A/N- So I worked really hard this chapter, and I really liked how it came out. I really do hope you all well enjoy it. I'm going out of town in the next two weeks, but I hope to update from my cousin's computer  Thanks! I now adore The Shins, nearly any band who came from the "Garden State" soundtrack.

Disclaimer: All to J.K. Rowling

I sold all my evil motives,

No icicles stuck in my hide.

I'm through with riddles; I know we're little

Just help me feel warm inside.

Girl On The Wing- The Shins

Hermione sat down at the small vanity in her suite. Draco had told her to stay here while he went to the west wing of the gigantic mansion to "clear up a few things". She was enchanted by what was the Malfoy Manor. The kitchen, where at least fifteen house elves worked, had even enchanted her. Hermione had even brought extra yarn with her to knit some caps for the elves, but Draco had warned her not to give them the pieces of clothing just yet, since he didn't want any house elves dispatched from duty before his mother returned. Hermione fingered the lace pattern on the silk powder blue pillows. Her room was decorated in the Victorian era, with a king size mahogany four posted bed, and white marble floors. What made her even more eager was the small library attached inside the suite. Draco had informed her that the room once belonged to his Aunt Helene. He had pointed out her portrait while they walked the long hallways. Hermione had to admit, she was a beautiful witch, with silky blonde hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Hermione walked into the adjoining library and fingred the leather bounds books. Two tall bookcases held over three hundreds that Hermione knew she could never find at Hogwarts. Hermione picked out a random book, ran back to her room and settled in front of the roaring fire to devour the book before dinnertime.

Draco closed the door of his room, and paced back and forth. How was he going to explain to his mother that he he indeed brought a mudblood to his home? Draco was quite in fact over the half – blood and mudblood rubbish. He didn't believe in that pure blood shit anymore. He could give a damn to the Malfoy lineage. If it pissed his father off, the better. Suddenley, he heard small 'pop'. Draco caught his breath. His mother was in front of him.

For a women of thirty nine, Narcissa Malfoy was still attractive. Her blonde hair was held neatly in place by an elegant bun, and her blue eyes were perfectly lined in black eyeliner. Her silk blouse was a green color followed by a designer skirt that reached her knees. True, she spent thousands of Galleons a year on her beauty, but deep inside Narcissa feared for her only son. She had endured years of watching her husband physically and emotionally abuse Draco, and if she tried to get in the way, she was rewarded with being locked in her own room for weeks at an end. Time and time again, she thought about divorcing her husband and moving to Chelsea with one of her sisters, but the plan would always fizzle. Lucius Malfoy would block the way, or his moods would drastically change. One day he would be bellowing at a seven-year-old Draco, and the next he would reward his son with a pony or his first broom. Narcissa wanted the best for her child, and she would accept anything or anyone that would make her son smile.

Narcissa smiled and hugged Draco.

"How have you been, dear? Are you doing well in your classes? Are you hungary? Where is your guest?" she asked in a hurried fashion, as she sat on his bed and smiled.

"Fine, Good, No, and she's in the guest suite." Draco replied. He was nervously fiddling with a loose thread on his bedspread.

"Well where are you're manners Draco? I'd like to see her."

Draco forced a smile and led his mother to Hermione's room.

He knocked on her door. Hermione opened the door and smiled when she saw Narcissa.

Narcissa, on the other hand kept staring at Hermione.

Draco couldn't' really read his mother's expression. It was a mixture of emotions.

With a forced smile, Narcissa enveloped Hermione in a stiff hug

"Welcome to Oxford shire, Ms. Granger, I do hope you will join us later this evening for dinner." She replied in a firm tone.

"I do plan on doing that, Mrs.Malfoy." she answered with a huge grin.

"If you do excuse me dear, I would like a word with Draco."

Draco gave Hermione an apologetic look and was whisked away by his mother down the hall.

Draco cringed. He couldn't tell whether his mother was angry or just confused. His mother sat down at her office desk and poured herself a glass of fire whisky. She offered a cup to Draco, but he refused.

Narcissa sighed and gulped down the glass in one swallow and poured herself another. She leaned back against her chair and then back forward. She stared at Draco and shook her head.

"I expected more out of you Draco, I expected more then you're father. "

Draco interrupted in an angry voice.

"Don't compare me to that wanker."

Narcissa shushed her son.

" Draco, when you wrote back, and you said that you were going to bring a visitor to the house, I expected again, maybe Blaise Zabini. But then you added that this visitor was a girl. I was enthralled, and thought perhaps maybe it was Pansy Parkinson or a nice girl with a very firm and pure lineage, a nice wealthy background, and you return with a bushy haired muggle! She's lovely girl Draco, she really is, and if she were a pureblood, I could accept her, but Draco, What would your father think?

Draco scowled.

"Mum, I really don't care what my father thinks, and for Merlin's sake, I'm not going to marry the girl, I only brought her so she could keep me company and show her something else. I brought her because I didn't want to be alone Mum. Something has changed within me these past few days. I don't give a shit what my father thinks, he's locked away in Azkaban, and he could rot there for all I care.".

Narcissa continued pouring herself drinks.

"Draco, do not talk of your father in such way, and for your information, I have set up a ball for tomorrow night, where I invited nearly all of the pureblood witchs and wizards of England, and I can't believe I'm going to be the laughing stock of Diagon Alley when they find out that my son brought a mudblood."

Something inside Draco raged. "I don't give a fuck what everyone else thinks, she's welcome here and I don't want you getting in the way." He seethed.

He slammed the door on the way out and walked up to the long hallway to Hermione's room. Hermione opened the door; Draco could tell that she had been crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

Hermione wiped her tears and was nearly quivering.

"I heard the argument with your mother, maybe it would be best if I joined Harry and Ron at the burrow, I could always owl them—"

Draco interrupted her.

"Rubbish Granger, you're going to stay here for the holidays over my dead body, and I don't care what my mother thinks, I invited you here and you're staying here."

Hermione stared at Draco, her tear-stained face had never looked so beautiful.

"I need you here Granger, I don't want to be lonely this Christmas."