A/N:I think this is one of the fastest updates that I have ever made. Oh, and uh, Good Morning! I am updating this at approximately 12.05 in the morning! There is a little more Dramione in this chapter, but no kissing yet. And quite the cliff hanger. At least, that is what I think.

Chapter 7

I shot Blaise and Mum a curious glance, not knowing what they were saying.

"Bloody hell! You guys know that I hate when you speak in Italian! Da-"

"Ok, ok, Draco. We won't speak in our home language. Just calm down, please." Malfoy was interrupted as a chuckling Blaise spoke.

"I just don't understand what you guys are saying, and I don't like it when I don't understand things. Sorry I freaked out on you guys."

"We understand. You are going through a rough time."

Rough time? What do they mean, rough time? Malfoy just nodded and asked, "So, when is dinner going to be served?"

Just as he finished speaking, the door opened with a tray appearing, as if floating. But I knew what was behind the tray, and I can't say I was happy about it.

"Hello, Masters and Missus. My name is Spinky."

"We have a house elf?" I asked, startling everybody with my sudden outburst.

"Yes, of course. Why, what's wrong, Mia?" Mum asked, obviously clueless to how I feel with house elves.

"Oh I forgot to tell you Mum. Mia, here, has quite a... passion with house elves. She believes they should be freed, or at least treated better," Blaise said.

"Oh, Mia, that is wonderful that you think that! Don't worry, we treat them quite nicely. You do not need to worry. He has a bed, a small mattress, and he has food daily, he is off on Sundays, and we pay him one Sickle each week." Mum reassured me.

"Ok. That is great!" I said as I beamed at her.

Spinky set the tray down on the table and bowed. He walked away, fetching the drinks while we started our meal.

It actually looked amazing. With the melted cheese dripping off the side, and the aroma the Italian dressing gave off, it smelled and looked amazing.

We each took a sandwich, putting it on our plate just as Spinky came through the door again, this time with a tray with a big bowl full of hot soup, and some Italian bread and crackers on the side. In the hand he wasn't holding the tray, he had a pitcher full of pumpkin juice. He placed it on the table and went back into the kitchen, door swinging behind him. Spinky came out a moment later with a teapot. He set that on the table, bowed, and went back in to the kitchen for what I suspected was the last time.

I took three crackers, a slim piece of Italian bread, and four tablespoons of the appetizing looking mushroom soup. I then ate when everybody else took their share. My adoptive parents taught me the manners of the table, and one of them is to not eat anything until everybody else has taken their share of the meal. Of course, this rule does not apply to Hogwarts, considering there are about a thousand people in Hogwarts.

The meal was absolutely luscious. The toast and spread with the vegetables and cheese tasted amazing together, and the mushroom soup was creamy and soft. The Italian bread's crust was soft and the crackers were salty, but not too salty. Pair them all together, and delizioso! Blaise taught me that word after the 'guest' talk.

I spoke my thoughts and said, "Questo ha un sapore delizioso! Did you make this yourself?"

"Sono d'accordo. E sì l'ho fatto," Mum answered.

I furrowed my eyebrows and thought. I recognized the last part. "I recognized the last part, not the first," I admitted.

She giggled quietly and said, "The first part means 'I agree'. Don't worry, I will teach you myself a bit tomorrow."

I brightened up at that. We would be able to bond. "Ok."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malfoy roll his eyes. I scolded at him and went back to my meal. This was my first dinner with my new family in my new house, and I was not about to let him ruin it.

The rest of dinner was eaten peacefully. When we were finished, I picked up my plate and walked towards the kitchen.

"Oh, Mia, what are you doing?"

"Washing my plate... why?"

"Mia, we have a house elf. You don't need to do it."

"Oh. Right. Can I?"

"What?"

"You said I don't need to. But I want to. It's an old habit. I would feel more comfortable doing it."

"Ok. But Mia?" I looked at her. "It would hurt the house elf's feelings, so can you...?"

"Of course. I will only do my own dishes, and not on weekends." I smiled, limiting my comforting habit to five days so Spinky didn't get his feelings hurt.

"Thank you." Mum smiled and then continued on with her meal. Malfoy was the only other one finished.

I walked into what I suspected was the kitchen because that was where Spinky kept coming from.

I walked into the kitchen, looking around for Spinky. I couldn't spot him, so I went over to the sink to wash my dishes. Once I finished washing and drying them, I looked around in the cabinets to find where they are supposed to go. After looking in three other cabinets, I found the one for the plates and cups. The drawer next to the sink held all of the silverware.

I turned to admire the kitchen. A few feet from the door, there was a counter in the middle of the kitchen. One side had four chairs, and the other had a coal stove and two chairs on each side of it. There were holders for big kitchen knives and wooden spoons. There was two drawers, and not looking in them, I suspected that is was where the other kitchen utensils were. Behind the stove side of the counter, a few feet back, was the sink. There were five cabinets over the sink and drawers on either side of it. There was a huge refrigerator on the wall opposite the door. What I suspected was a walk-in freezer was next to the refrigerator. All of the counter tops were black marble. There was a small light hanging from the ceiling, and it was really bright. Overall, it was a really nice and classic kitchen.

