Disclaimer: If everybody owned the characters of J K Rowling then there would be no need for Fanfiction!

Hermione hurt in places she never knew existed, the pain was all over her body and it was only the first day. Her knees were bruised, the faint black had started to appear from being pressed against the tiles of the bathroom, blasted Malfoy! She was late coming home, Draco had not let her go until the whole bathroom was clean and it took forever. When he had given her permission to leave she was out of there faster then you could say 'toothbrush', apparating home to find it empty.

"Mum?" Hermione called, dumping her clothes in the laundry and going in search of her mother. Hermione checked everywhere, her mind flying into panic of what may have happened to her dear mother. Perhaps Draco had given her the job to get her out of the house so the Deatheater's could come in and kill her mother? Hermione shook her head, they would not bother with a single muggle women, if Draco had wanted to hurt her he could have done it while she was cleaning.

Hermione almost cried when she saw a note from her mother on the table, stating that a group of her friends had taken her out for the night. Her relief died down as anger grew, she had been working all day and she came home and her mother was gone, the least she could have done was cook something she could reheat from dinner. Hermione sighed, climbing to her feet and set about making another delicious meal of two minute noodles. She ate and then trudged up the stairs, took a nice long bath and then changed into her pajamas and slipped into bed.

Her mother came home at 2 in the morning, Hermione was woken up by the loud steps and the violent cursing. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she slipped down stairs, met with the sight of her mother sprawled on the floor, trying to grab her foot, which she had hit into the coffee table. Hermione had only seen her mother drunk one other time, it was at a Christmas party, she had drunk to much of the punch and had got a bit tipsy. It was incredibly embarrassing, both Hermione and her father had to drag her to the car, returning home half way through the party and Hermione spent the rest of the night holding her mothers hair out of the toilet.

This was different, she was at least twice as drunk as she had been at the Christmas party. Hermione flicked the light on, watching as her mother winced at the sudden flood of light, waving her hand of her red rimmed eyes. It took a few minutes for her mother to be able to look without squinting, her face cracked into a goofy grin as she saw it was her daughter.

"Mione! Come 'elp meup" Her mother slurred, flopping her arm around in a sloop signal to come over. Hermione took her mother by the arms and attempted to pull her up, it was working until her mother started laughing, she curled over and sent both her and her daughter tumbling into the couch. Her mothers hysterical laughing turned into loud sobs, burying her head into her daughters chest, clutching at her pajamas with shaky hands. Hermione soothed her mothers wild hair down, whispering and 'shushing' her until her sobs died down to a human level.

"He's gone. I waz a 'ood wife and he left!"

"Forget him mum."

Hermione's mother mumbled some other things, ones that were too slurred with drunkenness that they were not able to be understood. She pulled back from her daughter, staring at her for a moment and raised a hand to press against her daughters cheek. Hermione was a little uncomfortable with what her mother was doing, unsure of what to do.

"You 'ave hiseyes and mouth"

Hermione sat silently, waiting for her mother to stop naming all the features that were her fathers. Suddenly she felt a stinging feeling on her cheek, she was shock that her mother had hit her, even when drunk. Hermione raised a hand to rub the abused skin, her mother was getting ready to deliver another blow but Hermione jerked to the side, sending them both to the ground. Her mother tried to grab for Hermione's leg as she slid out of the way, raising to her feet and running up the stairs, leaving a sobbing mess of a mother to herself.

"Your juz like him"

Emotional stress that's all it is Hermione assured herself as she locked her door she didn't mean it, she is drunk! She slid into bed, pulling the covers up high around her neck. A perfect way to end a perfect day!

- Malfoy Manor-

Draco had been slightly kinder to her today, it seemed as if yesterday was a test, something for him to see her limits and if she came back. Hermione was glad for the lighter work, her knees pained when they were moved so today's work was a great relief. She had been directed, by a house elf, to a large table, there sat a few rags and some polish. The moment she sat on the seat a large pile of dull objects appeared on the table, guessing she was to polish them she set to work. It was not as physically demanding as scrubbing the floor, giving her time to think and it also allowed her to dip her head, hiding the bruise she had been given by her mother.

Hermione was out of the house before her mother woke, already being late to arrive at the Malfoy Manor, she only had enough time to grab a piece of fruit before she was out the door. For that she was thankful, she did not think she could handle speaking with her mother, especially when she was suffering the after affects of her previous night. A late teen and a grumpy mother was a recipe for disaster and rather then loose her job at the Malfoy's, she decided not to linger any longer at her home.

The more she polished, the more appeared! It seemed there was a endless supply of objects needing to be polished, her fingers were aching from the friction caused by rubbing and her neck was starting to cramp. Placing the spoon down on the table she stood, shaking her body to relieve some tension, rubbing the back of her neck in a feeble attempt to loosen the muscles. Hermione moaned softly, feeling the tense muscles, knowing they were going to be a pain to get rid of later.

