Searching- a Dramione fanfic

Chapter 24- The End

The End

"Are you ready?" Draco asked.

I swallowed hard. "No." I really wasn't.

His hand slid into mine and squeezed it reassuringly. "It will be fine." His thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand. He was trying to get me to calm down.

He started walking up the stone path and dragging me along. I grabbed his arm with my other hand and hugged it close. We passed a lovely garden full of colourful flowers and then another plentiful of fruits and vegetables. The Malfoy manor was not at all like I had remembered it. It didn't seem quite as dark and forbidding with the flower boxes in the windows and the rose bushes along the perimeter. The statues of cherubs and the occasional bubbling fountain brightened the place considerably.

Yes, Draco and I had been living together for about three months. We fought a lot over petty things, but it was Draco and me. It was to be expected. And anyway, most of the fights ended with my back against the wall and Draco snogging me angrily. But over all, I'd never been happier, until he had the wonderful idea that I should meet his mother.

I was leery of the idea. I'd only caught glimpses of Narcissa before, but that was years ago. The only way I could imagine her was like Draco, afraid and trapped, but that wasn't necessarily stopping her from hating me. She did marry Lucius Malfoy. Willingly. And Draco never said if she'd forgotten her predigest toward muggle-borns. Of course Harry had tried to reassure me by telling me what she did for him during the war, but I couldn't shake my nerves.

As far as I knew, Draco hadn't seen his mother in a while either. About a month ago he'd begun receiving owls from her. Apparently they were repeated apologies for not completely believing that Draco hadn't killed his father. Even after Draco wrote her back telling her that he forgave her she continued to fret over it, and she insisted Draco come over for diner. That's when the spark must have came to him to drag me along, because not long after that, here we were.

"What if she hates me?" I whispered, as though I was afraid that she would hear.

"She will not hate you!" He laughed, causing us to stumble a little.

"Why not? You hated me!"

He stopped walking. "For the last time, Hermione, I never hated you! And my mother never hated you! My father did, and he's gone now, so don't worry about it."

I sighed, but smiled gently and rested my head on the arm I was hugging. We moved up to the large dark door and I let go of Draco's arm so he could rap with the large and elaborate golden serpent knocker.

Narcissa answered almost immediately in a simple but beautiful and expensive light blue gown. Her platinum hair was pulled back in a half bun to reveal beautiful silver and diamond earnings that matched her shiny necklace. But the most stunning thing about her was the smile she wore across her face. Not the classic Malfoy smirk, but a smile.

The blood drained from my face for just a second as she looked over at me. However, it rushed right back when she leaned in and gave me a quick kiss next to my cheek in greeting with no hesitation.

"Miss Granger!" She exclaimed. "We finally get to meet! Draco's said many good things about you!"

"Thank you." I said, beaming back at her. "Draco's said the same about you as well."

"Please come inside!" She said after hugging her son. "I think dinner is just about done, I can give you a quick show around in the mean time."

Narcissa happily showed me the living areas and the dining areas and the balconies and bedrooms and dozens of other rooms I didn't even know existed. Much to Draco's embarrassment, we giggled over photos of him when he was younger and teased him on how adorable he was. His face turned redder than I'd ever seen before, which only made it that much more hilarious.