A/N: only own the plot and characters unrecognised from the books

The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Memory' by Sugarcult

Updates are going to be in short supply because I've just started college. I know it's a short chapter but I just needed to get this bit out of the way. Thanks for the reviews ppl keep reviewing plz! )

Chapter Six - Guilt

This may never start
We could fall apart
And I'd be your memory
Lost your sense of fear
Feelings insincere
Can I be your memory?

So get back, back, back to where we lasted
Just like I imagine
I could never feel this way
So get back, back, back to the disaster
My heart's beating faster
Holding on to feel the same

This may never start
I'll tear us apart
Cannot be your enemy
Losing half a year
Waiting for you here
I'd be your anything

Draco's eyes were open in an instant and he lay there silently for a few moments not moving, just savouring the feel of the rich silk sheets against his bare flesh and his beautiful wife sleeping peacefully besides him, her face flushed against the frame of her gorgeous red mane spread out across the pillow.

Her eyes flickered open slowly and a smile tugged at her lips as she found him watching her, his hair falling into his eyes in strands too fine to tangle and the early morning sunlight only enhancing the flawless structure of his face.

"Hi."

Her voice was soft but there was no need, there were Silencing Charms on every bedroom of the house as standard in a wizarding house.

"Merry Christmas."

She broke into a genuine smile and excitement age could never dim lit in her eyes as she remembered what day it was and she shuddered with excitement. Her eyes flashed and his darkened, his lips meeting hers in a sudden lust-filled frenzy as he pulled her gently on top of him.

Christmas morning was a slow and sleepy awakening for Appleby as she rubbed her eyes and stretched like a cat under the covers, the unusual sparkling on the black walls confirming her suspicions of snow. She was about to turn over when she felt something move under sheet next to her and she ripped back the quilt to reveal Thaila curled up in a ball with her thumb shoved in her mouth as she slept and her blood-red curls spilling over the pillows. Prodding Thaila gently in the ribs, Appleby climbed out of bed and padded barefoot over to her dressing table. She pulled her hair back in a plait and scrubbed her face and teeth quickly before grabbing Thaila and heading down stairs.

"Morning!"

Appleby kissed every person she passed on the cheek and slumped down before the fireplace where a fire was roaring already and keeping a tight hold of Thaila who was eyeing the presents under the tree greedily. Matthew was clad only his boxers when he dropped down opposite her on the floor and poked her shoulder, childish behaviour was a vital part of Christmas day at Malfoy Manor these days, causing a furious poking fight that lasted until the front door banged open.

"Cooeee! Only us!"

Appleby's eyes met Matthew's despairingly at the sound of the voice screeching through the room and the pair of them slammed back against the floor simultaneously as a curvaceous woman drowning in a floor-length mink cloak.

"Ring up Animal Rights at once!" Appleby snarled, glaring at the woman as she shrugged out of the cloak and threw it at Eddie the ancient butler.

Wriggling into the room with her hips swinging wildly from side to side as she walked she bypassed Ginny completely but planted a kiss on Draco's mouth, smearing lipstick all over him as she sank to her knees besides him on the floor. Furiously wiping off bright crimson lipstick, Draco immediately got to his feet and crossed the room to sit besides his wife.

"Who's that?"

Appleby turned to her Uncle Charlie's latest girlfriend, a tall brunette with huge blue eyes who was nervously sat in an armchair behind Appleby and eyeing everyone warily. Realising this must be her first time spending Christmas here Appleby grinned at her;

"Pansy Parkinson's daughter; Daysee."

The girl frowned and turned to look at the heavily made up blonde already leaning over Draco towards a glass of hot chocolate being handed around and pressing her large bosom against him as he scowled at her.

"Amber O'Linear."

Appleby grinned and shook the brunette's extended hand before introducing herself and Matthew who was busy chasing the marshmallows in his cup around with his tongue. Looking up Appleby snorted into her hot chocolate as she watched Daysee; she had always thought big breasts looked wrong, not that she wasn't well off in that area she just didn't see the attraction really, but looking at Daysee she was definitely sure; hers were positively frightening!

