A/N: I'm sorry to the moon and back for the late epilogue but I was too sick to function properly. It's a bit long, but I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable part of the story to write. I'm glad I got to share it with you, so thank you for your time. :)

1st of September, 1998

Hogwarts' carriage.

Hermione watched the Thestrals out of the carriage's window with great fascination. Her fingers ran through Draco's hair as he rested his head on her lap.

"Amazing, aren't they?" she asked.

"Thestrals? I find them grim actually" Draco replied.

"Most people do" Hermione agreed. "Draco.." she called after a while.

Draco finally opened his eyes and looked up at her. A smile curved his lips.

"You still haven't talked to your father, have you?" she asked tentatively.

Draco's smile faded and a frown creased his forehead. "No." he answered curtly.

"It's been what? Four months? You know you'll have to do it eventually."

"I don't have to do anything anymore."

"So you'll just ignore his existence forever?"

"I don't know."

"You say that a lot lately." Hermione remarked

"Because it's true! I don't know when I'll be able to talk to my father once more. I'm going back to Hogwarts but I don't know what I want to do after I graduate. There's a long list of things I don't know."

"What do you know then?"

"I love you. I'm positive about that." Draco blurted.

"I know." Hermione's expression softened. She bent her head down and kissed Draco's forehead lightly. "Anyway, I was wondering..".

"Yes?" Draco prompted.

"Umm...what are you doing this Christmas?" Hermione asked tentatively, tucking a stray strand of her behind her ear.

"That's like..four months from now." Draco replied.

"I know, you're right..I just...never mind it's silly to think of something so far ahead." Hermione dismissed shyly.

"Hermione" Draco's hand closed over Hermione's, "what is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, really. It's nothing important." Hermione insisted.

"Alright..I'm probably spending this Christmas at home." Draco ignored Hermione's dismissal. "Maybe it would be a good chance to fix things with my father. Nymphadora mentioned something about wanting us to visit her as well."

"You told me about that, you said your mother was excited about it." Hermione said.

"Subtly excited." Draco corrected humorously, "Our family has seen better times. I don't think we're ready for any social gatherings until we've fixed our own mess."

"Speaking of mess, how are you sleeping lately?" Hermione asked.

"Better than I was a month or two ago. The nightmares are still frequent but less intense." Draco replied, "Don't change the subject, Hermione. Why were you asking about Christmas?"

"Well...we get a few weeks' holiday for Christmas. So I was thinking that..maybe you'd like to spend a day with me..with us." Hermione suggested.

"Us here refers to..?" Draco asked

"My parents and I." Hermione cleared up.

"You're inviting me to your parents' house?" Draco pursued.

"If you don't want to, I can understand. I mea..." Hermione started to speak.

Before Hermione could complete her sentence, Draco's hand cupped the nape of her neck and pulled her down for a kiss.

"I'd love to." he murmured against the corner of her mouth.

There was a sharp knock at the cabinet's door, followed by a violent shake of the door's handle indicating that somebody was trying to force it open. Draco stood up and pointed his wand at the door, it flew open seconds later.

"Mr. Malfoy, care to explain why this cabinet's door was charmed?" Lupin demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door's frame.

"That...is a very good question." Draco replied.

"I'm sure it is." Lupin said, "Do you have an equally good answer for it?"

"We..were going through a very important part of the new house unity program." Draco improvised.

"Which is, of course, something that required the privacy of a charmed door." Lupin fought back a laugh that threatened to ruin his serious demeanor.

"Exactly." Draco confirmed.

"Your undivided interest in the house unity program is extremely touching." Lupin's mouth twisted in a smile that indicated the Marauder in him was enjoying himself a little too much. "But as Head Boy, your responsibilities go further than that."

"Yes, sir." Draco nodded.

"Alright, Ms. Granger.." Lupin glanced over Draco's shoulder at Hermione's face as it turned into a deep shade of crimson. "We've almost arrived at Hogwarts. You're responsible for first year Gryffindors along with professor Hagrid. Mr. Malfoy, you're responsible for first year Slytherins with Mr. Filch." he informed.

"Not Filch!" Draco whined.

"Mr. Filch, Draco." Lupin corrected sternly.

"This is exactly why Slytherins have a bad reputation in this school! You can't let the first person they meet be Filch and expect them not to hate it." Draco protested.

"Well then it's lucky that they have you this year to change that." Lupin shrugged impassively before leaving.

