"You can come in now, Draco," Lucius Malfoy said, in an unusually quiet tone of voice. Slightly unnerved at the change, Draco stepped into the room cautiously. Sitting in bed was his mother. He ran over to hug her, but stopped short at his father's yelp of "Draco, be careful!" Draco stopped, looking confused. Lucius knelt down and looked his five year old son in the eye. "You have to be very careful around your mother for a while, Draco. She had to have an operation to get the baby out, because she was in your mother's stomach the wrong way around. Can you be very gentle with them both, son?"
Draco nodded, proud that his father thought he was big enough to tell him things. He walked slowly over to Narcissa and stood beside the bed, looking at her solemnly. "Did the baby hurt you, mother?" he asked. "Will father be angry with the baby?"
A tiny tear trickled down Narcissa's face. "No, son," she whispered. "Father won't ever be angry again."
Lucius walked over to his wife and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. "Never again, my love. I promise," he murmured, stroking her hair. He straightened up and turned to Draco. "Draco, I apologise for the times I hurt you or made you sad. I will never do that again. To any of you." Draco tensed as his father reached down to him, but then relaxed as he realised what was happening – for the first time in his life, Lucius was hugging him.
Draco hugged his father tightly back, then asked "May I please see the baby?" His father nodded and lifted him up onto the bed beside Narcissa. "Be gentle, son," he reminded him. Draco nodded as he edged closer to his mother to peer at the bundle of blankets in her arms.
Narcissa held the baby out to him, placing her carefully in his arms. "This is your new sister, Draco," she said quietly. "Be careful, don't drop her." She positioned the child in her son's small arms, ensuring that he was holding her correctly.
Draco stared down at the sleeping baby, examining her in minute detail. "She's very small," he finally announced. Lucius and Narcissa exchanged amused glances. Draco continued his scrutiny of his sister for anotherfew moments, then his brow furrowed. He looked up at his parents, asking "What's her name?"
"We haven't picked a name for her yet," Lucius said.
"We thought you might like to," Narcissa added, smiling gently at her son.
Draco beamed delightedly. "Really?" he squeaked. "I get to name her?" Lucius and Narcissa nodded in unison. Draco gazed into the baby's eyes, thinking quietly. After a long pause, he said "Rose. I like the name Rose. And it's a flower, like mother's name." He raised his eyes to his parents once more, in silent questioning.
Narcissa was first to answer. "That's a beautiful name, Draco. Rose Malfoy." She smiled at her son, and then at her husband. "It's perfect."
Lucius nodded his agreement. "Rose Gryffa Malfoy."
"Gryffa?" Draco asked, puzzled.
"It was your grandmother's name," Lucius replied. "It is an old tradition to keep the name in the family."
Draco wrinkled his nose. "I don't like it," he proclaimed. "But I like Rose." He looked back down at his new sister. "Hello Rose. You're a Malfoy now. And father says he will never be angry with you. So I like you. I will never be angry with you either. I'll be your big brother all your life. You won't ever have to worry."
At this, Rose Malfoy opened her eyes and gazed straight up at her big brother. Draco slowly reached out his hand to stroke her face, and gasped in surprise when she stretched out her arm too and caught onto his finger. He looked up at his parents, wonder and awe on his face. "She knows me," he whispered reverently.
Smiling proudly, Lucius wrapped his arm around his wife and hugged her softly. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"You haven't said that in ten years," she whispered back, tears shining in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I've always loved you, Lucius. Even when you didn't love me. All these years, I've kept on loving you, hoping you would come back to me. I've done my duty as a wife to you. Now you love me again, and everything is going to be alright again." She began to cry, and Lucius wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
Draco appeared beside them, Rose still in his arms. Worry showed in his face as he reached up and wiped his mother's tears away. "What's wrong, mother?"
"Nothing's wrong, Draco. I'm just happy." Narcissa bent down and hugged her son and daughter, and Lucius embraced them all at the same time. For the first time in many years, the Malfoys were a family again.
