A/N: Holy crap, being a Maid of Honor is hard! To all of those of you who have been Maids/Matrons of Honor, I salute you and to those of you who are going to be one... Good luck! You're going to need it. Anyway, thank you guys for being so patient and understanding. I'm finally home after a very long day and a very stressful weekend so I am more than ready to get some sleep but I thought I'd post this for you guys first since you're all so amazing. This is the beginning of the end chapters so it's going to be pretty much fluff from here on out. Just a fair warning...

Tallyho!

Chapter 26: Six Months Later

Draco and Narcissa stood at the apparition point in the Ministry that would take them to Azkaban to see Lucius for the last time. Lucius had been tried shortly after he had been taken into custody. During the trial, Harry had offered to speak on Lucius' behalf but Draco and Narcissa had declined. They knew that the elder Malfoy's chances of being released were very slim and they decided to just let what will happen, happen even though it was killing Narcissa inside. Draco had felt nothing but numbness from the time leading up to the trial and afterwards as well. He even felt numb when Lucius' sentence had been announced: the Dementor's Kiss. Narcissa's heart broke into a thousand pieces but she refused to let any tears fall until this day. She would not mourn her husband until his last day because she knew as she soon as she let the tears fall, she wouldn't stop for a while.

Today was the day that Lucius' sentence would be carried out. The Malfoys entered the prison and were seated on one side of the glass with Lucius already seated on the other side wearing the traditional prison garb. He had lost some weight, had bags under his eyes, and his hair was very disheveled. Narcissa bit her lip to keep from crying as she looked at her husband for the last time. Lucius looked sad as he stared at the two people in the world who meant the most to them; and he had let them both down.

Narcissa put her hand on the glass and Lucius matched his hand with hers, cursing the glass that stood between them. "I'll always love you, you know," she said.

"I love you too." Lucius replied. He looked to his son. "Draco."

The younger Malfoy met his father's gaze. Lucius seemed to be struggling to put words together. "H-how are you?" was what he finally said.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine," he said.

Lucius nodded. "You still with the mu-" he was cut short by Narcissa's warning glare, "muggle-born?" Draco nodded. His father's jaw tightened. "Right."

The three remained silent for a few moments. Suddenly a guard came into the room. "You have fifteen minutes left." Narcissa nodded in thanks and looked back to her son and husband who weren't looking at each other. She sighed. "Look, I know you two aren't on the best of terms but can't you put aside your differences for a few minutes? I think it'd be good for both of you to reconcile."

Draco looked at his mother and suddenly had a flashback of something Hermione had said to him the day before. I know he hurt you, Draco, but you need to forgive him. Holding on to that anger and hurt and betrayal will continue to eat you alive for the rest of your life until it kills you. You are not your father; you know that, I know that, and the rest of the world knows that. But the only way you can ever truly move on from the things he's done is to forgive him. For him and for yourself. I know that you love your father Draco, no matter how much you deny it, and I know that saying goodbye will be hard for you. But if you forgive him, you'll feel better. And I know that you'll be grateful for doing so later in your life. Remember: to err is human; to forgive, divine.

Draco took a deep breath and looked at his father. He knew she was right. He had held so much anger in his heart for his father that forgiveness seemed impossible but he had seen what anger does to people firsthand when working with the Death Eaters and he didn't want to become that. He felt happy now and wanted to be able to feel that for the rest of his life. He ran a shaking hand through his hair as his stomach knotted in anticipation for what he was about to say.

"I forgive you," he said. Narcissa's breath hitched in her throat as Lucius' eyes widened. Draco bit his lip before continuing. "You were an absolute bastard during my childhood, always demanding perfection and reprimanding me when I couldn't do it. And then you threw me into the middle of a war that I didn't want to fight because you decided to work for one of the biggest psychos in the history of the wizarding world. You put mum and me at risk for your master and tortured, hurt, and killed innocent people because it was your job and almost gave up my soul because the Dark Lord commanded it. And that's only half of the shit that you pulled." He took a deep breath before continuing. "But we also had some good memories. You taught me how to fly, how to play Quidditch, and you used to tell the best stories. These past six months have allowed me to reevaluate my opinion of you now that the war is over. I have to admit, it's not high. But I've allowed myself to see that you did what you did because you care, even if you did get carried away. And you're still my dad; you'll always have a place in my heart. So I forgive you; for both of us."

Narcissa sniffed and smiled at her son. Lucius stared at Draco with something new in his eyes: admiration. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "I know I didn't tell you this enough, Draco, but I'm... incredibly proud of you. You've become a remarkable young man. And… I'm glad you didn't grow up to be me. You've figured out who you are and what you want to be and I hope that makes you happy." Lucius paused. "I'm very proud of you, Draco. Remember that."

Just then, the guard came in to let them know that their time was up. Lucius looked back to his wife and son for the last time. "I love you. Both of you," was the last thing he said before he was taken away to receive his sentence. Draco stared at the empty room across from him for one last moment. "Love you too, Dad." he said quietly before standing up and leaving Azkaban with his mother who was fighting the tears with every step.

Draco returned home after Narcissa had declined his offer to go back with her to the manor. She intended to visit Andromeda whom she had become very close to in the recent months. He nodded and kissed his mother goodbye before returning to the apartment Hermione had rented during the war. Not wanting to return to the manor just yet, Draco had moved in and kept up with the rent while Hermione retrieved her parents from Australia in the first few months after the war. Returning their memories to them was much easier than expected and they readjusted to their old lives very quickly. Hermione had filled them in on the events that had occurred during their absence and told them about her relationship with Draco. At first they were very confused but as Hermione explained everything that had happened between them, they seemed to understand a bit better. They had met him in Diagon Alley back in September before the school year started again and had taken an immediate liking to him. Draco had grown to like them very quickly as well. Hermione was still baffled at how quickly her boyfriend and her dad hit it off but was pleased that her parents approved of him.

