Hello all I decided that this is going to be a fairly long multichapter fic. Bear with me as I try to navigate the world of fanfiction since this is my first story

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Chapter 2

Harry had become a lot calmer since the war ended. At least in Hermione's opinion. She often wondered if it wasn't so much Harry's demeanor that had changed or if she was simply observing him more carefully. It was hard not to during those first few months. Series of funerals, speeches and ministry events had left the trio drained and they often relied on each other to stay sane. It had strengthened their relationship with each other and with Ginny, even though it felt like they couldn't possibly become any closer. Harry's calm was rarely broken, even being an auror she supposed no case could ever come close to taking down Voldemort. Despite his easy-going nature, she had never worried that he was going too soft. Until now.

Malfoy's letter had left them in a bit of a tizzy. Ron was still recovering from hanging upside down for the better part of 45 seconds and Harry was busy trying to dodge Ginny's wrath that was second only to her mother's.

Neither of them noticed the horrifying sound of the world Hermione had built for herself over the last 4 years come crashing down. At least it would have been hard for them to notice even if they were paying attention since it was taking place entirely inside her head. A head that was now clouded with thoughts of jinxes and nasty childhood taunts.

She slowly leaned back against the counter and internally recited the ingredients for a calming draught. It was a habit she had picked up when the sight of rubble and despair had left her gasping on the floor outside of the transfiguration classroom. Potions were reliable because their ingredients never changed. No matter that the wizarding was in ruin and people she loved were gone. The steps to make felix felicis and amortentia would always be there for her just like books had always been.

She didn't know why Malfoy in particular was unnerving her like this. It wasn't like they hadn't run into each other at ministry events in the past, though she couldn't quite remember what department he worked for. They just hadn't spoken to each other since the battle.

Perhaps that was it. Being confined to the Burrow with him meant they might have to make small talk, maybe even slight conversation. She balked at the thought.

Hermione believed herself to be an adept conversationalist. She just couldn't picture herself confronting her childhood nemesis let alone tempting to engage him in intellectual discourse. Speaking with Narcissa the day before had been fairly natural seeing as she didn't directly associate the older woman with years of torment.

Hermione sighed. Grow up she thought you're not an awkward schoolgirl anymore! You've both matured. At least she could say so for herself. She thought back to what she knew of Draco Malfoy's most recent endeavors, nothing particularly troublesome came to mind aside from dramatized tabloid rumours. He hadn't been quoted saying anything scandalous, in fact the most recent quote of his had made him seem almost thankful…

"Mione?"

Her head snapped up. It was Ron.

"You alright? You look as if Malfoy's already arrived."

Hermione decided she should be beyond this irrational fear that too often accompanied her thoughts of the youngest Malfoy. She schooled her features into indifference.

"I'm doing this for Teddy," she found herself saying.

"Doing what for Teddy?" asked Ginny, "staring a hole through mum's kitchen floor?"

Hermione shot her a glare. "Being civil."

"If you need to leave, we'll explain everything to Molly, you don't have to worry about upsetting her," Harry said.

"If you want to get rid of me so you can have a drama-free playdate with Malfoy just say the word Potter and I'll be out of your hair." She crossed her arms. "I'm not running away."

"Nobody would accuse you of running away," said Ginny softly.

Harry let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "I figured it would be hard to welcome a Malfoy into the house, which is why I asked Molly first, but I didn't consider that his might be harder for you in particular." He looked at her apologetically, "and now with two Malfoys…"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's quite alright Harry, I'm an adult."

She gathered that they were indirectly referencing the single occasion she had visited Malfoy manner and had the pleasure of being tortured on the floor by Malfoy's batty aunt.

Harry's offer of forgiveness would mean ending a childhood rivalry, but for Hermione dealing with Malfoys had never been that simple. "Just because you've decided to hand out second chances doesn't mean we all have to do them same, so I can promise to be civil and nothing more."

Ron cleared his throat, "well I for one can't promise to be civil or forgiving. That bloody ferret's been a pain in the ass since the first day of Hogwarts and I've always wanted to punch him out the muggle way."

Ginny rolled her eyes and turned to go out the back door to where Molly and Arthur were busy setting up the tables. She squeezed Hermione's shoulder on her way out and the brunette tried not to let the comforting gesture send her into panic. "If you punch him mum will kill you," she said to Ron as she left.

