Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

AN: Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! They mean so much to me. Another HUGE thanks to my beta, Modges, who not only cleans up my story, but is helping me become a better writer.

Before we get to the chapter, I would like to address a complaint I've gotten from a few Guests about the length of my chapters. Most of my chapters will be around 2,500-3,000 words. I don't exactly consider that super short, but if you do, well... here's your warning I guess.

Malfoy Manor

Draco stormed into the Manor, Lucius following right behind him. Narcissa was sitting in the library, reading a book, when she heard them both arrive home. As she was getting up to greet them, Draco came rushing into the room.

"Mother!"

"Draco, what is it? Did your meeting with your sister not go well?"

"Oh, things went fine. We got along wonderfully and things were going great, until Father went and completely fucked everything up."

"Draco, language! What are you talking about? Lucius?" Narcissa turned to her husband, who had entered the room right behind Draco.

"Why didn't you tell me our daughter is Hermione Granger?"

Narcissa let out a small sigh and answered, "She asked me not to tell anyone and, quite frankly, I was worried about how you would react. Now, what did you do?"

"He started insisting she move to the Manor right then and there and when she said no, he called her a whore," Draco answered, knowing his father would try to spin what really happened. Narcissa's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

"Lucius! I can't believe you! How could you say that to your own daughter? Why would you do such a thing?"

"I lost my temper."

Draco snorted. "You think? We'll be lucky if she ever wants to see us again!"

"Draco, please be quiet. Your father will apologize and he WILL fix this. Isn't that right, Lucius?" Narcissa said quietly, with a menacing undertone to her voice. Draco, surprised to hear such a tone from his mother, looked over to see his mother had her wand focused on his father. In all the years they have been together and everything he has put her through, Draco had never seen his mother draw her wand on his father. He wasn't even sure he had ever seen her lose her temper at his father. But she certainly was losing it now. One look at her face and there was no mistaking exactly what emotion she was feeling. She looked like she was one wrong word away from casting an Avada. Even his father, a man who faced down Voldemort, was starting to look a bit nervous. It was then that it struck Draco just how similar mother and daughter really were. In this moment, Narcissa looked exactly like Hermione had earlier. Team these two up together and no Dark Lord would have stood a chance. Draco let out a slight chuckle at the thought of Voldemort getting blown to bits by his mother and sister. His mother, unfortunately, hearing him laugh, whirled around to face him, turning her anger to him.

"Just what is so funny about this situation, Draco?"

"Nothing, Mother, I swear! I was just thinking how you look exactly like Hermione right now and the both of you together would have been enough to scare the pants off Voldemort."

Narcissa lowered her wand and looked pleased at the thought that she had something in common with her daughter. However, it quickly came back that her husband may have ruined everything and her anger returned.

"I have put up with a lot from you, Lucius. I've stood by you while you engaged in activities that I hated, activities that led to me needing to give up one of my children. You will fix this and you will fix it soon. Merlin knows I love you but if you don't find some way to reconcile with our daughter, I will find the best wizarding lawyer I can and I will divorce you. I will choose her over you."

With that, Narcissa strode angrily from the room, slamming the door behind her. A speechless Lucius found himself staring at the door, completely surprised by his wife's threat of divorce.

"Looks like you have some serious groveling to do, Father. Or you might just find yourself without a family." Draco gave his father a hard look before closing the door behind him, leaving Lucius alone with his thoughts.

The next morning

Bellatrix was standing over her, a silver knife in her hand. Hermione could see the moonlight glinting off the knife and she was wondering how much longer she could keep strong. Bellatrix held out her arm, slowly carving the word Mudblood into her forearm. As she finished, she leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"They'll never truly accept you. You'll always just be the Mudblood Granger to them. Just look at your own father, calling you a whore, treating you like the blood traitor you are. You are an abomination to the Black and Malfoy name! It makes me sick to think I'm actually related to you! Maybe I'll just do them a favor and kill you now."

Bellatrix lifted the knife and plunged it into Hermione's chest.

