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"Potter, Weasley. My office!" Dawlish called from his office in the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic.
Hary and Ron shared a questioning look at the sound of their names being called. As far as they both knew, they hadn't done anything to be yelled at about and their cases normally came from their unit lead. They both quickly got up from their desk's and hurried to their department heads office.
"Sir?" Harry said in a questioning tone as he entered the office, followed closely by Ron.
"Ah, good. Theres been a series of calls in the last few weeks about a group of vandalizers in Diagon Alley. I'm sure you two have seen the recent reports in the Daily Prophet about the upturn of crime?" Dawlish asked with a scowl.
Harry and Ron grimace before nodding their heads. There had been a large boost in petty crimes recently, especially in well trafficked areas such as Diagon Alley. The prophet has released a series of articles criticising the Ministry, and the Magical Law Enforcement Department in particular, for their lack of response and handle on crime. It has been a large sore spot within the department.
"Yes, well Shacklebolt has requested that you two respond to the lastest calls that came in about 15 minutes ago." Dawlish said, leaning back in his chair and giving the two a look daring them to challenge his assignment.
Harry managed to hold his tongue but Ron was not so eloquent.
"But sir! Vandalism is the job of MLE officers! We are Aurors, here to track down and arrest Dark Wizards, not respond to bloody nuisance calls." Ron finished with a huff. Dawlish leaned forward in his chair and fixed a cold glare on the two men. Ron, seeing his bosses response, paled and backed away slightly.
"Listen here, I am in charge of what you two wankers do or don't do, is that clear?" Dawlish asked, although it wasn't really a question. Harry and Ron nodded quickly. "Shacklebolt has decided that we need the two heroes of the department out there investigated these crimes in order to get the public back on our side and that means you are going to do as your told, find these petty criminals, and finally put in end to these bloody articles, am I understood?"
"Yes sir, we will get to it right away." Harry said, quickly pulling Ron out of the office before he either says something more stupid or Dawlish decides he isn't through yelling at them.
The two boys quickly went and received the files from the department secretary and made their way to the apparition point specific for Aurors. They slowed their strides once they were out of eye shot from Dawlish's office, letting loose a breath of relief.
"I don't understand why you always have to argue, Ron. It would go much smoother if you just took your assignment without a fight." Harry said, annoyed that he always gets caught up in Ron's immature attitude still, after all these years.
"Well it's bloody ridiculous! Honestly Harry, the majority of what we've done the last few years has been all MLE work. We hardly are ever going after Dark Wizards anymore and frankly, i'm tired of it." Ron huffed.
Harry rolled his eyes. "That's because there aren't as many Dark wizards out there anymore. The Ministry rounded most of them up with the help of the Malfoy's right after the war." Harry said, feeling like this was the 100th time he's had this conversation with Ron in the last few years. "Quite frankly, I think it's nice that we get to investigate just normal crime in the wizarding world. Sure, it's not as exciting as tracking down dark wizards, but I think i've had enough excitement for several lifetimes already in that department." Harry finished. Ron gave him a strange look but he just ignored him, choosing to start looking over the file of the recent calls that came in today.
Harry had been thinking for some time about officially changing careers and becoming a MLE Officer instead. He came to realize that he enjoyed that aspect of law enforcement and getting to see the real impact he could make on peoples lives. It was obvious to him that he went into Auror training because of the impact of the war and the left over adrenaline. He's gone so far as to interview for a job and he just found out earlier today that he got it, he just hasn't figured out how to bring it up with Ron.
Harry knew that Ron would freak when he found out. Ron had always just assumed that they would do everything together, and they had so far, but Harry was getting tired of Ron's constant complaining and his inability to hold his tongue, especially when it came to their supervisors. Ginny was really supportive of Harry's career change and tried her best to help him when it came to her brother, but Harry honestly just wished he could talk to his old best friend Hermione.
Hermione left after the war in search of her parents. She claimed she needed to do it alone when Harry offered to join her, and if he was honest, he was relieved. He wanted to be there for his friend but the thought of going on another adventure of sort and dealing with trying to bring her parents memories back just sounded exhausting. Everyone always assumed that she would figure it out quickly and come home, but she never did. Harry did his best to stay in touch with letters, but everything was so crazy with rebuilding and the grief of all the people they lost, and after about 8 months the letters had stopped.
