Author's note: Hello, everyone! This is my first Dramione in quite awhile. Also the first thing I've written in years so it might be a little rusty. I apologize in advance. This takes place a couple years after the war with hints of some characters that are around. I refuse to believe that they don't exist in canon any longer. I hope you like it! Please read and review. Also, there are a couple curse words thrown into all this fluffiness, so please be aware!
Disclaimer: I honestly own nothing. I'm just playing around with our favorite characters.
The room was loud with witches and wizards from the Wizengamot clapping and cheering with relief and many leaving the courtroom, as one blonde wizard staring wide eyed across the room with his ears buzzing. His piercing grey eyes were locked with his mother's scared blue ones while two Aurors were taking her away. His mother mouthed 'I love you' before the door shut behind her. She was officially the last of the Death Eaters to be sentenced to Azkaban. After two long years of trials and tears, he was now on his own. He was relieved when his father was sentenced to life in prison right away after the war, but this sentence scared him. He knew his mother only had a year sentence, but that meant one whole year without the only woman who truly loved him. Well, there was one other woman in his life who cared about him and she was here holding his hand tightly with reassurance. They were so sure that his mother would have been relieved of all charges, especially with Harry Potter as an eye witness to her innocence.
Speaking of the Chosen One, the young wizard looked over to Draco Malfoy with a look of shock on his face. Draco closed his eyes and hung his head in defeat. He felt like all their hard work and dedication was a waste. He wasn't able to help Narcissa Malfoy.
It felt like ages lost in thought of what he was to do before the young wizard took a shaky breath and lifted his head to speak to the older witch beside him. "Thank you for everything, Mrs. Weasley, but it seems that it was a lost cause. I mean, why would the Ministry want any Death Eaters in wizarding society anyway? I should be taking her spot in that cell." He said the last sentence with bitterness in his tone.
The red headed matron looked at him sharply, "You and I both know that your mother never took the Dark Mark. It seems the ministry wants to make an example out of any witch and wizard who were sympathizers to You-Know-Who's agenda and has been around since the first wizarding war. And stop with forming your own pity party. At least the Ministry could accept that your fear took a huge role in your choices during the war, forcing you to be under my care. I'd say it was the Ministry's only good decision during the past year and a half after your sentence. Now let's get out of here and join Harry. You both must be so hungry."
Mrs. Weasley stood from her seat, dragging Draco up by their joined hands. The head of the Malfoy line smiled slightly and followed her towards the doors. His feet felt heavy but he held his head up high to hide his pain from the straggling wizards and witches having hushed, but ecstatic, conversation in the courtroom. He really appreciated the second mother in his life at his side right now. He, along with everyone else in the wizarding world, knew she was a force not to be reckoned with.
When they reached the doors to the courtroom, Draco could see Harry standing alone with a look of frustration on his face by the opposite wall. Upon hearing footsteps in the now empty corridor, the young man with the lightening bolt scar looked up. He opened his mouth to say something, but Draco held two fingers up after letting go of Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"It's alright, Harry, you did the best you could." Draco was now standing in front of Harry. Both men were the same height, but Harry's untamable hair made it seem like he was taller. Even Draco has tried to tame the black hair since they've become close and said it was a lost cause.
"I just don't get it! We had such a good case!" Harry was even more frustrated as he was able to vent it about it now. He let out a frustrated growl.
Draco sighed, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I know, Harry. The Ministry may have already made their decision before the trial, unfortunately. Why give us a year and a half after my sentence to even get our hopes up is beyond me. The plus side is that my mother only has a year sentence. I'm just glad the Ministry decided a year ago that the dementors are better off away from Azkaban and Aurors now patrol the prison. She's only in the low security side anyway. They see she's not a threat, just making an example like Mrs. Weasley told me." He made a quick glance to the woman besides him with a small smile on his face.
She smiled broadly back at him and gave him a bone crushing hug. "I'm glad you're taking this so well, Draco. You've weaseled your way into my heart-" Draco scrunched his nose at Harry at the weasel reference. Harry let out a laugh but quickly covered it with a cough. "-and I'm glad you're another son for me. Not that I'm taking your mother's place, of course, I just know that no child should be without a motherly figure when they're going through things. I was so worried your heart would get cold." She let go of the blond and placed her hands on his cheeks to make him look into her teary blue eyes.
