Oops…I'm not very good, am I? I dedicate this chapter to Emily, because she keeps pestering me to update and has finally driven me back in fanfiction's arms, where I hope to stay for a while, and at least finish these stories I have posted and perhaps post some new ones as well. I've added in what happened over the summer a little earlier than I was just because I'm really sorry for how long it's been.

Chapter Four

Ron paced the corridor; a fed up Harry sat on the floor.

"Can't we just go to the common room?"

"No! Hermione might be there!"

"To the library then,"

"She could also be there!" Harry let out a frustrated sigh and stood up.

"Fine, you stay here, I'm going to the common room." He set off, but Ron grabbing his arm hindered this.

"What if you meet up with Hermione?" His accusing glare bore down on Harry,

"I will say 'hi, Hermione, how are you?'" Ron's face fell.

"You don't care? You don't care that she's a Malfoy now? That's she was cheating on me?"

"I do care that's she's a Malfoy, but she's still Hermione!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Ron let go of Harry's arm and crossed his across his chest. "My Hermione wouldn't have married the Slytherin Slimeball. My Hermione would have never done that to me."

"There must be a reason why she had such a lapse of sanity. Didn't she say anything?"

"She said it was complicated." Hot tears stung Ron's face and he glared at the floor. "It's obvious, though."

"What?" Harry gave him a quizzical look. "What's obvious?"

"Why she married him, it about money and power. Malfoy's powerful; I can hardly brew a potion. Malfoy's rich and I have hardly a Knut to my name." A tear leaked from the inferno behind his eyes and ran back his cheek. "I'm not good enough for her."

"Don't be ridiculous. She'd never dump you for someone with more money. Especially not Malfoy, she hates him as much as we do. More even."

"Oh no?" Ron turned his glare on Harry. "Then she suddenly had a change of heart. She thought 'he tormented me for six years, but hey! Let's marry him.' Of course she did."

"So, what are you going to do?"

Ron thought for a moment. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this; I'm going to find out what Malfoy did to her. Then I'm going to figure out how to get my Hermione back."

Hermione stood and looked at herself in the girl's toilets at break, staring at herself in the mirror. She was so lost in thought that at first she did not notice the ghost of a girl remove herself from a tap and stare accusingly at her left hand.

"I thought they were lying to me like they usually do! You got married!" Myrtle glared at the girl, who merely looked at, or through, depending on your point of view, the ghost and turned slowly to leave. "Don't you turn your back on me! Come here!" Myrtle rushed her, but managed to fly through her and hit the wall (don't ask me). Hermione left amid her wails.

"I must get away from everyone, trying to make me tell my secrets!" She scouted around for a peaceful spot, but only found whispers, even in the library. Finally, she left the castle and stepped out into the cold September air, pulling her cloak around her. The wind whipped at her face and her hair. Heading for the lake, she dropped her bag on the floor and threw herself down next to it. Hugging her knees she stared out into the lake, her mind drifting back to the summer…

Hermione stared apprehensively as the plane touch landed in Las Vegas. Neon lights made the city glow all colours. It seemed unreal, unnatural. She was hit once again by how bright it was when she stepped out of the airport. Her Uncle flagged down a taxi, and they all piled in, going to the hotel they were staying in.

It was a five star hotel, as had been all the other hotels. Her relatives seemed to want to spoil her, and who was she to complain? This was one was called The Cage, and was positioned right in the middle of a whole load of casinos. Hermione smiled as she got out of the car and a porter ran up to collect their luggage…

Hermione woke from her revelling as someone sat down beside her. From their silence she knew who it was without looking, so she didn't, but slipped her hand into his.

"What am I going to do, Draco?" She heard him sigh next to her.

"No idea, I'm still trying to work it out myself." She looked over at him, and saw he was staring out into the lake.

"I wish I could've told Ron myself." Draco nodded. "I mean, I can only guess what this is doing to him." She lay down, and stared at the cloud above. "His girlfriend of one year, friend before that for five, turning up married to someone he's hated for six years." She looked up at Draco, who then lay down next to her, lying on his side, propping his head up with his arm. "I don't know if he'll ever talk to me again." Tears fell down her face, and Draco wiped them away.