"Filch..out of all people. He terrorizes the students! Can you believe this?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Actually, I have to agree with Lupin." Hermione replied.

"What? Agree with him about what exactly?" Draco's brows furrowed in confusion.

"About the part where they're lucky to have you." Hermione stood up and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck, pulling him for a last prolonged hug before they went on their ways. "I've had first hand experience with being lucky to have you." she whispered into his ear.

1st of September, 2017

Platform Nine and Three Quarters, King's Cross Station.

"Pictor, don't run." Hermione called after her youngest son.

"Don't worry, mom." Pictor called back impatiently, his voice fading into the crowds that filled the platform.

"Yes worry, mom." Hermione muttered under her breath, "Lyra, go find your brother."

"But mom! I'm not his keeper. He has probably gone to find Lily." Lyra protested, pushing back a few curly brown tendrils that fell over her face.

"Speaking of Lily, can you see any of them?" Hermione asked distractedly, fiddling with the several bags in her hands.

"I can see Harry and Ginny over there." Draco pointed out, "Let's go." he tugged at Scorpius's hand.

"Dad, wait." Scorpius mumbled, his feet fixed to the ground. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Alright, you go ahead and we'll follow you." Draco told Hermione, dismissing her worried frown with a certain nod.

"So, what is it?" Draco asked, crouching down with his hand on his son's shoulder.

"You see that girl over there." Scorpius nodded his head in the direction of a short girl with brown hair, mischievous green eyes and a wide grin. "Dad, don't stare!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Draco apologized, looking back at Scorpius. "So, what about her?"

"She's like..the most annoying girl in the whole world. She's even more annoying than that time I had dragon pox and had to stay in bed for a whole week." Scorpius whined.

"Why am I hearing this for the first time?" Draco asked.

"Because I was trying to ignore her..I mean she's not worth complaining about. But I saw her now and...she's so annoying, dad!" Scorpius explained.

"Alright." Draco cocked his head to one side, "What did she do to earn the 'most annoying girl' title?"

"Last year in the defense against dark arts class, professor Lupin told each two of us to pair up for a duel. Everybody had a partner and we were the only two left. She decided to pick the doll that we used to practice spells on over me!" Scorpius recounted indignantly.

"That's..bad. But I'm sure she had a reason to do so." Draco said.

"Her only reason is making my life worse." Scorpius insisted.

"I don't know, Scorpius. But I find it very hard to believe she did that for no good reason. So are you going to tell me what really happened?" Draco raised his eyebrow at Scorpius.

Scorpius hesitated for a moment. His eyes traveled between his father and the girl he was just talking about. He looked down at his linked fingers while speaking.

"Okay.. the first time I saw her was last year on the train. And..well..I.." Scorpius stammered.

"I'm listening, you know you can tell me anything." Draco prompted.

"Alright so I thought she was pretty. I wanted to talk to her but then she was gone and I kept looking for her all over the train. When I found her she was standing with that other boy. He was older than us and he..like waved his wand and a rose came out of its tip and he gave it to her." Scorpius recounted.

"Ugh the guy with the roses. There's always that other guy." Draco smiled sardonically, "What happened next?"

"I don't know, dad. I was really mad and I just told her roses were stupid. I don't even know why I said it."

"People say stupid things all the time. Did you apologize?"

"She never gave me a chance! She's been treating me like rubbish ever since. I hate her!"

"No you don't. Hate is a strong word, don't use it randomly." Draco corrected, "Have you tried a more..creative apology?"

"Like what?" Scorpius asked, looking genuinely interested.

Draco reached for his wand. "Orchideous" he said clearly. A colorful bouquet of flowers sprouted out of the tip of his wand. He held the bouquet and gave it to Scorpius who gaped at it in fascination. Draco spent the next fifteen minutes teaching his son the Orchideous spell. With an encouraging pat on his back, Scorpius sought out the girl with uncertain steps.

"Draco, what's taking you so long?" Hermione demanded, her eyes searching the place for Scorpius.

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her to him. "Look." he urged, pointing discreetly in their son's direction.

"How come I don't get flowers like that?" Hermione protested humorously.

"You were never the flowers type." Draco replied.

"Every woman is the flowers type!" Hermione retorted.

"You're telling me this three children late." Draco jested.

