Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world, including Hogwarts, Draco and Ginny. I do own the plot to this, and some of this characters I own as well, but nothing else.

Author's Note: The eighth chapter! Thanks for the awesome response! Again thanks to NB for the wonderful ideas for this story! I'm SORRY (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) for making you guys wait so much! I'm such a horrible person. But things have been very hectic over at college, so my time is limited. I hope you guys will find this chapter to your enjoyment, even though I must anticipate that it'll probably be boring as it is filler and things important to the almost non-existent plot. Thanks for being so faithful and wait for the chapters while still leaving reviews! I do read each and every one and if I feel the need to answer one, do check because I Author Response them on the review page.

It Wasn't Unexpected

Summary: SEQUEL TO MARRIAGE TO A MALFOY Krystal and Michael are in their 5th year at Hogwarts and they still are as "polite" as they ever were to one another. Being in different Houses does not help the situation, but maybe Christmas can. R&R please!

Chapter Eight:

Hidden in You

Sometimes things can change in just a minute. The realization of a thing can happen in the direst of times. Then again, sometimes those realizations alone can cause an extremely upsetting chain of events. This case sounded too familiar now as Krystal sat on her grandfather's den, waiting for him to come. After last night was over, she had walked steadily to her room, in a daydreaming state. Never in a million years would she have expected the note scribbled hastily on top of her pillow, placed carefully with a black lily, her favorite flower.

Her first assumptions ran over to Michael, but she knew, even as she reached for it, that it was highly improbable. Few people knew that this was her favorite flower, and the extreme rarity of it did more to raise her suspicions. As she unfolded the note, she saw Lucius' neat handwriting upon parchment stationary so fine as his own character was. Oh Damn, she thought as she read the contents of the note. Inside was a simple scribbled message, short, curt and to the point.

'Meet tomorrow in den. My house. I'll owl your father informing him first thing in the morning. Be here early.'

He didn't even sign it, for Merlin's sake! But she knew it was from him. Sighing deeply, she had lain down to sleep. Now she waited for him, as one of the servant ghosts had informed her that he would be coming down shortly. Sighing deeply, much in the fashion as she had done last night, she twiddled her hands nervously in her lap. She had dressed quite to visit her grandfather, but she knew of his old-fashioned mannerisms and she liked to please him. She was clad in a two piece set; the top was white, made of silk, hanging loosely on her form, two thin rhinestone straps holding it up on her shoulders. As such, she had the skirt of the same color and material, flowing loosely, bell-shaped, around her legs too, reaching down to her knees. Her shoes were made of the finest leather, sandy in color. She had a matching hat, which concealed almost half of her face, with a large flower on its band. On her neck lay a single Demiguise feather, attached to a ribbon.

She tapped her heel on the floor, anxiously. The doorknob was turning, she could hear it. She didn't turn around, she dared not to. As she heard her Grandfather enter, she held her breath. The door was shut behind him and she could hear his heavy footsteps approaching. Calmly and slowly, he came into her peripheral view and she saw his long, but elegant strides. He had his cane in one hand, and he set it down as he came directly across from her, his desk being the only thing between them.

Quite calmly, and almost innocently – a gesture, indeed, that was too alien for a man such a Lucius – he inquired her presence with his eyes. She reached down slowly, until she got hold of her purse. From within it, she took out the note and the flower and carefully placed them on his desk. His eyes widened in recognition and a smirk drew softly across his lips, not reaching his eyes. At that moment, she had to remember to breathe, as she had been holding her breath all along.

