a/n1: Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to celebrate the new update. University was a dick for the last three weeks and I barely had time to sleep, much less write...but here we are! This chapter is an important step in the right direction. Many thanks to my amazing beta reynardinepttras always.
Enjoy! :)

14th June 1998, 14:36

After over four hours with her parents, Hermione was suitably certain that they were starting to realise what she had done and that they weren't happy about it. At least they'd restricted themselves to strange looks and quiet whispers so far.

But Hermione was bloody exhausted from keeping up her smile. To never let herself falter, to never let herself flinch. The first time her parents had called for her from upstairs Hermione had let the vase she had been holding drop, to pull her wand out and go into a fighting stance. Luckily she had caught the vase before it could shatter on the floor.

Her parents hadn't seemed to notice, but Hermione didn't fully believe that. Maybe they wanted to give her space, maybe they weren't so sure about dealing with her anymore. Who would want a child that had invaded your mind? A child that they could only remember in bits and pieces. A child that was broken from a war they hadn't noticed. A child that flinched at loud noises and when an ambulance drove past.

Hermione grabbed her purse with shaking hands and wandlessly summoned the Calming Draught she always kept in there. Along with all her clothes, enough food for a week, the tent, her books… Hermione didn't want to think about that. Didn't want to think about what it said, that she was always ready to flee but that she didn't carry Harry's and Ron's things with her anymore.

The Draught worked its magic and Hermione's breathing returned to normal. She dropped the empty vial back into her purse and returned to magically sort the books into the shelves in her parents' study.

"How many of those do you take per day?" her father asked suddenly. Hermione hadn't noticed him leaning against the door jamb. She searched his face for any negative emotion, but she found only concern.

"One, if at all," Hermione answered quietly, turning to look at the books again. "Before Friday I hadn't taken one in weeks."

Her father sighed deeply. "Your mother and I were talking. We want to return to the UK. To be honest, we never really grew roots in Australia, every weekend we'd go on some kind of trip, somewhere. We understand the danger has passed, so we'd like to move back home."

Hermione smiled a little, it was bigger an effort than it should be with the artificial warmth of the Calming Draught in her veins. "I figured as much, I'd love to have you back here. I missed you, sorely." Hermione didn't miss the wince. "Maybe we could do regular dinners? To patch things up. You could meet my new friends."

Her mother appeared next to her father in the doorframe. "That sounds like a good plan, Minnie. But for now I think we should get going, your father and I have to drive back into the city and we have dinner plans."

Hermione smiled, a bit easier this time. "That sounds good, who are you meeting?"

"Lucas and Suzanne," Helen said with a relaxed smile. "We reached out to them shortly before we came and of course they wanted to see us, learn why we dropped off the map for nearly a year."

This time it was Hermione who winced. That was her fault. She cut off her parents from their friends…

"We'll use our remaining time here to organise our move back. But maybe we could have dinner before we return?" Richard asked and Hermione took it for the olive branch it was.

"That would be amazing," she said truthfully. "How do we get in contact?"

They decided to meet for breakfast on Wednesday and decide then. Hermione's parents left soon after and she collapsed on the armchair in her old room, promising herself a few minutes of rest.

But before Hermione could drift off she felt cold tiles under her side and the burning pain from the Cruciatus in her middle.

She jumped up before her eyes were fully open. No, no, no, I can't…this can't happen, not again, I don't know, it's fake, I swear! No!

Hermione found herself staring into her own eyes in the faint reflection on her window, her breath was going heavy and she was curled in on herself. When she slowly removed her hands from where they were clutching at her side she saw that they were trembling. She closed them into fists until her nails were biting into the palms of her hand. But she relaxed them just as fast, when she felt the pain.

She was still staring at her reflection, more to focus on something than to look at herself. But she couldn't help but notice the look in her eyes. Hermione had no words to describe it, and the closest approximation she came up with was 'haunted'.

Hermione sat back down on the armchair and drew her legs to her chest, clutching them close. What had just happened? She hadn't even slept yet, she had been somewhat aware that she was sitting, and yet…and yet her mind had convinced her that she was back at Malfoy Manor, on the cold tile floor, Cruciatus coursing through her.

Shaking her head violently Hermione extracted herself from the memory. Awake, she barely even remembered what it had felt like. But apparently, some part of her brain had kept the memory and chose this moment to replay it.

