a/n1: Hello everyone who is still reading! I'm sorry that I only mange to update now, but mental health plus a chapter that did not want to be written was a very bad combination. But yesterday the block finally broke and my dear reynardinepttr quickly betaed it for you guys!
Enjoy!

21st June 1998, 22:04

Draco had grown up in Wiltshire and he still marvelled at how late it stayed light in Scotland at this time of the year. Only now was the sun setting. To him the summer solstice had been barely noticeable when he was a child, but here in the most northern part of Scotland it was quite obvious.

His parents stepped up to either side of him as they would usually do when they were out - before the war. Now it was again important to present a united front, if for another reason entirely.

Andromeda walked past them, Teddy securely held on her hip. "Are you coming?"

"Of course, sister," Narcissa answered easily.

Draco offered his mother his arm and they started up the winding way to Hogwarts Castle. It looked much better than the last time he had seen it. The towers had been re-erected, the windows repaired and the statues had returned to their places on the facade.

There were some changes though. For example the four main towers of the castle were now flying the colours of the Hogwarts houses. The windows in the Great Hall seemed to be bigger now and what Draco thought must be the potions wing in the dungeons was no longer hidden by a mass of rock. They would have a good view over the lake during class now.

The grounds had gone through some changes too. There was a new grove of trees near the Black Lake, and where the Whomping Willow had once been, there was now a small building of stone with a small tower whose tip was crowned with a metal cross sparkling in the setting sun.

The hut of the groundskeeper had been rebuilt and looked sturdier and more suited to housing a half-giant. Draco sneered at the thought of the bumbling idiot they had made Professor in his third year. He might be kind enough to Hermione and her friends but Draco doubted he'd ever have even one sympathetic feeling towards Hagrid.

Finally his gaze reached the Quidditch pitch, or rather what had once been the Quidditch pitch.

"Why is there a bloody henge where the Quidditch pitch should be?" Draco demanded, turning instinctively to his father.

Lucius only shrugged, his eyes fixed on the building with the cross and his expression was quite dark. "Andromeda dear, do you have an explanation for that chapel on these grounds?"

Draco raised his eyebrows at the venomous sound of the word 'chapel', it sounded as if it had personally insulted his father.

"Many of the muggleborn and halfblood students were raised Christian," Andromeda said, falling back to Lucius' other side. "I imagine they were trying to create places of remembrance for the most important religions within the student body. Hence the chapel, the henge and the grove."

Lucius scoffed. "Never mind the deep-seated hatred the Christian church has for our kind. Typical."

Draco understood then the dark expression on his father's face. He found himself silently agreeing. Their notoriously bad relationship with the Church certainly made the decision to have a chapel so prominently on school grounds seem rather...strange.

"At least they remembered to include the Old Gods too," Narcissa pointed out, squeezing Draco's arm. "I know not many outside Slytherin house still worship them openly."

"I wonder where they put the Quidditch pitch though," Andromeda mused, looking over the grounds. "There are only mountains on the other side of the castle."

"I believe Headmistress McGonagall would never allow them to remove it completely," Lucius said with a knowing smirk. "She is quite, well, invested in the sport after all."

Draco grinned at the understatement. He had once seen McGonagall and Snape get into a glorious fight over an especially tense Quidditch game in second year. Nearly all the present Slytherins had betted that Snape would lose his temper and hex McGonagall first. But sadly they had been interrupted by a few fifth year Ravenclaws who were loudly debating about whether or not Love Potions should be forbidden to be sold, let alone taught.

Soon they reached the Entrance Hall where many other people were already waiting. After a short moment of consideration the Malfoys and Andromeda joined the Parkinsons and the Bulstrodes who were standing slightly apart from everyone else, to the left side under the House point hourglasses.

"Lucius, it's good to see you," Cassius greeted them warmly. His wife Posy hugged Narcissa and greeted Andromeda with a handshake. The women stepped to the side to converse in hushed tones.

Draco's eyes fell on Violet, who was standing slightly behind her bigger sister, keeping her back to the wall. When Pansy stepped forward to greet Draco with a kiss in the air next to his cheek Violet made a motion as if to follow.

