A/N: It was pointed out that my spell-check changed Narcissa to Narcissus. I've gone back to the other chapters and changed this error. Thanks to all my reviewers! I'd give you cookies if I could.

X

Chapter Six: Breaking News! Malfoy and Granger embrace before funeral!

It seems that Miss Granger and Lucius Malfoy cannot manage decorum even at the funeral for his wife. Reporters for this paper have photographic evidence of an embrace between the prisoner and his lawyer. Tales of a gravesite brawl have been rumored but not yet confirmed.

There were so many funerals after the war; that eventually people began to understand why Harry, Ron, and I didn't attend them all. Ron wasn't much with emotions, Harry felt as each death was his own fault, and I was struggling to understand how anyone could classify the war as being won when we had lost so much. I remember when Harry had begged and pleaded with Ron and I to attend Severus' funeral. Of course, Ron had blatantly refused, but I agreed to go. It was one of the saddest funerals I had attended. In addition to Harry and me, the only other person who came was Draco. The three of us stood at the edge of the gravesite and watched as they lowered Severus' body into the ground. It felt wrong that only three people had come out to watch him be buried, although I knew that Lucius would have come had he been allowed. Once the service was over, Harry fell to the ground sobbing and it took the combined efforts of me and Malfoy to Apparate him to Grimmauld Place. Taking him to his room, the room that used to belong to Sirius, we forced him to take a Dreamless Sleep Potion and waited until he had fallen asleep. Maybe Malfoy had understood more of Harry's grief in that moment; after all Draco had just lost his godfather and his father was in jail for the rest of his life. Maybe Malfoy had understood that Harry was feeling as if every father-figure that he had was now gone and he was truly alone. Whatever the case was, that was the day that everything changed for Malfoy, Harry, and I. From then on, the three of us were friends. I don't want to think about this funeral, about the pain that I know will be in Malfoy's eyes. I don't want to see both Lucius and Draco drowning in that kind of pain. But I was going so that Lucius could go, and in doing so, I'm forming a more personal bond with Lucius than I want, Hermione thought as they walked to the gate of the Manor.

Harry had managed to get them past the reporters, cleared them through the Aurors, and Draco led them around the house. Hermione had taken Harry's arm in an effort to keep from falling on the cobblestoned walk-way. Draco was in front of them, Lucius behind them. "Are you sure…"

"It's a bit too late to ask that now, don't you think?" She gripped his arm tighter and he let her inch closer to him. "I didn't see Ron with the other guards."

"He'll be stationed at the gravesite," Harry said. "Benefits of being a war hero and all."

Hermione glanced back at Lucius, who must have felt her looking at him and looked up to meet her eyes. She could see pain swimming there, but he quickly erected his mask of cool indifference. Interesting, she thought. If he can hide his emotion that well, I wonder if he can produce emotion. It would be helpful to my case if when he appeared in court he seemed remorseful rather than cold. Hermione tore her eyes away from him and looked at the back of Draco. She could see the slight tremble in him as he took careful steps. She remembered once, when Draco had to attend the funeral for a girl he knew named Daphne Greengrass, he admitted to her that in his mind all he could think was step forward, pause, step forward, pause. "Will he cause problems?"

"I don't really know," Harry whispered. "Ron likes his job well enough, but he's angry. He doesn't know about you moving here yet."

"Good thing that," she said softly. "I'm going to see about Lucius, can you check on Draco?"

Harry nodded. Draco and Harry's relationship was tentative but growing stronger every day. Harry let go of Hermione's arm and walked up to stand beside Draco. This left Hermione and Lucius alone together as the other two turned the corner. Lucius stopped beside her and turned to face her. "If we don't catch up, we'll be alone."

"I want to talk to you alone for a minute." She hooked her arm through his and they walked slowly down the path. "Ron is stationed gravesite," she whispered. "I wanted to forewarn you that Ronald isn't exactly happy with me taking your case or my friendship with your son."

"Will he cause problems?" They turned the corner and could see that Draco and Harry had stopped behind a large grove of trees. Draco was sobbing into Harry's shoulder. "My son…"

"He will forgive you one day," Hermione said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder to make sure that he didn't run after him. "And I hope Ron won't cause a scene." She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw that a photographer had broken through the security measures. She watched Lucius follow her gaze and his scowl at the photographer. "It's either let them have a show or they will see Harry and Draco."

