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Chapter Text

Draco rolled over in the bed, he cracked his eyes briefly when he felt the morning sunlight hit his face. A groan escaped his lips as he closed his grey eyes and rolled over in the bed. His eyes opened again when he felt something beside him in the bed. He saw the back of a brunette with soft curly hair. A black tank top. She shifted the blankets and covered herself back up. “Five more minutes.” A murmur escaped her lips.

Draco blinked slightly a little confused, the voice sounded so familiar to him. He realized that the bed he was in wasn’t his, this messy unorganized room with children’s toys was far from his room. He was trying to remember what happened last night. Everything seemed fuzzy and out of sorts with how he would have ended up in another witch’s room, obviously, one that had a child.

He carefully moved from the bed, he was dressed in dark green pajamas, finally something that was his. He moved around the room avoiding the toys, stopping when the floor creaked. He glanced back to see her shift slightly, but settle back down.

Draco let out a sigh of relief, he just needed to find out where he was and if he needed to vanish out of the place. A one-night stand during the Second War wasn’t uncommon when on the move, but this seemed different. He never hooked up with a witch who was most likely a mother. He froze for a second time when he heard the door of the bedroom door rattle before a click and the door opened. A small child no more than three peaked in from behind the door. Platinum blonde hair was just barely past her shoulders and light grey eyes with a tinge of blue. She wore light blue pajamas as she carried a white rabbit. The little sleepy-eyed girl walked over and lifted her arms to be picked up.

He was hesitant as he leaned down and picked the little girl up in his arms. The little girl wrapped her arms around him as he looked around a bit panicked. This wasn’t his kid, this wasn’t his home. A loud bark escaped as a large German Sheppard came into the room jumping onto the bed and taking his warm spot. “What is going on?” He spoke out as the little girl started to fall back to sleep in his arms.

The young witch sat up in bed and let out a tired yawn when she felt the German Sheppard flop down beside her. His eyes widened when he realized who he had woken up to. She looked a little older in the morning light, but it was still her. How did he end up in bed with her of all people?  

A warm smile graced Hermione’s lips as she held her arms out for the little girl who was nestled in Draco’s arms. “She’s such a daddy’s girl.” Hermione spoke softly.

‘Daddy’s girl?’ He thought to himself as he looked at the little girl nestled in his arms, she wasn’t scared of him, her hair was the same color as his. He was trying to retrace everything at this point trying to remember the last thing that happened before he woke up. Draco walked over to where Hermione sat, he handed the little girl off to her. “I need to use the loo,” He spoke handing the child over.

Hermione took the sleepy little girl into her arms as she looked at him a bit confused. “You alright? You look like you’ve seen Nearly Headless Nick or something.”

Draco nodded. “Yeah, I just, I just, I’ll be right back.” Draco took a few steps back as he left the room quickly. His footsteps were heavy on the wood floor as he opened doors looking for the loo. He saw the little girl’s room messy with toys and a messy toddler bed. He finally stopped at the last door before the stairs. He entered the loo and shut the door, locking it behind him. He looked into the mirror and was a bit shocked to see an older version of himself looking back at him. “What happened?” He gripped the sink. He looked around the bathroom seeing once more little ducks and other little plastic animals in the clawfoot tub. He turned the water onto the sink and splashed cold water on his face. He closed his eyes.

‘What happened?’ He thought to himself. His grey eyes opened as he looked down at the water pouring from the faucet. Something was clinging there, but he couldn’t pull it forward. How did it feel like so many years had passed, how in that time frame did he come to be living with Hermione, with Hermione calling the little girl in his arms this morning a Daddy’s girl? This had to have been some spell that she had to have cast on him. That’s it, that had to have been it. She must have created some illusion to trick him.

He could hear the little girl running down the hall followed by the German shepherd clattering down as the two made their way down the stairs. Faint footsteps could be heard after. Draco stepped out of the loo, he grabbed her by her arms, and pushed her against the wall of the hallway. Hermione blinked and blushed slightly. Draco looked at her even more confused. “What kind of spell did you cast?” He whispered.

Hermione looked at him a bit confused. “What spell?” She asked.

“This, the little girl, the house, you.” He spoke a bit unsure.

“A marriage isn’t really a spell normally.” She chuckled and tilted her head to the side.

“Marriage?”

“Yes, I know it’s only been a few years, but you act like you woke up blindsided.” She spoke softly her cheeks still rosy.

“Why are you blushing?” He asked a bit perplexed.

“Cause this is how we got into this second predicament.” She whispered as she looked down at her small bump.

Draco let go of her arms quickly when he saw the noticeable baby bump under her black tank top. “I don’t understand.”

“Draco?” She asked a bit confused now.

Draco shook his head, he had to play dumb something wasn’t right, and at this moment he had to play along like he was joking with her. “Of course, how could I forget. I think I must be off this morning.”

Hermione nodded faintly. “I’m going to go start breakfast, do you think you’ll have time to eat with us before you go to work at the Ministry?”

“The Ministry?” He asked.

“Yes, you know the job you’ve been working at for over three years, you are an Auror with Theo. I think this case is getting the best of you.” Hermione spoke shaking her head.

“Mommy!” A voice screamed out from downstairs.

“Coming,” She shouted back. “Maybe I should contact Theo and see if maybe you can have the day off.” She placed her hand on his forehead. “You aren’t warm, so it’s not a fever, but I’ll see if Theo can spare you today.”

“No, it’s ok, I’ll go in. I think your right this case has me a little fuzzy.” He spoke out. “Head downstairs, I’ll get ready and I’ll join you two for breakfast.”

Hermione smiled as she leaned up and kissed him softly. She looked at him one last time as she headed downstairs. Draco watched her rest her right hand on her stomach as she walked down the steps and vanished into the room where the kitchen was. He touched his lips. How, she was a mudblood. How could he marry her of all people and have kids?

Theo, he could get more answers out of his best friend and try to figure out what was going on. He stopped for a moment. “We lost the Second War.” He whispered out. He looked down at the tattoo on his left arm, the serpent curling from the skull. If they had won the war she wouldn’t be as happy as she was. He wouldn’t have woken up with her sleeping peacefully next to her.

Why was the only memory he had now was of Hermione screaming in the dining room of Malfoy Manor with his aunt above her torturing her relentlessly with the Cruciatus Curse? He shook his head as he headed for the master bedroom to change into his uniform.

He came down the stairs shortly to see Hermione cooking and holding the little girl on her right hip. She was singing softly to the little girl who giggled at her mother. The morning light bounced off the two. The warm breeze blew the little crystals hanging in the window. The color reflected around the kitchen, dancing across the light blue walls and white cabinets. You are my sunshine my only sunshine.” Hermione grabbed the pieces of toast that popped from the dingy toaster. “You make me happy when skies are gray.” She placed the toast on two plates and then flipped over the eggs. “You never know, dear, how much I love you.” She placed the eggs on the plates. “Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Draco watched her closely; he was trying to remember if his mother ever did this with him as a child. Everything about his past seemed a bit hazy at the moment.

Draco’s heart sank as he watched her in the kitchen singing with the little girl while she cooked breakfast. He stepped into the kitchen and took the little girl from Hermione. He didn’t understand why at that moment he felt inclined to take the little girl from her to help her. “I just have a little bit of time left on the bacon. You can take my plate and start feeding her little pieces of egg.”

Draco took one of the plates and walked over to the kitchen table taking a seat after setting the plate down on the table. He took one of the forks and cut into the runny egg and gave the little girl a bite. The little girl took a bite quickly. Hermione turned her back and continued to cook the bacon. She was humming softly as Draco continued to feed the little girl who managed to eat half the egg before she moved on to the toast that he put a little bit of jelly on.

Hermione placed his plate on the table and went to pick up the little girl. “It’s ok. I got her, I’ll eat off her plate, take the plate you made me and eat.” He spoke softly taking a bite of the toast the little girl leaning up trying to take a bite from it.

“Are you sure? You might be late to work if you feed her.” Hermione took the plate she had made for him and sat down across from him.

Draco nodded. “Yeah, it’s ok if I’m late, it’s not like I’ll get many of these memories right?”

Hermione smiled, “Thank you.” She spoke softly smearing some toast on her toast. “You are right, she’s only little for so long.”

Draco helped the little girl finish her meal both clearing off the plate. Hermione took the little girl from him. “You should head off, I’ll see you when you get home.” She leaned down and kissed his left cheek. She picked up his plate and headed for the sink.

Draco looked at her for a moment before he snapped back into the reality of things. He knew he could talk to Theo and get some information to try to figure out what was going on, to figure out why there seemed to be a gap of years missing for him, why he was married to Hermione, with a child and child on the way. He headed out of the kitchen and searched for a fireplace he had found in the living room. He took a little bit of the floo powder from the glass jar on the mantle tossing it into the fireplace. “Ministry of Magic.” He vanished into a cloud of green.  

Chapter Text

Draco stumbled out of the fireplace at the Ministry. He watched as a few other witches and wizards came through heading to work, to their offices, and to meetings. He headed down the long hallway of fireplaces towards the elevators. Everything in the Ministry looked so different now, compared to when the Dark Lord was in control. Everyone seemed laid back as they went along like business as usual. He headed for the elevator and stepped inside. He adjusted his tie a bit and looked up as another witch went to step inside only to stop and take a step back. He looked up to see a familiar face yet again. It was the youngest Weasley. She gave him a quick glance before she walked away and took another elevator. ‘I guess some things are still the same.’ Another witch stepped in with braided blonde hair a black blouse and a matching pencil skirt. A black moon earring on her left, and a golden sun on her right. The doors rattled closed with the gate and took off to the floor he needed. The elevator came to a stop, but not on any floors. He glanced around a bit confused. They were in darkness beside the small box they stood in. “We’ve stopped?”

He glanced down at the witch who looked awfully familiar to him. He frowned as he went to remove his wand from his inner pocket to try to get the elevator to move again. “I wouldn’t.” She whispered calmly as she looked up to him with her cold blue eyes. He looked at her a bit confused as to why she didn’t want him to fix the elevator to get it moving again. “I’ve interrupted a deep thought, Haven’t I? I can see it growing smaller in your eyes.”

He let go of the handle of his wand. “No, you didn’t. It’s nothing.”

“You’ve altered your timeline, you know that don’t you?” She asked curiously as she looked ahead.

“How?” He asked. “What do you mean?”

“You woke up in an unfamiliar spot did you not?” She spoke glancing up at him now.

Draco looked at her a bit more hesitant. “How do you know that?”

“You’ve been trying to save her.” She whispered.

“Save who?”

“Hermione of course.” She smiled. “But sometimes, in order to save someone things get a little lost, jumbled.”

He glared at the young witch. “Why would I save Granger?”

“You love her, in this timeline you saved her, and you both got what you so desperately wanted.” She smiled.

Draco was taken aback a bit by what she had said. “Why don’t I remember anything then? The last thing I remember is being at Malfoy Manor, the snatchers had just brought Granger, Potter, and Weasley in, my aunt had the boys locked away, but Granger she was mad at her for something, I didn’t reveal who they really were to any of the other Death Eaters, but my aunt started to torture her. I don’t remember anything after that point. I’m missing something. I feel like I’ve lost my mind.”

“You’re just as sane as I am.” She looked back ahead at the door. “Do you really want to know what happened?”

Draco was still a bit unsure as he listened closely to her. “I do.”

“My mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect.” She spoke softly. “There is another that will try to reverse what you did. If he is successful she will die.” The gears above started to grind, finally coming loose, and headed towards its destination again. The elevator stopped on an odd floor, the gate opened, and she stepped out and turned to look back at him with a sad smile as the gate closed and sent him toward his floor, she seemed to vanish before his very eyes.

The elevator stopped on his floor. Draco stepped out and headed down another long hallway looking at the office doors with names on them, a few he recognized of those he went to school with. That girl, she looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place her. Even her behavior was something he had seen. Was his mind so jumbled that he couldn’t remember her? She had to be the same age as them or close to it. But why would she know something like that? Why would he save Granger? He didn’t love her, she was a filthy mudblood. She must have bewitched his memories, and something had gone wrong in the process. How she managed to get a marriage license and children out of him was beyond him.

He made it to the end of the hall where he saw his name and Thoe’s on a placard. He stepped inside to see Theo looking at a board on the wall with notes, pictures, and little red strings that tied one another together in some way. Theo turned to look back at Draco smirking. A scar was visible across his left eye. “Get a little morning action?”

Draco looked at the other a bit taken back by the scar and what he had said. “I would never.” Draco snapped at his friend, someone who would more than likely be on his side possibly.

Theo looked at Draco a little confused. “She’s only a little pregnant, I didn’t think that would be a big turn-off for you considering it’s your child.”

