Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are all owned by J. K. Rowling but I do own those characters, which you don't recognize.

The next four days passed by very slowly for Hermione. She was getting used to living in the manor but it was still very hard. She couldn't go anywhere without Narcissa or a house elf always being near her and helping her everywhere. Sometimes she got so mad that she wanted to punch something. She hated being treated like a helpless child. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate it, she wasn't used to it. It tired her to see nothing all the time. Just black. Black wasn't even that nice of a color. It never had been for her.She wanted to see red and gold again.

Draco wasn't helping either. He would walk up behind her without a sound and scare the living hell out of her. Other times, he would purposely trip her and catch her before she fell. She felt like wringing his neck till he couldn't breathe. But she couldn't do that. He was her host. Would any polite guest do that?

Tuesday came and Hermione got up. She was supposed to meet with Mr. Ringler todayto discuss what was going to happen to her. She always got a little nervous when talking to him. He didn't scare her, no he was far from intimidating. She never knew what to expect from him.

After getting ready, she grabbed her cane, which was propped against her bed and began tapping her way towards the front of her room. She slowly opened the door and shoved her cane through to make sure that she wouldn't crash into anyone. Once she was satisfied, she stepped out of her room and locked the door. She patted the sleeve of her robe and smiled when she felt her wand safely tucked into it.

She loved walking down this corridor. She imagined it to be dark and gloomy like the rest of the house, of course, but there was also magic in it. It was a pleasant sort of magic unlike the rest of the house, and it reminded Hermione of her home.

As she walked down the corridor, she ignored the portraits, which were grumbling at her because she was touching them. They were all portraits of blond haired, pale skinnedpurebloods and despised her for even touching their portraits.

'Twenty more steps to go before I reach the stairs' she thought. Around step number nineteen, she stopped and felt the ground with her cane. When her cane went didn't touch the floor, she inched her foot forward and felt the steps. She sighed, thankful that she didn't fall down the stairs. Tentatively, she placed one foot after another, slowly making her way down the stairs.

While she was walking, she heard footsteps come towards her. She frowned and poked her cane into the air. "Who's there?"

Suddenly her cane hit something hard. When she didn't hear anything, she lifted her cane up, but before she could do anything, she heard a voice in her ear whisper, "Mudblood, watch where you poke that thing."

The voice was so close to her that she nearly jumped. Unfortunately, that was enough to make her begin falling down the staircase. She screamed as her body tilted forward. Luckily, a strong arm wrapped around her waist preventing her from falling any further. "You owe me now," growled a voice in her ear.

"I owe you nothing, Malfoy," replied Hermione clutching his arm. She took a deep breath and said, "Since I have no idea where I am, will you please help me down the stairs?"

Draco peeled one of her hands off his arm as he guided her down the stairs. Once down, he said, "Where were you going, Granger?"

Hermione released her grip and said, "To eat something. Where were you going?"

"Mother insisted that I get you from your room," he replied turning his grey eyes away from her.

"That was very kind of her," replied Hermione, brushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"My mother is not a kind person, Granger."

"Oh, and I suppose you are?"

Draco didn't answer that but grabbed a hold of her sleeve and said, "I guess I'll have to take you to the dining hall."

Hermione scowled at him but him lead her there anyways. As soon as they reached the dining hall, Draco let go of her sleeve and sat down next to his mother. Hermione was left tohoble around the table and feel around for a chair.

"Draco! That was rude!"said Narcissa glaring at her son.

"What?"

"Just like you pulled out my seat this morning, don't you think that you should pull hers out as well?"

Draco fixed Narcissa with a pointed look, which if Hermione could have seen it, she would have known that it said that I don't do favors for mudbloods. Narcissa stared back at her son with the same arrogance causing Draco to scowl at her. He grudgingly took Hermione's robe once again and pulled out a chair for a her to sit in. Much to Hermione's dismay, he took her cane from her then looking at his mother with a scowl, he bowed down low to her. Narcissa let out a small laugh and continued eating.

Hermione sighed inwardly as she felt around for her plate. Once she found it, she snapped her fingers and a house elf appeared next to her. This was one thing that Hermione hated about living here. She was forced to use house elves. No one would put food on her plate for her. If she was staying with Harry or Ron, they would have gladly helped her but here, it was beneath people to put food for other people. "Ollie, would you mind putting some butter and toast on my plate?"

