Chapter Five

Peeking into the room like it was used to, the sun was sending its shining rays into that emerald-decorated bedroom with the pleasure of getting to see another mishap occur for the owner of the supposed-to-be muggle home. Because there, as the sunrays ignited the room dimly, the sun got to witness the frown on the blonde wizard's face as he stood in the middle of his room, arms crossed.

There was a loud giggle adding to the man's frown.

Inhaling deeply once, Draco Malfoy's silver eyes glowered with irritation as another second ticked by on the muggle-clock and nothing was going his way."This is going to be much more painful than you can imagine," he threatened.

Plop.

He squinted his eyes as a large stream of liquid came rushing down from his ceiling, damping the metallic sheets on his bed that had just been washed the day before.

"Alright, that's it!" He hissed, his neck swinging back as he stared up at the ceiling. "Demetria Malfoy, if you do not come down here in three seconds I will curse you back three years!"

Another loud giggle broke out, sounding like bells echoing off the walls as a dirty-blonde toddler stared at the blonde man upside down from her place on the ceiling. She was on all fours, with the lid of her baby-bottle still clutched between her teeth as the actual bottle that held her milk was discarded on her parents' bed; splattered on the sheets. (Well, there went her breakfast. She was perfectly aware that after this she was not going to be getting a new bottle of warm milk.)

"Demetria—Wait! Okay, no, no!" Draco's would-be hiss was cut short as panic pounded into his chest as the almost three-year old waved a pink palm at him; letting go of her unsafe, but still safe hold on the ceiling. " Demetria, no! Do not let go of that bloody ceiling, do you hear me?"

Demetria opened her mouth, the lid falling from her mouth and landing on the bed beneath her and she let out a gust of wind, almost making it sound like a gurgle as she figured there really wasn't much to say in this situation. (She was resting on the damn ceiling, what could she say to that lethal-looking man that could spare her life once she was rescued?)

"…How did my morning end up like this?" Draco muttered to himself, his hard gaze still fixed upon his daughter. "Being woken by that bloody beeping contraption, no breakfast, no pants," his eyes traveled down to himself for a quick millisecond, only to see the material of his black boxers, "losing my wand, finding my daughter dangling in the air, my wand in her ruddy pocket." He stopped himself, trailing off before he could give himself a few more reasons why this was not the way to wake up and his anger multiplied. (Not like things could get worse at this point, right?)

Crack!

"—Morning, mate!"

With that Italian accented voice echoing off the walls of his bedroom, Malfoy knew that somewhere in hell his Auntie Bellatrix was laughing hysterically at his luck as he was about to start banging his head on the wall; hoping for unconsciousness.

"Oi, Demi, what are you doing, darling?!"

Cursing himself, Draco rubbed his temples in desperate need to push away the upcoming headache. "She's hanging from the ceiling, you dunce, not miles away dancing with a ghoul."

"Huh, I'm guessing she knicked those MoonSocks from Weasley when Ginny took her to the shop yesterday, eh?" Waving a dark palm at the toddler, Blaise Zabini sighed happily, shaking his hair as he chuckled. "Oh, those kids, mate. They do the darnest things."

Muttering another curse word, Draco made sure his daughter still had her hands on the ceiling and her little feet—coated in the brightest of yellow material—were still firmly on it too as he turned to glare at the man. "I'm glad you're having a pleasant morning, Zabini. Couldn't be happier for you that Cho let you two give it a go before you came here, honestly. But could you please get Demetria off the blasted ceiling before her mother murders me?!"

"Oh, can you really tell?" Blaise chuckled more, completely oblivious to his friend's deep irritation as he blushed lightly as he pulled out his wand and pointed it above his head. "It's the glow, isn't it? Yeah, mate, I get rather peachy-looking when I've satisfactorily completed my husband-ly duties."

Trying not to gag or just plain sucker-punch Blaise on the head, Malfoy outstretched his arms as the words 'Wingardium Leviosa' came from Zabini and the dirty-blonde girl came floating down, giggling like the proud half Malfoy that she was for her stunt.

And as soon as a pair of brown eyes looked into his, Draco frowned; even though thick eyelashes were being batted at him with innocence. "Well," his tone was stern, "do you have something to say, Demetria?"

Contemplating it for a second, Demetria settled on sending her father a clueless grin.

"Draco!" There was footsteps heard coming towards the master bedroom. "Dra—oh, there you two are."

Lifting his hands up in a what-the-bloody-Merlin manner, Blaise glared at the brunette that stormed into the bedroom. "What the hell am I?"

