Chapter 1
Hermione had dreamt she was at the manor again last night.
The fog had clung to the ground like a living thing, creeping over the edge of the distant hills and curling around the base of the towering Malfoy Manor. Hermione Granger had shivered as she stepped out of the shadows of her mind, the chill of the early dusks air biting at her skin. The estate was as imposing as it was beautiful, its grand stone façade obscured by the mist that swirled through the overgrown hedges and tall, iron gates. It seemed to loom over her, silent and watchful, just as it had all those years before.
Draco hadn’t been there. Only her. A voice came from behind her, and she turned to find the old red rhododendrons covering a fallen carriage, suffocating it.
Hermione nodded into the darkness, reassuring herself and forcing a smile. She was safe. Safe. The word seemed like an odd choice for a house so clearly burdened by its history. The stone steps leading up to the entrance were worn and uneven, with ash littering them. The ash hadn’t been there before. Had it? The heavy wooden doors at the front looming as though they, too, had seen the passage of too many years. And though the house itself stood proud and dignified, there was something about it that still unsettled her, a heaviness that seemed to hang in the air. Her manor was no longer and the dream manor seemed to know it.
When Hermione awoke she knew she would not tell Draco of her dream. It would only upset him, memories of the manor often did. Slowly she placed on her slippers and tied her silk dressing gown around her waist.
As she walked down the stairs she wondered how differently her life could’ve played out. What if Harry had of won the war. She would still have her best friend. But would she have her husband? Her children? It had only been 15 years ago but it felt like a lifetime.
A lifetime since they had realised the pure blood women were carrying bloody curses. A lifetimes since all the muggleborns were rounded up and married off to the pure bloods to creating “the new pure blood race.” And a lifetime since Voldemort had finally died.