Apology

Three days had passed since the trial. Hermione stood outside Draco Malfoy's house. She hesitated. Why was this so hard? She had known she would have to face this eventually. Even before the trial began. She took a deep breath, raised her shoulders, and braced herself. Then she knocked on the door. Draco Malfoy opened it.

"Hello, Draco. May I come in? I promise I won't shout this time."

"Certainly, Minister. May I offer you a drink?" Draco asked as he let her in.

"No, thank you. I am here to speak to my daughter and your son," Hermione said.

"Of course. I just thought a drink first might help calm your nerves," Draco suggested.

"Am I that obvious?" Hermione asked, chagrined.

Draco laughed. "Not even the mighty Hermione Granger can admit she was wrong without being a bit nervous. But at least you are here. Believe me, the longer you had waited, the worse it would have been."

"I presume she was here the whole time? I suspected as much, but I didn't really want to find her. I didn't want another argument. Thank you for taking her in."

"She didn't want another argument either. That is why she stayed here. Besides, it gave the two of us a chance to get to know each other. She really is a remarkable young woman. Determined, stubborn, but also smart. I suppose she takes after her mother."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose she does."

"I'll go tell them you are here. Do you want to meet with both at once, or one at the time?" Draco asked.

"Both, please," Hermione said, "Might as well get it over with."

Rose and Scorpius had been waiting upstairs ever since seeing her at the door, and they felt a bit nervous too.

"Are you ready?" Scorpius asked.

"I suppose," Rose replied. "We shouldn't be the ones that are nervous."

"Last time I was face to face with her, I was in your grandmother's kitchen, and she looked like she was afraid I would try and kill her again. And before that, she stood right there and promised me she would make me pay for everything that had happened to you. So, yes, I am a little nervous."

"I should look forward to it. I have never seen Mother having to admit fault before." Rose was trying to cheer herself up.

"If that is what she is here for. She could have come to say that she still thinks I am a horrible person and try to take you away with her again," Scorpius reminded her.

"I doubt that. Not with the demeanour she showed when she entered," Rose said.

"I don't think that either. Not anymore," Scorpius admitted. "Anyway, let's go down."

They walked down the stairs hand in hand. Hermione was waiting in the living room. They all just looked at each other for a few minutes. Eventually Rose said something.

"Hello mother. It's good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too, Rose," Hermione said, sounding a little relieved. "I have missed you. And I'm sorry. I know you may not believe me, but I knew that I was wrong long before the trial happened. I hope you can forgive me for not believing in you."

"I am not really the one you need to apologise to," Rose replied coldly.

That was not exactly what I meant to say, Hermione thought. She really wasn't very good at this. She had to try to salvage this situation, if she ever wanted to have her family back.

"I know. I owe you both an apology. Well, I owe you a lot more than that, but an apology is at least a start." Hermione looked at Scorpius for the first time since they had entered. Surprisingly, she didn't see any hostility in his eyes. "I am sorry for arresting you. It was an extremely poor repayment for saving my life. And the life of my daughter. I really don't have a good excuse. It seems I have a harder time seeing past my prejudices than I thought. I was arrogant and stubborn, and refused to acknowledge I was wrong. I hope you can eventually forgive me."

They just stood like that for several more minutes. The silence stretched on as neither Rose nor Hermione seemed to want to be the one to speak first. Eventually, Scorpius realised it had to be up to him.

"Well, I for one thank you for coming here, Madam Minister. I don't want to be the cause of a major split in the Weasley family. As for forgiveness, I can understand some of your reaction. Knowing how I felt that night, I can only imagine that you felt worse. It would have been easier for us all if we did not have to relive that night in a courtroom, but at least that is now over and done with.

I just want you to know this. I love your daughter. And, for some reason I cannot yet explain, she seems to love me. All I wish for now is that you don't stand in the way of that. Now, how about we all sit down."

"Thank you. But please, call me Hermione. And I have one more thing to thank you for. I noticed that you didn't elaborate on what happened when you arrived at the Burrow with me on that night. Thank you for not taking that chance to get back at me for arresting you. I have never done anything like that before. It was a completely irrational action, and I regret it.

As for you two, it has become more and more clear to me that you do indeed love each other. I tried to tell myself that it was only an act you put up to annoy me, or simply misplaced gratitude from Rose's side. But I have known for some time that I was wrong."

"I didn't mention the beating because it wouldn't make a big difference in my case, but it could hurt you a lot more. I think all three of us, Rose, Albus, and myself, wanted to come out of this with me free and you still in your position. Your reaction was understandable. You were worried about your daughter, and you nearly died. By my hand," Scorpius reassured her.

"I nearly died because of Voldemort. We need to remember that. We are quick to blame each other, but at the bottom of this is a man who has been dead for about 25 years. I just hope that this was the last of them."

"I think some evil will always exist. But hopefully not all of them need to be as bad as Lord Voldemort," Scorpius said.

