The glass was almost completely covered in dust. The frame on the picture was worn and antiqued. The picture, however, seemed to be in perfect condition. The brightness and vitality of the captured moment was gleaming just as lovingly as it must have the day it was taken.

Dameon felt a tear slide down his cheek. This was it. It was what he had been searching for the past three years. His father had told him it was here, somewhere, lost in the mess of the mansion. He had never believed him. But there it was.

He let his cold, trembling fingers graze the surface smoothly. It was an odd sensation. It was almost like he could feel the life of the person inside the picture just by touching it.

Did it even make sense that it was a still photograph? It was most unlike the ones he'd come across in his twenty some years as a wizard. This was a Muggle picture. The woman in the stillness of the moment was undeniably beautiful. She looked to have absolutely no faults. Her bright blue eyes gazed out into the world beyond the camera and her gorgeous smile lit up her entire face. It was a calming smile, one that could always cheer you up no matter what.

Dameon quickly wiped the tear off his cheek but did not take his gaze off the picture for a second. It was too amazing. He'd found her.

The footsteps creaking up the stairs distracted him. He tore his stare from the treasure in his hand and looked up to see who was approaching, even though he knew who it was.

Kaitlyn's curious cerulean eyes appeared from behind the door leading to the attic. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She had normal Muggle clothes on, as did he, and her face was covered in more dust than it was freckles. They had been cleaning out the whole of Malfoy Manor on that not-so-important spring day.

"Dameon? Is something wrong?"

He smiled at her and then beckoned her over. "Nothing's wrong, love," he sighed. "I've just found something."

Kaitlyn's eyes widened. "Did you find… did you find…?" She was so excited she couldn't manage the sentence.

"Yes! I did!" he said excitedly, standing up to greet her more properly. He kissed her cheek quickly and then handed the picture over to her.

Her jaw dropped immediately. "Oh… oh Dameon… she's ravishing."

Dameon's eyes welled up with tears again, but he soon blinked them away. "Isn't she though?"

Kaitlyn had to sit down as she stared at the picture Dameon had just been gawking at. "Dameon, your mother was so beautiful."

He sighed, touching the glass again. "I don't understand why it was taken in Muggle form. My father never seemed to be the type that would allow any type of Muggle tradition in the household."

Kaitlyn nodded in understanding, but then sighed heavily as well. "Dameon… you knew your father far better than I did, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that love can truly open your eyes. Perhaps it was your mother's love for your father that caused him to overlook his prejudice. He wouldn't have cared whether or not their wedding pictures were Muggle. All that mattered was it was a picture of the woman he loved."

Dameon was silent for a moment to reflect on what Kaitlyn had just said. Then, he let his eyes wander over her face. She was so smart and so beautiful. She seemed to know so much, and she had so much spirit. He still wondered how he had ever managed to fall in love and stay with a girl like Kaitlyn Marie for so many years.

"Where are Derrick and Sean?" Dameon asked, almost out of the blue.

Kaitlyn looked up and shook her head. "They're downstairs, entertaining themselves with their father's old wand."

Dameon groaned, standing up. "I better go stop them before they take the whole place down."

Kaitlyn stopped him by placing a gentle hand on his arm. "They're not causing any major trouble at the moment. Besides, you deactivated that wand years ago."

He shrugged absently and looked back to Kaitlyn. He took her hand off of his arm, pulled her up closely to him, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She rested her head onto his chest and took in his warmth. It was moments like these that she loved being close to her husband.

"I love you, Dameon. I'm just glad you're as optimistic now as you were three years ago."

Dameon sighed, knowing exactly what his wife was talking about. "It's hard not to, when we have the family that we do."

Kaitlyn chuckled, her eyes still closed. "It's hard though, and I'm sorry. I wish I had gotten to know your father more before he died."

"You had no control over that, Kate," he whispered. "It's not your fault he got so sick. He really did like you. No matter how much he tried not to show it."

She smiled and looked up at Dameon. She held up the picture and gave it to him. "Think of if this way," she whispered. "Your whole life, he's been without the one woman he ever truly loved. Now, he gets the chance to be near her again."

Dameon nodded. "You're right. I just miss him a lot. He really started to change after we got married. It almost felt good to call him my father for once. As horrible as that sounds."

"It's understandable," she said.

Dameon turned the picture over and noticed that there was a piece of it sticking out of the side. Curious, he opened it a bit and pulled on the corner of it. He realized that it wasn't the picture at all, but a note that his mother must have slipped inside of it. It was in a beautiful, loopy handwriting he'd never seen before.

"On this day, May 20, 2000, I have married the only man I've ever loved. That is you, Draco Malfoy. It's never been odd to me to love you as much as I do, because I know it's right. Wasn't our saying let them talk? I love you, from here to eternity, Draco, and I will never love another as much as I love you. – Grace Elizabeth Malfoy."

Kaitlyn looked up to see tears falling down Dameon's face. She wiped them away with her thumb just as quickly as they had fallen. "I'm sorry you never got to know your mother, Dameon."

"I'm not," he said, looking up at Kaitlyn. "It's a shame I never knew her, that's true, but I'll never regret my life. If anything had been different, I might not have met and fallen in love with you, Kaitlyn. Where would I be then?"

She touched his cheeks briefly. "I don't know where I'd even be. I knew the kind of love from my parents that you never did, Dameon, but I'd die if I never knew the kind of love you provided."

Dameon took her hands and kissed her fingertips. "They're together now, somewhere. I'm glad my father was able to know that kind of love, even if it was briefly."

Kaitlyn stared into Dameon's deep blue eyes a couple minutes longer and then leaned forward to press her waiting lips to his. They were interrupted right before they made contact.

"Mummy! Daddy!"

They both looked up to see their twin sons, Derrick and Sean race up the stairs toward them. "Derrick made something happen to your wand, Daddy!" screamed Sean.

Dameon looked at Kaitlyn and rolled his eyes. "Guess we'll have to save this moment for later."

"That's what I said the first time you even mentioned wanting children," Kaitlyn joked. She turned to her two sons, wrapped them in her arms, and carried them downstairs while they squealed with delight.

Dameon laughed at the noises he heard going down the stairs. Everything he had always wanted was now in his reach. He had a family who loved him, a beautiful wife who would do anything for him (and had already proven that), and he had rediscovered his past.

Dameon Malfoy was a happy man.