Ch. 24

"Draco, you're early…" his father began but quickly stopped when he saw swelling and dried blood on his son's face. "What happened!" he asked.

"I can't," was all he said as he quickly walked to his room. After a few minutes a crashing sound came from his room and Draco was screaming with rage. Narcissa started to get up but Lucious intervened. "Give him some time," he said gently to his wife. She sat back down and continued to keep her eyes lifted towards the ceiling where Draco's room was.

Her son had been so happy the day before, and she didn't know what would cause his mood to change so suddenly.

Draco hadn't come out of his room by the evening and by the next morning his mother knocked on his door to see how we was doing. When he didn't answer, she let herself in. "Draco," she called out.

He didn't reply but laid on his bed with his eyes open, just staring at the ceiling.

His mother noticed he was awake. "Draco, did you hear me calling for you?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry mother," he said in a depressed tone that didn't sound anything like him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" his mother asked him.

He wasn't sure. The one person he wanted to talk to he had left alone in the middle of the forest. "I don't know," he hadn't processed everything yet. He had guilt for leaving Hermione, but not for being mad at her, and now his chances of marrying her weren't good at all. Could he still be with her knowing what she did? Were they still a couple?

The last thought felt crippling to him and he had the urge to have her near him. He sat up and grabbed for his wand and lit the candle that matched Hermione's.

"Hmmm, smells like honey suckle flowers and…your father…and…your smell as a baby…what is this?" she looked at the candle.

"It's a candle I made for me and Hermi…" he couldn't finish her name.

"And I smell what I love, is that it?" she asked.

"Yeah, I made it with the amortentia potion."

"This is brilliant Draco," she said as she took a seat.

He laid back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling and his mother sat there in silence with him. "Maybe I should write to her," he thought. "Not after what happened, writing just isn't enough." He reasoned he couldn't go see her because she was probably still at her parent's house and when he remembered her parents he thought about his anger at her not telling them about the war and the cycle repeated itself.

His mother sat with him until evening and decided to give him his space. It was the second night that went by without any word from Hermione.

The third day he left his room and joined his parents for dinner. He still wasn't himself, not talking much or engaging with his family. The forth day, Lucious was tired of seeing his son so sad and wrote a letter to an acquaintance.

Dear Pansy,

It's been ages since we saw you. Draco was just saying yesterday how nice it would be to see you again, and he's home now for the summer. It would brighten all our spirits if you could find time to come by and say hello.

Regards,

Lucious Malfoy

As Draco moped away the rest of the day, his father sent the letter out. On the fifth day they received a visitor before dinner.

Lucious answered the door and greeted Pansy Parkinson, Draco's ex-girlfriend. He liked the girl and hoped that her and Draco would eventually resolve their issues, but when Draco moved on he had lost hope. He felt that Draco could use the company and maybe he could help rekindle an old flame between the two of them.

"Lucious, how are you?" she simpered.

"Very well, and you?" he returned.

"Same as ever," she looked around. "Is Draco going to visit?"

"Ah, yes," he said as he steered her to the front room to sit down. "Please have a seat and I'll go get him," he said as he left the room and walked up to get Draco.

Draco was back in his room just sitting in there, thinking about what to do and wondering if all hope was lost if Hermione hadn't made contact soon. Just then his dad entered with an excited look on his face.

"What is it?" Draco asked, not stirring.

"You have a visitor," he said, smiling.

"Hermione!" he quickly stood up and walked towards the door.

"No, no Draco, someone else. Clean up and come down to visit," his father instructed.

Draco sat back down on the bed again, feeling dejected. His father could see that Draco wasn't going to be easily moved and he sat on the bed next to his son.

"An old friend is here Draco, you'll really want to see them," he clapped his son on the back and left the room, piquing his interest.

Draco slowly got up and did nothing to clean up his appearance. He hadn't shaved in several days and had a rugged 5 O'clock shadow. He had worn the same bathrobe for the last two days. He walked out of his room and downstairs to see who ever it was.

When he came into the front room he saw his father and mother talking with Pansy. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not hiding his rudeness.

"That sounded rather rude," she replied to Draco who shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to correct her.

"Sorry Pansy," his father began, "He's just under the weather. You know how he gets," he said as he made excuses for his son's behavior.

Narcissa was looking at Draco and saw that he didn't seem happy to see his ex again.

"So Pansy," Lucious tried to start conversation again as he ignored his son, "What have you been doing lately?"

"Just working at a shop in Diagon Alley to pass the time," she added.

Draco snickered and Pansy and Narcissa looked at him. Lucious pretended he hadn't heard anything.

"And what have you two been up to?" she smiled at Lucious and Narcissa.

Narcissa did a half smile and looked at Lucious. "Just enjoying the quiet life, aren't we dear," he looked back at his wife.

"Yes, it's been very quiet," she added to her husband's comment.