The house elf looked at her nervously and snapped its fingers. Two pieces of toast with butter already on them appeared in Hermione's plate. "Orange juice, please? Thanks." The house elf's eyes almost popped out of its head as the orange juice appeared. It had never gotten a please or a thank you. It bowed at Hermione and disappeared as quickly as it came.

"House elves are wonderful things, aren't they, Granger?" asked Draco with a glint in his eyes.

"I'm not answering that, Malfoy," muttered Hermione putting a piece of the toast in her mouth.

"This is wonderful!" said Narcissa looking at Draco and Hermione. Draco looked up at his mother in confusion. Hermione merely raised an eyebrow. "This is the first time the three of us are eating breakfast together. Usually Draco is at work by the time I'm up."

"I'm taking her to the office today," muttered Draco gulping down his pumpkin juice. He banged his goblet down on the table, earning himself a glare from his mother. "Ready mudblood?"

"Really, I would have thought you'd have come up with something better than mudblood by now," replied Hermione wiping her mouth with her napkin. "And yes, I'm ready to leave."

Draco stood up and began walking towards the corridor that led from the dining hall to the north wing. When Hermione didn't get up, he frowned and asked, "Granger, we don't have all day here."

Hermione rubbed her forehead. "I need my cane. You took it from me." Narcissa looked at the two with amusement and resumed eating her meal.

Draco glared at Hermione and picked up her cane, which he had put next to his chair and gave it to her. She snatched it from his hand and got up from the table. Wishing Narcissa "good morning," she left the room with her hand clutching the sleeve of Draco's robe.

Once the two were out of Narcissa's sight, Hermione dropped her hand and wiped it on her robe. Draco noticed this with narrow eyes but said nothing.

Finally, they were at the east blue study. Hermione smiled as soon as they entered the room. It felt the same as it did when she first came here. Maybe a little stronger but still the same.

Draco looked at her with disgust and said, "We have to take the floo, so let's go before the network gets too crowded."

Hermione smiled again and said, "Just two seconds, Malfoy...this room is wonderful."

"I never come in here except to use the floo," he replied staring at her.

"Why not? The magic in it...it's so breathtaking. I feel as though I'm in a dream."

Draco walked up to Hermione with a glare plastered on his face and said, "This was my father's study. It's filled with the essence of dark magic." Draco stepped even closer to Hermione and whispered, "If you think that it's beautiful, then you have a lot to think about, Granger."

Hermione shivered as she felt his cool breath rush past her ear. Dark magic...she never would have guessed. The energy in the room made her feel powerful but even light magic did that to her. She did feel something about this magic but she overlooked it. She gulped and said, "Would you move, please?"

Draco allowed a malicioussmirk to cross his face as he stepped aside. He walked over to the fireplace and took some of the green floo powder out of a golden jar that was next to it and threw it into the fire. He smirked to himself as he saw Hermione jump.

"That will take a lot of getting used to," she mumbled. Then stepping up to the fireplace she yelled, "Ministry of Magic!" She disappeared. Draco followed soon after.

Hermione tumbled out of the fireplace and banged into a few of the ministry officials who yelled at her for being clumsy. She tried to explain that she was blind but none of them would listen to her. Only when Draco came, they calmed down a bit. He carefully led her to the Auror Department, stopping only when people stopped Hermione to ask how she was doing.

Once they reached Mr. Ringler's office, Draco knocked on the door. "Come in!" yelled Mr. Ringler. Draco opened the door and pushed Hermione inside. When they got inside, they saw that another man was in there with his wand pointed at Mr. Ringler.

"Is something the matter?" asked Draco coolly, standing in front of Hermione, who could sense that there was something wrong.

Mr. Ringler, who looked a little flushed replied, "Of course not. My…friend was just leaving."

The man snarled at Mr. Ringler and sheathed his wand. "You better not forget, Ringler." The man took one look at Mr. Ringler and turned on his feet. As he passed by Hermione and Draco, his eyes lingered on Hermione for a few seconds longer than normal. Then when his eyes passed to Draco, the corner of his mouth seemed to curl up. Draco looked fiercely at the man who rushed out of the room.

"That didn't seem too pleasant to me," said Hermione leaning on her cane.

Mr. Ringler's eyes lit up as he saw Hermione. "Ms. Granger, please, do sit down. Mr. Malfoy, get a chair for her." Draco looked at his boss with disdain and sourly pulled out a chair for the blind girl. Then, he proceeded to guide Hermione into the chair, taking her cane away once she sat down. "How are you?"

