A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. I know it was a sad one, but I wanted to show how they were feeling, and well it was also revealed that Hermione knew about the disease Astoria was suffering from, but she didn't tell anyone. I promise fluffy scenes will be coming soon, but before that, there has to be a few angsty ones. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter! 

Two days later...

Harry sighed as he exited the Minister's office. He had spent the last five hours in a meeting discussing a very important case, and the rights of a reporter. 

From the past two days, the Daily Prophet reporters had been bothering him, and frankly, if it were up to Harry, he would have had thrown them out of the Ministry, specially that bug Rita freaking Skeeter. 

She was a nosy little bug, both literally and figuratively, who didn't understand the meaning of the term 'mind your own damn business', and he was getting tired of it. He couldn't wait until the day she would resign. 

Well not only he, but his friends, specially Hermione, couldn't wait until that day. 

He decided to take matters into his own hands. 

After all, Harry was the Chosen One,  wasn't he? Might as well use that title to his advantage, even if  he hated the attention it brought, so much. 

The reporters, mainly Rita Skeeter, had been standing all day outside Draco's house the day..... Astoria had left them, and the day after that. Initially, Draco had had wards around his house preventing the reporters from standing nearby without his permission, but when one of them had to be taken to St Mungo's because of a nasty hex he had received for trying to enter into his house, the other reporters had filed complaint against the Malfoy heir in the Ministry.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the Wizarding World hated Draco. Even if he had switched sides in the end, and helped to catch the other Death Eaters after he became an Auror, they still didn't forgive him for everything he did. 

Which was stupid in Harry's opinion, because even if he had hated that boy that time, he knew that Draco never had a choice. 

He didn't have a choice during his first year, when Lucius had told him to befriend Harry, and he sure as hell didn't have one when Voldemort threatened to harm his family if he refused to become a Death Eater. 

To be honest, Harry and Draco were pretty similar. Their paths had been decided by other people, and neither had a choice, except that of following those said paths. Harry's life was based on a prophecy, which dictated his whole life and ultimately made him a 'Hero' in the Wizarding World, something which he had never even wanted. And Draco.... Well his father had decided what he had to do, what his life was supposed to be like, and it was only during the sixth year, that he had decided he didn't want to be like his father, he didn't want to bully people anymore. 

He wanted to be a normal wizard, well famous as well, but someone who wasn't cruel to people, and treated everyone equally, the exact opposite of his father, at least it was until the war. 

Because after that, Narcissa had decided that she would change her husband's opinions, and Lucius knew better than to test his wife's wrath. 

Trust him, it wasn't exactly good for him, or anyone else, when Narcissa became angry. 

That was the reason why Harry decided that he would help his friend out, yes friend, he didn't exactly want to consider Draco Malfoy as his best friend, despite whatever he may have said. 

Since the Wizarding World didn't exactly have any rules regarding a reporter's rights, he decided to approach Kingsley to change it. 

Of course, changing it would lead to making of a new law, and the Wizengamot would have to be involved. 

He would have asked Narcissa for her help, the woman had connections, mind you, but he didn't want to bother her.

Finally, after five hours, he had managed to convince the Wizengamot to make a new law, which had earned protests from the reporters, and also from those who supported Skeeter's works. 

The Wizengamot included six rules in the new law, but Harry was only focused on one of them. Which was the third rule, and it stated, 'No reporter is allowed to stand outside someone's house, or even inside their property, without the person's permission. The said person is allowed to have wards around his or her property, preventing the reporters from entering inside. If needed, they can also file complaint against those reporters in the Ministry.'

After his work was done, he took the file which included the rules, and took it to the 'Legal Papers and Files' room. Harry had thought that it would be simple giving the file to the worker, and coming back job. 

But boy, he was in for a surprise. 

Just as he had turned around to leave the room, after giving the file to Jaden, the person responsible for maintaining all the legal files and paper, Harry saw a file with a familiar motto written on its side. 

'Sanctimonia Vincent Semper' 

The Malfoy family motto, which was inscribed on a silver banner, that is, the Malfoy family crest. 

Harry remembered the meaning of those Latin words, that Draco had once told him. "Well it's not like I expect you to know the meaning, Potter. You would always copy Granger's work, so of course you don't know the meaning of 'research'." Draco had scoffed. "Anyways, it means Purity will Always Conquer." 

He had thought that by purity, they meant the blood purity thing. But Draco had shaken his head and told him what it actually meant. 

