A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for the amazing reviews! Regarding the one about Hermione not being able to achieve being Minister of Magic. I'm sorry you regarded it as being sexist, but I actually meant it in the opposite way to reflect the sexism of the Wizarding World. So although she's amazing and capable, she's not able to become the Minister.

Also, please check out the trailer Slytherin Queen Made: youtube /watch?v=gWWMQV-c-gA&t=0s

Hope you enjoy the chapter! – Ravenclaw Queen

Chapter 8

Draco apparated back to the manor, completely distraught. He had established two things on his way back. First, that he would try his hardest to protect her at all costs, and second, that he had to figure out the secret of the mansion, the secret of Abrax Malfoy. And Fast. He knew his grandfather had special waords that could be put in place, and he just needed to figure out what they were and how to activate them.

He decided the best place to start was at the great library of the manor. He had visited the library almost daily as a kid, but was never permitted to read the heavier materials of the Malfoy family collection. After being named the head of the household, he seldom had time to visit, and never got to experience the mysteries of this great and ancient library. In the back of his mind, he could remember a few books that were entirely based on the Malfoy family, and decided to start his search there.

As soon as he entered the library, he noticed Hermione curled up on the couch, reading a novel whose title was hidden away behind her cloak. He almost laughed out loud at not realizing sooner that he could find Hermione Granger here. She glanced up, and he caught her smile, which took his breath away. "Hi, where have you been? I haven't seen you around the manor."

"Just catching up on some stuff at the ministry," He sat down beside her casually, and wondered to himself how they had gotten this close. "What are you reading? Some dark magic perhaps? Plotting to kill everyone in this manor and escape?"

"If I had wanted to escape I would have done it a long time ago." She smiled, and crossed her legs.

"Well, glad to know the manor is treating you well. We haven't had guests in a really long time."

"Your mother asked me about Tonks the other day, actually.." Hermione confessed

"Oh?"

"I don't see why you shouldn't ask Teddy to come over. Or any of the other family member black-listed for that matter. There's no point sticking with the Malfoy stigma any longer. You should show people you're past your father's era. Maybe, help your mom reconnect with her sister. I think she would like that."

Draco nodded, pondering. "Speaking of my bloody father, how are you doing? Are you still…" He didn't want to directly ask about her fear of walking around the manor, in case it sounded patronizing.

"I don't really know how I feel. The whole situation seems contradictory, I feel scared that he would find his way to me again, but at the same time, I feel really safe. Calm, even. I haven't felt this welcome somewhere in a really long time."

"I'm so sorry for what he did," Draco shook his head, dismayed. "I promise I will try my hardest to keep you safe no matter what, although I'm not sure if that reassures you in anyway, or if my word really means anything."

"I—" Hermione began, but we interrupted by a house elf she didn't recognize.

"Master, there is someone here to see you." Draco glanced up at the house elf, and approached him, whispering. The house elf replied, informing his master who the individual was. Draco thought for a few seconds, and nodded, realizing she could be trusted.

"Thank you for letting me know. It's okay, let herthem in." He answered casually.

Before the house elf could say anymore, a shrill female voice announced her presence, and Draco immediately grimaced. "Why hello, Draco. Haven't heard from you in a while. I thought you were sick or something. Well, that's what the ministry people said after I sent them letters. But now I see you've been hanging out with a mudblood of all people."

Hermione scoffed, and said, "I don't know if you've read the news recently but we've had a second Wizarding War, Astoria. People don't discriminate based on blood anymore. Well, not publicly, anyways."

Astoria Greengrass gasped, and screamed, "How dare you call me by my name!" Draco watched the two girls, completely speechless. He noticed Hermione redden, something he's learnt recently was not a good sign. He could still feel her slaps on his cheek.

"Both of you,you please calm down. Granger," He flinched, realizing his instinct to call her by her last name time again arose solely due to Astoria's presence, "Please ignore her. She's wrong, I know. But she's blinded. The Greengrass sisters have never learnt anything other than pureblood supremacy, and it's gotten worse after their family and friends have been locked up. Please, please, don't take offense."

"Draco. Malfoy. Who has she turned you into?" Astoria tsked.

"And you," He said, turning back to her, "I'll talk to you in private."

