Here is the last chapter:

Chapter 4:

An hour later and they were all still seated in the living room chatting. Draco looked relaxed and easy going, but inside his anger was building. During the past hour he had heard and logged several veiled insults from both of her cousins, as well as quite a few subtle comments from her mother. Hermione, feeling his tension rubbed his thigh gently to calm him, but she too was beginning to get sick of the twin's insults and was starting to feel her mother's comments take root under her skin. It was Jane Granger's next words that caused Draco to finally let some of his anger show.

"Forgive me for being blunt Draco, but may I ask why you're dating my daughter?" the sharp intake of breath from Hermione distracted Draco for a moment and he also saw Henry narrow his eyes at his wife before he turned his attention back to Jane.

"I'm sorry Mrs Granger but I'm not sure that I understand what you mean" he politely replied. One look at his face and Hermione knew that Draco was very much aware of what her mother was implying, it was the same thing that the twins had been saying, yet hiding well behind comments.

"I mean why would someone like you be dating my daughter?" Jane clarified. Her husband's shocked "Jane!" didn't deter her either as she stared resolutely at Draco.

"I'm sorry Mrs Granger but I believe that that question was uncalled for" Draco responded calmly, though Hermione heard the steel behind the calm.

"I don't believe it was! I want to know why someone like you is with someone like Hermione! Are you planning on taking advantage of her?" Jane demanded. Hermione sucked in a sharp breath at the pain that shot through her chest at her mother's words.

"Mum how could you even think such a thing? Let alone ask it!" she gasped as tears began to form in her amber eyes. Rising to his feet Draco let his anger at Hermione's mother show in his eyes. He said not say a word to her though, instead he turned and drew Hermione to her feet and into his arms. He comforted her for a moment before pulling back and using his thumb to wipe the tears that had fallen.

"Mia love, go pack your trunk, I'm not leaving you here to deal with this at Christmas, I'll take you to the manor to stay with me" he whispered to the upset girl in his arms.

"But Dray…" Hermione began, shocked at his suggestion, but Draco cut her off.

"Just trust me on this yeah?" he asked, Hermione stared into his eyes and seeing the caring in them nodded her head slowly. "Thankyou, now go pack your trunk baby, I'll wait here for you" he instructed softly. Hermione pulled out of his embrace and made her way up the stairs. As soon as Hermione was out of sight he turned furious grey eyes on her mother.

"Mrs Granger I apologise for what I'm about to say, and I know that it is not really my place to do so, but somebody has to and it's about time that someone did!" he began.

"I beg your pardon?" Jane asked shocked at the furious tone Draco spoke in.

"It's obvious that you love your daughter very much, but love can do some serious damage to someone's self esteem when its tempered with condescending and patronization! I wonder if when you look at your daughter, you actually really look!"

"How dare you! What on earth are you trying to say?" Jane demanded angrily.

"Jane, I believe that Draco is trying to tell you the same thing that I have for years! You obviously don't see Hermione the way that I see her, or, more to the point, the way Draco sees her!" Henry answered before Draco could, he had seen the look in Draco's eyes when he looked at Hermione and was impressed that the young man cared enough to stand up for her. Draco turned astonished eyes towards Hermione's father and was shocked when he saw understanding and encouragement, as well as a healthy dose of admiration and acceptance in their dark depths. Turning back to Jane, Draco felt his anger increase at her disbelieving expression, she truly didn't see that her daughter was beautiful.

"I spent six years trying to win Mia! And I'll be damned if I lose her now because what you say beats at her self confidence until she gets to the point where she wonders why I'm with her, or if she's good enough for me!" Draco stated angrily.

"I certainly do no such thing!" Jane protested indignantly.

"Yes you do! And the strange thing is that you don't even realize that you're doing it! I was there when Mia got the letter from you informing her that she had to come for Christmas and it took me days to convince her that what you had written in that letter was untrue! Obviously when you look at your daughter all you see is a brainy bookworm who is a bit of a plain Jane! Well I'm telling you now that that's sure as hell not what I see when I look at her!" Draco growled. He knew that he was overstepping his bounds but couldn't help it, he was so angry at the callous treatment that Hermione had received from the female members of her family. Glancing at her father again he noticed that there was no anger on Henry's face, in fact it appeared as if he was glad that someone was finally standing up for his daughter and saying everything that he had been saying for years but was never heard.

"Well I can certainly guess what someone like you see's when they look at my daughter!" Jane replied haughtily.