"Ah… black lilies… they are not easy to come by, or to breed, actually," he said as he took the flower in his hand and examined it. His words were like silk, whispered, soft, and betraying. "Actually, there are only about a hundred gardens in which these are bred throughout the whole world. They all belong to wizards, and there are only three of those gardens who produce them every year, all year long, in plentiful quantity. And one of those gardens is the one in my Manor, this Manor." He paused, fingering the lone petal of the flower gingerly with a gloved hand. "They require work, and your Grandmother loves to tend to them. You must add Basilisk venom to them, did you know that? Then again, you also need to add Phoenix Tears. Such a combination for something so perfect, isn't it?" He inquired. She nodded silently. Did he ask her here so he could only talk about flowers? Oh, she knew the topic would soon diverge from that. "Such a deadly combination indeed… for one cannot stand the other until they unite in that and produce this beautiful and extremely rare flower. Some weeds, inconsistent buggers, I must add, try to attach themselves to the lilies… but they are plucked promptly. No use in tainting such perfection, don't you think?" His smirk became more pronounced as he now diverted his attention from the flower to look at her. He pointed the lily at her and she reached out her hand and took it.

"Something tells me you're not talking about flowers anymore, Grandfather." She eyed him carefully, trying to look past his inconsistent demeanor. There it was… the glint in his eye.

"Oh, I never was, Krystal, I can assure you that." He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands on the armrests, tapping his fingers against the hard surface. It was the only thing to be heard in the room. She knew what he was going on about.

In his wonderfully brilliant analogy, she, Krystal, was the black lily. Michael would be the weed. And her parents, Draco and Ginny… they would be the basilisk venom and the phoenix tear, respectively. She knew her grandfather too well. He was looking at her as though he knew what she was deciphering, and the slightest sneer appeared on his face.

"There are more things than wards in the Manor for security, precious." He cleared his throat. "Oh, I saw you. But who can blame teenage hormones, really? Because that is all what they are, am I right?" he asked, observing her carefully. She nodded solemnly, she knew better than to disappoint her grandfather. "Which is why it will never happen again. It is for your own good, precious. Getting tangled with that half-blood Potter will only make you unworthy. And we can't have that… now, can we?" At this, she shook her head no, staring deadly at him. "Good. Good. You're a good girl, Krystal. A good, strong Malfoy… as for Potter… well, I don't want you getting close to him again, is that understood?"

Krystal stared at the floor and then looked up at Lucius, who was watching hear dead serious. "But Grandfather-"

"Ah, ah, ah, precious…" he made a gesture of 'no' by waggling his gloved finger. "You know very well that you wouldn't want to get on your old grandfather's bad side, now would you? Besides, ultimately, he would be the one affected by your lack of obedience." He stood up and walked around the desk, stopping right in front of her; he bent down and placed a hand under her chin. "You know I do this because I love you. Now… is it understood?"

"Yes, Grandfather."

-----

What was there to do now? On one hand, she had her grandfather's love, trust and expectance. On the other hand, she had her own harbored feelings. Yet, deep within, she knew her grandfather was doing the right thing. Even if… she wanted nothing else but to hate him right now. Hate him for denying her the chance to possibly love, maybe? For denying her the chance to become even more in touch with her own self.

She felt as though she was on the brink of insanity. She was standing on a log in the middle of a cliff. If she balanced to the left, she would fall down to thorns and sharp edged rocks. If she balanced to the right, she would fall into a shallow current, and given the tremendous height she was on, neither option seemed the right thing to do. Her heart and her mind debated now.

Only… her heart was on her Grandfather's side… and her mind on Michael's.

Oh, if it wasn't so bloody difficult! Perhaps she could just bury her face in her pillow, close her eyes, go to sleep and when she woke up, none of the past days would have happened and she could continue on living as happy as she ever felt with her situation. She tried it, it didn't work. Letting out a scream of frustration into her pillow, she didn't hear the door to her bedroom open until she felt the mattress shift.

With no will whatsoever, she raised her head from the pillow, her ginger hair concealing her face. She felt someone touch her and put her hair out of her face, tenderly placing it behind her eyes. Long before she could see the person, she knew who it was. For the touch was so familiar… so wanted right now.

"Hey mum."