Draco realized what he had done. “Yeah, I just wasn’t feeling it, I was helping her with my umm daughter.” He spoke out. He wanted to ask, but didn’t seem like it would yield anything that would help him. His friend would only look at him like he was a loon. Just like he had done to the witch in the elevator. Maybe it would be best to figure things out on his own. He rubbed his head a bit overwhelmed by the thought he would return to her and the child that looked like him tonight.

“Hermione told me you weren’t feeling well to keep an eye on you,” Theo spoke as he took a seat behind one of the desks in the office.

“What, then why would you ask if I had sex if you talked to her?” He asked confused.

“Cause I like to tease you.” He chuckled as he put his feet up on his desk and leaned back in his office chair as he grabbed a copy of The Daily Prophet.

Draco let out a defeated sigh. Everything seemed off. He never pictured himself sharing an office in the Ministry of Magic with Theo as Aurors. The last thing he remembered was following the Dark Lord’s orders. “Theo?” He finally asked.

Theo looked over at his partner flipping his paper down. “What is it?”

Draco looked at the other a bit hesitant. “I don’t think something is right.”

“What do you mean?”

“This morning I woke up next to Granger and a little kid wandering into the room, but I swear the last thing I remember is being home at the Manor. We had just captured Granger, Potter, and Weasley.” He was trying his best to remember everything.

Theo flicked the paper up and started to read again. “You make it sound like you got thrown into an alternate timeline,” Theo spoke as if it was nothing as he flipped the paper back up to read. “I think this nonsense case is really getting to you sometimes.”

Draco looked at the other puzzled, Theo seemed unphased by what Draco was trying to ask him. He almost seemed to be spot on with what the witch had told him when they were stuck in the elevator. Draco turned his attention to the board looking through the notes and images, he was trying to figure out what exactly they had been working on. Theo obviously wasn’t open to solving anything other than a few riddles in The Daily Prophet. “How far are we on this?”

Theo shrugged. “It’s just a wild goose chase they have us on to keep us busy. They still don’t take us seriously here because of who we were.” He flicked the paper to straighten the paper. “Just move a couple of things around to make it look like we are progressing. It’s just a rogue wizard or witch trying to find some brooch that no one has seen for over a hundred years. It’s just whispers.”

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Draco stepped out of the fireplace, he looked around the small living room. Everything had been picked up and cleaned. This place, this was home. A home he shared with someone he once viewed as his enemy. What happened that changed everything? What happened that he somehow saved her? The streetlights flickered on the streets. He had stayed longer than he should have at the Ministry of Magic, but he was still wrapping his mind around everything.

He walked out of the room, he headed up the stairs, he noticed the pictures on the wall, he paused when he saw a picture of them outside, she wore a white wedding dress, he was in a black suit, and they were dancing in the photograph. Draco placed his hand on the edge of the silver frame. How did he not remember any of this? She looked at him with adoring eyes as they danced in the photo. She truly loved him. He looked the same in the photo. He looked at her like he loved her deeply.

Draco continued to walk up the steps, looking at all the happy memories that adorned the picture frames. He walked down the hall and stopped short of the master bedroom. Hermione was fast asleep with a book resting on her chest. The little girl resting in a blanket nest curled up to her hip holding her little white rabbit. Was this what he wanted? Was this the outcome he hoped would happen if he saved her? A simple domesticated life with a family? A job in the ministry?

He went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms and a white tank top, he changed, turned the light off, and moved over to the bed. Carefully he laid down next to her with the little girl still fast asleep between the two. Draco still felt like something wasn’t right, but he thought if he went with the motions, maybe something would come loose, that he would remember things. The clinking of the clock on the wall echoed in the quiet room. Her outline was visible in the moonlight that came into the room. Why did he want to save her, did he love her? He had to right to change the timeline to make sure she was spared. You only do that to save someone right?

He couldn’t help, but remember all the times they fought, how they bickered during lessons trying to outdo each other. He sat up a little bit as he caught a glance of her arm, he placed his hand around her left wrist to pull it so he could see the writing carved into her flesh. ‘Mudblood.’ When did this happen? Who had done this to her?

Hermione shifted in her sleep, her honey eyes opened halfway. A smile formed on her lips. “Hey,” She whispered. “We tried to wait up for you.” She had no idea he was trying to look at the writing on her arm, she only assumed he was trying to pull her close to him.

He forced a smile. “Sorry, got a little busy at work and I couldn’t get away.” He whispered, it almost felt like something he would tell her.

“It’s ok.” She whispered. “I’m glad you made it home safely.” The two were trying to keep quiet so the little girl wouldn’t wake up. Draco reached forward and brushed her brown locks back behind her ear. She closed her eyes when she felt his hand rest on her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing her cheek. She truly trusted him. He wanted to remember. He wanted to know what she did to change him, he wanted to know what she did to trick him into falling in love with her. What made her so special that he would change the timeline to save her.

Draco felt her shift for a moment. “Oh, the baby is kicking, do you want to feel him?” She opened her eyes halfway as she took his hand from her cheek and placed it on top of her black tank top. He didn’t have much time to react.

He could feel the subtle movements from beneath her top. “He?”

Hermione giggled quietly. “Yes,”

Chapter Text

Hermione knelt in front of the toilet, Draco was holding her wild bushy hair back as she threw up. He was knelt behind her body. He carefully rubbed her back as her body tensed every time she threw up. This was becoming a normal nightly routine for the two. She finally sat back resting against his chest. “You ready to go back to the bed?” He asked. He was a bit concerned, he had never known her to be weak, the pregnancy was leaving her in a state of vulnerability. He noticed that she barely used magic as if it drained her. 

“Yes, when I get settled in can you get me water and check on Olivia?”

Draco nodded, “Of course.” He stood, helping her to her feet soon after. He waited till she was ready to walk back to the bed and helped her to the bed they shared. 

Hermione laid on her side as Draco pulled the white comforter up and over her, the little stains of grape juice visible in the moonlight. He brushed her bangs back behind her left ear she was sweaty and cold to the touch. “I’ll be right back.” He whispered. She nodded as she closed her hazel tired eyes. 

Draco left the room; he peaked in to see his little girl hanging halfway off her bed fast asleep. This was the third time he found her falling out of her bed. Draco picked her up gently sliding her back into bed, tucking her in with her pink blankets. That would be his next project making a rail to keep her from falling out again. He shook his head as he tried to get the idea out of his head. How did he start to become such a doting parent as if it was a normal thing for him.

She didn’t wake as she cuddled up into a ball clutching her white rabbit. The German Shepard looked up briefly before he rested his head back down on his front paws. Draco had noticed that the little girl was never left alone. If he wasn’t with her the dog would be next to her, if Hermione wasn’t with her the dog would be with her. They seemed to live in a muggle neighborhood, there was nothing magical beside their home. Even then there was a charm to hide anything magical from the muggle world.

Why would he agree to live in the muggle world, why not an area where there was magic and people that were just like them around. He knew she was muggle-born, but would she really want to live in a world where she would have to hide? She wasn’t shy about using her magic around their daughter to make her laugh or try to teach her things. He had seen her in the sunroom making potions, tending to the plants. The little girl right beside her standing on a wooden chair as Hermione talked to her. The little girl probably had no idea what Hermione was talking about, but she probably did. The little girl was the product of the golden girl and the golden boy, both fighting for top place in studies during their school years.

Was that why he chose to save her? He rubbed his forehead, everything still felt so grainy he wished he knew why, why he saved her. What did she say or do to make him risk everything to save her. What did Luna mean that there was another that would try to stop this. If he’s successful she will die. Draco walked down the steps, the photographs moving of the happy couple with their little girl in some of the photographs. He walked into the kitchen taking a glass from the drying rack and filled it with water. He looked out the window and for a brief moment, he could have sworn he saw a cloaked figure, but the figure vanished just as quickly.

Draco tensed a bit as he sat the cup of water down on the counter. He hurried outside trying to see if he saw anyone. He could feel the protective wards that were up, wards that he had put up around their home. If the Second War was over, why would he have such strong wards up over their home in a muggle suburb. There were no signs of any kind of attacks in this area, he didn’t even find any information on any recent muggle attacks in the files at the Ministry.

He scanned the area one last time before he went back inside their home. He shut the door, casting a spell to keep the door locked in the time being. He knew the wards were up, but he was starting to feel uneasy about a lot of things now.  He retrieved the glass of water and headed up to where Hermione sat up in bed, reading quietly now, she wasn’t one to lay still for very long. “You ok? I heard the door open downstairs.”

Draco nodded as he sat the glass on her nightstand, “Yeah, I thought I saw something and went outside to take a look.”

“Draco, we are in a safe area. You made sure that this house would be safe, hidden in a muggle suburb. You can relax, I know the war took a toll on both of us, I know you were faced with so much. I know we had some fallout from others after, but you made sure that we would be safe.” Hermione spoke sadly.

Draco took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I guess old habits die hard when it comes to being on guard.”

“I’m sure with me being pregnant again, it makes you feel more on guard.” Hermione took the glass taking a sip before setting the glass down.

“Yeah, I mean we are only a few years after the war.” Draco looked down at his folded hands. “Olivia, she was conceived during the war.” He was starting to put things together, even though bigger pieces were missing.

Hermione frowned, “Yes, but with everything that happened you kept me safe, Theo he took me into hiding after we thought you were killed.”

Draco stiffened up at what she had said. She thought that he had died, Theo had thought he was killed and saved her. Had he done that on his order or did he act on his own to save her. Did Theo even know that Hermione was pregnant when he saved her and hid her away. “I think you should get some rest. I think this pregnancy is a bit hard on you.”

“Not as bad as running and hiding.” She tried to force a smile. She was trying to joke with him a bit. She had noticed how tense he got during the conversation. “We are okay now Draco.” She placed a hand on his, she gave a reassuring squeeze.

Draco looked up as he gave a faint smile. “Yeah, everything is okay now.”

Hermione let go of his hand as she placed her book on the nightstand. She laid back and covered up in the warmth of the blankets. Draco stood and moved over to his side of the bed and crawled in beside her. This was still a new feeling for him. He remembered sleeping around a bit during the Second War, but it wasn’t anything like being in love like he had to be with her. He moved and wrapped his left arm around her. He could feel something, but he was still feeling conflicted internally about the situation. He had a lingering thought that maybe she had bewitched him at some point enough so that they would sleep together, maybe she had purposedly gotten herself pregnant on purpose to stay alive when she was with him.

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Draco sat at a local pub near their home, Hermione had convinced him to go out with a few people from work. She was convinced that he was stressed from work, that he needed to blow off a little bit of steam. Theo was more than happy to take him out and go drinking, even in a muggle pub. Now, he wore a regular buttoned up black shirt with blue jeans. Hermione convinced him that was a normal muggle attire for a laid back businessman.

Draco peaked up when he heard the bell above the door, he looked at his watch. Of course, Theo would be late. He looked over to see Theo walking in with Ron and Harry right behind him. He was a bit taken back as he saw the three joking a bit as they walked inside. Harry and Ron were they really friends with Theo and him after everything. Harry looked clean cut compared to the last time he saw him. Ron, however, still looked a bit rough around the edges, he figured that was just how Ron had always been, but he thought maybe he would be a bit more put together. Draco gave a faint wave from where he sat at the bar. The three ushered him over to the booth they were heading towards. Draco stood with his drink in hand and followed the three over.

Draco took a seat next to Theo in the booth. Ron was back at the counter ordering a pitcher of beer for the table along with some food.

“Have you guys had any movements on finding the brooch?” Harry spoke taking off his coat before taking a seat in the booth.

Theo shrugged, “No, just whispers so far, not a big lead to go off of yet. We don’t even really know what is so important about the magical item to be honest. For all we know it just makes the person smell like butter.”

Draco blinked as he looked at Theo a bit confused. He really didn’t seem engaged in this case at all. “Have you already been drinking?” Draco asked as Harry chuckled across from them as Ron sat the pitcher and four mugs on the table. Harry poured drinks for the four of them from the pitcher.

“I mean, just a few shots of fire whiskey.” Theo spoke.

“I just left you at work less then an hour ago.” Draco looked a bit confused.

“I mean why do they make desk drawers so deep if not to keep your fire whiskey in.” He chuckled. Draco shook his head, no wonder they had lost the war.

Ron watched the two. “So, you’re still on the wild goose chase then.” He chuckled.

Draco took a sip of his scotch before he leaned back. The two really were given foolish cases to follow. It almost seemed like a running gag in this group. He was still a little unsure how all four of them had become friends after the Second War, he would be more than sure that Harry and Ron would hate him. He remembered the last time that he saw them, he had lied about who Harry and Ron were, he didn’t give any information that would out any of them to his crazy aunt, but for some reason he remembered her sending the boys to the dungeon and kept Hermione upstairs where she started to torture her. “Just like Theo states, just move things around on the board to make it look like we are working on it.”