"Good evening, Violet," Draco said with a soft smile, stepping around Pansy to bow slightly in front of her sister.

"Good evening, Draco," Violet answered, her voice barely above a whisper and her eyes flitting about.

Draco swallowed down the urge to ask her if she was alright, because quite obviously she wasn't. He looked up at Pansy and saw the pain flash through her eyes.

Millicent chose that moment to come over to them. "Hello Draco."

Draco looked up at his classmate and barely recognised her. Millicent had always been built strong and broad, but now she looked like she hadn't properly eaten or slept in ages – she looked more like a ghost than a girl.

"Millie, hey, good to see you," Draco said, fully turning to her. "I'm glad you came."

Millie's lips twitched into some semblance of a smile. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your birthday, but I couldn't bear..."

Draco slowly put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry that we couldn't be there for you."

Millie shook her head. She looked up at him with too old eyes. "It's alright, I know you couldn't." She hesitated for a moment. "Did you mourn them? Vince and Greg, I mean," Millie whispered, looking over her shoulder as if to check for someone watching them.

Draco felt put on the spot. That first horrible night in the holding cell he had decided not to show any weakness to the guards, which had included properly mourning his, well, friends. And after they had been out...he had forgotten.

Millie must have seen his thoughts on his face because she smiled sadly. "It's okay, Draco."

"It really isn't," Draco whispered hoarsely. "They were always loyal to me and...and I forgot them." He looked at Millie in horror. "How could I forget them?"

Millie shrugged. "I can't answer that. But...maybe you can include them in your prayers tonight."

Draco watched as Millie turned and walked back to her parents and he slowly sunk down to sit with his back pressed against the wall. He had forgotten to mourn Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. His most stalwart friends. They had died as Death Eaters, and while Draco could not deny their enjoyment of cruelty that wasn't an acceptable reason for him not to mourn them.

"Draco, love, are you alright?" Andromeda's face was suddenly hovering in front of him, her brows drawn together in concern.

"I forgot to mourn them," Draco whispered numbly. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't just Vince and Greg either. He hadn't mourned anyone who had died in the battle, neither good nor bad. How arrogant, how selfish, how self-centred could he be to forget?

Andromeda's frown deepened. "Who did you forget to mourn?"

"Everyone." Draco looked up into her face. "I didn't mourn a single person. I forgot."

Andromeda looked surprised. "Did you not mourn them when you started living at my house? I understand why you wouldn't want to in the cells of course."

Draco shook his head. "I pushed it so far out of my mind..." He trailed off, unsure whether he should continue at all. Draco wished he could still feel the pain from his wounded knuckles, but Andromeda had healed them and he hadn't dared to re-injure them yet.

Andromeda sighed and sat down next to him. "Draco, love, tell me: Do you think they deserved to be mourned? The Death Eaters you knew? Your schoolmates who fought against them?"

Draco tensed, looking down at his clenched fists. "Of course, they...they were human. They were somebody's brother, sister, mother, father...But. It doesn't change that I forgot."

"I think it does," Andromeda said with a gentle smile, taking his hand. "You have been through so much, struggling with so much. Do you think you'd have had the mental strength to mourn all those who died?"

"What do you mean?" Draco frowned and chanced a glance at his aunt, who was sitting on the dirty floor in her solstice robes as if she had no care in the world.

"Remember how tired you were in the beginning whenever you had to interact with anyone who wasn't family?" Andromeda asked, squeezing his hand gently.

Draco nodded, still trying to puzzle out what his aunt meant.

"Social interaction takes mental strength," Andromeda explained. "And in the beginning you barely had the energy to do that. But you're getting better by the day now. Maybe now you're ready to start mourning."

Draco looked down at his aunt's hand for a long moment. He still thought it was rather selfish of him not to mourn his friends but maybe she was right and just didn't have the strength at first. He remembered how tired he had been after Hermione, Potter and Weasley had been over for the first time as opposed to yesterday after the Quidditch game Blaise and Ginny had given him tickets for. He had met Potter and Weasley there and was suddenly very glad that he had taken Pansy along and not Theo, even though that meant that Pansy decided they had to sit together.

