Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy the last week or so. Love the reviews, it does help with faster writing you know

"I'm sure you will have everything you need to care of Miss Granger here," a smiling Dumbledore said to a flustered Draco Malfoy. Draco glanced nervously around the now empty officer of Dumbledore; attempting to detect any Prefects who had lingered behind to continue gawking at him.

"Don't worry Mr. Malfoy, everyone is gone," Dumbledore remarked knowingly. Draco tried to stand a little straighter and puffed out his chest.

"I never said it mattered if anyone was here or not," Draco replied scornfully. Truth be told, he had never been more embarrassed then he had been just minutes ago when he had shouted 'Hermione' out in front of his competitors. Almost instantly after the words spilled from his mouth, Dumbledore shooed the others out mere seconds letter, knowing how ashamed Draco was. Dumbledore levitated Hermione onto one of the couches and smiled broadly. He planned for Draco to care for her until she awoke from her black out, seeing that he must be leaving on a short errand for the damned Ministry.

"Of course dear boy, whatever you say," Dumbledore said softly, not hiding the dancing glimmer of delight in his eyes. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes.

Damn Dumbledore and his twinkling bloody eyes. You'd think he was the Tooth Fairy with the way he's always prancing about.

"I'll be off now, but before I leave, I wanted to make sure you got this," Dumbledore said as he handed Draco a small piece of parchment. Draco eyed it curiously as he glanced at it in his hand.

"The clue my boy," Dumbledore said. Draco made an O shape with his mouth and nodded. But before Draco could protest about having to take care of Granger, Dumbledore disappeared.

Crazy old coot

Draco, now alone aside from the unconscious body of Hermione Granger, stood uneasily in the center of the room. He walked over to the couch where she lay and put his face closer to hers to listen to her breathing. His ear was mere centimeter from her lips as he felt breaths of hot air hit his face. A tingling sensation rippled through his body and he sprung back from her.

What the hell was that? God, either I'm losing it or Granger's got some kicking breath.

Draco fidgeted in his spot, a good five feet from Granger, unsure of what he should do next.

Might as well just wait for her to wake up on her own

Lifting his eyes, he took in his current surroundings.Looking around the office, he spotted a wide collection of tinkets and books apparently collected over ,many years. Taking a few steps forward, he examined a row of shelves that held an array of novelties. The shelf directly in front of him contained a few books on herbology and a couple of potted plants as well. Draco hesitantly reached up to examine one of the plants that looked so vaguely familiar. It was a Red Snapper entwined with a purple Enswald Daisy. Furrowing his brow, Draco concentrated hard on where he'd seen this before.

I know this damn plant from somewhere. But where? The only time I ;ve ever dealt with plants was either in that cursed herbology class with Longbottom, the living weed boy, or perhaps one time with my mum.

Mum.

The memory rushed into Draco's head faster then he would have liked. Gripping the shelf in front of him tighty, his eyes closed as he let himself remember an enlightenening moment he'd had with his mother before she was killed.

"For the love of Merlin, can you explain to me why we aren't using magic to do this?" Draco grunted while wiping the sweat off of his forehead. He was knee deep in dirt that was now all over his once spotless white collared shirt. Nacissa Malfoy was also on the ground next to him holding a small gardening shovel and smiling. The two were in the vast Malfoy garden and had spent a good three hours that morning planting various flowers and shrubs by hand at Narcissa's request. Draco was down right exhausted and was a disgusting mess.

"Oh, come on sweetheart. You know, some things are more enjoyable done without magic," Narcissa said in her honey sweet voice. Draco sighed deeply knowing that nothing, particularly gardening, could be argued with his mother.

'This woman is going to kill me by the time we get around to planting the Enchanted Tulips.'

"This isn't exactly my idea of the term enjoyable Mum," Draco growled as he shoveled another plot of dirt in order to place in another plant. Narcissa laughed at the site of her son covered in dirt and sweat. Draco Malfoy was always prim and proper in his impeccably clean clothing. Seeing his shirt almost brown from dirt and practically in shreds was comical for the pretty woman. This moment would be happily etched into her memory forever.

