May 7, 2003
Malfoy Manor
Narcissa Malfoy had just finished putting the final touches on her outfit when she heard the first of her guests arriving by floo in the parlor. Her elegant purple dress robes fluttered around her as she hurried out of her dressing room and down the hall to greet them. She knew, of course, that the house elves would also have sensed the arrival of visitors but she felt it was only proper for the lady of the manor and hostess of the party to personally welcome them into her home. This was the first opportunity the Malfoy matriarch had accepted to host a formal event since Lord Voldemort's defeat five years prior and she wasn't going to cut any corners. It wasn't the pressure of re-entering wizarding society, however, that had Narcissa's nerves on edge but her desire to make the day perfect for the guest of honor. She was hosting a bridal shower, you see, and had vowed from the start that no detail would go overlooked. The woman that her only son had chosen to marry deserved the best.
She descending down the grand staircase and turned the corner into the parlor to begin her duties as host. As predicted, Mipsy and Tink had responded to the sound of the floo and were already greeting the guests by the time she arrived.
"Mistress Narcissa," Mipsy squeaked as she entered the room, "we would be happy to show your guests out to the rose garden if it would please you." The little elf's wide eyes looked up at her eagerly.
"Thank you Mipsy, but I'll take over from here." She replied warmly. "Why don't you and Tink go get ready for the party? I think this is the perfect occasion to wear those dresses I bought you for Christmas."
"Right away Mistress." Tink nodded enthusiastically and disappeared from sight with Mipsy right behind her.
Immediately after the war, Narcissa had presented all of her servants with clothing, but these two particular elves had begged to stay. Not knowing what else to do, she offered to pay them a modest wage and routinely purchased them clothing as a token of her gratitude.
With her helpers now occupied, she turned her attention to the women standing before her. It was a testament to the progress she'd made that welcoming three Weasley's into her household brought a smile to her face rather than a biting remark to her tongue.
"Molly, Fleur, Ginevra! I should have known you'd be the first ones arrive. Let me show you to the garden." Narcissa gave each of the women a kiss on the cheek and led them through the drawing room out into the rose garden.
"Narcissa, this is even better than I envisioned!" Molly gasped upon taking in the scene before her. On a normal basis the rose garden was a sight to behold, but today it looked like something from a fairytale. There were about five small tables arranged on the patio, each covered with delicate lace tablecloths and tiny tea lights were charmed to twinkle above them. The roses also appeared to be sparkling.
"I certainly can't take all the credit. Your daughter did come up with the tea party theme after all." Narcissa smiled at the young red head beside her. "What time did you arrange for her to get here?"
"Andromeda should be bringing her here around noon, after she drops Teddy off at Harry's." Ginny explained.
"Zis is so exciting, I 'ope she vill be surprised!" Fleur added as she took a seat at one of the tables.
"Go ahead a help yourselves to some tea and biscuits while I receive the other guests." Narcissa offered and headed back to the floo.
The guests filtered in steadily after that. Lavender arrived with the Patil sisters, and Luna and Cho were not far behind them. The other Weasley wives came next, followed by some ministry coworkers. The last batch of guests consisted of women from the Malfoy and Black side. The practice of arriving fashionably late had not died with their prejudice it seemed.
It was a few minutes after noon when she heard the floo sound off for the final time and she knew it must be the bride to be arriving on the scene. Narcissa quickly cast a silencing charm on the patio to mask the voices of the crowd. What a shame it would be to ruin the surprise now.
"It's lovely of you and your sister to invite me for tea, Andromeda." The young woman's voice grew louder as they neared the garden.
"It's we who are honored to be able to call you family now, dear." Andromeda's voice was just outside the doors. Narcissa whispered a finite on her silencing charm just in time for the doors to open and the guests to yell surprise.
Hermione Granger stood in the doorway with a look of absolute shock on her face. It was not easy to surprise the brilliant young witch and Narcissa took pride in what they had accomplished. Shock quickly turned into joy as the brunette rushed to hug her friends and colleagues. After a few minutes she managed to break away and approached the three matriarchs at the furthest table.
"I can't thank you enough for doing this for me…" Hermione said with a sad smile, tears standing in her eyes.
"Oh sweetheart, it's our pleasure." Molly wrapped her in a warm hug and she swiftly burst into tears. "Shh, it's alright. Tell us what's upsetting you." She asked as she squeezed her tighter.