Hermione woke up at that point, screaming. It had been a while since she'd had a nightmare about Bellatrix and this one was even more unnerving than usual. She sat up in her bed with her arms wrapped around her legs, willing away the images from her brain. Clearly, the confrontation with Lucius yesterday affected her more than she thought. Hermione could feel the heaviness of her heart as she thought back to yesterday. Never before had someone's words ripped through her like that. She had always been able to immediately brush aside the hurt. Godric knows, she had been called enough names by schoolmates and the press that she should be practically immune to it by now. She was certain that before finding out she was a Malfoy, Lucius calling her a whore would have had no effect on her. The only difference now was that he was her father. She wasn't quite sure why that fact mattered to her. It's not like she grew up with him or that they were even on friendly terms. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she got up with a sigh and began to get ready for her day.

Twenty minutes later found her entering the kitchen, where she found Harry cooking breakfast. He took one look at her and instantly knew she had a bad night.

"Nightmares?"

She gave a brief nod. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. Hermione leaned back into his chest, absorbing the comfort and acceptance he gave so freely.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"It's not your fault."

"I know that, but I don't like to see you hurting. You received two letters last night after you went to bed, both with the Malfoy seal. I left them on the counter for you, I didn't want to wake you up."

Hermione walked over to where Harry had left the letters. She was slightly nervous to open them, not 100% sure what they might contain. The first one, not surprisingly, was from Narcissa. She apologized over and over again for Lucius's behavior and asked if Hermione would be available that afternoon. Deciding to put her mother out of her very obvious misery, Hermione quickly wrote out that she did not blame Narcissa and she was indeed available. She sent it with her owl right away. With that accomplished, she reached for the second letter, thinking it was from Draco. Glancing at the name at the bottom of the letter, she was exceedingly surprised to find that she was wrong. This letter was undeniably not from Draco. It was from Lucius.

Hermione,

I wish to extend my most profound apologies for my uncouth behavior toward you yesterday evening. It is something I deeply regret, my daughter. I can only hope that you will permit me to apologize in person. As I understand that you might not be comfortable with this, and understandably so, I will ask your mother to join us as well. The time and place I will leave up to your discretion.

Please.

Your Father,

Lucius

Well, she hadn't been expecting that at all. Lucius wasn't making demands this time and actually sounded rather... pleasant. He even said 'please', a word Hermione had been fairly certain was not a part of Lucius Malfoy's vocabulary. She hesitated, unsure about the best way to handle the situation. Deciding that he sounded sincerely remorseful, she wrote Lucius to inform him that she was meeting Narcissa later that day for afternoon tea, suggesting he could join them is he wished to. As she watched Harry's owl fly away with her letter, she silently hoped she hadn't just made a huge mistake.

As Hermione prepared to meet her parents for tea, she was once again in a right state. She had been extremely wound up prior to her first meeting with Narcissa but this time was much worse. Hermione had had little to no contact with Narcissa prior to that occasion but that was hardly the case with Lucius. She had too many unpleasant associations with him and the incident from yesterday had only added to that rather extensive list. Her stomach was tied up in knots and she was worried she might sick up all over him the minute Lucius entered the room.

Suddenly, she wished she had taken Harry up on his offer to remain with her for moral support. She had declined, believing that Harry's presence could only make matters worse. But now she wished he had chosen to stay anyway. Instead, Harry had dragged Severus along to his favorite Muggle bar. That was something she had never imagined would ever happen but Harry and Severus had finally managed to progress beyond mere tolerance to something vaguely resembling friendship. Severus had been reluctant to join his former young nemesis but had given in when Hermione asked him to. It felt rather nice to have most of her family get along. She did have hope that this meeting with Lucius would clear that air so that she could finally feel somewhat settled. As much as she found she enjoyed spending time with Narcissa and Draco, Lucius still remained a rather disquieting presence in the back of her mind.

She heard the knock at the front door, having given Narcissa permission to Apparate directly to Grimmauld. She took a deep breath, this was it. Walking to the door, she worked hard to control the trembling of her hands. She opened the door to a concerned Narcissa and a rather pensive Lucius.

"Good afternoon. Please, come in."

She led them to the sitting room and gestured for them to have a seat. She and Lucius just stared at each other, neither willing to start the conversation. Narcissa, apparently getting tired of the silence, gave Lucius a hard elbow to his side. He let out a short grunt and she had to bite her tongue to not burst out laughing. Lucius's eyes narrowed slightly at the amusement prevalent in his daughter's eyes. He cleared his throat and her eyes shot back to his.