"Easily ignored." Rolling her eyes, Hermione Malfoy walked towards her husband and child as Blaise gasped dramatically at her indifferent comment. "Breakfast is ready, Malfoy. You can go eat now, so stop wasting your time doing nothing and go feed before you go to the Ministry."

Placing the girl in his wife's outstretched arms, Draco said, "get those socks off of Demetria's feet, Hermione, or she'll end up giving you a heart attack while I am at the Ministry." He then rubbed his temples, the headache already present. "And, please, find a way to make our home Apparation proof."

"What's got his knickers in a twist?"

"—I've made your favorite, Draco," Hermione replied calmly, smiling at him as Blaise shouted 'Stop ignoring me!', and she peered her brown eyes at her husband. "Tea and Pumpkin Juice on the side of the plate and the Daily Prophet ready to be read."

Feeling like some of that pressure was off of his chest, Draco exhaled after a few moments. "Thank you."

Smiling a little wider because of the gratitude in his voice, the brunette lifted herself up on her toes to press a kiss on her husband's cheek. She knew something was going on in his head recently because he'd been quiet lately, only randomly taking off by Floo to Harry's house when he found the need to speak. (She was ready to curse him so he'd fess up what it was, but she knew she'd find out soon enough.) "Now, off you go. I don't want you to be running late. And, oh, here," before Draco could head towards the door, Hermione tossed him a pair of freshly washed trousers.

"You're like a maid, 'Mione, you know that?" Blaise chirped, watching with the same suspicion as his best friend walked out looking a little too pensive for his liking. "Cooking for him, washing his clothes, cleaning his dishes, sexing his needs—"

Wham.

"Oi!" Zabini snapped, clutching on to his face as Hermione retracted her palm away from his right cheek; watching incredulously as she balanced the giggling two year-old on her hip and marched out of the room. "I thought you said I was easily ignored!"

X

With a hysterical squeak, an elder woman shot daggers with her bright blue eyes at the house-elf approaching the grand window in the ancient sitting room that the Malfoy Manor had. "Away from the windows!"

Trying her hardest not to raise her thin eyebrow, because she couldn't even if she wanted, Beta the house-elf nodded her head obediently at the blonde woman. "As you wish, Mistress," trailing off for a slight second, the house-elf cleared her throat and spoke again. "But Beta would like to...inform… that the windows have been getting dusty, Mistress. Beta hasn't been able to clean them for the past two weeks."

"Forget about the windows, Beta," sighing with a tired expression, Narcissa Malfoy settled her trembling palms over her lap, staring at her house-elf from one of the armchairs in the sitting room; relaxing after she'd steered away from the windows. "A little dust is the least of my concerns at the moment. Why don't you go clean the rooms upstairs? My grandson left a disastrous mess in his bedroom last time he came to visit. I'm sure the higher levels of the Manor could use some cleaning."

Beta twirled her long, bony fingers with one another as she looked down at her hands. Not daring to look at his mistress as she was about to go against house-elf codes and contradict her. "….But Beta has cleaned Master Scorpius' room three times this week, Mistress."

And with her hands still shaking, the house-elf noticed that Mrs. Malfoy did not even hear her comment, and so, she proceeded to look up at the other woman sitting in the room too.

Giving a little nod at Beta, Hermione cleared her throat to try and get her mother-in-law's attention. "Narcissa, is something the matter? You look a bit shaken up."

Contemplating that her twinges were becoming too obvious, Mrs. Malfoy reached for her cup of tea on the center table between her daughter-in-law and her; trying to get them to do something other than cause suspicion in everyone around her. "I'm perfectly fine, dear."

"You've being looking rather nervous since I arrived," Hermione said frankly, frowning at the woman who was clearly taking the Brightest Witch of the Age as an idiot. "Not to mention you jump at every little noise. Is there something you wish to share?"

Narcissa sipped on her tea, her eyes focusing on the cup itself rather than looking at the brunette. "Nothing is the matter, Hermione. I assure you. I've just been feeling quite nostalgic, that's all. I miss my grandchildren terribly, and the Christmas holidays seem so far away."

"Ariana tells me she writes to you frequently, and I know she misses you as much as Scorpius does. Besides, Teddy comes to visit you frequently, right?" Hermione asked, letting the subject be diverged as she knew the woman was not going to be speaking of her jitters. "After all, Andromeda finds herself here more than at Grimmauld Place."