To be honest Draco had been quite fascinated to see Pansy with Potter and he suddenly understood what Hermione had been on about – they were truly sickeningly cute together.

"Draco?" Andromeda asked, softly poking his arm. "Did you fall asleep?"

"No, sorry, I just got distracted by a thought," Draco said with a small smile. "Maybe you're right. I'll include Vince and Greg in my prayers today, and maybe my cousin even if I didn't really know her."

Andromeda nodded encouragingly and withdrew her hand slowly. "That sounds like a good plan to me."

They stood up and rejoined the group of former Slytherins. Many of the children and teenagers who had arrived in the meantime had only one parent or grandparent with them and all were sending wary looks towards the other occupants of the room.

Draco looked around at the familiar faces of Slytherin house and nodded at Daphne and Astoria when they caught his eyes. Tracey stood with them and Draco once again noticed how different she looked in comparison to the girl she had been before the war.

Suddenly Draco became aware of somebody approaching him from his right side and turned to find Hermione coming over with Potter, Weaselbee and Weaselette in tow. Ginny just grinned at him and went to talk to Theo and George who must have arrived while Draco was having his little breakdown. Potter and the remaining Weasley veered off to greet Andromeda and Teddy, and Hermione came to stand next to him, her shoulder brushing his.

"I'm glad you came," she said quietly. "I never saw anything like this. I've only ever read about these rituals."

Draco grinned. "Well, had you been in Slytherin or Ravenclaw you probably would have gotten invited along sooner or later."

Hermione turned to gape at him. "But they're illegal! I read there are wards on Hogwarts Castle that prevent these rituals from being done and that only because all the wards fell during the Battle it can and has to be done now to re-erect the oldest wards and cleanse the castle!"

Draco chuckled, he noticed Theo coming over, George, Ginny, Luna and Blaise in his tow. "Theo, my good friend, would you explain the concept of rule-breaking and ward-circumventing to dearest Granger here?" he called with a teasing smile to Hermione.

Surprisingly the witch blushed, her brown cheeks darkening noticeably. "Oh shut up, Draco. I simply wanted to know how you did it."

Luna smiled at Hermione. "It's good to hear that you learned to open your mind, Hermione. There is just so much to know."

Draco felt Hermione stiffen beside him. "There is a difference between open-mindedness and naïveté."

Draco winced and decided to intervene. "Let's not get off the subject. We were talking about how Slytherins and Ravenclaws can take part in such rituals."

"Well, I think since Hermione is neither one nor the other we cannot divulge the secret," Theo said with a wink. "I didn't even tell George, no matter how much he begged."

"I didn't beg!" George exclaimed indignantly.

"No, that's right, you tried to bribe me with the secret to the Portable Swamp." Theo grinned at George and Draco noticed that there was something new there, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Suddenly Hermione went on her tip-toes and whispered into his ear. "Don't you think they look really happy together?"

Draco nodded subtly and turned his head so she would hear him when he answered. "But something changed, I think. There's something more there."

Hermione nodded and smiled, settling back down. But before Draco could compliment her on the beautiful, burnt orange robes she wore, a magically amplified voice interrupted any conversation.

"Good evening! Thank you all for coming here on this Midsummer Night and choosing to celebrate it with us!"

Draco finally identified the speaker as the Professor for Ancient Runes who was standing on a balcony opposite the entrance.

Professor Babbling continued. "As many of you already know the wards of Hogwarts fell during the last battle against the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Many of those wards were over a thousand years old and done with magic that is either outlawed or forgotten nowadays. And then there is all that Dark magic polluting those spells that keep the castle in one piece." Babbling stopped to take a deep breath. "Professors Sinistra, McGonagall and Firenze joined me in the task of coming up with a ritual that will not only allow us to cleanse Hogwarts of any lingering Dark magic, but also re-erect the wards. But not as they were before. We decided that some parts had to be revised. Minerva, do you want to explain our decisions?"

