She laid in bed for a long time, just thinking of what was going on. If she was going to spend her entire holiday just sitting around would be a really waste of time. She was already almost done all of her homework over the holiday and the summer had hardly began.

She was so angry at what was going on. Maybe she should just go to the Burrow and spend the rest of her holiday with the Weasley's. At least there would be something to do with them. She could help Ron and Ginny with their holiday work. But then she didn't want to be a pest. She always spent her holiday with them, she didn't want to anymore. And plus, with Voldemort still on the loose, she didn't feel too safe just anywhere unless there were more people from the Order that was going to be there.

She didn't want to bother Harry either. Harry would be staying at Pivet Drive for a month then he would join the Order for some training for his battle against Voldemort. He hadn't told Ron and me until late last year that it was either Harry or Voldemort that was going to die and in the end, it was going to be a battle to the death.

After a while of just thinking on her bed she decided to get a head start on her sleep. Apparation took a lot of energy, even for a genius like herself.

She went to turn her lamp off again.

But something happened.

Right when she clicked off the knob on her lamp the hand came again. This time covering her mouth and it took her hand that had just turned off the light.

This time he put his face right up beside Hermione's and his body right against her back.

"Shuuuuu.." He whispered in her ear, "It's going to be okay. Don't be scared, I promised I wont hurt you and I wont."

He slowly let go of her mouth and stepped back. He once again was ready for her to scream but she didn't. Instead she reached for the lamp again and she turned the lamp back on.

It was real. She saw Draco standing in her room looking at her again.

"What are you going here?"

He didn't reply. He was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. He took a step forward and she tried to take a step back but her back hit the drawer the lamp was on. His eyes never left her. He was looking into her eyes even if she wasn't looking into his. She was looking around her room and for a way to get out of there. All she could think of was that he was going to kill her. He had hated her so much that he wanted her dead and he was going to kill her in her own room.

He whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." He took another step forward.

Her eyes widened. Oh my God, he's going to kill me right here and there's nothing I can do about it.

She was feeling around behind her. Hoping for a way out. Hoping with all her heart that a door would suddenly appear behind her and she would be able to get away from him. But it didn't happen. She was at home, for her things like that only happen at Hogwarts.

"Draco, please leave me alone." She started to cry.

Draco's eyes widened. What was he doing? He was making her cry. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He didn't want to hurt her. She was afraid of him.

"Don't be scared. Please? Hermione, please don't be afraid of me. I really don't want to hurt you." He reached for her shoulder but she moved away from him.

"Then what the hell was the past six years? Can you deny all those things you've said to me the past six years?"

"No, no I can't Hermione, and I'm sorry. I really am. But you have to believe me when I say that I don't want to hurt you."

"Why? Why in the world should I believe you? You hate me, you hate my friends."

"Things are different now." He turned away from her. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

"Hermione, do you remember when the death eaters escaped?" "Yes but-"

"Then you must remember how my father is a death eater himself." "Yes, but-"

"When he came home, he wasn't himself anymore. He no longer loved my mother. He came back and he was different. He was different. I knew that even through all the evil things he had done, he still loved my mother. That's what kept me going all those years." She had stopped crying and was gently urging Draco to sit on her bed. She had to calm him down. He was scaring her. "I went home for the holidays remember? Remember when I went home for Christmas?"

He looked at her like he was desperate for her to understand.

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, I went home and I saw him. I ran to hug him but he pushed me away. I didn't understand. Even though he was with Voldemort he still loved me. He never did that before. He would never let others know that he was capable of love but he was. He loved my mother and me when everyone's back was turned. We were actually a very happy family believe it or not. I loved my father. He was my inspiration. He had power and he had my mother, someone who he loved and loved him back.

"But things were different. After he pushed me away he went to his room where my mother was and I heard a noise and she screamed. So I ran upstairs to see if she was okay. But I did not dare enter the room when my father was still there.

"After a few more screams he tore out of the room and left. I ran inside and found my mother. She was bleeding from head to toe. I'm not big but I had grown and I was able to lift her to her bed. She was unconscious when I found her. My mother is not really strong but she is not really weak either. She's not strong but she's tough on the inside. Nothing can break her spirit even if she doesn't look the part in public.

"My father hadn't come back, at least not for the holiday. He was spending his Christmas with his death eaters. Not even with his own family. He never did that before. He loved us. He spent every holiday with us and he would always buy my mother and me presents to show how much he loved us but not this time. I guess failing to do what Voldemort told him to do made him angry. I slowly nursed my mother better. She recovered fast but there was too much damage already. She was really hurt. There were wounds everywhere but she stuck it out. She kept living. I guess deep down she still loved my father even after what he had done to her. He blamed her. He said it was her fault that they even got caught in the first place."

Draco took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Even thinking about it hurt him a great deal and now he was talking about it. It felt like he was confirming that this was real.

"My mother got better after a while, she told me not to worry, she told me that my father was just very stressed, she told me he would get better. But it didn't happen. A few days after Christmas he came back and he was still as angry as he was before. He didn't do anything to my mother in front of me. He would just ignore her during the day but I heard him. I heard him yelling at her from down the hall in my room and I would hear her screaming and crying. My mother doesn't cry. No matter how bad things were she would never cry. When he was in a meeting I would sneak into see her and I would tell her to leave. I would tell her to go away for a while but she wouldn't. She just kept telling me that things were going to get better. She told me that everything was going to be just the way they were again after a while.

"My mother was beautiful. Although her expression was not always a happy one, she was very pretty. When she would smile it was like the world is worth living for. Her smile, her touch would make the world a safe place. But I didn't see it anymore. She wasn't happy anymore. She never smiled anymore. I guess he blamed her because she is Bellatrix's sister and after he was gone, Voldemort made Bellatrix his right hand man. He no longer held the high position to Voldemort anymore.

"When I went back to Hogwarts it was still the same. Our servants sent me letters telling me what was going on. They told me that once again, they would hear my mother scream. They would tell me that once again my mother was crying and that things only got worst.

"Then, when I went back home a few weeks ago it was still going on. Although he was starting to get tired of hitting the same woman. He didn't do it as much but every time he did it was like he had hit her all day. She was starting to get weaker. It takes strength to heal over and over again. But my mother still said that things were going to get better. She no longer told me that he still loved him. She didn't say that she loved him Hermione. And I don't know why I didn't see it before, how could I have not seen it before, of course she would stop loving him. He was hitting her. He was hurting her. He wasn't the same man she fell in love with years ago. That was when I started to realize that I no longer looked up to the man that was hurting my mother.

"He wouldn't let either of us out of the house. He didn't hit me though. He only hit my mother. Never me, he never ever laid a hand on me. I wish he had. I wish it had been me he was hitting and not my mother. Why did he do it? That couldn't possibly be the only reason why he was hitting her. But it was. I knew my mother wouldn't do anything to disobey my father. I knew that she would never find someone else because she is like that.

"You know, there are people out there that are surrounded by evil but they are not evil themselves. You know there are people out there that are brought up to think a certain way but, but they never actually turn out that way."

Hermione knew someone like that. Sirius Black, thinking of him brought back tears. He was gone behind the veil. He was strong, he was a hero. Sirius was surrounded by evil but he was different. He was not evil himself. He was a good man who wanted everything to be safe again. Yet he died, how could someone so good, someone with such a good heart die?

Hermione smiled at him and nodded urging him to go on.