A/N: Hello, everybody! This is the last chapter in Melting Hot Ice. I hope you enjoyed the story :) It's not my best quality, but I've been pleased from the feedback I've gotten on this story so far. If you are still thirsty for Harry Potter fanfictions, read my others. I have a couple one-shots: Opposites Attract (Harry Potter) and Be My Valentine(Ron), a short story: Always Return, and my two other stories: Talk About Forbidden Love! and Emerald Flames (sequel: Blue Ice). That would be fantastic if you could check those out and continue your amazing support for my stories! Thank you so much for all the reviews. They really make me smile :)

Erica's POV

"What?" I screech as I stare blankly at Narcissa's owl. I am stunned that she would put up with all those years of torture for that. In that instant, the gears in my head start turning. I write to Harry Potter and ask him to bring his friends.

They appear in my living room the next day, a week before Christmas, Ginny Weasley holding Harry's arm, Hermione and Ron doing the same.

"What's going on?" Harry asks, urgency in his voice.

"I need your help. We need to conduct a rescue mission."

"Rescuing whom?" As Harry asks, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny glance at each other.

I tell them the names of the persons we must rescue from the Death Eaters, and at the mention of Harry's old enemies, he shuts down. "No," he refuses, "I'm not doing it. I'm sorry Erica."

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't ask you to do it if it wasn't important to me," I plead. I knew it would be hard convincing him, but I knew I had to try. If there was hope I could make everything right again, I would do anything to prove myself.

"What did that sorry excuse for a human being ever do for us?" Ron asks rudely.

"Narcissa lied to the Dark Lord and saved Harry's life," Ginny points out, narrowing her eyes at her older brother. That gives me a small hope that I desperately began to cling to.

"She has a point," Hermione says quietly.

"But that doesn't excuse-"

"Please!" I cry, cutting Ron off. "I need you! I need you all. You know what it's like facing them, and they're even weaker now because there is no Dark Lord to rule them. They're just a group looking for a master to serve right now. It'll be a lot easier than last time. Please, Harry, I'm asking this of you because you're the only one who can stand against them. It's important...and if we do this...maybe I can make things right."

The entire room turns to Harry to see his reaction. His jaw clenches and unclenches. The whirlwind in his mind is almost tangible in the air as he thinks through what could come out of this mission. There is complete silence when he makes his announcement.

"Fine, I'll do it."

End Erica's POV

The past year has been just as empty as it was ever since Draco stayed behind to fight of the Death eaters. I've reached rock bottom and started to dig. However, that doesn't mean that I neglected my children. I provide for them as best I can. Draco and I still cry from time to time, and it really hurts us that Celeste, who was born in may, never knew she had a father.

Right now, it's Christmas Day. It's 6:08 and I'm sitting in my rocking chair with a warm cup of cocoa. The sweet smell envelopes me, trying desperately to calm my senses, but I'm remembering what Scorpius wrote in his Christmas letter.

"Dear Santa, I don't know what I want for Christmas this year. I had a terrible loss last year, and I guess I'll say it again. Forget all the presents under the tree and just please let me have my daddy back. - Scorpy."

A tear comes to my eye from his great love for his father. I think about it until Celeste starts crying around 10. After taking her out of her crib, I wake Scorpy up. He opens box after box curiously, but with little vigor. I still think of his letter as Celeste and Scorpius play with their new toys. Sharing his same desire, I whisper it to myself, hoping that somehow, someway, he'll come back to me: "All I want for Christmas is you, Draco."

At that moment, I hear a knock on the door. I walk over to the door as the kids eye me up curiously. Fear swells in the pit of my stomach. I grasp the knob, colder than usual in contrast to the warm cup I was holding.

I open it to reveal Erica.

"Special delivery for Collette Sim- I mean, Malfoy," she greets. I open my mouth to object, when, out of nowhere, Draco appears from behind her. His robes are tattered, his face is bruised, his hair is greasy and dirty, it looks like he hasn't slept since the night he chose to stay behind, and he smells awful, but he still manages to have a gleeful glow in his eyes and a bright smile on his face.

"Oh, my God! Draco!" Despite the smell, I fling myself into his arms. "It's actually you!" I hold him at arm's length, looking him up and down and feeling his arms grasped in my hands. "I can't believe it!"

"It's really me. Don't worry. I will never leave you again." He hugs me hard against his chest, like me, never wanting to let go. Tears roll down my cheeks and further stain his clothes. He hears my quiet sobs and pulls away. "Are you crying? Aren't you glad to see me?" he teases.

I smile. "Ecstatic."

"What have I missed?"

"Your son just turned ten in August, and you have an eight month old daughter."

We are interrupted by the curious, awestruck boy. "D-dad? Is that really you?" A spark of recognition lights up his eyes, quickly followed by tears. He runs towards us and hugs us with such force that Draco oomph's on impact.

"Oh! What am I doing?" I chide myself, realizing I had forgotten myself and my manners. "Come in, come in. We'll all catch a cold. Draco, go get cleaned up, and I'll make more hot chocolate. In the meantime, I'll question Erica about how they got me the perfect present for Christmas. It was exactly what I wanted." I smile at my best friend. When he is upstairs, I immediately vocalize all the impossible questions swirling vehemently through my head. "How did you-?"

"I'm a genius."

"How is he-?

"Alive?" she finishes for me. "I heard from Narcissa last week that Draco was never dead. They took him for interrogations. The Death Eaters burnt the house down, hoping you were in it."

"But Scorp-"

"They knew. They wanted Draco to suffer, though. I quickly came up with a plan and asked Harry to help. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron tagged along, too. Yesterday, I led them into an attack on the Death Eaters to break Narcissa and Draco out of there. They put up a good fight, though we were out numbered. It lasted through the night. By three o' clock in the morning, the remaining Death Eaters surrendered. Draco killed his father, though. Quite tragic, really. He brushed it off like it was nothing, saying that he treated Draco like shit all his life, and it was about time he got what he deserved. Narcissa and I insisted that Draco should rest after all those hours of fighting and all that torturing - Can you believe going through that for an entire year? - but he insisted on seeing you. He was very stubborn, so we came straight away."

My jaw was dropped the entire time, partly in awe that, by some miracle, Draco had been alive the whole time, and partly, "Man, can you talk!" Erica feigned modestness, but it didn't succeed. "I'm happy for everybody. No one on our side was killed? Even though the odds were astronomical?"

"Not one life was lost," Erica said with a boastful smile.

"That's terrific, but now this is just another thing that you've done for me. I wish I could repay you somehow. I am forever in your debt."

"Just think of this as a Christmas present."

This Christmas was definitely the best.

The END! Thanks again everybody for your wonderful, much appreciated support! :)