Second Chances (Christmas Dramione)

2

Hermione was running around her flat, trying to get ready to spend the holidays at the Manor with Narcissa and Draco. She knew that Narcissa wasn't the same person as she once was, that it was the Imperius curse that caused her to participate in all of those cruel things, but it didn't change the fact that Hermione was still meeting the same person. Thoughts of whether Narcissa had truly changed kept crawling back into her mind uninvited, and it was driving her crazy. Draco was different, so why couldn't his mother be as well?

"Hermione," Draco started, as he was lounging on her couch, "that's the third dress you've tried on. My mother is not going to care if you wear stripes, polka dots, or stars. You look beautiful in all three. Hell, you could wear a paper bag and you'd look prettier than any other person on the street."

Hermione was in her room putting together a dufflebag and paused as she took in Draco's words. "Which one do you think I should wear today?" She yelled.

Draco sighed and chuckled. "I don't know....the polka dots." He really didn't care which one she wore because she looked gorgeous in everything.

Hermione popped her head out of her room to look at him. "Polka dots?...You know, I'll just bring all three, just in case. Yeah."

Draco stood up and walked into her room. "You know...we have things at the Manor, too. You don't have to bring half your flat in this thing." He picked it up, and even though the bag looked small, it was just like the purple one that Hermione used to use. You could hear heavy things hitting each other inside when he moved it back and forth.

"Oh, alright," Hermione relented, and grabbed the bag from Draco. "Let's go."

Hermione and Draco Disapparated from her flat over to a point close to the Manor, and Hermione's stomach clenched.

Draco took her hand. "Let's go celebrate, shall we?"

He opened the front door, and Hermione could not have been more surprised. First off, the Manor was no longer dark and bleak, like the lights had all been shattered. Now it was full of light, and all four of the fireplaces on the ground floor were lit, radiating heat throughout the once freezing house. There were three Christmas trees, each as tall as the ceiling, and who was hovering on a toy broom decorating one of those trees? Why, Theodore Nott, of course. He was holding an ornament that appeared to be a pair of round glasses which looked exactly like Harry Potter's. When Draco and Hermione walked in, Theo gasped and flew down to the floor.

"Draco, my love!" He exclaimed, kissing him on each cheek, which Draco immediately wiped off. "And Hermione!" He did the same, but she giggled. "You're finally here! Hey, do you like the decorations? I'm almost done with this tree."

"Are those Potter's glasses?" Draco pointed to the ornament in Theo's hands and smirked.

"Oh, no. Well, yes. See, after the war, I found a store that sort-of worships Harry now, and, well, I just could not pass up on these!"

Draco and Hermione stared at the miniature version of Harry's glasses and burst out laughing.

"What am I hearing about you calling someone else your love?" Harry asked, walking into the room. He was carrying a mug of hot chocolate and wearing a classic Weasley sweater. When he got to the entryway, he smiled. "Oh, hey Hermione! Hi, Malfoy."

Hermione ran over and hugged Harry. She was still shocked at all of this. Draco had not told her that her friends would be here, too.

"Hey, what about me?" Theo complained.

"I had to save the best hug for last, Theo," Hermione said. "You should know that."

Theo nodded as she hugged him. "Yes, that's very true. It is quite an honor to hug me."

Draco looked around the room. "Hey, where's my mum?"

"Oh, she's in the kitchen," Harry pointed. "She insisted on baking something, which frankly I'm still finding hard to get used to, but I didn't want to stop her."

Draco dragged Hermione with him to the kitchen so they could see Narcissa. When they walked into the pristine, black granite kitchen, they saw her stirring something in a bowl, a smile on her face. It was just about the weirdest thing Hermione had ever seen, and she had seen a lot.

"Mother!" Draco exclaimed and ran over to hug her. "I want you to meet..." And he gestured to Hermione who was hovering in the doorway, hesitant.

When Narcissa saw Hermione, all was silent in the kitchen. She walked over and stood in front of her, tears filling her eyes. "Miss Granger, I cannot expect you to forgive me for my actions and the hurt I have caused you over the years. I know I cannot justify it, as even though my husband was using the Imperius curse on me, I still was the one who did those things-"

Hermione was listening to this and realized that it was ridiculous! Narcissa was in no way responsible for what she had done, just as Draco wasn't either. She could justify it completely!

She shook her head as Narcissa tried to blame herself for what Lucius had done. "No, no, no, Narcissa, stop. You are not at fault here. Please stop blaming yourself. Can we please just start over?"

The woman teared up again and embraced Hermione in a tight hug. "Please, let's."