“How’s Hermione doing with this third pregnancy?” Harry asked.

Draco glanced as he caught his words. Third pregnancy? He thought to himself. He thought he had all the puzzle pieces for the family part, but there was no mention of the pregnancy being her third. “She’s been a bit sick at night, but she’s still going on about her potion making with Olivia.”

“Man, I didn’t know she would be open to trying again after everything.” Ron spoke sadly.

Draco glanced at Theo who was already buzzing from the fire whiskey and now from the pitcher he was helping himself to.

“Hermione’s strong, she’s always been one to get what she wants. She’s always wanted a big family, her mum and dad only had her, her mum almost died in childbirth with Hermione.” Harry spoke taking a sip from his beer. “I just worry about her. She doesn’t let on when she’s not doing ok. She’s been getting better at being open with you right? I know after we had a falling out during the hunt. She kind of closed herself off, I just don’t know if she’s gotten any better. She still talks to us, but it’s not the same open conversations like when we were teens.”

“People change,” Draco spoke as he looked down at the ice of his empty glass. What happened to Hermione? She never said anything to him, had she said something and he never caught what was being said by her. “She’s been happy, she sings all the time to Olivia.” That morning, the first morning with her. That song she was singing. ‘My Little Sunshine.’ He closed his eyes halfway, ‘Please don’t take my sunshine away.’ His heart dropped, she hadn’t dealt with what had happened, he didn’t even know what happened to her. She was always happy to see him and be with their little girl. He realized he had never seen Hermione leave the house, the only time she left was when they went out for walks in the neighborhood.  

“Hermione, is just Hermione, I’m sure after this baby she’ll be comfortable enough to return to the Ministry and go back to working at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, she was so good at helping with The Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.” Harry elbowed Ron to get him to stop talking.

“Ron, Hermione is happy just being home right now Olivia.” Harry spoke as he frowned. “She doesn’t need to be pushed to go back to work.”

“How about we leave my wife out of this, she wanted me to get out for a bit to hang out and everyone is hung up on her being pregnant again or going back to work. Hermione is stubborn she’s going to do what she’s going to do; you know that more then I do especially when she’s focused on something.” Draco’s tone had changed when he locked onto Ron.

Ron only shrugged as he took a sip from his mug. “Anyone thinking about going to the Quiditch World Cup this year?”

“Who’s playing again?” Harry asked as the subject changed to something all four men had fond memories of playing in Hogwarts.

“Ireland and Portugal this time around.” Theo spoke as he leaned back in the corner now, his azure eyes glazed over. “Man I bet there would be some cute little firecrackers running around.”

Ron glared at the other. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know, what I mean your sister is a bit of a firecracker if you know what I mean.” Theo winked as he smirked.

Ron’s face turned a dark red. “Don’t talk about my sister like that.”

“Ron calm down he’s only joking with you,” Harry took a drink as he chuckled. “Theo’s not wrong about her being a firecracker.” He joked.

Theo was chuckling now along with Harry. Draco looked at the three, how did they grow so close together over everything they had gone through in this war, how they had all become drinking buddies joking about their jobs, their taste in women, and sports. Harry stood and went back to the counter when the number had been called and Ron followed after him to pick up another pitcher of beer. “Are you doing ok?” A whisper came from Theo’s lips.

Draco glanced over to the other as he took a sip of is beer as he gave a shrug. “Yeah, I think it’s just been a while since we’ve gone out like this haven’t we?”

Theo nodded as he let out a yawn. “Yeah, definitely, but it feels good to just relax a bit. I’m a bit surprised at how protective you got about Hermione. It’s been a good minute.”

Draco watched as Harry and Ron gathered the items that had been placed on the counter. “I guess with this being her third pregnancy after what happened, I might have become really protective of her.”

Theo nodded sadly. “I could only imagine how hard it is on her.”

“You two are close aren’t you? She sent you a message at work about me that one morning.” Draco spoke.

“Yeah, well after we thought you died, I ended up being her rebound while she was pregnant. I mean we didn’t do much like we told you, but I knew she didn’t love me like she loved you. As much as I would have loved to have her as mine, I knew I was just a comfort for her. I was that safety she needed. I guess a warm body to remind her she was okay.” He swirled his drink a bit. “She seemed like she was just holding on, trying to make it through what she thought she heard. She was scared during that pregnancy.” Theo slumped a bit. “I feel like I was more the girlfriend she needed to chat with and talk to about when it came to concerns about the baby or if I had heard any news on the war.”

Draco frowned at this as the other two returned to the table. “Two orders of fish and chips, another pitcher of beer.” Harry chirped up.

“Now all that’s missing is a firecracker!” Theo smirked as Harry chuckled at the comment. Ron shot a warning glare towards Theo who took a large gulp of his beer. “I guess you’ll do pour me a glass you little firecracker you.” He joked as he gave Ron a wink, Draco and Harry couldn’t help, but laugh at Theo as he teased Ron. “Come now, you didn’t mind coming home with me at the last Christmas party we had at the Ministry.” A playful grin played across Theo’s lips.

Chapter Text

Draco spoke as he opened the bathroom door to see Hermione soaking in the clawfoot tub. The bubbles cover most of her body, her baby bump poking out. A little yellow duck floated close by. “Hey, here you are.” Her crazy curls were up in a messy bun a white handkerchief around her head to keep her hair out of her face.

Hermione opened her hazel eyes halfway as she smiled at him. “How was drinking with the boys?”

Draco knelt beside the tub, sitting right across from her on the white tile flooring. His right arm on the edge of the tub. “Drinking went good, Theo tried to get Ron to go home with him.”

Hermione couldn’t help, but chuckle at Draco’s comment. “Not very successful, was he?”

Draco shook his head, “No, but he did get the bartender’s number.”

She chuckled again. Her hands moved and rested on the edge of the bathtub. Draco reached out and took her hand. He remembered back to the pub. Her third pregnancy, was she really doing ok? She didn’t talk to him about anything she was feeling. She always smiled and ensured he was okay and their little one was taken care of. “Do you need me to get you anything?”

Hermione tilted her head to the side before she shook her head. “No, I just thought a warm bath would be good. My back was acting up a little bit, I might be standing too long when I’m brewing potions.”

“Are you sure it’s that and not something else?” Draco asked a bit cautiously.

Hermione looked at him a bit puzzled. “No, are you worried about something?”

Draco hesitated for a minute, “No, it’s just the boys tonight they were wondering how you were doing with this pregnancy. I think they were a bit worried.”

Hermione frowned as she pulled her hand away and placed both hands on her pregnant stomach. “… Just let them know I’m ok. Just a bit tired, I think that’s expected of pregnancy though.” She forced a smile.

Draco nodded, he watched her as she sank in deeper into the bathtub. She almost seemed to shut herself off bit from him. Whatever happened to her, had her locked down. She couldn’t bring herself to talk any further. Just that she’s tired. She probably was to be honest. Even as he watched her relax in the bathtub, she looked tired and worn out.

“I’m proud of you.” He whispered. That’s all he could really say. This life, he didn’t remember any of it. Whatever happened he was learning as he went along, he didn’t want to say anything to her about what Luna had said, especially after finding out about her miscarriage.

He was learning that she wasn’t the enemy he thought she was. But how could she love a monster like him after everything he had done to her at Hogwarts, during the war. What did he do to her, what happened that he had to have Theo save her and their unborn child? Had they really gotten that close in the war that they had an accident like that? Olivia though, watching her play and talk. Seeing everything she tried to do on her own. He risked everything for them, but at the cost of losing his memories in the process of chasing a timeline that she survived.

“Draco, I think I’m ready to get out, could you get my towel for me?” Hermione whispered as she stood carefully in the tub after she pulled the stopper up, she rinsed her body with warm water from the removable showerhead.

Draco stood and went and gathered a pink puffy towel from the towel rack. When he turned to face her, he couldn’t help, but blush at the sight of her body. She looked like she was glowing, much like pregnant women often did. Even though she had looked so tired in the bath, she stood in front of him not shy at all. He wrapped the towel around her body once she put the showerhead back. She tucked the towel corner into the top of her wrap. He took her hand and helped her from the tub. She stepped out carefully with his help.

Draco couldn’t help, but wrap his arms around her. “Hey now, I’m a bit wet.” She spoke out a little shocked at how he hugged her. She was blushing madly now as she giggled feeling his lips kiss the left side of her neck.

Draco stopped when he realized what he had done. “I didn’t mean to.”

Hermione shook her head, “No, it’s ok. You’ve just been so tense since we found out I was pregnant. I don’t know almost like you thought I would get pregnant while I was already pregnant.”

“I think maybe we should get to bed,” Draco spoke finally. Hermione frowned slightly, but nodded, she turned and headed out of the bathroom and headed towards their room. She peeked in on their daughter. A smile formed on her lips before she took a step back and continued to the room. Draco paused and peeked in at his sleeping daughter who hadn’t fallen out of the bed this time. She was fast asleep with the German Shepard sleeping at the side of her bed.

“Draco?” Hermione spoke as she looked out of their bedroom door holding out her hand. ”Are you ready?”

Draco followed her in, he turned the lights off the lights as he changed into his pajama bottoms, and Hermione removed her towel tossing it into the hamper. She pulled her pink nightgown that came down to her knees and crawled into bed. Draco moved in and covered her in the thick comforter tucking her in to make sure she was secure and would be warm. He couldn’t help, but watch as she started to fall asleep. There was still so much mystery behind her, so much that he didn’t remember, that he wished he remembered. Draco brushed some of her bangs to the side, a small smile graced her lips.

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Hermione scrambled up the ruins of the fallen school, her black Death Eater cape wavering in the wind, the clashing of spells, the sound of walls crumbling from their foundations. The courtyard that once bustled with happy schoolchildren now lay as a war-torn battleground of witches and wizards, of magical creatures and beasts. Theo was right behind her, he was trying to keep up with her as she searched for Draco. She had caught wind that Draco had survived the punishment that the Dark Lord had inflicted upon him for keeping her alive after he was ordered to kill her at Malfoy Manor. He had sent her away with Theo, he had ordered Theo to keep her and their unborn child safe and hidden from sight.  “Hermione wait!” Theo spoke as a blast knocked him and Hermione off their feet. Theo grabbed hold of her as they tumbled to the ground, bits of stone falling around them.

Draco turned when he heard Hermione’s name shouted out on the battlefield of Hogwarts. He moved quickly and dodged spells that were sent his way. Hermione looked up, Theo had been knocked out shielding her and her unborn child. Hermione moved out from under Theo, she saw Draco making a run to where she was trying to get back up to her feet.

Hermione got to her feet, she ran to him limping, but stopped when he saw his father out of the corner of her eye. Draco stopped when she stopped, his attention turning to his father. His wand raised not at Hermione, but at Draco. His heart was beating heavily in his chest. “Do it then!” He screamed at his father.

Draco took steps towards his father and raised his wand to fight back against his father. He felt himself being knocked off his feet when his father casted a familiar spell, green light flashing. He landed against the ground, they had been thrown back against the wall of the castle walls, and Hermione rested on top of him. He watched as his father stepped closer to him. He tried to shake Hermione awake, but her body was limp against his as he pulled her close to him. “What did you do!?” He screamed out.  Blood trickled down from a cut on his forehead.

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Draco sat up in bed quickly, sweat rolling down the side of his cheeks. His breathing was racing, the room was dark with only a little bit of moonlight coming in from the bedroom window. Faint crying could be heard from down the hall he turned to see Hermione gone from her side of the bed. He placed his hand on her spot and noticed that it was still fairly warm.

Draco slid the blankets off, quickly got out of bed, and made his way down the hallway. He saw a faint light on from Olivia’s room. He pushed the door open to see Hermione rocking Olivia in the old white-washed rocking chair. Her head resting on her mother’s chest, her mother rubbing her back gently as she hummed. She looked up to see Draco standing in the doorway. “Just a bad dream.” She whispered. A warm breeze blew in through the window that was opened just enough, the little monarch butterflies mobile slowly moving, the wings appearing to flap above the toddler bed.

‘A bad dream.’ He thought to himself, he stepped into the bedroom the German Shepard let out a low growl. The hair stood on the back of his neck. The dog was fixated on something outside the window he was looking out. Draco’s eyes narrowed as he watched the dog’s reaction to the world outside that should be fast asleep.

“Draco?” Hermione spoke finally, she was rocking back and forth. “The wards are up, no one can get in that isn’t allowed to be here. They can pace all they want, they can’t find the place.” Olivia’s cries started to settle, Hermione’s hand still rubbing her back gently in soothing motions.

