Only Ash Remains

Chapter 20: Epilogue

Two years later, the Malfoys were still living at Grimmauld Place with Harry.

To Harry's delight, the issue of the Quibbler with Luna's article vastly outsold the corresponding Prophet with  Skeeter's exclusive. He felt a stab of satisfaction at the thought that  maybe Skeeter didn't know what the public wanted as much as she thought  she did.

The article kicked off a wave of public condemnation of the vigilante  killings and a rising tide of sympathy for reformed Death Eaters and  their relatives.

Hermione, encouraged by Harry and Lucius' success with Merriweather,  had thrown herself tirelessly into the fight to take down the others  like him in the Ministry. She'd also thrown herself headlong into  researching the bond spell she'd helped design and petitioning the  Wizengamot to get it banned from use.

Eventually she'd succeeded in convincing the Wizengamot. She'd also  successfully had the Malfoys' punishment downgraded to ordinary  house-arrest. Kingsley had then removed the bond linking Lucius and  Harry, adding express permission for Lucius to accompany Harry outside  the wards whenever Harry asked. He thought they could convince the  Wizengamot to relent and allow the others the same privilege once a bit  more time had passed.

Kingsley had offered the Malfoys another place to stay, but they'd  asked to remain at Grimmauld Place, as it had become home to them.

Harry had agreed. He'd known he didn't like living alone, and he'd  quickly become unable to imagine living in a house without the Malfoys.

Hermione and Ron had grumbled at first, but they had been pleased,  too. They'd all been much more comfortable in the house since Narcissa  had begun improving it. They'd soon be moving into their own home, and  Harry knew they felt much better about the decision since they knew he  would be in good company.

Ginny had, with Pansy's urging, finally taken the time to get to know  the Malfoys; the two of them were now regular dinner guests at  Grimmauld Place. They were working to bring the rest of her family  around to the idea that the Malfoys were in Harry's life to stay.

Ron transfigured a Muggle lawn flamingo into a peacock and presented  it to Lucius on the first anniversary of their moving in with Harry as a  gesture of goodwill. Malfoy groaned and buried his face in Harry's  shoulder. "Oh, god," he said, "no peacocks!"

Everyone laughed. It quickly became a tradition among their circle of  friends to give Lucius peacock-themed yard decor for every holiday.  Neville even took it upon himself to breed a plant variety especially  for him that mimicked a peacock tail, with variegated blue flowers and  long, draping vines.

Lucius loved it. Malfoy insisted vehemently that he did not, and that  the plant mortally offended him. Narcissa refused to choose a side,  though her mouth curved up in a suppressed smile and her eyes twinkled  with mirth.

The plant was installed in a place of pride in the centre of the garden.

Harry loved it all, he thought later, sprawled on a picnic blanket  with Malfoy: the laughter, the arguments, the family. Narcissa and  Lucius sat close together on the garden bench, Lucius' cane propped  beside them. Hermione sat on her own picnic blanket, reading a book; Ron  lay beside her, tossing grapes in the air and attempting to catch them  in his mouth. Harry's hand found Malfoy's and he squeezed it warmly,  elated to finally feel like he had a future.

~The End~

PS - Go give some love to Saulaie - the fabulous artist who created the four drawings to illustrate this story. Her tumblr is here: https://saulaie.tumblr.com/