A/N: Here it is! The sequel! Let's see how Draco and Hermione's relationship pans out now that the war is over, shall we?

I had so much fun writing this so far.

Also, Happy October!

Love lots,

SunflowerHikari

Chapter One

Hermione watched as Voldemort fell over and she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the entire Great Hall erupted in cheers and she knew it was over.

It was all over.

Her first instinct was to look for him. She needed to be in his arms and be assured that everything was going to be all right again.

She saw him earlier, surprisingly not wearing a spot of black but a light grey wool sweater with a giant 'D' in emerald green on it that was knit by Mrs. Weasley. He probably wanted everyone to know which side he was on, even if that meant any type of chance of overheating.

Hermione saw everyone going over to hug Harry and she gave him a smile when he caught her eye. She knew how thrilled and relieved he must be now. She saw Ginny wrap her arms tightly around him and plant a kiss on his lips. Hermione terribly ached for the person she missed.

She hadn't seen him since summer of last year, which made everything so hard. But she knew that he understood that she had to go and help her friend. She would turn the ring on her finger that he had given to her during their sixth year to let him know she thought of him. When she would feel the warmth of the ring on her own finger, she knew he was thinking of her.

This silent communication between the two helped keep her sane.

Suddenly, she found herself letting out a breath as she spotted him in the entrance of the Great Hall.

He was breathing heavily, with hair mussed all over and a visible scratch on his face. He was looking around frantically until his eyes landed on her. She let out an audible gasp and she felt the warmth of the tears falling down her face.

Hermione tasted a mix of salt, blood, and dirt as the tears landed on her lips. She walked slowly towards him, scared that it would just be a dream.

Scared that it wasn't actually him.

She couldn't help but think of how dorky he looked, wearing that sweater and looking more filled out since she last saw him.

When he started to walk towards her, the world stopped and she could feel nothing but her heart pounding in her chest.

Walking slowly just wasn't cutting it for her anymore, so she began to walk a little faster. But that just made him seem farther away.

So Hermione took a deep breath in and began to run towards him – trying to not crash into anyone else. He started to run towards her as well and once they were in front of each other they stopped.

They faced each other – inches away – both panting heavily. Hermione's tear streaked face was visible to Draco and he could see the gold that hid in the brown of her iris. She reached her hand up to the scratch that ran down his face. Her thumb traced the dried blood and she felt the warmth of his hand as he pressed it against hers.

"I thought I told you to be careful, you idiot." She said, taking his face within her hands.

"You should see the other guy." He smirked and she felt her heart skip a beat.

His lips found hers and suddenly the Great Hall was overcome with an unsettling silence. Hermione had forgotten only a select few knew of their relationship.

Not many people were in Draco's favor after what had happened in June of last year. They had discovered that it was because of Draco's use with the Vanishing Cabinet that Snape had finished what Draco started. Snape brought in Death Eaters into Hogwarts, which later ended in the demise of Dumbledore.

Harry was the only person there besides the Death Eaters to see what had happened but he didn't talk about it to anyone and Hermione and Ron didn't want to push it.

Since Draco allegedly betrayed Voldemort, they made him out to be the enemy on both sides. He was hated not only by the Death Eaters, but many of the wizards of the Light side.

He followed Dumbledore's instructions and found refuge with the Weasley's that summer. They was definitely some tension at first, but with Hermione as the middle man everyone eventually warmed up to him.

Draco and Hermione pulled away from each other and he took her hand into his own. There were many curious faces looking at them, only a few had sneers. Draco saw the Weasley twins smiling at him – knowing full well how he had missed Hermione.

The gentle hand that was placed on his shoulder soon interrupted how awkward he felt.

"Draco?" He turned his head towards the woman he knew very well.

"Mother?" He choked before she smiled at him – nodding as tears fell down her face from the happiness she couldn't contain. He let go of Hermione's hand and pulled his mother into a hug.

"Oh my darling boy, I've missed you so." She whispered against his chest, noting how tall he had gotten since she had last seen him. Hermione smiled at the warm embrace between them and was going to give them space before Narcissa pulled away from Draco.