As far as Harry knew, no one has talked to Hermione in at least 4 years. She figured she found her parents and was eventually able to reverse the memory spell she placed on them and chose to stay in Australia. He just really hoped she was happy. More and more often lately he found himself thinking of his friend and how much he missed her.
Hermione was another touchy subject between Harry and Ron. When the war ended, it seemed like she and Ron were finally making headway with a romantic relationship but as soon as Hermione announce her plans to find her parents, Harry knew the relationship was over. Not because of Hermione's plan, but because of Rons reaction to it.
Flashback
"Where is Hermione? She told us to meet her here at 4 and now its 4:10. It's not like her to be late." Harry said in a worried tone. He was sitting at the Burrow with the entirety of the Weasley family, excluding Charlie, who was still in Romania, and Percy, who was helping to restore damaged parts of the Ministry, and Bill, who was settling into his new house with his wife Fluer.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon." Ginny said, reaching over to give Harry's hand a comforting squeeze. Everyone was still a bit uneasy since the war ended. Of course it had only been about 2 weeks, so it was understandable that the years of paranoia was a habit hard to break.
"I'm sorry i'm late!" Hermione said, entering into the sitting room to join everyone with a rush. "I was in the library doing research and I completely lost track of time." She finished with a slight blush.
"You?" Fred said in mock confusion.
"In the Library?" George added on with the same mocking voice.
"That is entirely unlike you. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing you with a book in your hand, right George?"
"Quiet right Fred. Honestly, i'm a bit surprised she knows how to read at all."
Hermione glared at them in response and they both gave her identical cheeky grins.
"Oh hush up you two." Molly scolded her sons. "Hermione dear, what did you have to tell us?"
Hermione stopped glaring out that twins to look around the room nervously, chewing slightly on her bottom lip. Her eyes connected with Harry and he gave her a small smile.
"Well, urm, I have some news." Hermione started, her eyes glancing around at everyone. "I'm sure you all know about how I erased my parents memories before Ron, Harry and I left last summer?"
Everyone gave her a nod, some looking at her in question of where she was going with this. Harry had a slight idea of what she was going to say next and looked at Ron to see if he was thinking the same, but he was just looking at her with an almost bored expression.
"Well, I've decided it's time I go find them and try to set their memories straight. I found an apartment in Sydney and i've already contacted the Australian Ministry and they agreed to help me." Hermione said, rushing to get the sentence out in the open. Everyone sat and stared at her in shock for a moment before Molly was the first to speak.
"I think thats great, dear. We will be sorry to see you go but we all know how important this is and i'm sure with your brains and magic, you'll have them fixed and be home in no time at all." She said softly, giving Hermione a sad look, Arthur nodding along beside his wife.
"She's right 'Mione. You'll have them fixed up in no time." George added.
"Yeah, and we've always wanted to see Australia, so maybe George and I will come visit you while you're out there." Fred added. Hermione rushed towards them, giving them a big watery hug.
"Thank you, guys. I would love that." She said, pulling back and giving them a grateful smile before turning towards Ron, Harry and Ginny for their reactions.
Ginny walked towards Hermione and pulled her in for a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you."
"Oh Gin, i'm going to miss you too." Hermione said, squeezing her back just as tight. The girls hugged for a few more minutes before reluctantly letting go.
"How could you do this to me?" Ron asked, his tone angry. Hermione looked at him in shock for a moment.
"Excuse me? What exactly have I done to you?"
"Oh don't be daft." Ron hissed and Hermione stiffened. "We were finally starting a relationship and now you've gone and ruined it."
"Me looking for my parents is ruining our relationship?" Hermione asked in bewilderment. She had no idea where all this hostility was coming from and looked to Harry for help, but he looked just as shocked by Ron's reaction.
"Of course you're ruining it! Everything was finally going right. The war's over, me and Harry are starting Auror training soon, and you were meant to be supporting me at home, but no. You had to go and make a selfish decision to leave us all behind." Ron yelled.
