Chapter 44: Sirius and Security

It took them the best part of the rest of the day to get the room to a liveable condition, whereby 3:30pm they had just finished vaccuuming and dusting the room and Hermione was looking in the linen cupboard in the laundry to find some linen for the bed. Draco had taken it upon himself to do a bit of redecorating, the Muggle way, and had procured an unused vase from somewhere around the house and filled it with roses and gladiolas from the back garden.

When Hermione returned to the room, she gasped. Draco's decorating had done wonders, and she hadn't even put the bedspread on yet. How long had she been searching for a bedspread?

He had chosen to put the vase on the mantlepiece of the old fireplace, right in front of an old guilded mirror that Hermione had forgotten until that afternoon had been her grandmother's from her childhood. The bottle green curtains were cleaned of all the dust and were tied back to reveal clean lace curtains underneath. There was the beautiful old rocking chair perched in front of it, devoid of the piles and piles of boxes that were perched on top of it, and it looked like Draco had polished the wood to a shine. The bedside table was cleared of all clutter and dust and the sole occupant of it was a lamp with a leadlight design of daffodils on a blue background. It was a lovely piece that Jane had found at a farmer's market, having been made by a local as a hobby and sold at a bargain price. He was not interested in the money but giving something to others for their enjoyment.

"Wow," was all she could say.

Draco smiled, causing a nice shiver to run up Hermione's spine. She loved his smile so much.

"You like it, hey?"

"It looks wonderful! Did you do all the cleaning in that time? How long was I away for?"

Draco looked at his watch. "I think you were only gone half an hour. But you probably didn't realise just how good it looked because we were in the room the whole time. Upon leaving it, and coming back, it has a much different effect. Although, I did spend most of the time getting the rocking chair to look like it is."

"Yes, for sure. It looks fantastic, really."

"And Mother must surely be here soon, too. I'll help you with the bedspread."

Hermione unfolded the duvet cover and pillowcases – a pattern of light green sailing boats on a white background with darker green wavy lines above and below the boats – and they managed to make the bed just as the doorbell rang.

Hermione flew down the stairs and opened the door. Dumbledore, 'Mad Eye Moody, Tonks and Lupin were all standing outside surrounding a frail but determined Narcissa.

"Hello everyone," she said, taking Narcissa's bag off Tonks as she did so. Tonks took this as a cue to take Mad Eye, Dumbledore and Lupin into the kitchen to further discuss security measures. "Narcissa, please come this way. I am sorry that your room is upstairs but hopefully that will not be a problem."

Narcissa smiled. "No, walking is not the problem, and the stairs will be a good recovery mechanism. I need to strengthen my body."

"Well, I guess the stairs will give you plenty of strength exercises then. So long as that is alright. I'll take you up to your room. Draco is just doing some finishing touches to it."

Narcissa raised one perfect eyebrow. "I'd never thought I would see the day that Draco was doing housework. Well, wonders will never cease to amaze me."

Hermione took Narcissa's arm and lead her up the stairs. It was a slow process as Narcissa had to use a cane to aid in her balance, but it was only because her body had been lying in bed for so long having already been weakened from the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse. They eventually made it up the stairs and Hermione stopped to show her both Draco's room and her own.

"Well," Narcissa announced. "These are wonderful rooms, and I love the big open windows!"

"Um," Hermione mumbled. "Your room isn't as big as those, but there is a lovely big window in it anyway. Draco said that he was going to let you have his room but said you probably wouldn't allow it."

Narcissa smiled. "He does know me better than I know myself, sometimes. I'm not fussed about the size of my room, just so long as it's comfortable and allows me to enjoy the sun and some quiet time."

"Well, if you want some of that, the back porch has a lovely big outdoor sofa that can do that, or, one of mine and now Draco's favourite places is outside on the seat overlooking the fishpond. I think Draco would prefer to show you around the house though, to give you an extended tour of the place."

"That would be lovely. I would love to do that and I'm sure he would too."

By this stage they had reached the bedroom and Draco appeared from inside the door.

"Mother!" he exclaimed, and put his arms gingerly around her body in a gentle hug.

"Oh Draco," Narcissa sighed. "I'm weak, but not broken. You won't break me in a bigger hug than that."

Draco had the grace to look a bit miffed by this comment. "I was only looking out for you, Mother," he said, abashed.

