Sorry for not updating sooner. I know you'd rather read the chapter than hear an excuse so here's the next chapter. By the way, this is my first story to reach 100 reviews so I'm real happy about that! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!

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 do not recognize.

Young Draco was in a vast field of grass. There were flowers everywhere. Pink ones, purple ones, even blue flowers were scattered around the sea of green. He felt like skipping for some reason so he did.

A melodious giggle erupted from the back of his mouth. He giggled loud and clear and continued skipping in the field. Young Draco dove into the grass, relishing the feeling of the breeze blowing past his face.

Immediately, warm hands scooped him up from the grass and turned him around.

Draco giggled once more and said, "Mother-" He stopped short as he saw that the owner of the hands was not his mother.

A kind looking woman with wide brown eyes and curly hair looked at him.

Draco frowned as he realized that he had seen this woman before. "Hermione?" he asked tentatively.

The woman nodded and set him down. Immediately, Draco began growing taller and his face morphed from that of a young child to his normal one. His grey eyes locked with her brown ones. He lifted his hand to touch her cheek and his eyes widened as he saw that her face was indeed solid.

"I thought you were gone..."

Hermione smiled and replied, "I am gone."

Draco let his hand linger on her cheek before asking, "Then how are you here?"

Hermione pulled away from his hand with a laugh and said, "This is a dream, Malfoy!" She spun around in circles and collapsed on the grass, a wide grin on her face.

Draco shook his head and said, "I don't dream..."

Hermione looked up at him from the grass and said, "You created this with your mind."

"Did I really?" asked Draco, pushing his blond hair out of his face.

Hermione sat up and picked a flower from beside her and smelled it. She held it out to him and said, "You made this place...you can make it do whatever you want."

She smiled as he slowly took it from her. Draco looked down at the blue flower and watched as it dissolved in his palm. He looked back at her and said, "None of this is real though."

He watched as she got up from the ground and walked up to him. She placed her hand in his and said, "It's as real as you want it to be."

Draco looked at her petite hand in his then back at her. "Where are you? Everyone's so worried."

She smiled at him and said, "Right under your nose."

"What do you mean by that?" He didn't get an answer for Hermione pressed a small kiss to his lips and danced out of his grip with a laugh. Draco looked at her retreating back with wide eyes before running after her.

"Come back!" He looked around the field of grass angrily. "Where are you?"

"Find me, Malfoy," came her voice floating on the breeze.

Draco whirled around anxiously and saw that she was not there. Desperately, he ran, searching for a glimpse of her telltale hair. He stopped as he noticed something.

The grass was wilting. Soon after, it turned brown and crumbled into dust. Draco was standing in a dust land surrounded by nothing. He was all alone. He took a few steps wondering what had happened.

"Find me, Draco..."

Draco took a step forward but yelled out as the ground underneath him collapsed. He groaned as his body hit the bottom of the hole.

Something landed on his head. He looked up and a clump of dust landed on his face. More dust began falling. Draco panicked unaware of what to do. The dust kept falling and falling. He was being buried alive. He couldn't breathe. It just kept falling and falling-

Draco jerked awake, sweat rolling down his forehead. His grey eyes were wide with emotion as he breathed heavily.

"Only a dream," he muttered, "only a dream..." He put a hand to his mouth and closed his eyes. The kiss she had given him felt so real. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Only a dream..."

Seeing as he would not be able to go to sleep, he got out of his bed and putting a shirt on, walked out of his room. He didn't know where he was going but his feet were moving and that was enough for him. Surprisingly enough, he stopped in front of the blue study, his father's study.

Frowning to himself, he opened the door but immediately closed it as he felt the dark magic beckoning for him to come inside. This wouldn't do at all. He was afraid of a room that belonged to a dead man. Pathetic, that's what he was. With a deep breath, Draco pushed open the door and walked inside.

He let the magic flow through him and much to his relief, nothing happened. He didn't feel evil. Letting a smirk grace his lips, he settled onto the leather chair that had been slowing gathering dust from not being used. He felt powerful in this chair. Powerful about what, he did not know. It must have the fact that he sat where his father had once sat. His father was now gone and Draco was here instead. His father was a dead man...

Draco felt his lips curve into a sneer at the thought. Gone? Yes...Draco knew that his father was gone. Dead? Draco sighed and closed his eyes.

Where was Hermione? Right under his nose was what she had said. It was only a dream though. She said that he controlled everything in it. He must have made her say it. He rolled his eyes at the thought. He must have made her kiss him as well then. Strangely enough, Draco did not feel strange about that. He wanted her to kiss him again, even if it was in a dream...

He shook his head. He had to find her. His mother always told him to trust his dreams. He had nothing to trust before as he never had dreams or could never remember them. He groaned slightly and banged his head down on his father's desk.

The door opened, disrupting his self pitying session. He looked up from the desk with a scowl and saw his mother walk in, looking as regal as ever.

"What are you doing here, Draco?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I could not sleep. I'll assume that you had the same problem." She walked over to him and smoothed back his hair with a sigh.

