Well here is the next chapter, thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed so far!

It's been really busy lately and I haven't had as much time to write. I've put the rating up to T just to be on the safe side, and mostly for the later chapters.

Please begin reading!

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A week after their startling personal encounter in Draco's study, Hermione was sitting in Ron's kitchen frowning at her mug of butter beer.

Draco had been detached and only spoke to her when strictly necessary. He had kept himself either in his study or in one of the many rooms under the house that he had shown her earlier. His study which had been so full of light since they moved in, was now dark and he never seemed to open the curtains anymore.

He had even slept in another room further down the hall. During meal times, she could never find him so she often ate by herself in the huge dining room.

When he did make the rare appearance, she could see he was tired and his steps missed the familiar confident bounce. Every time she tried to ask him if everything was alright, he simply said 'yes' in a monotone and walked out of the room.

"I don't understand what's happened." She explained the situation to Ron who listened closely.

"Well obviously it had something to do with that letter Fred sent him, did you ask him about it when you went to the joke shop?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I didn't know how to actually." Here she looked away in thought "I didn't know he would be like this."

Ron smiled reassuringly "You should talk to him, I think it would help."

"But he doesn't let me talk!" Hermione burst out, she held her head in her hands and wondered when she had started caring so much.

"Try Hermione, no one is closer to him than you now."

The words rang in her head a few seconds after Ron had said them. He was right; she was the only person he had left really. He had no family, no friends; only her.

She should be there for him, but how? She was sure he had to have some kind of friends but when she thought about it logically, they would only be contacts; acquaintances. Malfoy's had no need for friends didn't they?

"I'll try Ron, but I don't know how things with the business are going to happen if he's not talking to me."

Silence lay between them, the comfortable rest between friends that had existed since they first met at Hogwarts. Hermione felt a longing for those days, when things were easier; there was always someone to help them and guide them if they got it wrong. She knew she was wishing Dumbledore was back, he would help her.

"Who is it you like Ron?" She asked suddenly.

He appeared startled by her question "What?"

"You said you didn't want to be set up with Pansy because you like someone else, who is it?" She asked, drinking deeply as she waited for an answer.

"Uh…" Ron scratched his head and looked away.

"Come on, it's me!" She pestered light-heartedly.

He seemed uncomfortable but opened his mouth to speak anyway "Well…you know during the war…I got to know um…Padma very well."

"Padma? As is Patil?" (A/N: forgive me if I have spelt the name wrong, but you know who I'm talking about right?)

Ron nodded slowly "Yeah, I … well I spent a lot of time with her… on my assignment in Scotland." He continued haltingly.

Hermione smiled softly, in what she hoped would be a reassuring way "I'm really happy for you Ron, you should tell everyone else."

He was grinning now, quite relaxed. "I will, she's really nice and I regret treating her so badly at the Yule Ball in 4th year."

Hermione laughed "I remember that like it was yesterday…except it wasn't." her humour died away when she realised that so many people who had shared that happy night of festivities with them were now dead, or seriously injured at St Mungos.

"They are good memories." Ron said, an equally melancholy expression on his face.

"Yes, I think I'll go now. Thanks for having me over."

Ron hugged her "It was a pleasure. Come over anytime you need a talk."

She smiled at him and aparted back to the now dull hallways of the Manor.

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Draco was waiting for her when she arrived in their bedroom, though now it seemed to be hers only.

He was wearing an expression of fear and concern mixed with surprise at her arrival.

"Hermione? Where have you been?" She was momentarily stunned speechless.

He had been pointedly ignoring her and avoiding any conversation; here he was now, acting as if nothing had happened.

"I was at Ron's." She said dumbly, wondering if he was feeling alright.

Suddenly she was wrapped in his arms, his robes smooth against her cheek. She could hear his heart beating fast and it made her feel warm inside.

"I thought…" His voice faded as he lifted her chin so their eyes met. In them she could see the worry he had felt; the fear for her safety.

"I had training." He began again, placing a hand on her cheek and trailing down to the base of her neck. "When I came back, I came to check on you; like I always do; and you were gone."

His gaze wavered as he relieved the fear again, racing through the manor, cursing it for being to large. He had curtly ordered all the house elves to search the house with him as they too did not know where she was.

The pacing; he had checked every room twice jus to make sure. But she was no where, fear had gripped his heart like a vice and refused to let go. He felt choked by the possibilities that ran through his head.

Now he had her in his arms, he felt foolish for being so afraid. She was a fully trained auror and didn't need him to protect her like a maiden in distress.

"I'm here now." Hermione breathed, unable to process the intensity of his gaze; the emotions that ran behind them like flitting shadows on a windy spring morning.