Lucius looked towards his son, who was still embracing Potter and sobbing. It was a moment of weakness Draco would never want anyone to see. "A scene it is I think," Lucius said. "Good thing I can act," and in that moment he began to sob softly. Hermione, shocked by the tears, didn't realize it when he pulled her close and buried his face in her neck. His lips were pressed against her ear as he whispered, "You smell like Severus."

"What?" She whispered the one word harshly.

Lucius laughed and the movement cause vibrations on her neck that caused her to gasp. "Severus used to smell like a potion's lab; so do you."

"I was working on a potion last night," she said softly. "Do you miss him?"

"Infinitely more now that she is gone," he said. The she implied the wife he was about to bury. "He could always handle the emotional things better than I could. He was truly a great friend."

She looked over at the photographer, who was taking the pictures of Lucius Malfoy in her arms. She pointed her wand at the man, who took off running in the opposite direction of Harry and Draco. Fool didn't even turn around, she thought.

He has all he needs now. Both of them separated and looked at each other. "Did you hear that?"

Hermione nodded but didn't speak. Bloody hell! If Lucius Malfoy could talk mind to mind with her, could he read her thoughts? "We need to get to the funeral. We can talk about this later."

He nodded and the continued their walk down the path. As they approached, the sound of Hermione's heels forced the two men in front of her to separate slowly. She placed her hand on Draco's arm and kissed him softly on the cheek. This time they walked all side by side, Hermione's arms linked with both Lucius and Draco and Harry at Draco's side. As the rounded the corner to the gravesite on Malfoy's expansive lawn, he saw the concerned faces of the Minister, the Head Auror, and Ronald Weasley. Ignoring them all, the party of four came to a halt in their place beside the grave. Andromeda was sitting on the opposite side with Teddy Lupin beside her, having made up with her sister after the war. Ginny Weasley, who had been Narcissa's personal healer in the woman's final days, was sitting next to Andromeda and glaring at Hermione. Knowing that Ginny still lived at the Burrow, it was likely that Ron had been venting to his sister about his problems with Hermione. As they all stood around, Hermione caught sight of the one thing she had been hoping to avoid looking at, the coffin. The coffin was a deep cherry wood, with silver hinges and an odd runic saying carved in silver on the lid. It says, may peace be with you and may your descendants remember your beauty and grace. She looked up at Lucius, shocked that he would use the strange mindspeak with her after it had clearly freaked her out before. I had this coffin commissioned, he said in her head. I remember standing in the shop and a sudden thought came to me; I will lose my whole family to this foolishness. It was the moment I realized that everything I believed was a lie. And it was a lie my family would die for. The words of the Minister were drowned out by Lucius' inner monologue to Hermione. When he first came to power, I was alone. I had the money and the name, but I didn't really have a place. My father, he was one of the original Death Eaters. He went to school with Tom and of course you could see the appeal. I had a choice; I could have turned away from my father and found something else. At the time I graduated, The Dark Lord did not have an interest in me. But my father wanted me to be a Death Eater and soon I was believing everything they told me. Hermione watched him as he looked over at his son, who was still crying and clutching onto Harry. She saw Ron out of the corner of her eye, watching all four of them intently. I shouldn't have leaded my family down this path, but by the time I had a family, I was in too deep.

She didn't like this mindspeak thing, but the words she wanted to tell him she couldn't say out loud, especially not with Ron hovering so close. You didn't cause her death.

Didn't I? He looked down at the coffin and she saw the pain in his eyes, unshed tears threatening to fall. She wondered if the emotion he had 'acted' early for the photographer was really an act. I loved my wife, but I was never in love with her. And I lead her into all kinds of dangerous situations. She was there when Potter was killed by the Dark Lord. She had no business being at that final battle.

The doctors said Narcissa had developed a rare strand of tropical magical fever. It had nothing to do with you, with Voldemort, or anything else. It was just her time. She took his hand in hers, a gesture that she would offer to any friend. The Minister had finished speaking and according to Harry's debriefing, Draco was supposed to speak next. She turned to see that Draco was still sobbing into Harry's shoulder, unable to even think much less speak. Would you mind if I spoke, I don't think Draco could stand it?

I would be honored, he thought.