"It stands for the purity of soul, purity of heart. Oh and also, purity of mind. The Malfoys before my great grandfather didn't believe in the blood purity thing. They didn't love Muggles, of course, but they weren't prejudiced against them either." Draco had said. "Of course, the Noseless Voldy Moldy wasn't there that time, so they used to talk about the Muggle world being fascinating without a fear of someone protesting against them. But then, the Dark Lord came and everything changed. Including the meaning of that word." 

(A/N: I don't if that's the real meaning or not, but I had seen the words 'purity of soul' somewhere, so I decided to include a theory, that the Malfoys might not have been always prejudiced, here.)

So when Harry saw the familiar crest, he was quite shocked.

Why would the Malfoys have a file here? 

But he couldn't go and take the file, as Jaden was waiting for him to leave the room. Harry nodded and did what was expected of him. 

He had just taken a step out of the room, when he let his curiousity get the better of him, and decided to look at the file. 

For curiosity's sake, of course! 

Well also because he thought that the file might help him to convince Kingsley to put a few guards outside Draco's and his parents' houses. 

A few people, who hated the Malfoys so much that they wished they would suffer in Azkaban, threw rocks at their houses, specially Draco's, because they believed it was his fault that Astoria had died. They thought he had put an Imperious curse on her, which made her touch the poisonous plant, even if the Greengrasses had clarified in the Daily Prophet that it was nobody's fault, and they didn't blame anyone. 

Harry had immediately asked Kingsley to put guards around his house to prevent the people from coming there, when he had gotten to know what had happened, but the Minister of Magic had to take the permission of the jury, and they had only allowed him to put a few wards around the place, because the Aurors were busy in their cases. 

Which was true, but Harry knew that there were Aurors who weren't that busy, and could guard his house. Alas, he couldn't convince the jury. 

But if there was a legal reason to provide the protection, then the jury would be forced to put the guards there. 

After all, it's not like Draco could live at Hermione's house forever, is it? 

So, he went to his office, took out his Invisibility cloak from the bag, and put it on. Harry went back to the Legal files and papers room, and knocked on the door. 

"Who's there?" Jaden asked as he poked his head out the door and looked around, but of course, he couldn't see anyone. 

Harry silently apologised to him (what? He knew he was about to do something wrong, and Jaden would most probably get punished for it, so he had to apologise).  He kicked opened the door, which in made Jaden fall to the ground, and quickly entered the room. 

"WHO IS THERE?" Jaden yelled as he stood up, and pointed his wand in front of him. But as he couldn't see anyone, he had to lower his wand eventually. 

He shook his head, and went back to his desk, muttering, "I would be damned if Peeves had come here and done that, or it was one of his friends or relatives." 

Harry went towards the shelf in which he had seen that file, and looked back to check that Jaden wasn't looking at him. He quickly grabbed the file, went towards the back of the room, leaned against the wall, and opened the file. 

However, what he saw, was something he hadn't expected to see, specially after what Astoria had said after Athy had been born. 

In front of him, was a paper titled 'Legal Guardian'. 

And the words, 'Hermione Jean Granger had been named as the Legal Guardian of Athena Katherine Malfoy, daughter of Draco Lucius Malfoy and Astoria Grace Malfoy,' was enough to make him gasp. 

"The heck?" He muttered as he looked at the date on which the paper was signed by the said Malfoys. 

9th February 2005 - the day Athy was born. 

"So, they named Daphne as her Godmother, but decided that Hermione would be her legal guardian on the same day? Why would they do that?" 

But somehow, Harry knew that it might not have been Draco's original idea, because he knew that he had wanted Hermione to be his daughter's godmother, so it had to be Astoria's idea. 

And as he looked at the file again, one thing was clear to him. 

A certain someone's sign was missing, but it was not needed, because of the Wizarding laws. But it also meant something else. 

Hermione had no idea that she was Athy's legal guardian, for her sign was missing. 

-----------

Two days. 

Two days had passed like a blur to him. 

He had no idea what was going on around him, and frankly, he didn't give a damn about what was happening. 

He tried so hard, believe him, really hard, to control himself, to control his emotions, his actions, but he failed. 

Draco Lucius Malfoy failed. 

He knew he would regret his actions, his words when he would look back at this, but if he didn't even know what was happening, how would he know what to do and what not? 

Because he wasn't feeling anything. 

It was just like that, he was feeling empty. He wasn't feeling anything. Not regret, not guilt, not sadness, not anything. 

How would he feel anything if his world had just stopped? 

Truthfully, Hermione didn't deserve how he treated her, he knew that perfectly well. But he had never been the one to control his emotions nicely. It was only due to being great at Occlumency that he was able to keep his emotions in check, sometimes. 

