A/N: Here we are at the end, dear readers. I'd like to thank you all for completing this fic. There is a surprise waiting for you at the end.
Vine
My Mother's parties are known throughout the Wizarding World for their splendour. The elegant decor, ensemble orchestras and sumptuous meals have kept Witch Weekly reporters busy with scrying for longer than I've been alive.
That being said, I'm more impressed by the small affairs, the intimate rosters reserved for the most elite of guests, the ones we actually care for.
On my arrival, I'm greeted by everyone who's anyone in wizarding society these days. Godfather, Hermione and Potter, the Weasel and his brothers, all intermingled with those of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and the Novel and Most Fortuitous House of Granger.
White roses and crisp, pristine tablecloths preside over the light green walls and deep cherry floors. Floating candles light every surface in a soft Amber glow as the smell of caramelized apples and cinnamon tempts me to forgo required pleasantries to gorge myself on sweets.
I control my baser urges to be wrapped in warm arms and salty tears of joy as Hermione runs first to greet me.
"I'm so sorry…" she sobs into Godfather's cloak I wear. "I didn't know or we would have come sooner. There was no reason for you to endure such a…"
"Shh…" I console her, placing a chaste kiss to her barely contained curls.
I don't wish to be reminded of my undue imprisonment, regardless of my penchant for enjoying her righteous outrage. I pat her back to soothe her worries only to be pulled away by a more rough and warm hand over mine.
"She's right," Potter tells me with his ridiculous, virtuous gallantry. "We would have been there straight away."
He stares at me with a hereto unseen conviction, his straight spine and dedicated defiance clearly communicating this past six weeks has forged a man of the Boy Who Lived. I can't make myself care for his motivations. The only pertainent fact is that he did it, he took action to rescue me, to release a dead man into the realm of the living.
I pull him into a brotherly embrace, his cheap muggle cologne gagging me with the tinge of alcohol base as his wild black locks rest against my shoulder.
"I'll owe you forever, Potter," I tell him earnestly, separating from him before I can be stained with his odour for the remainder of the evening.
"You don't owe me anything, Draco. I don't expect you to reward me for saving those left behind."
I shake his strong hand, so much more calloused and rough than the smooth scarring of my own. We have both been worn by the blade, whittled by the jaws of Death herself.
"Alright, Harry. We'll call our debts absolved."
"Speaking of debts…" a lilted purr calls from my left. Blaise towers over me, his feline grace accentuating the perfectly tailored black robes to cast him as a shadow in the night. "I don't usually accept such gratuitous payments for such trivial conquests. I got rid of the carpet and half the galleons are in a vault under the name Granger. It's a pitiful start for your little brood, but it should do to see you standing."
He glides away to refill his champagne before I can respond in my awestruck state. To see his mercy come to fruition is unprecedented, but I've never expected predictability from a fixture so chaotic.
Luna approaches me with a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other.
"Ah," she prompts as if goading a child to eat their vegetables.
I part my lips for the cool vanilla bean ice cream to melt into the crisp apple streusel, taking in heaven in all its glory to melt on my tongue.
Luna giggles as she hands me the bowl and spoon.
"Gross, ferret. Get a room for your twisted foreplay," is called with a rough clap on my back.
"Sturf id, Weadel," is all the retort I can manage around the unrepentant luxury filling my senses.
Luna guides me from the chatter to a table in the parlour, one set aside from the rest of the commotion. It's lit with five white pillar candles, two bouquets of the full white roses placed to either side. Without making a sound, she waves her wand over the arrangement and the candles transform into a slew of mismatched colours - all but one.
There is a deep espresso, a midnight blue sparkling with silver, a glowing burnished copper and frighteningly bright pink, along with one solemn, solid white.
"They couldn't be with us, so I saved them a seat," Luna explains.
It's now I realize the dark sheen of Pansy's hair, the fathomless blue of Theo's eyes, the bright copper of the perished Weasely and the garish pink known as the signature of my late cousin Dory.
I run my finger into the dripping wax of the white pillar, wiping away the tears my father never dared to shed in this life.
"It's beautiful, lovely. Thank you for remembering them," I tell her, cradling her into her rightful place at my side.
Ted's gruff timbre calls softly across the threshold -
"Ay, kids - it's time for the dancing. Andi just brought out the violin. You won't want to miss it!"
xoXOXox
A/N: Well readers, this is the end of one journey, and beginning of the next. I have received so many requests to see our characters flourish that I've decided to give you all a series depicting their healing. I'm going to try my hand at fluff when writing the "sequel". I'm not a fluffer, but I have a brilliant slew of witches cheering me on and teaching me to see the bright side of despair, so here goes nothing!
The next instalment of this fic will include what happens to Draco, Luna and Co. as they settle into their new lives. We will have our predominant LunarDragon ship with a spattering of Hermione, yes HG will apologise to Sev, gotta get Xeno back to rights, and let's see what happens to Cissy and Andi as they actually have to work for a living, yes?
Thank you all so much for entertaining my whimsy and encouraging me every step of the way! Every single review and PM has been one check mark in my endless quest for validation, a drop in the bucket of my sanity to know somewhere out there, someone effing gets it.
Special thanks and endless devotion to Tempest E. Dashon (Dash), PheonixDragon111 (Nyxx), Devon A. Snow (Snow, Duh), SlytherClaw Black (Claw) and my Darling Goddess Moon (Acantha Rayne Oak-Moon) for being my loyal supporters and never questioning my particular brand of madness. I love you all from the bottom of my shiny black heart, and never would have made it without you.
Vine