Three Wizards and a Baby

XIX

"You act like we planned this Theo," Pansy snapped, glaring at him. "I was told that Narcissa wanted me to give her my ideas on redecorating and then she invited me to stay for dinner."

"It wasn't a lie darling," Narcissa spoke up, shifting Lyra into her arms and smiling softly as Lucius kissed her cheek gently. Smiling at the young adults, she made her way to the table to take her seat. "I fully intend on a renovation of the manor. It's long overdue in my opinion."

"Of course darling," Lucius chuckled. "Hermione please do join us."

Hermione stood frozen, taking in the faces of the three friends that she hadn't seen in so long. She knew that she had missed them, but it wasn't until that moment that she realized just how much. Her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip began to quiver. There were so many things that had been said and unsaid between them. She couldn't help but think back to their last conversation.

"Were you ever our friend Granger? Or were we just a convenient group of babysitters?"

"Were we your second choice...did you want to raise her with us..."

"It was me," Blaise spoke up, and everyone's attention turned to him. Blaise looked Hermione in the eyes as his entire body tensed up at the sight of her. All he could see was the bloody body of his friend, crumpled up on the floor. He was immediately brought back to being on the floor beside her body, terrified she was dying.

"No, no, no.... THEO!" Brushing the curls from her face, Blaise's hands trembled as he looked over her body that was cold and not moving. "Fuck Granger please... please you can't fucking... fucking hell THEO!"

"Hold on Hermione... just hold on. Don't you fucking dare give up on us now."

"You?" Draco said, his eyes darting back and forth between his friend and Hermione. Seeing her again was making his heart beat faster. She was there, right in front of him, after all this time. There was so many things he wanted to say to her, so many times he had wanted to apologize. "What the fuck Blaise?"

"I tried everything," Blaise admitted, looking at Hermione with sadness in his eyes. They had all tried for weeks to talk to her, to see her. "We tried to get you to come to the manor. We tried to get you to come and see us with Lyra. I tried to reach out to the Weasel's and they were no help."

"They burned his letter," Theo chuckled and Pansy glared at him, effectively shutting up.

"I had no other choice," Blaise swallowed. "I asked Narissa to help me."

"While it hurts to know that I was your last choice Blaise," Narcissa chastised him before turning to Hermione, bouncing Lyra in her lap. "It pains me to see my family all riddled with such anger and regret and sadness. Yes Hermione, you are part of my family. Lucius and I were only able to have one child but in the end we have been given another four. I will not see it destroyed by unspoken words and feelings."

"Please sit Miss Granger," Lucius nodded to the seat beside Theo. "Milly will be most enraged with us all if we continue to delay her dinner any longer."

"She's worse than Missy," Theo snickered, smiling lightly as Hermione sat down beside him. He grabbed her hand gently under the table, giving her a reassuring squeeze. He was surprised to see that Hermione was actually staying. While it hadn't been his idea, he agreed with Narcissa that forcing them all into the same room together was the only way a reconciliation was going to happen. Everyone was quiet except for Lyra who continued to babble in Narcissa's lap. As the first course appeared, everyone ate their food in silence. That was until Lyra spoke up from the highchair that Narcissa had transfigured for her.