Draco Malfoy and the Seven

Amortentia

April 11th

Hermione's POV

Sitting in a tufted high back chair sipping her steaming cup of tea, Hermione tries to reconcile the sight before her with what she knows about Narcissa Malfoy. A pureblooded, high-born lady with well-known Sacred Twenty-Eight beliefs, well respected in the wizarding community even after the war and following trials. The woman sitting before her, still wearing the current fashion in robes, was the exact opposite of what Hermione had expected.

"Stop with your stories, Evie, or you'll scare Hermione away. She's hardly been here a half hour, and here you are, divulging all of my secrets." Narcissa teasingly chided the tiny house elf sat across from her in full teatime fashion. Evie wore a soft pink dress with sparkling flowers decorating each shoulder and a slightly cinched waist with a pastel pink bow before flowing into layer upon layer of shimmering pink tool that ended at her knees.

"Forgive me for asking, and please don't take this the wrong way, but how did this happen?" Hermione asks as she gestures between woman and elf, unable to withhold even an ounce of her curiosity any longer. "Draco said your family no longer keeps house elves."

Narcissa lets out a tinkling laugh and smiles broadly before responding. "That is correct. Neither the house of Black nor Malfoy 'keeps' house elves. Evie is my friend, and we share this house." At Hermione's look of astonishment, she continues. "After everything that happened during the war and some things before, I found myself craving more genuine connections in my life. All of my old 'friends' still vied for my attention, and I still received invitations for the season's most anticipated events. However, I found that none of it mattered anymore, and none truly mattered before. It was a beautiful ruse designed to disguise the hideous truth we all flaunted as perceived power and happiness." Narcissa's gray eyes held hers, waiting for Hermione to ask her question.

"And what truth is that?" She can't help but meet Narcissa's challenge.

"There is no such thing as blood purity, of course."

"Not that I am arguing, but what brought you to that conclusion?" Hermione found her curiosity growing the further they dove into the conversation. House elves and suppressed magical creatures alike had always been sensitive subjects to her. She felt a kinship with them within the magical community. Being looked as you were lesser for no real reason but for what was in your heritage left a real mark on her psyche.

"You did Hermione. Well, not only you, but you were the catalyst.", Narcissa paused for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts before continuing. "I hate to bring up painful memories for either of us, but I think it is needed, at least once. I have many regrets in my life, but my greatest will always be standing by while I let my sister torture you in my own home. You were all children, and I stood by while Draco was forced to take the mark, while countless others were tortured, and as the muggle saying goes, you were the straw that broke the camel's back. I cannot express the regret I feel for not only my part in the war but Lucious's as well." Narcissa pauses before releasing a trembling breath. "Do you believe there is any chance for us to heal from this?" Hermione takes in the mixture of sincerity and regret radiating off of the witch before her, only pausing for a moment before pulling one of Narcissa's hands into her own, finding herself surprised to feel the slight roughness on her palms.

"I forgave you a long time ago. I know that if you or Draco had done anything to try and help us, you'd have ended up beside me on that parlor floor." Gray eyes shine back at her with unshed tears and a watery smile.

"You are too good for this world, Hermione." The warmth now radiating off of Narcissa is everything she has craved from her mother for years. It reminds her of when she could openly talk to her parents about anything before everything changed.