Harry really did let out a loud laugh at the end of Mrs. Weasley's small loving speech. "Mrs. Weasley, his heart was already cold when you took him in on the Ministry's orders a year and a half ago with your persuasion. I'm pretty sure you thawed it out."
Draco stuck his tongue out at Harry. He wrapped one arm around Harry's neck and gave his head a dutch rub with one fist. Mrs. Weasley looked at them fondly, loving the brotherly bond that they have. It sure took awhile for them to warm up to one another and to get past their silly rivalry as children, but now they were as close as Harry and her youngest son were.
"Alright you two, you know that you can call me Molly now. You are of age, after all. Let's head to the Floo upstairs to get home though. I need to get all my children fed!" Mrs. Weasley walked off towards the lift with determination.
The two young wizards looked at each other with amusement in their eyes and a smile on their face. They were both very fond of the older witch, but they both have made it known to the other wizard that they wouldn't call her Molly for awhile. They had voiced that it sounded weird.
Harry clapped a hand onto Draco's shoulder, smiling broadly at him. "Come on, mate, let's go follow our stand in mother before she starts throwing hexes. You know no one gets in the way of her cooking food for the people she loves." With a squeeze, Harry let his hand fall before he followed the determined witch.
The blond wizard shook his head with a smile on his face, thinking about how his life had changed drastically in such a short amount of time. His younger self would have scoffed at the thought that he would have gotten close to Harry Potter after the wizarding war, but he's glad that he did. He would have been in a much darker place if the mother of Ron Weasley hadn't have seen potential in him and demanded that, instead of being on his six month house arrest at Malfoy Manor after his six month sentence in Azkaban, he was to be rehabilitated to wizarding society with her influence. Mrs. Weasley had told the Ministry she couldn't stand a young man without his mother around. How she convinced Minister Shacklebolt to agree to her terms, he would never know.
"Oy! Malfoy! Get a move on!"
Startled out of his train of thought, Draco jogged to the lifts so that the three could leave the Ministry and head back to the Burrow. He promised himself to visit his mother in the morning after he had a good meal in his system and a good cry in his bed that night. He was glad that no journalists stopped him on the way there to ask for an interview. He had Hermione Granger to thank for that.
Upon entering the Burrow from the fireplace, Draco glanced around and was glad that no one was in the family room. While still at the Ministry, he had seen Harry send off his stag patronus. He must have sent word to warn everyone to give him space and he was appreciative of that. He needed a nice long hot shower before he went to socialize with everyone for dinner. Draco brushed off the soot that clung to his clothes from the Floo travel before heading up the stairs two at a time towards his room. He could hear everyone talking cheerfully outside in the back of the house. It sounded like it was going to be an affair for dinner tonight. Knowing Mrs. Weasley, she probably called in some people from the Order and all the Weasleys to keep his mind occupied and not think too much about the trial.
He reached his room and entered it quickly, shutting his door behind him. He was grateful in this moment that he had a conjoining bathroom. He had used the community service that he needed to serve by rebuilding the Burrow for the Weasley family a month ago. In the year and a half that he was with the family, he really learned to love everything about them. Sure, it was hard at first to let go of all the pureblood traditions that he learned growing up, but Mrs. Weasley really softened his heart. It especially helped that he had time in Azkaban to really think about what he believed in. In simple words, Draco Malfoy was a changed man and wizarding society saw that. He owed it to Mrs. Weasley to give her the home she truly deserves. She had helped with the renovations and kept a lot of the Burrow charm for the house, but enhanced the floor plan so that it wasn't leaning any longer and gave every room more space, plus conjoining bathrooms. Draco had felt the tug in his heart when she cried from joy when she saw the new home all finished. Originally he was suppose to move back to the Manor after his rehabilitation but both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley insisted he stay so that he wasn't alone. He had only admitted to himself that he was hoping that they would extend an offer. He was completely terrified to ever go back to his childhood home after everything that had conspired there.
With a flick of his wand to lock his door and cast a silencing spell, Draco unbuttoned his shirt while lost in thought standing at the foot of his bed. Even though he was use to his mother not being around, seeing as she's already been in Azkaban since the night of the second wizarding war, he knew it was different to know they had lost the trial that he, Harry, and Mrs. Weasley had put so much time and energy in. The past year and a half he had been so confident that they would win. He took his shirt off and tossed it onto his bed, falling in a heap over his comforter with his legs dangling off the side. He rubbed his face to smooth his angry expression and waved his wand to start his shower with scourging heat. This was all his father's fault and his obsession with blood purity. Draco was glad he would never see his face again.