“What if they are allowed here?” He spoke under his breath, he was still tense from the nightmare he had lived through, except was this a nightmare of a past memory he was reliving. He rubbed his head feeling frustrated. “My father doesn’t know of this place does he?”

Hermione was silent for a moment before she shook her head. “No, not unless someone let it slip while he’s locked away in Azkaban…” There was a bit of fear in her voice. He could tell there was something more, something he didn’t quite remember. He felt there was something more, something that his father had done, something he possibly had done to her, just like in his nightmare.

Another growl escaped the German Shepherd's throat. Draco stepped over to the window and pushed the pink floral curtain open a bit, he could see a figure tip its hat, the shadows hid the features, a puff of black smoke, and the figure vanished before him. Draco pushed the wooden window down. “It’s the same as before…” He whispered.

“Same as before?” Hermione spoke, the rocking stopped, and her arms moved around the little one fast asleep in her arms. “You mean when you thought you saw someone and looked outside the other night?”

Draco nodded. He wasn’t sure who could have been watching the home, but someone knew that they were in the little girl’s room. Who knew how long the person had been standing and watching. Who knew if they had slipped in the nightmares that he and his little one had experienced. Some kind of hex or spell to make them experience something “I want her to sleep in bed with you tonight.”

“What about you?” Hermione asked, standing while she pushed the little girl up a little further.

“Blu.” Draco ushered the German Shepard to follow him, “I want to refortify the wards, I want to make sure everything is holding up and in working order.”

“Draco, do you really think that someone is coming?” Hermione spoke trying to reassure him as she reached out and placed a hand on his left arm. The little girl still being held in her right arm.

“I need you to listen to me, I just want to make sure all three of you are safe.” He turned to face her as he placed his right hand on her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her gently. “Do you trust me?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes.”

“Then please, go rest and let me make sure that everything is ok.” He spoke softly this time. The nightmare, looking down at her lifeless body. Was this the fate she suffered in another lifetime? Had she really risked her life to save him on the battlefield against his own father no less. He wasn’t going to lose her. Not to anyone who hid in the shadows. “I’ll be back before you know it, just trust me.”

Chapter Text

Draco sat in the office looking up at the ceiling. He was starting to grow worried about what Luna had said, that there was someone who would reverse what he had done. He was growing concerned with the looming figure that seemed to be watching their home. He needed help. He apparently had friends, Harry, Ron, and Theo. He was still surprised that Harry and Ron were, but maybe he needed to trust them like they obviously did. Draco tilted his head when he heard Theo’s bottom drawer open. “It’s only two.” He sighed.They had just finished their lunch. 

Theo closed the drawer slowly. “You are no fun.” He spoke tossing a pencil into the ceiling above. A smirk played on his lips when the pencil stuck.

“Yes, I’m the grumpy old married man,” Draco spoke closing his eyes. “Theo, if I ask you something, do you promise not to say anything, to anyone, not even Harry or Ron.”

“Of course,” He spoke sitting back up in his chair.

“Lovegood, one morning when I was heading into the office. She told me that I’m on a timeline where I was able to save Hermione.” He spoke point blank. “She told me that there was someone who wanted to destroy everything. I almost didn’t believe her, but I remember nothing before that day. I’ve also seen a cloaked figure lurking near and around the house.”

“You are just now telling me about this now?” He asked shaking his head. “Talk about best friends sharing everything.”

“You don’t think what I said was crazy?” Draco quirked a brow at his friend who didn’t seem phased.

Theo shrugged. “No, not really. Not after that day, you came in saying you swear the last thing you remembered was being in the manor, that you were surprised to wake up to Hermione and your little one wandering in on you, you called her Granger,” He tilted his head to the side. “Whatever Lovegood said to you, I would believe her. She’s odd, with her nonsense riddles, but she’s usually pretty on point with her warnings.”

Draco had been struggling internally with what he had woken up to, worried about even saying a single thing to his friend. He just shrugged it off, like it was nothing. Just like this case, they were supposed to be working on. “I should have trusted you the first time I saw you.”

“Yeah, but we are entitled to our own secrets sometimes, if you thought that something was going on and you didn’t know who to trust I would act the same,” Theo spoke as he opened the drawer. “I think I need a drink though, sounds like this is going to be a long conversation.”

Draco didn’t argue or make any comments when he pulled the fire whiskey out of his desk drawer once more. “So, do I fill in the blanks?” He twisted the metal cap off and took a swig.

Draco nodded. “Yeah, I just, I don’t know what to ask first.”

“You sure you don’t want to confide in your wife?” Theo asked as he sat the bottle down on his desk. “She would probably be better than me, what I know is what you’ve told me pretty much, or what she’s confided in me.”

Draco was a bit hesitant, “From what I’ve learned so far, I don’t want to cause her more heartache. She seems really shut off from the world with this pregnancy from what I’ve seen. She barely leaves the house she doesn’t let Olivia out of her sight if she can help it. She either gets up and checks on her or has me do it.”

“It's because of what your father did,” Theo spoke sadly.

“What do you mean what my father did?” Draco asked concern in his tone. He hadn’t interacted with anyone in his family since he woke in this timeline. “What did my father do to her?”

Theo looked away, “Your father is locked away because of what happened but, he’s the reason Hermione had her miscarriage.”

Draco’s heart sank into his chest. His own father. “What happened?”

Theo reached over and took another drink from his bottle. “She went to this scene, people made it sound like there was no issue that they could go in and clean up and Hermione could start her task of changing the muggles' memories to clear them of any magical presence or events, tried to make it sound like some kind of attack from a muggle street gang something you know that their lot would believe.”

 He took a deep breath. “Your father, he was lurking, he was the reason the explosions were set up in the small village where people used the main road to go back and forth to the bigger cities. Your father, he was still upset that The Dark Lord had been defeated, and they hadn’t won the war, he couldn’t even return to his job at the Ministry, so he was working with other Death Eaters who survived to create another uprising, to finish what they started. I know that you refused to talk to him after he nearly killed Hermione during the battle.” Theo was struggling a little bit with trying to talk about the past. Draco might have been married to Hermione, but Theo had a strong bond with Hermione from the time they spent together in isolation in the countryside hiding in Theo’s country estate, feeling like they lost someone important to them. He helped her during her pregnancy even though it had been for a couple of months.

“When she went back to where her partner was collecting evidence, her partner accidentally triggered something and another explosion went off. Hermione was thrown back against a wall of this old red brick-and-mortar building, she was buried under the rubble. Her partner was able to dig her out and they got her to the hospital, but it was too late. She lost the baby and you nearly lost her. She was in a coma for a couple of weeks. They found your father was the leader and with all the evidence from the attack they locked him away in Azkaban again.”

Olivia, she was just barely over two years old,” Theo couldn’t look at Draco. He could tell Theo was struggling with talking about what Hermione had lost. “She was so excited to be pregnant again. That she wouldn’t have the stress of the war to worry about. That you would be with her every step of the way. She joked to me once, that I wouldn’t have to take care of her pregnancy cravings for odd foods and snacks. It was a real struggle to find certain muggle snacks. I mean I had never heard of cheese puffs? I hadn’t before, I made sure I loaded up so I wouldn’t be found sneaking out getting her snacks all of the time.” He was trying to lighten the mood. Theo had gone through a couple of months of her pregnancy with her when they thought Draco had been killed. He wasn’t about to betray his friend in death by abandoning his girlfriend and unborn child. He was going to take it upon himself to protect her and the child, no matter what side won the war.

Draco was silent, she was working on something she did every day, and his father hurt her, and killed his unborn child, but had his father known that Hermione would have been the one to clean up the attack and change memories. “I’m going to kill him,” Draco whispered.

“You aren’t going to get very far, you’ve tried before.” Theo hiccupped. Draco didn’t realize how long each sip had been for Theo. “I don’t know who the figure could be, but it’s not your father. I don’t know who it could be. You had a lot of enemies in school, you married the Golden girl and saved her but, it didn’t spare you or even her. A lot of people ridiculed her for standing by your side. It actually took Ron and Harry a long time to be accepting of you two.”

“You mean she could have returned to Harry and Ron, but she didn’t?” Draco spoke. She would have been free of him, she didn’t have to side with him and defend him. If she had returned to Harry and Ron, she wouldn’t have gone through what she had to. She could have had a normal life as a single mother. She wouldn’t be hiding from the world.

“I think they felt guilty for what she went through or what they thought she went through. When they escaped, they left her behind. Your aunt tortured her.” Theo closed the bottle. “From what you told me, your aunt made you watch her torture her. When your aunt finally stopped Hermione wasn’t moving or making a sound, she left her thinking she was dead, but you didn’t say a word until she left. You could tell she was barely hanging on and you took Hermione to your room and tended to her wounds.”

Draco frowned at Theo’s words, he did remember his aunt doing this to her. He remembered her screams echoing through the large dining room that was empty of the table and chairs. She was begging for his aunt to stop. Her broken honey eyes looked at him begging for him to make it stop. He watched his aunt carve Mudblood into her arm with a knife. “I saved her, after everything she went through. She still wouldn’t leave my side.”

 “They assume she was tortured, but when she went to save you during the battle they thought she had switched sides in the war. That you had tricked her, when they found out she was pregnant they really felt betrayed that she would fall for you. They assumed that you tricked her and when she refused to leave your side, even when we were on trial she didn’t back down. She was able to prove both of our innocence, how you helped spare her friends by hiding their identity from your aunt, how you saved her and healed her. She told them how I had kept her safe and hidden from the Death Eaters. She saved us from being sent to Azkaban.” Theo paused for a moment. “When they played her memories in court Ron and Harry, they stopped giving her a hard time, they stopped giving you and I a bad time. They were given the truth, everyone was in that room that day.”

Draco was silent, she had truly gone through everything to stay by his side. Even after everything his own father had tried to take his happiness away. He still didn’t know the turning point of what happened that made him fall in love with her. That moment that brought them together. He had been so cruel to her through school. He had even wished she had been killed when the Chamber opened because she was a mudblood. Because he didn’t feel her life had any value. “She really went through all of this, just to be with me.”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, she’s a real saint to put up with you.” He chuckled.

“I think I’m going to try to take her out to eat someplace, maybe I can be subtle in asking her about things about us,” Draco spoke.

“Are you going to ask her why she fell in love with someone like you?” He smirked.

Draco looked at the other a bit annoyed now. “You know why she fell in love with me?”

“That’s between Hermione and I.” He winked. “But I agree, if you can get her to leave the house long enough and you should take her someplace nice, I’ll watch my little goddaughter so you two can talk.”

“You would do that for me?” He asked.

Theo nodded, “Of course.” He sat up and looked over at his friend. “We do need to try to figure out who this cloaked person is that is looming over you and your home. I think will actually investigate that instead of this stupid brooch mystery the upper management has us trying to figure out.”

Chapter Text

The chipping cracked pepper-colored fan moved back and forth on the medium setting. Delicate fingers brushed through his faded honey-blonde hair that was still wet from the surprise rainstorm they were caught in on their way home from the restaurant. His head rested on her bare chest. His right arm was wrapped around her waist. His silver eyes watched the white iridescent curtain blew every time the fan faced the open window.

The sweet smell of vanilla and lilacs came from the blankets they were tightly wrapped in. A faint hum vibrated from her lips. The humming lined up with the fan that turned back and forth. Her auburn eyes were closed.

Light flickered in from the streetlights outside. The room was warm from the summer air. Draco closed his eyes halfway. He could feel her heartbeat against the left side of his head. Everything felt right, like this was where he wanted to be. 

But everything was gone. He couldn’t remember anything. He didn’t know anything about the woman who was comforting him after everything. She had no idea how little he actually knew about her. Everyone around him knew everything and he was in the dark. He was finding out these bits and pieces while learning that everything he has now can be taken from him. 

Hermione’s fingers were starting to slow, the humming a bit softer. They had shared an intimate moment before they laid back with each other in a simple embrace. He thought back to when he would sleep around, he would never allow this. He would either turn over and go to bed or leave right after, but this was comforting. The war had changed him not to care that every day he woke up it meant putting his boots on and going out to hunt those that had defied the Dark Lord. 

“Hermione?” He whispered.

“Hmmm?” She murmured.

“Why did you fall in love with me? After everything I did and said to you in school. What happened at the Manor.” He let his fingers play with the light blue sheet.

Her humming came to a stop. Her index finger placed a few strands behind his ear. “Because you fought so hard against a future you were placed into. I could see it in your eyes when your aunt first tortured me for having the sword of Gryffindor. I was screaming in pain, and I could see you breaking, but you couldn’t say a word.” She paused once more. “When I woke up, I was in your room. You were asleep in a chair next to the bed. When I tried to get up, I could still feel the effects of the Cruciatus Curse running through my body. My wounds had been taken care of; my arm was wrapped tightly where she had carved into my arm. I’m assuming you didn’t want me to wake up and see the horrible word carved into my skin.”