Ginny smiled kindly down at her daughter. Lucius had already told both her and Draco the situation that was going on between her and Michael, and as for Krystal, after some dull stares from her father and some pity ones from her mother, she had resolved to just stay in her room and only go down for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"Do you want to talk, hun?" Ginny asked in a gentle voice, still smoothing her daughter's hair. She felt her pain. The worst thing a mother can experience is one of her children suffering. Ginny did not wish that on anyone.

"Not really…" Krystal looked down, biting her lip and Ginny nodded in understanding. After caressing her daughter's face, Ginny placed her hand under Krystal's chin and tapped it so she looked up.

"Hey… you don't want to be all sullen like that, especially when you have a visit." She smiled. Krystal tilted her head in confusion. "Yes, down in the receiving area. I think you'll be glad to see him. Perhaps that's just what you need right now. He showed up as if by fate, eh?" Ginny smiled again and smoothed down her daughter's hair. "Now, pick yourself up, and go down there, he's waiting for you."

-----

He was anxious. The time in which he had not seen or heard from her seemed like an eternity. And there was nothing he wanted more than to see her now. He cared deeply for her. It was just one of those things. He had heard the situation, and he couldn't help but wince at the outcome of it. He couldn't help but feel a small amount of guilt. He should have been there.

Perhaps the situation had called for his presence to be unknown. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Krystal was going through. He wanted to comfort her like he had done on numerous occasions before. A sidetrack, that's what he would be. Forever ushered to the side by her. He was more than happy to comply in fulfilling only the best friend role. It wasn't as though he liked her. No, that wasn't it.

Well… he liked her, but not in a romantic sense, anyway. Or at least he thought so.

It's rather ironic how the fickle feeling of doubt can quickly rise up. It's the worst kind of bile; it consumes, drowns and reiterates everything in its way. Doubt is always present in the mind and it is by doubt why we do so many of the things we do, why we make so many of the decisions we make.

Snapping him out of his thoughts, he heard some steps. He looked up to the stairs and saw her. It was that simple. It was… her. His breath almost caught in his throat at the emotion that surged through her features in a millisecond when she deciphered who he was. He felt something surge deep within the pit of his stomach and could only compare it to the euphoria of seeing her. Of knowing that even though she was broken on the inside, she could still look so beautiful and angelic.

She ran down, skipping over stairs, and as her arms circled around him in a tight embrace, she let out a contented yell. "Malcolm!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. He did the same thing back to her, holding on with dear life. He'd missed her in the short time they had been apart. No matter what… she would forever be, for him, a…

"Princess…" he whispered against her hair, kissing her head tenderly. "I've missed you." He pulled back; he needed to look at her. His best friend, the only person in whom he could trust amongst everyone he ever knew. A small smile crept on her features, but up close he could see the pain she was going through. Her eyes were opaque, even if they glinted in their iridescent silvery mist and she had vague dark marks staining the bags under her eyes. A look of concern rapidly filled his features. "That bad, eh?"

"You can't even imagine, Malcolm!" she said, looking down and shaking her head, biting her upper lip, she then placed her gaze up to him again. "Come on," she slid her hand into his own, and the feeling was so natural that he smiled at the gesture. After returning the smile, she continued, "I'll tell you all about it."

They walked hand in hand, she stopped to grab a thick jacket from the entrance closet and then they made their way out of the house, and strolled around the grounds, she was talking, and he was listening. "So, it all started back in Hogsmeade about two weeks ago…"

-----

Oh, how good it felt to let everything out of her chest. How good it was to finally talk to someone about it.

After she had talked and told him everything, Malcolm remained quiet, taking in the information. Krystal tightened the jacket around herself, it was rather cold today. She wondered how last night she didn't feel the cold, as she had only been in a cotton nightgown and a silk night robe. Perhaps the numbness she felt was physical too.

They sat now next to a frozen fountain, on an ice covered bench they had cleaned before sitting on and which Malcolm had secretly done a warming spell upon. They marveled in the quiet. It was actually rather refreshing.

