Enjoy. Istalindar.

&

Voldemort flew into a rage. He cursed and he hexed and deatheaters lay like felled trees, and at the end of it, when he stood panting in the centre of the decimated room, he stared in horror as Hermione staggered to her feet, Draco following her example.

"You…witch." He swore. She smiled.

"Why, thank you." She cocked her head slightly. "I meant it. You can't stop me. And by me, of course, I meant us." Voldemort frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Avada Kedava." He froze, eyes wide, before toppling face first onto a pile of deatheaters. Hermione stepped back, a look of disgust on her face. Behind Voldemort stood Harry, flanked by Ron and Ginny. She smiled and took a deep breath.

"Hello." Harry smiled back.

"Hello."

"Are you sure he's dead?" Draco asked, looking dubiously at the fallen dark lord.

"Should be." Ginny shrugged. "We've been destroying horcruxes for years. We found the last one and destroyed it last week. Then you tipped us off to this, and it went better than expected."

"We weren't expecting him to go psycho. We were expecting an all out battle. We even brought people to help." Slowly people began emerging from doors off the room, and Hermione looked around.

"Wow. You finally learnt to delegate, Harry." He snorted.

"Ginny made me do it." Ginny shrugged, and Hermione noticed the ring on her finger.

"You're married? Congratulations!" Harry coughed, and Dean Thomas stepped up beside her. "To Dean." Hermione continued with a wince. "Congratulations!" Ginny laughed.

"Yeah, well. I have a husband, so I leave Lavender to sort out Harry." Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"It's a long story." Harry said. "Nice speech, by the way."

"An epiphany." Hermione agreed. She wavered, and Ron darted forward and caught her.

"Whoa there." He gently set her down on a clear bit of floor, and Draco flopped down next to her.

"Yeah, I can talk about not feeling Crucios…but they still take it out of you." Hermione shook her head. "Thanks for the backup…how'd you know we'd be here?"

"Malfoy told us." Harry said. He watched as everyone around him started restraining the living deatheaters and setting the dead ones aside before stepping down to crouch beside Hermione and Draco. "He figured if a deatheater could break the unplottability, he could too. He told us about the evacuation and that the deatheaters would probably bring people back here, so we planned and got here first."

"You only had like two days." Hermione said, impressed. Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, well…" Draco rolled his eyes.

"It was a contingency plan of mine, actually." Draco said. Hermione remembered him telling her he had them…years and years ago. Before they were grown up. "I gave Harry blueprints for the manor, complete with the wards to get in and out, the traps and protection. All he had to do was turn up when I told him to." Hermione glanced at Harry and saw him glaring at Draco and knew it was true and snorted quietly.

"What would have happened if I wasn't here though?" he demanded peevishly. Hermione smiled.

"I don't know, Harry, I really don't. But I like this situation just fine. I need a day and a night to recover, and then I'm back to the mountain."

"What? But Hermione, you can stay now!" Harry protested. Hermione smiled and patted his arm.

"My husband works with dragons, Harry. It's unlikely I'll ever be away from them for too long. If I even wanted to be. I love it, Harry."

"And you said yourself Luke isn't ready." Draco put in. Hermione glared.

"And Luke isn't ready. He does have to join the real world at some point though…Voldemort being gone opens up some options." She smiled.

"I have a nephew?" Ginny demanded, appearing beside them.

"By marriage." Hermione said. There was no point pretending Luke was a Weasley, he was so blatantly a Malfoy that it would probably give Molly a heart attack to look at him anyway. Ginny stared. "Luke was conceived at the Manor."

"But that was years ago!" Harry exclaimed.

"Luke is six." Draco said dryly. There was silence. "But if it helps, he's as handsome as I am, with my amazing wit and charm, and her brains." He nodded at Hermione.

"You bastard!" Harry swung at him and Hermione smacked him.

"Hey! Draco got them from somewhere too, remember." She said warningly. Harry subsided, interpreting her comment exactly as she had planned him too. Draco glanced at her and she shook her head minimally.

"Does this mean the house is mine?" Draco asked suddenly, looking around. Hermione grinned.

"Probably. Especially since your mother-"

"My mum wasn't a deatheater." Draco interrupted. "She was above the whole thing. Felt like it was boys playing at being princes. She had your attitude towards Voldemort."

"I like her already." Hermione grinned.

"Is that meant to gratify me?" Everyone spun and saw Narcissa Malfoy standing in the doorway. "When my dining room is full of deatheaters and corpses? Forgive me, Miss Granger, if I'm not overflowing with gratitude."

"Mrs Malfoy." Hermione didn't bother to correct her, and struggled to her feet. Narcissa waved a hand.

"Sit, Miss Granger. I am impressed by your little display, having you pass out might turn out to be somewhat of an anticlimax." Hermione sat back.

"She's a Weasley, now, Mum." Draco said.

"Really? Hm." Narcissa shrugged elegantly. "I've called the Ministry, they should be here soon to clean up your mess. Mrs Weasley and my son shall, of course, stay here at the Manor tonight. They will meet with you tomorrow so you may swap gossip, and then both have duties to continue." Hermione glanced at Draco and he mouthed 'legilimens' to her, and she nodded. She'd forgotten all about her walls after Harry had appeared and Voldemort had died. It would have been easy for Narcissa to slip in.

