Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything that is affiliated with it.

A/n: I'm so sorry that this update has taken so long to be posted. I have been quite busy lately with the state fair, babysitting, going to see Pirates of the Caribbean twice, school shopping, work, and my Yellow Card concert. Things have begun to slow down a little now, so hopefully the next update will not be so long.

Previously

"But I don't know them Blaise. I hardly know you." She answered.

"You won't let yourself know them! They're trying, but you won't let them in. Our parents asked you to come for Christmas because it would give everyone a chance to get to know one another. We're not bad people, Ray, Hermione, whatever you want to be called. But the way you are acting, it makes us feel horrible. Do you hate that you're a Zabini? Would you rather have never found out?" Blaise asked, tears forming in his eyes, dreading the answer that he feared would come.

Chapter Seventeen: I'm Sorry

When Hermione didn't answer, Blaise took it as a yes. She truly did hate being a Zabini, he thought. Not being able to stand being near her any longer, Blaise turned a fled, leaving a sobbing Hermione alone in their shared common room.

Once Blaise had left, Hermione sank down to her knees and cried openly. She didn't know what to do. These past few days, her life had become so confusing. She had always thought she knew where life would take her. When she was little, she had always believed she would follow in her parents' footsteps and become a dentist. That planned, however, was changed when she turned eleven and received her Hogwarts letter. Now, after she had thought she received all the surprises life had in store for her, she found out she was adopted and her life turned to chaos.

Rubbing her eyes, Hermione quietly got up and pulled a random book from her bookshelf. Maybe, she thought, reading would distract her mind from the chaos that was her life.

- x -

When Blaise left the common room, he just ran. He didn't know where he was going and frankly he really didn't care. His sister, his twin sister, hated him. She hated her whole family. They had spent years trying to find her, yet she didn't want anything to do with them. As he ran, he tried to ignore the pain. The pain of his heart being twisted and pulled, but he couldn't stop it. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out and then poked and prodded. All because his little sister's eyes had held to pain of knowing who she truly was.

It was apparent to Blaise that he wasn't watching where he was going when he ran into the door leading out of Hogwarts. Shaking his head, he began to pick himself up when he heard laughing from behind him. Turning his head, he saw that the laughter belong to his best friend, the one and only Draco Malfoy.

"What could possibly have your mind so occupied that you didn't see that door? I mean, it's huge!" Draco chuckled as he made the final steps toward his friend. He was about to make another comment when he noticed the pain in Blaise's eyes? "What's the matter? What happened?" He asked quickly; think of a dozen scenarios that could cause Blaise this much pain.

"Ray." Blaise answered simply, not giving much of an explanation. The way he said the name thought, sounded a bit bitter to Draco's ears.

"What about her? Is she hurt?" Draco asked, a little confused by Blaise's tone.

"Only her ego. Apparently she hates being apart of this family. I would have been better for everyone if we never found out who she was. At least we wouldn't have to feel this pain of being hated and rejected. Mum and Dad are going to be so depressed. They were thrilled when we found her, not I'm going to have to tell them that she doesn't want to be part of this family." Blaise said, the pain evident in his voice.

"Go sit outside by the lake where you always think. Clear your head for a while and don't say anything to your parents or mine just yet. I'll meet you out there in a bit." Draco said as he began to make his way down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Blaise yelled after him.

"Gotta talk to a girl." He yelled back as he turn a corner and disappeared out of Blaise's line of vision.

- x -

"You ungrateful little brat!" Draco yelled as he entered the common room. He was pleased to see that he caused Hermione to jump and drop the book that she had been reading. "Do you have any idea how much pain you have caused your twin brother? Do you even care how your real parents will feel when your brother tells them that you hate them and have no plans for being part of your family? And it's not just your family that will be in pain either. What about my parents? My father was the one that had to leave you at that orphanage! He cried you know! He loved you so much and he had never truly forgiven himself for leaving you there. He would always thing of terrible things that could have happen to you. Do you have any idea what it is life growing up in a family that is only half complete? Do you know what it is like to spend your life looking for someone you love, when you don't have a clue where to start looking? And what about me, Rayanna? It wasn't just because you were Blaise's sister that I looked for you; I searched because I needed to find you! I put off every other girl in my life because you are the girl I am suppose to spend my life with!" Draco yelled, all the anger he felt towards her exploding. To learn that she was ungrateful after everything they had done had caused a reaction in Draco that he never would have expected.

Hermione reared back at Draco's outburst. She knew that sooner or later she would have to have a confrontation with someone from her family, but she hadn't thought it would be so soon and with Draco at any cost. Taking in his words, she wasn't really sure where to start.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to cause anyone any pain. I'm just so confused." Hermione answered, facing Draco who had tears in his eyes.

"Well sorry won't stop the pain you have caused us. Your brother is currently outside by the lake, crying himself to death if I am not mistaken. You are important to this family Rayanna and your rejection hurts. It hurts in here." He said pointing to his heart, trying to stay cool and collected in her presence, but failing miserably.

"I never said I didn't want to be part of your family. I'm just so confused that I don't know what I am going to do." She yelled at him.

"So there is a chance that you will decided to have nothing to do with us." He whispered, his initial bit of hope after the first sentence faded as she said the second.

"No. I am a Zabini by blood and that is something that I can never change. It is not something that I would want to change either. It's just that I love my parents, the Grangers I mean, and I don't know how I am going to combine both families into my life." She responded.

"It won't be easy, I'll grant you that. But we can make it work. We knew that if we were ever to find you, there would be this problem. We don't expect you to give up your adopted parents. Your parents are actually quite grateful that they raised you so well. We'll find a way to work out this mess, but first you bloody well better go talk to your brother. If you leave him alone much longer, he'll probably hurt himself." Draco said. Hermione wasn't sure whether he was joking or not so she had almost made her way out of the common room when she remember something else that Draco had said.

"Thanks for being so helpful, Draco. You've helped me somewhat, but there was one thing you forgot to touch on. What is this about me being the women you are to spend your life with? Are we betrothed?" Hermione asked, a little fearful at the answer. She hardly knew Draco and until a yesterday, she thought him an evil bastard.

"Our parents are going to kill me," Draco said. "I don't know if betrothed is the right word exactly. Our parents wrote an agreement when we were born saying that if neither of us fell in love with someone else or if we were not married by age thirty-five, then we would marry each other. They never wanted to control our future, if that is what you are thinking. They just wanted to be sure that the family continued on. I always just thought I would marry you if we found you. It just seemed fitting, but I guess that probably won't happen." He explained to her.

"Never say never, Draco. I don't really know you, true, but I have yet to fall in love with anyone else either. Since your Blaise's best friend I'll be spending a lot of time with you. Maybe something could happen between us." Hermione answered, not sure exactly why she had just said that. After he had helped her sort through the new problems in her life, she had begun to see him in a new light, confirming that he was not all that bad. Maybe, just maybe that was why she had said those things. "Does Blaise have one of these agreements?"

"He did. Her family was attacked my death eaters when she was three. She died a couple of days later in St. Mungo's. Enough dwelling on the past, it's time you found your brother." He said and she nodded her head before leaving the common room. If she had looked back, she would have seen that she left a smiling Draco behind.

A/n: Well that is chapter seventeen. I hope you like it. Again, I'm sorry it took so long. Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. If I follow my plans this story only has 2-4 more chapters. Thanks for reading.

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