Draco listened closely to her words; her fingers started to run through his hair once more. She didn’t falter when she spoke. “I saved you.”

Hermione nodded, “Yes. You didn’t have to, but you did. You brought me back from the brink of death.” She tilted her head up to look at the plastic stars plastered to the black ceiling. “We made a family against all odds.”

Draco nodded and looked up at the enchanted stars, they were something he found amusing, they were a simple muggle decoration that Hermione had enchanted, not only in their room, but also in the little girl’s room. “We still have those that oppose us still, don’t we?”

Hermione placed her free hand on her stomach, “Yes, but luckily there are those that came around to understanding the choice that we made. Even after the war ended, we still fought to stay together. The trial you had to go through. I was scared waiting in that courtroom holding Olivia. The stares and onlookers who looked down on the situation saying you only did what you did to save your own life by saving an Order member. But when they looked at your memories and mine, they saw everything you had done to save me. To save our little girl who slept through the whole trial unaware that her parents were fighting to stay together.” 

Draco looked at her hand that rested on her stomach. A simple wedding ring, nothing flashy, just a small silver ring with a gold flower, and a small diamond resting inside the petals. She didn’t crave anything that he could give her with his family’s money. The house was a bit shabby in a muggle neighborhood, a lot of items looked like they were from yard sales or simple hand-me-downs. The white wooden cot that hadn’t been built yet leaned against the wall. “To be together living a simple life. To finally have peace.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Her fingers returned to brushing through his hair.

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Something about this felt so familiar. The humming started again. He could hear the patter of rain against the open window. The summer air mixed with the fresh rain. 

Simple.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Forgetting everything, just to save her. To be here in this moment. To wake up to a toddler jumping on the bed with the family dog. Watching her sing with their daughter latched on to trying to stay awake. The girl he wished would have been killed when the Chamber of Secrets was open. The girl he called a filthy mudblood. The girl who wore a scar that his aunt embedded into her arm to remind her of her place. The girl he would have left for dead.

The girl who gave him a life worth living. 

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“I won’t be mad if you want to put it together with magic,” Hermione spoke a bit intrigued. “You don’t have to put the cot together the muggle way.”

Draco looked up to her from where he sat on the floor looking through the instructions. “I know, but it can’t be really that hard to put together.” 

“That’s what you said when you put my desk together in the sunroom.” Hermione lifted a brow before she chuckled. 

Draco looked back down to the instructions, “I want to do this, I want to say I actually did something.”

“Are you worried you don’t feel like you are doing enough?” Hermione’s laugh faded. He could tell she thought she had said something wrong. 

“No, I mean. I’m just trying to do something more hands-on than just whipping it together in seconds.” Draco stood up and walked over to where she stood in the doorway and rested his right hand on her stomach lovingly. “Your parents did all of this without magic, I just thought I would try, it’s meaningful right?”

Hermione looked at Draco feeling a bit of relief. “I didn’t realize you were thinking about it like that. After all this time you still find ways to surprise me.” 

“I can be full of surprises.” He gave her a peck on her cheek. He was fitting into this role as husband and father. He never imagined that this would ever happen to him. His future always seemed so bleak that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Marry another pure blood be in a loveless marriage and have a child that would continue the same fate. 

“I guess you can be.” She smirked. 

“Did Theo say when he was bringing Olivia back? I just want to build this before she gets home.” He placed two sides together starting to bolt the two together.

“About an hour, he took her to Diagon Alley for sweets and then to a show in the next town over today. I'm not sure if she can sit still that long yet.” She placed a finger on her chin. 

“I don’t even know if he could sit still that long if it doesn’t involve alcohol.” Draco finished the last bolt for the first side of the cot. 

“I’m sure he’s got a flask hidden someplace.” Hermione chuckled.

Draco nodded. This conversation would never have happened if he hadn’t saved her that day. If he had left, her to die on the floor in the dining room of Malfoy Manor. If he hadn’t asked Theo to protect her when he could no longer ensure her safety. “Do you need me to get you anything after the cot is built?”

“I was craving some boiled eggs with horseradish.” She carefully took a seat on the bed placing a hand on her stomach. “I still feel a bit tired, but I don’t want to sleep.”

“Why not read until I make those for you? You don’t have to stay upstairs with me while I do this.” Draco grabbed the next side of the cot. “You know with Olivia she’s going to want to keep you busy.”

“True,” Hermione said. “Maybe I’ll straighten up Olivia’s room.”

“No, you need to rest,” Draco spoke sternly. “Read or lay down for a little bit. You are getting to the point where you really shouldn’t do too much.” Draco heard the dog barking below in the yard, the front door opened, and the patter of footsteps made their way up the steps. Olivia ran in, moving her arms up revealing butterfly wings attached to her black dress and long sleeves. The orange, black, and white speckles decorated the wings. 

Theo came in right behind her. “Man, she’s a bit of a spitfire and wild one, she’s got to get it from you Hermione. I’ve never seen Draco this crazy even after eating sour apple rings.”

Hermione stood up and Olivia ran into her mum’s arms smiling and giggling. “Look Uncle Teo got me pretty wings.” 

“Yes, he did.” She smiled kindly before looking back up to Theo. 

“I can’t wait till she can actually pronounce my name.” Theo took a seat at the desk in the room. “Why are you putting it together like that?” Theo looked at Draco who was in the middle of the last bolt.

“I’m just trying my hand at doing things a bit muggle I guess.” He spoke grabbing the end piece.

Theo chuckled. Olivia looked up to Hermione, a bit confused. “I thought he wasn’t staying?”

Hermione knelt down in front of her a little confused. “Who wasn’t staying Olivia?”

“The baby,” She spoke. 

Hermione’s heart sank into her chest. Draco froze at Olivia’s words. “... Olivia, this baby is staying, he isn’t going anywhere. Remember. Remi couldn’t stay with us.”

“Why?” She asked, still confused.

Draco came up from behind and picked her up into his arms. “Sometimes, things don’t work out like we hope they will, even when we try our hardest.” Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“Olivia, remember you picked out the white bunny, we told you if you missed Remi to hold him close.” Hermione was trying her best not to cry as she tried to comfort her small daughter. 

Draco rubbed the little girl’s back gently. Theo stood and stepped out of the room. Draco watched thinking nothing of it as being a personal moment between the three. “You are going to be a good big sister to this baby just like Remi.”

Theo returned carrying the white rabbit. “Remi is still here. Do you think maybe Remi needs to take a nap?” Theo spoke looking at the little girl who was still having a hard time understanding. She reached out and took the rabbit into her right arm. 

“I think Remi needs a nap, Olivia.” Hermione pushed a few of her blonde strands behind her ear. “I think mommy needs a nap too, maybe will let Uncle Theo and Daddy finish the new cot for the baby? You, Remi, and I will take a nap, okay?” Hermione took Olivia from Draco and headed out of the bedroom. 

“Do you need help with her?” Draco took a step forward, and Olivia wrapped her arms around Hermione’s neck.

“Will be okay, I think it’s been a long couple of days for all of us.” Hermione gave Draco a reassuring smile before vanishing down the hallway. Olivia looked up to him still holding tightly to the rabbit.

He could hear the door close to Olivia’s room. His attention turned to Theo who was sitting back at the desk in the bedroom, tapping the end of the quill on the wood. “It’s hard when they are that little, trying to understand everything. She’s been through a lot and Hermione really tries to shield her.”

“I didn’t know the rabbit she carried was more than a toy.” Draco shook his head and took a seat on the floor next to the half-built cot. 

“Olivia was only two when everything happened. She didn’t understand and kept asking for the baby and touching Hermione’s flat stomach. You actually came up with the rabbit idea for her. I mean she wasn’t going to understand death, she will when she’s older, but you were trying your best to help Hermione cope with the loss and Olivia who didn’t understand why Remi never came.” Theo pulled the flask from his jacket. He unscrewed the top and took a long sip, the chain and lid clinking against the metal flask.

Chapter Text

Hermione stumbled through the tunnels of the dungeons under Malfoy Manor. Everything looked the same. Bars and cobblestone walls. The smell of rotting roots grew stronger the deeper they went. Her feet were bare as she stepped through another ice-cold puddle on the floor from a leaking crack in the ceiling. Dressed only in a long black night dress, she was covered in a black cloak to try to hide her. Draco was holding her right hand tightly. A rumble above shook, dirt and tiny pebbles fell from above. Draco came to a stop and stood in front of Hermione. Hermione peaked out to see a figure not far from where they had stopped. 

A whistle echoed from the figure, Draco whistled back before he turned to Hermione and pulled her black hood down. He placed both hands on her flushed cheeks. “I need you to go with Theo.” 

Hermione’s heart sank in her chest. “Come with us, you can’t stay here.”

“Granger, I can’t leave, but you can. I’ll be fine, but if I try to go with you or keep you here I won’t be able to protect you.” His voice was firm as he put her hood back up. 

Theo took a few steps forward. “We need to go, I don’t know how long the entrance will be clear.”

Hermione shook her head, her auburn eyes filled with anger. “I’m not leaving. I can stay here and fight with you, just give me back my wand!”

Draco shoved her towards Theo with a black knapsack. “You are going to listen to me you filthy little Mudblood. I don’t need you in my way. You have caused me too many problems. Theo is going to take care of you for now. You are my hostage, my prisoner of war. You are lucky that you are carrying my child or I would have twisted that mind of yours to get all of the Order's secrets.” 

Hermione looked back to Draco when Theo took hold of her right wrist. Her body tensed at his words. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. “You are only being spared because you have value to me.” Draco spoke cruelly. “Others might not see it, but I do. Theo will take care of you until I come to retrieve you.” 

Hermione pulled her wrist free of Theo and stormed towards Draco. “You fucking liar.” She growled out of frustration. She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face. 

Draco didn’t flinch, his cheek turning a slight shade of red. He grabbed hold of her throat and pinned her against the wall roughly pushing her up. Her toes barely touched the ground. She gasped for air, her fingers dug into his right hand. “You are pissed because I fooled you, you filthy little Mudblood.” His silver eyes flashed once more.

Hermione closed her eyes tightly. She was struggling for air. “You will go with Theo, you fight me again, I promise you won’t like the outcome.”

Draco gripped her throat tighter before he let go. Hermione fell to the floor holding her throat. She coughed trying to get air. “You bloody bastard… How dare you… I trusted you!” 

Draco smirked while he shook his head. “Foolish girl.” He turned away from her, placed his black hood up, and hurried back towards the entrance to the dungeon.

Theo reached down and pulled her up by her right arm. “Come on, I’m responsible for you now.” Theo forced her to follow him through the tunnels to another entrance. Hermione didn’t look back to where Draco had vanished. 

0000000

“You have free range to go where you want on this property, but you won’t be able to pass through the boundary lines,” Theo spoke as he placed the black bag on the kitchen table in the large dining room. “If you are hungry just tell the house elves what you want and they will make it for you. Anytime you need anything even if it’s in the middle of the night.”

Hermione looked around the dining room. The long oak table was decorated with silver furnishes and dishes already set for dinner. “That’s what Malfoy told me when he kept me at his manor. I’m traded from one Death Eater to another.”

Theo shook his head in disbelief. “The boundaries are to keep you safe, not us.”

“Still a prisoner,” Hermione spoke smugly, she slid her hand across the back of a wooden chair. 

“Don’t start with that.” Theo watched her from the other side of the table.

“He’s your friend why didn’t you fight to stay with him!?” She gripped tightly to the chair taking a deep breath in.

“Because he told me to watch his property that could not fight,” Theo retorted back.

Hermione tossed the chair to the floor. The clattering of the chair echoed in the room. “I don’t believe you or Malfoy! I’m not some piece of property that needs to be hidden someplace safe.” Hermione was breathing hard. “Everything he said was a lie, I’m not some kind of prisoner of war. I’m not a filthy mudblood that he was using.”

“Even after he threw you up against the wall and belittled you and tricked you into trusting him?” He questioned not batting an eye at her tossing the chair over. “Come now Granger, if you are going to be destructive then keep going!” Theo lifted a white porcelain plate from the table shattering it on the black tile flooring.

Hermione’s auburn eyes flashed once more this time taking a clear glass from the table and slamming it on the floor. The glass shattered everywhere. “That’s it!” Theo grabbed another plate and slammed it against the flooring laughing in the process. Hermione continued to grab everything she could from the table, she yelled at each piece of dish she smashed onto the tile until she was holding the last plate. Both were out of breath. 