"You were the one to help him?" She asked, eyeing Hermione skeptically. Hermione nodded carefully, exchanging glances with Draco. Before she knew it, Narcissa wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight. Hermione let out a breath and hugged the blonde woman back. "Thank you. You've kept him safe." She whispered into Hermione's ears. Hermione felt Draco wrap his arms around them both and it made her laugh at how comical this all must look.

"What. Is. This." A cold voice pierced the warm atmosphere and Hermione felt a chill go up her spine. She was pulled away from Draco and Narcissa by the back of her hair and a pain shot up through her head. She looked into the cold, silver eyes of Lucius Malfoy and noticed how ragged he looked. But that didn't matter, since the fury behind his eyes were what Hermione focused on.

He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly his eyes went to the back of his head and his grip on Hermione loosened. She stumbled before catching her balance and saw that Lucius had fallen to the floor. Her eyes wandered to the one who hexed him and noticed Draco breathing heavily with his wand raised.

"Don't you fucking touch her." He spat with venom at the ragged man who lay on the floor. Hermione noticed he was petrified and she found herself backing up from him and into Ron's chest.

"Hermione, are you okay?" He inquired with concern etched on his face. She nodded before feeling Draco pulling her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, love. I'll make sure no one hurts you ever again." He whispered into her ear. She wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her head into his chest. Finally being able to feel his warmth was all she needed at the moment.

Everyone found themselves sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow at 2 A.M. in the morning. No one spoke as they quietly ate in peace since they haven't been able to eat until this moment.

"Oi, Malfoy." Fred interrupted the silence, the curious blonde giving him a look. "Thanks for today."

"Thanks? For what?" Harry asked as he swallowed the sandwich that Mrs. Weasley made him.

"Without him there I wouldn't be here right now. He pulled me away from a killing curse and then we both made the little twat dance with our hexes flying everywhere." Fred smirked at Percy and Draco.

"You promised me you would let me sample the new fireworks you guys' been working on, so I had to make sure you lived." Draco shrugged before taking another bite of his own sandwich.

He almost wanted to laugh at the situation since Hermione was sitting on one side of him and his mother was sitting on the other, but after today he couldn't.

They helped clean up Hogwarts as much as they could and he paled at remembering how many of his fellow classmates have died. Crabbe was gone and so were Remus and Tonks.

Draco remembered when they brought over little Teddy the week before. He dazzled at the fact that he had a little cousin (or was it nephew? He wasn't so sure how these family trees work). Draco watched in amazement as the young boy turned his hair from a bright shade of blue to the same platinum blonde of Draco's own hair.

The memory made him smile just a bit and his mother watched him curiously.

"What's so amusing?" She asked, picking at the sandwich in front of her. He could tell that she was uncomfortable being around all of them, but when she went to thank Mrs. Weasley for watching over her son, the plump woman insisted that they join them back for sandwiches.

"I was thinking about Andromeda's grandson." He felt her tense beside him.

"You've been talking to Andromeda?" She asked. He wasn't sure if she was angry with him or maybe she felt the loss of her sister.

"Yeah, I have. I've gotten pretty close to her actually – since I've been in hiding. She reminds me of you." Narcissa's eyes were tearing up and she sat up straight and took a deep breath to compose herself. He figured that was the end of the conversation as she picked at her food some more.

Draco felt the squeeze of Hermione's hand on his knee and he turned to look at her. Her brown eyes comforted him and the small smile on her face made his heart swell. He took her hand in his own and gave her a squeeze back.

"What now?" Ron inquired as he rubbed his newly full belly. Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry gave him a hard look. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what now'?" Charlie asked with an amused smile on his face.

"Harry, Hermione, and I spent the last year looking for and destroying Horcruxes –"

"If I remember correctly, you left me and Harry to find the Horcruxes by ourselves and came back after more than two months." Hermione chided which made him sink into his chair.

"Ronald Weasley, you left your friends?" Mrs. Weasley was starting to fume.

"It's okay, mum. He stayed with Fleur and me at the cottage. Ron tried to go back the moment he left, isn't that right brother?" Bill reassured his mother, but mainly not wanting to start anything so late at night where everyone's nerves where on edge.

