Hermione woke up in a situation she did not remember at all.

She was sleeping on Malfoy's chest; in Malfoy's bed.

She rose her head a bit to see if the blonde was awake yet. Surprisingly, he looked down at her and smirked.

"Morning, Granger." His smirk grew even wider as he looked at Hermione's embarrassed face.

"Oh, uhm, hello, Malfoy. I, ah, why am I in your bed, exactly?" Hermione now sat up straight in his bed and looked around.

"You came yesterday night and said something about a storm and then fell asleep in my bed," Draco said. "I wanted to ask yesterday but you fell asleep quick. By the way, THE Gryffindor princess is afraid of a small storm?" He couldn't hold his laughter back.

"The storm was not small! It was noisy and huge and - and scary!" Hermione looked like a four year old as she pushed her lower lip forward and looked at him sulkily.

"Okay okay Granger, whatever you say. Want something for breakfast? I bet my mother made something downstairs. Would you like to change first or do you want to go down in my pyjamas?" He smirked again and his eyes briefly wandered down to her cleavage.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm leaving now, Malfoy.", Hermione rolled her eyes and walked towards the door.

"Hey Granger!" Draco waited until she turned around. "Green suits you by the way." He grinned and Hermione smiled at him.

After Hermione took a quick shower and got dressed she walked down the stairs to grab something to eat.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Want some tea?" Narcissa looked beautiful as ever, even in the early hours.

"I would prefer coffee. Thanks!" Hermione rubbed her eyes and looked at Draco who just laughed.

She laughed with him, although she didn't know why. After they had a really nice breakfast together Draco was about to say something but the bell rang.

Hermione couldn't help but smile. Narcissa opened the door and let the four adults in.

"Uhm Hello? Hello Mrs. Malfoy, Malfoy, Mione." Harry nodded to everyone he just mentioned. His companions, who had visible inhibitions, did the same.

"Granger? Would you like to explain why they are here?" Draco looked blankly at Hermione, his blonde eyebrows lifted in confusion.

"Oh, I just thought we could do something together," Hermione said. "Harry and Ron, do you have them with you? The things I asked for?" The boys nodded and smirked.

"Well then, Draco, would you change?" Hermione asked grinning.

"Into what?" the blonde asked slowly. Obvious doubt mingled with fear in his voice.

Harry lifted a small golden ball with wings in the air and smiled challengingly at Draco, who raised his eyebrows but stood up and walked out of the room. The friends and Narcissa walked to the backyard and cast some spells to prepare the Quidditch field.

Ginny, Harry, and Ron stood there in their red Quidditch robes. Draco walked up to them in his green Slytherin robes, smirking.

"Ahh the girl Weasley is also playing?" Draco asked with raised eyebrows. "Three against one then?"

"Her name is Ginny, and no. Ron and Ginny play in a team and me and you, only if you allow me to play with you, your highness." Harry bowed provokingly.

"No need for that Potter, we all know Weasley is our king." Ron shot him a glare but the others chuckled. "Well then, let's get going," Draco said and walked over to the pitch. Harry looked over at Hermione, who smiled and nodded.

The game was a really nice distraction for Draco from his thoughts. He had fun. They played almost two hours before he and Harry won (of course) even though the redhead was really skilled. It was now a little past lunch time but nobody seemed hungry.

Draco cheered with Harry upon winning and then looked over to his mother. Narcissa was just standing there, tears in her eyes and smiling. She looked so peaceful and happy.

Maybe Draco wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping at night.

He also glanced at the girl beside his mother. She looked at Narcissa with a huge smile on her face, who closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. Hermione seemed to be happy too, although she was in his garden and with him and his mother. Two Malfoys at once. He couldn't even stand just himself.

Ron seemed to be not as happy about the game as Draco was.

"Hey, Weasley." Ron looked up and waited for his insult. "Good game. And girl Weasley, uuhm Ginny?" The girl nodded. "You have some hidden skills there." Draco smirked.

Ginny smiled amusedly and Ron looked like Voldemort himself complimented him.

"Hey guys? Another round? This time it's me and Ron, you all agree?" Harry looked smiling at everyone. Draco shrugged, Ron nodded his head in absolute agreement, and Ginny looked like she wasn't sure at all.