But now, he couldn't even occlude. 

He had been at his best friend's house for two days, and he had felt so many emotions at the same time, that he was getting tired of it. 

He was getting tired of being angry at himself, feeling guilty all the time, thinking of what ifs, and a lot of other things. 

Flashback

When he woke up on the morning of the third day, he went to Hermione and said, "I want to go back to my house." 

He just couldn't stay there any longer. 

Hermione, being his kind and protective best friend, tried explaining him what was happening around his house, people throwing rocks, reporters standing outside his house (that is, until the law was passed), but he didn't care about that. 

She finally agreed with him, and served him breakfast. After they were finished eating, she picked up Athy, grabbed his arm, and apparated to his house. 

Just as his feet landed on the ground, he pulled his hand away, went to his room, and slammed the door shut. 

Hermione sighed and went to Athy's room. "Dada! Dada!" The little girl kept repeating all the while Hermione climbed up the stairs. But she knew that she couldn't take her to Draco, as she knew what was about to happen. 

He was most probably going to have a breakdown, and would take out his anger on anyone he would lay his eyes on. 

Because he had done the same thing in their eighth year when Narcissa had been admitted to St Mungo's because of her weak health after the war, and Hermione knew how to deal with it. 

He had lashed out at her then, but he had apologised afterwards. Some people had told her that she should have punched him for shouting at her, but she couldn't. 

How could she when Draco had allowed her to take her anger out at him by punching his chest repeatedly and shouting at him while accusing him of things he hadn't done when she had had a nightmare about her torture at the Malfoy Manor? 

And people still wonder (those who knew, anyways) how could she ever fall for him? When the real question should be, how she couldn't fall for him? How could she ever hate him? 

If she had known the real Draco since her first year, then she would have never hated him.

She sat on the bed, with Athy in her lap, and summoned her favourite toy, the stuffed ferret. 

A few minutes later, she heard someone shouting. She looked down, and noticed that Athy had fallen asleep.

Hermione picked her up, laid her down on the bed, and left the room. She was about to go to Draco's room, when she turned around, took out her wand and cast a one way silencing charm on Athy's room. 

As she neared Draco's room, she realised that the noise was not coming from there. It was actually coming from the room next to Draco's, that is, the portrait room.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione placed her hand on the doorknob, opened the door of the room.

She couldn't decide whether or not she had expected it, when she took in the sight in front of her.

Her best friend, who was standing in front of her, punched the wall next to the portrait of his family. She knew that he knew perfectly well she was there in the room, but instead of stopping and turning around, he continued punching the wall.

Though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was probably crying because his shoulders were shaking.

She looked towards the portrait, in which Draco was smiling, one of his arms was wrapped around Astoria's shoulders, while carrying Athy with the other one. His wife was smiling at the camera as well, one hand around his waist, while the other was touching her daughter's back.

And Athy, well the little girl was wearing a costume, since the photo had been taken at Halloween last year. And the costume was of a ferret.

Astoria and Draco had bought a lot of costumes for their daughter, but the little munchkin didn't like even a single one of them. She would cry when they would dress her up in them. Feeling helpless, they had turned to Hermione and Narcissa.

The two witches had smirked at each other, and conjured a costume of a ferret.

Athy had immediately grinned upon seeing it, much to Draco's horror.

As much as he tried to convince Athy not to wear it, he was unsuccessful. He was about to vanish it, when he looked at his daughter's face, who was on the verge of crying, as if she knew what he was about to do.

Sighing in defeat, he had put the costume back on the bed, and left the room.

As his wife, mother and best friend laughed at him, he felt like slamming his head on the wall again and again.

Finally, when the three witches came out of the room, his mother, who was holding Athy, called him. They wished they had had a camera when they saw his expression.

Draco couldn't believe it. His daughter was looking adorable in that stupid costume. She was giggling at him, and held her hands out to him.

One of those hands was holding her stuffed ferret, another thing that Draco hated.

Of course, he couldn't deny her. The little girl had him wrapped around her finger, and he reluctantly admitted that the costume was a nice choice.

He would groan every single time someone would look at her costume, and then laugh at him. If it were up to Draco, Athy would be wearing a Slytherin costume.

Shaking her head to stop her train of thoughts, Hermione looked back at Draco. Hesitantly, she walked towards him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Draco?"

"Leave me alone." He shrugged her hand off and punched the wall again.

"Draco, listen to me. Please!" She tried reaching for his hand again, but he moved away before she could succeed.