Harry was taken aback by his best friends words. "Ron, calm down. You don't know what you're saying."
"No, I think Ronald knows exactly what he's saying Harry." Hermione cut in, her voice hard. "Well let me make it easy for you then. Obviously my selfish decision, as you put it, to reconnect with my parents is damaging our relationship, so how about we just don't have a relationship anymore?"
Everyone gasped but Ron's face just grew more red with anger.
"Fine by me!" He yelled before storming out of the room and through the front door of the Burrow. There was an almost deafening silence in the moments that followed the sound of a loud crack as he disapparated away.
"I'm sure he just needs some time.." Harry started to say.
"Don't. Please Harry, it's not worth it." Hermione said, interrupting him before he could continue. He gave her an understanding look.
"I could come with you, help you. You don't have to do this alone you know." Harry said. Hermione responded by pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you Harry, but I think this is something I have to do by myself." She said, pulling back to look at him. "Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin two relationships in one day, especially when yours actually has a chance." Hermione said in a whisper, her eyes flashing to Ginny. Harry blushed and rolled his eyes before pulling her in for another hug.
"Im going to miss you. We will have to write each other all the time."
"Of course. You're my best friend Harry, that isn't going to change." Hermione responded resolutely.
Harry could tell that Ron regretted how he responded to Hermione's plan as the months followed, but he was too stubborn to admit he'd been wrong. Harry also suspected that Ron still had feelings for their old friend.
They both quickly read up on the new reports and looked through the history or the prior reports over the last few weeks.
"Well, It looks to me like this group hits 4 stores in a night every week. Looks like mostly property damage. The reports say the group comes in and starts throwing around merchandise and breaking displays before leaving. About 10 minute later they hit the next place. So far tonight there only been 2 calls so if we leave now theres a good chance we can catch them in the act." Harry summarized as they reached their apparition point at the end of a corridor.
"Alright let's get this over with." Ron grumbled. "The twin's shop a good place to start you think?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Sure, it is right about in the middle of all the shops, so it should give us a good vantage point."
Ron nodded his agreement and the two of them disapparated to the joke shop.
Harry and Ron landed in front of the joke shop and decided to go in and see what the twins knew of the recent reports. They walked in to a chaotic scene.
Harry quickly scanned the room and noticed there was about 10 customers standing in bunches along the wall and 3 boys, who looked to be teenagers, running around and smashing stuff. Dungbombs were going off and different colored smoke was rising from all the potions now laid smashed on the floor. George and Fred were chasing two of the boys, screaming threats as they did.
"Harry! Ron! Do something, would you?!" Fred yelled as soon as he saw them. The boys seemed to pause at the sound of Harry and Ron's name, glancing at each other in worry. As soon as the aurors made their way further into the store to try to capture the boys, they all ran for the exit.
Harry and Ron chased after them and down the street , yelling at them to stop. They were afraid to shoot of any spells due to the high traffic of people in the area. Thankfully, the boys turned down an alley.
Ron started to lag behind but Harry sped up, knowing his only really chance to stop the boys was when they were in the alley and away from all the people. Harry got close enough that he lifted his wand and was shooting of stunning spells at each of the boys. He got 3 of them down, cause the last one to glance at his fallen comrades long enough to crash into an open door before Harry could stun him.
Unfortunately, someone happened to be coming out that same door at that exact moment and was hit hard by the teenager. Harry quickly stunned the remaining teen and handcuffed him, trusting Ron to round up the other stunned boys behind him. Harry was about to turn his attention to the woman that the teenager ran into when Ron finally caught up to him.
"Good work Harry! An MLE officer just arrived to transfer the boys back to the Ministry. We should finish our interviews with the shops and then follow behind them. What happened here?" Ron asked, just now noticing the woman on the ground.
"He crashed into her. Help me get her up." Harry said, crouching down to look at the woman who still seemed dazed.
"Ma'am. We are aurors, we are here to help you. Can you hear me?" Harry asked. The woman finally looked up at him and his eyes widened in shock. "Hermione?!"
She just gave him a confused look. "Harry? What are you doing here?" She asked meakly before her eyes closed and her head lulled to the side.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, rushing to lift her up.