"It's alright; I was telling Hermione that my muscles are just in a weakened state after lying in bed for so long. The stairs will do wonders for my rehabilitation, as will good comfort and the ability to go outside without worrying who will be there. Now, is this my room?"

Draco moved aside so that Narcissa could get a better look.

"Oh, Draco," she exclaimed. "How cosy! And I love the rocking chair." she hobbled towards it and sat down, closing her eyes in reminiscence. "Your grandmother used to have one very similar to this one, a grand thing that she used to rock all of us to sleep when we were so young."

Hermione saw Draco looking curious.

"Grandmother Orion?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," Narcissa replied matter-of-factly. "That was before she ceased being so motherly towards us when we grew out of infancy and went back to being the typical Black matriarch."

Hermione was taken aback by this unashamed viewing into Narcissa's childhood. She was even moreso when she saw Draco's face and saw the same look on his face. Clearly, he was just as bewildered at this display of innocence as she was.

"Mother," he said carefully. "You've never really told me much about your childhood."

"Well, let's just say I couldn't very well go into it that much, Draco, what with who your father is and his relatives, not to mention all of mine. It's the pretense of keeping up appearances. Thank the stars I don't have to worry about that anymore."

"But why did you not say anything this last year?" he asked.

"Draco," she said warningly, "Do you not think that the walls and the elves have ears? I told you what I did about the word that I so despised because I needed to let you know that I did not share the same views. But if you remember, I was careful to tell you in the room that had no paintings in it and with no opportunity for the elves to listen in. Otherwise, if anyone of them had caught wind of my views and my still-close fondness of my sister, she would have been in even more danger, as they would have assumed that I was in contact with her over you."

Draco looked dumbfounded. "Oh, I never really noticed that."

"Well, it doesn't matter so much now, everyone knows."

"Draco," Hermione muttered quietly so that she wasn't interrupting either one of them, "I thought you might like to show your mother around the place."

Draco brightened. "What about that, Mother?" he asked her.

"Well, how about we do that first thing tomorrow? I am rather tired after the journey. Side along Apparition is hardly fun, but when you're quite weak it is even harder. So long as I know where the bathroom is, I will be fine. Besides which, I will not doubt that Robert and Jane will be home soon anyway?"

"True," Hermione responded. "They usually get home around 5ish or if they are running late, 6ish. But we usually try to get dinner started before they come home if they are to be late."

"Well then, that will give us plenty of time to organise security and so forth. I know Dumbledore and Mad Eye wanted to go over procedures for both of our security. Not to mention, the issue of going to Diagon Alley for your school books next week. Oh, I forgot!" Narcissa reached into the bag that Hermione had deposited onto the floor next to it and pulled out a couple of crumpled letters with the Hogwarts seal.

"Your seventh-year letters," she said. "Oh, and in spite of the fact that you were both unable to take your Apparition tests due to this new break, Dumbledore wishes to make it clear to both of you that for now, nothing will be done about it, but to wait until you are back at Hogwarts, where he is able to keep a closer eye on everyone who may be under threat. The instructor will conduct the tests there, under full supervision of a team of Aurors in Hogsmeade."

"Finally!" Hermione exclaimed. She had been able to Apparate during their training in the Great Hall their last year but had been unable to take the test due to the learnings that Draco was staying for summer. Whilst she could have taken the test in April, she did not feel she had time to and had decided with both Ron and Harry that they would take it when Harry turned 17.

Which was already gone. Oh dear.

"I forgot Harry's birthday," she muttered.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Harry's birthday, it's the 31st of July. And Neville's too. His is the 30th." she slapped her forehead. "Oh no! I usually remember to send both of them something! How could I forget this year?"

Draco looked sulky. "But that was only a week ago. And that was before Mother woke up. I think it was only a day or two beforehand but still, there were other important things happening."

"Of course, but oh, Draco, I've never forgotten it, even when things were quite full-on back home."

"If I remember Lily at school," Narcissa interrupted. "She was always quite good to forgive. She was some years younger than me but her name made it into the Slytherin common room due to her friendship with Severus Snape."

"What?" cried Hermione and Draco together, both quite in shock at what was said.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, very much like Draco when he did it. "You didn't know? But you are good friends with Mr Potter, Hermione."

