"Come on, Hermy! We need to start cleaning!" Draco called. "Let's start with that Boggart in Lucius' old room."
Hermione came down the stairs—wearing the old dirty apron. It'd been three days since she'd first showed up. This was the first day Draco hadn't gone to Hogwarts. "You're cleaning, too?"
"But of course!" Draco said. "It's my house. Only fair that I help clean." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, to Lucius' room we go!" he sang, to the tune of To Grandmother's House We Go. "Up the stairs, and down the hall, to Lucius' room we go. Through the door, where the Boggart lies, to Lucius' room we go!"
Hermione followed, wondering just how insane her boss was. "Draco, how do you not get lost in this place? It's bloody huge!"
Without turning, he responded, "Honestly, Herm-o-ninny"(mocking Victor Krum, from their fourth year), "I had thought you smarter than that. Why don't you put down some bread crumbs, to follow your way back home?"
"Well," Hermione huffed, "if you're going to be like that... wait." Draco turned and looked at her.
"Yes?"
"You read Hansel and Gretal? You? When?"
"Oh... um... well... you see..." he searched for words. "It was a birthday present, from a relative I've never met. I was six. Father would have destroyed it, but Mother spirited it away. She would read it to me when he wasn't home." He turned back around. "Come on, we have work to do."
After disposing of the Boggart and putting the Incredibly Deadly Viper (a gift from Voldemort, who got her from his Uncle Monty) back in her cage, they had lunch. After they ate, Maria showed Hermione how to wash windows. She spent the rest of the day washing every single window on the whole Manor, so that Maria could have a day off. Draco was doing something in his study (the one room Hermione was forbidden to enter).
He came out for her lessons, and then they had dinner. While teaching Hermione to cook Chicken Marsala, Draco said, "My wife is coming home tomorrow. Everything needs to be ready, and sparkling and perfect."
Hermione stared at him (the 2, 619,860,873 time in three days). "You have a wife?"
Draco nodded. "You know her. Pretty well, actually."
"I do? Who is she?" She looked at him, expectantly.
"Well, you see..." he met her eyes pleadingly. "Do you promise not to explode?" Hermione nodded. "Her name is Ginny."
what ya think? please review! i've got cake this time too. (holds out a platter of cookies and a cake on a tray.) ya know ya want some.