"It was truly amazing Luc! Andi wasn't even surprised. She just hugged me! Oh! And I got to meet Nymphadora and little Teddy! He's so precious, little metamorphmagus. He's so perfect!"
Hermione grinned at Lucius as he took a bite of her eggs, the older wizard returning her smirk with one of his own as his wife continued none the wiser. The pair had returned the night before after a full day at the Burrow. Much like they'd treated Draco, no one but Ron seemed to have an issue with Narcissa's presence, but one pointed look from Molly and Ron kept from the aristocrat. Hermione had spent most of the day as she always would have, dragged out to play referee for the quidditch game, sitting by the fire with Ginny and Tonks, barely sharing Teddy with anyone once she got her hands on him. Narcissa spent the day catching up with her sister and niece and creating a bond with the Weasley matriarch. Molly had even asked for her help in the kitchen, and to everyone but Hermione's surprise, Narcissa jumped at the opportunity.
When they'd floo'd back to the manner, Narcissa broke all decorum and hurried, nearly running, through the hall after bidding Hermione goodnight to find her husband. Hermione had walked into the dining room this morning to find Theo and Lucious listening aptly to Narcissa tell them about the spread Molly had created. She'd sat with a smile and just listened right alongside them, even when Draco came in and seated himself next to Theo, Blaise having left the previous day to spend the remainder of the holiday in Italy with his mother.
Draco had actually frowned as he tried to understand what his own mother was saying, a smile spreading across his handsome face when he realized she was talking about her attempt to knit, much to everyone's delight.
After breakfast, Hermione and Narcissa left arm in arm towards the kitchen, leaving the younger wizards in shock while Lucius just smiled and picked up the Profit.
"What just happened?" Theo laughed, his face joyous and alight.
"That," Lucius chuckled, "is the Narcissa I fell in love with."
The remainder of the day, Narcissa and Hermione holed up in the kitchen baking as much as the house elves would allow. Throughout the day, the men in the manor would randomly check in on them, mainly to steal baked goods. The following day it was similar, but the witches spent the day in Narcissa's greenhouse. By the end of the day the Manor was filled with fresh flowers.
On the morning of the twenty-eighth, Hermione was so nervous she couldn't eat breakfast. Darcey was beside herself, trying to get her to eat something. Hermione finally accepted a scone instead of the eggs and toast Darcey had originally brought her, and the elf disapperated happily. Narcissa was the one who ended up dragging Hermione from the room and ordering her to ensure her bags were packed. Bill and Arthur arrived a half hour later. They were in the parlor making polite conversation with Lucius while Theo and Draco stood off to the side by one of the windows when the two walked into the room.
Arthur gave Hermione a tight hug and then held her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders, "Are you ready?"
Too nervous to talk still, Hermione nodded shakily.
Bill chuckled quietly, "It'll be alright, Mione."
"I know," she replied quietly, "It's just been so long, and I did something reprehensible."
While they all watched, Arthur relinquished Hermione with a paternal kiss on the temple to his eldest son, who immediately wrapped Hermione in an equally brotherly hug. At the window, Theo whistled under his breath, "Is the entire family this close?"
Draco ignored him, but Bill snorted, "We are."
Ears tipping pink, Theo nodded in embarrassment, "Sorry, I thought I was quieter than that."
"It's the lupine hearing," Bill pointed to his face as he moved Hermione to his side, "I just couldn't resist an opportunity to tease you."
At that, even Hermione smirked.
"You're not as uptight as the other older Weasley."
Bill frowned down at Hermione as she laughed under her hand. "He means Percy."
Narcissa gasped, immediately moving to reprimand Theo when Arthur let out a hearty laugh. "He's not wrong," he smiled at Narcissa, "Percy is very..."
"Pretentious, high and mighty, egotistical, power-hungry, arrogant, has a broomstick too far up his-"
"That enough," Hermione laughed, reaching up to cover Bill's mouth.
Arthur only shrugged, "I didn't say it."
The only one in the room not to be affected by the interaction was Draco, who continued to stare mindlessly out the window.
"Well," Lucius started, looking at his pocket watch, "It's nearly time." Putting it away, he took a small trunk from the inner breast pocket of his coat and handed it to his wife, "For you, dear. Enjoy the trip."
That got Draco to look. Hermione gaped at the matriarch.
"Oh, don't look so surprised, dear. You didn't think I'd let you go alone, did you? No offense, gentlemen."
"None was taken," Arthur still smirked, his eldest son nodding beside Hermione.
Hermione's eyes glistened with tears as she left Bill's side and practically threw herself at Narcissa. "Come now, we shouldn't start this trip with so many tears." Still, she wiped Hermione's cheeks and wrapped her arm around hers while also taking her trunk from her husband. In a bit of an awkward stretch, Narcissa gave her husband a polite kiss before leading Hermione to the Weasleys.
"Boys, be good for your father. Be on your best behavior over the holiday, or I will find out, and you will regret it."
Both Draco and Theo looked abashed and echoed, "Yes, mother."