"Good idea," Hermione said, patting her cloak and standing up. "I wouldn't want to taint the pureness of this room with my presence anyways. Please, go fuck. Do whatever you like. And Dra-, Malfoy. Don't ever tell me to forgive someone for calling me something I'm not. In my book, it's never okay, okay?" Hermione was furious, but what she didn't understand was why she was this angry. She had been called mudblood before, countless times, that wasn't what was bothering her. Maybe, subconsciously, she Hermione was getting too accustomed with herthe impression, that she was Draco's sole female companion. It didn't pass her mind that maybe he had a girlfriend.

Draco watched her, stunned, as she gathered her belongings and exited the library.

Unbeknownst to him, Hermione had ranrun back to her room, only stopping once to wipe the tears streaming down her face.

"Pansy has been telling everyone, you know?" Astoria continued, after a moment of silence.

"Telling everyone what?" Draco asked, the annoyance clear on his face.

"There's a mudblood washing your mind. She said you called her a whore. She said you were her prince one moment and the next you looked at her in disgust." Draco grimaced. "Now I see there's a mudblood washing your mind, telling you to say these things. Is she washing your mindbrainwashing you? Draco, if you're in there, blink twice. I'll tell my dad, he'll come rescue you." Draco rolled his eyes at the comment. That's one thing he haded about the Greengrass girlsHe hated this part of Astoria, the one that was so dependent on her father, that wouldn't be able to function without his influence and money. Hermione was almost the complete opposite of this, her independence honed by her years of fighting against the dark always had their daddy doing everything for them. He loved that Hermione wasn't like that she was so independent.

"Stop joking around. I've just… realized a lot of things recently. There's so much going on you don't know about. "The world is changing, and maybe for the better."

"Well, Draco honey, help me understand then." She said, as she reached behind her dress, and pulled the zipper down slowly.

He immediately stood up, and faced away from her, looking out to the courtyard from the long glass windows surrounding the library. "Stop, Astoria. I'm not messing with you. Don't make me say it again." She froze, sensing the presence of the Draco she knew, and pulled the zipper back up. He ignored her, and continued to watch the garden outside in silence. She approached him slowly, and gently put her hands wide against his back.

She seemed to have lowered her usual façade, and sounded serious when she said, "You need to tell me what's going on," She pulled her slim and long fingers slowly into a fist, and propped her head between his shoulders, she felt him tighten, but remained silent. "I thought our relationship was going somewhere. We were perfectly happy, and I thought you were finally ready to settle down. And then I started hearing about you and Pansy starting up again," her voice quivered, "I was actually fine with that, surprisingly. I always knew you never loved her. That you used her to release your anger, your frustrations. And then I hear about the mudblood. I never thought you could stoop this low."

Finally, he turned around to face her, she swayed unsteadily for a second, and he grabbed her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "I told you. Everything's different now. I think…" He thought for a second for the right words, "I think I thought we were right for each other because that seemed like what my mother and your parents wanted. It was the perfect match, and I wanted to settle down too. And then… I was scared. And Pansy came over, and I just… I'm sorry."

She nodded, expecting this response. It wasn't like she hadn't felt the pressure from their families as well, but she believed Draco was wrong about Narcissa. She seemed to have always hated her. "And the mudblood?"

"Please stop calling her that. She's a wizard, and a greater wizard than the both of us. You're blinded by your prejudice. In fact, I think you two would actually get along… in a weird way."

She watched his face, trying to gauge how he really felt. It was always easiest for her to judge him by his expressions, because he never said how he really felt in real life. She knew at that very moment that the old Draco wasn't coming back. She took a few steps from him, and his hands dropped to his side, his expression sombersombre. "Why are you avoiding my question?"

"I think I might have developed feelings for her." He was shocked at himself at finally saying it out loud, but he knew he was always able to reveal to Astoria things he could never admit to himself. She always brought out the best in him, even at the worst of times. She also deserved to know why he had treated her this way these past few months, and he knew that he loving someone else wouldn't make it okay, but that she would be able to understand, at least just a little.

She gasped, unable to help herself. "Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger? Does she feel the same?" She shook her head. "No, that doesn't matter. You can make any girl fall for you if you tried. You managed to trick me, after all," she said bitterly.

"I never tried to trick you—"

"Saavfe it. I'm out." She glared at him one last time, and turned her back on him. "Wow, I never thought I would feel pity for a mudblood. Wait till I tell Pansy about this."

Draco watched her leave, and sat back onto the couch with his hands covering his face, "What have I done?"