McGonagall nodded and stepped forward, also amplifying her voice. "In accordance with the Interim Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and with the unanimous vote from the Wizengamot, we decided not to re-erect the wards that prevented the rituals for the Old Gods. Additionally there will be a revision of the anti-muggle wards that will allow parents of Muggleborn students to visit with the permission of a faculty member and the student." At that a murmur ran through the hall and Draco could not decide whether it was positive or not. On the one hand they would let muggles in, on the other hand they needed the permission of an adult and the student they were related to which should provide some safety.

Hermione turned to Draco, while McGonagall continued to explain that there also were some outdated wards which they could easily replace with better ones. "This is fantastic. I really would have liked having my parents visit me in fifth year, when I was in the Hospital Wing. But even if it had been allowed they couldn't have."

Draco's father hummed behind them. "If you put it like that it does indeed make more sense."

Hermione turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "What did you think?"

"I-" Lucius stopped and a tiny frown appeared between his eyebrows. "I do not know what I thought. After all magical parents have similar rules if they want to visit their children."

Cassius Parkinson next to Draco's father snorted. "Look at that, old Lucius agreeing with McGonagall. I can't wait for the next legislative meeting of the Wizengamot."

Lucius smiled thinly. "You will find that I was forced to re-evaluate many of the opinions I carried my whole life. Andromeda and Hermione both certainly had a hand in that."

As Cassius' eyebrows shot up Draco realised what his father had just said. On the surface it seemed like a simple enough statement. But addressing Hermione with her first name and in the same breath as a family member, even if it was one you formerly despised, certainly set the picture that Hermione had become a close family friend.

Cassius looked at Hermione appraisingly. "Miss Granger, you surprise me time and again. I think I will have a very close eye on you in the future."

Hermione twitched, but quickly covered it with a small curtsey. "Thank you, Mr Parkinson. I intend to keep surprising you and others."
"You are friends with my daughter Pansy, are you not?" Cassius asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "You should come over for tea some time this week, don't you think Posy, love?"
"Oh most certainly," Posy Parkinson answered with a perfectly polite smile.

Hermione smiled just as politely. "It would be a pleasure, Mr and Mrs Parkinson."

They turned back to the front when Professor McGonagall announced that they'd be leaving for the grounds now.

"So, I have a feeling that Mother cornered you and taught you a few pureblood mannerisms?" Draco asked quietly when they stepped out of the Entrance Hall.

Hermione nodded. "Pansy too, and I found a few books on it in the townhouse while going through Walburga's private library. They were of course horribly racist, but a few tips and tricks were actually helpful."

"That's good," Draco said, taking her arm when Hermione stumbled over a bump on the ground. "If you still want to go into politics you'll have to learn how to charm the older generation."

"I know," Hermione sighed, not pulling her arm away, but actually hooking it through his. "I hate it, I feel like I'm bending myself out of shape when I do that."

Draco hummed. "It's probably rooted in the belief that doing whatever needs to be done isn't a good solution."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "And since the pureblood culture is so ripe with racism it feels like I'm, I don't know, betraying my own people? Does that make sense?"

"I think I know what you're getting at," Draco said with a bob of his head. "But I think I'm not the ideal person to talk about that, maybe you could ask someone from your side who made it far in the Ministry, maybe Percy Weasley?"

While they were talking they had reached the henge and Draco could feel it already humming with magic as they came closer. Hermione straightened some more and her eyes had gone big.

"What is this?" she whispered, as if not to disturb the atmosphere.

Draco grinned. "Pure and undiluted magic, the kind the people of a thousand years ago wielded." He felt his own magic answer the call from the henge and he wanted to laugh with the euphoria it brought. "Can you feel your magic sing?"

Hermione nodded mutely, an expression of stunned delight on her face. "This is how it should be, isn't it?"

"Wait till we're in the middle of the ritual," Draco said with a wink. "There is nothing better."

a/n2: Do you want to read the ritual in full or should we pick up after it is done? I love your reviews and they're the brightest spots on some days! Let me know what you think. I'll continue to procrastinate my term papers by writing fanfiction ;)