Thirty minutes later, Scorpius was finally back with a wide grin on his face. Hermione caught him exchanging a knowing look with Draco before busying himself with checking his luggage. Ron and Lavender stood not far away from them. Lavender was crying and sniffling loudly, hugging her daughter tightly, while Ron carried their three year old son.

"Do you have everything with you? Make sure nothing's missing." Hermione repeated for the third time.

"It's alright mum, stop worrying." Lyra wriggled away from Hermione who was trying to button the girl's coat up to her neck. "I can't wait to know which house I'll be sorted in!" she squealed enthusiastically.

"I already know I'm a Slytherin." Pictor puffed his chest proudly.

"Don't be so sure." Harry contradicted.

"Well, whatever house I get sorted into will gain a great wizard." Pictor replied smugly.

"I take that back. Definitely a Sltyehrin." Harry corrected himself.

"Teddy!" Lily cheered at the blue-haired young man who made his way towards them followed by Victoire Weasley and her parents.

After a long moment of chaotically exchanged hugs and greetings, it was time for the children to board the train. The noises were loud as every parent yelled their last minute goodbyes. Draco leaned back at the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the train as it left. Hermione followed the train for a while, urging her children to owl her as soon as they settle in their rooms but they seemed busy laughing at something Remus Lupin had said that they didn't even notice her.

"Lavender I swear if you don't stop crying I'm going to start crying myself and nobody will be able to stop me." Hermione sniffed. "Ginny! Not you too!" she protested.

"I'm not crying!" Ginny lied, blinking away the tears. "Alright, just a little." she relented.

"Why is everybody crying? Every year I went back to Hogwarts it was the best time of my life!" Harry said, looking at the tearing women around him incredulously.

"Exactly!" Ron confirmed exasperatedly.

"Seriously people, they're going to school as students not to some erupting volcano as human sacrifices." Draco mocked.

"It's just that..the house is going to be so empty now that the twins are off to Hogwarts." Hermione admitted ruefully.

"If a beautiful lady like you feels lonely, I'd happily keep her company." Teddy offered humorously.

"Smooth, Teddy." Draco smirked, "Bad choice, though; she's taken." he rested his hand on the small of Hermione's back and pulled her to his side.

"Well, it was worth trying." Teddy shrugged, his unruly hair falling over his eyes.

"Yes, she's definitely worth trying." Draco agreed, pressing a kiss to Hermione's wrist.

24th of December, 2017.

The Malfoy Mansion, Isle of Wight

"Dad's home!" Lyra squealed as loud as she could. She ran towards Draco the minute he walked through the door, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Hello, princess." Draco greeted, sweeping Lyra off the ground.

"Grandpa and Grandma are here." Lyra informed. "Grandma said she would ground you for being late." she giggled.

"I'm older than I was when she last grounded me. I have taller legs now, she'll have to chase me for too long if she wants to ground me." Draco jested, earning himself a loud laugh from Lyra.

"Never too old for me." Narcissa emerged from the living room followed by Scorpius and Pictor.

Draco kissed his mother's forehead then crouched down to gather his three kids in one hug. "Have you been good?" he asked.

"Really good, dad." Lyra nodded enthusiastically.

"As good as I can. Which is not much, honestly." Scorpius grinned at Draco.

"Well...that really depends on how you define good." Pictor replied vaguely.

Draco took a moment to appreciate the scene in front of him. Lyra was bouncing excitedly, a mane of short brown curls surrounded her face. Her hazel eyes gleamed and a wide grin never left her face. Always excited about something and curious about almost everything, Lyra had Draco wrapped around her finger and he wasn't ashamed of letting everybody see the hold she had over him.

Pictor stood with his hands in his pockets. His once blonde hair was now a light shade of brown. His eyes were the same color as his twin sister and he cocked one eyebrow at Draco. Despite not inheriting Draco's complexion, he inherited everything else. A Slytherin to the core, Pictor always had a sarcastic response. The way he puffed his chest, lifted his chin, and dreamed bigger than any child his age, were all signs of a boy that was going places. And Draco was secretly grateful he had Pictor to share his passion about Quidditch with.

Scorpius stood ever so quietly behind his siblings. His hands were folded behind his back and he looked at his father expectantly. Despite being a terrifyingly spitting image of Draco, he acquired most of his mother's character traits. The two of them shared the same inexplicable passion for reading. A lot more shy than his brother and sister and a lot more hardworking than them. Scorpius was the only person who could compete with Hermione over the title of 'Perfectionist'.