I walked out of the kitchen and saw that nobody else was at the table. I looked around. There was nobody in the dining room, either. I looked back to the table and saw that the plates , cups, silverware, and leftover food was still on the table. I sighed, not being able to hold it in anymore, and stacked all of the plates up. I took then into the kitchen and did the same with the silverware and bowls. I picked up the cups and put them near the sink. The food was left out on the counter, me being unsure on what to do with it and where to put it. I put the plates in the sink, nicely stacked, next to the silverware.

I left everything as it was, knowing if I did anymore Spinky would get insulted. I walked back out to the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs. I looked around and realized something. Wow. This is where I am going to be living from now on. That is mental. I never imagined that I would be a pureblood, living in a manor, and have a brother, twin, no less. I was happy with my old life, the Muggle parents, cozy house, and content with what I had. I had a lot more stuff than some people, I understood. There were people out there with nothing. And I had all I needed. But now, I had that and more. A lot more. This was how I would be living now.

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"You look like you are deep in though, Granger. Oh, I mean Zabini." Malfoy appeared from the shadows in the corner of the room.

"Uh, yeah. I was. Why are you still here? I mean, why are you still in the room?" I said it in a civilized way. I was trying my best not to get irritated with him, which was quite easy considering he wasn't giving me anything to be irritated with.

He shrugged and said, "No reason. I guess I needed to think."

"About what?"

He studied me carefully. "Just some of my problems."

I pulled my knees up to my chin and gestured to the chair across from me with my hand. He sat down cautiously, as if when he sat down a bomb would explode. "Everybody knows you have problems. But I have a feeling those are not the kind of problems you are talking about." I gave a small breathy laugh. To my surprise, he joined in too.

"You are correct about that. Just... do you remember what Blaise was saying during the meal?"

I nodded. "Well, my father is in Azkaban, and my mother is trying to get rid of the thoughts and memories from the war. So she is off on some Auror mission, and will be for a while. I can't stand to stay in the Manor alone for more than a few hours. It will make me go mental. You aren't the only one who was tortured there. In fact, you guys were lucky. You left that house alive."

I flinched, remembering the pain, and guessed my eyes were as large as saucers. "Did you have to, you know, watch?" I knew he knew what I meant.

"Yes." His expression was sad, yet it showed no pity for himself. "Almost every one. They dragged innocent people in there and-" he stopped for a moment, shaking his head. "It was horrible."

I got up, my mind not even knowing what I was doing, and walked over to him. I sat down next to Malfoy and put my hand on his shoulder. He didn't even look at me. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes haunted, as if he was remembering an especially painful memory.

"Malfoy." I shook his shoulder until his eyes lost the haunted look. "Don't worry. The war is over and we are safe. It will be okay."

"No, Granger. I don't care that we are safe. They arent. They are dead. Either that, or permanently scarred. And my family did that to them. I did that to them. I tortured people, Granger. I killed people. And I can never change that." Malfoy's voice was almost a whisper by the end of it.

"No. You can't change that. But if you are good now, and for the rest of your life, it will make up for those two years that all that bad stuff happened. You can never change the past, and everybody knows that, including you and me. But you can always make up for it with present time. So instead of living in the past, live in the present, and embrace the future. Because that is all you can do to live up to the mistakes you made before."

We were silent as Malfoy stared ahead, looking at nothing. I still had my hand on his shoulder and I was leaning towards him, trying to catch his eye. Our faces were about a foot apart.

About another two minutes passed before Malfoy turned his head to look at me. Brown eyes met pale blue. As soon as his eyes touched my gaze upon his, I melted. His eyes were a pale blue, with gray and hazel specks flying around. He had long, perfect eyelashes. His eyes were not cat shaped like my new ones. They were not wide like Luna Lovegood's either. They were a perfect mix of both. And when my newly shaped eyes met his, sparks flew.

The problem was, I didn't know what kind of sparks.

XXXXX

I walked into my room, turning and plopping down on my bed backward. That was a little... awkward. And weird. Who would've thought I would have had that kind of... close moment with Draco Malfoy. It was weird and confusing. There was definitely something between us, some kind of sparks.

I grabbed my wand and made green sparks come out, and then I made red sparks come out. I cocked my head, amazed as different thoughts and realizations come into my head.

Our sparks were just like the wand's. They were both different colours. Red, our sparks that fired when we were in an argument, or if the air between us was tense or irritated. Green, the sparks danced when we were... Well, whatever happened back in the dining room. They are different, and easy to conjure without realizing it. The sparks were special, but not rare. If you were holding your wand and you were mad, red sparks would come. If you were excited or happy, green sparks would erupt from the magic tip of your piece of wood.

In my opinion, sparks were way too complicated.

A/N:So, what do you think? Are you going to kill me for this, or is it only a mild cliff hanger? And what is your opinion on sparks? Please review!

Translations:

Questo ha un sapore delizioso - This has a delicious taste!

Sono d'accordo. E sì l'ho fatto - I have to agree. And yes I did.