"I know." His voice was so soft she could hardly hear it, but she could see the relief in his face.

They stood, in each others arms as though afraid to let go.

Eventually, Hermione stepped away slightly "You always check on me?"

Draco's face was blank now "Yes, all the time."

"Why?" this startling new revelation was a complete surprise to her; she thought he had been keeping as much distance between them as possible.

He turned away and walked slowly to the large window on the other side of the room, all the while talking softly "You think I think about you Hermione; that I just fall in and out of these moods where I care for you and then I don't. But you're wrong."

Hermione sat stiffly on the chair by her dressing table; Draco had spent hundreds of galleons on it when they first moved in. She had thought that sometimes he didn't spare a care for her, she had been wrong about that too?

"You think I deserve this life we have now; but you're wrong…You think I'm innocent; but you're wrong." He turned to face her then, his stare intense.

"You think that the people I killed for the light side were enough to justify the killing of Professor McGonagall; but you're wrong…. And you think I'm doing all these things for the good of the world; but you're wrong about that too." He listed his points simply, as though discussing the weather.

She was speechless and simply sat there, staring at him.

He paused but continued when she said nothing "I care about you Hermione, like no one else in my whole life. You're the light at the end of my tunnel; I know you will stop me from becoming the person I once was."

Outside, it began to rain. On the window she could see splatters of the drizzle as they landed on the glass.

"I wanted to go back to him so many times, I really did; but once I met you, I didn't want to any more. I liked that change Hermione, I did." He nodded slightly, as though convincing himself of it.

"For a while I thought that it would all be alright, that everyone would forgive me and I could start to repay you for the great things you've done to me." He smiled softly at her then, almost absent-mindedly.

"But I was wrong. It didn't stop; the hate owls, the howlers I had to destroy before they exploded and you would hear all the terrible things people said about me."

This startled Hermione, 'hate owls'? Why had she never known?

"I checked on you when we argued last time; I watched you in the park, looking at those children; and I've been checking on you this week. Making sure you're okay and that you're safe."

Hermione felt confused and for some reason, guilty. It seemed like he cared more about her than she did him; that wasn't fair. "Why don't you deserve this life? You've done enough." She uttered the first question that popped into her mind, though there were a million still bouncing in her head.

He faced the rain-splattered window, his shadow was long, it nearly reached where Hermione was sitting; a tall, imposing figure of darkness.

"No one who is still alive knows that extent of what I have done for the Dark Lord." He admitted.

Hermione stood and stepped closer, into the head of the shadow in the now dimly lit room. "But we know what you've done for us, that doesn't all count for nothing."

"No, but it doesn't take away the crimes I have committed." Came that reply.

"We've all committed crimes." She reasoned, stepping closer still.

He shifted slightly, standing up properly, making his shadow longer. "None like mine. If the majority of the other aurors had their way, I wouldn't be alive today."

Hermione frowned "But you are alive, Harry knows and Ron, me, Cho, all of the others know that you came to our side because that was the right thing to do."

Draco turned around then "That's where you're wrong again, that's where everyone is wrong; you think I came to fight with Potter because it was moral and it was right. But I did it for my own selfish reasons." His voice was harsh, nothing like the man she had grown accustomed to of late.

"You cannot ignore that I am a death eater." Just then, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky outside, it cast Draco's physical being into shadow. He resembled the figure she had seen lying across the carpet, dark, quiet and deceiving.

She saw the old Draco then; the dark, malevolent Malfoy who revelled in the killing of the innocent. The man who used his power to force people to do his bidding; she saw the Death Eater she had come to hate.

"No, you're not!" She yelled to him, running and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He was stiff but after a moment, he place his arm around her too. "I was."

She nodded looking down and seeing the beginnings of the mark on his left hand under his sleeve. He was different now, he wasn't that man; that killer.

"You're a better person now, don't think about the past." She told him.

He held her at arms length, each hand on her shoulders. "Don't ignore my past; it's a part of me and always will be."

She nodded sadly "I know, but you need to stop feeling guilty."

He stared at her for a long time, his expression unreadable. Finally he leaned closer and their lips met.

It was a sweet kiss, filled with the tenderness of apology and forgiveness.

When they parted, Draco tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and a true smile graced his lips. "You're beautiful, did you know that?"

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"You want me to go in there?" A very flustered Padma Patil gasped when she saw where her boyfriend had brought her.

They were standing outside the gates of Malfoy Manor. A tall, grey stone wall surrounded the property; it stretched further than either of them could see. A black iron gate stood between them and an enormous brick mansion. It was elaborately decorated with intricate Victorian patterns.