Walking on her knees over to the huge tree Appleby rummaged through the presents and dug out one for everyone, chucking the brightly wrapped parcels towards their owners and settling down happily to open her own.

Halfway through opening a gift Appleby glanced up to see Daysee still chattering about some rubbish, she always seemed to run into complete bitches and never stopped boring them to death about the latest ones.

"Daysee do us all a favour."

Daysee paused and turned away from Charlie who was staring at the wall above her head with glazed over eyes.

"Shut the fuck up."

Daysee flushed and glared at Appleby who smiled sweetly at her before returning to rooting through the presents under the tree for some more.

Pulling out a box-set of the murder-mysteries she had been engrossed in at Hogwarts for the past year Appleby grinned and hugged Matthew before carefully putting them to one side and accepting the gift Belladonna was handing to her. She squealed and gave her Aunt a hug when she encountered an entire CD collection of Sugarcult who were her ultimate Gods.

"Err thanks, Daysee."

Appleby accepted the parcel Daysee was waving at her and tugged on the vibrant yellow bow so a box of tacky plastic flower-shaped earrings in all kinds of vulgar colours fell into her lap. Raising an eyebrow Appleby shoved them to one side and went back to her gifts.

A new broomstick, three new pairs of designer shoes, a voucher for three people to spend the day at the Health Spa at Hogsmeade, numerous items of clothing, writing sets and various other random gifts later Appleby was moodily prodding the paper scattered around her about.

"Appleby, is something wrong?"

Appleby shook her head and waved her wand dolefully at the paper so it disappeared, glancing over at Matthew who was engrossed in his new board game of 'Harry Potter Vs You Know Who' with Rory who was wearing his new cowboy hat with matching holster and spurs over his pyjamas.

"You missed our present."

Appleby jerked her head up as her father tossed her a shining silver envelope with a tiny black bow. Ripping open the paper she screamed in delight and leapt to her feet, running over to hug and kiss her parents before drawing back and jumping up and down with her present held over her head.

"YES OH YEAH! Thank you so much daddy I love the gift you're the best parents a girl could ever have ever! I can't believe you bought me four tickets! I absolutely love you both!"

Doing a funny cheerleading sort of dance as she shrieked Appleby kissed her parents once more before racing up the stairs whooping all the way.

"NO! Carrie should not end up with Big, he's old and ugly and yuck! She should have stayed with bloody Aidan like any normal person would have!" Appleby bawled at her television, throwing a pillow at it as the credits rolled up.

"My Christ, you did not just sit there and watch 'Sex and the City' for the past twelve hours, you sad person."

Appleby shot a dirty look at Matthew who was now slouching in her doorway with his arms folded and one eyebrow raised. He had finally gotten dressed and was wearing a pair of loose grey jeans and a large sloppy traditional Weasley jumper in a dark toffee colour with a large orange 'M' across the front.

"I damn well did and it's not sad, that ending was bloody wrong! And before you say anything I know she's going to end up with him I watched it on T.V."

Matthew rolled his eyes and ducked as she tossed a large black pillow at him before swaggering into her room and flopping onto her bed.

"Are you planning on getting ready some time today? We have this stupid formal dinner to go to in an hour."

Appleby groaned and get slowly to her feet, taking as much time as possible with getting ready as though hoping she might not have to do it if she took a long time. Eventually she was clad in a floaty midnight-blue skirt that fell in a diagonal cut from just past her hip to nearly her knees, a tight dark silver corset top with off the shoulder sleeves that fell to her elbows and her hair twisted up into an elegant twist behind her head and secured with a silver dragonfly clip.

Heading over to her door she paused by the window and turned to stare, she was positive she had just seen someone stood out on the grounds watching the house. Her eyes swept over the velvet smooth lawns but there was no one there.

"You ready?"

Matthew was looking at her curiously as he spoke and she tore her eyes away reluctantly and nodded, forcing a smile and heading over to the door with a last glance over her shoulder.

