A/n: chapter...umm...o right 11! hope u like

Hermione dreaded the morning. House elves would come into her room and open the curtains of the window of the window leading to the balcony. That made the most light get through into the room. Hermione moaned and covered her head with her quilt.

"Miss Granger must be ready for Mrs. Malfoy," squeaked the house elf. Hermione waved her arms from under the quilt.

"I'm coming," she moaned. The house elf left and Hermione remained in bed. She did not want to go shopping with the devil's bride. She would like it if she could just get her dress from Diagon Alley. But no!

Later, Draco knocked on her door and said, "Come on Hermione. Wake up." Hermione cursed at him and he left. She finally got out of bed and walked to her bathroom. She took a shower and had pulled on gray dress pants and a black turtle neck from her bag. She had walked downstairs and met Draco in the living room. "Looks like someone had a late start," Draco said, chuckling.

Hermione gave him a tired glare and his chuckling ceased. "Tell me again why I must shop with your mother," Hermione asked, biting back the urge to insult her.

"Because, mother knows the finest shops for such occasions as this."

Oh, so "Murdering Your Boyfriend's Mother" is a occasion? Hermione thought.

Minutes later, a house elf had scurried into the room and squeaked, "The carriage awaits Miss Granger outside."

Once the house elf was dismissed by Draco, Hermione said, "I hope you know that I hate the fact that you and your mother use house elves here." Draco said nothing and grabbed Hermione a coat from the closet. He had given her the coat and lead her outside the Manor to the carriage that had indeed awaited her outside the Manor gates.

"Enjoy yourself," Draco said as he opened the door for Hermione and kissed her cheek. He looked at his mother inside the carriage and said stiffly, "Mother." Narcissa had nodded her head in acknowledgment. "See you soon love," he said to Hermione in a happier tone. Hermione gave him a small smile and the carriage took off.

Forced by Draco, Narcissa had taken Hermione to the shops for the gown they would be wearing at Blaise's Christmas ball. Narcissa was surely unpleased. She had refused to go in public with Hermione at first. Then Draco had found a way to persuade his mother into letting Hermione go with her.

"All you have to do is stay away from me," Narcissa had told Hermione before they had arrived at their destination. The ride to town had been uncomfortable and silent. As soon as Hermione and Narcissa left the carriage, Narcissa parted from Hermione.

The streets were crowded but nothing like Diagon Alley. The streets of Diagon Alley were unorganized and filled with chatter while where Hermione stood, people spoke in low whispers amongst themselves. The fronts of the shops weren't cluttered with merchandise. Hermione slowly started walked down the sleek stone street and looked through the windows of the obviously dignified shops. One held exquisite jewelry and accessories. Another sold beautiful shoes. Many held dresses with beauty beyond measure.

There was a store that had caught Hermione's eye. Angel Christian's Formal Ball Gowns. Through the window Hermione had stared at the line of cocktail dresses and evening gowns. She walked closer to the window and noticed a tall figure inside arguing with a worker. It was Narcissa. Oh dear Lord have mercy, thought Hermione. Hermione had walked inside the store and saw Narcissa gripping a piece of clothing in her long, manicured fingers. She turned and looked at Hermione with contempt.

Hermione paid Narcissa no attention and looked around. There was such a selection. As much as she enjoyed being in such a shop, she knew she couldn't be able to afford anything in this store. She also knew Narcissa wouldn't let her borrow a sickle for anything. While her back was turned, someone had tapped on her shoulder. Hermione turned around and saw a teenager about a year younger than her with black and bright pink, spiked hair. "Do you need help?" she had asked.

Hermione had bit her lip and nodded. The teenager pulled down her black t-shirt and asked, "Well, do you know what your looking for?"

"A dress," Hermione said.

"Well obviously," the teenager said, laughing.

Hermione chuckled a little bit. "Well, I'm going to this Christmas ball soon and-"

"Say no more," the teenage worker said. "I know something that would fit you perfectly."

Before Hermione would say anything, the teenager had zipped past her and went to the back room. Hermione stared in the direction the teenager had ran. Then minutes later, the teenager with the black and pink hair came back with a large plastic bag. Inside the bag Hermione saw something glittering red. "It will look stunning on you!" the teenager said excitedly.

Hermione smiled. The teenager brought her to a platform and put a curtain around it. She gave her the bag. "Put it on. If there's any problems, I'll fix them." Hermione glanced over at Narcissa. Her fingers still entwined in the fabric of the dress. The worker assisting her was trying to get the dress out of her hands. She looked over at Hermione and noticed what she was doing.

Impossible, both Narcissa and Hermione thought. The curtain was removed and Hermione was revealed. She stood on that platform in a beautiful full length gown in the deepest red wine color. In the soft satin this dress had intricate beadwork on the bodice, beautiful rose detailing at the waste and embroidery crossing over the loops they made.

"Wow," said the teenager. Hermione had fit perfectly into the dress. The bodice hugged her nice and tight. Hermione smiled big and spun around. "I knew it would look fabulous on you!"

