She got on the train after saying a long farewell to Harry, Ron and Ginny. She walked into an open compartment, Draco soon joined her after he ditched his followers in the food court where they were stuffing themselves with sweets such as cockroach cluster and sherbert lemon lollipops.

"So," he said as he sat down next to her and draped his arm about her shoulders. "You'll be meeting my mother first.... then my... father." he said anxiously. He wondered what she would say about his family. Would she like his mother? Draco knew that she would definately not like his father. But, he was amlost perfectly sure that Hermione and his mother would get along very well.

Hermoine only smiled at him as she turned her face towards the window. Outside she could see the countryside whizzing by as if they were being fatsforwarded through time. Hermione wondered what his parents would be like. Would they accept her? She knew his father wouldn't once he figured out who and what she was. But would his mother? She had never heard anything about Mrs. Malfoy so she didn't know what to expect. She sat there for what seemed like minutes to her. In reality it was hours, Draco had fallen asleep on her shoulder.

Suddenly, the train reached platform 9 3/4. She gently shook Draco.

"Wake up honey. We're here." she smiled as he sleepily opened his eyes and blinked.

They got off the train and Draco looked around for his mother. He knew his father would be to busy with work to pick up his only son for the holidays. What a load of bullshit, Draco thought. Father can pick me up, he just doesn't want to be bothered. Draco's eyes lit up when he spotted a tall pale woman with chesnut brown hair. She wore muggle clothing, but because of the way she kept nervously looking around at all the people in the station any wizard could tell she wasn't a muggle. Draco ran to her smiling, he wrapped his arms around her. She was crying as she held her only son in her arms.

"Draco... It has been so long... And you have grown so much!" she began to fuss over him. She fussed over his clothes, his hair, even his shoes. Then she saw Hermione. She was standing a few feet away watching them. Mrs. Malfoy nudged her son to introduce them.

"Oh, right!! God... totally forgot... Mom, this is Hermione Granger. My girl friend... Hermione this is my mother." he said with a smile. Some how he knew they would get along just fine.

Hermione put out her hand and she took Mrs. Malfoy's gently and shook it kindly.

"It's nice to meet the girl who makes my son so happy," Mrs. malfoy smiled at Hermione and hugged her.

Hermione blushed slightly as Mrs. Malfoy led them to the car. Draco lazily wrapped an arm about Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him. When they got to the Malfoy Manor, Hermione was awed to the point where she couldn't even speak. It was built out of black marble and it was huge! She stepped inside and looked down, the carpet was made out of green velvet. The wall hanging were green and silver. Everything was so dark it hurt Hermione's eyes to look at it.

"Welcome home young master," a little house elf said.

"Thank you Chip," Draco said softly. "It's good to be home."

"Draco?" a stern, clipped voce came from in front of a fire place, in a room to the left of Draco and Hermione. "Coming Father," Draco said, with a false respect lingering in his voice. He set his trunk down and led Hermione into the room. "Father, meet Hermione Granger. She's my girlfriend. Hermione, I'd like you to meet my father."

Mr. Malfoy's eyes turned to stone as he looked into Hermione's eyes.

"Nice... t...to...m...meet you....s...sir..." she said shakily, she put out a hand. Mr. Malfoy only glared at it. Then he turned away and faced the fire.

"Come 'Mione. I'll show you to your rooms." Draco's voice seemed to be filled with anger and pain. He walked slowly up to stairs and motioned for her to follow him.

As she began to acend the stairs, she heard shouting coming from the room where Draco's father was. She heard Mr. Malfoy yelling at Mrs. Malfoy for something. She descended the stairs and stood by the doorway to the room listening to the yelling. Draco stood at the top of the stairs, he had his eyes closed and he looked like he was being poked in the back with a hot poker. His face was all pinched up with pain. Draco called her name and she went to him. She somehow could more clearly hear the fighting from above the room.

"You let her into this house?? A mudblood slut!!! How could you allow our son to bring this... this... low life scum into our manor?" Mr. Malfoy yelled at Mrs. Malfoy.

"Draco likes her alot... I thought... I thought it might.. be g..good for him to be happy for once... He always looks so sad..." Mrs. Malfoy whimpered like a child being yelled at for stealing a cookie from a store.

"Don't ever, ever think about what is best for MY son... do you understand?"

"Yes. But he is my son too..." Hermione could just see Mrs. Malfoy cringing uder Mr. Malfoy's harsh and cold stare.

There was a loud slap that echoed through the whole manor. It was followed by a cry of anguish and a thud. Hermione knew that Mr. Malfoy had hit his wife. Draco cringed and his face turned a deathly white. He began to swear under his breath. He began to walk downstairs muttering about how his father would pay for that. It was all Hermione could do to stop him from putting himself and his mother in even more danger. Draco finally gave in. He took her to her room. The door was huge and made out of oak wood. Engraved on the door and painted in with silver was the word Draconis. Just as Draco was about to open the door, they heard the front door open and someone stormed out and the door slammed shut. The sound echoed through the house as Draco led her into her room.

"I hope you will be comfortable here. Its the lightest room in the whole house other than the indoor patio. If you need anything you can knock on the door that connects our rooms. Or you can just ring for Chip. He will get you anything your heart desires." Draco smiled at her and left her standing in a beautiful green and silver room. Her bed had a canopy made out of silver chaffon. She had green velvet wall coverings. Her sheets were made out of green silk and her comforter was a thick sivler satin. Her pillowcases were silver with green sparkles. All the chairs in her room were covered from head to toe in green or silver velvet. She sighed and picked up a tiny silver bell. She rang it and a house elf popped up right in front of her.

"Chip at your service miss!" it said brighty. The house elf even wore a dirty pillowcase made out of green silk.

"Ummm... When is dinner going to be served?"she stumbled over the words. She couldn't think of anything else to ask.

"In two hours miss. It will be a formal occasion, being the young masters first night back and the Master and Misses meeting you for the first time... Please... wear... green or silver miss... The Master prefers it." Chip dissapeared and Hermione sat on the bed.

It will be a very long two weeks, she thought to herself as she layed back in her bed.