Draco walked into the living room to find Hermione sitting on the couch reading a book. She looked up as she heard him enter the room and closed the book. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied quietly, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"How'd it go?"

He was quiet for a moment as he thought about everything that had happened in the last hour. He had just said goodbye to his father for the last time. He would never see him again. And he had forgiven him for everything he had ever done. Draco hadn't noticed that the numbness was gone until he felt the wall that he had built whenever he thought about his father collapse. He put his head into his hands and began to sob. He cried for his mother and her broken heart, he cried for the released anger that he had held in for so long, and he cried for his father. He cried for his father's misguidedness, his fate, and he cried as the man who raised him was taken away from him forever. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and just held him as he cried.

He would cry all night as he released all his pent up emotions from over the years.

It would be another month before Draco finally felt at peace with the loss of his father.

Draco had been excused from school when Lucius' sentence drew closer so he would be able to say goodbye. Hermione had surprised him a couple days later by showing up at the apartment to be his support system. He knew Hermione wouldn't miss school for just anything but the fact that she had asked McGonagall to be excused from school to support her boyfriend as he said goodbye to his father made him appreciate her more than ever. Having someone there when he got home that night made it so much easier to get up the next morning than it would've been had he been alone.

McGonagall gave them a two week break for Draco to recover from Lucius' sentence. As their time ran out, they returned to Hogwarts to finish the term. Draco begrudgingly continued his studies at the request of his mother because she knew it would be good for him. It worked. He buried himself in his work so much that he hardly had time to think about Lucius. It wasn't until he and Narcissa spent their very first Christmas with the Weasleys at the Burrow that Draco felt the final chains around his heart break. He wasn't sure what caused it but all he knew was suddenly a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he could breathe easier. He squeezed Hermione and Narcissa's hands and as they looked into his eyes, both women could see that Draco would be okay.

Hermione, Ginny, and Draco returned to Hogwarts after the holidays to finish their final year. Harry and Ron had decided not to return to Hogwarts and instead got jobs at the Ministry in the Auror department. Now that Kingsley was Minister, many things were being run differently. Kingsley had made sure that any corrupt workers in the Ministry were fired and punished properly, he had completely re-staffed many of the departments, and began to run the Ministry properly as it always should have been. Kingsley promised Hermione and Draco positions at the Ministry should they choose to work there after Hogwarts, as Ginny had been recruited by the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team, but both weren't sure of what they wanted to do just yet.

After graduation, Hermione and Draco decided to go on that trip they had agreed to go on during the war. Narcissa and the Grangers were surprisingly okay with the idea of their children traveling together, which surprised Hermione but after going through an entire war together, their parents figured they could handle traveling together for a couple of weeks. They decided on Paris and spent two blissful weeks in paradise. They toured many of the museums, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and ate so much French food Draco thought he was going to gag the next time he saw a snail. They returned refreshed, happy, and more in love than ever before.

After they got back, Hermione accepted Kingsley's offer of a job at the Ministry taking a position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation while Draco declined the offer and picked up a position as a Healer at St. Mungo's in the Spell Damage ward. He hadn't wanted a job where he'd be stuck in a cubicle or office all day; he'd rather be working in a place where he can help people and move around. Although Hermione hadn't originally wanted to take a up a job at the Ministry, she realized that things were being run much better there and decided that working on foreign affairs in the Ministry would be good for bringing peace amongst wizards all around the world. Both of them very quickly grew to love their careers.

In her free time, Hermione began to help Narcissa completely redecorate the Manor. The blonde had been complaining about how dark and dreary the Manor was and decided to clean it up a bit. Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Pansy had jumped at the opportunity to help and immediately started tossing ideas around with Narcissa to see what they could change to make the house more open. The first thing they had done was take down all the dark curtains that blocked the windows and giving away all the dark artifacts to the Ministry (Narcissa was extremely grateful to get those out of the house). Next, was to paint. Many of the walls had been painted dark colors which made the house feel more closed off and dark; Hermione and Ginny had gone shopping in some muggle paint stores to find colors to repaint the house. They had returned with a variety of paint colors ranging from a light beige to a soft gray. Narcissa and Hermione had decided that neutral colors would be good for the house but they needed to be relatively warm colors and absolutely no white. They decided to paint a majority of the house with the beige color and paint the bedrooms with the gray and painting the bathrooms with a light ivory color.

After the house had been painted, they began to decorate. They brought in all new furniture that included some coffee brown leather couches and some gray-blue curtains with throw pillows to match. There was also a large sand colored rug in the living room that Draco had bought for Narcissa from his and Hermione's trip to France. Narcissa had kept the wooden tables that already resided in the house and a few other things for decorative purposes and then they were done.

The house had completely transformed. Long gone was the dark and dreary Malfoy Manor; now it was much warmer and welcoming. It felt like a completely new house. The windows allowed much more natural light to come into the house allowing it to be more open and airy. The house felt more comfortable to be in and as if it were begging for some happiness to reside inside it. The five women were very proud of their handy work and laughed when they saw that Draco was speechless when he saw the finished product. He had never seen the manor in this state before but he loved it. It finally felt like a home. He looked to Hermione and smiled as he realized for the first time in a long time, he couldn't wait for Malfoy Manor to be his. Or maybe even theirs.

P.S. I realize that there's not a lot of talking in this chapter. It's a filler chapter but it needed to be put in here to move the rest of the story forward a little bit. I hope you enjoyed it!

Stay Golden!