Hermione lowered her hand still holding the plate, before she started to cry, the plate finally fell to the floor cracking in half. Theo walked over to where she stood. He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her hesitantly. She hid her face away from him in his chest. “I hate him!” She wrapped her fingers tightly around his black cloak.  

Theo ran his left hand through her hair trying to comfort her the best he could. “I know.” He whispered. “I hate him too, but he wouldn’t have done what he did if he thought this wouldn’t have been the safest place for you.”

Hermione held tightly to Theo. Draco did what he needed to. Even if that meant forcing her to hate him by hurting and threatening her. Theo was in on everything, he knew that she wouldn’t go willingly. Theo even admitted to hating Draco. This was his best friend. Someone he trusted with his biggest secret. 

Theo let go of her and took a step back. He brushed her hair back behind her ears. “Let me take you to your room, after this night you need rest for not only you, but the baby.”

Hermione wiped her eyes with the black cape that was still draped around her. “He will come back won’t he?”

Theo looked at her sadly, “Granger, you are here because he can’t even guarantee his safety let alone yours, I can’t tell you yes or no. This is a war. If you make it with his child, know that this was the greatest sacrifice he’s ever made, that it was his choice and no one else’s.”

00000

Hermione sat quietly under an apple tree in the orchard. She was going through books she had taken from Theo’s family library. She had been practicing spells that didn’t require a wand. Theo didn’t stop her, but encouraged her. The last month had been quiet. He would leave for short periods for meetings and missions. She was left to her own devices. She didn’t test the limits of the barrier, there wasn’t a need to. The hope was that this stay would be short and Draco would retrieve her any day. The words from the night Theo brought her to his family’s manor still haunted her and lingered in the back of her mind. Theo would never tell her if he saw or even talked to Draco. The plan would be to avoid each other at all costs.

“Off away from the manor?” A familiar voice spoke. Theo stepped out from behind a large tree on the pathway. 

“You need to tell the house elves to leave me be.” She didn’t look up from her book.

“Because they bring a pregnant mum snacks and water?” He asked curiously.

Hermione sat her book down on her lap as she looked at Theo annoyed. “I understand, but it’s not their responsibility. To be honest they should be free and not living as servants.”

“You think I treat them as servants, like I don't care.” He shook his head. “If I freed them now, they would be captured and suffer a horrible fate. They would be used as practice or searched through for answers. Someone might actually figure out I have you hidden away. Just let them take care of you. I don’t have them doing anything else. They do what they want other than that one request I have given them. Knowing someone is looking out for you when I have to leave gives me peace of mind that you are taken care of.”

“Who else would know I’m here?” She asked curiously. “Are people looking for me?”

Theo was silent, he was open with her to a point. When she got too close he would shut her out. He worried anything that would cause her stress with the baby he wouldn’t know what to do if something happened. They couldn’t exactly take her to a doctor or nurse for help. She was lost to the Order and hunted by his fellow Death Eaters. 

Hermione closed her book and stood carefully from her spot under the tree. She held her stomach. “Can you take these books for me? I know I brought them out, but I didn’t realize how tired I would feel.” 

Theo gathered up the books, she would ask him for little things. Things to make him feel like he was helping her. He went out to find the foods she craved. She could tell that he felt awkward around her at times. Especially, when it came to her silence when she was in thought, or her random bursts of anger seemed to put him on edge. The two were forced into a unique situation. “You find anything interesting in the books?”

Theo walked alongside Hermione. She was silent for a moment, but nodded. “I was looking for spells I could cast without a wand, but I started finding more uses with potions.”

“What do you mean?” Theo asked curiously.

“Like poisons.” Hermione shrugged.

Theo looked at her a bit on the cautious side of things. “Should I have the house elves taste my meals before I eat going forward?”

“Maybe if you were to stop getting me cheese puffs.” Hermione chuckled shaking her head. “No, it’s just I need to learn how to protect myself if you won’t let me have my wand.”

“You know why I can’t let you have your wand right?”

“Because I’ll destroy the barrier and go to Malfoy.”

“Bingo.” Theo was a bit hesitant. “... My mum used to make potions here when I was little, I haven’t been in there since she passed, but if it keeps your mind busy and occupied. To where I don’t have to worry about you, you can practice the things you have been learning as long as you don’t practice on me.”

Hermione stopped and shook her head, “You don’t have to do that Nott.”

“I rather see her study go to some use, after she passed my father just closed it off from me. He kind of made it seem like she never existed. He kind of pulled me into this role.” Theo led her to the back corner of the manor. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t know.” Hermione looked at the small building that was attached to the manor. The sunroom looked more like a greenhouse with rather large windows.  

Theo stopped, pulled his wand out, and tapped the deadbolt. The lock clicked and fell to the gravel walkway below. The door creaked open when he pushed lightly. Both stepped inside with Theo setting the books on a dirty desk. The air was musty and the sunlight revealed the dust particles that flew into the air when the door was open. There were decayed and shriveled up plants in the window. He looked at the room, a faint smile forming on his lips. Different colored crystals shimmered in the light when the warm breeze blew in. He looked at an open notebook, his mother’s cursive writing and her quill, just like she had left it. “Maybe some of her notes might help you.” Theo took a deep breath before he let out a nervous cough. “I need to attend a meeting, but I think we are going on a hunt after.”

“A hunt?” Hermione quirked a brow. 

“They thought they had seen Potter near Gringott’s, it has Bellatrix in a real tizzy, something about an item from her vault being taken and she thinks it has something to do with Potter.”

Hermione’s heart skipped a beat. “They are still trying to find them.”

“Find what Granger?”

Hermione took a step back and shook her head. “I can’t, not if it’s going to stop You-Know-Who.”

“You don’t think Draco and I aren’t on your side with wanting to stop him?”

“I do, but if I tell you why, it will put both of you at risk.”

“Because you know Draco will try to stop this war even if it means he could die?” Theo responded.

00000

Hermione woke with a start when she heard a loud thud against the floor and bookshelf next to the bay window in which she had fallen asleep. Theo was screaming on the floor in the barely lit library. Books had fallen from the shelf landing around him, some open and others closed. Hermione could see a dark liquid pooling beneath his clothing. 

Hermione moved quickly to the floor looking for where the blood was coming from. “Stop!” Hermione was struggling to stop the bleeding on the left side of his chest once she found the source. Her hands covered the wound, blood trickled down from her fingers, and down her wrists. He had apparated while he had been hit. 

Nott coughed a bit of blood trickling from his mouth as he looked up to Hermione a large scar across his left eye that was bleeding heavily. “It’s just a flesh wound…” He forced a chuckle. 

Hermione let go of his cut with her right hand and grabbed Theo’s wand up off the floor where it had rolled a foot away. Theo reached for it quickly before he screamed out in pain grabbing his left side. “Accio, Essence of Dittany!” Before he could bat another eye he watched as Hermione dropped his wand catching the brown bottle in her right hand. She ripped open his black buttoned-up shirt, black buttons rolled across the floor and clattered. She poured the liquid over the open cuts before moving to his eye. He screamed feeling the clear liquid over his cuts. “Please, stop struggling!” She screamed at him trying to get his attention and to have him focus on her and not the pain. 

Theo grabbed his wand quickly and pointed it at her. Hermione froze in place, the bottle dropping from her hand and rolled next to him. He was breathing heavily as he watched her knelt on the floor beside him. “Did you poison me?”

“... No, it helps… I didn’t even make it.” She whispered. 

“If you didn’t make it who did?” He winced looking down to see the wounds closing up. Scars formed across the fresh wounds.

“It was something that your Mum had…” Hermione watched the wound start to heal near his eye leaving a scar behind. “I’ve used this potion before for something like this. Believe me…”

Theo dropped his wand and laid back his head resting on the cold tile of the library and chuckled through the pain. “A potion my Mum made?”

Hermione nodded, “she had a lot of potions used for different types of healing, I was just familiar with this one.” 

Theo took a deep breath in. “.... That Weasley brat hit me with a spell and tried to follow me back…”

“Ronald?”

“No, one of the blasted older ones.” He coughed.

“Bill?” She asked taking a breath. “Why was he after you?”

“Because we found the safe house Potter was hiding in… But he had taken off. He was acting like he was in there when he wasn’t. When we realized he wasn’t we tried to leave, but as you can tell he hit me pretty good.” Theo laughed before flinching and grabbing his side. 

Hermione froze, “We? Was Malfoy with you?”

Theo’s smile faded when he heard her speak. “I’m sure he got away.” He tried to reassure her. “I swear he vanished before I did. That bastard was focused on me, not Draco.” He gritted his teeth.

“You said that you two were going to avoid each other.” She was worried, she felt like Theo didn’t mean to let it slip that he was with Draco. 

“We couldn’t avoid this hunt. They had us paired together. Believe me, he wasn’t happy, but we couldn’t say anything.” Theo moved trying to sit up. “Granger, he got out of there I promise…” He took a deep breath. “You need to focus on you and the baby right now. Not him. My job is to keep you safe and I can’t have you worrying about things that are out of my control and yours.” Theo moved trying to sit up.

“Stop, just give yourself a minute to rest.” Hermione’s voice was soft and caring making him lay back down again. She was searching for anymore wounds she might have missed. She was delicate and careful. Theo could tell she was upset and frustrated by what she had learned and understanding she couldn’t even go to Draco to heal his wounds. “You could have done so much more damage to yourself even apparating like you did.”

Theo closed his eyes. “I can see why Draco fell for you.” He mumbled out. “The way you scold me like someone who might care about my well-being.”

“I didn’t really do anything, he’s the one that saved me. As he put it, he felt like he had to.” She poured Essence of Dittany on a small cut on his stomach. “Just like now, if I hadn’t seen the potions your Mum made, I might not have been able to save you. You’re Mum saved you, if you think about it.” She let out a heavy sigh. She felt like she had found the last cut that was already healing quickly. “Do you think you can stand? I can help you to your room.”

Theo opened his eyes looking up to her sorrowfully. She was covered in his blood. He had threatened her, but she didn’t try to run. She knew that Draco had been with him during the attack, but didn’t run. “Leave me here. I won’t have much time to rest before I have to report back. I’ll probably be punished for failing my mission.”

“You were following a lead that turned out to be a little too late. You still survived and returned. That means something right?”

Theo shook his head. “It means nothing, even if I was successful it wouldn’t have mattered I don’t get a star for a job well done. I get told how I could have done better.”

“From who?” she questioned.

Theo looked at the ceiling blankly. “My father.”

“Sounds like you are more scared of him than You-Know-Who.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Come, let's get you into bed so you can rest as much as you can.” Hermione stood using a bookshelf to brace herself before reaching down to pull him up. Theo leaned against Hermione, careful not to put too much weight on her. She could have taken his wand and ran, but she stayed and quickly tended to his wounds. She saved his life instead of leaving him for dead. 

“Will you stay with me?” Theo asked as he started to undress, his long coat and shirt being tossed to the floor. Theo took a seat on the edge of his bed. He wouldn’t look at her. Something still didn’t feel right with what he had told her earlier. 

“Are you scared I’m going to run knowing you aren’t at your best?” She responded.

“To be honest, I just want someone by my side who might care that I actually wake up.” Theo wouldn’t look at her. 

“Let me clean up, I want to get some bandages to cover the wounds, and after I will sit with you.”

“Promise?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes, I want to make sure that your wounds are staying closed. The potion was pretty old, but I’m sure everything will heal nicely. I think your Mum is still looking out for you.”

“I think I had someone else looking out for me.” Theo laid back on the bed.

Hermione left the room and returned shortly with a bowl full of water, towels, and bandages. Even though the wounds were sealed, she worried that the wounds would reopen if he had to get up before the Essence of Dittany had time to fully set. Theo laid in silence, Hermione could tell when he finally fell asleep when his body relaxed. When she had finished and put clean bandages on the wounds she stood up carefully. She moved to his green couch that was a few feet away from his bed and laid down covering up with a thick black throw blanket. Her mind was racing with everything that had just happened. She acted like she was okay, but everything wasn’t. Theo had told her everything was okay, that Draco took off before he did, but that didn’t mean that Draco hadn’t been hit or injured himself. If he had, would he have someone to tend to his wounds?

0000000

Hermione pushed open the window to let the summer breeze into her stuffy room. She was already getting settled for the night. Theo had been gone for a week now. He would leave for a few nights, but she was used to him being gone, but nothing more than that. Thunder rolled in the distance. “Another storm,” She rested her hand on her stomach. She didn’t imagine she would still be here after two months. 

Theo was still silent about what was going on at the meetings. He didn’t even discuss the missions when he returned, the night he returned on death’s door he revealed too much to her. Theo would go to her when he was injured, she never asked questions. She just made sure that the wounds were healing. Hermione had taken on the role as his healer.

