A/N: Not many chapters to go, and I've got most of them written already so I should be updating fairly regularly.

This chapter's a little shorter than usual, but I got sick of everything being about Scorp, Al and Rose so I figured I'd put this in.

Old Enemies And New Friends

Draco Malfoy,

This is a strange letter for me to be writing, but I hope you will be able to look beyond our pasts and read it all the way through. I have exchanged letters with Astoria a few times and the two of us meet up every so often, but I've yet to actually have a civilised conversation with you, and I think this might be a good time to do so.

I'm worried about Rose. Since she came home at the end of school, having broken up with Scorpius, she hasn't been the same. I haven't seen her very often, because she immerses herself in this Transfiguration course in Wales, but when she does come home she's so quiet and withdrawn, which isn't like her at all. She gave me some rubbish about wanting Scorpius to prove he actually cares about the relationship by apologising first, and now she's decided they weren't meant to be together and that it's probably better like this, but that doesn't stop her from going very white and leaving the room whenever his name comes up in a conversation. It's been eight months now, but she behaves as though they broke up yesterday. I still hear her cry herself to sleep, and she won't even look at another guy.

Has Scorpius been the same, or has he moved on from her the way Rose seems to think he has? Somehow I don't think that's likely. I saw the way he looked at her, and I don't think I've ever seen two people more perfect for one another. I'm just worried they're going to throw away something incredible because of some stupid argument.

I'm sorry for bothering you with all this stuff, but for the sake of our children I'd just like to know whether it really is over between them, or whether there's still a chance.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione Weasley

P.S. Ron doesn't know I'm writing. He may adore Scorpius, but I don't think he's quite ready to be best friends with you just yet.

Hermione (do you mind me calling you that? It seems a little politer than "Granger"),

I see Scorpius very little, so it's hard to judge how he's taking this. He never comes home anymore, so I have to go down to London if I want to see him at all. He's also very caught up in his work and always excited about that, so it's not easy to see whether, beneath that excitement, he's still upset about losing Rose.

He was certainly upset at first, though he pretended to be okay with it. He also had the same excuse about wanting Rose to apologise first, but I didn't challenge him on it. If there's anything I've learnt over the last seven years or so it's not to interfere with Scorpius' life unless he asks me to, and to let him make his own decisions. He is, after all, an adult, and is capable of running his own life.

Perhaps we should let them sort this out on their own. Rose is a wonderful girl, and she and Scorpius certainly seem perfect for one another, but it's up to them to figure that out. They're still young. Just because they've broken up just now doesn't mean they won't ever get back together.

Scorpius is ten times smarter than I was at his age: it's his responsibility to figure this out.

Draco

Draco,

You're right, I suppose. I still see Rose as my little girl and I want to sort out all her problems for her and fix everything that goes wrong, but sooner or later I'm going to have to accept that she's a grown up now and she's got to do it on her own. It's hard, though. Really hard.

I will comfort myself with the knowledge that Ron and I broke up at least five times before we finally got married, and Rose and Scorpius are certainly more sensible than Ron and I. Well, Scorpius is. I'm not so sure about Rose. I think she's inherited a little more of Ron's stubbornness and my temper than we might have liked.

Thank you for listening to me, and reminding me that my daughter is an adult now. I'll admit I was a little worried about writing originally. I never thought I would one day be writing to Draco Malfoy for advice.

I suppose, regardless of how this turns out, that's one thing Rose and Scorpius have achieved. Not so long ago, we'd barely have been able to hold a civilised conversation, and our families avoided one another like the plague. It was like there was a wall built up between us – between the Malfoys and the Weasleys – and regardless of how we said that the war was in the past and we were all going to move on and forgive and forget, that wall seemed just about immovable. If you'd told me seven or eight years ago that Ron would end up going to Quidditch matches with your son I'd have told you that you were mad. And yet he does. Very slowly, one brick at a time, Rose and Scorpius and Al have dismantled that wall. It's truly an incredible feat. It gives me hope that their generation will be better than ours, and that perhaps the world can move on to become place where something like the war we experienced could never happen. With the future in their hands, I think the world could become a place where there is peace and understanding, and prejudice is something that is only taught in History, and not a reality of everyday life.

Isn't that a lovely thought?

Hermione

Hermione,

It is indeed a lovely thought. Our children never cease to surprise me. If someone had told me when Scorpius was born that he would end up going out with Roes Weasley and – what's more – that I would be disappointed when they broke up, I'd have laughed in their face. I'm glad it did happen, though. Very glad.

Scorpius has taught me a lot over the last few years about the power of forgiveness, and it would mean a lot to me if I could have yours. I know I behaved pretty stupidly when we were at school, and I'd like to think I've grown up considerably since then. You have no reason to want to accept my apology, but I really wish you would. I truly am sorry for the things I did and said to you. I've confessed a lot of my past to Scorpius, but I've never told him about the way I used to talk to you, because you were a muggleborn. I feel I can't really support Scorpius in trying to reduce prejudice until I've apologised for treating you like you were inferior. It was wrong. I knew that at the time, and I certainly know it now.

Can you forgive me?
Draco

Draco,

I'm not ashamed to admit your letter made me cry. I don't think I ever expected to receive an apology from you, but it means a lot to me that I have. I know you only ever treated me like I was inferior because your father made you feel like you were inferior – even at eleven I could see that – but it didn't stop me from feeling like I had to prove myself, which I spent my entire time at Hogwarts trying to do. Shall we agree to go forward from this moment as equals, measured neither by our past nor by our blood?

I showed Ron your letter – I hope you don't mind – and we both forgive you. Of course we do. He was a little sceptical at first, but he's come to believe that you mean it. I think I'd have struggled to believe it myself if I hadn't experienced first-hand the way that parenthood can change you. The old Draco Malfoy would never have apologised, but you're not the old Draco Malfoy, are you? Just as I'm not the old Hermione Granger, nor Ron the old Ronald Weasley.

Let's put the past behind us. From now on we are simply three mature adults, with nothing between us, no wall to divide us. Rose and Scorpius have made sure of that.

Hermione