"Narcissa means she's afraid we don't get many visitors, so we're glad to have company when we're lucky enough to get some." He continued to flatter her to offset Draco's lack of interest.

"And Draco," she finally called him out. "What have you been doing with yourself," she asked in a disinterested voice.

He sat up a little straighter and looked over at her. Until that moment he wasn't even paying attention to her. "Why did you come?" He didn't want to see the girl that had left him for his best friend. He spared his parents the details of their break up because he knew they liked her. Now he was dealing with two broken relationships instead of just the one.

"Your father said you wanted to visit," she looked questioningly at Lucious who smiled with a guilty look on his face.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Lucious jumped out of his seat to answer.

When he opened the door Hermione was standing there, hair up, and physically put together, unlike his son. She looked like she was on the top of her game.

Her nostrils flared at seeing Lucious at having first arrived, it was hard enough to come at all but she was determined to be strong.

"Well?" he asked with a cold sneer.

"Is Draco home?" She asked through gritted teeth. Neither of them bothered to withhold their dislike of one another.

Lucious didn't move, he didn't want to let her in.

Hermione withdrew her wand. "I'll take the door down if I need to," she threatened. He knew Draco wouldn't like it if he refused to let her enter and opened the door so she could come inside.

Hermione walked through the door with an outward appearance of confidence and took a deep breath once inside. She waited for Lucious to lead her to Draco, but when he just stood there, she herself walked to where the voices were.

When she entered the frontroom she was irritated to see Pansy.

"Ewww, what's this mud blood doing in here?" Pansy threw out, to which no one laughed. Narcissa and Lucious went rigid, seeing if Draco would lose his temper with her.

Draco hadn't noticed Hermione enter the room until Pansy said this and he looked up. His breath caught in his throat at seeing her.

Hermione laughed in a very exaggerated and fake way and looked over at Draco. "Really? She's supposed to make me jealous Draco?"

"Jealous? It's not like he would ever have feelings for you!" Pansy shrieked.

Hermione raised her eye brows as if to challenge her. "You can leave," she said in a dangerous tone.

"What? Like I would even listen to you," she said, incredulous.

"Ms. Granger, you have no right," Lucious started to say in an offended tone when his son cut him off.

"You heard her, get out of here!" Draco bellowed at Pansy.

"I'm never coming back," she said as she stormed off in a huff.

"And that would be too soon for me," Narcissa added as Pansy gave her a contemptuous look and slammed the door.

Draco walked over to Hermione and threw his arms around her. Hermione lightly hugged him and then pushed him away.

"You left me, completely alone, in the middle of a forest Draco," she started to say when her eyes welled up with tears.

"Hermione," he looked completely disheveled compared to her put together look and attitude. He wrapped his arms around her again, holding her body tight to his and with his other hand he wiped her tears.

"The last week was really difficult. That was my problem, I created it so I don't blame you for it." She took a deep breath.

"I don't regret telling them, and I think I have a right to be upset with you too." He said in a soft tone.

"You do," she agreed. "But I've never lied to you. I told you I had to take their memories away, I couldn't risk…" she stopped and looked at his parents who were still in the room.

"Couldn't risk death eaters finding them, I understand." He finished.

"How could you understand removing every memory about you from your own mother's mind? Everything! Everything they treasured about you, gone, until they didn't even know who you were anymore, until you were a stranger standing there in front of them?" She spoke fiercely as tears still rolled down her face.

Draco's mother looked horrified, she thought she understood just what Hermione might have done to her parents.

Lucious on the other hand looked impressed. "That's how you hid your parents during the war?" he asked.

"Do you mind?!" she snapped at him.

"We did look for them, you know." He replied in his cold voice and Hermione shuddered, Draco felt the shudder go through her entire body. "We never found them, you must have hidden them well."

"See why I did what I did!" Hermione pointed over at Draco's father, her hand shaking.

"I'm not saying I know what it's like to do what you did Hermione, because the truth is that I don't. You have more courage and strength than I've ever had. I chose to join and die rather than see my parents suffer, and that was my burden. What I don't understand is why you didn't tell them once it was all over." His voice sounded hurt.

Narcissa was crying and not trying to disguise her tears anymore. She had never understood why Draco so readily forgave them, but the truth was he accepted his fate just to be with them.

Lucious felt faint after hearing what his son had just said and held onto the wall for support.

"I didn't want them to be hurt, I wanted to protect them from all the horrible things that had happened to me. I didn't want my dad to look at me and…and…say I wasn't his daughter anymore. I didn't want to be too broken for them to love me…" Hermione showed her vulnerability and lost the composure she had in coming to his house.

Draco hugged her tightly. "I don't think that's possible. You'll always be your father's daughter. Plus you have the same mean right hook." He tried to laugh but it sounded hollow.