"We keep thinking we have seen the worst. But each new evil will always try to overdo the last," Hermione said sadly.

"Oh, will the two of you stop with your philosophical rhetoric. I am not in the mood," Rose interrupted.

Scorpius and Hermione both turned to her and smiled. At that moment, Draco deemed it safe to enter the room again.

"An owl just came. It is to you Scorpius, from Molly Weasley."

"To me?" Scorpius asked, surprised, as he took the letter. Then he smiled.

"We are all invited to a gathering at her house on Sunday. Everyone is welcome." He looked up at his father. "Especially you, Dad."

"Me? Why?" Draco asked, surprised.

"I think it has to do with your son being a soon-to-be member of the family." Hermione said with a smile. "I hope you will come. It is rude to refuse an invitation like that."

"A chance to experience the famous cuisine of Molly Weasley? No one can refuse an invitation to that. I will be there," Draco stated.

"So will I," Scorpius added. "I have tasted her food once, but once is not enough."

"You can never get enough of Grandma's cooking," Rose said, beaming. Everything was coming together just as she had hoped.

"You are not a bad cook yourself Rose. I have greatly enjoyed your meals here in the last month. I am going to miss that, whatever happens next," Draco said to her.

"What do you mean, whatever happens next?"

"Well, I don't think you and Scorpius are going to stay here with me forever? You are welcome to stay here whenever you wish, but maybe it is time to go spend some time with your own family? I am sure your dad and your brother would like to see you too."

"I suppose you're right. I have barely seen them since I came back. Will you come too, Scorpius?" Rose asked.

"No, I need to stay here. I'll see you on Sunday."

"Sunday is three days from now," Rose said, holding him tightly.

"Don't worry. This time, at least we know that we are both safe and happy. And I need to spend some time with my father as well."

"Oh, I almost forgot. I got this for you, Scorpius," Hermione said, handing him a piece of parchment.

"What is it?"

"I made a visit to Azkaban yesterday. I had a long chat with Brutus Malfoy. Don't worry, he is completely miserable. He kept insisting he was not a Death Eater; he had just been pressured into inviting them into his home. He tried to say that at his trial as well, but luckily no one believed him. Mostly because it wasn't his home."

"Yeah, he looked very displeased about having us there. Especially when Voldemort told him to get a camera and take pictures. I still owe him for that." Scorpius hands clenched just thinking about that.

"Well, this parchment may help with that. Brutus' last wish was that neither you, Draco, nor you, Scorpius, would get the manor. That meant more to him than his freedom."

"I am not surprised. He seemed obsessed with that manor," Scorpius said.

"That parchment is the deed to Malfoy Manor," Hermione said. Scorpius nearly dropped the parchment and looked up, surprised.

"The case went through the court system yesterday, and, not surprisingly, they backed your side," Hermione explained "And not just because Brutus Malfoy is now a convicted Death Eater. You are the direct heirs to the last occupants, and no matter what family traditions say, you are the owners. I took the liberty of signing it over to you, Scorpius, since I have heard that your father has no wish to own it."

"You are right. Once, I could not wait to be able to live in that huge manor by myself, but now it is just filled with bad memories," Draco explained. "And even before I was born, or my father was born, evil deeds have been done in that house. I mainly went through the court system to prevent it from going to Brutus so he could use it for more evil deeds. I was deliberately stalling, hoping he would die before the case was finished."

"But I don't want it either! I can't go and live in that house! Every time I would walk past that living room, I would hear the screams. Not to mention those dungeons…" Scorpius said, almost panicking.

"Well, it is yours anyway. You don't have to live there," Hermione said.

"You could tear it down. You mentioned you could use the grounds and build a better house," Rose suggested.

"That is a good idea. But I don't want to do it alone," Scorpius said. "I'll make an announcement in the Daily Prophet. They have been begging me for an interview anyway. I'll say that anyone who has ever been tortured, imprisoned, or has other bad memories from that manor is more than welcome on Saturday to help me burn it to the ground. Unless you object, father?" He looked up at Draco.

"No, that sounds like an excellent idea. There are a few small trinkets in there I want to keep, if they are still there, but after that, good riddance."

"That is a great idea! It will be a good symbol and will give many people great satisfaction." Rose said, beaming. "Will you go there with me, Mum?"

"Oh, definitely. I have been imprisoned and tortured there twice now, so it will give me great pleasure to see it erased from the ground. We will see you both on Saturday then?"

"Yes," Scorpius confirmed. "Please bring anyone from your family that wants to come."

"Next time I have to go to Azkaban, I'll be sure to tell Brutus what happened to his precious building," Hermione added with a mischievous grin.

"Please do that. As I said, I owe him for making me look at Rose being tortured again…" Scorpius said, his voice faltering at the mere thought of that episode.

"Let's not talk anymore about that. We will be there on Saturday." Rose gave Scorpius a quick kiss, then followed her mother out of the house.