"Oh, come on, Ginny." The name of the youngest Weasley member was obvioulsy foreign on the ex-Slytherin's tongue. "We are gonna win this thing." Draco smirked and Ginny smiled and finally nodded.

A couple more hours of playing passed before Narcissa turned to Hermione and Lavender.

"Would you girls like some tea? Wait, here." She pointed her wand and some chairs and a garden table appeared. "I'll be back soon."

After she was gone, Lavender said, "Wow, she is nice. And he isn't the git I luckily never got to know. Look, Harry and Ron made a goal!" Lavender smiled up at Ron and waved her hand. Hermione smiled at Lavender and decided to help Narcissa with the tea inside.

"Hey Mrs. Malfoy, do you need any help?" Hermione walked into the kitchen and saw Narcissa standing by the window with tears in her eyes.

"Oh Hermione, I really have to thank you," Narcissa said. "You can't even imagine how happy I am that my son is smiling and laughing again. Thank you. Oh, and call me Narcissa, darling." She smiled warmly.

"Oh I haven't done much, Mrs- Narcissa," Hermione said. "I was kinda scared when I saw him the first time, but he isn't the arrogant prick - I am sorry about my language - that I once knew. His eyes, his whole body- he looked broken. I was shocked. The once smirking and insult-throwing boy was gone. I am actually happy to see him smirking again, I kind of missed this." She blushed and looked at the ground.

"I know what you mean," Narcissa said. "I think he is, or rather, was, broken. I don't know yet. He is definitely on his way back. The death of his father, the whole war, and even things I don't know made him so miserable. It hurted to see him like that."

"What about you, M- Narcissa? How are you?" Hermione looked into her blue eyes.

"Oh don't worry about me, sweetheart. I am fine."

"I know it's a lie because I used to say that too. So how are you?"

Narcissa sighed. "After Lucius's death I cried horribly often. I didn't know how to feel about it. There was a time in my life when I despised Lucius. It was the time he dragged me and his own son into the claws of Voldemort. I don't know why he did that. I thought he had a plan but he clearly did not. I tried to see the whole thing positively but what should I have been positive about? The fact that my husband clearly lost his mind and my son had no other option than to follow orders blindly?

"Draco always asked me if I was alright after Voldemort visited our house or after something bad happened. He wanted to protect me. He knew that if he failed at whatever Voldemort had told him to do, he or I would pay for it. My life depended on his tasks. I can only imagine how hard that was for him. I mean, he was practically a child back then, just as he is one now. I am a strong woman and I know I could have tried to make a move against Voldemort but I was so scared. I had lost my faith in Lucuis by then and I didn't want to lose my life and leave Draco alone. I love him. I realized that Lucius had gone insane. I saw it in his eyes everytime I looked at him.

"He scared me. He wasn't the man I fell in love with. You must know that he was nice when we were young. He took me on fancy dates, told me things a young woman wants to hear. I trusted him with my life but after I gave birth to Draco he changed. It was the time Voldemort was gaining power and he knew it. His parents had always supported Voldemort's ideals so he stupidly thought he had to as well. He threw his and our lives away. I get tears in my eyes thinking about how he treated Draco. He was always really severe and hard on my boy. From time to time he was a nice, loving, and caring father. Those were the times I thought there was hope for him, that all the killing hadn't destroyed his brain, but I was wrong. As soon Draco became useful for the Dark Lord, Lucius pushed him into being a Death Eater. I should have done something to stop it but I didn't." She looked at Hermione and her eyes said that she really hated herself for letting her son get into such big troubles, which was an understatement.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She had to soak in the information she had just received.

"It's not your fault Narcissa, really," Hermione finally said. "Lucius is the one to blame. You don't have to worry about any of those things. You surely miss him but you still have Draco and if you want to talk, I am here as well. I know I am just a muggleborn and younger than you but I'll try to help, even though I don't think you need any advice from me. I am not as smart as you and only have half of the experience you have but I will try my best." Hermione smiled cheeringly at the woman in front of her.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, you are much smarter than me," Narcissa said. "I am just an elderly woman not worth anything. The great times are over for me, but not for Draco. He has his whole life ahead of him. I am glad you came along on the day I owled Mr. Potter. I'd give everything to save my little dragon. Without him, my life would be empty and I would have nothing worth living for." She smiled sadly and inhaled deeply.

