When Hermione woke up the next morning—from the best sleep she'd had in days—she saw the House Elf from the kitchen standing at the foot of her bed. "'Ello, miss," the Elf said, in a very annoying, squeaky, and accented voice. "Me name is Maria, miss. I 'ere to help with cookin' and cleanin', miss."
"Where are you from?" Hermione ask. "You sound like someone I used to know."
"I from Sweden, miss," Maria replied.
Hermione climbed out of the most comfortable bed she'd ever had the pleasure of lying on, and pulled on the clothes spread out for her. "Where's Draco?" she inquired.
"Maser down stairs, cookin breakfast, miss," Maria told her. "Follow me, miss, and I take you to him, like Maser asked me too, miss."
Hermione smiled at her, and said, "Thank you, Maria. I would be delighted to follow you."
Maria missed the sarcasm in her voice.
When they reached the kitchen, and Maria left the room, Hermione exclaimed, "Draco! When did you learn to cook? Why did you learn to cook?"
Draco smirked at her. "Would you like pancakes, waffles, eggs, or all three?"
"All three, please." Once they were both served and seated, Hermione asked again, "Why'd you learn to cook?"
"Because I wanted too." Draco ate a bite of pancake, and met her eyes. "Unlike many wizards raised with magic, I had the forethought to see that one day I might not have it, and so I learned Muggle cooking and fighting."
Hermione thought for a minute. She bit her lip and began, "Draco... I have a question I probably shouldn't ask..."
He looked at her. "There are many things I can never tell you, Hermione, or anyone. But... you live here now, and we need absolute trust. If I can tell you, I shall."
"Alright." Hermione nodded. " I can live with that." She looked down, and asked quietly, "Who did you kill?"
Draco had known that was coming, and he had prepared an answer. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"It's complicated. About a year ago, when I was still a blind slave to dear old Thomas, I was ordered to go back in time and kill two certain individuals. I needed to make it appear Voldie killed them, so he could get the 'I'm an evil dark lord' credit he craved. The individuals were the Potters, James and Lily. I was supposed to kill Lily before Harry was conceived, but I was delayed while in the past. I arrived almost two years late. Harry was born, and the Potter's were protected by darling Dumbledore. I knew their hideaway was Godric's Hollow, and I knew they'd be there. I put on Tom's cloak, and I magicked my eyes and voice. You know what happened: James and Lily fought. For some reason, they didn't want to die. I killed them. My hate for Harry still burned strong at that time; I attempted to kill him. It backfired; somehow, it passed through me, and hit Tom, all the way across the continent. I was sent back to my time." Draco met her eyes. "It then occurred to me that I killed two people who had never hurt me, and tried to kill an innocent baby, who had yet to commit any sin. The whole reason I hated him was my doing. And I realized that I was wrong. That Voldemort was wrong. I was raised by my father to be evil, and I had never questioned it. I left Voldemort. I ran away. Voldemort had more to worry about than a deserter, so I was safe from him. And no one else could have found me. I waited until Harry had injured him too greatly for him to ever be a threat again, and then revealed my presence. So... how was the breakfast?"
Hermione stared at him again. Then, she shook her head. I'll never get this guy, she stated to herself.