A little thing I started one and a half weeks ago and forgot about, well late happy Easter? :D
Betalove as always to viv-heart (who was nominated with her Sirius/Minnie fic at the Marauders Awards, please vote? :))

Easter 1999

A year had passed since Hermione stood in front of these gates, then she had feared for her life, now she steeled herself to leave that in the past. Draco had invited her over for Easter Sunday and had promised her that she didn't need to go into the Manor itself.

She had to admit that Narcissa had done wonders on the gardens and the exterior of the old manor. Hermione raised her hand to open the gates and they opened themselves as if by magic. She smiled to herself and set to walk up the path to the Manor. What had been withered the year before was now blooming and presenting the most vibrant colours Hermione had ever seen. Many of the flowers were unknown to her, but she was sure that she had read about them in her advanced Herbology books.

Halfway there a white peacock jumped on the path out of nowhere and Hermione let out a small scream which startled the animal and it fled. After regaining her composure, Hermione resumed walking and reached a crossroad. Remembering Draco's instructions she took the left fork walking parallel to the Manor along beautiful rose bushes. Some of them seemed to react to her presence and turned their heads to her while she walked past them. Hermione fought to stay calm and soon she reached the end of the path which opened to a wide field of flowers and saw the Malfoys already waited for her.

A narrow path lead through the flowers and to the blankets the house elves had put on the ground. When she was within ear shot she waved and greeted the three blonds happily. As soon as Draco noticed her he stood up and swept her in his arms to greet her properly. A short, sweet kiss later he put her hand in the crook of his arm and led her to his parents.

The two women hugged each other briefly and Lucius shook her hand.

"I am very glad you decided to come, Hermione. I feared your previous stay at the Manor would keep you away," Narcissa said when they all sat down.

Hermione chuckled. "You forget that I am a Gryffindor, I would never allow fear to keep me from a picnic on such a wonderful day! Will Andromeda join us?" she inquired after taking notice of the two additional plates.

"Oh Morgana, I nearly forgot! I wanted to meet her at the gates!" Narcissa jumped up and called for a house elf to apparate her to the front gates.

Easter 2002

Hermione took the floo powder and calmed herself with a deep breath. Today she would visit the main part of Malfoy Manor for the first time since the war. Whenever she was there over the last three and a half years of her relationship with Draco and her friendship with Narcissa she only stayed in the family wing and the library - far away from the sitting room where Bellatrix had tortured her. Not anymore.

"Malfoy Manor Entrance Hall!" Hermione called out with a strong voice and she was gone.

Stumbling out of the floo she took a few seconds to orientate herself. She stood in the magnificent entrance hall and Draco waited for her. As soon as she had composed herself he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and led her to the conservatory.

When she came in Neville, Daphne and Narcissa were in a deep discussion about a plant while Lucius and Ginny discussed a cursed object the younger witch was currently working on and Ron and Blaise were in a heated discussion over some move from the Falmouth Falcons.

"A room full of Slytherins and Gryffindors and no one is injured, fascinating, isn't it?" Draco whispered into her ear and she swatted him playfully on the arm.
"Prat," she replied. "I know pretty well that you were discussing Quidditch with Ron and Blaise before you met me at the floo!" The blonde only laughed, kissed her on the cheek and went back to Ron and Blaise to resume his discussion.

Hermione went over to Narcissa to greet her with a peck on the cheek and Neville and Daphne with a hug. She greeted Ginny and Lucius next, by now their handshake was warm and friendly, but a hug never felt appropriate. Not even when Draco had announced their engagement on Christmas the previous year. But Lucius had put a hand on her shoulder and congratulated them both sincerely. She knew better than to try and greet Ron and Blaise while they were discussing Quidditch so she chose to stay with Lucius and Ginny.

When Harry, Pansy, Andromeda and Teddy finally arrived they all went to the family dining room (it was still huge), except for Narcissa and Hermione who stayed behind for a bit to hide eggs and sweets for everyone. The younger one had had a bit of convincing to do, after all it was a muggle tradition, but soon Narcissa relented. She wanted to try something new, to be open, and searching for sweets and eggs sounded like fun.

Easter 2008

Hermione nervously nibbled at her lower lip when her mother and Narcissa came in. It had taken years to reconcile with her parents but now her father would walk her down the aisle and her mother was here with her to calm her down.