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Appleby tapped her long silver fingernails against the plastic tabletop and jiggled her legs nervously as she took sips of her Sprite and glanced at the door. She had already chewed off all her lipgloss and was busy twisting her straw round in her cup making the ice clash together when the door opened and he was by her side. Jumping to her feet she knocked her drink over and only Dante's lightening reflexes stopped it from drenching both of them and the floor.

After she had hugged him and kissed him fiercely numerous times he finally managed to sit her down at the table once again.

"Why did you want to meet here? I thought you said Hogsmeade."

Dante nodded and shot a furtive glance around the room packed with Muggles all jostling for seats and chattering loudly about some rubbish or other.

"I did, but are we likely to find one of your father's lapdogs in here?"

Appleby had to agree with that one and went back to fiddling with the plastic lid of her cup, suddenly shy as she stared fixedly at the tabletop and ignored the group of Muggle boys eyeing her curiously from the next table.

"What did you want to see me for?"

Now he was here she was feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself for still wanting him so badly now she knew he was her enemy, her sudden loss of control when he had first gotten there was not something she could have explained away although she was trying her damned hardest in her head at the moment.

"I assume you're parents told you about my mother."

Her eyes were still fixed on the table so she easily caught sight of his hands gripping the edges as he spoke before easing slightly. Unable to bring herself to mention her parents to him she nodded and swallowed harshly, bringing her cup to her mouth to give her something to do.

"Well, what do you think?"

She jerked her head up and stared at him, his dark eyes pure black as he watched her, his face expressionless as he impatiently pushed strands of his hair out of his face where they had escaped the velvet ribbon holding it back.

"It doesn't really matter what I think, I can't take it back, and I can't change what happened in your past before I was even born."

Her words came out harsher than she had intended but he didn't seem to notice, somehow his hand had met hers on the cup and their fingers intertwined, the rings on both their fingers glinting brightly under the fluorescent lighting as though to remind them they should feel guilty.

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Chantal J : thanks very much! I was trying to show that Appleby is part her father part her mother but still entirely herself, cant work out if it worked yet but oh well thanks for reviewing! I was trying to make Dante dark and intriguing lol I love designer dresses so thanks a lot for commenting on the designs! Perdita was just going to be a horse but I decided to make it more interesting ) Draco did indeed see Dante kiss Appleby goodnight which is why he didn't beat the hell out of him right there. Dante is dark but he's starved for affection because his parents died when he was young so he only really shows he's vulnerable around Appleby which is another reason he's hooked on her

Alicandra Black : yeah it was pretty crap at the beginning but there were certain events that had to take place before Dante's identity could be fully revealed. Thanks for the review

short arse : I didn't say Perdita was a unicorn, she is a Pegasus she was just silvery white as well. Thanks for the review

AmericanGirl1114 : well they didn't ban her but they would have if they'd found out so you were half right on that one ) cheers for reviewing. Since when did a Malfoy ever care what anyone thought? And Appleby is a teenager with Ginny's stubborn streak so she definitely will do what she wants no matter what.

Rumona07 : I didn't mean to give you an addiction lol the other children are in it but not much really because its mostly about Appleby and Dante. Thanks for reviewin!

AnitaBlake/BuffyFan : thanks very much for that ) nice to know its all appreciated. I'll post as fast as I can but I'm in college for most of the day for most of the week so it may take longer

valentines-hater : Dante is complicated, his lineage shall be revealed eventually but its not specifically important to the plot besides Kendra being his mother, cheers for the review

Kazte : glad you like it D thanks for the review. Well Draco is described as very hot so I suppose it would make sense that his sister is as well, but that's what imaginations are for in the end isn't it

xBrOkEnBOtTle : the hot ones are always bad because the badness makes them more attractive, works for me anyway. Yes she is indeed his mother, all those clever ones who guessed were right, thanks for the review

mell8 : the updates will be very slow I'm afraid because its only the fourth day of college and I've already had five pieces of homework lol

Scary-As-Hell : it's always funny when its happening to someone else isn't it lol