"How did we get into this mess? I mean, what were we thinking?" He took her left hand with his free one and ran his thumb over the golden ring.

"Not very much as I recall." She smiled and he grinned back. As one, their smiles left their faces, and Draco's eyes drifted to his wife's lips. Inching closer, they were almost touching when the excited squeal sounded and a Ravenclaw fifth year fell out of a nearby tree. Face scarlet, she picked herself up and ran all the way back to the castle, her friend jumped down after her and followed. Hermione sighed. "Is no where safe?" She said glumly. Draco, who had been watching the girls' progress, looked back at her.

"Come on," he picked himself up off the ground. "We've got Potions now, that'll be fun." He held out his hand and helped her up. They walked back to the castle together.

All talk ceased as the couple entered the dungeon corridor outside Snape's classroom. All eyes were on the pair. Hermione felt her face going red as she stood there, hand in hand with Draco. Pansy scowled as she approached them.

"So, how did you do it, Granger?" She asked cuttingly. "What spell did you use to make a respectable Slytherin marry someone like you? It doesn't improve your image, it just makes you even more desperate then we thought you were." She indicated to Ron, who was glaring at the wall in front of him. "You were scraping the bottom of the barrel with that one, but you didn't have to go to such extreme measures to get rid of him, you filthy little Mudblood."

Draco stepped forward, wand out, furious with his fellow Slytherin. Hermione held him back, and replied, "I'm sorry, you must be thinking of someone else, my name isn't Granger anymore. It's Malfoy." Pansy let out a shriek of anger and grabbed Hermione's hair. Once Hermione yelped, she kicked her in the leg, and Hermione crumpled to the floor. Draco stepped forward, his wand out and pointing at Pansy.

"Do that again and I will kill you." He snarled. "Let her go." Pansy snorted.

"Why should I?" She turned her glare towards him. "It's for your own good Draco." She bent down to Hermione ear and snarled. "She doesn't deserve you."

"Calibres" A shot of green light hit Pansy and she let go of Hermione's hair, falling to the floor with a blank look. Hermione's eyes were watering as she was helped to her feet by her husband who wrapped his arms around her. "Hermione is my wife, and I won't have anyone treating her like that."

Hermione glanced at Ron, who was looking as if he was about to punch something. Just then, Snape came out of his office and looked at the scene. Pansy was still lifeless on the floor, Hermione, who could hardly stand from the pain in her leg, was leaning on Draco.

"What's happened here?" He snapped. Without waiting for an answer, he shook his head. "Zambini, kindly take Parkinson to the hospital wing." Then he looked round at Hermione, her leg was swollen. "Granger," he grinned nastily. "I mean Malfoy, go to the hospital wing as well, and hurry back."

"She can't walk." Draco piped up. Snape snarled.

"Well, then, Brown, go with her." Lavender nodded and took hold of Hermione's arm, helping her hobble up the corridor, after Blaise, who was carrying Pansy in his arms.

When Hermione turned up to the lesson half an hour later, her leg fixed, she entered the room to find her place next to Ron empty. She was tempted to sit there and try to explain why she did what she did, but he was obstinately glaring in the other direction, so she stalked off to the back, where her husband had kept her a place.

"He can't stay mad at you forever." Draco picked up on her mood. Hermione had noticed how in tune with her he always seemed to be, and was grateful for it.

"Yes he can, it's the one thing he's really good at." Draco ran his hand up her arm comfortingly.

"Will the Malfoys please stop fondling each other and get back to work?" Snape sneered, causing Draco to glare at him and Ron to add too much toad sweat to his potion. Large amounts of green smoke issued from his potion. Snape shook his head. "Another zero, Weasley. Evansco." The cauldron emptied, and Ron packed his things quickly and left the classroom as rapidly as he could. Hermione sighed.

"He will come around soon." Draco told her, as Hermione quickly laid out her ingredients.

"He won't." Hermione told her husband. "He'll probably never talk to me again." She sighed. Draco touched her arm, looking concerned, but with a glance at the glaring teacher he turned back to his work.

That evening, Hermione arrived back in the common room late, and Ron immediately slinked off to his room. She coughed delicately and everyone just stared at her. Harry moved over on his seat and she sat next to him.