"I swear I'm very happy with all this." Hermione broke away and began to dry her eyes. "It's just got me thinking how I wish my mother was able to be here today. I just hope you don't think me ungrateful for thinking of her first"
"No need to be ashamed of your feelings, dear. We know we could never replace her." Andromeda summoned a handkerchief from her bag.
"Come inside with me for a moment." Narcissa gently grasped her elbow and led her back into the drawing room to give her time to compose herself. "Now tell me," she inquired now in private, "there is something more that's upsetting you, is there not?"
"Is it really that obvious?" Hermione sniffled and did her best to not to allow the tears to start flowing again.
"It's not obvious, I'm just a Slytherin." She replied with a hint of a smirk. "We may not show our feelings well but we can certainly read them in others. I know there's something that's got you conflicted."
"You read me like a book, just like your son." Hermione paused, then took a deep breath. "Even though I miss my parents terribly, I sometimes can't help but feel glad that I modified their memories. I don't think I'd be marrying Draco next month if I hadn't. Does that make me selfish?"
"There's nothing selfish about making the best of a bad situation and don't ever convince yourself otherwise. You did it to save their lives and did everything in your power to reverse it so don't spend your life wondering 'what if.'" Narcissa soothed gently. "You make my son the happiest I have ever seen him, never forget that."
"Thank you so much, for everything." And split second later, the Slytherin woman was on the receiving end of a Gryffindor hug. "I think I'm ready to rejoin the party now."
"I'm glad you're feeling better. Go on without me, I just realized I've left your gift upstairs. I'll meet you outside in a moment." Hermione nodded and exited through the doors while Narcissa made her way back upstairs.
She considered the confession her future daughter in law had just made to her. It was probably true that she and Draco would never have gotten together had it not been for the memory charm she cast on her parents. After the war, Hermione immediately devoted herself to tracking them down in Australia and attempting to reverse the charm. Ron quickly became impatient at not having her undivided attention and their budding relationship ended as fast as it started, much to Molly's disappoint. As it turned out, locating the Grangers was not the challenging part. Hermione found them living in a beach town on the coast, but every strategy for restoring their memories had failed her. In a last ditch effort, she filed a request with the Department of Mysteries to investigate her parent's case. Three years went by before she was awoken one morning by an owl from the Ministry tapping at her window. The message was an invitation to meet with the Department's expert on memory charms.
This expert was none other than Draco Malfoy, her childhood nemesis. She nearly turned around and walked out upon seeing the man sitting on the other side of the desk. She couldn't be sure if it was her desperation to find her parents that made her stay that day, or if it was the sincere look of concern on Malfoy's face. Either way, she accepted his help and explained her dilemma. He described that his mastery of Occlumency in the presence of Lord Voldemort was what made him the Department of Mysteries greatest asset for undoing memory modification. The same principles he'd used to keep the Dark Lord out of his mind could be used in reverse to retrieve hidden memories.
The next day they commissioned an international portkey to Australia and rented a room at a muggle hotel near the Grangers' house. Over the course of a week, Draco made multiple attempts at restoring her parent's memories, but the outcome was always the same. It seemed Hermione's charm was just too thorough to be undone. On their final night in Australia, Draco invited her out for a drink at the hotel bar, a peace offering of sorts. One drink turned into about five or six and the night ended with the two former enemies locking lips in corner booth. To this day they disagreed about who kissed who first.
Narcissa retrieved the small box from her sitting room but was stopped by Lucius's Great Aunt Ingrid at the bottom of the stairs. The older woman was invited merely as a formality. Narcissa never expected she'd attend a celebration in honor of the last Malfoy heir marrying a muggleborn.
"Aunt Ingrid, do you need help finding your way back to the garden?" She offered politely.
The moment Narcissa's hand grazed her elbow, the old woman's eyes locked on hers and she spoke in a faraway voice. "The family without daughters shall have six before the seventh son is born. The heir will be conceived on the thirteenth year of his parent's union. He will bring fruits to barren land and light where there had been darkness." Her eyes remained glazed until she blinked a few seconds later and returned to her normal demeanor. "What's got you looking so spooked, Narcissa? I've just come to tell you I must be leaving."
It took her a moment before she realized she was meant to respond, "Oh that's too bad Aunt Ingrid. Let me show you to the floo."
The elderly woman departed, leaving Narcissa to mentally replay the prophecy she had just witnessed. She wasn't skilled in Divination but even so, she knew she'd just learned something significant about the future of her family. And if she was right about what it meant, she would need to be extremely cunning to make sure it came true.