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.

About two weeks had passed since Hermione came to live in the Malfoy Manor. During this time, she and Narcissa gained a mutual sort of respect for each other. Hermione went to Narcissa's boring tea parties and Narcissa helped Hermione around the house, telling her the history of the Malfoy and Black families. Hermione found this interesting for some odd reason.

Anyways, the two of them were eating lunch, Hermione listening as Narcissa rattled on about how lovely her great Uncle Vortigern had been to her when she was younger. Somehow, the conversation had shifted onto Draco and Hermione was not too pleased about talking about him.

"Well, what do you think of him?"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat hoping that her face did not give away anything. "I think he's a bit more...tolerable than before. Nothing can change the fact that I don't like him though."

"Is that so?"

"Of course...it's hard to put 13 years of hatred behind you in two weeks."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at Hermione before taking a calculated bite of her salad. "I suppose you're right." There was an awkward silence between the two until Narcissa asked Hermione, "Do you remember what I told you when you first came?"

Hermione frowned and slowly put down her fork. She nodded and said, "Is it going to happen soon?"

Narcissa's blue eyes glowed for a bit as she replied, "I can't tell you that, Ms. Granger but I can say that I wish you and my son would try to get along. It will make things much easier when the time comes."

Hermione almost laughed out loud. "Me and him, get along?" She could almost feel Narcissa glaring at her. "I…I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. But if he doesn't do it, I'm not doing it."

Narcissa gave a small chuckle. "Funny, that's exactly what he said." Hermione could feel her cheeks going a little red.

"Is that so?" muttered Hermione feeling around for her fork. She stabbed it into a lettuce leaf that was on her plate and promptly stuffed it into her mouth. A few seconds later, after swallowing the lettuce she replied, "I suppose I could try to be nicer to him…"

"Wonderful!" replied Narcissa, smirking at the brunette. "Now, onto more important matters…"

At this point, Hermione tuned the lady out. Narcissa was a sweet woman, at least to those people she thought well of, but she tended to talk a little too much. Frankly, it was as though she was listening to an older version of Parvati or Lavender speaking. Narcissa knew everything about everyone, which should have attracted Hermione's attention, but Hermione did not really find it that interesting.

"…and she told me that the only reason why the damn elf wasn't listening to her was because it had been given orders by her husband not to do anything she asked it to do. Outrageous, I tell you."

Hermione rubbed her head and smiled in Narcissa'a voice's direction. "Mrs. Malfoy…"

"Narcissa, dear. Yes?"

"Have the healers gotten any news yet?"

Narcissa's blue eyes looked blank for a second. "About your condition? No, I'm afraid not. They would have told you if they found something."

Hermione hung her head in disappointment as Narcissa looked on sadly. "Don't be so glum, Hermione. Think of it as time to do things that you couldn't do before."

"What is there for me to do?" snapped Hermione crossly. "I'm blind. That takes off, I don't know, about 1,000 things from my list of things to do before I die."

Narcissa clucked at Hermione. "Hermione, Draco once told me that you were one of the most infuriating people in the world."

"I wonder why he said that," deadpanned Hermione.

"He said that, dear, because you never gave in to anything he did. I find that an amazing quality in a person and if you let your blindness get in your way, you are not the girl I thought you were."

Hermione sat in awe wondering what to say to the woman in front of her. No one had ever said anything like that to her. Sure, she had been complimented many times in her life, but this was different. She couldn't help but feel smug that it was also coming from one of the most important purebloods in the world.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Hermione, I have to get going. I'm meeting a friend of mine in about an hour and I won't be home until late tonight."

"Would you like me to wait for you before eating dinner?"

Narcissa laughed and said, "Heavens no, go ahead and start eating. I've made sure that Draco will be here at six, though."

"He usually eats out," replied Hermione blandly.

"Nasty habit in my opinion," spat Narcissa. "Dinner should be eaten at home with one's family. He'll be here, Hermione"

"Do I need to cook anything special?"

Narcissa snorted and eyed the girl with a smile. "Not unless you want to. Draco is not a picky eater, he just appears that way."

Hermione nodded rolled her eyes in her mind as she drank some of her water. Narcissa was truly devoted to her son. It was easy to see why Draco still lived with her. She was very kind for one thing and she stuck up for him all the time.

"Well, I'd best be going, dear. See to it that you get some rest."

"Yes, Narcissa, I will take some rest," replied Hermione grudgingly. As soon as Narcissa left the room, Hermione got up from her seat and left the dining room. She slowly tapped her way towards the back of the manor. Once she got there, she opened the set of double doors that led outside. Hermione smiled as a cool breeze blew past her. Stepping out of the house, she walked for about 100 meters and sat down on the grass. She didn't really care that there were probably worms and other bugs in the grass. Just being out here gave her an unusual sense of calm that she didn't get anywhere else. She sighed and lay back on the grass. Slowly, she drifted to sleep.