"Molly will want-" Harry began. Narcissa silenced him with a look.

"Molly will see Hermione tomorrow." Narcissa said with finality. "Now, why don't you run off to the Burrow and inform her of what's happened. I assure you, Hermione will be well cared for here. Go." Harry hesitated, and as one by one his little army vanished, he sighed. Narcissa took that as assent. "Good. We'll speak tomorrow." Finally it was only him left, and then he disappeared with a 'pop'. Hermione sighed in relief. Being around Harry was weird…and the seven to eight years since she'd last had a proper conversation with him had only served to make him more…intense.

"Come, Draco, Hermione. Let's get you two settled so you can get some sleep. We'll speak after dinner." With a start Hermione realised that it was nearly morning, the sun turning the night into a misty grey dawn.

Narcissa took her arm and guided her to her feet, Draco in her other hand, and half marched, half dragged them to a wing of the house that Hermione had never seen before, Narcissa's personal wing, and left them in adjacent guest rooms to sleep. Draco struggled to stay awake, but Narcissa fixed him with a look he had known since childhood which said simply 'Bed. Now', and Hermione was all too happy to oblige, barely kicking off her shoes before she passed out on top of the sheets. Narcissa clucked her tongue, changing the girl into pyjamas before tucking her into bed before checking on her son.

"So?" She asked quietly, coming into his room. He hadn't gone to bed, instead he was standing by the window, staring out.

"It was fast, wasn't it?"

"The ambush depended on speed." She replied. "And it more than time for Voldemort to fall, he was unbelievably sloppy. He didn't even check for intruders when he apparated back here with you."

"That's because the Manor's meant to be impervious." Draco said with a snort. Narcissa shrugged and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Nowhere is completely impervious." She replied. "You simply must have the right skills and the right friends." Draco shook his head and she waited. "What is it?" She asked, aware something else bothered him.

"It's complicated."

"I'll listen." She answered quietly. Draco sent her a grateful look; she had always listened. Even if she did nothing about it, even if she told his father or took matters into her own hands (and sometimes he wasn't sure which was worse) she always listened.

"You must promise not to do or say anything about it." He warned her. Her eyebrows rose.

"I promise."

"It's about Hermione." He said, shifting. She smiled. She'd picked up on that particular link the moment that she'd probed Hermione's mind. It was as obvious as a thick silver cord between their heads, if one had the skill to see it. "She's married, mum."

"To the wrong man." Narcissa concluded. "Or so you think." Draco huffed and rolled his eyes, moving to sit on the bed.

"I love her. Or I might not, and it's this stupid link that makes me think I do. It feels like…like if I took the slightest mental step in her direction I'd be in her head again, completely, like last time."

"And like she could do the same." Narcissa finished. Draco nodded. "Links like that…you don't need love to feel that close to a person, Draco." He nodded.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that from the start." He agreed. "Plus she has a son."

Something about that comment immediately sat wrongly with Narcissa, but she couldn't work out what it was. Draco said nothing more, so she tentatively reached into his mind and there it was, sitting as plain as could be, waiting for her.

Sure, Hermione had a son. But then, so did Draco. The problem lay in that the boys were one and the same.

"Draco." She said softly, and sat next to him on the bed. He leaned into her in a way he hadn't done since he was thirteen, over ten years ago.

"He looks just like me." He said quietly. "But he acts like her, laughing and smiling and playing and he's so smart." He hesitated. "The only thing of me I see is what he looks like."

"Draco, you used to laugh and smile and play too." Narcissa said gently.

"Really?" Draco snorted disbelievingly.

"A long time ago." She answered with a nod, remembering. It was a very long time ago, before Voldemort's return, before even whispers of his return. Those ten blissful years where she'd had peace with her son and to a certain extent, her husband.

"I don't remember."

"I promise you did." She said gently. He nodded.

"Thing is, what do I do now?" He asked. "Luke…he's my son. But Hermione won't say anything, Luke calls me his uncle and Charlie thinks he's my brother, not my goddam son."

"Draco…how did you get a son?" Narcissa asked. "Lucius would never…"

"He left her as thrall to die for Forsythe." Draco said. "I broke the thrall."

"By sleeping with her." Narcissa said disbelievingly.

"A thrall is just an obsession." Draco said with a shrug. "I broke her obsession with him."

"And gave her one of you?" Narcissa asked.

"Hardly." Draco shook his head. "She barely thinks of me." Narcissa stroked Draco's hair, and he closed his eyes, wishing beyond belief that he was nine again, but knowing without a doubt that he never would be.

"I think, Draco, that she cannot go a day without thinking of you, whether because of her son or because of the snake at her throat. And that's its own kind of obsession, don't you think?" Draco sighed and shook his head, and she smiled. "Go to sleep, Draco. We'll speak in the morning." He nodded, and she rose to leave. "Oh, and Draco?" He met her gaze. "You'll need to replace that necklace you stole from my jewelery box, it was a favourite." Draco grinned, and she slipped from the room.