"But he didn't know that! He never really knew his parents and no one has ever mentioned that. They always talked about his father, not Lily."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Narcissa said stiffly. "James was very conceited, even for someone his age. I believe his parents had him when they were older, much, much older than usual. They were around sixty when he was born, plus he was an only child. I daresay he was quite pampered in any respect. Both he and Sirius were troublemakers right from the start. Do not even get me started on Sirius. I know he was my cousin, but he really did get what was coming to him."

Hermione furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"He did exactly what he was known for. Rushing in with that ridiculous Gryffindor stupidity – oh Hermione, I forgot, but it is rather true –" for Hermione had a scowl on her face, much to Draco's amusement, "– and he was forever getting into trouble for this and that. I know he would never have killed those Muggles, but he unashamedly brandished his sword wherever he went. He was different from the rest of the family in that regard. He had no respect for his elders for he too was quite pampered as a child. Regulus, on the other hand, was quite forgotten as he was the younger of the two and not a direct heir. He made up for it in later life but never to the point of being the apple in his mother's eye like Sirius was."

Hermione was quite shocked by this news. She had heard quite a different story from Harry about Sirius, and wondered if he would ever believe this piece of news that she had heard.

"No disrespect to you, Narcissa, but Harry was told by Sirius that it was quite the opposite."

Narcissa laughed, a cold bitter laugh. "He would say that. He got everything he wanted as a child, but still it wasn't enough. He wanted to be a part of a different House at Hogwarts not because of any other reason but because he wanted to be different. He loved Lily Evans like everyone else did in her year level. She was bright, quite witty and very, very kind. She looked after Severus for so long when noone else did. That's how I heard all about her. I heard all about her up until she died, such was his love for her. But please, whatever you do, do not tell him I have told you this. He would rather die than know that anyone else was aware of his feelings for her."

"No, no, I won't," Hermione said. "But what about Sirius?"

"He loved Lily because she was pretty, but it took him a long time to get over his prejudices against her for being a Muggleborn. Unlike James, whose parents' relatives had married off with Muggleborns elsewhere in the linage, Sirius was skeptical about them. In his summers, he and James would sneak into Muggle bars underage and get quite cosy with the locals. They were both very good-looking for their ages and also quite mature-looking and had no trouble enticing the ladies. He saw potential in them, in that personally, there was nothing between the two Human Races, but he still didn't really trust them enough to ever go out with them."

Hermione narrowed her eyes in bewilderment. "How do you know all of this?"

"Regulus would tell us about it. He knew his brother, even if his brother didn't know him. He was the one whom he was to look up to, and had to prove time and again to his parents that he was just as worthy. It helped that Sirius would come home and tell Regulus all about his and James' antics, boasting over how they had 'bewitched' the minds of all the female Muggles in the bars, despite their ages. Regulus felt that even though Sirius never used any derogatory term for Muggles, it was only out of annoyance to his parents for not conforming. He also knew that the pictures on Sirius' wall was to annoy his parents because of their beliefs and because they were admittedly great for a thriving male fantasy, but it was later in life that Sirius finally saw that Muggleborns were worthy of his attention as equals and not as totems. Muggles, on the other hand, were still a different story. Regulus had had enough by that stage of all of his brother's antics and once Sirius left to live with the Potters, he would be everything that Sirius was supposed to be, and more. So he joined the Death Eaters, and ended up getting killed as a result. Their parents grieved his death, as would any parent, but they continued to blame Sirius for deserting his family. So even in death, Regulus was still overshadowed by his older brother."

Hermione was close to tears. "That's awful! And people think Regulus was the bad one. I was never quite close to Sirius because I thought that he was trying to get Harry to be like James, but I never knew it was that bad."

"Well," Narcissa said matter-of-factly, "it was. Regulus was my favourite cousin, even if he was Sirius' younger brother. He always tried so hard to please people; if it weren't for the fact our whole family was in Slytherin, he would have made a great Hufflepuff, such was his loyalty."

Hermione perked up, having remembered something from a time long ago. "Andromeda was Sirius' favourite cousin because of her beliefs."

"She is another who shouldn't have been in our House. I guess she chose the Hat to put her in Slytherin like the rest of us, but she should have been Gryffindor, moreso than Sirius. Andromeda was the only one out of all of our generation to be smarter than the rest of us. She never conformed to the Black way of thinking, and it was only later in life that Sirius preferred her over Bella and I."