She woke up about two hours later. The first thing she realized was that she was not outside any more. She was lying down on top of some sort of couch with a blanket covering her. The second thing was that her cane was not with her. Hermione immediately panicked. She quickly got up from her lying down position and stood up.

She took a deep breath and frowned as she started walking. Immediately, she crashed into something and almost stumbled to the floor but was caught by a strong arm that held her steady. "Where do you think you're going?" came a voice from behind her.

Hermione sighed inwardly as she replied, "Oh, it's you."

Draco let go of his hold on Hermione as he pushed her black cane into her hand. "Who did you think it was?"

Hermione shrugged as she accepted her cane. "I was actually trying to figure out where I was, if you didn't notice."

Draco let out a cold laugh as he guided her back to the couch she was lying down on. "You're in the silver study. I brought you in here after I found you outside sleeping."

Hermione jerked her arm away from him as she sat down on the couch. "Was it a problem if I slept on the grass?"

Draco fixed her with a piercing gaze as he said simply, "It was raining."

Hermione immediately felt guilty for being rude to him. "Thank you..."

Draco waved his hand dismissively then rolled his eyes when he remembered that she couldn't see him. "It was nothing."

"Really?" asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow.

"Only following my mother's orders," he replied coolly. "She would be very disappointed with me if I let you get hurt."

"I almost forgot about that," muttered Hermione to herself.

Draco sat behind his desk and rolled his eyes at her in annoyance. "I suppose you're hungry then..."

Hermione nodded and said, "I would have cooked something but Narcissa told me not to bother."

"Just as well," muttered Draco looking at the papers that were scattered all over his desk. "I'd probably die from food poisoning."

Hermione scowled and said calmly, "I'll have you know that I can cook very well." When Draco only snorted, her scowl deepened as she replied, "I bet that you can't even cook."

Draco looked up from the papers to Hermione and said, "Now why would I need to know how to cook when I have hundreds of elves who can do it for me?"

Hermione's jaw dropped as she brandished her cane towards the direction of his voice. Her face began turning red as she said in a low voice, "How the hell can you just stand there and say that? Do you think that they actually want to cook for you?"

Draco laughed harshly and said, "Granger, I am very sure that even if they had a choice, they would cook for me."

"But you - you don't even eat any meal here except for breakfast!" spluttered Hermione.

"I have my reasons..."

"Such as?"

"The house elves are getting old. As a result, they quality of their work is deteriorating. I for one do not wish to be on the receiving end of that."

Hermione scowled at him as she ran a hand through her hair. "Alright then, since you've decided that we're not eating here then where are we eating?"

Draco let out a laugh, which to Hermione sounded distinctly like broken bells. "Where are we eating, Granger? I normally eat at the office. As you can see, I'm not eating there so I don't know where we're eating right now."

"Ever hear of a restaurant, Malfoy?"

"Of course I have, but I would never take you of all people to one because I'm sure that you eating habits are atrocious. Besides, someone might see us."

"Is it bad if someone sees us?" asked Hermione with a smirk on her face.

Draco stared at her with a discernable look on his face and said, "I'm pretty sure it is. I for one don't wish to be seen on the cover of the Daily Profit or Witch Weekly with you."

Hermione scowled and said, "You know, for someone who's trying to be polite, I don't think that you've got it down too well."

Draco glared at her, glad that she couldn't see it. "Fine, then where do you want to go?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip and thought to herself. Suddenly, it hit her. "We could go to a movie. I mean I wouldn't be able to see but it doesn't matter." She stood up and began pacing in between Draco and the couch. "We could always grab dinner at a drive through afterwards, that wouldn't be a problem but a movie..."

Draco stared at her, his jaw slightly open. "You want me to go into muggle London with you to watch some sort of moving picture that muggles watch for amusement?"

"Exactly!" replied Hermione brightly. "If you're worried about anyone seeing you there, you won't have to worry."

Draco scowled at the brown haired witch in front of him before saying, "Fine, let's go to this…movie of yours, but if anything goes wrong, it's your fault, not mine.

That was how, by the time the day was coming to an end, Hermione and Draco were found at a small burger joint in the middle of London. The movie had been hilarious to Hermione even though she couldn't see it. Draco on the other hand had been horrified and partially freaked out. They had gone to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. While Hermione couldn't get over how funny it had been, Draco had been rigid and still the entire time in the movie theater staring at the screen with a mixture of horror and intrigue on his face.

As the two were coming out of the theater, Draco asked, "Are all muggle movies like that?"