"Dra-"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" He yelled and shoved her away. Punching the wall one last time, he turned around to face her. "What. Is. Your. Problem?"

"What are you doing, Draco? This is not good-"

"I asked you something, woman!"

"N-nothing." She said, taking a step towards him. "I just heard you shouting so I...."

"So you decided to come here." He glared at her. "Why? Who gave you permission to do so? Last I checked, this was not your home, nor you live here. So why, Granger?" 

Hermione sighed, reminding herself that he was not in a right condition right now. Taking another step towards him, she was about to say something when she looked at his hands.

His hands, as expected, were bleeding. She took out her wand, and reached out for his hand. "Give me your hand, Draco. It is bleeding."

He simply scoffed at her.

"Draco, please!" She was having a hard time trying to control her temper. "Let me help you-"

Hermione took his hand in hers, and just as she had pointed her wand at it, he pulled his hand away. "I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP!" He yelled at her.

"Draco-"

"Don't you understand? I have to do this!" He pulled his hair in frustration, and turned away from her, not wanting his best friend to see him crying. "I have to hurt myself. This is the right thing to do." 

(A/N: Yes, the scene where Draco points his wand at Dumbledore and says those words, was in my mind when I wrote this line. But that scene was just so sad.)

"How is harming oneself a right thing to do ever? Do tell me, Draco. What is right in hurting yourself? If anything, you are only hurting the people who love you." Hermione told him.

"And you care because?" He asked her.

Because I love you, was the first thought in her mind, even though she had thought that she was over him a year and a half back. But apparently she wasn't. It was either that, or thinking that had just been a spur of the moment. Because I care about you. Because I had made a promise to Astoria. Because I cannot live without my best friend, she gulped as she thought about those words. 

"Because a few years back, a certain blonde Slytherin had told me, 'Granger, you have so many reasons to live for. So many people to live for. If you leave all of them because you don't think you are worth it, then they will think that they weren't enough of a reason for you to stay, for you to be with them. Is that what you want? For them to feel guilty forever? Life is worth living, Granger, so live another day. People make mistakes, we make mistakes, but that doesn't mean you have to give in.'" Draco closed his eyes when she said that.

He remembered that day clearly, when he had told her those words. It was on Christmas, and he had found her crying on top of the Astronomy Tower. She hadn't been able to find her parents until that time, and she couldn't live normally anymore. She couldn't pretend that everything was fine, that she was fine anymore. She had wanted to hurt herself, for hurting her parents, making them forget about their daughter. She had wanted to harm herself, for taking the life they had away from them, for disrupting their lives. That was when Draco had found her. He knew that she had had a nightmare about the Malfoy Manor that morning, and was worried about her as she hadn't said a single word to anyone all day. Hermione was about to slam her head on the wall, when he had said those words.

That night, she had broken down in his arms. Draco, being the gentleman, had carried her back to their Dormitory, laid her down in her bed, and even slept on the floor next to her bed while holding her hand all night because she hadn't wanted to stay alone. That night, Hermione had discovered that Draco himself had those thoughts after the end of the sixth year, and that he had suffered as well, probably more than most of them, which many people forget.

Draco broke his chain of thoughts when he felt her place a hand on his shoulder. "Please don't harm yourself, Draco. Astoria wouldn't have wanted that."

Apparently that was a wrong thing to say.

Just as those words had left her mouth, he turned towards her, and shrugged her hand off his shoulder angrily. "How do you know what she would have wanted? Tell me, Granger, how do you know?"

Not giving her a chance to reply, he took a few steps away from her and said, "Mind your own business, Granger. It would be good for you." 

Flashback over

After leaving that room, he had gone back to his room, and leaned against the door after closing it.

He knew he was wrong. That he had treated her wrongly. He knew that he had to apologise to her. That was the right thing to do.

But he couldn't bring himself to do anything, let alone apologise to her.

After having that breakdown, he had started feeling empty. No emotions, nothing. He wasn't able to feel anything. And Draco hated being like that.

Two days.

Those two days had passed like a blur to him. And he had no idea what would happen, what he would do in the upcoming days.

---------

Next day....

"The Chosen One has decided to grace us with his presence, people." Blaise said as Harry entered his office at the Ministry.

The Boy Who Lived rolled his eyes and said, "You should stay away from Draco, Blaise, you are beginning to sound more and more like him."

The ex Slytherin let out a weak smile at that. The comparison between him and Draco, that had before made him laugh, now only made him think of the pain his best friend was going through. After all, it hadn't been easy for Blaise to watch that. He knew perfectly well how Draco had suffered both during and after the war, and he never wanted his best friend to go through that again. It had affected him then, and it affected him now.