The portkey in Arthur's hand flashed, "It's time."
Hurriedly, Narcissa and Hermione unlinked arms and grabbed a hold of the glowing bottle cap, Bill following suit. Within a few seconds, the room suddenly felt empty as the four of them were gone.
Lucius rocked back on his heels and looked at the boys, "All we can do now is wait."
Theo scoffed, "It already feels wrong. Too much testosterone in this house. How are we supposed to survive a week without them?"
"You're being ridiculous," Draco huffed.
"Am I? We're going to run out of cookies in three days, max!"
Lucius was still laughing as he walked out of the room.
A week later, and true to Theo's prediction, the cookies hadn't lasted three days. The muffins were gone next, followed closely by the tarts and scones. By the end of time, it came for the three of them to reconvene in the parlor and await for their return. They were each a bit impatient to hear how it had gone. Hermione's solemn look when they appeared didn't give them much to go on, so they all just waited patiently as the two women bid goodbyes and thank you to the two Weasleys before they floo'd back to the Burrow.
With a pointed look from Narcissa, Theo shut his mouth that he'd just opened and gave Hermione a big hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her before summoning Darecy and requesting a warm bath for Hermione and insisting she let the elf take her to her rooms instead of walking. When Hermione popped out of the room with Darcey, Narcissa sighed.
"It was successful."
Theo huffed, "Good! You'd think someone passed away with how melancholy you both look."
Giving him a sad smile, Narcissa walked over to her husband and seated herself on the arm of his chair, "I said it was successful, not that there weren't struggles. As it stands, her parents have their memories back, but they feel very betrayed. It took Mister Weasley two days to reverse her spell, and the remaining time was spent essentially refereeing between her and her parents, explaining what happened during the war, and attempting to make amends. Five days isn't long enough to heal betrayal, and that's how her parents feel."
Draco scoffed, "She saved their lives."
Narcissa nodded, "She took them too."
"I'm going to check on her-"
Theo caught Draco's arm, "No, you're not."
Ignoring the parents watching them, Draco threw off Theo's hand. "Theo-"
"No, Drake, leave her alone. Don't do that to her."
"So I just ignore that I saw her tears? That she looked ready to crumble?"
At that, all composure fell from Theo as he closed the distance between them and got in his best mate's face, "Are you forgetting why you didn't go with her? Or Christmas Eve?" he hissed. When Draco only sneered at him, Theo continued, accentuating each word with a poke to the sternum. "Leave. Her. Alone."
"Why don't you mind your fucking business, Theo?" Draco seethed back.
"I might if you hadn't made it my business. And let's be real for one fucking second. You haven't been of the right mind since then, either. Maybe think of her for once and not yourself." Flicking the glass of whiskey Draco was holding, Theo took three steps back and righted himself before leaving the room without a glance back.
Draco snarled after him, slamming his drink on the cabinet on the way out and taking a sharp right where Theo had gone left.
Both stunned by their boy's outbursts, Narcissa and Lucious shared a perplexed look before Narcissa noted just what Draco set down. "Liquor?"
Lucious nodded, "I've noticed it in the evenings, but he's always had a level head and never seemed inebriated." Though she didn't look happy about it, Narcissa nodded and smiled up at her husband as he wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her in closer to plant a kiss on her temple. "I've missed you, darling."
The following morning, Hermione was seated beside Narcissa, looking perfectly normal, like the day before hadn't happened at all. Draco listened as Theo coaxed information out of her, with his mother patting her hand here and there. It had taken two days for the eldest Weasley to undo her spell work. After that it there were a lot of tears and apologies. According to both his mom and Hermione, the tensions rose the day after. They'd been making breakfast together when William, her father, came in and began his inquisition. Apparently, it hadn't helped when Hermione's mother, Jean, joined them and saw Narcissa and Hermione working so comfortably together. That news had the pair of women sharing a sad smile before continuing their tale.
By the end of the trip, though, Narcissa and Jean had become rather friendly and spent most evenings after dinner walking around the neighborhood, leaving Hermione and her father to talk. Hermione was tight-lipped about those conversations, but the blush in her cheeks and flash of disappointment when she brushed off the topic made Draco think they weren't altogether positive.
Hermione politely excused herself after eating, promising Narcissa to meet her for tea later in the evening before dinner, she tweaked Theo's ear as she passed him when he teased her about studying on a holiday.
She didn't know how long she'd been in the library alone before the hair on the back of her neck rose, and she didn't have to look up to know it was at least Draco. A sarcastic quip from Theo told her he had tagged along, too. Draco kept his distance, but Theo unceremoniously dropped to the floor of the coffee table opposite her, letting his potions textbook smack onto the surface with a thud that made Hermione jump. She smirked at him with a small shake of her head and resumed her own reading.