"I don't believe my father pays you to have breaks Granger." Hermione gave a angered sigh, knowing her peace had ended. Draco had been gone for most of the day, apparently he needed new clothes, seeming the ones he purchase a mere four weeks ago had gone out of fashion. From the corner of her eye she glared at the blonde teen, before turning and resuming her spot on the chair, picking up the half polished spoon.

"Much better, know once your done come up to my room. I am in need of your assistance" he paused and looked over to Hermione "What happened to your face?"

"I don't know what you mean?" Hermione ducked her head, pretending to get a better look at the spoon, covering her face with her hair. Draco walked over to where she sat, taking a hold of her bushy hair and moved it too the side, getting a good look at the bruise that had formed on her face. "Run into a door did we?"

"As a matter of fact I did! Now if you'll excuse me there is more spoons to polish." She jerked her head, pulling her hair from his hands, leaving him holding a few strands that had come loose.

"Dragon's shit Granger, I know a hand caused that bruise…out with it!"

"If you know my mother was drunk last night, apparently I resemble my father too much and she struck me…its no big deal"

"it's a pretty bad bruise"

"Oh so suddenly you care"

"Not really, just telling you what you already know." He smirked, flicking his fingers to rid himself of the hair. He stood watching Hermione for a moment, he could tell by the reddening of her cheeks she was getting angry, it only made him enjoy it even more.

"Do you really have to stand there!"

"No, but I am"

"What do you want!"

"I need your assistance, quit polishing and follow me."

Hermione dropped the spoon on the table, a feeling of dread well in her stomach, the last time he need her assistance it resulted in cleaning his bathroom. The feeling grew more as they approached his room, yet she kept quiet, complaining would only result in a worse punishment. Draco opened the door to his room, Hermione following shortly after, eyes wide at the many bags that were lying around the room.

"I need you to remove all the clothes from my wardrobe and hang up the new ones."

"There was to be at least 100 bags here!"

"Now that's an over exaggeration Granger."

"Why don't you let the house elf's do it, one snap and it would be done."

"But were is the fun in that, now I'll leave you too it."

And then he was gone, just like that! Hermione grumbled curse words under her breath as she set to work with the clothes, taking the old ones from the large wardrobe and replacing them with the new ones. To her the clothes hardly had a difference, there may be a different pattern, darker color, or even a different collar. It hardly seemed worth spending thousands of dollar to upgrade a wardrobe if all they had changed was a collar!

Hermione was halfway through the wardrobe upgrading when she heard heavy steps approaching the room fast, Draco would have to be jumping to make such a sound! Unless it was Lucius, Lucius in a extremely bad mood. Hermione had a arm full of clothes, walking over to the bed to put them on, when the door opened, with such force that it startled Hermione, the clothes dropping on the floor.

"DRACO" Lucius yelled, oblivious to the fact that Hermione was standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide with fear.

"He's…..he's not here" Hermione stumbled on the her words, bending down to pick up the clothes she had dropped, her skin tingling under Lucius' icy glare.

"Well"

"Well…what!"

"Are you as stupid as you are impure…where is he!" Lucius was not known to have a lot of patience and speaking to a mud blood did not help. His hand rested on the head of his cane, fingers curled around the silver head. Hermione knew his wand lingered inside the wood that was his cane, Harry had told her about his encounter with the older Malfoy and how he had pulled the wand from the middle of the suppose cane.

"I'm sorry I don't know, he left me to clean out the wardrobe..that's all"

"It is a maids job to known where her master is at all times! I only tolerate you because Draco insisted upon having you as a maid but I warn you know my patience for you hangs on the barest of a string, slip up and not only will you be fired from your job…but your life as well"

Lucius was almost inches away from Hermione, knuckles white as they held the cane, eyes burning with such hatred. Hermione felt sick, she knew he was capable of what he threatened, his Lord would congratulate him if he were to do away with her. She was sure she was trembling, her face white with horror, the smirk on Lucius' face was enough to tell her he enjoyed it immensely. Without so much as another word he, much like his son, turned and strode away.

Hermione let out a shaky sigh of relief, dropping the few clothes she held and sat down on the plush bed, holding her head in her hands to try and calm herself. She wondered how Draco could live with such a man, a few seconds with him and she was a quivering mess, imagine spending your whole life with him. No wonder Draco had turned out the way he was, cruel and emotionless, it was a way to survive in this household not at all like her own had been.

I apologies for the lateness of this chapter as well as the size…I had meant to post it up four days ago, before I went camping but it wasn't finished! After camping life was hectic and it took till now to finish it, for some reason I had trouble writing this chapter, perhaps the beginning of writers block?

I will try to post a eventful and longer chapter very soon, to make up for everything with this chapter… Keep reviewing it always makes me feel better to know people actually read this..