"Here, plant these instead," Narcissa told him as he went to place the flower he was already holding into the ground and stopped him. She grabbed a basket of flowers from behind her, placing it in front of Draco. He quirked an eyebrow at the wide variety of flowers in the basket. Apparently, the trend they had started of keeping all of the flowers species separate had ended with the flourishment of this new mixture.

"Aren't we supposed to keep all of the same type of flower together, not mixing them?" Draco inquired. Narcissa shook her head in disagreement.

"Usually that is how its done but I think theres nothing wrong in a little bit of mixture," she replied back, sweeping a piece of her shining blonde hair behind her ear. Draco bore a wide frown on his delicate features.

"That doesn't make sense though. I mean, you should keep the purely bred flowers in one area since they are so expensive and the different sorts somewhere else. Theres no need to mix things together that should be kept apart," he reasoned. The smile on Narcissa's face faded slightly at Draco's argument that sounded an awful lot like another concept. Clearly, Lucius Malfoy had done his job of instilling the love of Pureblood Wizards and the hatred of those who were not into every aspect of Draco's life, including something so frugal as gardening.

"You know Draco," Narcissa said softly, placing a hand on his firm shoulder. Draco looked at his mother whose eyes he knew held years of pain and suffering. He felt a tightening in his chest when he briefly remembered all of the horrid things his father had done to her.

"Yes mother?" Draco asked. He could see her trying to form the words she was going to say in her head before divulging them to him. She breathed in deeply and continued.

"Just because these flowers aren't of pure lineage and are entwined with eachother doesn't mean they aren't as good as the others. Maybe they are even …better," Narcissa said quietly. Draco looked at her once again, seeing her trying so hard to convey to him what she really meant with her words. He was still at a loss, attempting to unfold their meaning.

"So we shouldn't plant the pure roses anymore because the others go together better?" he asked her, trying to get more understanding. She shook her head and smiled once again.

"No of course we should still plant them. There is not reason to not have pride for your own family," she said, accidentally revealing the true meaning behind her words. Draco realized with her slip up that she wanted to tell him not demean those who weren't Purebloods because they were…… better? And all through a small gardening lesson?

"Are you saying half bloods and Muggle borns are better than the pure blooding families?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Draco that is not at all what I am saying. I'm just trying to tell you that you should give others a chance. That just because they aren't Pureblood doesn't mean they are not good people and great wizards," she explained. Draco was quiet for a moment, reveling in the words his mother had said. It was a surprise to him, that the upstanding wife of the most notorious and superior Pureblood man actually spoke these words. She touched his hand lightly, bringing him from his thoughts.

"I guess I can somehow imagine respecting someone with great magical power, regardless of their background. But never feeling anything more for them other the respect," Draco answered. He did in fact support this concept because his godfather, Severus Snape was indeed a half-blood and Draco had more respect for him then anyone he knew.

"You never know Draco, one may somehow capture your heart one day," she said in almost a sing song voice. Draco shook his head and smiled, laughing inwardly at his mothers statement.

'Muggle television really has turned you loopy, hasn't he?' he thought.

"NARCISSA! Where the hell are you? Get into the house immediately!" the booming voice of Lucius Malfoy suddenly echoed across the garden. Narcissa rose to her feet instantaneously and cast a nervous glance at her son.

"I guess your father's in one of his moods again; I better go see what he wants," Narcissa said uneasily to her son. Draco rolled his eyes and picked himself off the ground.

"Knowing Father, he's probably complaining about losing a hair or two," Draco scoffed, producing a smile on his mothers face.

"I would not doubt it one bit," she laughed lightly, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. She brushed her clothes off and with a departing wave, walked back toward the massive manor. Draco rubbed the side of his face where his mother had kissed him in case she'd left a lipstick print, not knowing that would be the last kiss he'd ever receive from her.

"Malfoy?" an indistinguishable voice in the present said behind Draco, interrupting the last of the memory. Draco's eyes were still tightly closed and his body was still leaning against the shelf.

Great, it's bloody Father Christmas.

"Are you alright?" the now clearly femine voice said quietly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Ooops, guess it's not Dumbledore….it's worse, it's Mrs. Chipmunk.