Groaning with frustration, Draco rolled off his bed, took the rest of his clothes off, and headed to sear off the feelings he didn't want to deal with. He learned a year ago that a five minute scourging shower made him feel clean from his past sins. About thirty minutes after returning from the Ministry, Draco headed downstairs to see Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. He stood in the doorway, admiring her wand work to make food for a small army. He smirked to himself at that thought, seeing as all the people that he knew to be here was a small army at one point. He cleared his throat to make his presence known.
He seemed to have startled her from her thoughts, seeing as how she turned around with wide eyes. Said eyes softened when she saw it was him. "Oh Draco! You gave me a fright! How are you feeling, dear?" She shuffled around the small island in the kitchen to give him a quick hug and small smile.
Draco chuckled while hugging her back. "I'm feeling the best I can, Mrs. Weasley, given the circumstance."
She gave him a saddened look but quickly smiled broadly. "I've invited everyone over for dinner tonight, dear, to get your mind off things." Draco smirked in return as she confirmed his thoughts from earlier. "Why don't you go see everyone? They're all out back. I'm assuming they'll be playing Quidditch before dinner is ready. There's still a couple hours until we'll be ready to eat. Now get out of my hair so I can finish up." She patted him softly on his cheek in a motherly way before shooing him out the back door.
Once the door was closed, Draco chuckled to himself yet again. That witch really hated people to get in the way of her cooking.
"Draco! Over here! We need your seeker skills on our team!"
He looked across the lawn towards the home Quidditch pitch to see Ron waving him over with a broom in his hand. Ron was standing on the pitch with Harry and a few other people he recognized. He glanced around the backyard to see who else was here for dinner. He noticed Charlie, Percy, Fred and George Weasley talking with their father, Arthur Weasley, at one of the picnic tables. Remus Lupin and his wife Tonks were playing with their almost two year old son, Teddy, under a tree with Bill, his wife Fleur, and their one year old daughter Victiore. Kinglsey Shacklebolt was talking with Minerva McGonagall in what seemed to look like in hushed tones. They had their heads bent together.
Draco walked onto the pitch and clapped a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Of course you do, mate. I am the best fucking seeker here, anyway, and you know I'll beat Harry." He gave them all his signature smirk.
Harry rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Fuck you, mate."
"Mate, it's only because you can't play any other fucking position." Draco looked over to see Blaise Zabini giving him a smirk in return. Theodore Nott was standing next to him with his arm slung across Luna Lovegood's shoulders and a shadow of a smirk on his lips as well.
He walked over to Blaise and gave him a brotherly hug. "It's nice to see you both. I really appreciate you coming over. Even if Mrs. Weasley had to possibly threaten you to come." He pulled Theo away from Luna, giving her a small smile, and gave him a hug as well. He always felt at ease when the Slytherin Princes were back together, but he knew the other two Slytherins were still getting use to being around this many people.
Theo gave him a playful shove to get him off of him so he could put his arm back across Luna's shoulders. "These Weasleys sure are making you soft, mate, get it together. Plus she didn't have to threaten us. We were already here with this lot before you and Harry came back." Or maybe they were already use to it. Slytherins didn't tell their feelings, even to one another, most of the time, after all.
Draco pointedly gave his arm a glance with a roll of his eyes. "At least I'm not the one with my heart on my sleeve."
"There's nothing wrong with having Theodore wrapped around my finger." Luna had her normal dreamy aura around her and looked adoringly up at Theo. Theo gave Draco a smug look, showing that he was proud of it.
Draco shook his head and chuckled to himself. "So are we going to have a game of Quidditch or not?" He looked around at who was standing around and noticed that there were some people missing from their normal group. "Where's the She-Weasel and Granger?"
Harry rolled his eyes once again and poked Draco in the chest. "I still don't get how you call everyone else by their first name now but not Ginny or Hermione."
Draco glanced at Blaise and Theo, shrugging his shoulders. "We've just always called her that not to get her mixed up with Ron. I'll get it eventually. Don't get your knickers in a twist about your girlfriend's pet name. Plus Granger will probably always be Granger. It's sort of a nickname now." He smiled cheekily at Harry.
"To answer your question, Hermione and Ginny are in the garden with Daphne and Pansy. They are most likely having a girl chat about you boys. I think I'll go join them." Luna kissed Theo on the cheek and skipped off to where the other three were.