Hermione let go of Lucius' hand and the two of them stood up. Walking to the podium, she saw that all eyes, including Ron's were on them. "I think Draco was supposed to speak now," she said softly. "But I know how difficult it is to try and speak at a parent's funeral. I don't even remember how I got through mine, but I had a lot of help from Harry. I've been friends with Harry long enough to gain acceptance of death. It's almost impossible not to lay and bed and think about it or about how close I came to death. But no one ever thinks about dying like Narcissa did. Ginny told me that in her final days, she was still the picture of grace and beauty. I never had a conversation with Narcissa and I don't know much about her. But she was a good person, we all knew that. And she loved her family more than herself. She will forever be remembered as a beautiful woman, who loved her family dearly, and who helped save the Wizarding world. I wish I had known her better, but I know her husband and son. And maybe, once the grief has past, Lucius and Draco will tell me more about her. Rest in peace, Mrs. Malfoy."

Ron was shooting murderous looks at Hermione, but Draco had stood up and Hermione was focused on him. He was being helped by Harry, who seemed to gather that Draco wouldn't be able to walk by himself. As they approached the casket, Draco flicked his wand. Beautiful flowers erupted from the tip and lay down gracefully. Andromeda took Teddy's hand and Ginny followed them as they walked away. The Minister waved the Aurors away until the only people remaining next to the gravesite were Hermione, Lucius, Draco, Harry, Ron, and the Minister himself. "I understand that this spell will dissolve in 24 hours. You are aware that if you do not return Mister Malfoy to the prison thirty minutes before the spell dissipates, you will be charged with attempting to help a prisoner escape and the Aurors will arrest you, thus making you unqualified to continue being a lawyer."

"I understand," Hermione said.

"Do you understand Mister Malfoy, that you are under the care of Miss Granger until 10:00am tomorrow morning and that failure to return to prison will result in prison for Miss Granger and death for you?"

"I understand," Lucius said.

"Wait just a bloody minute," Ron said. Hermione wondered how long it would take him to say something. "Are you telling me that you are allowing this man, who is convicted of worse crimes than half the prisoners in Azkaban, to stay overnight with Hermione?"

The Minister turned to Ron. As an Auror, the Head Auror was your boss and the Minister was his boss, therefore speaking against orders of the Minister could result in being fired. "The spell that tethered him to her cannot be reversed or removed, which is why the spell was chosen. Miss Granger understood this when she accepted the spell being cast upon herself and Mister Malfoy."

It was the wrong thing to say and it took Minister Shacklebolt only a few seconds too late realize that. Harry made a motion to move towards Hermione, but he was being held back by Draco's inability to stand on his own. Ron moved forward, in what could only be seen as an attempt to attack either Hermione or Lucius and Hermione's wand was out before anyone knew what had happened. Ron was lying on the ground several feet from where he had originally been standing, Hermione looked angry, and the Minister looked exasperated. "You…" Ron said from the ground.

"Don't say anything you would regret," Harry reminded him.

"You can shut up," Ron said. "Acting like Malfoy is your best friend when you hated him practically your whole life. He almost killed me, unless you don't remember that part. Beside, this isn't about you." He turned his attention back to Hermione as he stood up. "I should have known, the day you made me leave the house, that it was true. But I didn't want to believe my own girlfriend was a Death Eater's whore."

When the official report was written up; Draco, Harry, and Hermione all took credit for the spell that hit Ron. He was unconscious and bleeding on the ground in the next minute. Draco, who had been racked with grief already, fell to the ground from the extra strain of casting a curse. "I'm going to Apparate him to his hotel room," Harry said. "Will you two be fine getting home by yourselves?"

Hermione nodded but it was the Minister that spoke. "I will be taking Mister Weasley back with me; after he's looked at I will need to file the termination report."

Hermione looked down at Ron, then to Malfoy, and then finally to Harry. "Go, I'll handle all this." She turned to the Minister after she heard the pop of Harry and Draco's departure. "I don't wish for Ronald to be fired," she said. "I will not be pressing charges for the attempted attack. And you would have to understand that I just left Ronald and he's a bit put out about that. Please, don't fire him."

Lucius watched the interaction with interest. "I will also not be pressing charges for attempted attack."

The Minister turned to Lucius with a shocked expression. Since Lucius was under Ministry custody, he could charge Ron with the attempt to attack him and it could help him gain favor in his trial. Showing that a member of the Order, of the Ministry, was willing to discriminate and attack Lucius without being provoked would have been a large plus for their side. "Why would you do that?"

"Because Miss Granger has given up her house, her boyfriend, her reputation, and has risked her job for me. If she doesn't want him charged, I won't do it. I assure you Minister, I have all the faith in the world that Miss Granger will win my case."

Kingsley turned to Hermione and she saw the brief smirk on his face. "As do I, Mister Malfoy."