The gardens at the front of the house were daunting to any passer-by; there was ancient trees stretching up to the sky, their branches intertwined, making Padma feel claustrophobic and caged in.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Ron told her, squeezing her hand gently in reassurance.

She glanced at him before returning her gaze to the dark Manor at the end of the long pathway. The cobble stones themselves seemed to be watching her every move and she couldn't help but notice the dark air that hung about the property.

"You want me to willingly walk into the home of the man that tried to kill my family?" She asked incredulously.

Ron rubbed the back of his head, frowning slightly "Well I guess that's a good point, but he's changed now; and Hermione will be there."

Padma looked down the path once again "I can't believe Hermione Granger would live here."

"Well…" Ron glanced up at the Manor and could not deny that it looked terribly imposing and a certain darkness hung around the exterior. "She hasn't gotten around to re-decorating it yet."

Padma still looked doubtful but before she could protest, a silvery wisp erupted from his wand and shot off towards the Manor. They watched it approach the front of the house, drift for a second before shooting off around the corner where they could see it no more.

A minute later, which had been spent in silence, Draco Malfoy aparated before the gate, wearing a slightly grim expression. Ron got the idea that he was using this to hide some other emotion though and guess it was a good one; his eyes weren't as hard as he had seen them before and he was acting relatively polite.

"Weasley, Patil" He bowed ever so slightly in Padma's direction. She said nothing and did not return his gesture. "Come this way."

They followed him through the gates which opened with a wave of his wand. Once they had closed again, he aparated to the front entrance where he gestured for them to follow.

They also aparated down the long cobblestone path to arrive at a huge front door with a gold serpent knocker on it.

Padma was gripping Ron's hand tightly, not bothering to hide her loathing for the man standing before them. "You're here to see Hermione?"

Ron nodded and they followed Draco inside.

Though Padma was certainly intimidated and frightened, she could not ignore the expensive décor of the house. The foyer had wooden floors that didn't make a single sound when you stepped on them and there was a magnificent bronze statue of a snake rearing in the corner.

On the wall was a portrait of the Malfoy family. She shivered as Lucius Malfoy glared down at her and avoided looking at his wife who was so angry she ended up walking out of her frame.

"The guest lounge is right through that door." Draco said, pointing to a large wooden door to their right.

"Thanks." Ron nodded. Draco ascended the staircase with practiced ease and turned left.

Ron led a very reluctant Padma through the oak door and into a large rectangular room. There was a beautiful white fire place and on the mantle was a silver pot which was full with Floo Powder.

By the fire were long red couches that looked uncomfortable so Ron led Padma over to the large window where a slightly more comfortable maroon couch stood. Beside it was a table carved from what appeared to be a large stone, on it lay a book from the shelf which lent on the wall near the door.

They sat down slowly. "This place is so creepy." Padma whispered, as though fearing they would wake the darkness within the house.

"It is a little isn't it?" Ron chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Padma only glared "Have you seen the portraits?"

Ron glanced around, there were many portraits displaying the proud Malfoy lineage, pompous wizards and well-dressed witches looking down their noses at them.

Ron also say three paintings evenly spread, lining the wall opposite the window where they sat. The first showed a young boy with platinum blonde hair and a mischievous smirk on his five year old face.

The next one was of the same boy at around ten, he had sharp grey eyes and lost the little cuteness he had as a child. His mouth was set in a stern line and he appeared very angry at the visitors in the room.

Beside him was another portrait of a man, the same light hair and steely grey eyes. But he now he held a malevolent gleam and smirked evilly at them. He was wearing black robes and shot Ron a glare before turning and exiting his frame.

"Malfoy." He whispered.

Padma had also been looking at the three portraits showing the growth of Draco Malfoy; from mildly innocent child to cunning death eater.

"Ron! Padma!" The door burst open to reveal a very happy, very enthusiastic Hermione.

Padma smiled "Hermione, it's so good to see you!" They hugged when Hermione walked over to them.

"So you're Ron's lucky girl!" She exclaimed.

Padma winced slightly at the volume of Hermione's voice "You're not afraid are you?" Hermione asked in slight disbelief.

"She didn't really want to come in." Ron began.

"Oh! Don't worry, you're safe here Padma!" Hermione beamed. "You must be hungry, come on; I'll get Dottie to get you something to eat!"

She flounced out of the room, leaving Ron and Padma in quite a state of shock. Hermione didn't seem to fit the rest of the picture; the dark gate, imposing Manor, terrifying statues and Malfoy's cold manner.

Gingerly, they followed Hermione out and through a hallway by the staircase. She smiled at them and led them to a dinning room. "I'll just get Dottie." She told them, heading further down the hallway.

Padma entered first, seeing Malfoy sitting at the table reading a slim book. She gasped without thinking, causing him to look up.