"Someone like me?" Draco asked, his voice deadly.

"Yes a handsome, wealthy young man who could have any woman he wanted! It's easy to see why you would be interested in someone like Hermione" Jane responded.

"Are you implying that I'm leading Mia on because she's desperate for attention so will succumb to my advances easily, making her an easy conquest?" Draco hissed furiously.

"If the shoe fits! Hermione certainly isn't the type of girl that a man like you would be interested in long term" Jane replied. Draco's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I can't believe you just said that about your own daughter! When I look at your daughter all I see is a beautiful young woman who is intelligent, caring, independent, loyal, honest, compassionate and trustworthy, and I damn sure feel privileged that she's allowed me to share a piece of her life!" Draco snapped, his temper boiling. Jane was shocked that Draco had called her daughter beautiful.

"I think he needs glasses!" Tiffany snorted in a whisper to her sister. Draco heard and turned his anger on the two of them.

"Funny! That was exactly what I told Mia she needed when I saw the two of you! She kept going on and on about how pretty the two of you are, but I just don't see it, all I see is two petty, jealous girls who continuously put their cousin down to make them feel better about themselves! You have no idea how many guys at school think Hermione is beautiful! My two best friends are jealous as hell that I managed to win her affections!" Draco retorted, knowing that if Blaise and Theo knew about this, then they would indeed be jealous, they both thought that Hermione was gorgeous. Turning back to Jane, Draco narrowed his eyes at her expression.

"Mrs Granger are you aware that your nieces call your daughter Hermy the Germy? That the letter you sent to her that was from them was full of nothing but vicious taunts and cruel insults?" he asked.

"You read it?" Celeste gasped in horror.

"Of course I read it! I wanted to know what had caused Mia to turn our common room into a disaster zone , and for her to be screaming obscenities the like of which she never speaks!" Draco retorted.

"What?" Jane gasped, casting a disbelieving gasp at her nieces.

"It's not true Aunty Jane! He's lying" Tiffany stated.

"Oh its true mum!" Hermione snapped as she came down the stairs. Hearing Draco defending her had erased the hurt and opened the door to the temper she was famous for at Hogwarts. Draco turned towards her and smirked as he saw the familiar amber fire in her eyes.

"Ah! There's the Mia I know and love!" he stated cheekily with a wink. Hermione shot him a look but ruined it with a grin as she turned to her cousins.

"For the last three days all the two of you have done is tell me how ugly I am, or how I must be desperate for a boyfriend! But I shouldn't have been surprised! The two of you have been doing that since you discovered boys!" Hermione snapped, then she turned to her mother. "Meanwhile you carry on about how you're worried that you will never get grandchildren because I don't know how to make use of the 'few' assets that I have at my disposal" she added. Jane flushed as the words that she had written in her letter came back to haunt her, they sounded harsh and uncaring when repeated back to her. Turning to Draco, Hermione smiled at him. "Dray my trunk is in my room, could you please get it for me?"

"Sure thing love" Draco answered as he dropped a light kiss on her lips before heading up the stairs. Ignoring her mother and cousins for the moment, Hermione moved to where her father was standing and wrapped him in a hug.

"Sorry daddy, but I have to go, if I stay here with the twins any longer I'm going to do physical harm to them" she stated, seeing the two of them blanch at her words. "Or reveal that I'm a witch and hex the life out of them" she added in a whisper for her father's ears only. Henry chuckled in mirth at her words.

"It's alright sweetheart, there's no reason to be sorry. And I'm pleased as punch that you have found a man like Draco, one who is willing to stand up and defend you, even if it's against members of your own family. He's definitely a keeper" Henry answered, whispering the last part in her ear.

"I know daddy" Hermione replied softly, wondering how much longer she would actually have the Draco she had grown to love. And yes she loved him, over the course of the last week, she had slowly been falling in love with the Slytherin prince, and hearing him defend her against her family today had cemented her fall. Hermione Granger was in love with Draco Malfoy and had no idea of what to do about it. Draco returned, carrying her trunk down the stairs, he took it straight outside and placed it in the boot of his car before returning to the house.

"All set Mia?" he asked as he made his way to her side.

"Yes, I'm ready to go" Hermione replied as Draco took her hand in his.

"Let's go then baby, it's a bit of a drive to Wiltshire" Draco responded.

"Merry Christmas" Hermione stated to her family, still too angry and hurt at her mother to even hug her goodbye. "Bye daddy" she smiled at her father, who returned it before sending an approving smile to Draco.

