Disclaimer: None of the characters you recognize are mine, but Will Whitaker is. The plot is mostly mine, with borrowed elements from My Girl 2 ;)

A/N: Hey! I'm sorry I haven't updated this fic in a while, I was concentrating on my other one, The Mistake They Can't Deny(which should be updated soon!), and sorta had writer's block on this one. But I finally got this chapter out! I'm sorta sick today (fever, achy, feel weak) so if there's anything odd in my notes or at the end of the chapter...blame it on that LoL. In case anyone's interested in my life(which I doubt you are LoL)I had a great summer, I can't believe it's over! I went to the beach a lot, saw Sugar Ray(they were actually on this godforsaken island that I live on LOL and we were sooo close to Mark McGrath ahh lol), and last weekend saw Conan O' Brien's 10th Anniversary Special at the Beacon Theater in the city (yah that's what we call NYC here lol) which was awesome! He's hysterical, it was great. And now school' started, Senior Year! Ahh! LoL. I'm in all college classes(except religion which is marriage, blech), a lot of clubs, and the school play! I'm also trying to look at colleges now, and I'll hafta start that whole application crap LoL. So0o as you can see I'm a very busy person LoL. BUT I'll still try to hopefully find time to update. Anyywaayy, enough of my babbling...onto the chapter! =)

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A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window
To the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow

I am a rock
I am an island

I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need for friendship
Friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.

I am a rock
I am an island

Don't talk of love
Well, I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber
Of feelings that have died
If I'd never loved,
I never would have cried

I am a rock
I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room
Safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me

I am a rock
I am an island
And the rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

-I Am a Rock, Simon and Garfunkel

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Chapter 2: Draco's Surprise and Hermione Arrives

It had now been 2 weeks since Narcissa and Draco moved in with Will Whitaker, and for Draco things had not gotten any better then the day they had first arrived. The first two days he had stayed locked in his new room, moodily letting his inner spoiled-brat take over. His take on the situation was that just because his mother liked this Muggle man, and he was being forced to live under the same roof as him for the time being, did not mean he had to like him. It wasn't as if Will was his step-father, his mom was only dating him for Merlin's sake. Narcissa tried calling him down for dinner, but he was in an especially sour mood, and refused to come down. He would just stay locked up in his room, shut away from the world for the rest of the summer, until it was time to go back to Hogwarts, where he could forget all about Will Whitaker. He was a rock...an island..... strong and secluded from everyone. No one really needed him, and he certainly didn't need anyone. He was fine all alone. Or at least, that's what he tried to tell himself.

An hour later, Draco's stomach had begun to traitorously growl. Ok, so maybe he couldn't survive isolated in his room the entire summer.....he would have to come out of his room eventually, but only when absolutely necessary.

Now that two weeks had gone by, Draco was doing everything in his power to steer clear of Will. However, during one of the brief escapes from his room, Will approached Draco in the kitchen, blocking the doorway.

"Now Draco, I know that I may not be your favorite person, but we are living in the same house, so don't you think you could at least try to...tolerate me?"

"I do tolerate you, I haven't moved out, have I?" he replied, trying to get past the older man.

"Draco..."

"What?"

"Will you please hear me out?" Seeing Draco sulkily cross his arms and hesitantly sit down, he continued. "Thank you. Now, I know this has got to be hard on you. With your father passing...."

"Don't you dare mention him!"

"Right. Well, with your mother and my relationship going on while you were at Hogwarts, you never really got the chance to know me like she did, and I didn't get to know you either. But, if you'd let me, I'd like for us to get to know each other. Don't you think I at least deserve a chance? I care about your mother very much."

"Oh, you care enough about her to live with her, but not enough to actually marry her?"

"No! Of course not, not at all!"

"Then what's stopping you from proposing? You're living together, why not be married?

"Well, to be honest, we weren't sure how you would feel. We expected this reaction, but, just to be safe..."

"What does it matter? No one asked me if I wanted to live here, so why would you care how I felt about you getting married?!"

"You see Draco, we thought this could be like a.....trial period. A time to get to know each other, get used to each other. Your mother really does care very much about how you'd feel. If your own happiness means more to you then hers, she'd give this all up for you and move back. Now I'll be here if you want to talk. If not, then, by all means, go ahead and continue to sulk in your room."

With that William turned around and left the kitchen, leaving Draco with an odd sense that he was not the least bit accustomed to. Guilt. Suddenly losing his appetite, Draco went back to his room, this time with a tinge more understanding toward William Whitaker. And, now that he actually sat down and thought about it, he didn't know just why exactly he still kept making himself act as though he were insensitive and unfeeling. His father was gone, and he had a new life now, but he just couldn't seem to let go of the past. Could he really make a drastic change within himself? There were many times where he very much doubted it. He had only known cold-heartedness, malice, and detachment all his life. But what was the real Draco Malfoy like? As he continued to gaze out his window, he sadly realized he had no idea who that was.

