Secret Smile. *Complete*

Getting To Know You

The next few days were spent simply getting to know each other and this new family dynamic they had formed. 

Narcissa and Draco visited every day. Both mothers had much to catch up on since they had been separated for years. Adelia told Narcissa all about her time in Ireland. Where she went and what she did to get herself by. 

In turn, Narcissa opened up to Adelia about how horrible the past few years had been with the Dark Lord's return and having Lucius locked in Azkaban and then too afraid to leave his own Manor, once the Dark Lord set up camp in their home.

Today the women were being given a wide birth, and some time alone, as Narcissa was opening up about Lucius' death and how she had been coping. Long story short it was not well. She was so relieved to have her best friend back by her side to help her through. 

Adelia her part spent hours listening to Narcissa and letting her cry every tear she had for her husband. Her best friend needed this and she was just glad she could be there to help.

So while the women locked themselves in the Parlour for the day. Blaise, Harry, Hermione and Draco were left to their own devices. Deciding to explore the Manor a little more they set off to the basement first. 

Unlike Malfoy Manor, the basement did not have dungeons inside. Well it did have one cellar-looking door but not one of the group could open it and it was very small. They did however find a perfectly well-stocked and spotless Potions Lab while down there. Hermione was, obviously fascinated. There were ingredients on the shelves that were very, very hard to come by these days and everything was perfectly labelled. 

Even the boys could appreciate the lab in all its glory. And each of them watched Hermione as she went around the room like a child at Christmas discovering its presents for the first time. There was a stock of cauldrons lining one shelf, all of different shapes, sizes and metals. A very large one stood in the middle of the room over a large fire pit. It reminded Hermione and Harry of the pictures of witches' cottages that they used to see when they were growing up with muggles. 

After about 30 minutes of looking through the lab, the boys had to practically drag Hermione away with the promise she could come back later. 

Having explored the dungeons and the attic as well as several of the rooms, they decided to stop for a bit of lunch before they headed out to the grounds to explore the garden. It was a perfect summer's day and Hermione was in awe of the flowers and gardens that surrounded her new home. 

Blaise and the boys were more excited by the Quidditch pitch that they found at the end of the garden with the accumulate and well-stocked Quidditch storage hut. 

"Who fancies a toss about?" Blaise called as he picked up brooms and balls from the hut. 

"Definitely!" both Draco and Harry answered. 

"You guys go ahead and I will take a walk around the gardens." Hermione smiled. 

"Do you want me to go with you, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione was pretty sure she was going to get lost but she could tell from the look on his face that he really wanted to play. 

"Not at all. I am going to go and grab my camera from my trunk and I am going to see what I can find. You three have fun and we will meet back here in a couple of hours." She turned on her heels and headed back inside, running up to her room to retrieve her wizard camera and little photo album and her pen, before changing out of her sandals and into a pair of trainers that matched her dress. She then took off again, heading back outside.

She could see the boys zooming around in the distance and laughter coming through the air and she smiled. She lifted her camera and waited a few seconds until all three silhouettes came into view. Then she snapped a few pictures and waited for them to pop out the side of the camera before peeling the wrapper off them and sticking them into her book, jotting down all three boys' names and the date next to the pictures.