She was pulled back into reality when she felt raindrops land on her pale cheeks. Pages of her book fluttered on her desk. The scent of smoke filled the room, even with the heavy rain. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. 

Had The Order figured out where she was being held? Or had a Death Eater figured out what Draco and Theo had done by hiding her? She saw a cloaked figure walking across from the orchard. She swallowed and left her room quickly heading downstairs to the entrance. She grabbed her cloak and pulled it over her shoulders as she headed out the door. Heavy footsteps splashed in the already-filling puddles. 

Hermione stopped when she noticed the cloaked figure was a Death Eater. She froze in place, holding her breath before she recognized the mask. Theo had never come from the orchard before like this. 

Theo lowered his mask and pushed back his hood. “Granger. You should be in bed.”

“You’ve been gone a week and that’s all you have to say to me?”

Theo frowned. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Time for what? What’s going on why haven’t I heard from you, I understand a few days at a time, but this isn’t fair. I thought you might have been too injured to return home or that you had been killed.” Hermione was upset she had grown close to Theo and cared about him and he seemed to shove her off when he returned home.

Theo looked away from her, he couldn’t look at her right now. Her heart sank. “Something happened didn’t it?” Tears filled her auburn eyes. 

000 Present 000

“Something just feels off.” Hermione was pulling down a jar from the second shelf in her sunroom where she kept her potions. 

“Work has been stressful lately, you know how the Ministry is with us.” Theo glanced over to the small fire burning under the cauldron. “I know they aren’t fond of us even after a few cases we helped on.”

Hermione took a seat at her desk, opening the jar of contents and pulling lavender out onto her cutting board. “Maybe, but it feels like it did before, he seems so lost lately. I thought this pregnancy might have something to do with it, but if you think it’s work I’ll leave it be.”

“Hermione, you know he is more than excited about this, yes he was scared because of everything, but you need to remember, Draco thought he would never have something like this.”

“A family?” She looked over at him from the cutting board. The sweet smell of lavender filled the room from the fresh cuts. 

“Lucky enough to have a wife willing to fight for him.” Theo watched her slide the lavender off the cutting board into the cauldron. 

Hermione mixed in liquid chamomile tea leaves and valerian root. “We fought so much as children when we first met on the steps of the Great Hall. Like water and oil.”

“You both make for an unbeatable team that faced so many things to make it where you are now.”

A smile formed on her pale lips before fading. “I’ve become a shut-in really with Draco mostly picking up the slack when it comes to being the breadwinner. Moving him to a muggle village in a cramped home away from everything he has ever known.”

“Hermione, if he didn’t love you and Olivia, he wouldn’t be here, he wouldn’t have fought his way to make it back to you.” 

Theo glanced over to the cracked window, the light pink crystals wrapped in copper and thin chain swayed. “You always kept a bit of my Mum around haven't you?”

Hermione glanced over to him before returning to her work. “Olivia calls them Nana's light shimmers.”

“She refers to my Mum as Nana still?” Theo swallowed.

“Why not? I know we never got to meet her, but everything in here stems from her studies at your manor. Her notes and books, the little things that made her happy.” Hermione used a wooden ladle to stir the potion. “She’s as much as part of this family as you are.”

Theo smiled reaching up and placing a hand on the crystals. “Do you ever think that our lives would be different if Draco had been killed?”

Hermione looked over as she stopped stirring the cauldron. “You mean, helping me raise Olivia?” 

“Yeah, that we would be a family.” Theo let go of a light pink crystal. 

“Theo we pretty much are a family.” Hermione looked away shaking her head trying to get the question out of her head. 

“What happened during the War, we will never happen again.”

“Even if he decides now to leave?” Theo asked.

“Theo, my question earlier about something feeling off, is there something going on to where you are trying to see if I’m okay with something if I was right?” Hermione spoke nervously. “Is he cheating on me?”

Theo shook his head. “I can tell you that he is not cheating on you. I just thought if you were having second thoughts after all this time.”

“Even if Draco had died, I wouldn’t be able to see anyone else as my soul mate. I might search for someone I’m comfortable with, but it would never be love. Like what happened with us.” Hermione tapped lightly on the cauldron with her wand to lower the flame. “What we had when we thought Draco had died. We were just comforting each other. I thought I had lost the love of my life and you had lost your best friend. It worked for us at that moment in time, but it wasn’t love.”

Chapter Text

“She’s worried about you mate,” Theo spoke from where he sat. His feet kicked up on the desk. He pushed a couple of books to the side with his right foot to peek at his friend.

Draco looked over to him. He was going back over the board again. He found himself lost trying to solve this puzzle. Nothing made sense. There wasn’t much to go on and very little connected to what they were searching for. He was trying to focus more on work when he wasn’t at home. If he was going to stay in this timeline he wanted to ensure that he put effort into his job. “I’ve been trying to reassure her. Did she say something when you were helping her while I took Olivia out to Diagon Alley for some snacks and to find Hermione some new herbology books from Longbottom’s shop?”

“Yeah, she wanted to know if you were cheating on her.” Theo looked at him curiously. 

“But you told her I wasn’t cheating on her right?”

“Yes of course. Then I tested her a bit.” 

“What do you mean you tested her?”

“I asked her what happened if you left or if she was having second thoughts about everything.”

Draco swallowed hard, “what did she say?”

“Pretty much that I was dreaming if I thought things would have worked between us, that it wouldn’t be true love, but she said that she would never love anyone as much as she loved and cared about you. You are her soulmate.” Theo waved his hand around as his tone mumbled.

Draco looked at his friend a little irritated. “So, in a way, you are openly telling me you were trying to flirt with the idea that my wife would run off with you or someone else?”

Theo shook his head, “I wanted to see where she was in all of this. You aren’t the only one going through this. She’s having a hard time. I thought you would be happy with her answers.”

Draco ran his fingers through his hair, “You think you might have given me a heads up on that? Like hey mate, I'm going to try to see where your wife stands with your marriage, let’s hope she doesn’t want to run off with me. Do you see how this might be coming off right now?”

“Yeah, I didn’t plan that very well.” He chuckled. “I’m not one to plan things out, they just kind of happen in the heat of the moment, I couldn’t just say hold that thought on you thinking Draco is cheating and let me tell him what I plan to do.”

“She didn’t talk to me about any of this,” Draco spoke looking back at the board. 

“It’s between us, I’m that best guy friend to confide in when you're upset and confused about what’s going on with your husband. I know what’s going on, but she doesn’t. You don’t want to talk about this timeline jump and not remembering years of being together. It’s not fair to her to confide when she’s upset, she’s probably more concerned about you than herself.” Theo moved his feet from his desk and started to dig in his drawer. 

“Going for your bottle already?” Draco tilted a brow.

Theo pulled out diaries and placed them on his desk. “Maybe this will help. Maybe it’ll job your memories some, if not at least you have some memories to fall back on that she wrote down.” 

“You stole her diaries?” Draco walked over to the desk and reached for the diaries only to stop. “She doesn’t have a curse on these things, does she?”

Theo shook his head. “No, but it’s going to have her thoughts on what she was dealing with when she wrote in the diaries If you do decide to read them. Just be prepared.”

“That’s the thing about marriage, isn’t it? You get to see the good and the ugly?” Draco picked up one of the diaries looking it over. “If I do this, there really isn’t any going back is there?”

“No, but it’ll help you and maybe alleviate some of the stress from her.” He started to rummage in his drawer again.

“What are you getting out now?”

Theo pulled out his bottle of Fire Whiskey, setting the bottle on the desk. “I’m thirsty.”

Draco took a deep breath, he gathered up the diaries, and took them over to his desk. “Hey, Theo?”

“Hmm?” Theo sat back in his chair and placed his feet up on his desk again.

“Thank you, for everything. Even if it’s not a practical way of getting things and information. Might take me a minute to forgive you for hitting on my wife.” Draco opened the first diary going through carefully hoping to not miss a thing. 

“For being pregnant, she still has a nice tail.” Theo chuckled while taking a sip of his bottle.

Draco looked up and glared at the other for a moment before returning to the diary. 

August 20th, 1998,

Molly is being a mother hen again asking me if I’m doing okay. Ginny gave up her room for me after I had Olivia. Harry and Ginny took over Fred and George’s old room. Ron is very hesitant around Olivia, he still doesn’t want to hold her. Ginny has been trying to get me to talk about what happened at the Mansion, but I’m not ready to talk about it. Not with the trial getting closer.  

Harry will hold Olivia when I need a break, but he always has a look of guilt when the baby reaches for him. I remember the first time he held Olivia. He treated her like a glass Russian doll. I could tell he wasn’t prepared for Olivia to look so much like Draco. Her light platinum blonde curls and her light grey eyes. 

Molly and Arthur had helped me back to the Burrow after I was discharged from the hospital. At first, I felt like they weren’t thrilled with the circumstances, but once they started helping with Olivia, they acted like doting grandparents. Arthur even found her a little yellow rubber duck that he bewitched for her baths. 

It’s hard, these little moments. Her first, Draco is missing out on so much. Ginny is taking pictures of us, but he will never get this back. His trials soon, I really hope I can prove that he didn’t want to be involved in his father’s nonsense, the same with Theo. Just like us here at the Burrow, we got caught up in a War we didn’t start or say no to. 

We fell in love and created a life that wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her father fighting back and choosing a different path knowing the consequences. 

September 3rd, 1998,

The first day of the trial, that was the first time Draco got to see Olivia. Molly was hesitant about letting me take her, but I wouldn’t back down. When I saw Draco for the first time, he looked so defeated. Azkaban was really beating him down, but for a moment, when he looked up to the stands and saw me holding Olivia. I saw a glimpse of hope behind those sad cold gray eyes. 

For a moment time stood still for us when I stood up holding Olivia who was fast asleep in my arms. This was only the first part of the trial. I have no idea how long this would take or when it would be my turn to speak up for Draco. I couldn’t let him down. I couldn’t let these trials be the only time he saw his perfect little girl.

September 4th, 1998, 

Olivia had her first fever, I felt overwhelmed and like a bad Mum. I was at a loss for what to do. At first, I thought she woke up in the middle of the night wanting to be fed, but she was sweating and coughing. Ron heard me struggling from across the hallway and came in. He took Olivia and held her for a moment. He told me to go to the bathroom, start the shower, only let the hot water run, and shut the door.

I returned to him holding her and patting her lower back, a few minutes later he led me into the bathroom and held her in the steam. Ginny when she was born, Ron would watch his Mum take her in the bathroom to help break up croup. Olivia’s cries soon stopped, and her coughing seemed to come every so often. 

I can’t believe how worthless I felt as a mother. I felt so angry that I didn’t have Draco with me during this to help me. I’m not meant to be a mother. I couldn’t even tell Olivia was getting sick. Ron, who hadn’t held her, took her and guided me on what to do. I should have known what to do. I’ve been so tired and trying to make sure I’m doing everything right so I’m not a burden on anyone, but I’m failing.

September 10th, 1998,

We returned for another part of Draco’s trial. They shared memories of Draco saving me, what he did to save Harry and Ron. Ginny held Olivia, I was relieved knowing she slept through this part. I know she wouldn’t remember, but I felt better knowing she wasn’t. They whispered in the crowd, some were trying to figure out if the memories had been altered or changed to benefit Draco and Theo. I gave my testimony and didn’t back down as I stood in front of everyone. 

I know everyone judged me for bringing Olivia, but this is her father and godfather. This is the family that we created in the war. I know Harry and Ron took time getting used to the fact that I was carrying Draco’s child. I don’t think reality hit them until I came back to the Burrow with her. 

After the trial today, when I was leaving I had a witch yell at me. Call me a traitor for defending Draco and Theo today. Another tried to push me out of the elevator when I was holding Olivia, if it wasn’t for Harry I would have fallen to the ground when I lost my balance. He caught me just in time. Harry hurried me and Olivia away followed by Ginny to the nearest fireplace to leave.

September 14th, 1998, 

Harry took me and Olivia to the park. I know he tried to get Ron to come, but he still refused to leave the Burrow. He wanted to get me out of the Burrow for a little bit. Olivia slept in her pram. Harry finally broke down and apologized for leaving me behind when they left Malfoy’s Mansion. He didn’t realize that Bellatrix had tortured me and saved me when the coast was clear. That he hid me for as long as he could from the other Death Eaters. How Draco had saved me again, by forcing his friend a fellow Death Eater to take me and hide me away in the countryside after I was a few months along.

 Harry thought I had managed to escape, there was no word on the radio that I had been captured or killed. He just thought I had gone into hiding and couldn’t find my way back to them. He broke down, I had only seen him cry a few times over the years, but this time it was different. I tried to comfort him the best I could. I never really thought about the pain they went through. They didn’t know what happened to me. In a war where many would go missing, be killed, and captured. He really thought he had lost me to the war. He told me they never meant to leave me behind in the chaos. 