"Don't say that," Hermione said. "You are a strong woman. Do you think the guys are finished with playing?"

"Not likely, but the other girl is probably waiting for her tea." Narcissa smiled brightly now. It looked almost like she smirked.

Hermione helped Narcissa with all the drinks she had just prepared. The four weren't finished playing, but as soon as Ron saw the drinks he asked for a break. Everybody agreed and they landed back on the earth.

"Having fun?" Hermione asked Draco with a grin.

"Yeah, lots." He just smiled. There was no arrogance or even sadness in his eyes, just pure happiness.

"Good." Hermione returned his smile.

"It's past lunch," Narcissa said. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I mean you don't have to but I thought since you weren't finished playing and -"

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy, thanks," Harry said. Ron looked at him but kept his mouth shut. Ginny and Lavender were smiling politely.

"Oh, great." Narcissa looked surprised.

Harry Potter is a kind person, she decided. He should despise us or rather me but now he is so polite.

More time passed until Ginny and Malfoy won.

"I'm impressed, Ginny" Draco said. "Good game." He smirked at her and then stretched his hand out for Ginny to shake it.

Ron and Harry were a little bit pissed but Harry still smiled. Who thought that Draco Malfoy could be a nice person?

They all ate dinner at Malfoy Manor and talked. They did not talk about the war but about Hogwarts, Quidditch and other general things.

Even Ron smiled and laughed from time to time while Lavender and Ginny were more at ease. They stopped seeing Malfoy as the jerk he was back in Hogwarts. Hermione and Harry had both realized this from their first visit.

He looked better; his eyes weren't filled with emptiness anymore and sometimes Hermione saw something flicker in his eyes. At first she hadn't know what it was but when she looked at him now she knew it was hope. Draco had hope. She didn't knew what for. To leave Malfoy Manor and finally start to live his life again? She hoped so.

When they finally decided to head home Draco grabbed Hermione's hand. She twirled around, half-shocked half-smiling.

"Well, uhm, Granger, it was a nice idea to have them around even though I used to hate them and they literally loathed me but uhm -"

Hermione saw how he struggled to say those two little words. "You're welcome, Malfoy," she said. "I'll come again next week. Goodnight." She waved him goodbye.

Draco sighed and returned to the dining room, where he plopped onto one of the chairs and sighed again.

"Why are you so goddamn happy?" he asked himself and layed his head in his hands.

"I would say because you like her and you also like having her around," Narcissa said, appearing in the room. "It is really simple Draco." His mother smiled and then began cleaning the table the muggle way.

"It's complicated, I told you before," Draco said. "Now leave it." He rubbed his eyes.

"Why?" she asked simply.

"Uh, Mother, because she is the smartest damn witch of her age and I am just, well, me. I am a Death Eater without a job, I am a coward, I am simply not good enough for her. My Malfoy pride says that I am worth everybody but that isn't true. I hate myself and I don't know what to do about it. I would ruin it, like I've ruined everything in my life so far. I don't deserve her, Mother." He stood up and left the room without waiting for her reaction. He had finally told someone, and that was enough. He didn't need nor want an answer.

/

"Uh Harry? Could I talk to you for a minute?" Hermione looked at him shyly.

"Sure, 'Mione. What's up?"

"It's actually complicated. Look, I don't think he is a bad guy anymore and I enjoy the time I spend with him and now I don't know if uh-"

"You're in love with Malfoy." He didn't ask her, it was a statement.

"What? Uh, no. I - I don't know. Would it be bad?" She played nervously with her ring.

"No, Hermione," Harry laughed. "I don't really understand why though but that is none of my business. I saw you looking at him for quite a long time. Ron might not be super happy first but whatever, he'll be fine."

"What do you think about him?" Hermione asked. "I mean do you like him?"

"Yeah, he is nice, I guess," Harry said. "You know I used to hate him and he used to or hates me so I am not really neutral to this but I will try. You need someone in your life who you're happy with. I know you always felt like the third wheel and I want you to be happy. You are just like my sister, you know that, right?"

"Oh Harry! Thank you so much. I'll talk to him when I meet him again." She smiled happily now.

"Sure," he said and laughed.