Draco scowled and shook her hand away. Narcissa smirked softly. He looked at her and said, "I dreamed last night."

Narcissa smiled pleasantly and said, "Did you now? Tell me about it."

Draco nodded and said, "I was in a field filled with grass and flowers." He looked back at her and said, "I think at the beginning I was about five years old." Narcissa nodded and pulled her robes around her tighter.

"I fell then someone grabbed me. I thought it was you, but it was Hermione..."

"Ms. Granger was in your dream?" asked Narcissa with a slight smirk.

"Yes, she was," replied Draco sullenly. "I became my normal age and I thought she was really there but then she told me it was a dream. I asked her where she was and she said right under my nose and she left. Then I woke up."

Narcissa regarded her son carefully and said, "You're not telling me everything."

Draco scowled at her and said, "After she ran away, I chased her and the grass became this dust land. I fell into a hole and almost got buried alive."

"Common nightmares...rubbish," muttered Narcissa. She looked into her son's eyes and saw that he had a distant sort of look in them. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Draco blinked and said rather quickly, "No."

"Yes there is, tell me."

"There's nothing else."

"Come now Draco, I know you well enough to tell when you're hiding something."

Draco rolled his eyes and looked away.

Narcissa smirked and said, "Was it something...inappropriate involving Ms. Granger?"

Draco looked at his mother with disgust and said, "No..."

"Then what is it?"

Draco stuck out his bottom lip and muttered, "She kissed me."

Narcissa shook her head and said, "That's it? And here I was thinking that it was something horrible." She smiled and rubbing Draco's shoulder comfortingly said, "It's normal to have a crush on someone, dear."

"Mother!" groaned Draco.

"What? Oh...I see...you're in love with her, aren't you?"

"I-" Draco stood up from the chair with a scowl and said, "Why am I even talking to you about this?" He stalked away from his mother who had a smirk on her face.

Narcissa's smirked dropped though. "Hold on a minute, dear."

Draco spared her a glance and said, "What?"

"What is it you said she said?"

"She said that she's right under my nose, but seeing as I've got nothing under my nose except for air, I -"

"Idiot!" yelled Narcissa. Draco looked at her with shock. "Oh, not you dear." Narcissa shook her head and said, "Pack your bags, Draco." She pushed past Draco and walked out of the blue study.

Draco followed her confused. He was getting rather tired of her new spontaneous behavior. She seemed to be coming up with revelations at odd moments of the day forcing him to do strange things. "What am I packing my bags for?"

"We are all going on a vacation," replied Narcissa pulling out her wand. She stopped in the middle of the hallway in front of a portrait of Draco's great uncle. She pointed her wand at it and immediately, all the portraits disappeared.

"Mother!" Draco looked at the hallway with astonishment as the halls faded from their once radiant colors to a dull black.

"We're going on vacation, Draco," said Narcissa. "Get your things and meet me back in the blue study in ten minutes."

"I have a job, Mother. I can't leave it." Draco scowled at his mother but shrank back when she turned to face him.

"Pack. Your. Things," she ground out, leaving her stunned son in the hallway.

Ten minutes later, Draco dragged his trunk into the blue study. He was surprised to see that his mother was already there.

"Good. Just to make sure, was everything black?" Draco looked at her with a look of disbelief before she turned to the fire. "We're going to your aunt's house, House of Cornn."

Draco snorted and said, "Lovely..."

"Her muggle husband named it, not her." Narcissa levitated Draco's trunk towards hers. "Go to her house. I'll come after you." She looked hesitantly around the room before asking, "Draco, tell me truthfully...does this magic seem alive?."

Draco looked ruefully at his mother feeling uncharacteristically like a child as he answered, "It's always been alive." Noticing the worried look on her face he said, "Well, I nearly suffocated from it this morning if that's any use."

Narcissa grasped her throat and said, "Go, Draco. I'll come."

Draco looked around at the once blue now black study and said, "What are you going to do?"

"Just go!" Narcissa shoved Draco towards the fireplace, earning a scowl from him.

He threw the floo powder into the fireplace and grasping the handles of both trunks, yelled, "House of Cornn!" Draco disappeared in a flash.

He stumbled out of the fireplace and nearly crashed into his aunt who had been walking in front of the fireplace at that moment.

She shrieked and whipping out her wand, pointed it in Draco's face. Once she saw who it was, she dropped her wand and said, "It's just you..."

Draco scowled and pulled both the trunks out of the fireplace. "Mother told me to come here."

Andromeda frowned and said, "For what?"

"We're going on vacation apparently."

Andromeda paled much to Draco's dismay. He had expected her to tell him that his mother was a barmy old lady who had a knack for seizing opportunities.

"She blackened the manor, did she?" Andromeda clutched Draco's arm with worry. Draco nodded as the older witch let go of her arm. Andromeda pulled out her wand and, going to a portrait of the same great uncle that was in the Malfoy manor, pointed her wand at it. Immediately, the house of Cornn turned black as well.

