AN: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER.

*I THINK THIS CHAPTER MIGHT BE BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE.

*WARNING-SAD TIMES AHEAD.

*ITALICS ARE WHAT HARRY AND RON SEE AND THINK IN THE PENSIEVE.

*BIG THANKS TO KERMIT 304 ABOUT THE HOUSE ELVES.

*ENJOY!

The next day, Harry and Ron woke up early. Both boys wanted to get back into the pensieve. They showered and dressed more casually than the day before, and flooed over to the Malfoy's. A house elf dressed in a purple tea towel appeared before them, scaring both boys.

"Blimey! Who're you?" Ron asked.

"I's be Mitzy, sir. Who's you?" the elf asked in a squeaky voice.

"Umm... Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Your Mistress is expecting us, Mitzy." said Harry, looking down at the elf.

"Wait here while Mitzy goes to get Mistress." she said, and disappeared with a pop.

"Bloody hell, Harry. Hermione's mum has an elf! Do you think Hermione knows about it?" Ron asked. He knew Hermione had this fierce objection to the enslavement of house elves.

"Of course she knows. She's the one who got her for us." Helena said, walking into the room. Harry took a good look at her now. He thought she looked like Raquel Welch, a muggle actress he had seen in a few movies. "Hermione is the Head of the House Elf Rights department at the Ministry, you know." she said with a smile.

"Really? We didn't know that. We only know about the bookstore." Ron said.

"Yes, she is. And, she's good at it. She's reformed the treatment of elves drastically from before. Now, would you care to join us for breakfast?" she asked.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Harry said. He and Ron followed Helena into the dining room, where they saw Lucius sitting. He was reading the paper, and only acknowledged the boys with a nod.

Mitzy popped into the room with a plate of bacon and sausages. "Is Master or Mistress needing anything else?" she asked.

"No, Mitzy. Thank you. Ron? Harry? Anything else?" Helena asked.

"No, but I have a question. How come you weren't here yesterday?" Ron asked. He didn't remember seeing the tiny elf at all yesterday.

"It was Mitzy's day off, sir. Those are the rules under Missy Herminny." the elf said, and vanished.

Ron just stared at where Mitzy had been standing until Harry put some bacon on his plate, then he started eating.

"Helena, dear, I'm off. If Hermione comes over today, tell her I have those papers we were talking about on my desk in the study ready for her." Lucius said, getting up to kiss her goodbye. "Boys." he said toward Harry and Ron, and walked out.

Once they were finished eating, Harry and Ron thanked Helena and headed down to the basement. Mitzy popped in and put the pensieve on the table like before, and handed Harry and Ron the next memory. They took a deep breath and dove in.

They found themselves in the Great Hall. Hermione appeared before them again, not smiling this time like before. "This is about a month after you left. It's October 14, 1998 during lunch. This isn't a happy moment, by the way. This was one of the worst days of my life." she said, and then vanished.

Hermione was sitting with Ginny and the others at the Gryffindor table going over the plans she and Draco had been working on for the Halloween ball. She was laughing and happy. Then, Minerva came over and asked her to follow her out into the main hall.

"Is everything alright, Minerva?" Hermione asked once they were in the hall. She had a look of concern on her face.

"No, dear, I'm afraid it isn't. I'm excusing you from your classes for the rest of the day. I need you to go home right away. There's a problem with your father, and he's in the hospital. Use my floo. Your mother is waiting for you at your home to take you to see your father." Minerva said as she and Hermione walked toward her office.

Harry and Ron followed along beside Hermione and Minerva as they walked. Hermione hadn't said anything during this time. They remembered Hermione telling them that her father had passed away in October of 1998, and knew this was that day.

At her house, Hermione saw her mother waiting for her. "Mum? What's wrong with daddy?" she asked in a scared voice as she hugged her mum.

"Hermione, sweetheart. There was an accident this morning on the highway, and your father was involved. It's not good, honey. I've already been there to see him, and knew you would want to be there, as well." Helena said as she started crying. "The doctor's are…keeping him alive on a machine long enough to let you say goodbye, love." she said.