&

Hermione woke with a start, and for a moment she was confused and lost, until she remembered. Voldemort was gone. Narcissa was actually kinda nice. Harry was back.

She had to somehow find her husband and son, who could be in another dimension for all she knew.

"Good evening, miss." Hermione saw Dimmy standing by the fireplace and grinned.

"Dimmy!" Dimmy smiled and bobbed her head.

"Mistress says Miss is to meet her and Master Draco in the study for dinner, she sent these clothes." The clothes were rather nice robes, a dark red in colour. Hermione let Dimmy help her into them, and allowed the house elf to lead her to the study, even though Hermione knew the way. Just being here brought back memories, but somehow, they didn't seem so painful anymore. More like…character building.

"Ah, here she is." Narcissa looked up from where she had been talking to Draco. "You look presentable." Hermione smiled, guessing from Draco's wince to take Narcissa as she came, without becoming offended.

"Thank you." She took the seat that Narcissa gestured her to, and waited while the food appeared on her plate. "And thank you for your hospitality, Mrs Malfoy."

"Narcissa, if you please. Now. Tell me what's going on. I met you last when you were my husbands darling little slave girl. Quite a change from that to this." Hermione smiled.

"Well, thrallage isn't the real thing, Narcissa."

"Yes, Draco did mention that he'd raised that. Interesting method though." Hermione shot a look at Draco, cheeks burning. He shrugged sheepishly. "He doesn't keep things from me, Hermione. Couldn't if he tried. Now. He helped you escape, am I right?" Hermione nodded, taking her cues from Draco's minute gestures. "And you married that Weasley boy to keep yourself off the map. And, of course, when you went to the unplottable mountain with the dragons, you truly did disappear."

"Until Dianne blew the whistle on us." Hermione said, a little bitterly.

"Well, Annabelle…Dianne as you call her, has always been somewhat of a snitch." Narcissa dismissed her. "So you moved to the mountain with the Weasley, and my grandson." Hermione glared at Draco, and Narcissa laughed. "Dear girl, I could have picked that out of your mind without bothering to go to his. He didn't tell me."

"And then Dianne called Voldemort, he came, we evacuated most of the mountain, Draco and I were brought here, we stood up to him, Harry killed him, you arrived." Hermione finished the story, feeling irritable with Narcissa's seeming unending knowledge of her personal life.

"Hmm." The way Narcissa said 'hmm' made Hermione wary, and judging by the look of Draco's face, it made him wary too. "So. You've got my grandson on a mountain with a man who isn'' his father, and yet you refuse to tell both the Weasley and the boy that 'Uncle' Draco is actually 'Daddy' Draco." Narcissa fixed Hermione with a piercing stare. "Do you think that's right?" Draco groaned softly and hung his head.

"Mrs Malfoy." Hermione said tartly. "I will raise my son how I wish. And maybe when he's older I will explain it to him, to both of them. But in the meantime, he is too young, and Charlie doesn't need to know."

"Doesn't he?" Narcissa asked silkily. "Or are you ashamed you slept with my son, Mrs Weasley?" Hermione glared.

"Let's get a few things very straight, Mrs Malfoy. I am not ashamed that I slept with your son, because I was doing nothing wrong. He saved my life, and I don't care what anyone says, including you and Charlie, I will never regret it, I will never say it is anything but what it is. And I will not stand for you to say that I am ashamed that Luke's father is Draco rather than Charlie. Because I am not." Narcissa sat, rather wide-eyed, at Hermione's outburst. "However, Luke has grown up thinking Charlie is his father, and before Voldemort died it was a convenient arrangement. Now that we have a bit more freedom, I may decide it's time to discuss certain things with my son and my husband." Hermione turned to Draco.

"I'm not blocking you out." She said gently, "By any means. But I need to work out how to do this with as little bloodshed and trauma for everyone as possible. You know what Ron was like when I was his friend, imagine him with me as his wife. The Weasleys are all the same, Draco, fiercely protective. I need to work out the best way to tell him that won't immediately make him go out to kill you."

"I can appreciate the logic in that." Draco said. His sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron had broken his jaw for implying that Hermione might not be missing at all. He'd only been trying to help, but Ron had taken it completely the wrong way.

"Thank you." Hermione smiled. "But first we have to find them. God only knows where the dragons took them."

"You might be able to talk to the Matriarch from the Mountain." Draco suggested. "She's bound to be waiting for a sign of some sort." Hermione nodded.

"Right, then that's what we'll do." She said with a smile.

"First you will visit the Weasleys." Narcissa said. She sniffed. "They all turned up on my doorstep afternoon, demanding to see you. I told them you slept, but they will not let it go." Hermione smiled, aware of Mrs Weasley's tenacity, a trait she passed on to all her children.

"Alright, we'll see them first. Then we'll go." She paused. "Preferably before we get mentioned in some interview and end up being hounded by the press."

"At least you have some discretion." Narcissa commented cooly.

"Mother!" Draco hissed. Hermione smiled and said nothing.

&