"Well… it's difficult," he said after a small while. Oh really? Thought Krystal sardonically…

"I hadn't noticed…" she said, not bothering to keep her sarcasm at bay. However, he understood where she was coming from. She put her head in her hands and rubbed at her forehead with her glove-covered fingers. Letting out a groan of frustration, she sighed. "So, what am I supposed to do now?" she asked, muffled through her hands.

"Quite honestly…" started Malcolm, placing a palm on her back and rubbing it soothingly. She found this extremely welcome at the moment and she leant slightly towards him, looking for warmth and for comfort. "I have no idea. But… perhaps you ought to just forget the whole thing? Merlin knows you wouldn't like to be on your Grandfather's bad side."

Krystal shook her head in her hands, squirming lightly. Malcolm kept rubbing her back comfortingly. "You know…" he continued "You could have a standing chance against your Grandfather."

She did not retrieve her head from her hands, but she still quirked an eyebrow. After giving a rather sarcastic little laugh, she spoke, "Oh yeah? Do enlighten me."

"Well… you could… and I only mean could, not that you'd have to really do it-""Get on with it, Malcolm." It wasn't an order, merely a request. A really assertive request at that.

"Well, you could try to back your grandfather into a corner expressing that Potter is indeed… a… well, a Slytherin. Coax Lucius into that. Not even a man as he could front that argument."

Krystal snapped her head to look at Malcolm, this time indeed putting it out of her hands. A look of sheer giddiness started to creep up her pale features and a small grin formed on her mouth. "That's brilliant, Malcolm!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. "You're brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" she kept repeating whilst she kissed his cheek numerous times.

"Thank you, I know," he said smugly, a small smirk creeping up on his lips.

-----

Ginny was playing the piano, and Draco was watching her. The kids were on their afternoon nap and these were the small moments which they had for themselves. They seemed lesser and lesser as the years advanced, but there would come a time in which the time together would grow once more, but for now, they had to do with what they had.

Draco was sprawled over a couch, drink in hand. He was by no means an alcoholic, but he had his drinks now and then. He was marveling in the soothing melody coming from the piano his wife was playing. Her playing the piano had always calmed him. And right now, he needed calming.

His daughter… his precious daughter was snogging Potter's kid! And not just Potter's kid, but the mudblood's - he meant, muggleborn's - kid too! Oh what a hell. And his father found out. He pressed the cold drink to his forehead in attempts of making the growing headache become less painful. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear when Ginny stopped playing.

"Worried, darling?" she asked, as she sat besides him, tucking one leg under her bum. He sighed deeply and moved his eyes slowly until he was watching her. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, as he was accustomed to see it now. She almost never wore it down now. Her face looked fresh and bright, and it lacked the usual light make-up. Quite slowly, he nodded his head. "Don't be," she said soothingly. "You can't really do anything about it, you know. Neither can Lucius. Eventually, things will work out the way they're meant to work out."

"But—"

"Shh…" she shushed, placing one hand on his mouth and sliding it down until it rested on his chest innocently. "Let her be. She's fifteen. We can't encircle her in a bubble anymore. She has to learn by herself now."

Draco shook his head. "I am not going to let my daughter get hurt, Ginny." He grabbed her hand lightly, playing with her fingers. "Who knows what I'll do if she comes home crying."

"Do you like it how she goes around now, Draco?" asked Ginny, raising her voice a little, but not quite fighting yet. "She sulks around the house, barely comes out of her bedroom, is never hungry… I'd rather see her with Michael than how she looks now. You see what this is doing to her. I don't like to see our daughter like that. It pains me to see it. Plus, Draco, he's a Slytherin, quite worthy of attention as you yourself have told me numerous times. So why is it any different than Malcolm Whitlock?"