"I'd like to officially apologize for my words yesterday. They were uncalled for and there was no excuse for what I said."

"If they were so uncalled for, why did you say it? Why did you say any of it? You honestly couldn't have thought ordering around someone you've never had a proper conversation with would go over well."

"I wasn't thinking about that at the time."

"Obviously," she said in a perfect imitation of Severus. She noticed Narcissa's mouth quirk as she suppressed a laugh.

"It's no excuse, but I do have a reason. Unlike your mother, I was positive you were dead when your seventeenth birthday came and went without us hearing from you. I know you most likely won't believe this, but I deeply love my family. The thought that you were dead nearly killed me, particularly since we gave you away to ensure your safety. When the notification came on what you thought was your eighteenth birthday, we were all thrilled. The look on your face when you walked in the room and saw us standing there was like a knife in my heart. Here I was, thinking you were dead, when really you were here with Potter the whole time."

"That isn't my fault!"

"I didn't mean to insinuate that it was. We all knew you would need to time get used to the fact that you were now a Malfoy. You took to your mother quickly and apparently were already close with Severus. It hurt that you refused to see me or Draco. Then you consented to see Draco and it was as if the two of you had been together as twins for your whole life. I admit, I was jealous. I was jealous and I let that jealousy potentially ruin any chance I had of you ever being able to forgive me."

Hermione looked incredulously at Lucius. Jealous? He was jealous? She couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. Lucius just raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

"I'm sorry. It seems that's where Draco gets it from. He told me that's the reason he was so awful to me in school. It must be a family trait. For the males, anyway."

"You have to know, I had no idea that my daughter was actually Hermione Granger. If I had known or even had an idea, I would have-"

"Stop. I realize and understand that none of you knew. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy to forget that you were Voldemort's right hand man and actively tried to kill me and my best friend."

"Understood. I would prefer to not get into my time in his service, but please know it was not voluntary on my part. I hope that you can eventually come to forgive me as I would very much like to get to know you. I understand that you would rather not live at the Manor, but I'm hoping you might someday consent to at least visit. It is your home as well, after all."

"This is my home. I don't know if I could ever comfortably call that place my home."

Lucius just nodded. Hermione looked at Narcissa, who had been sitting quietly this whole time.

"Maybe we could start small, a little party in the gardens? They are gorgeous and that way you wouldn't have to actually enter the house. I'm sure Draco would love to introduce you to some of his friends. And of course, Harry could come along as well," Narcissa said. She was looking at Hermione with such a hopeful expression that she was finding it hard to turn her down. Narcissa had been so accommodating and understanding since day one. Maybe it was time to return that understanding.

"I think-I think that might be okay. As long as it was just in the gardens."

As soon as she consented, Narcissa's face lit up with such joy that Hermione was instantly glad that she said yes. Even though she hadn't really forgiven Lucius yet, she felt that this was at least a step in the right direction. She hoped that, with time, they would be able to become closer. She wished he had gone into his decision to join Voldemort but she could tell he loathed talking about it and she decided to not push the issue. At least, not yet. She was a know-it-all, after all.

Narcissa prattled on about party ideas for a few minutes before announcing that they should take their leave. As the elder Malfoys prepared to leave, Narcissa caught Hermione is a huge hug. She whispered 'thank you' in her ear before letting go. Lucius gave her a nod, knowing she was not ready to receive any physical affection from him yet. They left and Hermione found herself once again alone in the house. She went up to the library to do some thinking. She can't say she was overly thrilled with Narcissa throwing a party, knowing the majority of the people that would most likely be there had hated her in school. She could only hope that the war had forced them to grow up as it did for her. Plus, she was going to drag Harry along with her. She smirked at the thought because she knew he was going to hate that. Luckily, Harry had come to love Narcissa almost as much as he loved her. If she couldn't convince him to come, all she would have to do is ask Narcissa to persuade him to reconsider. The man was an absolute puddle when it came to the women in his life. Maybe this would be fun after all.

AN2: Wellllllll, maybe Lucius will be able to redeem himself after all! Next up, we finally see some more Slytherin's and we just might (possibly) find out who it is that Hermione is/was in love with (I can't believe no one mentioned that lol).