"How are you?" He asked, a little awkwardly.

"All the better for talking to you." She said, smiling at him. "Everyone hates me."

"No, they're all pretty confused." He told her. "I have to tell you, I am too."

"I know." Hermione sighed.

"Do you love him?" Harry asked, forcing eye contact.

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "I think so, it's just…"

"I see." Harry said.

"I don't think you do." Hermione shook her head. Harry nodded.

"You're right I don't. Hermione, it's Malfoy we're talking about here." He emphasised his enemy's name. Hermione sighed.

"It's Malfoy you're talking to as well." She reminded him, playing with the rings on her fingers. "Look, Harry, I'm gonna go, because you obviously feel pretty uncomfortable with me at the moment." He said nothing and she stood, leaving the common room once more.

She wrapped her cloak around her as she reached the top of the astrology tower. It was bitterly cold up here, but she tried it ignore it as she slumped against the wall and sighed. Her memories took her over once more.

The restaurant was pricey and extravagant. Hermione smiled as the waiter pulled out the chair for her to sit. Once she had done so he pushed the chair in and went away. Her Aunt and Uncle smiled at her.

"We're meeting some old friends, here Hermione. A bit of a surprise for you. They're coming with us around America, they have a son about your age, charming lad, and I think their niece is coming too." Her Aunt told her, and Hermione smiled.

"Here they are!" Her Uncle exclaimed, and Hermione looked around and straight into the eyes of…

Draco coughed as he stood in the doorway, and Hermione looked her with tear filled eyes. He smiled sheepishly and sat down next to her, drawing her into his warm arms.

"I thought I might find you up here." He said. "He's still not talking to you."

"No." Hermione said, and she sighed. "I hurt him so much." She told him, and Draco kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I know, love." He said, and she looked at him, and he shrugged. "He will have to get used to it, Hermione, there is nothing he can do. You and I are married, and that's not going to change." She picked up his left hand and played with his golden band. Draco had noticed her doing that over the last few weeks when she was nervous or upset. "I will always be there for you, 'Mione." He told her.

"I know." She said, looking up at him. He placed the softest kiss on her lips, and she smiled. He grinned and kissed her again, a little more. "What are you doing up here, your friends aren't doing the same thing are they?" Draco sighed, and gripped her left hand possessively.

"No, well, things in Slytherin common room aren't exactly warm, but none of them have declared war on me yet." Hermione nodded. "It's nice up here." He said, as he felt her relax into him again. "A bit cold, but private."

"Yes." Hermione said. "I love it up here."

"I know." Draco grinned at her. "You love the stars." He looked up at the sky and was silent for a moment.

"I do." She agreed, and he looked at her, and they both started laughing. He kissed her hair and she shifted so as to be more comfortable, and then sighed.

"Well, no one said that this was going to be easy." Draco reminded her. "We always knew that this was going to happen when we got back to school."

"No body said it was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard." Hermione hummed to herself.

"It doesn't matter, anyway." Draco told her. "I couldn't care less what they say."

"You're right." Hermione said, starting to shiver. Draco smirked at her. "What?" She said, smiling.

"Your lips are going blue." He told her, kissing them, and then standing up. "You'd better go back inside, I'll walk you back." He held his hands out to her and she took them, he deliberately pulled her up too hard so that she fell into him and kissed her again, making her feel a little giddy. "Come on."

"Aunt," Hermione caught up with her Aunt on her way to the toilets. "Are you aware of whom they are?"

"Well aware, dear. The Malfoys have been great family friends for years." She said, pushing the double doors open to reveal a huge dressing room. She seated herself on one of the stools and took her niece's hand.

"The Malfoys are dangerous, Aunt! I can't tell you why, but I know, you have to believe me." Hermione pleaded with her Aunt. "Especially to you and my Uncle."

"Why? Lucuis' father has been a friend of mine for years."

"But, you're a…" Hermione didn't finish her sentence.

"A muggle dear?" Her Aunt nodded. Hermione's eyes grew wide with shock. "I most certainly am not, and neither is your mother."

"How…what?" Hermione asked, and her Aunt scowled.