Sighing Hermione stood up and collected her wand that must have fallen from her hand at some point. She went downstairs and checked on the wards she had put on the windows and doors. Everything seemed in order and Hermione nodded to herself before apparating back to Grimmauld Place to change before she went to Andromeda. Her current outfit of old jeans and a long-sleeved shirt might have been fine for her parents, but not for tea with a wizarding family.

16:08

Hermione finally settled on a simple red skirt she hadn't worn in a year and a light, cream blouse. She wasn't one for dressing up, but after that thing in her parents' house she needed everything that could cheer her up, including looking pretty. It was rather irrational and on any other day Hermione probably would have scolded herself for thinking that way. But not today. Today she didn't care.

Harry stepped out of the floo just when she was about to leave through it. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to run you over!"

Hermione laughed, funny how easy that was suddenly. "It's fine, you couldn't have known. How was Neville?"

"Good, but I'll tell you more at the Weasleys', you look like you're off to Andromeda's," Harry smiled at her in return and Hermione was suddenly very glad that she had chosen to live with her two best friends.

"Yes, I think they'll be delighted to hear that the Wizengamot finally came through," Hermione replied easily. She hesitated a moment and then threw caution in the wind and her arms around Harry's neck. He stiffened for a few seconds, but then he hugged her back just as fiercely.

"What was that for?" Harry asked, straightening his glasses when she let go. "Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"I'm just glad we decided to move in together," Hermione said as lightly as she could.

Harry laughed. "I'm glad too."

Hermione checked the time. "Oh, I must be going, see you later Harry!" she called and vanished into the floo.

16:18

Draco very nearly gaped when Hermione stepped out of the floo. Only his rigid self-discipline, learned over the last year, kept him from acting like a fool.

Hermione looked positively vibrant. Her hair open for the first time in who knows how long, the cream blouse complimenting her darker complexion perfectly and the Gryffindor red skirt hugging her hips and flaring out at her knees. The outfit was modest and yet Draco was struck with the desire to touch, feel and maybe…

No. He hadn't done anything yet to deserve something like that. Draco shook himself out of his trance and looked away.

"…my parents insisted," Hermione was just saying to his mother and Draco had to focus on reciting all healing spells he knew (which were quite a few) to keep himself from staring too openly.

"Draco, can you take Teddy while I get the scones out?" Andromeda asked, very obviously taking pity on him.

"Yes, of course," Draco answered immediately, glad to have something to do with his hands and to focus on. Teddy was rather fussy today since he hadn't slept well.

While Draco tried to calm down the unhappy baby, Hermione and Narcissa finished talking and the latter left for the kitchen.

"Hey, Teddy," Hermione came over and smiled at the little boy in Draco's arms. "You don't seem too happy today. Was Draco mean to you?"

Draco scoffed. "I'll have you know that I was perfectly well-mannered, unlike this one."

"What happened?" Hermione asked, looking up to him with sparkling eyes and a small smile on her lips.

"He normally sleeps while Andy is doing her morning gardening, but for some reason he wouldn't fall asleep today," Draco explained, changing the position of his arms yet again so Teddy wouldn't fall. "Andy tried everything, and even my mother was at a loss."

"Although my knowledge about childcare is very limited," Narcissa said as she returned to the sitting room, a tea service floating in front of her. "At least I'm not the one who tried to bribe my son into silence," she added with a pointed look at his father who just raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Remind me, princess, who insisted on sending him sweets to school every week for the first two years?" Lucius asked acerbically, but Draco saw the smile lurking in the creases around his eyes.

Narcissa only laughed. "Might I remind you, my dear husband, that you bought his whole team the newest and fastest brooms?"

"It's still so strange to see them like this," Hermione whispered next to him and Draco looked over to see her watch the back and forth closely.

"I'm glad that they're bickering again," Andromeda said, stepping up to Draco to take Teddy again, he was still squirming like mad. "When we were still in school they were constantly trying to one up each other, be it in class or on the Quidditch pitch."

"Narcissa played?" Hermione asked, shocked.

Draco snorted. "As if her parents would have allowed that."

Andromeda laughed too. "No, Mother would have had an aneurysm had she known. Cissa usually borrowed one of the Rosier twins' broom and challenged Lucius."