Draco remained quiet and heard a faint knock at the door. With an order for whomever it was to come in, the door opened and in marched Lucius Malfoy, looking as arrogant as ever, with his long blondish-white hair pulled back into a ribbon. "Virginia… Draco…" he greeted, walking slowly, carrying his cane as usual with smug stubbornness. "Couldn't help overhearing your conversation… and as I came to check on my granddaughter and the conversation concerned her, I thought I ought to pop in for a while." He sat himself down on a leather armchair. "Do fetch her."

-----

Krystal had seated herself on an armchair next to her grandfather's. She had been listening intently as the three adults heatedly discussed her future allowing naught a single word from her mouth. She thought she had a right to express herself, especially when it concerned her life later on. But, apparently, the three adults clearly did not share that same enthusiasm. It was getting headache-worthy already and her temples were starting to throb painfully.

Lucius had more or less maintained his composure throughout the discussion, as well as his ground, and denied completely any acceptance from his part. Her mother had been firm on her decision to let her daughter be and her father had wavered between the two different points of view. It was beginning to become unbearable. Her head almost buried in her hands, she listened to the adults drone on about her without stopping to ask her once.

She was forgetting her manners, and the urge to stand up, yell, and run out of the room was growing consistently inside of her. Breathing steadily, she tried to fight that urge down. But it kept growing insistently, and quite frankly, the fighting was only half-hearted now. At last, she couldn't take it anymore, she stood up instantly.

"Just stop!" she yelled angrily and then proceeded to storm out of the room, breaking into a quick sprint. She reached the receiving area and huffed indignantly, her cheeks fired up because of the extreme anger she was feeling towards her family now. The nerve they had, to discuss her life as if she couldn't decide it by herself. She was fifteen years old, fifteen! She was pacing quickly from side to side, they should know, they should know how she was.

She wasn't one to stay cross-armed at any situation. She made up her mind in a split second and grabbed her dark blue traveling cloak from the rack next to the door. As she was fastening it, she called out, "Teeny!" The little elf was there in about three seconds' time, bowing and offering apologies for having delayed so much. "Don't mind that now, Teeny. If my parents or my grandfather or anyone from my family asks where I am, tell them I've gone up to my room and I wish not to be disturbed. It's already locked, so they will not suspect anything. Tell them I've gone up to my room and no one is to bother me, is that understood?"

"Yes, Miss Krystal Malfoy, miss."

"Good, now run off and tell the other House Elves as well. Tell them it is an order, and it is."

As Teeny ran off to tell the order, Krystal went into the living room, still muttering slightly, grabbed a handful of powder from the jar next to the fireplace and threw it. The flames glowed green and she entered, saying very clearly the two words that would mark the beginning or the end of whatever happened next.

"Potter's Cottage!"

---Don't forget to check and keep track of my blog because there'll be quite a bit of important info in there and you guys can comment in a more direct way there. It also states every time I update and it has the story mapped out as well as some other tidbits important to the MtaM series storyline---

---Oh yes! I have an LJ if anyone cares to add me! On a more personal level, anyway. In Livejournal, my username is: lieyourtruth so if any of you guys have LJs, feel free to add me!---

---Also, I've started a Harry Potter RPG over at so go there and search for linarastone (please add an underscore before the name, example add underscorelinarastone If you don't know what an underscore is, look at your keyboard, next to the number 0 there is a key with two strikes, hit shiftthat key and there you have it) there are a lot of characters free and we need teachers, death eaters, Voldermort, and anyone else. Please do me the favor of checking it and applying if you can, thanks.---

Author's Note: Only one more chapter to go and it'll be Au Revoir IWU! Finally I can finish the MtaM series. Chapter 9, I hope, will be posted very soon. One week at the most. I hope. Review, please!

Some of you may have noticed (and if you haven't I suggest you check it out) that both on my Author's Page and on my blog, I've declared a small Hiatus for my stories, which means I won't be updating as regularly. For more information on this, do check out my Author Info on my profile, thanks.

Don't forget to leave me a nice juicy review, whether it is to insult me for making you guys wait or to simply say: "HI!".

-Blue