"That look of utter shock is unladylike, dear." She brought out a wand and used it to fish something out of her purse. "Watch." She brought out a garish orange lipstick, and wrinkled her nose. "Rosus." She muttered, the lipstick turned a shade of red that matched Hermione's dress.

"What is this?" Hermione asked. Her Aunt sighed.

"It was your mother's idea to keep you in the dark about this, dear, not mine. If it were my idea I would have you growing up in the wizarding world, but when you were born, your father was involved with You-Know-Who, and your mother didn't want you in danger." Her Aunt sighed. "Which turned out to be the right thing to do, seeing as your other identities were the only thing that really saved your father when that friend of yours Harry Potter destroyed the Dark Lord."

"Are you telling me my father was a death eater?" Hermione almost shouted, and her Aunt hissed for her to be quiet and nodded.

"Your mother's and my maiden name is Bellatour. We are a powerful and ancient family of witches and wizards. Your grandfather was in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

"So you're trying to tell me that my grandfather, and my father, used to kill muggles for fun! And then my father became a muggle! It's irrational and impossible!" Hermione said, tears forming in her eyes. "My father would never do anything like that."

"Please understand dear, your parents are cut off from our world now, they really are to all intent and purposes muggle dentists." The last two words her aunt almost spat, but then she turned to Hermione and touched her cheek. "Try to understand. They loved you more then their powers, then wanted you to grow up free from danger, but they knew you had to grow up at some point. Just please, go back out to the table and be pleasant to your uncle and my friends. They really are good friends of ours, I'll tell you everything you want to know later." Hermione crossed her arms and glared at her aunt

"Why tell me now? Why pick this moment to tell me?" Her aunt shook her head.

"Because The Dark Lord is dead, so it is safe to tell you. You're a headstrong girl and we didn't know how you would react."

"So why do I need to know anyway?" .

"He Who Must Not Be Named may be gone, but his ideals live on. It's only a matter of time before someone replaces him, you must carry on your families wishes when that happens, you must know."

"I won't side with evil!" Hermione shouted. "Never!"

"Well, you don't have to right now, we'll discuss this later. But for now, you must be nice to the Malfoys, they are great friends to your uncle and I."

"Fine, I'll make nice to the Malfoys, Helena seems alright, anyway." Hermione conceded, she was shaken to the core, but she could see why her aunt decided to tell her in such a public place. Hermione was not one for scenes over anything in public. Her aunt touched her cheek.

"Thank you, dear."

Hermione sat in her Transfiguration lesson staring out of the window. Harry and Ron were on their usual table, completely ignoring her. Harry had made no attempt to talk to her after their little argument, and only Parvati was talking to her out of the whole of her year in Gryfindor. Parvati sat next to her and glared at Harry and Ron.

"I can't believe they still won't talk to you!" She said. Hermione sighed.

"I can. I can believe it entirely." Hermione said, sighing. "What I did, they'll never understand." She twisted her rings over and over on her finger. "I had a fight this morning with Ginny."

"I know." Parvati looked at her sympathetically. "I can't blame her."

"Neither can I, Ron is her brother, I'm surprised she didn't hate me from the start." Hermione said.

"Malfoy, Patil, will you please do some work?" McGonagall snapped, and the two got back to changing their stones into rabbits.

The lesson ended, and they packed up their things. Ron went to leave quickly, but Hermione grabbed his arm, holding him against his will and dragging him out into the corridor.

"Get off me, Malfoy." Ron hissed, saying her name with all the hatred he used when referring to her husband.

"We need to talk, Ron." Hermione sighed. "I'm going crazy without talking to you."

"I'm going crazy in general." Ron laughed and paced the corridor. "I can't believe Malfoy stole my girl."

"Will you just shut up about that!" Hermione snapped, Ron looked bewildered.

"Why? It's a hot topic in school."

"Ron…"

"No, Malfoy. What do you want me to say? I loved you!" He shouted at her, and she came close to tears.

"Please, stop it."

"No? You wanted to talk, let's talk." Ron paced the corridor again. "Why'd you do it? When did you fall out of love with me."

"I…" She stopped, tears choking her words.

"Well, there you go, you've finished talking, then, haven't you?" He stalked off.

"I didn't." She whispered, watching his retreating back.