Putting on a feigned smile—because the visits the former Black sisters were having had stopped short days ago—Narcissa laughed lightly. "But of course, dear. Teddy knows he is required to visit me at least twice a week. I can't help but to love his presence in this place. It really brightens up the Manor." Clearing her throat cleverly, Mrs. Malfoy settled her cup back on the table. "Ariana's birthday is approaching soon, any plans?"

"Cho wants to throw a conjoined party for the girls," Draco's wife began, settling on this conversation other than annoying Narcissa with her questioning. "It seems like a good idea. I mean, Savanna and Ariana share birthdays and the day falls on their holidays. It'll be a perfect opportunity, seeing as Ana never wants any sort of celebration."

Narcissa took another sip of her tea as her fingers began quivering again and she felt tears about to come out her eyes. "She reminds me of Draco," she tried to smile, a warm gesture that didn't match the glistening in her eyes. "In some ways, that is. She has his same distaste for formal gatherings and celebrations. When my son was young it had to be ordered for him to get out of his room and come socialize. Sure, he had been a very arrogant boy before, but he never did find pleasure on having everyone's face plastered up at his."

Before Hermione could utter an awkward response to that, the doors of the Malfoys sitting room opened and in came two blondes.

"Demi, there you are," the brunette turned her eyes to the little girl wobbling her way closer with the help of a tall man. "I'm sorry for the interruption, Mister Malfoy. After I noticed that she crawled away from Beta, I knew she had escaped to go and find you."

With a blank expression, but with very adoring eyes, Lucius Malfoy looked down at his youngest granddaughter; looking at her with that unapproachable affection that invaded his heart from the very first time he held her. Like when he held her siblings on the first days of their lives as well. "It's no trouble at all, Hermione. I always have time for her."

Hermione let a smile crawl onto her face, stretching it with feigned emotions as the ex-Death Eater moved his gray eyes to her and away from her daughter.

After all this time—after these fifteen years, things between Hermione and Lucius Malfoy had not gotten warm. Their interaction was always polite, but very forced. Neither of them ever spoke more than what was required, and both knew perfectly well that a relationship of in-laws was never going to exist between them. They just shared their love for Draco, their affection for Narcissa, and their blood with Scorpius, Ariana and Demetria.

She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the awkward silence. "I hope she didn't interrupt your business meeting with that Ministry Official."

"Business meeting?" Mister Malfoy raised his blonde eyebrow, staring at the brunette with a slight confusion. "What business—"Stopping, Lucius caught the expression his wife was wearing, her worry glowing strongly in every centimeter of her face. "Oh. Well, yes. Auror Johnson was here with a memo from Mister Potter, but nothing important."

Turning to get her cup of tea, Hermione rolled her eyes at her husband's parents. If there is anything that got the witch so annoyed, it was when they treated her like a common idiot. As if she didn't notice every little action they were making, like she couldn't see the change in Draco, Narcissa, Lucius, or even her two best friends in the past few days. She knew that something was ticking badly, that there was an urgent matter bubbling in their heads—and she hated that they did not tell her.

Was she not a war hero for a reason? Was she not renovated over time to handle anything? Hadn't she already proven that she was capable of surviving any hardship?

"Alright," raising herself off the leather armchair, Hermione Malfoy handed her cup of tea to the house-elf that had apparated quickly to her side from a room upstairs as soon as she stood. "It's time for us to go." (After all, she rather be away from them if they were going to play her stupid.)

Shaking her dirty-blonde hair, Demetria flashed sad brown eyes at her mother. Begging her silently for them to prolong the visit for just a couple of more minutes.

"We've been here for three hours, Demi," Hermione sighed, laughing lightly as her two year-old pouted. "Besides, we promised Ginny we would go with her to the Burrow, remember? You've not seen Molly or Arthur in days. It's time for a visit, don't you think?"

Demetria pouted even more, adding a lip tremble as the light of the room made her eyes sparkle and her tight-curls look like a halo. (Bloody effects.)

"Narcissa," grunting at the girl, Hermione turned to her mother-in-law, "do you mind if she stays for another two hours? I'll be back for her as soon as possible."(Well, apparently that's how easily convinced the Brightest Witch of the Age was? Huh. No wonder she ended up having that 'slip' that led to the pouting girl in the middle of the sitting room.)

"Of course—"

"—No! Absolutely not!" Startling everyone in the room, Narcissa bolted upright from her chair; glaring at her husband, who'd taken the liberty of answering for her while her hands shook uncontrollably. "She is not staying here, Lucius. She is to go with Hermione. I am not having her here!"

"Cissy," Lucius exhaled seriously, glowering at his wife as she stood in her stance firmly. "It's just for a few hours. I'll keep Demetria with me at all times."