At the mention of Voldemort's best soldier, Draco winced. Hermione ignored this, thinking about Narcissa's words.

"What do you mean, 'preferred'?" she asked.

Narcissa smiled wryly. "Sexually, Hermione. It was not uncommon for cousins to marry cousins within old Wizarding families."

Hermione grimaced. "I did know that, I just didn't think it was still common in this age."

Narcissa nodded. "Very much so."

"So he transferred those attractions to Andromeda, then?"

"Not exactly. As a platonic attraction, yes. Certainly not sexual. Andromeda was beautiful, but if I do say so myself, she did not have the graceful stature of the Blacks. Her features were more 'Prewett' than anything."

"You mean, like Molly Weasley?" Hermione asked in wonder.

"Exactly."

Draco scowled. Narcissa ignored him and carried on.

"Andromeda really did influence my way of thinking, especially after my trip to Germany. But by that stage, it was far too late for me and I had to protect myself and my future. I was not as smart as Andromeda, and so was not able to quite think for myself like her. She made a future for herself by being herself, a brilliant witch in Arithmancy, working at Gringott's building up her fortune, with Ted, who had risen up the ranks very quickly as an Auror. But I, after carrying out my Charms apprenticeship (against my mother's wish, mind you), became married and had to settle into married life in a very old and respected Wizarding family."

"Respected?" Draco scoffed.

"It was, Draco. Very well respected. In every sense of the word. They had money to buy people's opinions, even if it wasn't for the good. The older families in the Wizarding world are all very prejudiced, even if the Muggleborns and Half-Bloods who have had to make do with their lot aren't. It's Pure-Blood supremacy and it's ridiculous. I mean, my family blasted people off the tapestry if they didn't agree with their ideologies. One was a squib, poor thing. I don't know how hard that must have been. I, of course, thought this a great joke growing up." Narcissa screwed her face in disgust, quite unbecoming for a woman as beautiful as her. "It's disgusting just what I used to think."

"Mother," Draco said soothingly, in much the same way that he spoke to Hermione when she needed reassurance, "We all have those moments. You couldn't help it. I remember my first run-in with Potter at Madam Malkins before we started at Hogwarts. I was a right little prat and told him how Slytherin was the best House because my family was in it. He looked like I was mad. Come to think of it, I don't think he had a clue what I was talking about."

Hermione laughed. "He eventually told me about that one day. Called you a smart-arse little shit."

As soon as she said the words, Hermione blanched. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed to Narcissa. "I didn't mean to say that."

Narcissa smiled. "Whilst I do not usually tolerate language like that, it is your house and I must respect that you will be prone to relax considerably in one's own home."

"I can assure you, I will try much better next time. My parents don't like swearing, either."

"Then they are much the same as I. I gathered that from our meetings, they seem wonderful people."

"I'm so glad you think that," Hermione said happily. "They think a lot of you."

Narcissa's face lit up. "Really? It is so wonderful to have people know who you are and not care."

She looked less like the formidable woman who Hermione had always considered way above her and more like a child hearing praise for the first time. She wondered if it actually might have been one of the few times that Narcissa had heard praise, or for a long time, anyway.

Despite herself, Hermione found herself asking more questions. "You said that Andromeda was considerably smarter than you, but the Sorting Hat should have put her in Gryffindor. But Draco said ages ago that the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Ravenclaw. So you must have also been very intelligent."

Narcissa smiled as she looked across at Draco, who threw Hermione an embarrassed look. "He said that, did he? Well, it did. It wanted to put all of us in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Bella and I were to go to Ravenclaw and Andromeda to Gryffindor. Of course, she could have done considerably well in Ravenclaw as well, but her heart and her courage outshone the lot. From what I hear, Hermione, she was very much like yourself. But Bella on the other hand, she was a prodigy. She was also insane, as all know far too well." Again, she screwed her face up at the thought of her. Upon seeing Draco's face, she said, "Draco, I know how awful she is, after all, I grew up with her, but you need not be scared of her. She will face me before you and she might have mastered the Dark Arts almost as good as You-Know-Who but she does not understand the sacrifice I will make for you. Very like the sacrifice that Lily Potter made for her son, greeting death unarmed, and willing, for the protection of her son." Draco's eyes widened. "Yes, Draco. A mother's love for her child is beyond any Dark power can comprehend."