I forgave him. 

Draco set the diary on his chest. He looked back over to where Theo had nodded off at his desk with the Daily Prophet on his face. There was still so much to read through. She wrote everything down she thought was important even the rough times and the struggles she went through being a single Mum while he was locked away. 

0000000

“Are you sure about this?” Draco asked a bit hesitant. “I know you don’t like to go out much. We don’t have to go to the park to have a baby shower. We can just stay home and just have everyone come over.”

“You don’t think it would be too cramped in here?” Hermione placed a pan of water on the stove.

“I mean it’s not as cramped as the Burrow, right? They seem to make it work for them.” Draco chuckled pulling some plates down. 

Hermione opened a jar and pulled a handful of dry spaghetti out. She waited for the water to boil before she snapped the noodles in half and placed them in the water. “We can just skip the shower, I know some people have only one for the first child.”

“We don’t need things, it’s about just getting everyone together to celebrate. It’ll be good for you to visit.” Draco placed the plates on the table. “Well, we do know that Ron’s Mum will probably make the baby a blanket, she’s always knitting away with something.”

Hermione chuckled, “I remember the first time I saw the brood all in their sweaters my first year with their initials. Olivia’s blanket is beautiful, I have it put away with Remi’s blanket for now. Keepsakes for when they get older and want to start their own.-“ Hermione stopped short and placed her hand on her stomach. “When Olivia and Liam start their own families they can have their keepsakes.”

Draco frowned at her words, “It’s okay.” He tried to soothe her by rubbing her back. “He’s still part of this family.” 

0000000

“I’m a butterfly,” Olivia spoke holding up her arms and showing Ginny her orange and black speckled white wings.

“Yes, you are.” Ginny spoke happily leaning down to watch her flap her arms like wings. “Do you know what kind you are?”

Olivia stopped and thought for a moment, placing a finger to her chin. “Uncle Teo said it was a monarch.”

Ginny tilted her head to the side, “Monarch?”

Olivia nodded as she smiled brightly. “Yes, it’s the same as the ones in my bedroom.” She grabbed Ginny’s hand, “Come, I want to show you.” 

Draco chuckled behind his glass watching Olivia grab Ginny’s right hand and force her upstairs. “She’s on a mission.” Draco looked over at Hermione who was being mothered by Molly. 

“Still eating well with this one? No crazy morning sickness in the last trimester?” Molly spoke placing her right hand on Hermione’s large stomach. Hermione was stunning in her yellow sundress and white pullover. Her hair was done up in her normal messy bun with a black ribbon. 

“Yes, this one makes me crave pickles with ketchup and chips in the middle of the night. At least I can get pickles easily at night. Draco will usually get me some if I ask, sometimes he just surprises me with a bowl of sliced pickles with ketchup drizzled on them.” She was smiling brightly. 

“I’m so glad he takes care of you and makes you happy dear.” Molly reached up and placed her hands on her cheeks. “You’ve grown to be such a beautiful young lady, you are a caring Mum, and still a very bright witch.” 

Hermione couldn’t help, but move in and hug the adoptive mother hen. “Thank you for everything, Molly.” 

Draco turned back when he heard the door open, Ron walked in followed by Theo who was laughing. Ron looked over to Draco, he carried a small bag and sat it on the small table with gifts. He walked away with Theo still chattering about something. 

“Are you nervous?” A familiar voice spoke behind him.

Draco looked over to see Harry with a glass of apple juice. “Yeah, I mean, I get to actually help her all the way through with this pregnancy.” He looked down at his glass. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you for helping Hermione when she stayed with all of you at the Burrow.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders, “You don’t need to thank me. You are the one who actually saved her. It wasn’t me and it wasn’t Ron. We just helped after the fact. It was hard for all of us, we weren’t prepared when she wouldn’t give up, after I saw everything at the trial. I just realized how much I wasn’t a friend to her after everything she went through.”

“If I was in your shoes with how I acted and treated everyone I would feel the same. I don’t blame you mate.” Draco took a sip. He watched as Ginny came down the stairs with Olivia following after her. “Are you two thinking about having kids?”

“We’ve talked about it, but I don’t want to pressure her. She loves her Mum, but you can tell she doesn’t want to settle into that role quite yet. If anything maybe one.” Harry smiled when he saw Ginny wave to him. Olivia ran off and into the kitchen. 

“When you do decide, I do have to say it’s the happiest I’ve been, having a family, being able to love a tiny little thing that’s not scared of you or knows your past.” 

“I saw it once in the trial, the first time they let you hold Olivia. That fear holding her when she was so tiny, but you could see it in your eyes how much you needed to protect her. I think that’s what truly helped you get back to them.” Harry patted Draco on his shoulder and walked over to Ginny. 

Draco walked over to Hermione taking hold of her hand, “You need anything?”

“I think maybe we should gather everyone into the living room and open gifts.” Hermione led him over to the rocking chair where she took a seat with Molly starting to organize the gift table to help hand her gifts to open. 

“I’ll go get everyone, I think a few are in the kitchen and the front yard,” Draco spoke and headed into the kitchen where he saw Ron grabbing a dinner roll. “Can you see if anyone is lingering in the garden we’re going to open gifts.” Ron nodded. Draco stepped out of the kitchen and out to the front where Bill and Fleur were talking to Fred and Neville. “Hermione is ready to open gifts if you guys want to head in.” Draco stepped back inside. This was all new to him. He never pictured himself surrounded by people he once fought against, let alone asking them to come inside to open gifts. 

Hermione was standing and looking around the room with her left hand on her stomach. Her face was ghostly white. “Where’s Olivia?” The room fell silent. Draco’s heart sank when he heard Hermione’s words.

Chapter Text

Panic was setting in; Draco was searching high and low in the kitchen, where he had last seen his daughter venture off into. Cupboards were open, and Ginny and Harry were looking through the broom closet, tossing out jackets and bags in the pantry, looking for any sign that maybe she had gotten stuck or fallen asleep. 

Hermione had stormed past and was searching through her greenhouse potion area. “Maybe she was playing out here.” Draco could hear the panic in Hermione’s shaking voice.

Draco hurried off to where Hermione was searching, looking for any sign of her. “I’m going to check outside, just keep looking here, and maybe check upstairs next.” He left out the side door and headed out to the lush backyard that was overgrown with wild, magical plants. “Olivia, you need to come out. Mum is going to open gifts and wants you there.” Draco was trying to keep his tone under control; he didn’t want to scare her or make her think she was in trouble, and he didn't want her to continue hiding from all of them. 

But this wasn’t like Olivia. 

The bright-eyed little girl was obsessed with being with him or Hermione. Even her Uncle Theo was a close contestant for a person to cling to. Draco ran back into the house to find Ginny with Hermione. “I told her to stay put, that Olivia just found a place to play.” Ginny tried to comfort Hermione by giving her hand a faint squeeze. “We don’t want to spike her blood pressure and make her panic while she looks. Harry is upstairs, and Theo ran out the front to see if maybe she wandered down the street to the park. Ron ran after him.” 

“She wouldn’t leave without us,” Draco whispered and took off out front. He stopped short when he saw their German Shepard lying halfway under the brush. Draco pulled him back to hear him whimper. He was still alive, but he could tell he had put up a fight. 

Someone had taken Olivia, and their dog had put up a fight. A few taps of his wand on his open wound started to mend quickly, and another tap on the dog's head. Draco scanned through quickly in the dog’s mind. He watched as a figure in a dark cloak started to talk to Olivia through the iron fence. He couldn’t make out the figure who offered her a small red ball. Her red ball must have accidentally bounced out. She didn’t reach for the ball and started to back up. The figure who was fully covered grabbed her quickly and lifted her over the fence. The German Shepard promptly bit down on the figure’s right arm and tried to pull her free, only to have the figure cast a spell that sliced into him. When he let go, he tried to jump the fence, only to have his legs give out on him.

  Draco stood back up, looking around quickly. The creaking gate pushed open when Draco ran through, hurrying swiftly down the street. 

“Olivia!” Draco could hear Theo screaming, his voice filled with panic and worry. 

Draco finally caught up to him. “She didn’t wander off!” Draco was scanning around the park.

“What!? Are bloody serious!” Theo placed his hand on his head. “I-I should have been keeping a closer eye, I thought, with everyone there, she would be okay. It couldn’t have been one of us; no one would have done that.”

Draco had never seen his friend panicked before. “Let’s keep looking. I’ll go back towards the woods, go check near the play structures.” Draco hurried off into the woods behind the park. “Olivia!” He screamed for her again. How could this have happened? Family surrounded her, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. The shock of it all was still sinking in. 

Draco stopped to get his bearings. He ran into the woods, trying to look for any signs of where his daughter could be, accompanied by the cloaked figure. He was on foot, and Olivia would have struggled to keep up. She was a fighter just like her mum. Fear was welling up in him. They could be anywhere by now. 

Draco turned quickly when he heard a bustle from behind. Ron came out holding a shaking Olivia who had her arms wrapped around his neck. She was soaking wet and shivering.  “I found her stuck down in the ravine. She is dripping wet. We need to get her back to the house.” Ron pushed past Draco.

Draco followed behind and went to take Olivia, only to have Ron stop him. “Mate, she’s already stressed enough. Just go on ahead, I have a warming charm on her, but we need to get her into warm clothes so she doesn’t get sick.” 

“She’s my daughter, hand her over so I can take her back. You can go tell the others she’s been found and to come back.” Draco snapped at Ron and quickly took his daughter into his arms. Olivia started to cry as she wrapped her arms around Draco’s neck. Something felt off when Ron hesitated to hand Olivia over to him. But at that moment, he didn’t care that he had his little girl back. “I got you,” Draco whispered as he hurried home. Ron hesitantly went off to track the others.

000000

Hermione was asleep in the large bed holding her sleeping child, the German Shepard laying on the other side of Olivia, his side fully healed. Draco closed the bedroom door and headed downstairs to where Theo, Ron, and Harry stood in the kitchen. “Olivia finally fell asleep.” Draco responded as Theo handed Draco a cup of coffee. 

“Do we know what happened? I know you said someone took her.” Theo took a sip from his cup.

“If someone took her why would she be in the ravine? She probably wandered off.” Ron responded with his arms crossed over his chest.

“No, someone took her. I used Legilimency on our pet and Olivia. It was some cloaked figure. I couldn’t see a face Weasley.” Draco wasn’t in the mood to be questioned. He knew what he witnessed in those memories. Nothing had been altered.

“Look, Olivia might have gotten free and ended up down there.” Harry placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder. “Were you able to see anything else?”

Draco shook his head, “No, that part was scrambled and altered. I couldn’t even unravel that.”

“How? You are the best at legitimacy...” Theo was almost speechless.

“I don’t know, but I think at this point we need to move. I don’t think this place is safe right now.” Draco leaned against the counter. 

“I mean, maybe for now, you just find a place, and when everything calms down, you can return.” Harry was trying to be optimistic.

“No, whoever took Olivia was able to move through the charms and grab her. So it’s one of two things: someone who has permission or someone who could easily disarm the charms without being noticed.”

“You aren’t going to let any of us know where you guys are going, are you?” Theo responded.

“I can’t risk my children’s lives or my wife's again. Not until I figure out what is going on.” Draco looked at the crystals hanging from the window. “My father had something to do with us losing Remi. If he’s behind this again, I will kill him where he stands.”

“Mate, he’s locked away in Azkaban of all places. He couldn’t have gotten out or…” 

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some sort of lackey working for him.” Draco interrupted Harry. “I think I need to pay my father a visit.”

“Draco, let’s just focus on getting you guys moved. After that, we will try to press your father for information, but there is no way you can be there without jeopardizing the investigation. You do realize that? I know you are angry, we all are, but we can’t risk you getting thrown in there if you kill your father over this.” Theo was trying to reason with his friend. “You know the three of us care and would do anything to keep Hermione and the little ones safe.”

Draco looked over at Harry, who seemed uneasy about the situation. “You don’t like the idea?”

“No, I agree, but… If you decide to have a secret keeper, you need to choose someone you fully trust.” Draco understood Harry’s hesitation. He might not have remembered that Halloween night, but he knew his parents' friend, who was their secret keeper, had betrayed them. He had given their location to the Dark Lord, and in an instant, Harry was left an orphan. The room was silent between the three men standing with him in the kitchen, who did he trusted above all else. Theo had protected Hermione and the unborn child during the war, but Harry had had similar experiences. Ron was part of the Golden trio and tried to help Hermione, but when he had Olivia earlier, something was off. Something wasn’t right.