"So they married out of love?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly.

Draco winced and Andromeda sighed heavily. "To a point, if their parents hadn't approved…"

"Oh," Hermione's face fell a bit. "Well I'm glad they did."

"We all are, the pining would have been awful," Andromeda said the last bit a bit louder and Narcissa looked up at them.

"I wouldn't pine," she said with a scowl.

Lucius smirked. "Oh, I think you would have, quite terribly so."

Draco had the sudden desire to bury his head in his hands. "Do you have to be this way?"

His father raised an eyebrow at him and settled down on the couch. "Andromeda, I'll take Edward while we eat."

Andromeda gave Lucius the squirming baby and nearly snorted when he calmed down immediately, touching Lucius' hair with big eyes. "Careful, he might pull."

Draco sat down on the couch on the other side of the table. Hermione took the seat next to him and smiled at the sight of Lucius Malfoy cooing at a currently blue haired baby.

"So, did you read the Prophet today?" Hermione asked when they started eating.

Andromeda shook her head. "I'm afraid we were all rather busy this morning. Why? What's in it?"

Hermione grinned like the cat that got the canary. "They decided to investigate Rita Skeeter and she isn't allowed to publish anything until the investigation is over."

"Oh, well if that isn't good news!" Narcissa said with a smile. "I hope they send her to Azkaban."

Draco frowned. "I don't think the public would take it very well. Too many Death Eaters who again didn't have to go to Azkaban, and then Skeeter is sent there? They'll not be happy about that."

"But even if she isn't sent to prison, the trial will discredit her," Hermione pointed out. "She'll probably have to work really for anyone to believe her again."

His mother and Hermione started discussing possible charges, with his father mentioning comparable cases and how they were handled. But Draco couldn't join the debate. He was too nervous.

Finally Hermione drank the last sip of her tea and before she could refill the cup Draco spoke up. "Hermione, could I talk to you for a moment?"

She looked up, startled. "Yes, of course."

"Maybe outside?" Draco asked, uncomfortably aware of his parents eyes on him.

Hermione nodded and he stood up to go into the back garden to his favourite tree by the pond. After a moment's contemplation he conjured a blanket on the ground. He sat down and motioned for Hermione to join him.

"Draco, what's up?" she asked quietly when he didn't start talking.

Draco heaved a deep sigh. "I want to apologise. I need to. No, please. I need to get this out." Draco sent Hermione a small smile when she audibly closed her mouth. "Thank you. I...I was an utter arsehole to you for years. I hurt you, I mocked you, I didn't help you."

He shook his head to try and forget her screams for the moment. "I thought I was superior and had the right to do all that. But you rescued me. Twice. First when you grabbed me in the Vanishing Room and then when you kept me from getting executed by invoking the life debt. You probably saved me again when you decided to take over my defence. You saved me, even though I was, am, not deserving and I never once apologised."

"Draco-" Hermione whispered, but he shook his head again.

"Not done yet. I'm sorry for my behaviour over the years, there is no excuse. I'm sorry that I didn't do anything when Aunt Bella tortured you. I'm sorry that I took so fucking long to understand, to learn that I was wrong. I'm sorry that I took so long just to say sorry."

Hermione looked at him with big eyes, her hands clasped before her mouth. "Draco...I-, I don't know..." she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

Draco felt his own eyes starting to burn and he sniffed, trying and failing to keep his composure. "It's okay if you can't forgive me for all that stuff. But I needed to say it, you know?"

Hermione slowly and carefully reached her hand out to him, putting it on his shoulder and gently pulling him to her. "I forgive you, Draco. How couldn't I? You showed me how much you changed in the last few weeks." Her tears were freely falling from her eyes now.

"Why?" Draco whispered, hating how broken his voice sounded, a stark contrast to the sunny, warm Sunday afternoon.

"Because you worked for it," Hermione answered just as quietly, squeezing his shoulder. "Andromeda wouldn't have introduced you to Thomas if she didn't think that you got over the worst of your prejudice. You suggested going to Muggle London for ice cream as if it were the most normal thing to do!" Hermione smiled at him through her tears. "I won't pretend I didn't notice that you hadn't apologised before. But I understood. I knew you had to work through a lot of stuff first. I know that your upbringing and the upbringing of your friends influenced a lot of your actions. But I think you're starting to see past that, and that's the important part."

