Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the songs used in this fic.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been so long but I'm back to working on this story and hopefully finishing it soon! You guys are the best, and you make fics worth writing.

Hermione stared out the window, absentmindedly twirling the bracelet on her wrist. She was supposed to have tea alone with Narcissa later, which was frightening by itself. But with the added threat of her finding out Hermione had been to see her husband, it was nothing short of terrifying.

"Hermione?" Angelina questioned her.

She had invited Angelina to help her plan Ginny's party, along with Ginny herself, so that it wouldn't be boring. She had changed a l0t from the war, but she wasn't great at planning parties.

"Hmm?" She responded.

"How about the Three Broomsticks?" Angelina suggested.

"Ugh. My party is going to be lame. Why'd I have to be pregnant before my wedding?" Ginny groaned dramatically from the couch.

Hermione chuckled, watching Angelina out of the corner of her eye. The other witch grimaced slightly in empathy when she thought Hermione wasn't looking.

"How about Midnight Blue?" Hermione suggested. "It's formal and cool, and you can party but it's not hardcore and exhausting like most night clubs."

Ginny perked up at the suggestion. "That place is crazy hard to get into, we'd need an invite."

"Draco can get us in." Hermione commented nonchalantly.

Ginny squealed and hugged her tightly. "Thanks Mione! You're the best!"

Hermione just smiled and hugged her back. "We'll have it in six days, the same time as Harry's bachelor party?"

"Yes." Ginny nodded her assent.

"You can rent out individual rooms there, which we'll need." Angelina added. Hermione shot her a confused look.

"For the…entertainment." She grinned. Hermione blushed bright red but nodded and added it to her list.

"Okay I think that's everything. I'll ask Draco to contact them tonight and then I'll tell them everything they need to set up. But right now, I get to go visit Draco's mother."

They grimaced. "Good luck." Ginny told her.

Hermione apparated back to her flat and changed into some acceptable clothes as she attempted to smooth her hair into something manageable. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked fine, but she was nervous. She hoped that this visit would go as well as the last one had. She took a breath and stepped into the floo, shouting "Malfoy manor!" Before spinning out of sight.

She brushed some soot off of her and straightened up to find Narcissa standing in front of her.

"Afternoon Narcissa." She greeted pleasantly.

"Hermione." She replied. "I thought I would come and get you so you wouldn't have to try and find me."

Hermione wondered at the insinuations behind her words but decided to take it as a nice gesture.

"Thank you." She smiled easily. Well it looked easy, at least. Inside she was a bundle of nerves. Narcissa took her a different route than the way Draco had taken her and for a second her mind flashed to the thought of the dungeon. She mentally chided herself.

She had no reason to believe Draco's mother was evil. She had been nothing but nice to her when they had met. Intimidating and searching, yes. But she had been genuinely kind when she had seen the affection Hermione and Draco had for each other. And she had apologized for her own views and Hermione's torture.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't notice when Narcissa stopped them in front of the peacock enclosure that had been the old drawing room. She couldn't feel the dark magic in the room anymore.

"Thank you for asking Miss Lovegood to come and infuse light magic into the house. I feel much better living here now. Even with the remodelling I could always feel the evilness in the rooms." She said softly.

"You're very welcome. Luna's amazing at this stuff and having dark magic, especially magic that triggers hard memories is a terrible way to live."

The two witches stood in silence for a few moments, watching the peacocks.

"Lucius loved these birds, which amused me to no end. Everyone thought that he had them to show off his wealth, and because they were such arrogant-looking birds that it suited him. But truly, he cared for them. All of them except that one there", she pointed at a slight female, "hates me. It amused Lucius to no end."

Hermione couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips, the peacock greatly resembled Narcissa. She couldn't help the unease that crept over her. Narcissa didn't just talk about things for no reason, or so she thought from her limited experiences with the woman.

"Her name is Peach. She was Lucius' favourite too. I visit him once a month, but you already know that don't you?"

Hermione's eyes snapped to the older witch's in alarm. Narcissa smiled softly in understanding.

"It's alright. You're curious. And you want to fix every part of Draco. You want Lucius to love him."

Hermione stayed silent. She had learned that doing so tended to make even the most stubborn, closed off people, open up.

"Be careful Hermione. Lucius does care for Draco, but it has been twisted by his own mind and years in Azkaban. Even before prison, he cared little for his son. And Draco abhors the man. But there is still an echo of the little boy who wants nothing more than for his father to love and want him. They have poisoned each other so thoroughly I do not believe a relationship is possible between them anymore." Narcissa's eyes spoke of heartbreak and regret.