"Patil, what a pleasant surprise. Please, take a seat." He indicated to the many vacant seats around the long glass-top dinning table.

"How have you been Draco?" Ron asked, feeling the odd sensation that came whenever he used his first name.

Draco put down his book and flicked his wand slightly "Quite well actually." A house elf appeared at his side, it's eyes lowered "Take this back to the library will you? And help Dottie, she is no doubt going to break something else."

The elf nodded and took the book before disappearing with a crack. "And you?"

Ron sat back, trying to appear casual "Yeah, I've been good actually."

Padma was at loss, she felt fear at being in the presence of a Malfoy but also felt angry that he had endangered all their lives and was now sitting in this huge house exchanging pleasantries with a man he had once sought to kill.

"Been avoiding the press?" She said sharply, a mocking tone barely hidden.

Ron shot her a warning look but she paid him no heed.

"Yes actually," Draco smiled slightly "a task that's harder said than done."

Before they could say anything else, Hermione re-entered followed by two house elves who were carrying an assortment of plates and jugs.

"Draco, I didn't know you were in here." She breathed, watching the elves that were busy setting up plates before Ron and Padma.

He accepted a glass from another elf who had appeared when he flicked his wand, still smiling "It's alright, sit down."

Hermione sat next to him, opposite Padma and also accepted a drink from the elf. "When did you get here Padma?" She inquired politely.

She hadn't been blind to the fact that Padma wished she could be in the home of anyone but them, so she tried to be as nice as possible.

"Yesterday, thought I should move back here." Padma answered, casting a glance at Draco who was looking out of the window. It had been because of him and his fellow death eaters that the Patil family had moved to Scotland.

"That's great news." Hermione smiled "Are you living together?"

"Not yet." Ron admitted "But we're thinking about it."

Hermione nodded "Don't rush, good things take time, don't they?" She asked, taking Draco's hand which was resting on the table.

Padma watched with fascination as Draco turned away from his thoughts and smiled at Hermione as if there was no one else in the world. He intertwined their fingers and looked up at them "Yes, they do indeed."

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Ron and Padma left shortly before lunch. The latter was certainly much happier after they had eaten and they had progressed to the formal lounge where they talked for hours.

"I think her opinion has changed." Hermione observed when they had gone.

Draco chuckled "Maybe."

Hermione felt his arms creep over her shoulders from behind as she sat on the couch. "She was rather afraid at first, wasn't she?" He breathed into her ear.

"You are quite scary sometimes." Hermione teased, placing a hand on his at her shoulder.

"Mm I guess I can be." He released her and strode up to a painting of his grandfather. A tall, lean blonde haired man with a straight nose and thin lips, his eyes were clear and the colour of the sky on a dull autumn morning; grey with slight traces of blue.

"You know, I think this portrait should go." He thought out loud.

Hermione glanced up "What's wrong with it?" She had seen much worse portraits throughout the house than this one of some old man.

"I think the mudblood is right." A pompous voice sprang from the mans' thin mouth.

"Don't you dare call her that." Draco hissed sharply "She is the Lady of the Manor now."

The man shifted to glare at Hermione "I never thought you would be the one to disgrace us Grandson."

Draco scowled and turned away from his grandfather's painting "You can see why." He mumbled.

Hermione shot the portrait an equally dark glare and followed Draco out of the room.

They went to their room which was the only one without a portrait of relatives glaring down at them and settled themselves comfortably on two arm chairs by a small book shelf.

"We should get started on Malfoy Communications." Hermione told him.

He nodded "Yes, but we should think about the Manor too. And our portrait."

"Our portrait?" She questioned.

"Of course, we have portraits of every other Malfoy, we need one of us." He explained logically.

Hermione thought it was a sweet gesture "You realise-"

"I know we aren't married yet and you're not a Malfoy." He finished for her, smiling. "But I still want a portrait I like to look at in this house."

They laughed together, before she could register what was happening, Hermione felt his lips on hers.

She found that she liked his kisses a lot and savoured the moment of intimacy between them. They had been through so much together; she knew that it wasn't 'if' any more, it was 'when' she would become a Malfoy.

"That portrait sounds like a wonderful idea." She breathed when they parted.

"I knew you would think so." Draco said; his lips still against hers so she could feel his smile.

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Ta da! Now you know who Draco killed while in Voldemort's service and who Ron likes. Did you like it? I hope so!

Please review and let me know what you think of things so far. ( I really enjoyed describing Malfoy Manor, could you tell? Hehe)

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed!

MssrBlaze: I know it's not very 'mushy' as you put it, but I'm not very good writing all that stuff, so yeah…if you can offer some assistance there I would be grateful. Thanks for all of your reviews!