Hermione had tears running down her face now. "I don't want to say goodbye to daddy, mum. Please don't make me." she begged. Helena pulled her into a hug. She whispered something to Hermione, making her cry harder and nod. "Alright. Let's go." Hermione said softly, still crying.

The scene changed again, and Harry and Ron saw Hermione standing by her father's hospital bed, holding his hand and crying.

"I love you, daddy. I'm going to miss you, so much." Hermione said. "I'm going to miss our special breakfasts during the summer. You know, when you would take me out for ice cream, and tell mum we had something healthy instead. Those funny Christmas sweaters you'd wear when we went to grandma's. When you'd get take-away Chinese, and then spend all of dinner trying to convince mum that you made it." she said, laughing a little.

Hermione took a deep breath and wiped her face. "I want to thank you, daddy. You were always so supportive of me, no matter what. When I found out I was a witch, I think you were happier than I was. You've always been so great, daddy. After the war, when I told you everything about my magical life, you were never skeptical or passed judgment. You listened and hugged me when I needed it. You and mum never told me I couldn't do something. You always said that I could do anything I wanted." she said.

"You taught me a lot, too. It's because of you that I stand up for the little guys. Why I'm incapable of seeing something wrong and just letting it go. Why I want to make sure that the house elves are treated fairly. You taught me that my voice counts for something, even if I'm the only one talking. You taught me to believe in myself. You taught me to be confident in who I am. How to sail a boat." she said with a smile. She took another deep breath.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. I promise I'll keep an eye on mum. I won't let her get lonely. I'll take care of her, daddy. I promise. I also hope that you'll be watching me as I continue to get older. When I graduate Hogwarts, my wedding, seeing my kids. I'm going to tell them all about you, daddy." Hermione said. She bent over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye, daddy. I love you." she said.

Hermione walked out into the waiting room to find her mum, tears running down her face. She went over and hugged Helena, both of them crying now. A few minutes later, the doctor came out and told them he was gone.

They were now in Hermione's dorm room, where she was packing a bag. She wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes were red and puffy. Her lower lip was trembling, but she held the tears off. Her door opened and Ginny ran in, followed by Pansy and Millicent.

"What happened, Mione?" Ginny asked.

Hermione stopped packing and looked at all of them. She burst into tears again, not being able to stop them this time. "My da-dad di-died." she stuttered. Immediately, the three girls pulled Hermione into a group hug.

"How, Hermione?" Pansy asked. She was starting to cry as well.

"He was in a car accident early this morning. I had to leave earlier so I could say goodbye to him." se said. "I'm going to be going home for a week, or so. I have to help mum arrange the funeral and do a few other things." Hermione pulled away from the group, wiping her tears away.

"Ginny, can you take care of Crookshanks while I'm gone? I'd take him with me, but I'll be pretty busy all week." Hermione asked as she finished packing. She went over to where Crookshanks was lying and picked him up and gave him a hug.

"Yeah, sweetie. It's no problem. Is there anything else you need?" Ginny said.

Hermione nodded. "I'll need someone to collect my homework while I'm gone."

Millicent said, "I can do that for you, Hermione. We have a lot of the same classes together, so it's no problem."

"Thanks, Millie." Hermione said with a sniff. "I'd better get going. I'll see you guys later." She picked up her bag and walked toward Minerva's office. The girls followed behind her, not wanting her to be alone right now. In Minerva's office, they each gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she left.

Harry and Ron were now standing in a cemetery. It was the day of Hermione's dad's funeral. They saw her standing by the casket wearing a black pea coat and black boots, with her hair pulled into a bun. Lucius Malfoy walked toward her.

"Miss Granger?" he asked. He was wearing a black muggle suit with his hair pulled back.

Hermione turned around and looked at him. "Mr. Malfoy." she said with a nod.

"I wish to give my condolences on your loss, Miss Granger. I know it's not easy to bury a loved one." he said.

"Thank you, sir. And, no, it's not easy. I'm sorry for your loss as well. Draco told me about Mrs. Malfoy." she said, still looking at the casket. "Your son's not so bad, you know." she asked, glancing at him.

"Yes, I do know. He's turned into quite the young man, hasn't he?" Lucius asked. Before Hermione could reply, Helena walked over.

"Mum, this is Mr. Lucius Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy, this is my mum, Ms. Helena Granger." Hermione said.