"Th-that's right, mum! I swear I tried going back! It was a stupid mistake and I really regret it." Mrs. Weasley gave him a beady look but chose not to comment any further.

"We'll probably have to go back and finish our seventh year." Hermione commented.

"Of course you would think of school at a time like this." Harry groaned which earned him a glare from Hermione.

"I doubt the school will be open for awhile with the condition it's in." Draco remarked thinking of the disastrous condition the great castle was in.

"He's right. It will probably take a year or so complete the repairs even with our magic." Mr. Weasley said. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh and finished her sandwich off.

"I know McGonagall was mentioning something about independence study for those who need to take their seventh year again, so that's probably going to happen." Ginny informed Hermione.

"I wonder how that's going to work." The bushy haired witch pondered but no one wanted to continue talking about school.

They ate the rest of their food as the reality of the day washed over them aggressively.

"We should all get to sleep now. Mrs. Malfoy you can stay here if you like." Mrs. Weasley offered as kindly as she could. Narcissa looked at her in shock and then turned to Draco who nodded his head.

"I-I suppose one night wouldn't h-hurt. It is a bit late…" The witch stuttered with grace. Earlier Hermione told Draco of the state of his house. He was fuming at the thought of how his bitch aunt hurt Hermione but there was nothing he could do now.

"You can stay in Bill's room. Draco stayed there while he was here, but for tonight he can share with Percy, is that fine dear?"

"Yeah, I can show you to the room if you want, mother." Draco offered, getting out of his seat to help him.

"I'll help you guys, too." Harry said, which startled everyone in the room. All eyes were on him as he looked at Draco and Narcissa.

"It's okay, Potter. I'm more than capable of getting around." Draco gave him a strange look. Harry hesitated but his eyes kept flickering over to Narcissa who just stared at the Boy Who Lived with one eyebrow raised.

"I can help." He just said making Draco shrug. Draco led the way while Narcissa and Harry followed afterwards. Bill's room wasn't very far up the stairs, which made Draco wonder why Harry came along.

"Here we are," Draco said, stopping at the second floor. The door was painted a rich blue color. "I'll be across the hall in the room with the green door. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to knock." He informed his mother. She gave him a small smile and then patted his cheek.

"Thank you, my sweet boy." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning around to turn the knob.

"Mrs. Malfoy, may I talk to you for a moment?" Harry asked, surprising the witch. She looked at Draco who just shrugged before turning back to Harry.

"Yes, but only for a moment. I'm quite tired even if I'm not that old." She replied before walking into the room. Harry followed after her and gave Draco a small nod before closing the door behind him.

"What the hell." Draco muttered to himself before pulling out an expendable ear from his pocket and placing it on the door. Once a Slytherin always a Slytherin, he thought with amusement to himself. He heard the bed creak, indicating that his mother sat down and he could hear the floorboards moving, which meant that Harry was pacing around.

"Mr. Potter, you're making me dizzy with all that pacing." She snided and Draco heard the movement stop suddenly.

"Please, call me Harry."

"Fine. What do you need, Harry?" Draco smiled at his mother's familiar cold air.

"I just want to thank you." Harry said, making Draco even more confused.

"For what?"

"You know… For saving me yesterday. For lying to Voldemort and telling him I was dead." Draco's heart pounded as he listened to the silence afterwards.

"I was just returning the favor since you informed me that Draco was fine. I didn't care what happened to that miserable fool… Just as long as I know my son was okay." She said quietly.

"You're a great mother." Harry said. Draco suddenly had a slight pang of sadness for Harry. He didn't get to grow up with a mother and Draco couldn't imagine a world without his.

"Oh, I don't know about that. There are many times when Lucius did bad things to Draco that I wish I could have stopped. But I couldn't. The life he lived is the life I grew up in. In a stern, old-fashioned family where many times you feel isolated. You feel as though you don't even have a family, you were just there to make everything look perfect. I tried to make Draco feel my love, but I don't know if I was able to…"

"You did! He knows you love him. I can see it in the way he treats you. He loves you just as much. Seeing something like that… It's great to see a-and to feel. I was able to live as a baby because of my mother's love. I can feel it in my veins and I know Draco can feel yours too." Draco heard the bed squeak again and he knew Harry must have sat down next to his mum. He smiled to himself, knowing that Harry was right.