The ministry had trusted him to make the judgement of who he deemed safe to know of Hermione's whereabouts, and he had agreed, promising to care for her the best he could. It seemed he had just made the grave mistake of trusting Astoria to keep this secret. He had loved her, and will probably continue loving her as a friend, but he seemed her prejudices were rooted deeper than he could ever imagine.

He hadn't seen Hermione that night at dinner, or the next day at breakfast. He realized, after asking his mother, that she had her food brought up to her room, and was refusing to come out. After having a long and hard conversation with his mother, with her telling him repeatedly that he would never find anyone better and that he always ruined the best things that happened to him, he decided that he had enough and went back to the library, continuing his research.

Draco spent the rest of the day pouring through restricted copies of ancient texts, looking for any clue of the dark magic used on the manor by Abrax, and how he would be able to access it. By sunset, he gave up on his search for the day, and although he wasn't able to find exactly what he was looking for, he realized he had learnt a lot about his family history as a result.

The most recent files and novels talked about the conflict between Abrax and his father and their complicated relationship. Draco could barely recollect anything about his grandfather, since he had died young, but it seemed that he was one of the first Malfoys that was not bought on the concept of pureblood supremacy, and had worked with professors at Hogwarts to gather more students that were muggle-born and teach pureblooded wizards more about muggles. He had even donated hundreds of thousands of Galleons to the ministry to support muggle-studies and enhance the department of muggle affairs. In that case, Draco thought, how could Lucius have possibly developed all his hatred towards muggles?

He couldn't find any articles other than Abrax's contributions to the wizarding world other than repeated mentions of the creation of the draught of living death soand decided to ask his mother that night at dinner what she knew about his history and the Malfoy family.

"It was my family actually, thate polluted his mind." She said, cutting a piece of steaming potato and putting it in her mouth. "The Black family and Malfoy family were always really , along with Crabbe and Goyle families. It was inevitable that we would end up married,married; the whole thing was almost arranged. Abrax was always shouting at them, hating them for fuelingfuelling his aggression against muggle-borns and muggles. But he was always kind to me, and was supportive of the marriage. Besides, I think Lucius was predisposed to be aggressive. The only thing the Black family had done was guide his hatred."

Draco nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought to ask sooner, "Then what do you know about this black magic spell he used against father?"

Narcissa chuckled, "I've never really believed he used a spell, but your father certainly did. It scared him plenty when Abrax was around, and still scares him now as a grown up. Abrax was kind to others, but he was extremely cruel to his own children."

Draco scoffed, "I know the feeling." Narcissa's expression dropped, and she went back to her meal, eating in silence, unable to look him in the eyes. Draco was unfazed, having already seen this reaction many times. She was never able to talk to him about the abuse, or anyone, for that matter. But he didn't need her to say it out loud to know that she was sorry. So they lived life, never bringing it up. "So, there isn't an ancient creature or something living in our basement made specifically to target father?" He asked, changing the subject.

Narcissa forced a smile, "I believe not." Draco frowned, upset that his plan was foiled. "Why are you asking anyways?"

"I sawwent to see Crabbe at Azkaban. I've been avoiding telling you today but I don't think he's messing with me this time,He requested to see me." Narcissa dropped her utensils, and stared at him, realizing the gravity of the situation. "His dark mark has been hurting, too." He hated to worry his mother like this, but he realized he had to tell someone.

"The dark lord…?"

He shook his head, "No. Not this time. But someone that has been gaining power, someone that wants to take his place."

"Who?"

"I think it's father." Narcissa gasped sharply, and her hands began to shake. Draco noticed, and regretted telling her immediately. He stood up from his end of the long table, and walked over to her end, bending down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder, and looked at her in the eyes when he said, "I'm sorry for worrying you. It might be nothing. You know I always think too much about things." He tried to changedchange his expression to something lighter. "Besides, there's no way he could've gained power in Azkaban, they keep such a tight watch on them. And with the dementors, he would've had no motivation."

She breathed a few deep breaths, and looked back at him. "I'm just worried for Hermione, mother. I never want any other wizard to experience what we've experienced. Two is enough. As soon as I feel like the manor is no longer safe for her, that I will no longer be able to protect her, I will inform the ministry."

"Don't pretend you don't care for her Draco," Narcissa retorted, regaining her usual composure. "Everyone knows except for her. I know you never do this, but you need to apologize. And that's an order from your mother." Draco smiled, relieved his mother was back. He decided he would never worry her like that again. He would deal with this situation on his own.

"Okay mother," He replied, and kissed her on the cheek before returning to his end of the table and finishing his meal.