"It is not safe here, Lucius," his wife hissed, her voice breaking even though her fury had taken over her tone. "How could you even think of having our granddaughter—"A strange sensation crept up her spine, silencing her as a chill made the skin on her body go numb.

Noticing Narcissa freeze, Hermione did the same. An odd pressure clutched on to her heart, a knot growing thick in her throat that made her oxygen to come back out uneasily. She felt like her body had suddenly been taken over by a greater force, a force that was telling her something was approaching, that it was time to run.

Her ears perked up, her breath hitched as she heard movement somewhere outside and Mister Malfoy pulled out his wand instantly as the odd tension grew.

"…Shhh. No one move," he whispered harshly, his long white-blonde hair swaying in front of his pale face as he leaned towards the window, trying his hardest to listen to every little creek that was going on in the moment.

"Ugh," Demetria whined, her short legs wobbling as her grandfather let her hand go and she was on her own.

Lucius turned to his granddaughter, a finger on his lip. "Shhh—"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Demetria!" Lunging herself to the little girl who had fallen to the floor, Hermione pulled her daughter up to her arms when the grand window in the Malfoys sitting room exploded; shattering into a thousands pieces as loud sounds invaded the room and flashing of lights were appearing at every corner.

"Get her out!" Lucius shouted, slashing his wand in the air to stop a spell from hitting him. "Get her out of here, Hermione!" He shouted again, pushing his daughter-in-law steps back as he continued to block the spells heading their way. "Cave Inimicum!"

"—No!"

"—Don't let them escape!

"—Get them! Destroy their protection!"

"—Spare no one!"

After hearing and processing several of the angry-filled voices, Hermione gaped shockingly at the limp figure of her daughter. Her heart beating with so much force and pain that she thought it was going to cause a hole in her chest and it would bounce out. The knot in her throat even more excruciating as her hysteria rose to several levels of insane at the blood gushing at the side of the little girl's head.

"—Expulso!"

"—Protego!" As soon as the protection that Lucius had conjured was blown away, his wand expelled out a large clear bubble. A charm protecting the ones behind him as smoke started filling the air around them and his home was getting destroyed every fading second that shoved by them. "—Get her out!"

Seeing as the moment was calling for her duty, Beta the house-elf pushed past her Mistress and leaped forward to the brunette and her child, ripping the little girl from Hermione's arms as she just looked in a complete daze to even react at anything.

"…My baby," Hermione murmured, her eyes unfocused as Demetria didn't move. "M-my baby..."

BOOM!

And with a crack that was unheard from all the exploding and shouts, Beta disappeared with tears in her eyes as she stole the unmoving girl from her mother.

"—Everyone dies!"

"Stupefy!" As a figure emerged in front of Hermione, Narcissa acted as quickly as her senses would let her as she too shed tears—tears that were filled with mourning. "Hermione, move, darling, move!"

Shreds of plaster and marble were flying all around, accompanied by the things that occupied the grand sitting room. All of it flying past the victims as a group of three became largely visible to the Malfoys. The Protego Charm still on its hold as the intruders sneered and aimed bright colored lights at them, trying to break the shield that prevented them from ending the lives of those they were sent to finish.

"Avada—"

"—Imperio!" The eyes of one of the attackers went blank, his deadly curse cut short as Narcissa Malfoy managed to cast an Unforgivable at him before he did it to her.

"Expelliarmus!" Taking the distraction of the man closer to him, Lucius sent a body soaring backwards to collided with a wall; knocking him out cold. "Hermione!" The blonde man shouted, rushing towards the brunette as the other man sent a flash of green light towards her.

Looking up at the exact moment, Hermione was thrown a few feet away as her husband's father dove into the flash—his body landing on the floor with a haunting thud as that lethal green light got him, and took him completely.

Raising her wand higher, with a manically mental gaze, Narcissa screeched at the bewitched man with all of her wrath. "Kill your friend!"

And before the final man could even react, a wand was pointed at his head, with the glower of a man who could not control any of his actions looking at him possessed in the last second of his life. "Avada Kedavra!"

"…My baby...My baby...My baby," lowering herself onto the marbled ground, Hermione's eyes became even more outraged with overwhelming shock and trauma. Her bright brown eyes leaking thick tears as she shook her head, her mind unfocused to her thoughts as her body began trembling and the screams of agonizing pain echoed from Narcissa all around her.

Well, it seems like Hermione Granger has done it again. Something was definitely going on, but now, she had to figure it out before she realizes that the sentence of her death had been given.