"Oh Hermione! You look amazing my dear!" Helene Granger exclaimed and hugged her daughter tight. Narcissa wiped away a few stray tears.

"Thank you, mama," Hermione whispered with a raw voice. Her parents had frowned over her wish to marry on Black Friday as they were both catholic but had understood her explanation that it wasn't so much Black Friday rather than the spring solstice.

Narcissa came forward with Hermione's bridal veil and draped it over her head. The white fabric had stitched runes for protection, fertility and other well wishes and was done in the same colour as the embroidery on her dress. Because she was no virgin anymore Hermione had insisted on a cream-white but not pure white dress with green embroidery. Her mother had been very pleased with the decision and Narcissa had teased her endlessly that she obviously had finally accepted her Slytherin side.

Before Hermione could start to fidget the door opened again and her father came in.

"Are you ready, daughter o' mine?" he asked teasingly.

"Absolutely not," Hermione answered as her mother and Narcissa vanished through the door to make sure everyone was on their places.

"You can be very sure that your Draco is the right man for you. And you love him, don't you?" William Granger asked, knowing quite well why his daughter was so nervous. When she nodded he continued. "You were in a relationship for nine years, you have a wonderful and cute son together and you were able to convince him that the memory of his cousin should be kept within the family. Now, why do you worry? He is crazy about you, just like you are about him."

Hermione nodded weakly and then stood straight and channelled her inner Gryffindor.

"That is my daughter!" her father exclaimed just when they heard a knock on the door and Narcissa came in to inform them, that everyone was ready.

The wedding would be in the flower field were Hermione had celebrated her first Easter since the war and fell in love with that part of the gardens. When they reached it Hermione clung even more to her father and clamped her other hand around her bridal bouquet. But she calmed down when she saw Draco smiling broadly at her.

In the first stages of the wedding planning both had decided to change the tradition. They choose Pansy for "groom's maid" and Harry as best man and now both of them were standing up there looking like kneazles in the cream.

Hermione smiled and left her father's arm to step next to her fiancé.

Easter 2012

Six year old Regulus Aegir Malfoy pouted. Hermione laughed about her son's antics. She knew exactly that there was no malice behind it, he just had an incredible sweet tooth and would only get the Easter sweets when he found them.

When the bell of the main floo got off the small boy jumped up and ran into the entrance hall. Hermione followed him and met Draco there who was busy greeting Pansy and Harry as well as their kids. Regulus only waved at James who was two years older than him and currently not interested in "toddlers". Sirius got a handshake and Lily got hugged gingerly.

"When will Aunt Ginny be here?" Regulus asked impatiently just when the floo bell got off again and Ginny arrived with Elizabeth on her arm followed seconds later by Blaise with Antonio holding his hand.

Hermione greeted everyone while they walked to the conservatory where Narcissa and Lucius were already waiting for them. They had hidden all they Easter nests and were now nearly vibrating with anticipation. Especially Lucius had taken a liking to the tradition as it required observation talent and logical thinking to find the hide-outs which he thought to be very important qualities for any human.

As soon as the kids had left for the gardens to play the adults settled down and Harry and Draco started discussing in which Houses their kids would be sorted.

"Seriously, I don't even know with Reg," Draco drawled. "He is completely reckless. Just a week ago I found him on the highest step of the library ladder claiming to search for a book. He absorbs knowledge like a sponge, although I think that is rather normal at that age. He is very cunning if it comes to his sweets or bedtime stories, but at the same time he is very friendly towards everyone and everything. That boy will be a hatstall extraordinaire!" the blonde exclaimed pseudo-desperate.

Harry laughed. "Well, James will be definitely in Gryffindor, no questions there. Sirius will probably be a Slytherin, ironic, isn't it? And Lily is too young as that we would know."

Hermione smiled. "Well, Snuffles will probably pout up there because his namesake dares to join Slytherin."

Pansy sniggered and received a playful glare from Harry. "What? Just imagine them sitting up there and betting on the Houses of our kids! It's just too hilarious!"

They laughed and agreed with Pansy. When they had all calmed down Draco raised his glass. "To the Marauders, to our kids!"

See you soon back at Arbitrary Jurisdiction were we will learn more about our protagonist's past year! Review if you liked it! ;)