Hours later, Draco was sitting at the large desk in the library surrounded by books, trying to write his potions essay to his godfather's standards. Except he couldn't take his eyes off Hermione, who was curled up with a heavy tome of her own on advanced transfiguration techniques on the couch in front of the fireplace. He and Theo had gone out to look for her after lunch when she didn't make an appearance and found her almost exactly as she was now. Theo had left to get snacks after finishing his essay, and for some reason, Draco couldn't stop staring at her. Whether it was the way the firelight danced off her curls or the flattering wrap dress she'd opted to wear today, he didn't know, and he didn't really care. Not in that moment, in the moment he was content to forget his essay and shamelessly stare. Not that Hermione noticed at all.
They did, though. He glared at him as he made his way over to the desk and set down the plate of cookies he'd stolen from Narcissa in the kitchen.
"Stop it," Theo growled.
"Stop what?" Draco feigned ignorance as he returned to his paper. Theo rolled his eyes, snatching a handful of cookies off the plate and turning back towards his spot by Hermione. "What does it matter to you anyway, Theo? Why does Granger have you in a tizzy?"
Draco had said it in a hushed whisper to ensure Hermione wouldn't hear it, but Theo still looked over his shoulder to check on her before addressing his best mate again, "She has no one but those numpty Gryffindor's and us. She only just got her parents back. Everything she seems to go through ends up being some kind of traumatic experience, including loving your dumbarse. I will always be your brother Drake but," he motioned over his shoulder to the tiny witch bundled on the couch, "I'm her brother now too and when it comes to you or her, I won't pick, but that doesn't mean I'll let you continue to hurt her or make her feel more isolated."
Leaving Draco glowering at him, Theo spun on his heel to rejoin Hermione. He watched as he conjured a couple of napkins and gently tapped Hermione's arm to alert her to his presence again before sliding the cookies toward her and retaking his seat on the floor.
When she smiled at Theo, Draco wanted to throw a hex at his best mate. But he did this. Theo was right to be mad at him. He was right to be a buffer to keep him from hurting her more.
Swallowing his pride, Draco returned to his essay.
Taking the train back to Hogwarts might have been a mistake. The lingering awkwardness as the Malfoy's, sans Lucius, greeted the Weasleys to say goodbyes weighed on Hermione's shoulders. It wasn't lost on her that the bond Narcissa and Molly now had was only because of her and that they were all together now was also because of her. Ron looked fit to burst. His face was so red as he tried to glare a hole into Draco while Draco simply looked at him impassively. Theo was casting smoldering looks at Ginny, making her roll her eyes, and Harry wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. All the while, the two matriarchs of the houses chatted on none the wiser.
Thankfully, Pansy arrived alone in a flurry of robes and fearlessly approached the group.
"Weasley, you look like you're going to have an aneurysm. You should breathe," Theo snorted a laugh. Having caught her attention, Theo quickly shut his mouth, "And you, stop giving Boy Wonder lusty eyes and making Ginerva jealous."
Ginny laughed, leaving Harry's grasp to embrace the black-haired witch. "I missed you, Pans."
Not expecting the physical attention, Pansy blushed high in her cheeks and awkwardly patted Ginny's back, "You too, Red." Glancing at Hermione, she cleared her throat, "Can we get this circus on the road?"
Hermione's eyebrows raised, "That was quite the muggle phrase, Pansy."
Pansy grinned and shrugged, "What can I say, anything to piss off Mother." Quickly looking at Narcissa, she amended, "Not you, Cissa."
Chuckling, Narcissa waved her off and moved away from Molly to say goodbye to her kids while Molly did the same. Working in an odd circle, Molly hugged Ron while Narcissa grabbed Theo and fixed his robes. Then came Harry and Draco, Ginny and Pansy, and finally Hermione. Narcissa let Molly wrap Hermione in a hug first, the act nearly stealing all the air from her lungs before moving back a bit for Narcissa to get her own hugs in.
"Alright, you're smothering her with motherly love," Pansy drawled. Reaching for Hermione, she grabbed her beaded bag and helped extract her from the Malfoy matriarch before Molly could grab her again. Planting quick kisses on each of their cheeks, surprising Molly, she turned without looking back or letting go of Hermione and walked to the train.
Behind them, Hermione could hear the final goodbyes even as they circumvented the crowd to step foot onto the train. With only a few well-placed glares at students that got in their way, she guided them to an empty compartment that might be big enough for their entire ragtag crew. Hermione chose one of the seats near the window, absently listening to Pansy drone on about her mother and the torture it had been.
"I cannot wait until graduation when I can move to the villa and be removed from her."
The others filed in after them. Ginny first, followed by Harry and Ron, then Theo, Daphne, Blaise, Astoria, and Draco. Hermione just watched those on the platform, mentally preparing herself for the semester ahead. By the time the train lurched out of the station, Hermione was deep into her transfiguration text when Luna joined them. She airily greeted everyone, giving Blaise a boop on his nose after he kissed her cheek, making the dark man blush high in his cheeks, and came to sit by Hermione, her chin resting on her shoulder to read over her shoulder.
For the first time all morning, Hermione relaxed. Luna was a beacon of peaceful energy. Hermione shamelessly let it seep into her.