Three different people, three entirely different characters. And Draco had absolutely no idea how they evolved into the people they were now. Yet he couldn't help but become fascinated by it. Draco spotted Hermione standing at the entrance of the living room. He walked over to her.

"What about you? Have you been good?" Draco whispered as he hugged her.

"Terribly bad." Hermione murmured into his ear.

Over Hermione's shoulder, Draco saw his father hovering awkwardly next to the fireplace, unsure whether he should move or wait for Draco to come over.

"Go." Hermione urged in a barely audible voice before leaving the room.

For the first time in years, Draco was finding the idea of letting go of the past fathomable. Over the course of the years, he gradually restored a fraction of his relationship with his father. They talked occasionally but their conversations were always brief and formal. This year when Draco came back to a house empty of his children, he experienced a part of parenthood that was new to him.

Draco scanned his father from head to toe. He looked like something between the proud man he had known and idolized as a child, and the broken man who had made all the wrong decisions and nearly doomed his family. Lucius Malfoy's blond mane of hair was now grey. The gleam in his eyes was now replaced by a rueful look. Draco hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and hugging his father.

"You know, I thought I'd never be able to forgive you the fact that even after mother had told you everything, you still couldn't make the right choice." Draco confessed, "But now I look at every decision I've made concerning my children and I think...I know I'd always have their best interest in mind. I know I've always done what I thought was best for them. But I can't help thinking if that's what they would say years later. Would my choices for them actually be the right ones? Or will I cock up?"

"You're doing great with your children, Draco." Lucius rested his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Thank you." Draco acknowledged. "Nevertheless, I realized that I will cock things up at some point. I'm not a saint, of course I'll make mistakes with them. So I was thinking that when the time comes, when I do make those mistakes, I'd want them to forgive me and know that I've tried to achieve the best for them even if I cocked up at doing so."

"I never had the intention of harming you or your mother, Draco. You have to believe this." Lucius nearly pleaded.

"I know." Draco assured. "Now enough with the drama, there's an army of present-hungry short people outside." he jested.

During dinner, Draco's theory came to life. Scorpius, Lyra and Pictor kept guessing what presents they were getting this year and urging time to move forward faster. Hermione even caught Pictor trying to charm the clock. Five minutes to midnight, everybody was gathered around the Christmas tree Hermione and the children had spent hours decorating.

"Everybody, I have an announcement to make." Draco cleared his throat and stood up. "I don't like to boast, but...actually scratch that I do like to boast. I just got an offer to coach the English National Quidditch Team." he announced.

The tiny crowd cheered, all congratulating him at the same time.

"But what we're celebrating the most this year is that we probably have enough house variety to compete with Hogwarts!" Hermione remarked.

"True." Draco nodded, "We have two Gryffindors." he glanced at Scorpius who was winking back at Hermione. "One very special Ravenclaw." Draco continued. Lyra jumped up and clapped her hands. "Aaand everybody else here is a Slytherin." Draco added, pointing his wand at the ornaments that decorated the tree. He transformed their colors into a mix of green and silver.

"Oy! That's unfair!" Scorpius protested.

"It's perfectly fair; we're the majority in the house." Pictor contradicted.

"So you literally win the house cup." Lyra announced theatrically, pushing her cup into Pictor's hand.

The clock announced midnight and the children erupted in noise as they rushed to open their presents.

"Lyra, darling, this is from grandpa and I. Do you know what it is?" Narcissa asked.

"Is it a harp?" Lyra asked as she inspected the instrument in her hand carefully.

"Close. It's a lyre, an ancient instrument, your name was derived from it. Read the words engraved on it." Narcissa urged.

"And one may see among the stars, the Lyre. Its arms spread apart in heaven. And as time went by, it charmed all that its music reached." Lyra read slowly in fascination. "This is amazing!" she mused.

"Open our present." Hermione urged enthusiastically.

"Careful, princess. Let me help you." Draco offered.

He stood up and headed towards the huge box. With a few taps of his wand the box was opened and Draco took out a cage from it.

A beautiful brown bird fluttered its wings. It had a peacock-like tail that resembled in shape the lyre Lyra was holding in her hand.

"Merlin's beard! I've never seen something so beautiful before! What's that?" Lyra asked in bewilderment.

"It's called a superb lyrebird." Draco informed.

"Superb indeed!" Scorpius exclaimed as he inspected the bird closely.

Too hasty to wait, Pictor decided to open his presents. "Nimbus 2017!" he cried as loud as he could.

