A/N: Hello world! It's been awhile!

Just to address a few different things; I'm going to try really hard of my uni holidays to finish this fic off! Another thing that I feel is really important to mention is some readers may feel like that bonding between Hermione and Draco has gone too quickly, and that's right, my focus of this story isn't on the lead up to their bonding, my focus is on life after the war and after the bonding that happened at such a whirlwind of a time for them. The rest of the fic will follow them and how the rebuild their lives and learn how to live together in a world without Voldemort, but also how to live with the prejudice they now face from Hermione being with Draco.

This chapter is shorter than most, but it is mostly a filler.

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and reviewed, you guys are amazing!

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns these characters, and the main Harry Potter plot.

Chapter 12

Narcissa had owled the Manor the next day to let them know she would be returning to the Manor sometime in the afternoon. Professor McGonagall had also sent an owl to all of the witches and wizards who would be helping in the rebuilding of Hogwarts, to inform them that the newly built wards would be lowered in three days' time to allow for apparition.

Hermione was in the sitting room, leaning against the back of a lounge, reading the current edition of the Prophet when Draco found her. She was surprised at how quickly the Prophet was up and running, luckily this time instead of all of the poorly written propaganda, all of the articles were postings about repairs that were occurring in their wizarding world.

Somehow new goblins has already come in and fixed up Gringotts, reinforcing the magic and protection on the vaults. The last thing that everyone needed was for their vaults and savings to be raided.

"Did you get everything you needed to do done?" She asked affectionately, referring to how he woke early and shut himself in the study to look over some things for the Malfoy business.

He slid his arms around her waist, a nuzzled her neck softly before placing a light kiss at the juncture of her neck. She tried to ignore the arousal that was beginning to awaken in her, again.

"Yes I did" he chuckled, before placing another kiss in the same spot.

"When I was talking to Mother about returning to the Manor, she said that if we wish, the other Malfoy Estate could be ours. She understands that due to some history here, you might not feel as if you would want to settle here" Draco released her and folded his arms.

"Why am I not surprised you have more than one estate" Hermione snorted in amusement, "Where is it?"

Draco smirked at her reaction, "Of course we do. We are Malfoys. It is outside of London, hidden away from muggles with wards. It isn't as large as this Manor but it is definitely big enough and more convenient for us to raise a family in"

Hermione through her arms around Draco's neck, "Raise a family in. I suppose that is something important for the future. When can I see it?"

"Well actually, that was what I was partly organizing this morning, changing the wards so you can enter too. Did you want to go now? We can have lunch in the city after?"

Hermione smiled warmly at him, "I would like that very much"

The Manor was definitely not what she expected. The atmosphere was so much lighter than Malfoy Manor, virtually void of any paintings of his ancestors, for once it was nice to be able to walk around without his family glaring daggers at her.

Even though most of the furniture was something left to be desired, the rooms themselves were incredible and spacious. The main bedroom was a large open area, with a huge walk-in-wardrobe, something that Hermione thought she would never be able to fill, there was also a connected bathroom of generous portions. Draco had made some not so subtle comments about the size of the bathtub when he had shown her the area.

There were plenty of spare rooms that would eventually be used for children, or as guest rooms. As he showed her each one, her mind was ticking away with possibilities.

The library was nothing but cozy, it didn't match the Malfoy Manor library in size, but the way that everything was situated, the aisles of book cases, the way the lounges were placed around the fireplace, made it seem like such an intimate area.

The other rooms were equally as impressive, the only one that shocked her from the ballroom. It never crossed her mind that now she was in the Malfoy family, they would be expected to host events as soon as they were independent.

The outside excited her just as much as the library had. The gardens were obviously well maintained even though the house was vacant from others. There were various pathways that led around the estate.

Hermione didn't want to concern Draco about the slight anxiety that she felt from the thought of staying in Malfoy Manor for much longer. So many bad things had happened there. Even though it was full of his family's history, she was the first muggleborn to have joined the family.

One wing of the Manor was already closed off under Draco's instructions, apparently it was crawling with dark artifacts passed down through the generations.

All in all, It was larger than something anything she had imagined living in, when her and Draco began working, or had children, they would need help with maintenance.

"Some of the house elves would come and work here for us" he explained after she mentioned this to him.

