Hey guys! I told you I'd have the fifth chapter out by Wednesday....even if it is 11:30 at night. But Wednesday is Wednesday, right? By the way, I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes in this chapter. I didn't have the time to look through it before I posted because I'm going out of town in about thirty minutes. Anway, please read and review. Happy reading!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter (sorry I didn't have the time to list everyone, but I'll make sure I include you in my thank you list on my next chapter).

disclaimer: all Harry Potter related stuff goes to the lovely JK. The D'Evereuxs, manor, and the plot are all mine.

Chapter 5:

The following day was bright and sunny. The wind was blowing lightly sending the sweet scent of the wildflowers everywhere. The trees were rustling softly, the birds were chirping, and the cumulus clouds created shapes as they moved lazily across the vast sky. It was an all around perfect day.

Hermione sighed as she sat down on one of many stone benches in her mother's rose garden. In a little more than an hour she would have to leave to go to Malfoy manor, home of her hated enemy. She tried thinking of everything to cheer her up, but the only thing that was working at the moment was the fact that she looked very cute that day. She was wearing a knee length pale green skirt and a solid pale green shirt with wedged sandals. Her hair was hanging down her back in soft waves. It was a cute but comfortable look.

'I hope Harry owls me back before I leave,' she thought. She had used one of her parents' owls and sent him a letter telling him to meet her in Diagon Alley on Friday, and to tell Ron to do the same. She didn't mention anything about her having to stay at Draco's though; she hadn't even told him about her real parents yet. She was still undecided on the subject, yet she was leaning more towards keeping it all from him. 'It's for his own good.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draco was sitting in his hammock outside, an evil smirk on his face. His father had just come and told him that Hermione was going to be staying with them for the rest of the summer holiday. 'I'm going to make her life a living hell for the rest of the summer,' he thought. That wasn't all though. He had gotten his acceptance letter that morning stating that he had been selected as this year's Head Boy, and he figured that since Hermione was at the very top of their class (he was right behind her) that she was this year's Head Girl. 'All the more chances to torture her,' he sneered. Draco layed there for a moment, enjoying the peacefulness that surrounded him as the wind ran through his hair, before he looked at his watch. "Time to go in. She'll be here soon," he muttered aloud.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Do you have everything darling?"

Hermione looked at her mother and nodded. "I double checked everything."

"All right then. Have fun all right?"

"Right. Fun," muttered Hermione under her breath.

"Make sure and write to us, " added Gregoire.

"I will."

"Oh and Hermione, we got you this. Consider it a late birthday present."

Gregoire walked forward with a shimmering silver-toned owl and handed it to Hermione.

"Wow," she breathed taking the owl. "Thank you very much!"

"Don't mention it. Now take a pinch of powder and be on your way. The words to say are 'Malfoy Manor'. Narcissa will be waiting for you."

Hermione nodded. She set all of her things inside the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder from Giselle's satchel. "'Bye."

"'Bye darling. We'll see you soon."

Hermione stepped into the fireplace, yelled "Malfoy Manor!" and was off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few minutes later, Hermione was standing in the Malfoys' living room, brushing the chimney poweder off of herself.

"Welcome," said a woman's voice.

Hermione turned to see Narcissa Malfoy standing a few feet from her, her head held high in an important manner, her hands clasped together in front of her. She was wearing a long white dress, her blonde hair pulled tightly into a bun at the nape of her neck. She didn't have her face twisted up in a foul way as she had when Hermione first met her though. Hermione just figured it was because she was in her own home, and nothing inside it could repulse her as much as people lower than herself.

Hermione smiled timidly.

"I am Narcissa Malfoy, but you may address me as Mrs. Malfoy."

Hermione nodded. "Nice to see you again Mrs. Malfoy."

"Now, if you'll follow me I'll lead you to your room."

"Okay, let me grab my things," said Hermione, turning around. She gasped. Her trunk, as well as her owl's cage, were gone.

"I believe your belongings have already been taken up to your room by the house-elves."

A small feeling of relief washed over Hermione.

"Please follow me."

Narcissa led Hermione through the manor, their footsteps echoing on the cold stone-tiled floor. They traveled past the study, up the staircase, and down the hall to their right. Finally, Narcissa stopped at Hermione's room. "Well, here you are. Dinner will be served at seven-thirty." Before Hermione could answer, Narcissa disapparated from the hallway.

Sighing, Hermione turned and opened her bedroom door.

"Hello dearie," drawled a cool voice.

Hermione jumped. "Malfoy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Draco smirked. He was lying on his side on Hermione's bed. In one swift movement he got up, and strided towards her.

"This is my house you know. I can go wherever I please."

"Well please go somewhere else. I'm not in the mood to make a fool of you at the moment," sneered Hermione.

"Watch it Granger. You're in my territory now, not yours."

"Oh shove off, Malfoy."

Draco stepped closer to Hermione, so that their faces were inches apart.

"Why don't you make me?" he whispered.

Hermione grabbed the front of his robes and pushed him out of the room. "Goodbye Malfoy! Oh, and tell your mother that I won't be joining you for dinner this evening." She slammed the door in his face.

"Stupid git," she muttered.

Three hours later, Hermione was asleep after unpacking and naming her new owl (Niaj), with whom Crookshanks had problems with.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draco was pacing his room, unable to keep his mind off of Hermione. He knew that he had been a jerk to her, and her to him in turn, but something kept telling him that he felt different. His plans of making her life a living hell had gone to pot after his lame attempt at making her feel uncomfortable around him earlier that night.