"As good as I can be," replied Hermione fiddling with the sleeves of her robe. "Malfoy's house is very comfortable and his mother has been wonderful to me." Draco looked over at Hermione with an unreadable expression on his face. He turned back to Mr. Ringler who was nodding at her.

"That is good, I suppose…let's see, what did you want to discuss today? Ah, that's right, your job."

Hermione's sighed inwardly, wishing that she could see what her boss's face looked like. "I don't think that it would be beneficial to the Auror department if I worked under my current condition."

"My thoughts exactly Ms. Granger."

Hermione dropped her sleeves and asked softly, "Are you firing me?"

Draco nearly laughed as he saw her expression. "Firing you, Granger? I think this department would crumple into dust if it fired either of us."

Hermione turned her head to the direction of his voice and said, "Was that meant to be a compliment?"

"No, it was meant to show how weak this department is and who you'll be hurting if you give up your job," replied Draco frostily. Under his breath he muttered, "It'll be a compliment the day hell freezes over."

"That's enough, Mr. Malfoy," cut in Mr. Ringler, giving Draco a glare. He turned back to Hermione and said, "Mr. Malfoy is without a doubt right but we can't have any of the other aurors knowing that can we?"

Hermione shook her head weakly and sunk lower into her chair out of relief. "So what's going to happen then?"

Mr. Ringler grinned broadly though she couldn't see it and said, "Let's just say that you'll be going into temporary retirement with-

"Temporary retirement?" shrieked Hermione standing up. She had no idea where she was facing but that didn't matter to her.

"It's exactly what you need," muttered Draco resting his hand on his forehead.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" she yelled. "Temporary retirement! I'm not an old woman! I don't need to retire! Why can't I just-

"Now, Ms. Granger, listen to me. When I say temporary retirement, it's not retirement per se. It's more of a sick leave."

Hermione frowned and sat down. "Meaning?"

"You shall be considered sick until you get your sight back. I will still pay you but not as much as I did when you were working."

"She'll have the same position as before, right?" asked Draco dully.

"Of course, of course," replied Mr. Ringler standing up. "Now, if you'll both excuse me, I have err…urgent business to attend to." He began shooing Draco and Hermione out of the room.

Draco scowled at his boss as he helped Hermione out of her seat. Once they were out of the office, the door slammed with a bang.

"That was a bit weird…" said Hermione running her fingers through her hair.

"Weird? I'd say that man is a bit crazy."

"It's things like that that'll get you fired, Malfoy." Hermione grasped her cane and said, "What was that all about, asking whether I'd still have my position?"

Draco looked at her with a sneer and said, "I was hoping that maybe after this, you would be demoted and I wouldn't have to see your face for a very long time."

"Really?" asked Hermione raising an eyebrow. "I don't believe you, so why don't you tell me the truth."

Draco looked at her glassy eyes as he wished that there was something he could do to make her shut up. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her out of the Auror department. "The truth, Granger?"

"Yes, the truth, Malfoy," she replied, mimicking his voice. She tapped him smartly on his leg with her cane as she let him lead her.

Draco glared at her and said, "That was the truth, Granger."

Hermione frowned at him. "Alright, you go on thinking that, Malfoy. But you know what I think?"

"Does it matter?"

"I think you need me here every day so that you don't go insane."

Draco almost snorted. "Me, need you? I think you're the one who'll go insane." He stopped her and said, "We're at the fireplace. Think you can manage to get around the manor by yourself for once?"

Hermione smirked and said, "Of course, and I've only been there for what? Five days?"

Draco let out a small noise of irritation as he grabbed a hand full of floo powder from on top of the fireplace. He threw it in and within a second, the fireplace roared, turning green. Hermione didn't go though. "What are you waiting for, mudblood? I have a job to do."

Hermione turned to him and bit her lip. "Something didn't feel right with Mr. Ringler. He seemed a little…"

"…occupied. He seemed a little occupied, that's it. It's not my business what he does and it's not yours either." He dropped his voice to a whisper and said mockingly, "You don't need to save the world today."

Hermione gripped her cane tightly as she turned back to the fireplace. Before stepping in, she turned her head to him and said, "The world, Malfoy? I don't think the world needs saving. Personally, I think you need saving." She disappeared leaving Draco with a frown on his face.