Hermione didn't realise that Narcissa knew so much about Harry's ability to live against Voldemort's Killing Curse. She did not question it at this stage as Narcissa had continued talking.

"Bella suffered from a psychological trauma that no doubt Muggles have put a name to but wizards have not. She was made even more insane with her stupid obsession with everything Dark. But my Lord, she was intelligent. This proved to be a deadly combination and she was using it to her full advantage. Hogwarts had not ever seen a witch as powerful as her, not since Rowena Ravenclaw herself. That was saying something, since Hogwarts has seen many a talented witch pass through its gates. But Bella was a force unto herself. I heard stories in the corridors at how little she possessed of any kind of remorse as well as seeing it first-hand. She bullied students into doing what she wanted. She was You-Know-Who's best lieutenant even at the start of the Death Eater days. She recruited everyone she could, and she was very persuasive. She used her beauty to manipulate those around her into doing her bidding. And people willingly did it. She wasn't You-Know-Who's only recruiter, but she was the best. By the time she had left school, she left a legacy that was to be taken up by many in her wake. She went on to find You-Know-Who personally again and take up rank with the destructive path that he had chosen."

"And what a path he chose," Draco muttered. "And he didn't even care about his own followers."

"That's right. Did you know that Bella thought that You-Know-Who was her chosen one?"

Draco cringed. "Please mother, this is almost becoming too much for me. She might be your sister, but she is not my aunt."

Narcissa looked pleadingly at her son. "You need to know, Draco. It is important as any weakness in the chain can be broken, and if there are many, then many links can be attacked and the links will crumble. That is how the Order will win."

"Does Dumbledore know this?" Hermione asked, already sensing the answer.

"Yes, and we have discussed it at length. As has Severus and Dumbledore. He is of course, Dumbledore's best spy and has convinced You-Know-Who that he was his man all along, despite the 14 year hiatus."

"Then we need to get downstairs to discuss further plans."

They slowly made their way down the stairs into the kitchen to where the rest of them were seated around the table.

"Ah, Narcissa," Dumbledore mused. "We have come up with a couple of plans to keep you and Draco safe. Now that you are under the same roof, we cannot hold up the pretense that Voldemort –" here, everyone except Dumbledore, Lupin and Mad Eye winced, "will not try harder to get hold of Draco. At the very least, now it's because you both know too much of their plans and so he will try his best to get to both of you. Your lives are in vast danger now and it is not now a case of trying to recruit you but trying to destroy you so that you spill all of the Order's secrets."

"So what do you have in mind, Albus?" Narcissa asked cautiously.

"Well, the Fidelius Charm is something that will be used, but the question of who would be secret-keeper comes down to you. Who would you trust as your secret-keeper who would never betray the whereabouts of your location? Have a think about that one. As for any other measures, because Jane and Robert live here, they will also have to have some form of protection going to and from work. They are secret keepers as a result of their living here. And Draco, I have heard from Robert that you have taken up what Muggles call 'football', is that correct?"

Draco's tone was even. "Yes, Sir."

"Well, it is no good for you to have to stop playing it, of course, we will enlist security to enable you and Robert to continue going to practices. Robert seems quite fond of carrying this out for you and has no problem continuing to take you. Muggle London will not be quite as filled with dangers as Wizarding London will, however, I will enlist the help of foreign Aurors to prevent Voldemort recognising any Aurors from the Ministry. Only two will need to be recruited I believe, to carry out all duties. One for Jane and one for Robert. Alistor knows of two that will fit perfectly and who have studied English at Muggle university level, enabling them to fit in here. Alistor, if you care to have the honours?"

Mad Eye's wild eye was swinging wildly around the room as Hermione looked at him and waited for what he was about to say. It was something that she could never get used to, but knew that it wouldn't be Mad Eye if he didn't have it.

"Thanks Albus," Mad Eye's gruff voice said. "The two Aurors trained at Oxford University in English, as part of their Auror duties to other nations. They come from Norway, and can fit into the society of Wizarding Britain. They kind of look like you, Malfoy. White hair and all. Anyway, they have kept Dark Wizards out of Norway for years, and are experienced with what Voldemort is planning here. They were very good to lend their services to us for this reason. We will be looking at more Aurors from other nations to help with this, so as our own are not so recognisable all the time."

"So, are you going to tell us the names, Alistor?" Dumbledore inquired politely.