"I don't know what to do. I didn't really mean for it to get this far, and I don't want to hurt Draco. But I do think that he should see his father, only for closure. For Draco to say the things he needs to say. Not for Lucius." She responded honestly. "And, well, I'm curious."

Narcissa smiled wryly. "What do you want to know?"

Hermione breathed out in relief. She never imagined this going well. "Anything you feel like telling me." She figured this was the easiest and most polite way to get all of the information she could out of the Slytherin.

"Well, we weren't in love when we were betrothed, but we certainly found each other attractive. We were just kids. Eventually, we fell in love. Before we got married, he joined the death eaters and it changed him. War tends to do that to people. But it changed him in a bad way. He was colder, more distant, harder to love. We had Draco and he was ecstatic and I thought that he would fix things." She smiled wryly.

"But he was only excited he had an heir to this madness. And then Voldemort was defeated and he mostly came back to who he was, but for some reason Draco triggered his madness. I suspect it had something to do with his own father. And then he became a weaker version of both his selves and it was easier to love him, but he completely damaged his relationship with Draco and forced him to become a Death Eater."

"I was just wondering, why did he become a Death Eater in the first place?"

Narcissa smiled but it was completely devoid of any type of humour. It was one of a past that Hermione could know nothing about, filled with a sadness and a hardness she could never hope to understand.

"You have no idea what it's like to be a Slytherin, and even less of an idea what it was like to be at Hogwarts back then. If you were a Slytherin of any kind, but especially a pureblood, not joining the Death Eaters was tantamount to treachery. You were only spared if you were a woman or were powerful enough to refuse or withstand torture. You joined them or died. A few escaped or were merciful enough to simply be tortured and let go. Not to mention the pressures on you from your parents. His father was even worse than he was, something he seemed to have forgotten when he had a son of his own."

"I can't tell Draco I've seen him." It's half a question.

"That's for you to decide." Narcissa responded softly. "But I won't say a word. I swear on my magic."

"Why?" Hermione couldn't help the question from slipping between her lips.

"He would not be happy that I am visiting my husband."

"Why are you?" Hermione decided to completely throw caution to the wind. Narcissa smiled a faraway smile, eyes looking past her to something she couldn't see.

"Because I love him. Despite everything. Because he has become broken, which isn't great but he is no longer mean and I promised to be there for him always. Through the best times and the worst."

"Did he ever hit Draco?" Hermione restrained herself from adding, or you. Narcissa seemed to read between the lines.

"He never ever physical hurt me or Draco. I would not allow it." A look appeared in her eye and Hermione found her scary for the first time. Narcissa was a formidable witch. She had always known that, but she had never really experienced it. She decided not to question her any further.

"Thank you Narcissa." She met the other witch's eyes and noted that they looked exactly like Draco's. "Everyone thinks Draco looks like a carbon copy of his father but that's not true. He has your eyes, not Lucius'."

Narcissa smiled warmly at her and they began to talk about everything and yet nothing at all. It was nice, and Hermione found herself completely trusting the Malfoy matriarch.

O-o-O

Draco was astounded. He had just talked to his mother and she had never liked a person, himself aside, as much as she appeared to like Hermione. He apparated to Hermione's flat, intending to talk to her about it. Whatever she had said had won over his mother. A feat that he had believed to be impossible. Especially with his mother's history of hating people of Hermione's blood. He wrinkled his nose and then smiled internally. He was proud of his disgust at the notion. He'd come a long way since the war. Hell, he'd come a long way since dating Hermione.

He paused as her flat came into sight. She had left the blinds open but she was dancing around her living room as if they were closed. Her hair was in the messiest bun he'd ever seen and she was wearing track pants and a baggy Gryffindor t-shirt.

He smiled softly as he stared at her, feeling too many things. He hummed a tune without realizing and the curse almost immediately reacted. He saw her feel it too and realized her had never seen her while this was happening. She looked puzzled and curious, a smile still on her lips. Draco opened his mouth and began to sing.

"There's a vision I've been holding in my mind, we're 65 and you ask when did I first know I always knew. Yeah I see us in black and white, crystal clear on a star lit night, in all your gorgeous colours. I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life. See you standing in your dress, swear in front of all our friends there'll never be another. I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life."

He swallowed, shocked by the words he had just sang. Hermione's eyes widened but she was smiling softly too, a look in her eyes he'd never seen. She opened her mouth and closed her eyes to continue the song. The smile never left her face.

"I see us in black and white, crystal clear on a star lit night, there'll never be another, I promise that I'll love ya."

He felt his own mouth open to finish the song off. At that moment, she turned and her eyes held his through the glass.

"There'll never be another, I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life."

She threw open the door and he pulled her to him instantly, the kiss was more passionate than any kiss he'd ever had, her included. Needless to say, they didn't get a lot of sleep that night.