Hermione frowned, "I don't want to have house elves, that's slave labor, it's too cruel"

Draco chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "For as long as anyone can remember, house elves have been serving witches and wizards, without us, they don't have a purpose"

Her frown deepened. She so badly wanted to snap at him, but now wasn't the time to start a fight.

"We don't have to treat them like my father did" Draco interjected, seeing she was ready to argue.

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes as he kissed the top of her head, "Well it's not like we have to decide anything like that now"

After touring the numerous bedrooms, smaller scale library, kitchen, dining room, entertaining room and the outside gardens, Hermione was sure that she could settle down in a place like this.

"I love it Draco," she beamed at him, "It's more extravagant then I would have ever imagined living. I think that certain rooms need to be changed and modernized"

"I agree, no one has lived here in decades, mother only changed things around every now and then to keep fresh" Draco slung an arm around her shoulder, "So what do you say, think we can start moving our things into this Manor and make it our home?"

Our home.

Even though Hermione was beside herself with excitement, there was still part of her that couldn't believe how quickly everything was moving. How the Veela bond worked never ceased to amaze her, she could only imagine what being with a pure Veela would be like.

"Yes, I think so" her face flushed and she leaned into his half embrace, "Our home" she repeated softly looking back over the place.

Before they had arrived at their restaurant, both Hermione and Draco decided that they would order the furniture for the main rooms within the next few days before they began their move.

They had chosen a restaurant in the heart of London, partly because of the privacy it offered them from other witches and wizards, but also because most of Diagon Alley was closed while the final repairs were taking replace after it had been reclaimed from the Death Eaters.

"How are you feeling about all of this?" Draco asked Hermione after they had both placed their orders.

Hermione tilted her head in thought, "I'm sure it's the same for both of us, how surreal it is, you know, us being so close so quickly, I'm so happy with everything, but I do think we still have a long way to go," she said, after a moment's thought.

Draco nodded in agreement.

He waited until their waitress had given them their orders before telling her his thoughts, "The bond I have with you as my mate surprises me sometimes as well. I know that we feel comfortable with each other now, but I still want you to feel like you don't have to hide anything from me. I want to learn as much about you as I can"

"Even all the muggle parts?" Hermione teased.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Even the icky muggle parts. I won't lie to you love, we have grown up so differently, it's going to take time for me to be used to those things"

His eyes furrowed in thought.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned at his sudden change in mood.

"Nothing" he shook his head, "I was just remembering my Aunt Andromeda's house. It was full of muggle things, things I have no idea about"

Hermione reached over the table and grabbed his hand, "I can teach you all you need to know about muggle objects," she chuckled.

"What was it like, growing up without magic?" Draco asked suddenly.

Hermione didn't know where to begin, this was something that Harry would be better at explaining.

"Life was simpler," She began slowly, "I always could feel that I was different, when everything was explained to us, they told me about how children use accidental magic. So many things that had happened to me growing up made much more sense. In one way you could look at it as being an outsider to your own community"

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

"But it wasn't awful" Hermione added hastily, "I love the muggle side to me more than anything, it's just so, so, normal. Just you wait, I will show you everything and you won't be able to stop yourself falling in love with it. Sometimes there is nothing better than going down to the cinemas and getting a tub of popcorn, not that my parents ever would allow me to have unhealthy snacks. Or even going to theme parks. There is just so much that I can't even begin to describe"

Draco could feel the Veela within him swelling up with happiness and pride over the way his mates eyes lit up in excitement when she began talking about muggle things.

"You lost me with all of those funny names" Draco smiled, "I would love for you to show all of these things to me, if you would allow me to show you what you have missed out in the wizarding world"

Hermione grinned, "It's a deal then"

They spent the rest of their lunch getting to know each other a little better. Even though they were more than well acquainted in some areas, it was nice to finally learn menial things about each other.

Hermione had pulled her mother-in-law into a hug as soon as she emerged from the fireplace.

"I'm so happy that you're back," she sniffled, "how are you?"

Narcissa squeezed her back before releasing her, "Much better than before," the elder witch admitted, "I apologize that I wasn't here for you both when you needed me"

Hermione shook her head, "There was nothing you could've done," reaching up she wiped a stray tear away, "I shut everyone"

The two witches soon made their way to the sitting room, with tea waiting for them, there was a lot to catch up on, in particular, how Narcissa would be with Lucius incarcerated.