Before he went to turn around to face Granger, he let out a small gasp when he realized a wetness dripping down his face. A river of tears.

Oh gods. I'm crying?! And in front of the Mudblood no less!

Hermione pressed her hand on his shoulder harder, hoping to get him to completely revolve in his spot to face her. He resisted her touch, leaning more of his body into the shelf, knowing he could not let her see him this way.

"Sod off, Mudblood," he managed to mumble. Hermione began to grow impatient at Draco's behavior, finally opting to force him to turn.

"Draco!" Hermione said in her high pitched voice, grabbing both of his shoulders firmly and turning him around with all of the strength her small body could muster. Her mouth gaped in horror as she saw a steady stream of tears roll off of Malfoy's face, splashing onto his robes and disappearing in its blackness. Draco wiped the back of his hand over his face quickly, trying to hide what Hermione had already seen.

Damn it to hell, since when did she get to strong that she could turn me around? Must be pumping iron with Potter.

"What gives you the right to touch me, you insufferable chit," Malfoy snapped as he glared into her eyes. The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them slightly after seeing her reaction. Hermione looked like she had been slapped in the face, but somewhere her eyes foud a way to stare into his, her's filled with sympathy and compassion. She did not want to torment him as he had thought, she looked more as though she wanted to ...comfort him?

Impossible. She must be planning on finding a way to advertise this all over the country. Possbily by writing an article for the Prophet. I can see the headlines now 'Malfoy's Menstrual Cycle Emerges!- Hermione Granger Acts as a Human Tampon'

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, taking her eyes off of his and moving them to the floor.

"You damn well should be," he attempted to sneer, but failed miserably. After a good minute of standing there dumbly, Hermione inhaled deeply, trying to find her Gryffindor courage in order to address Malfoy once again. He had decided this standing nonsense was making him uncomfortable and hurridly went to the couch.

"Did Dumbledore give you the clue?" she finally asked turning to Malfoy, who was sitting now, trying to scowl. His face gave up and a look of stupidity she had never before jumped onto his face.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that," he said quietly, trying to hide the fact that he hadn't tried working it out while she had been unconscious.

"Well, where is it?" she said with her arms across her chest. Draco reached over to the side table and picked up a piece of folded parchment. Hermione put her hand out, signaling for him to hand it to her but he chuckled instead.

"Did you really think I'd let you read this first?" he said, keeping the paper close to his chest. Hermione hissed and tapped her foot.

"You had an entire half hour to read it, you prat," she spat.

Fuck, she is right. But too bad she won't know that.

"For your information Granger, I was watching over you to make sure you didn't die or anything. Even though it would have just killed me if you did," Malfoy smirked; proud of the lie he had come up with.

"Oh, I am so thankful you did such a cracker jack job," she said sarcastically.

"I am suprised to know you were able to tend to me so well while you were leaning against that shelf day dreaming over there," she added, her agitation getting the best of her.

"Yeah, I just love day dreaming about the last moment I spent with my mum, you fucking inconsiderate hag," he said mockingly. Hermione had apparently dismissed the insult he threw at her, only concentrating on the first few words he said.

"You were thinking about your mum?" she whispered, her eyes searching for his. He did not look up but stared down at the floor.

"Let's just get this over with," he mumbled. Hermione silently debated in her head what her next words would be, but gave up ,taking a seat on the couch next to Malfoy instead. He raised his blonde eyebrow at her.

"And what in Merlin's name do you think your doing?" he asked incredulously. The awkwardness before was gone now,so she took the opportinuty to look at him smugly and wrench the paper out of his hand.

"Reading the clue," she said simply. Draco opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by Hermione's hand quickly clamping over it.

"Shut your mouth for and for once let me be an 'insufferable know it all'," she demanded. Draco look bewildered at her remark about her unappealing characteristic. Smirking under her warm hand, he formed a ridiculous thought in his head.

Note to Self: Go to Kingsworth's Kinky Kalamity's and buy a pair of furry handcuffs to match Granger's head and to keep her damn hands to herself.

Sorry that wasn't very action packed[ This is more of a filler because next chapters where the game evolves. R&R!