I'm still here and am going through the next chapter. I have had fun with showing Lucius' development from anti-Muggle Death Eater to respectable wizard. It's also been interesting to show how grieving over Narcissa's death and finally coming to terms with the fact that life does go on has helped him grow, too. It will definitely be interesting to see how this mutual declaration changes how they react to others - and of course there will be poor Hermione trying to explain this to her friends. Not an easy pill for them to swallow. I hope to have the next chapter up by Monday at the latest. RL can be such a pain in the butt (kids had 2 weeks off school and family was visiting and we got sucked down to a one car family, which wouldn't have been too bad, but DH's ship was not underway like it should have been entailing much driving around for me as the family chauffuer. LOL

Oh, he'll send notes, he's just a bit concerned about the lack of physical presence in her life where he thinks a certain other wizard might have the chance to step in. But as he is sneaky, I'm sure he'll figure something out.

Anywhere there is juicy news to be found, Rita is there. She just can't resist, though the Prophet seems to be using less of her 'news', but when it sells papers something tells me it will be hard for them to resist publishing her version.

I know, poor Hermione. She thought things would change significantly after the hearing, but they didn't, did they? Lucius who says he doesn't care what others think, really does to a point. If she can be patient, I'm sure it will be rewarded.

It sure is looking pretty good, isn't it? I'm sure Hermione can't wait to start this new chapter of her life.

I'm glad you liked the flashback. I don't always go for that sort of thing, but it seemed a great way to work out how Hermione was going to explain what happened at the hearing without it getting overly tedious. It's been nice watching the slow burn on this relationship as they each try to figure the other out and where they stand. I think that poor Lucius will be a bit lost when she is removed from his life upon moving out. I do think he might try to 'run in' to her. ;) And kiddo 1 is settling in school. Start of term is very hard for her and kiddo 2 I'm going to start the enrollment process for 3 day a week preschool. Hopefully that will go well for him. He's excited about it, but we'll see how it goes when he's left in a strange place without me. Then again, he's gone over to a friend's house to be babysat and was okay with that because there were other kids, so he might do just fine.

I'm so glad that you are enjoying this and thanks for catching the misspelling. I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

Correct on the latter. There is a six week period between the hearing and the finalizing of the divorce. I figured in this case wizarding Britain would mirror Muggle Britain. And poor Lucius has definitely made his life more difficult. It was easier to maintain the facade of friendship when their feelings weren't out between them.

I'm so glad to have turned you into a fan. This was a ship I wasn't sure about at first, but then I read a few that were really well done and became a believer. Hopefully now that it's out in the open between them, it won't become weird between them or obvious to others. I hope to have the next chapter up this week - end of summer vacation and back to school are wreaking havoc with my writing.

It has to be a relief to the two of them to know that they weren't imagining things. Hopefully this will not turn into one of those periods where time seems to utterly drag for them. So glad you are enjoying this and hope to have the next chapter up this week (end of summer vacation and back to school are wreaking havoc with writing).

Hopefully Elsa will be the mature 30-something she should be. Of course, there's not much she could do and retain her positon. Something tells me if she went psycho on him, he would see he removed from the family company. At least he shouldn't have to deal with her advances, though something tells me she might avoid him for a while for making a fool of herself. ;) And bigger bonus, he's put his foot in the door for a relationship with Hermione, hopefully edging out Gilles.

Yes, he could definitely get the wrong idea from that.

You would imagine there would have to be something, wouldn't you? And what 1 year old isn't charming? Heck, my almost 4 year old still works that charm on everyone he meets. But Scorpius is definitely a Malfoy. LOL

I'm glad you are enjoying it. I always bemoaned that so many in the wizarding world seemed to be only children whose parents were only children and who seemingly don't have a close relationship with other relatives (granted our view is limited and Nevile and Ron are the only ones who really revealed any additional family, well Sirius). I love the idea that Lucius would have a sister who got exiled for embarrassing her family. It really does add more to him as a character and helps humanize him.

Even after everything that's happened to him, there are times when he does get a little full of himself, aren't there? This was definitely one of them. I'm so glad you are enjoying this story and hope you continue to do so.

I'm so glad you are enjoying. Gilles is a bit of an enigma right now, isn't he? Does he want to be more than a friend or is he just one of those guys content to have a female friend? Only time will tell.

Felicia is very prim and proper and does not like it when something upsets what she sees as the proper order of things, and a couple of grown men acting like 12 year olds would be one of those. But hey, Lucius is finally out of his funk. :) The good news on the Lucius/Hermione front is that he realizes that being seen together in public would be a very bad idea, as much as he might want to be seen with her. And Ron's whole world has been thrown upsidedown. Poor lad. He just doesn't know how to cope with this. Kind of like when he went off in a snit in DH.

Wouldn't that be something of Felicia to do. LOL Thankfully she tends to be a bit more subtle. And yes, Lucius is definitely going to be concerned about Gilles. He's worked so hard over the months to work his way into Hermione's life. I don't think he would easily let another wizard steal her affection.

Of course Lucius realizes it. His behavior is all very calculated. Hermione likely does not consciously realize it. Of course this is the only behavior she has seen from the post-Azkaban Lucius, so that would make it easier for her not to notice it. :) And Ron definitely won't let this go without a fight even though he has to realize they are past the point of no return. His smear piece in the paper really did that in. As to the shadow, you have figured that out.

It is trouble, but I will assuage your fears and tell you not that kind of trouble. I believe in warnings for that sort of thing and while this fic does have some darkness in it, nothing that bad. Next chapter should be up before the end of the week. :) Thanks for reviewing.

LOL This is my new favorite review. LOL I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read it. The answer will be coming in a few days. :)

Well, considering how petulant and moody he's been, I wouldn't hold out hope for him not being too much of an arse, but time will tell.

I always found it odd that so many of Jo's characters were apparently only children. I know it simplifies her already very complex world, but you would think with all the talk about how important being a pureblood and a Malfoy was that Lucius would have had siblings and that it's pretty odd Draco doesn't. And this was such a great way to provide a previously unknown sister for Lucius. Considering she married a humble farmer, I can't blame her for not mentioning much about her family - especially since she probably never expected to hear from them again. As for the cliffie, later this week will be the next chapter. :) Thanks for reviewing.