Ron roared with laughter at the look of pure adoration on Theo's face after receiving Luna's kiss on his cheek and watching after her. "You're whipped, mate! I love it." He clapped Theo on the back so hard that he tripped forward. Theo lunged back at Ron in mock anger.
Blaise shook his head at his friend's antics. "So we were going to play three on three, but Ginny left us to talk to the girls about some form of gossip, most likely about the girls on the Harpies. Now we're uneven. We can fly around tossing the quaffle to each other." The other four boys agreed and they all shot up into the sky after retrieving their brooms from where they were stored.
On the other side of the Burrow sitting against the shed by the garden, Hermione Granger was sitting with her four friends passing the time until dinner. Two of them she had known for years on friendly terms, but the other two happened in a little over a year that Draco Malfoy had become part of their lives. After the five girls got over the rivalry they had in school, they all soon realized that they had the same personality and got along fairly quickly.
Hermione had her head leaning against Pansy Parkinson's shoulder with her eyes closed, as Pansy was talking to Ginny Weasley about Ginny's professional Quidditch try outs. They had all been out there for a good forty-five minutes now. "I honestly think that I made it! The captain praised me constantly afterwards in the changing rooms, but I don't find out until later. She said she would owl me even if I don't make it." Ginny had her try outs just the day before. Hermione had gone to support her best friend and saw said try outs so she wasn't involved in the conversation at all.
Pansy shook her head in amusement, her long black hair swaying into her face. She moved it out of the way impatiently. "Of course you got it, Ginny. They would be stupid not to have you on the team." Hermione hummed in agreement.
Luna stopped her conversation with Daphne Greengrass, about the nargles in the tomato bush, to tilt her head at the bushy haired witch in curiosity. "Hermione, when are you going to admit that you have feelings for someone on that Quidditch pitch over there?"
Hermione lifted her head up sharply, her bushy hair hitting Pansy in the face along the way, and looked at Luna with wide eyes. "What do you mean!" Pansy glared at her while shoving her away to show that she did not appreciate getting whacked in the face with her thick hair. She grumbled out, "We should all get haircuts."
Luna tilted her head to the other side while Daphne and Ginny snickered to themselves. "We can all clearly see that you and Draco have gotten close."
Hermione looked at her in confusion and talked to her slowly. "Luna... we've.. all gotten close..."
Ginny full on laughed at Hermione's drawn out comment. "Yes, Hermione, but you and Draco sleep together in the same bed sometimes when your nightmares become worse."
Hermione's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide again. She sputtered her words out. "I do the same thing with Ron and Harry when you or Pansy aren't sleeping with them!"
Pansy smirked and looked at all her friends with amusement in her eyes. "Yes, well, we all know that those two are like brothers to you. Draco and you have some pent up sexual tension between the both of you. You flirt like crazy when you think no one is paying attention."
The bushy haired witch had a red tint come to the surface of her cheeks before looking down. She mumbled out, "That means nothing."
"It means everything!" Daphne finally spoke up during their playful bickering and threw up her hands in exasperation. She stood up suddenly and tugged Hermione up as well, dragging her off towards the Quidditch pitch. Hermione tried to protest but Daphne shot her a glare. The rest of the girls scurried to follow the two smart witches of their group. Once the young women reached the sidelines, Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and glared at all of them.
Blaise was the first of the young men to notice the girls on the sidelines first and he chuckled to himself. He flew over to Theo and pointed towards their witches. "It seems that they're trying to push Hermione in the right direction. Should we get Harry and Ron to join in on the fun as well?"
With the trademark Slytherin smirk on his lips, Theo flew over to where Harry and Ron were to let them know the plan. Theo noticed that Draco was flying around in sharp turns, knowing it was a way to relieve some of his frustrations from earlier that day. The wizards had abandoned passing the quaffle to each other for about ten minutes now. Draco's sharp movements will help the other four men tremendously.
With a nod to Blaise, Theo took off at a fast speed with Harry hot on his tail.
Draco decided to take a break from his dangerous flying to take in the view around him. He appreciated the fact that the Burrow was surrounded by open plains, unlike the Manor being surrounded by thick woods. He grew up flying around the Manor's grounds, but he had never liked how the woods had a dark aura around them. As a kid he should have realized how much it was foreshadowing for his future self.
"Draco, move the bloody hell out of the way!"