"You punched him once during the battle, don't you remember?" asked Hermione.

"But that was so long ago," he whined.

Hermione rolled her eyes and followed Ginny out.

Mrs. Weasley was hurrying about trying to set the table to perfection. Angelina, a pregnant Fleur, Percy and Aubrey were helping her while Arthur, Bill and George stood off to the side, presumably trying to blend in to the shrubbery so they wouldn't be assigned a task.

Teddy and Victoire were chasing Percy's daughter Molly and Victoire's little sister Dominique, around the table. Ginny narrowly avoided tripping over Victoire as they came running around the corner. "Mum," she called, "should I bring out the potatoes, they'll be here any minute."

Molly senior nearly dropped the fork she was holding. "Oh dear, is it that time already? Goodness me… yes, yes bring them out."

Hermione was about to go assist Molly in laying out the cutlery when she heard Victoire squeal, "mummy I need to use the loo."

Seeing that Fleur was busy brushing the dirt off Dom's dress, where it appeared she'd soiled it in the bushes, Hermione decided to offer Victoire her hand. "It's alright Fleur, I can take her," she said as the girl's mother looked up.

"Oh zhat would be vonderful, thank you Hermione," she said placing a hand on her growing belly.

"Come along Vic, I'll go with you," she said in her best child friendly voice. People tended to tell her she was a bit harsh when dealing with children. However her philosophy was to speak to them like little adults, it helped gain their respect and she tended to find children to be a lot smarter than they appeared.

Victoire tugged Hermione along behind her, up the stairs and down the hall to the single bathroom. They stopped at the door and Victoire dropped her hand, "don't go I'll tell you when I'm done." Not being used to ordered about by anyone other than Ginny and Molly, Hermione just nodded, accepting the fact that there was something about these Weasley women that made people follow them. Even the little ones it seemed.

When they were finished with Victoire's trip to the loo, the small girl once again grabbed Hermione's hand and tugged her down the stairs. As soon as she stepped off the landing, Victoire let go and went running to the kitchen. Hermione was caught off guard and stumbled into Ron as he was walking past. Except it wasn't Ron, she realized as a pair of pale arms reached out to steady her.

"Watch yourself Granger," they said. Only it wasn't the arms that had spoken, they happened to be attached to the body of a tall blonde git who had been holding a vase that now lay shattered on the floor as he had let go of it to prevent Hermione from also landing on said floor. It seemed she was spending a lot of time on the ground these days, so she was thankful to her companion, if only for saving her from the repeated embarrassment.

She was staring, she realized, very intently at the ground beside his feet. Ginny was right, she was going to wear a hole through Molly's floor. Hermione closed her eyes and considered going through the ingredients for Polyjuice potion, but Malfoy dropped his arms and stepped back, clearly expecting a reaction. So she slowly let her eyes travel from his shoes, up his legs, across his torso, to finally land on his face. The smirk he wore was not unflattering, but it was there for a reason. She realized blatantly it was probably because she'd just given him what appeared to be a very deliberate once over.

And to her even greater horror it appeared he had not disliked it. That is to say, he wasn't sneering and shoving her away. He was staring. Or she was staring and he was staring back. She was aware her behaviour was not normal considering she hadn't even offered a thank you, but her impulse control when it came to Malfoy hadn't exactly been up to par since before third year.

"I…um…sorry," she mumbled and took a step back. He nodded, still wearing that infuriatingly handsome smirk. She pulled out her wand and murmured a quick episkey and waited until the vase repaired itself before levitating it to Malfoy. She nodded and turned to go. This was not how she planned to welcome him to the burrow. She had imagined something a bit more civilized, preferably without having to directly engage with him at all. But no, stupid you had to go and literally fall at his feet.

Before she could make her escape she felt his arm brush hers as he beat her to the door and bent down to whisper, "thank you for repairing the vase." Then before she could react, he passed her and turned to look over his shoulder, "that's what you're supposed to say when someone does something nice for you, I'm sure manners exist in the muggle world Granger so really there's no excuse."