Draco led Hermione out of her parents house and down the path to his car, he opened the door and helped her settle into the low seats of the black sports car before moving around to the drivers side and hopping in himself. They had been driving in silence for a couple of minutes before Hermione broke the silence.

"Where did you get this car?" she asked feeling awkward.

"Mum gave it to me last year for Christmas, my family has always owned cars, it was one of the few muggle things my father approved of and actually used" Draco replied easily. Hermione was shocked.

"Lucius drove?" she asked, referring to Draco's late father. Draco chuckled slightly at her surprise.

"Yes father drove, he liked the speed, so his car had the same charm as the knight bus on it! Scared the fuck out of me whenever I was in the car with him" Draco answered candidly.

"How did you find my house?" Hermione asked steering the conversation away from the tender subject of Draco's father. Draco smirked and tapped a screen that was built into the dash. Hermione leaned forwards and looked closer 'Auto-Owl' was printed at the top of the screen. "How does that work?" she asked eagerly.

"Same as owl post, I just type in your name and it tells me how to find you" Draco grinned. Hermione nodded, but her mind returned to the scene that had happened in her parents' house.

"Thankyou Draco" she stated quietly. Draco glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"You're welcome Mia" he replied. Hermione fidgeted with the hem of her vest for a moment before turning her attention to Draco.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"We go home to the Manor and spend Christmas with my mother" Draco answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Having met Narcissa and become friendly with her on the few occasions that the elder woman had come to see her son at Hogwarts, Hermione was not worried about that part, her worries stemmed from a different direction.

"That's not what I meant Dray" she whispered.

"Then what did you mean Mia?" Draco asked curiously.

"Your plan has been completed, so where do we go from here?" Hermione asked. Draco glanced at her before swiftly pulling the car to the side of the road, turning to face her as soon as he had stopped the engine. Hermione was looking at him warily but Draco could see the nearly hidden emotion in her eyes, it gave him the courage to continue his train of thought.

"I call in my favor Mia" he replied with a small smirk. Hermione's eyes narrowed and disappointment flashed in her eyes before anger replaced it.

"Your favor? Is that all you care about now that your plan was successful?" she snapped. Draco remained calm in the face of her rising fury.

"Of course! The favor I want you to do means a lot to me!" he responded.

"Oh really? Well what is this almighty favor you want me to perform?" Hermione hissed furiously.

"I want you to turn the pretense into truth Mia" Draco replied softly. Hermione opened her mouth to fire back an angry retort but stopped dead, the anger in her eyes disappeared to be replaced with confusion and a small spark of hope.

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend Draco? For real this time?" she asked hesitantly. Draco smirked at her.

"I knew there had to be a reason they called you the smartest witch of the age" he teased.

"Bloody prat!" Hermione growled.

"I'm serious you know, but this will be a long term thing! I meant what I said to your mother, it took me six years to realize what was right in front of me and to finally attempt to catch you, I'll be damned if I lose the chance to keep you all to myself from now on" he stated sincerely. A bright smile grew on Hermione's face and she finally allowed the love she felt to show in her eyes. Draco sucked in a gasp as he saw the depth of her feelings revealed and for the first time in his life he felt truly blessed.

"We're going to fight a lot you know" Hermione pointed out.

"Oh I know, but then we'll get to make up! I'll probably pick fights on purpose just so I get to make up with you again" Draco replied a smug smirk on his features.

"If I forgive you!" Hermione retorted. Draco grinned as he got the meaning of their conversation.

"Is that a yes?" he asked eagerly. Hermione nodded.

"It's as much of a yes as I'm going to give you, we don't need your ego bigger than it is now so I won't be throwing myself in your arms and showering you with kisses as I repeat my answer repeatedly" Hermione retorted, grimacing at the mental image her reply painted in her mind. Draco didn't reply, instead her wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a deep kiss. When the kiss ended Draco rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you, you know" he stated more than declared.

"I love you too! Now let's go see your mother" Hermione replied. She didn't need the big declaration or the sweet romantic overtures that most girls expected when they received a declaration of love from the man of their dreams. She was a practical and logical witch by nature and she indeed knew that what she and Draco shared was just as intense as all the other couples in love that she had witnessed. Mentally she thanked her cousins for being the way they were, if it wasn't for them she never would have fallen in love with Draco.

There you go :)Sucky ending i know, but i purposely left it open for a possible future sequel...hope you enjoyed it anyway

Now its time for me to get back to the next chapter of 'Its All About Blood'...