Hermione Granger was excitedly, but carefully packing a suitcase, trying to hurriedly fill it with everything she would need for the next three weeks. It was the middle of her summer vacation from Hogwarts, and she would be spending the time with her Uncle Bill in London. She had signed up for an Advanced Muggle Studies class for the next year, her sixth one at Hogwarts, and was required to do an assignment for the next year. The Professor had asked them to research any Muggle that they wanted and write a report about they're life, to prepare them for what they would be learning in the class. Hermione, who had always had a passion for learning, was ready and willing to do the assignment. The problem was, her dad had been hoping that she would be spending the summer with him, helping out at the dentist office, but she just couldn't. Her mother had died years ago, when she was only 5 years old, and she had long since moved on with her life, but her father hadn't seemed to be able to. Just being in the office that her mother and father had shared would stir up pent up feelings that she had tried to lay to rest years ago, instead concentrating on her schoolwork, making it a top priority in her life to be the top of her class. However, the part that seemed to pain her the most was that as the years passed, she seemed to be able to remember less and less of her mother, so that she was now only a vague, dim impression in her mind. Knowing this bit of information, she had decided that the Muggle she would research would be her mother. She would stay with her Uncle Bill in the town that her mother grew up in, and would research her for the assignment, trying to find the things out about her mum that her father seemed so unwilling to talk about. While she was there, she insisted that her father take a much-needed vacation, having immersed himself with work since his wife's death.

Hermione was now trying to close her suitcase, sitting on it to flatten the enormous mound, desperately wishing she were allowed to use magic during the summer. Finally getting the zipper closed as much as possible, she took one last glance around her room and hauled her luggage down to her car, her bubbling excitement slowly replacing any sadness she may have felt earlier.

The next few days Draco had become slightly less cold toward Will, thinking that maybe he wasn't so bad after all, and at least he made his mother happy. Indeed Narcissa Malfoy was the happiest he had seen her in years.

"Draco?" Narcissa called out to her son, gently tapping on his door, which was surprisingly enough, left ajar. When she received no answer, she walked in and sat down next to him on his bed.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering why she looked so nervous about what she was going to say.

"Draco, I....I'd like to ask you for a favor. I know you haven't been the happiest here, but I'm glad to see you trying to make an effort. I'm sure if you just give it time, you'd start to like it here."

Draco still seemed a little skeptical at that, but was curious as to what she was going to ask of him. "Well, what's the favor?"

"You see......it's William. He needs you to be a sort of.......tour guide for the next couple of weeks. Now I know what you're thinking, why should you do him any favors?" Draco looked slightly guilty because his mum had read his mind. "But," she continued, "It wouldn't only mean a lot to him, it would mean a lot to me."

'Bugger,' he thought. Her tone was so imploring, her eyes so pleading, and she rarely asked him for much, how could he refuse? He let out a sigh and replied, "I.....guess. But, what would I have to do?"

"Well, his niece is coming to stay for the next couple of weeks, and we thought....well, I thought, it would be nice if you could just make her feel welcome. Show her around. You see William will be working a lot of the time, at least during the day, and she'll need someone a little more familiar with the area to help her. Besides, it would be good of you to make some friends around here and get out a little."

Draco scowled at this. Just what he needed, another Muggle to deal with. Noticing her son's expression, she added, "I believe she's about your age, and she's a witch." At this bit of information his ears perked up. A female witch his age? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Ok...fine, I'll do it."

"Oh wonderful!" Narcissa exclaimed, enthusiastically clapping her hands together. "And no backing out Draco. Do you promise?"

"Yeah, whatever. I promise."

Little did Draco know just what he was getting himself into.

A taxi pulled away from a quaint, suburban house, revealing a young girl standing on the sidewalk, with luggage at her feet. After a short, but grueling plane ride, and a longer cab ride, Hermione was finally at her uncle's house. As she trudged up the walkway with her heavy suitcase, she couldn't help noticing that the house looked refurbished since the last time she had been there. As she rang the doorbell, she put her suitcase down again, and brushed some of the fly-away hair out of her eyes that had escaped from her loose ponytail. Just as she was about to ring the bell again, someone finally came to the door and a huge grin broke out across her face.

"Uncle Bill!"

"Hermione!" he explained, enveloping her in an enormous hug. "Its so great to see you. How are you? Your dad? How was your trip?"

"Oh, it was fine, dad's fine."

"Well, are you going to just stand out there or come in?" he teased her, grabbing the suitcase for her, as she made her way inside. The house was distinctly different from how she remembered it. The colors had changed, the furniture looked brand new, and everything looked extremely neat and tidy. It didn't look like the home of a single man, that was for sure. Before Hermione had a chance to question this, a beautiful, pale, blonde-haired woman emerged from the kitchen and exclaimed in a gushy tone, "Oh, you must be Hermione!" while gently hugging her and patting her on the back. "How are you dear? Will's told me so much about you, it's a pleasure to have you stay with us."

Hermione smiled confusedly at the woman in front of her. "Um.....I don't mean to be offensive but.......who are you? Uncle Will, are you married or something?"

"Uh....involved. Seriously involved.

The woman let out a small chuckle and said, "I guess I should have introduced myself first. My name is Narcissa."

Hermione briefly registered the name as sounding vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. It wasn't until Narcissa acknowledged another presence in the room that she remembered where she had heard the name before.

"Now don't be shy, love. This is Will's niece, Hermione. Oh, don't mind him Hermione, he's just moody."

At that moment, a male figure with features similar to Narcissa's stepped up from behind her, and his jaw hit the floor. His eyes first having grown as wide as saucers, were now narrowing with dislike. Namely, it was Draco Malfoy. Will, seeing Draco's expression of enmity and Hermione's speechless expression, he bewilderedly asked, "Do you two.....know each other?"

And with that, Hermione proceeded to faint.

A/N: Hi. Btw, I know Hermione's mom is alive in the books, but for the purposes of this fic, I had her die when Herm was young. Ok, since my beginning notes were insanely long, I'll just give you two quick reminders: Please go read my other fics and now that you've read, please review and tell me what you think =D. And thanks to anyone that reviewed chapter 1, I appreciate it!

~SweetWater