Draco stifled a sob but couldn't hold back the renewed tears. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much. You have no idea what this means to me."

She forgave him! After everything he did! After all those years of torment and barely concealed distaste she forgave him. Draco buried his head in his arms and startled only slightly when an arm snaked around his waist and Hermione scooted over to lean against him. She used her other hand to gently pet his hair while he sobbed like a little boy.

"Shh, that's it, let it all out," Hermione whispered right next to his ear, her voice soft and oh so gentle.

Draco lost track of the time, but when he looked up he felt his eyes burning and the dried tear tracks on his cheeks cracking. "I'm so sorry, Hermione."

"I know, and I forgive you," she said with a small smile. "I don't care who else does, I think you deserve forgiveness. You're making an effort to overcome and atone for your past, aren't you?"

Draco nodded wordlessly, looking over at her to meet her earnest look. "I am, I really am."

"Good, keep on doing that and others will forgive you in time," Hermione said, sounding a lot more certain than Draco felt. "Can I hug you?" She bit her lower lip, as if she wanted to take it back.

But before she could Draco nodded. He opened his arms and Hermione turned to envelope him in a warm hug.

"Thank you for your apology, it means a lot to me too," she murmured.

Draco held her close, unable to comprehend his luck and leaned his forehead against the crown of her head. They stayed like that for a while and Draco was rather startled when Hermione moved to sit up.

"I have to go," she said quietly with a small smile. "Theo's invited to the Weasley dinner and Ron asked me to come mediate."

"Is he worried that Theo will try and hex his family?" Draco asked, a sneer creeping into his voice.

"No," Hermione laughed. "He's worried his parents will treat Theo badly."

"Like he didn't do it for years," Draco groused, but it was lacking real heat.

"Which is exactly why he knows how his parents might react to a Death Eater," Hermione said, looking down on Draco's left arm. "I don't know why Ron cares, but I think he mostly wants to protect George from getting hurt."

"That sounds more like Weasley," Draco admitted. "But Theo is more likely to leave the moment he notices that he isn't welcome."

"But that would hurt George, would it not?" Hermione asked, getting up. "He'd hate for Theo to feel uncomfortable."

Draco had to concede her point and followed her back inside the house where she said goodbye to the rest of his family. Just when Hermione left through the floo Draco realised that he hadn't told her, that he and his parents would be moving to London soon. Apparently his parents were anxious to have their own home again and felt like they were starting to become a burden for Andromeda.

Draco thought Andromeda rather appreciated their help with Teddy and the chores around the house.

"What did you and Hermione talk about, it looked rather intense," Andromeda asked casually while levitating the rest of the scones and biscuits back into the kitchen.

Draco felt heat creeping into his cheeks. "I apologised to her."

"Oh, finally, I was starting to think the two of you would return to Hogwarts before you apologised," Andromeda commented lightly which elicited a very unladylike snort from his mother.

"Quite aptly put, Andromeda," Lucius drawled, gently bouncing Teddy on his knees. "Although my estimate was late August."

Draco felt himself grow irritated. "How lovely to hear that you all have such high opinions of me," he sneered, making to leave the house again.

"Draco, wait," Andromeda called, sending the china into the kitchen with an impatient flick of her wand and coming towards him. "That's not what I meant. I know you've changed, I know you like Hermione a lot. But I thought you'd need more time to come to terms with your past."

Draco sneered. "You can hardly call it 'coming to terms', I just apologised for being an arse to her. It doesn't mean I feel any better about it."

"That will come with time," Narcissa said quietly. She had remained silent so far. "Do not think I don't feel guilty about Andy had to go through. I could have changed her situation for the better earlier. I could've stayed in contact. I could have tried to protect Ted and Nymphadora and even Remus. Only time will help to deal with that. Only time will help you accept that you cannot change the past. It's not your fault that the world is how it is; it'd be only your fault if it stayed like this."

Draco nodded tersely, bidding his family a quiet goodbye and apparating away.

a/n2: So...how did you like this apology? I'm a bit unsure about it, but reynadinepttr assured me it was good. Well, the next chapter won't be the Weasley dinner but a Christmas special, which isn't going to be very fluffy I'm afraid... I hope you're still enjoying this story despite its irregular updates because all your reviews mean the world to me!