The cramps were awful. She found she could barely move her neck and her leg had fallen asleep. And to top it all off, when getting up, she banged her head on the metal edge of Malfoy's bed.

'Fuck this,' she groaned, clutching her head. Even the small rays of light pulsing through the curtains hurt.

Draco lay awake listening to Hermione get up.

Serves her right, the bitch, he couldn't help but think. She sees how it feels now.

'Alright there, darling?'

Hermione uttered a few very colorful four-letter words under her breath.

'Language, darling. I might make a new rule – the Malfoy wife can't swear – '

'Shut the fuck up Draco!' she snapped. 'You do that, and I swear to God you will be seeing what your insides look like splattered against the wall.'

He raised an eyebrow. Wow, was someone grouchy today.

Hermione's mood soon wore off after breakfast but quickly returned with the unwanted call of an unexpected visitor.

'You came back?!' Narcissa shrieked. 'We booked months in advance for that hotel and you only spend a day in it!' she rounded on Hermione. 'This is all your fault!'

'Mine!' she yelped. 'What did I do?'

'If you hadn't been born, none of this would have happened!'

Hermione snorted.

'Draco, get control of your wife! I want you to teach her the manners she must pay to her elders and severely punish her when she disobeys you – ' Narcissa's lecture went on and on. ' – and you need not come back for such a trivial thing like your father going to St. Mungo's. I go there myself, all the time. And you don't see Draco running to me.' She snorted. 'And they fixed his condition. He's out today, isn't that good?' her voice reeked with sarcasm.

'Excellent!' said Hermione brightly. 'Draco, can we go visit him now – '

'No,' said Narcissa. 'Not now or ever. Today, that is. Punishment for not contacting us when you decided to come back.'

'But – ' yelped Hermione again.

'And,' continued Narcissa in a louder voice, 'you're due to return to school in a couple of days. Too bad you blew your honeymoon. I suppose you can always look back to that one day with joy.'

Hermione doubted that, since she had spent the day indoors and Draco had spent it shopping. But whatever.

Narcissa took out a small mirror and hastily checked her hair. 'I've got to go now. See you all later.'

With that, she flounced out.

'Let's go to see my father,' Hermione told Draco cheerfully.

'Uh, didn't you hear her?' Draco said. 'Mother said no way.'

'So? What she doesn't know won't hurt her.'

'She'll have put a spell on here, mark my words. Unless you feel like never seeing him again, stay here with me.'

She stuck her chin up. 'I don't believe that, honestly, that'll have to be one hard spell and I think she's bluffing. C'mon!'

'I'm not going.'

Hermione studied his face. He was serious. 'But – I thought we had to go everywhere together – '

'Doesn't matter, just this once,' his eyes glittered in a way that made her uneasy. He stood up and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. 'Go ahead.'

Very suspiciously, she turned and was halfway out the door when he called to her. 'Oh, and when she's punishing you, don't talk back, okay? Be respectful.'

Eyes narrowed, Hermione left. But his words and his look were enough to make her think that maybe Narcissa wasn't bluffing after all.

After a seconds thought at the doorway, she stepped confidently out and into the welcoming sunlight. Narcissa had to be bluffing, and like she was just going to lie down and not stand up for herself. Unfortunately, just as she was about to leave, Lucius Malfoy apparated meters away from her. Her heart caught in her throat.

'Hello,' he said coldly.

A thought occurred to Hermione.

'Lucius!' she said, in a voice smothered in fake warmth. 'Just the person I wanted to see! May I have a word?'

Lucius politely raised an eyebrow. But nevertheless, he nodded. 'Quickly. I must talk with Draco.'

Thankful that Narcissa hadn't tipped him off about her not leaving the house (she wouldn't have had enough time to, anyway) Hermione plunged into her second-made speech.

'About this whole, not working thing, I think it's preposterous. Every woman works now, and I could earn the Malfoy family billions of dollars, why waste that just because you cling to a tradition that was established back when woman were worth next to nothing. Look how many women work today, I think that I should be able to as well – '

'Miss Malfoy,' Lucius spat out, his nostrils flaring. 'Will you never give up?'

With a hint of pride, Hermione stood up straighter. 'No. Never.'

'Fine then,' he snapped, 'but this is the only rule that will be changed – do not think that just because this rule was changed the others will be. That is not the case. You may work on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays only, no other days, and you may not start work until after ten and you may not finish after five, do I make myself clear?'

'Yes, yes, very clear!' Hermione squealed, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down. She could now work – for very little time but it was better than nothing. 'Thank-you so much, you won't regret it.'

Raising an eyebrow again, Lucius Malfoy strode into the mansion. Hermione was about to leave to tell her father and mother the good news, when someone else apparated beside her.

'Did you not believe that I would put spells on this house?' purred Narcissa evilly. 'Well, well, that was your mistake. One you will regret, Miss Malfoy.'

Hermione's heart sank like a stone. Dammit.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been busy.