"That muggle hit you?" his father asked about Hermione's dad, incensed.

"He had every right to," Draco replied and looked back at Hermione.

"And you didn't write to me Draco, and I've been catching my parents up all this time hoping you would write or come by or something, but nothing…"

Draco had felt guilty for this and wondered if her lack of writing to him meant things were over between them. "I was unsure about coming by after what happened, he told me he didn't want to see me around you…I couldn't blame him," Draco thought of the incident with her parents that had played in his mind the last several days.

"But after I explained everything they felt terrible. My mom loves you for being honest with her, more than she loves me right now, and my dad said he could give you a second chance." She looked up at Draco and took the sight of him in better than before. "But to be honest" she said as her voice started to crack, "I'm wondering if you'll even want me back."

"I'm sorry I just left you there." He replied as he looked into her eyes, searching them. "I love you Hermione, I'm not going anywhere." She threw her arms around his neck and he leaned in and kissed her for several moments. "I don't want…to be away…from you again," he said in between kissing her.

After they were finished, Narcissa cleared her throat. "Hermione," she got everyone's attention. "Would you please join us for dinner tonight?" she offered.

Hermione was struck by the kindness in his mother's voice, it was softer than she had ever heard it. "Perhaps from all the crying that she was doing?" Hermione thought.

She looked at Draco and he smiled at her. Hermione turned back to Narcissa smiling as well, "Yes thank you." Hermione wondered what spending time at his house would be like, she never imagined she could pluck up the courage to come, but so far she was doing okay. Draco reached for her hand and pulled her back in to him. "I missed you," she sighed as she laid her head on his chest.

Narcissa and Lucious could both see their son's features light up and a smile appear on his face. Having seen that missing from his life over the past week both of them realized just how important Hermione was to him and that without her his life would never be complete.

Draco and Hermione snuggled on the couch and talked until dinner was ready. Draco's parents had eventually uprooted themselves to be in another room, mostly because the constant displays of affection that Draco showed Hermione were making them uncomfortable, and partly because they wanted to talk privately.

After dinner was ready Narcissa asked Lucious to get the two of them. He walked out in to the front room and began to call for them when he noticed they were both fast asleep. He stood for a moment, surprised, and then just took in the sight of them. The complete change in his son due to this one person was astounding to him, he could see he truly loved her, and he could tell her feelings for him were genuine as well.

Narcissa came in to the front room, wondering what was taking Lucious so long, when she saw him watching over the two of them as they slept. It warmed her heart to see her husband gazing thoughtfully at their son and she wiped a tear from her eye. The noise of her hand touching her face made her husband turn around.

"Narcissa?" he whispered softly, "what's the matter?" he put his arm around his wife. Although no one in the wizarding world but Narcissa and Draco would have known, Lucious was typically extremely affectionate and sweet to his wife.

"I like seeing him happy, and seeing you content." She took a deep breath to stop another tear from spilling over. For so long their lives were anything but normal and she didn't know if they'd ever experience any of these 'normal' moments again.

"He's so good, and I was just thinking, he's nothing like me," Lucious whispered in a low tone.

"Nothing like you? I don't believe that, we weren't always like this Lucious..." She paused, "We've both done terrible things." She whispered.

"We have." He agreed.

"The way she shuddered when you spoke about her family…we've been monsters."

He didn't answer but looked at his wife and looked away again to gaze at their son.

"She's good too Lucious," Narcissa pointed out. "Look how happy she makes him. The fact that she was even willing to come here after what happened to her the last time speaks volumes."

Lucious looked again at his wife and furrowed his brow, thinking of an argument. He didn't like her.

"And there's nothing she won't do to keep those she loves safe, her parents or her friends," she remembered how Hermione didn't bend under torture and wasn't afraid to support Potter when he was fighting the dark lord in secret.

Lucious had to agree with her there. "Her efforts are commendable, I'll give her that." He thought about what she said about taking her parent's memories away and couldn't imagine his son having to make a decision like that.

Lucious steered his wife into the dining room and they ate their dinner alone together before retiring to bed themselves.

In the evening Hermione had a bad dream that she was back in the house, being tortured. She was yelling so loudly she woke up his parents and they came rushing out to see what was happening. Hermione hadn't fully woken up herself when Draco was trying to wake her up. When she did open her eyes she saw the familiar living room floor and Draco's parents and became hysterical. She grasped for her wand and pointed it at them.

"Hermione," Draco jumped up in front of her wand and she jumped, shocked.

"Draco?" It was starting to dawn on her that this was different than last time. Draco wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She didn't know how she knew it, but her instincts told her to trust him.

He touched her hand that held her wand and she relaxed her hand and her wand dropped into his hand. He took her hand in his and lightly touched her jawbone with his other hand. "It's okay Hermione, I'm right here. Nothing is going to happen." He began when she came to and threw her arms around his neck and started crying.