Narcissa nearly ripped through the fabric with her nails. "Ma'am," said that aged worker assisting Narcissa. Slowly but surely the worker had gotten the dress out of her clutches.

"Get out of that dress Granger," exclaimed Narcissa.

The teenager had gotten on her knees and attended to the hem of the dress. She held the needle but looked back at Narcissa. "If you wear that you will look ridiculous!" Hermione put her hands on her waist and raised an eyebrow. "The color is hideous and the design is purely unseasonable. The fact that this store even serves muggleborns disgusts me."

Narcissa strutted out of the store with her nose in the air. Everyone in the shop had watched the incident. "Don't worry about her," said the aged worker, "Narcissa Malfoy wouldn't know fashion even if it bit her in her ass. She's mad that one."

The teenager worker and Hermione laughed. "The hem of this is about done," the teenage worker said.

Hermione smiled again at herself. "That you for everything but I can't afford this."

The teenager waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it." She stood up and put down the needle. "Hey, I have some friends who work around here. Tell 'em you know me. They'll know the rest." She winked and waved her wand. The curtain went up and Hermione took off her dress.

When the curtain went down, there was no sign of that teenage girl with the black and pink spiked hair. "Where'd she go?" Hermione asked the aged worker.

Puzzled, the worker asked, "Where did who go dear?"

"That girl who fixed the hem of my dress" Hermione said, holding up the bag that held the dress.

Looking closely at the bag, the worker said, "The hem of that dress never needed to be fixed."

Hermione frowned. "But she was just here." The worker shrugged and walked away with the dress Narcissa had almost damaged. Hermione walked out of the store and looked up and down the streets.

The same attraction Hermione had felt for the last store arose for this one. In the window there was diamond studded shoes and ice cold jewelry. Hermione walked in with the dress at hand. The store was crowded and Hermione wanted to turn back but didn't.

Another teenage worker had came up to Hermione and asked, "You're her friend aren't you?" This girl had long brown hair with purple and blond highlights. Hermione looked puzzled. "Her. The girl who gave you this dress," she said motioning to the dress.

"Err..." Hermione said. "I guess."

The girl nodded her head and took Hermione's free hand. "Come. There's something you need to have. She wanted you to have these." Hermione was confused. The girl from the other store was the one who told her to tell her friends about her. The more Hermione thought about it, the more she got confused. The girl with the oddly colored hair had taken Hermione to the back room and let go of her hand. She got on a ladder and got a large box. When she got down she opened the box and gave a pair of shoes to Hermione.

At the sight of the shoes made Hermione's eyes widen. They were silver and had a 3 inch heel. Strap sandal shoes with a diamond clasp. "And who exactly wanted me to have these again?" Hermione stuttered.

"Her" the girl said.

"Who exactly is her?" Hermione asked. The girl shook her head and went back into the box.

"She also wanted you to have this." She stuck her hand into the box and took out a necklace. She put it in Hermione's hand and she nearly fainted. The necklace had a magnificent centerpiece with a single large crystal. It was surrounded by clear crystals in an open pattern. The necklace was 18 inches long and the centerpiece itself is 2 inches long. "Oh and this." The girl had delicately passed earrings to Hermione. The earrings had matched the earrings. They were chandelier crystal earrings and were 2 inches long.

"I don't understand. I only the knew the girl for 5 minutes and she wants me to have all this?" Hermione said, looking at the extravagant items in her hands.

"You're right. You don't understand. It's more than that," said the teenage girl. "But you'll understand soon enough." She took the things back and put them in the box. "Here. It seems that your shopping is done." She gave Hermione a pleasant smile.

"Oi! Who's back here?" shouted a deep male voice.

Hermione turned around. "Oh, I'm with her," she said, pointing to the teenage girl.

"Who?" the man said.

Hermione turned back and the girl was gone. "But...but she was just here a second ago."

"I don't know what your talking about ma'am but customers aren't allowed back here," he said.

Sighing, Hermione nodded and left the back room.

Later, Hermione had walked toward the carriage and looked around for Narcissa. When she looked straight forward she saw her getting into the carriage, not even bothering to tell the driver to wait. "Narcissa!" Hermione yelled. She ignored Hermione. She picked up her walking pace and opened the door just as the carriage was to leave. "What exactly is your problem?!" Again, Narcissa ignored. Hermione sucked her teeth and looked out the window as the carriage began to move.

When they got back to the Manor, Hermione trudged through the gates and got inside. She got a tighter grip on her things and ran to her room. She stuck the dress in the closet and put the box under her bed. While she was there, she took out another box from under her bed.

While she was there, she took out another box from under her bed. She looked at it for a minute before she unlocked it. Then she carefully took out the silver chain necklace with the ring on it.

The ring still had the words in a dim light. Its not over. There are still some things left in the dark. Hermione thought.

A/n: cliffhanger type thing? idk. r&r