Draco and Hermione's heads flew in Lucius's direction. The old man shrugged at them impassively. "You said we can only get one present so we did. You don't get to say what sort of present too." he protested.

Pictor wasn't paying attention to the silent conversation running between the adults in the room, he was tearing open the wraps of his other gift.

A hand-crafted painting easel lay at the floor in front of the kneeling Pictor, along with a set of brushes and colors.

"Your father and I charmed the brushes and the colors ourselves." Hermione pointed out.

"You'll be amazed at the sort of paintings you can draw with them." Draco added, provoking his son's curiosity.

"I could look at this easel for days and not get bored." wide-eyed Pictor remarked while his fingers traced the detailed ornaments that decorated the easel.

When it was Scorpius's turn to open his present, he took his time to unwrap it neatly.

"Just tear the wraps!" Pictor urged.

"No." Scorpius insisted.

"Why not?" Lyra asked impatiently.

"Because it would leave a mess, I don't like mess." he explained.

"Lyra, Pictor, let your brother take his time." Hermione ordered.

A huge wooden box that reached till Scorpius's hip was filled with books of all sorts.

"We didn't know what exactly you would like so we chose randomly and hoped for the best." Narcissa explained, searching her grandson's face for a reaction.

"Some of them are new, some of them are from my library." Lucius pointed out.

"I can live in this box!" The amazed expression on Scorpius's face made everybody burst into laughter.

When he reluctantly let go of his new treasure, Scorpius scanned the tree for his other present and found nothing. He looked in confusion at his parents.

"You've been asking for the same thing for..two or three years now." Hermione said.

"At first we thought you were too young for it. But last year and this year you showed a great sense of responsibility both at home and at school." Draco smiled at his son proudly.

"So we decided that you earned it this year. It's outside." Hermione announced.

Without another word, Scorpius ran to the garden followed by his siblings and grandparents.

A black pony was tied to one of the trees in the garden. It had a single white splash on the top of its head that only added perfection to its stark blackness.

"You wanted a horse but we thought a pony to grow up with you was a better idea." Draco said.

"A better idea? More like, the most perfect idea of all ideas!" Scorpius was having one of his few Lyra moments where he jumped up and down happily.

Draco tugged at Hermione's hand and pulled her back into the house. She didn't have to ask where they were going. They entered their room and Draco closed the door behind them.

"I know how much you loved your cuff links. They were lost that day at the Order's house..when your mark...anyway, ever since then I've had the idea of getting you new ones." Hermione said.

"That day at the Order's house, was one of the worst days of my life. The pain was...humiliating to say the least. But if I had to repeat it a dozen times, I won't change a thing about it." Draco admitted.

"How come?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"I danced with you for the first time." Draco held Hermione's hand and spun her around. "You have no idea how beautiful you looked that day, do you?" he murmured, pulling her to him. "And even though I've spent several nights before that one with you, I've never felt closer to you than I did that night." he confessed.

"I could say the same about that night." Hermione agreed, leaning in to kiss Draco.

"So, the present. I've looked for cuff links that would suit you for too long, but non of the ones I found felt like Draco. So...I made you ones." Hermione said.

She bent her head down, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear. She reached for a small box in her pocket and placed it in Draco's hand. Draco opened the box and took out the cuff links. The dragons on the cuff links had so much details that would put his other ones to shame and Draco couldn't help but think of the amount of time Hermione must have spent on making them.

"I'm sure they're not like the old ones but..." Hermione started to say.

"They're perfect. You're perfect." Draco cut her off, unable to tear his eyes away from Hermione's. "Your present is over there." he nodded in the direction of the window.

Hermione saw something covered with a piece of cloth on the table next to the window. She removed the cloth to reveal a silver pot with a beautiful red leafy plant.

"You wanted flowers." Draco reminded her, "It took me some time to get it right but it worked eventually. The flowers in the pot will change with every month. December's flower is Poinsettia. Next month it will be a Carnation, and so on." he explained. "The flowers never die." he pointed out.

"Just like my love to you." Hermione read out loud the words engraved on the pot.

"You were the best chance I've ever had." Draco whispered against Hermione's lips.

"You were the best choice I've ever made." Hermione whispered back.

At that moment, they both knew. That even though they've been through hell and back, and even though they had to maneuver their life through ministry desks, Quidditch pitches and three hectic children, all was fairly well for the Malfoys.