He thought of her eyes, brown like the earth, and how for some unknown reason they captivated him. A mere three hours ago he had stood next to her, so close. So close that he could smell the sweet vanilla scent of her perfume, so close that he could feel her body heat radiating off of her onto him. It was making him addicted. He needed her.

But did he?

His mind was racing. How was he even sure that it was not just the particular stance that they were in? Did he really like her? He wasn't sure. He decided to sleep on it, at least for tonight, so that he wouldn't have to deal with it at the moment. Besides, he had the next two weeks to sort out his thoughts....right?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next few days were a nightmare for Hermione. It had only been three days and she'd already had at least a hundred fights with Draco, most of them over the tiniest things. His father hadn't been helping the situation either. He still made her feel uncomfortable. Something about the way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. Whenever she passed him on the stairs or when they were seated at the dinner table, she could sense his cold grey eyes on her. 'You'll be seeing Harry in two days. Just wait a couple more lousy days and you can see him,' she constantly reminded herself.

Draco had been on her mind as well. She noticed him staring at her, and whenever they got into fights she couldn't help but have the feeling that he didn't actually mean what he was saying. It was as if somewhere down inside of him there was something good, something not Draco-like at all. But there couldn't be. It was Draco Malfoy after all. Draco "The Evil Deatheater" Malfoy. There couldn't possibly be any good in him at all.......or could there?

After dinner that night, Hermione had finally aquired some alone time and sat down to read a book before she heard violent shouts from downstairs. Curious, she quietly ventured out to find out who they were coming from.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"DRACO LIAM MALFOY! I HAVE TOLD YOU ALREADY THAT YOU WILL BECOME A DEATHEATER! YOU ARE DESTINED TO BECOME VOLDEMORT'S HEIR! NOTHING YOU SAY WILL CHANGE THAT!" boomed the voice of Lucius.

Hermione crouched watching from the stairs as Lucius back-handed his son, propelling him backwards to the floor.

Lucius was loosing his temper again. It was a pretty common occurance in the Malfoy household, and Draco was always at the other end. There were a few occasions that Narcissa was being abused by Lucius, but mostly it was Draco with Narcissa screaming at Lucius to stop.

Draco shouted at his father, his voice straining. Apparently he had been hit one too many times that night. "I WILL NOT BECOME LIKE YOU. I -HATE- YOU!"

Lucius ran up and kicked Draco square in the stomach. Narcissa screamed. "STOP IT! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!" Draco was coughing now, gasping for breath while blood began to trickle out of his mouth.

Lucius turned to face Narcissa. "I'd rather kill him than have him refuse to uphold the Malfoy name," he said coldly.

"And I'd rather be dead than become like you," whispered Draco from the floor, his voice dripping with loathe for his father.

Lucius snapped back around and whipped out his wand, pointing it at Draco. "CRUCIO!"

There was a howl of pain, and Draco began to writhe on the floor. Hermione was shocked. 'What kind of monster would use one of the Unforgivable curses on his own son?!' Lucius took slow steps towards Draco, his hand as steady as a rock, ignoring the pleas from Narcissa for him to stop. Draco screamed out in pain as he continued to writhe in agony on the floor.

Hermione had had enough. 'As cruel as he is, Draco doesn't deserve this.'

Hermione drew in all of her Gryffindor courage that she could muster and ran out in front of Lucius. "STOP IT!"

Lucius, not expecting Hermione to jump out in front of him during the middle of all this, lowered his wand. Draco stopped screaming and struggled to catch his breath.

"How could you do this to your own son? Your own blood?" she asked.

"This is none of your damn business."

"It is now. I'm here aren't I?" asked Hermione. She looked steadily into Lucius' steal eyes.

"Get out of here. It's Draco's own fault that he doesn't want to become a deatheater. Now get out of the way."

"No." Hermione stayed put. She could hear Draco's breathing, still hard, slowly steady as he struggled to get to his feet.

"How dare you talk back to me! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!"

"NO!"

Lucius raised his wand, ready to perform the Cruciatus curse on Hermione, before she was pushed out of the way by Draco.

"DON'T TOUCH HER! She hasn't done a damn thing to you!"

Before Lucius could even say anything back, Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and, using what little strenght he had left, sprinted out into the gardens.

Once they had stopped, hidden behind a large statue surrounded by honeysuckle, Hermione spoke up.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Save me."

"Because you did it for me."

Hermione silenced herself, staring intently at Draco. His eyes weren't as cold as they had always been, but instead held something else. Emotion.

"Draco, I-" Hermione was cut off by Draco putting one of his fingers to her lips. "Shh," he whispered.

Hermione nodded as Draco strained to listen to their surroundings. Finally, after a few minutes he whispered to her.

"He was just out here looking for us, but I think he went back inside. It's best if we stay here tonight." Hermione said nothing, but looked into his eyes. She was confused at what just happened. Was Draco actually being nice to her? Sincerely nice? Draco had layed down, and had his eyes closed. She wasn't sure if he was actually asleep yet though. Nonetheless, she took a few more minutes to study him. His face, bruised, looked somewhat angelic in the night air with the moon shining down on him. She watched him breath, his chest rising and falling softly as he slept. It was somewhat hypnotising. She spent the next ten minutes studying every contour of his body before finally realizing one thing:

She was beginning to fall for Draco.

Hey everyone! I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Please review this one and let me know whether or not you liked it, or if I could do anything to make future chapters better. Oh, and if any of y'all would like me to email you whenever I update, just leave your email address when you review and I'll make a list.