"Oh my dear, I can't imagine the life you lived growing up without a mother." Narcissa said, kindly to Harry.

"It was hard – but, I've had many mother figures in my life. Mrs. Weasley has just been wonderful to me. And you, you protecting me was very motherly." Harry insisted.

"I-I'm glad you think I'm motherly." She said a little surprised, but she was starting to act warmly towards him. An awkward silence came over them and Draco continued to listen even if it felt a little wrong.
"Harry."
"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Please, call me Narcissa. Harry, I just want to… commend you for your bravery. You've had to deal with so much and the way you went to the Dark Lord just ready to sacrifice yourself… You are very brave. And I thank you, from the bottom of my heart. For the safety of me, my son, and even Lucius. Just… Thank you."

"Oh, umm… You're welcome I guess. It was all the work of fate, really." Harry mumbled, not sure how to deal with this unusual kindness.

"You must have had a hard time though. Was it true that you had some sort of connection to the Dark Lord?" She inquired.

"Err, yeah through my scar. It's sort of weird to think that I won't have anybody in my head anymore."

"And I bet you couldn't really talk to anyone about it." Draco could feel the frown in his mother's voice. Harry took a deep breath in and let out a sigh.

"I couldn't. I'm not going to lie – I have gotten lonely and frustrated over that fact for many years. I was thrown into this world with no previous knowledge for most of my life and then I was basically raised for slaughter… I found that out yesterday. That's the main reason I went to sacrifice myself – because it was… It was expected of me." Harry's voice cracked and Draco could hear the bed move.

"Shh… Shh… It's all going to be okay now. You've been so brave, Harry… It's okay. You can always come to me. It's okay to be a child now." Narcissa comforted the boy who had begun to cry. Draco stepped away from the door and felt guilty. He knew Harry had to deal with so much, but he didn't realize it was like that. To know you were supposed to die… Draco couldn't even fathom what his classmate went through.

'Fuck, I would be crying, too.' Draco thought solemnly to himself.

"What are you doing?" Draco jumped and turned around quickly to find Hermione smirking at him.

"Were you spyi-" Draco clapped his hand over Hermione's mouth.

"SHH… Granger, be quiet." He said, not wanting to give his position away. He felt her lick his hand and rolled his eyes. "Childish tricks will not work on me and you know that." He smirked at her and she merely shrugged. He let his hand fall and stole a kiss from her.

"Mmm, what's that for?" She smiled as they pulled away.

"Your punishment for sneaking up on me." He smirked, before kissing her nose.

"I like getting punished..." She wrapped her arms around him and went to kiss him again…

"Ahem." Ron cleared his throat at the foot of the stairs. Hermione turned and saw the entire Weasley family minus Bill and Percy was waiting to go upstairs. Draco and Hermione went red as they pulled quickly away.

"Hermione, I didn't know you were masochistic." George smirked, resulting in getting hit by his mother.

"Don't. You remember what we talked about Hermione, dear." Mrs. Weasley gave her a look and Hermione nodded with wide eyes before saying goodnight to Draco. Ginny gave him a goofy smile as she walked past. Harry opened the door and noticed the crowd.

"What's going on?"

"Draco and Hermione were caught snogging." Ron grinned wickedly as reached them.
"Oh, bugger off." Draco threatened half-heartedly making Ron and the twins laugh.

"You guys were snogging? Here? With your mum on the other side of the door?" Harry slowly began to smirk even though Draco could see his red eyes.

"I'm going to bed now. Goodnight." Draco sneered at Hermione's best friends before making his way to Percy's room. They all snickered as he opened the door and closed it behind himself. His cool composure fell as he noticed the warm feeling he had in him.

It felt good, he noted with a smile as he pulled the covers on the bed down. Sort of like he belonged…

Like he finally had a family.