Andromeda turned back to Draco and said, "Wait here while I get my things. As soon as your mother comes, catch her. Do not let her fall under any circumstance!" With that, the brunette rushed away.

Draco scowled once more wondering what was going on. He hated it when people did not tell him what was going on. He looked up as he heard the fire roar. His mother staggered out looking deathly pale. Remembering what his aunt had told him, he caught her deftly and sat her down on his trunk.

"Mother..."

"I should have known," she muttered. "I saw it coming." Narcissa's blue eyes shot up to Draco's and said, "Where's Andy?"

"She went to get her things."

Narcissa grasped his arm and looked around and nodded with satisfaction as she saw that the house had already been turned black.

"Mother, for the last time, what is going on?"

Narcissa was about to say something but was spared when her sister came flying into the room, her hair a disarray, with her trunk flying behind her.

"Are you alright, Narcissa?"

Narcissa nodded. "It took much more than I expected."

Andromeda nodded anxiously and said, "I should have noticed it as soon as I came into the manor."

"You are not at fault, dear. I live there! I was an idiot to not have seen it earlier." Narcissa shook her head and said, "What are we going to do now?"

Andromeda gave a hearty laugh and said, "Exactly what you said! Go on vacation." Andromeda took one last look around her house and sighed. "Where were you planning on going by the way?"

Narcissa looked thoughtfully at her sister and replied, "San Francisco..."

"Birchwood House?" asked Andromeda looking revolted.

"It hasn't been in use for years. For all I know, he would not even consider looking there. I-I don't think he even knows it exists." Narcissa smoothed back her hair and said, "Besides, as far as I know, only Blacks can get into it."

Andromeda smirked and said, "Whoever built that house was very smart."

Draco slammed his hands down onto his trunk and hissed, "What the hell is going on here? I refuse to move an inch till someone tells me what this is all about."

Narcissa looked down abashedly as Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Really, Cissa, you are too light on Draco. If my own daughter had said something like that to me, it would have been straight to her room for the rest of the day. I could care less that she's married with children." Her eyes snapped to Draco as she said, "You would do well to keep your mouth shut till we get to Birchwood."

"We're going for sure then?" asked Narcissa, her blue eyes full of concern.

Andromeda took her sister's hands in hers and said, "We have no other choice. You said so yourself." Andromeda turned to Draco who was glaring daggers at her. He far preferred his Aunt Bella to her despite the fact that Bellatrix was mentally unstable.

"You take care of the trunks. Your mother and I must go ahead to disable the wards."

"Wards? You said that Blacks can come in!"

Andromeda laughed. "Your mother and I were born Blacks. You were born a Malfoy." There was a second of awkward silence, which neither Andromeda nor Draco did anything to stop.

Finally, Narcissa patted her son on his arm and said, "Wait for five minutes after we go then come. Bring all the trunks in one shot. The floo will close once you leave."

Draco watched as his mother and her brown haired sister left the house through the floo. He knew that he would do anything to get Hermione back. He owed her that but listening to two senile women was not Draco's idea of a brilliant rescue mission.

Five minutes passed very slowly. Once they were up, Draco dragged the trunks to the fireplace with much difficulty and after throwing the floo powder into it, yelled, "Birchwood House!" He stepped into the fireplace not noticing that the fireplace disappeared completely after he left.

He stepped out of the fireplace and nearly fell backwards as a huge gust of wind flew at him. His hands dropped from the trunks as he admired the view. This particular fireplace was outside on a terrace sort of thing, a rather strange place for one to be.

From what Draco could gather, the house was situated on a hill and overlooked what he could only assume was the Golden Gate Bridge, which at the moment was not golden. He sighed and went back to the fireplace to get the trunks. There was an open door to the right of the fireplace through which he went. The house itself was not very impressive. It could have been the fact that it was pitch black inside or it could have been the fact that it seemed rather small.

"Hello?" he called. When no one answered, he pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos." The tip of his wand immediately gave off a blinding pulse of light allowing Draco to see well. The house did not look that bad now that he thought about it. It was small but it would do.

Draco suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around only to see his mother in front of him with a candle.

"Welcome to Birchwood House, Draco. It's not much, but we'll be staying here for an indefinite period of time." With the candle casting strange shadows on his mother's face, she looked far older than Draco had ever seen her before.

"You should get some sleep, son. It's almost midnight here." Narcissa looked around and said, "Sleep here for now. Andromeda will be awake checking the house for more wards. Go to her if you need anything." She gripped her son's shoulder before leaving through another door.

Draco watched his mother leave with slight disappointment. He could tell that she was breaking down. He had never seen anything take such a big toll on her. She had never looked so old in her entire life. It scared Draco but it also made her seem more human to him.

Pushing the depressing thoughts out of his head, Draco decided to try to catch some more sleep. After all, he was on vacation. He would send Mr. Ringler an owl later. Right now, he needed to relax.

As he dozed off, visions of him and Hermione flashed through his head, her giving him the occasional kiss here and there. Draco smiled vaguely as his body turned off for the night.