"Yeah, well I was gettin' to that. Erikssen and Johanssen. Both end in 'sen' anyway. Sven Erikssen and Maria Johanssen. They will be working with Tonks initially, to get a feel for the area, albeit with Tonks in a different guise as to who she is now. That way they can familiarise themselves with everything that is going on here and learn as much as they can as well as helping out."

"So, is that all there will be?" Draco asked, slightly forlorn.

"Is that all there is, boy? That's plenty of help if y'ask me. Highly trained Aurors carrying out work like this is well and truly all you'll need. You're forgettin' the Fidelius Charm. If your mother chooses someone whom she trusts implicitly it'll be more protection that anyone can provide for you. So Mrs. Malfoy, do you know of anyone who might be able to help out?"

Narcissa had kept relatively quiet through all of this. However, her face was filled with resolve.

"I had hoped never to bring him to my aid if I could help it," she said quietly.

Hermione didn't know who she was talking about. Who did Narcissa know that would play Secret-Keeper?

Narcissa continued. "We vowed that we would never forget the other in times of crisis. Yes, I know exactly who you can use. But I want precautions taken that he does not leave his own country in carrying the task out. I know that can be done; I have seen it happen before. If anything happened to him, I would never forgive myself. He is the reason why you are using my House for Order business, and he is the reason for my turn-about-face towards the Order in the first place. Can you guarantee that?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered. "I will ensure that the safest Auror in Germany will guard him until he no longer needs to."

How did Dumbledore know who she was talking about?

Apparently, Draco was thinking the very same thing, judging by his face.

"Then it is settled. We will arrange everything and I will pass on your letter that you gave me before, Narcissa. By tomorrow evening, everything will be in its place and you shall be as safe as you'll ever be. The foreign Aurors will be here later tonight, to introduce themselves and keep watch."

"But where are they staying?" Hermione asked. "There's no room here."

"They will be staying in Number 15, Greensborough Street. It has been empty for some time and the Order procured it some time ago when we thought that we would need it for the Order Headquarters. Whenever your parents will leave the house, the Aurors will be notified the minute they start the car up. It works like the Trace, if you will. Then, they'll Apparate to the car and escort them out of there."

Hermione looked on in wonder. It was clear that every precaution had been taken and it was now only a case of putting it altogether. She turned to face her mother and father. The look on her mother's face seemed to reflect her thoughts. Her father only sat still listening, as she knew that he preferred to hear everything before making any thoughts known.

Narcissa spoke up. "Please make it clear that I consider myself extremely humbled if he carries out this task," she said quietly, almost in a whisper.

Hermione turned to face her. Narcissa's face was paler than usual and her eyes were very glassy. She looked away again to respect Narcissa's privacy.

Draco had no such qualms about this. He walked purposefully to his mother's side and wrapped his arms around her. "I look forward to getting to know him, Mother. He sounds wonderful for you."

Narcissa laughed in a sob. "Don't think that anything is happening, Draco. He is a happily married man."

Moody coughed awkwardly. "We'd best be going then, if you don't have any other questions?"

Draco shook his head as Hermione said, "I don't think so. I'm sure we'll hear of anything new if we need to. So do we carry on from now on as normal?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Do as you would normally do and pretend that nothing is out of the ordinary. We will have established everything by tonight. For now, we leave Tonks looking after the place from the outside in case anything happens in the meantime and to meet the new Aurors tonight. You will not know she is there."

Hermione sighed contentedly. "That's good to know."

"Well," Dumbledore continued. "If that's all, we had best be off, as Alistor said before. It was a pleasure being entertained by you again, Jane, I do hope we see each other again." He lent forward and kissed her on the cheek in a gentle embrace before turning to Robert and holding out his hand. "Robert, a pleasure as always."

Her father grasped Dumbledore's mottled grey hand with his own strong one. "Same to you, Albus."

The two Order members exited the house, leaving the Granger's and Narcissa and Draco in the hallway.

"Well," Robert announced. "I think we'd be best to leave you and Draco, Narcissa."

Narcissa turned to Draco and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I think my boy would like to show me his second home."

Hermione caught her mother's eye in a knowing glance to say to leave the two Malfoys in peace to get reacquainted in their home and motioned for her to come and help her with the dinner arrangements.

Draco came over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I won't be long, Hermione," and kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Take your time, you deserve it," she whispered back, and went to follow her mother into the kitchen.