Draco had felt more shame in one day, than he had ever felt in his entire life.

Hermione Granger had this aura about her, one that made it hard to kill her. It wasn't as if he enjoyed her company or enjoyed anything about her, it was just, she was so selfless and broken and an entirely different Hermione than he remembered in both Hogwarts and the war. She had changed as well, and it wasn't entirely for the better. Her heart may not be as dark as his, but she had driven herself into a hole that was tearing apart the happiness and qualities that made her who she was. She didn't seem like the brightest witch, she just seemed like a broken girl.

Draco didn't know what he was going to do with her. He knew it wasn't time to kill her yet — if that time would ever come, and he knew it would — so, what was he going to do? He couldn't let her go, that would be far too risky and stupid, for he finally had her where he needed her. He had her vulnerable and under his control, but it wasn't as pleasing as he originally assumed. She wasn't the witch she used to be, it was as of Draco was holding a person he had never met before hostage, not Granger herself.

Since he didn't know what to do with her — all his options were limited — he decided he would place her in the hands of his mother. He couldn't kill Hermione now, anyway, and his mother wanted Hermione to help him, so, perhaps it would work out.

"Come with me," Draco demands after a moment of thought, before walking out of his bedroom, and down the hall.

Hermione followed him, her mind whirling with the possibility that he may let her go. That he would tell her this was all a joke, that he was never going to kill her, that he didn't really use obliviate on Ginny. However, that'd be too much to ask for, and Hermione suddenly wished she had her Time Turners still. If only she could turn back time and reset the clock, maybe Malfoy could've been fixed before he was too far gone, and maybe Hermione could have helped herself better than she did. That was all thought and hope, though, nothing more and nothing less.

As she walked behind Draco, she wiped a lonely tear off of her face, before telling herself she would be brave, that she would try her best to not cry anymore. Try, she thought to herself. Just try.

"Mother," Draco greets, as he finds her in one of the halls.

"Draco," Narcissa replies, a bit of happiness in her voice from the thought of Draco coming to talk to her. "What can — " however, she pauses when she sees Hermione standing next to him. "Hermione, dear, what are you — "

"Cut the bullshit, Mother," Draco interrupts. "I know all about your plan to get Granger to fix me," he begins, before Narcissa's eyes darken, a certain anger and betrayal overcoming her. "Granger didn't tell me about it, Weaslette did," he explains, noticing how worked up his mother was getting. "However, Granger will be staying with us for a while. I want you to watch her, and I want you to make sure she doesn't leave. Understand?" Draco's voice was once again cold, but he knew his mother would do anything he asked — besides cover up a murder, of course — and he knew her and Granger would have more in common, being girls and such. "You want to fix me," Draco half laughs. "Don't let her escape."

"Alright," Narcissa replies, despite not wanting to watch Hermione. However, she agreed to watch Granger, for the almost same reason Hermione agreed to help Draco.

"Good," Draco replies, before walking off without another word. Not even a thank you.

Narcissa turns her attention to Hermione when they're all alone, and she pretends to not notice Hermione's red eyes. "Are you getting anywhere with him?" Narcissa asks, wanting to know if any progress was made.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admits, her voice small. She wanted to tell Narcissa that her son was a horrible person, one that destroyed lives and threatened to kill her, but she couldn't do it. There was so much hope in Narcissa's eyes, and Hermione knew that Draco knew Hermione wouldn't tell his mother about the plan. Telling Narcissa, would break something inside of his mother, and Hermione couldn't do that. She couldn't tear down Narcissa's image of her son, no matter what he had done.

Ginny's face keeps appearing in Hermione's mind, but she just keeps telling herself, it was better than him killing Ginny. Hermione would rather her friend forget her, any day, than have Ginny's body lying somewhere, bloody and distorted. The thought itself makes Hermione want to cry. The thought of everything makes Hermione want to cry, and she finds herself blinking her eyes rapidly.

"He's so closed off," Hermione says after a moment, trying to pretend that nothing was going on between her and Draco, that he didn't hold his wand against her throat, that he didn't obliviate her best friend's memories of herself. However, no amount of pretending, could hide her sad emotions.

"Yes," Narcissa clears her throat, not knowing why Hermione was so upset, and not knowing how to deal with Hermione's unshed tears. "He is. Why does he insist you stay?"

Hermione knew this would be the perfect opportunity to tell Narcissa about her son — if it were the Hogwarts days, she would have, however, these days were not like those days — but everything inside of her, told her it was wrong. Draco had threatened to kill her, he had threatened to kill one of her best friend's, he had obliviated Ginny's memories of Hermione, and he had torn Hermione apart more in the last many years, than anyone else had. He was cruel and vile, and he deserved whatever was going to come to him, but then again, he didn't. Hermione knew he was hurting, she knew there was a war going on inside of him, and she knew he was struggling to be something that he truly wasn't. It was these thoughts that kept her from telling Narcissa the truth.

"Since he knows about our agreement, I don't think he'd want to be seen with me, especially not with the Daily Prophet's heading. Not only that, but if Ron or my other friend's found me, they'd demand to know what was going on between Draco and I, and Draco wouldn't want me telling anyone that I was trying to fix him. He's too prideful for that." Hermione's excuse flowed out of her mouth, and it was then she realized, how easy it was for her to lie. Of course, it wasn't as if it all were a lie, she just omitted some truths.

"He is, he takes after his father," Narcissa agrees, completely believing Hermione's excuse. "However, you're free to walk about the manor, or the garden. That is, if — if you want to?" Narcissa knew of Hermione's scar, and knew of the pain Hermione had to have just coming here, but Hermione agreed to help Draco, and Narcissa wasn't going to treat her like a prisoner — no matter what.

"Thank you," Hermione whispers, despite not wanting to walk around and explore the house she was tortured in.

"No, Miss Granger," Narcissa began, as she gently places her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Thank you. I know this must be hard for you, especially after our talk the other day, but it means a lot that you're doing this."

Hermoine couldn't reply, only smile weakly in return. If she opened her mouth, she feared she would cry instead of talk.

"If you're hungry, you're welcome to go into the kitchen and eat whatever you wish." Narcissa turned to go, but before she did, she turned back around and gave Hermione a small smile. "Draco used to tell me about how Hermione Granger's nose was always in a book. If you still love to read, we have a library, a very large library."

Despite all that had gone on today, Hermione found herself smiling slightly at Narcissa. It wasn't as if she were even remotely happy, but it was nice to see that some people had changed after the war, that the old enemies were no longer as cold as they once were.

"Thank you," Hermione tells Narcissa, finally finding her voice.

Narcissa smiles in reply, before walking off down the hall, leaving Hermione all alone in the dark corridor, wondering where the library was. If there was anything to get Hermione's mind off of the war and past events, it was a good book.

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This is a shorter chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it still :) vote and comment please! And share with friends!