Hermione shook her head and with a smile replied, "No, but this, in my opinion was a very good one." Draco paled a bit and secretly vowed never to watch a muggle movie again. Currently, they were at the counter of the fast food restaurant. Hermione had explained what everything on the menu was to Draco and to be honest, it all sounded very interesting to him.

"Hello and welcome to Burger Place! How may I help you?" asked the girl at the desk. She appeared to be about twenty and was chewing a piece of gum.

Draco looked at her with contempt but nevertheless said, "A cheeseburger...thefries, and the… coke."

The girl smiled at him still chewing her gum and mumbled, "Cheeseburger, fries, coke…" She took the three items from a man behind her and gave them to Draco then looked at Hermione who was standing next to him and stared. After looking at Hermione's glassy eyes and cane, she gulped and said in a low whisper to Draco, "What does she want?"

Draco looked a bit taken aback and was about to say something when Hermione said coolly, "Why don't you ask me?"

The girl looked astonished as well. "I-I…"

"I'm only blind, you know," continued Hermione in a low voice. "Not deaf…not mute…and most certainly not dumb!" She was now almost yelling. Everyone in the restaurant was staring at her. "I'm leaving, and don't think that I'll ever come back here again. Let's go, Malfoy." Hermione whirled around, grabbing Draco in the process,who quickly threw some money on the counter and guided her out of the restaurant. Once they were outside, he walked her to a nearby bench and the two of them sat down.

"I never knew you had it in you, Granger," mumbled Draco through his burger.

"Oh shut up, Malfoy."

"Someone's in a bad mood." Hermione turned away from him. Draco took a sip of his coke and said, "This really isn't bad, for a muggle drink." He frowned when Hermione didn't say anything back to him. When he had said muggle outside of the movie theater, she had almost blown up at him. Now, she didn't do anything. "If it helps Granger, I think that girl deserved that."

"Damn right she did," muttered Hermione clutching her cane. She drew her knees closed to her and hugged them. "I don't get it. Just because I'm blind, it doesn't mean that I'm stupid or something."

Draco, who wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, took a bite of his burger, his eyes widening with delight as he realized that it actually tasted good.

"It makes me feel worthless," continued Hermione, turning back to Draco who looked at her sharply. "I feel worthless right now," she said, with a huff.

Draco dropped his food on the bench and turned Hermione so that she was facing him. He looked her square in the eyes though she couldn't see him and said, "Never say that again."

"Why not? It's true, isn't it? I mean I don't have a job meaning I can't help people. That basically classifies me as useless."

"Say that again, then I swear, I'll curse you. You don't know the first thing about feeling useless," he snarled.

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" asked Hermione with a sneer on her face. "I suppose being rich and getting everything you want classifies you as worthless."

He grabbed her arm and said coldly, "Why don't we continue this discussion back at the manor." He didn't even give Hermione chance to reply as he apparated to the manor.

The two of them appeared in the blue study a few minutes later. Hermione had a shocked look on her face. "How am I in here? I thought you couldn't apparate in here with me."

"Mother did something to the wards." Draco grabbed her by the arm and roughly placed her in the gray chair that was behind the desk in the room. He placed his hands on both side of the chair and leaned forwards till their faces were a few inches apart. "Where were we?"

"Well, I was about to say that if you call yourself worthless then half the world would love to be worthless."

"You don't know the first thing about being worthless, Granger." Hermione shivered as she felt his breath tickle her face. "When I switched sides during the war, that made me feel worthless," he started. "I was around people who had others there for them. No one doubted their loyalties. I on the other hand was watched constantly and I didn't do anything for the first year. I'm sure you remember that. You were constantly with Potter and Weasley while they were teasing me."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Hermione as calmly as she could.

"They made me stay at the headquarters while the rest of you went out and fought. People were dying and I could have helped prevent it." Draco's eyes shone with anguish. "You don't have any idea what that feels like. I felt worthless." He unconsciously grabbed her hand and said, "Being blind is far from worthless, Granger. You of all people should know that."

The two sat in silence for a while. Hermione gulped a few minutes later and said, "Malfoy, would you let go of my hand?" Draco's eyes snapped down to his hand which was still holding onto hers and dropped it.

Draco stared at her for a moment then let his usual emotionless mask slide back across his face. He slowly took her arm and pulled her up. "We should both go to sleep. It's late." Hermione nodded and let him take her to her room.

He opened the door to her room and gave her a small push towards that door. Just as he was about to leave, she turned back to him and said softly, "Malfoy…I suppose it's already too late for what Harry, Ron, and I did but I…I'm sorry."

Draco didn't say anything as he watched her close her door. Sighing deeply, he shook his head and made his way towards his chambers unaware of a pair of bright blue eyes watching him. Had he listened closely, he would have heard a soft laugh echo through the corridors of the Malfoy Manor.