After he left she slumped against the doorframe and closed her eyes. "Wanker," she muttered. With a sigh she forced herself forward and into the back yard where everyone waited

—o—

"That went well," Ginny said quietly. Her and Hermione were washing while Ron and Harry dried. Everyone else had left soon after brunch, Malfoy's included. The meal had been rather uneventful until Andromeda arrived a bit later. Narcissa was met with tearful sobs and the two managed to reach an understanding it seemed because, Andromeda had thanked Harry profusely for inviting her sister.

Hermione and Malfoy had had no further interaction, not even a spared glance in her direction. He had been seated at the end of the table next to George and across from Ginny. Molly had been adamant on not creating a scene for the sake of Teddy.

It seemed she didn't have to worry so much after all since Malfoy mostly interacted with the children. He had taken Teddy and Victoire to the side where it seemed they had engaged in a very serious discussion that ended with a sight that left the golden trio staring with their mouths hanging open, which earned Ron a wack on the back of the head by Molly and a second one from George for "good luck."

Teddy had grabbed Malfoy by the knees and Victoire had done the same from behind, which then prompted Dominique and Molly Jr to join in. Malfoy had dramatically fell to the ground where the children doggy piled on top of him. His actions earned him contented sighs from all the mothers and Andromeda had clutched Narcissa's hand fondly as they looked on with tears in their eyes.

Hermione figured Ron and Harry had to be ecstatic that they didn't have to speak to him once and that the lengths they took to avoid doing so had payed off. Though George's sentiments were the exact opposite. He had enjoyed grilling Malfoy about what he'd been up to the last few years and whether people often stared at the Dark Mark still tattooed to his forearm. Malfoy had answered each of his questions without complaint, much to Harry and Ron's chagrin as they had been looking for an excuse to subtly hex him. Even Narcissa hadn't raised an eyebrow at George's pestering. It seemed the Malfoy's were intent on reconciliation no matter that they had to sacrifice their pride to achieve it.

Of course Hermione had other theories which included a murder plot and a Slytherin scheme to bring down the chosen one once and for all. Even Harry, who had spent the majority of his sixth year following Malfoy around like a lost house elf, had scoffed at the last one.

"Relax Hermione," he said now, "I think there would be easier ways for them to get rid of me that didn't involve charming their way into the burrow." Hermione continued to aggressively scrub the bowl in front of her while grumbling about how he'd gone soft over the years. Harry rolled his eyes and reached over Ginny to place a dish on the drying rack.

"He's right Mione," Ron said, "they say kids know when someone's a bad egg, and Teddy seems to worship the ground he walks on." Then as an afterthought he muttered, "hasn't shut up about the git since they left."

"Mum told you that to get you to stop blowing steam out of your ears when they arrived," Ginny informed him evenly. "Anyway we really should stop complaining, this is what we wanted wasn't it, to get over all that blood purity blood traitor nonsense."

Hermione nodded and turned off the tap. Molly insisted they wash the muggle way to build character. She leaned her head on Harry's shoulder and sighed. "I should get going I've got a meeting with Kingsley tomorrow."

Harry and Ginny agreed before going to say goodnight to Molly and Arthur.

"Come on I'll walk you," Ron said ushering her out.

It was cool out and due to the relatively isolated location of the burrow they had a full view of the stars. Hermione looked up at them, immediately spotting the Draco constellation. She glanced sideways at Ron. "Is it childish that a part of me wanted to hit him today for no reason at all."

He chuckled, "now you know how I felt in school everyday." He put his arm around her and though they weren't together and hadn't been for a while, Hermione still took comfort in Ron. "You'd probably feel better once you hit him, but mum would kill you and really is Malfoy worth all the trouble."

Hermione laughed as they approached the apparating point. "I guess not. Goodnight Ron."

She apparated back to her apartment with a pop that drove Crookshanks off the sofa. She rolled her eyes at his antics.

Later when she lay in bed she couldn't stop thinking about what Ginny had said. This is what they had fought for. She turned over and picked up the book from her nightstand, staring at the silhouettes of her and her friends and then at the quote on the bottom. She let her eyes roam over it even though at this point she had his words committed to memory.

Those three have got a friendship so strong they used it to save all our lives, even mine. That's what you should be writing—not about my mistakes, but about their victories.