Lucius bowed to Helena. "Ms. Granger. My condolences." he said. Helena nodded with a sad smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. Hermione, love, it's time to go." she said. Hermione nodded, kissed her hand and touched the casket and walked toward where her friends were standing.

Harry and Ron watched as almost seventh year student they knew was introduced to Helena, and gave Hermione a hug, including the Weasley family. A lot of teachers were there, along with Madam Rosmerta, to Harry and Ron's surprise. Hermione hugged Draco the longest, as he was saying something to her that they couldn't hear.

Once again, they were in Hermione's house. She was putting some food in plastic containers and placing them in the fridge. They heard the doorbell ring, and watched Hermione go answer the door.

"Andy! Come in, please." Hermione said. Coming in the door, with baby Teddy on her hip, was Andromeda Tonks. "Please have a seat and I'll go get my mum." Hermione said, and went to find her mum.

Harry's eyes started to water at the sight of baby Teddy. He had forgotten what he looked like as a baby. Until he changed his looks, he was a perfect blend of Remus and Tonks.

They came back in and Helena greeted Andy with a handshake. "Mum, this is Andromeda Tonks. I was friends with her daughter, Dora. And this little guy is Dora's son, Teddy. Andy, Teddy, this is my mum, Helena Granger." she said, taking Teddy from Andromeda.

"I'm sorry to just drop by unannounced, dear, but I heard what happened. Do you need anything? Anything at all?" she asked. Teddy started crying, and Andromeda got a bottle and some formula out of his bag.

"Let me. It's been such a long time since there's been a baby in this house." Helena said, taking Teddy to the kitchen. Hermione waited until the door swung shut before talking again.

"There is one thing you could do for me, Andy. I have to go back to Hogwarts tomorrow, and mum will be alone. Could you drop by every now and then and check on her? I've asked Molly and a few of the neighbors to, as well, but I think that you and Teddy would really help her." Hermione said.

"Of course, Hermione. It would give me a reason to get out of the house more often, anyway. I'll stop by a few times a week." Andromeda said, and gave Hermione a hug.

The scene faded to black, and Hermione appeared again. "I told you this wasn't a good memory. But in a way, it kind of was. Lucius came to the funeral of a muggle, just because. He didn't have to show up, or be pleasant, but he did, and he was. You didn't see it here, but it was at the funeral that he started to mend bridges with the Weasley's. After I went back to Hogwarts, he kept in touch with my mum. They, along with Andy and a couple of others, started a kind of support group. Lucius Malfoy isn't the awful man you may remember him to be. He's a good man, guys. Trust me." she said.

Harry and Ron pulled out of the pensieve. They stood there for a moment, thinking about what they just saw.

"Learn something interesting in there, boys?" they heard. Turning around, Helena stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Lucius Malfoy willingly came to a funeral for a muggle he didn't know? Why?" Harry asked.

Helena smiled. "Because he had heard from Draco all about the kind of person Hermione was. Boys, his views on muggles and the muggleborn changed after the war. He gave money to a lot of charities in both the muggle and wizarding world. He paid for several muggleborn students to go to Hogwarts. But, most importantly, after we married, he treated Hermione just like she was his own, despite her being an adult." she said.

"So, he's not the bastard we remember him being?" Ron asked. "That's what you're saying, right?"

Helena nodded. "Yes. Now, I'll have Mitzy bring you something to eat after you're finished with the next memory."

REVIEW PLEASE. XOXO

*I KNOW I SKIPPED OVER HARRY AND RON'S LEAVING, BUT THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT.

*AH, LUCIUS AND HELENA FINALLY MEET AT LAST. THERE WILL BE MORE OF A BACKSTORY IN FUTURE CHAPTERS.

*I CREATED THE SUPPORT GROUP SO HELENA COULD START BEING INTRODUCED TO THE WIZARDING WORLD AND MORE PEOPLE WHO KNOW HERMIONE.

*I WROTE THAT HELENA LOOKS LIKE RAQUEL WELCH BECAUSE SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL AT HER AGE. (AND SHE'S MY FAVORITE ACTRESS.)

*YOU GUYS ARE STILL AWESOME!