the towel to her wound, she tried to ignore the fear that ran through her. He stood above her, towered over her.

"What is going on here?" the voice startled them both. Virginia looked to the door to see Draco standing there, his hand on his hips. "Father, what is going on? Virginia, your hand?"

Striding across the room, Draco knelt before Virginia and unwrapped her hand. "Did he do this to you?" he whispered.

"No" Virginia replied "No, I was clumsy, I...I...I put my hand down on the blade, I did not see it on the table" She told him. Draco nodded, not completely believing it.

Malfoy stood back and watched the exchange between his son and their servant. He could see in the way they spoke to each other that they were close, and that enraged him.

"She lies to you boy" Malfoy told him. Draco looked up.

"What?"

"I caught her red handed Son, she cut herself, she was adding her blood to the food. She set to poison us. I saw her. I saw her drinking her own blood. She was drinking a charm against our family." Malfoy told Draco. Draco looked from his father to Virginia, who was shaking her head, begging him not to believe the words, hoping he would not believe his father. "I heard her say she would not rest until she was wed into our riches son, she is after you, after your hand in marrage."

Malfoy shot Virginia an evil look.

"She is nothing but a witch, and you remember what the bible says about witches. They are powerful..." he sighed, and looked into his sons eyes "I am sorry Draco, I was not going to tell you...But this little witch killed your mother!"