Said wizard was startled out of this thoughts by Ron yelling at him. He looked up just in time to see Harry crash into him, knocking the wind out of his chest. He lost his grip on his broom and proceeded to fall towards the ground with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face.
Hermione looked up when Pansy gasped besides her, just in time to see Draco hurtling towards the ground. Her heart skipped a beat as she hurried to cast a nonverbal molliare to cushion his fall when he hit the ground, along with an arresto momentum to slow his speed significantly. When he was laid on the ground with a quiet thud, Hermione rushed over to him. The other witches were hot on her heels. She reached him first and started shaking him to wake him, kneeling at his side. She was afraid he hit the ground too hard. "Draco, open your eyes! Are you alright?"
Draco groaned and turned his head slightly, but did not open his eyes. Hermione turned her heard to glare at Harry. "Harry, what were you thinking? You need to watch where you're going! This is why I hate this sport! It's way too bloody high. He could have died!" Harry put his hands up in surrender and shook his head slightly, but did not say anything.
The young men that were not injured looked at each other with knowing looks. Hermione let out a frustrated noise and turned her attention back to the injured blond laying on the ground. Draco was beginning to stir and slowly opened his eyes to look at Hermione. "Thanks for the fast casting, Granger. You're a fucking genius."
Hermione swatted his shoulder lightly but had a small smile on her lips. "Language, Draco."
What the two did not notice was that their friends were giving them space on the Quidditch pitch and were walking towards the Burrow, seeing as they heard Mrs. Weasley call everyone in for dinner.
The blond wizard looked smugly at the bushy haired witch and sat up slowly. "If I didn't know any better, Granger, I would think you cared about me with how quick you reacted. All those other arseholes did nothing."
Hermione leaned back on her ankles and swatted Draco's chest. "Don't talk about our friends like that! I have to have fast reflexes when my best friends are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, for your information."
Draco snorted as Hermione helped him up to his feet and the two stood facing each other. "That sure is true. They would have been dead by now if you weren't around."
"A compliment from Draco Malfoy himself! The world must be ending." Hermione smiled up at him to show that she was only joking. Draco looked down at the smart witch and couldn't help but to smile back while looking into her milk chocolate eyes. Strange, he had never noticed before that her eyes were the color of smooth milk chocolate. He really appreciated how her smile could lift his mood though. He had noticed that flying with his friends didn't even help him feel better about his mother's trial. But this little witch in front of him had saved his life and brightened his day.
Entranced by her eye color, Draco stepped forward and got into Hermione's personal space. He noticed that her breathing hitched and her eyes went wide. "I could give you another compliment. Your eyes are mesmerizing." Why he had whispered that, he had no idea.
The witch's eyes before him softened and she smiled shyly at him. "Thank you, Draco." She had whispered as well.
Draco took one more step forward. He was now so close that he could count the freckles on her nose. He had never even noticed before that she even had freckles. "You're welcome... Hermione."
It was now Hermione's turn to lean forward on her tip toes. Their noses were practically touching. "I love it when you say my name." She had whispered that with her lips hovering over his, their eyes still locked.
"Bloody hell, just kiss her already, mate!"
Both witch and wizard turned towards the person who had interrupted their moment and noticed Ron sitting next to Pansy with a broad smile on his face. It would seem that they had an audience, as practically everyone was watching from the picnic tables by the house. Hermione and Draco noticed that dinner was served in front of everyone, but they were not eating just yet. Most likely waiting for the both of them to finish what they started.
Draco turned back towards Hermione with a smirk on his face. "We might as well give them the show that they want to see. What do you say, Granger?"
Hermione looked back up at Draco with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. "You better get use to calling me Hermione, if you expect me to be your girlfriend."
The blond haired wizard growled at the witch and put his hands in her bushy hair. "Calling you Granger is a term of endearment, my little witch." And with that said, Draco brought his lips down towards hers. He could hear everyone cheering and cat-calling behind Hermione but he didn't care. He's just glad that he has something happy to tell his mother in the morning.
Back at the picnic tables, Luna looked over to Theo with a dreamy look on her face. "It's so lovely what a could years can do and having people around who care about you. Clearly there's no more animosity between us all and I absolutely love it."
Theo hummed in agreement with his witch and looked over to Blaise with a smile on his face. They smiled widely at each other, not having to tell the other that they were happy that they all got to have a better ending than their parents. No more animosity is right.
Author's note: Yay! Please let me know what you think!