Harry, on the other hand, mirrored Blaise's expression. Sure, he had once hated that boy, but during their eighth year, Draco had become his friend, and Harry had grown to really respect his once arch nemesis so much. But it's not like Harry would ever in front of Draco, that man was already more than enough egotistical.

He had said that statement casually, just like he always did before. But this time, the effect was different.

"Why do you all have to compare me to him? I hate it when you do that." Blaise groaned, repressing his real thoughts, because he knew that they wouldn't help anyone. He had to be there for his best friend, so he couldn't let himself think like that.

"You think I care about what you hate and what not? Think again, Blaise. I may be your friend, but the rivalry is still there, remember?" Harry asked him, sensing what Blaise was trying to do, staying happy, or at least, trying to stay fine for their friend.

At this point, Pansy and Ginny entered the former's boyfriend's office. The girls had been at the Daily Prophet office, one of the reporters there had wanted to meet Pansy for their latest article, and the said witch had met Ginny while going there, so Pansy had asked her to join her.

"Hello, love." Pansy greeted Blaise with a kiss and stood behind his chair, her hands on his shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked as he kissed Ginny, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Oh yes, I wanted to ask you that as well." Blaise told Pansy. "Any specific reason for you two to be here?"

"What? Can't we visit you two now?" Ginny asked them, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yes, exactly. Do we need your permission or something to do that?" Pansy narrowed her eyes at Blaise.

Harry blinked at his wife, and then turned to look at Blaise, who had done the same to his girlfriend. "Why are they friends again?" Harry asked him.

"I know right, Potter? They are a scary combo." Blaise sighed.

"You are forgetting Hermione. She is an important part of our scary trio." Ginny told them.

"That she really is." Pansy agreed. "And anyways, we just wanted to see how you two were. And also.... To check if you had heard anything from Draco? How is he?"

Harry sighed. "I haven't heard anything from him since Astoria left. I do know that Hermione is there with him and Athy, but other than that, I don't know anything."

Blaise nodded. "Me too. I tried contacting him, but he didn't pick up his phone. I even owled him, sent a patronus, but he didn't reply. I wanted to go and visit him, but I decided to give him some time. Maybe I will visit him tomorrow."

The four stood in silence for a few minutes, that was only broken when Ginny said, "Oh you won't believe what James did today, Harry."

"Let me guess, another mischief?" He asked her.

"Bingo! Ten points to Gryffindor, Potter, for stating the obvious." Blaise smirked at him as Harry rolled his eyes. 

"Anyways," Ginny said, "James almost broke your broom today. Thank Merlin, Teddy saw him entering the room where we keep our brooms and Quidditch gears, and stopped James when he had tried reaching for your broom. But that's not where his mischief ends. James changed the colour of our living room wall to green from red."

Harry groaned. "He causes mischiefs and troubles all the time. He is the epitome of mischievousness."

"What else did you expect, Potter? But seriously, green? That boy will be a Slytherin, I am sure. Imagine, a Potter in Slytherin."

Harry looked horrified at that suggestion. His son? In Slytherin? That would never happen, he would make sure it doesn't.

"I pity McGonagall and the other teachers." Pansy said. "It wouldn't be easy for them to handle James."

------

Hermione looked up from her book, and saw a patronus appear in front of her. 

A peacock patronus. 

And she knew perfectly well whom that patronus belonged to. Putting her book aside, she leaned forward to hear what it would say. 

When the patrnous had given its message, it disappeared, and Hermione sighed. She was not expecting that. 

Taking a deep breath, she climbed up the stairs, and knocked on the door of her best friend's room. "Draco? Can I come in?" 

She didn't receive a reply, but the door opened when he used his wand to unlock it. She stepped inside, and saw the he was standing near the window, his back to her. 

"I just a received a message through a patrnous. It was your mother's." She told him.

He didn't reply to her, the only indication he gave her that he had heard her was the stiffening of his shoulders. 

"She said that she and Lucius would come here after a few hours." Hermione said and watched as his fist clenched and unclenched.

 She knew he was wondering how Lucius would react this time. 

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 4900+ words. Hope you guys liked it. I tried to include a little bit of fluff, and I hope it was okay. I apologise if the flashback scene was a bit confusing, and overwhelming, but I thought that it was how they would have suffered during their eighth year. Random question: If given the chance, which HP character would you have liked to be for a day? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you! 

Next chapter on 8/11/20(Sunday). 

Until next time.