Feliz día de los Muertos!

Sunday, November 2, 1998

Blaise had left that morning, not wanting to cause a fuss in Society by not being with his Mother when she greeted guests. Ginny, who'd managed to avoid Blaise for almost the entire time she was home, dragged Hermione into her room.

"Hermione," Ginny groaned, "he's everywhere."

Hermione stared at Ginny. "Who's everywhere?"

"Blaise," Ginny said, flopping back onto her bed. "I thought I could just pretend that everything was normal, but he's so himself."

"Is this an advice, vent, or talk you down type of conversation?" Hermione asked, laying down next to Ginny.

"Talk me down," Ginny said after a few seconds of thinking.

"You need to be a teenager for a while longer," Hermione said. "It's actually the thing about you that I'm most jealous of. You get to be a regular teenager. I love Theo and Draco more than anything, but I never got to be normal. I had to be everything for everyone and now I'm going to be a Mum."

Ginny had turned to look at her. So Hermione continued, staring at the ceiling. "I couldn't be more excited, but I didn't think I'd be a Mum at 19, let alone planning to have a second, planned baby when I'm 20. So kiss boys and girls and anyone else your heart desires and be young and if Blaise and you are meant to be then you're meant to be. Or maybe he's just supposed to be your first love that you look back on with fondness."

"You're going to be a good Mum, Mi," Ginny sighed, wrapping her arm around Hermione's torso. "I'm jealous that Scorp gets to have you and I had to have Molly."

"Molly has her good traits…" Hermione trailed off, holding in a snort.

"Name three," Ginny deadpanned.

"She's very loud. You never have to wonder where she is?" Hermione said laughing. "That's all I've got…"

She loved her dress. She grinned at herself in the mirror in the Floo parlour. She spun and watched as the faux Papel Picado flapped. She'd had to have her mother's help getting dressed as her stomach was beginning to be unwieldy. She knew she'd be making an impact on the entirety of the party, who were used to much more formal robes.

When they arrived at the Mansao, Hermione and Jean gasped. It was like a Street Festival. There were dancers and acrobats. There were bonfires and marigolds everywhere. There were food vendors and all sorts of trinkets. Theo, Draco, and Ginny looked overwhelmed.

"Haven't you two been to one of these before?" Richard teased his sons-in-law.

"Not since we were ten," Draco said, blinking wildly at the sights.

Hermione snorted. "My god, you two are going to be in shock when we take you to Martinique."

Jean joined her in the laughter and dragged Ginny towards the dancing. "I've heard you're a dancer, let's learn some dances."

Ginny and Jean disappeared into the crowd. Richard stopped to view a whole exhibit of miniatures. Hermione found herself walking between her husbands whose heads were swivelling back and forth. She chuckled at their faces.

Finally, Blaise and his mother found them. "Hello! Glad to see you made it. We saw your mother and Ginevra dancing. Have you lost your father?" Blaise asked with a chuckle.

"You and I both know that he's talking the ear off of the man at the miniatures booth," Hermione rolled her eyes playfully.

"We appreciate you inviting us," Theo said formally to Madame Zabini.

Her face twitched slightly. "You're family, of course we'd have you," she said, a little pleadingly.

"I have become rather fond of your son," Hermione replied, diplomatically.

Madame Zabini took the low hanging fruit that was offered. "He's told me so much about your family. I can't help but be curious about the overlap of our celebrations. I have made sure to hire a chef from Martinique. You'll have to tell me how their food ranks?"

"Unfortunately fish isn't settling very well at the moment, so I'll have to have my mama try them all," Hermione replied with a laugh, laying her hand on her stomach.

"I have to say, I'm enamoured with your dress, Lady Malfoy Nott. I have never seen anything like it before," she continued. Theo, Blaise, and Draco had started a side conversation about the different members of the Wizengamot they'd seen. Hermione mentally rolled her eyes, of course she was stuck talking about bloody fashion.

"Yes, we got specialty fabric and had our outfits all specially designed, my mama had all the ideas, she's much more adventurous when it comes to fashion than most of the women her age I've met here in Britain."

"Ah yes, that was quite a transition for me as well. Jacinta, Theo's mother and I talked about it ad nauseum," Madame Zabini said with a small chuckle.

"Oh yes, I was able to meet her on Thursday, I do hope she'll make an appearance tonight. From all Theo's told me, she would have loved this whole thing," Hermione said, looking out into the crowd.

"She would," Madame Zabini said quietly. Seconds later she and Blaise were pulled away into another conversation.

Hermione walked with Draco and Theo until the sun began to set. They found Richard, Jean, and Ginny and moved towards the ofrenda (altar) that had been set up in the centre of the gathering. There were hundreds of photos and small portraits all over the table.

All of the attendees were gathered around the large ofrenda and waited. Suddenly, their loved ones began appearing all around them. The party quadrupled in size as the spirits joined the festivities. Jacinta pulled Jean into a spinning dance laughing loudly. There were ancestors that Hermione didn't know the names of all around them. It was truly Magical.

They partied late into the night. Right before the sun peeked over the horizon, Hermione saw Theo standing to the side with his mum. Hermione leaned her head on Draco's shoulder fighting off the sleep that was begging to come. Finally, the entire Granger-Malfoy-Nott clan made their way back to Mitternacht.

As they collapsed into bed, Draco asked. "What did she say to you?"

"She said she was so proud of the man I'd become and she can't wait to see all that we accomplish in our lives," Theo said, tears leaking from his eyes.

"She's right, you know," Hermione said, wiping a tear away.

"I know, I'm just so glad that I got to see her… She reminded me to celebrate my heritage and history. Even the bad has led to such amazing things."

Have you seen the movie Coco? That's lowkey what I pictured the festivities to look like (YES I AM AWARE COCO WAS IN MEXICO). Lots of colour and celebrating those who have passed away. I love the idea of us being able to celebrate and talk about those who have passed before us. And I ADORE the idea that they can talk to us again, even for a short while.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think or if you have any thoughts about what might happen next!

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