"What the hell?" Ron asked, shocked himself. "What is she doing coming out of the back entrance to a shop in Diagon Alley?"
"That's not important right now Ron!" Harry snapped. "We need to get her to St. Mungos. She must have hit her head." Harry said before disapparating away, not even waiting for Ron's response.
Ron stared blankly at the spot that Harry and Hermione were a moment before, shaking himself out of it and quickly disapparating himself. He arrived in a chaotic waiting room and saw Harry making his way to the front desk with Hermione still unconscious in his arms. Ron hurried to catch up with him.
"Hello, my friend needs a healer. I think she has a head injury." Harry stated, trying to keep his voice calm although he was panicking inside. The first time he saw his best friend in years and she was injured and unconscious in his arms. He felt sick with worry. The nurse looked up and was about to reply before she was interrupted by a passing healer.
"What the hell? Hermione?" Came a voice to Harry's left. He turned to see Katie Bell rushing towards him, followed closely by Theo Nott.
"Fuck, what happened?" Theo asked. Harry was surprised at the genuine worry in his voice.
"There was an incident at Diagon Alley. We were chasing some vandals and one of them crashed into Hermione. I think she hit her head." Harry quickly explained.
Katie was quick into action, summoning a bed from down the hall. "Quick put her down." She commanded and Harry did as he was told. "Good, has she been unconscious the whole time?"
They started moving down the hall, up the elevator and to the private suites, the whole time Katie was running diagnostics on Hermione.
"No. When it first happened she seemed a little out of it but she recognized me and even asked what I was doing there, and then she passed out. She hasn't woken up since." Harry answered.
"How long ago was this?"
"I would say 3 minutes tops. I brought her straight here."
"Good. Thats good." Katie said, taking a deep breath. They arrived at the end of a long hall and entered what looked to be a private wing. Katie moved Hermione into a large room, followed closely by Theo, Harry, and Ron. "I think it's just a minor concussion, hopefully she should wake up soon." Katie said.
Harry moved to get closer to her but to his surprise Theo beat him there. Hermione's eyes started to shutter open and Theo grabbed her hand.
"Hey. Welcome back." Theo murmured softly.
"Theo?" Hermione mumbled. "What happened? Bloody hell my head is pounding." She winced, using her free hand the rub her temple.
"You're at St. Mungos, Hermione. You were brought in a few minutes ago after an incident in Diagon Alley." Katie said gently.
"Kate? Oh good. Can you give me something for the pain? Im assuming I have a concussion, yes?" Hermione asked, looking at Katie.
"Yes, I do believe that what it is. Probably a fairly mild one too. However, since you did loose consciousness I would like to keep you for observation for a few hours or at least until your family gets here." Katie explained.
Hermione sat up and winced, before looking at Katie with wide eyes. "No, please don't call them. You know how they get. Besides, i'm fine. Honestly, even the headache is going away."
Katie gave her an amused look.
"Liar." Theo said with a grin.
"Sod off, Theo." Hermione said with a small glare that made Theo and Katie laugh.
"Sorry Hermione, those are the rules. Besides, it's not really up to me to call them, the wards do it for me." Katie said with a smirk.
Hermione groaned and laid back on the bed. "Those bloody wards, how could I forget. Those should be illegal, i'm entitled to my privacy." Hermione huffed.
"Hey, theres a privacy clause, I made sure of it. It's your problem that you forgot to say the password to stop the alert system." Theo responded. Hermione whipped her head to look at him.
"What do you mean password?"
Theo's eyes widened as he realized his mistake and he gulped. Hermione deepened her glare.
"Shit, I didn't say that. There is no password. You're right, the whole thing is barbaric." Theo said, backing away from the bed slowly.
"Hermione, please don't hurt my husband." Katie said with a chuckle. Hermione lessened her glare a little and Theo let out a breath. "Thank you, now im going to go get some pain relief potion for that headache that you still definitely have. I'll be right back."
"Thank you Katie." Hermione said with a grateful sigh, relaxing back in her bed. She finally let herself look around and froze when she saw Ron and Harry. "What are you two doing here?" She asked, her voice curious.
"Uh, we were there when the accident happened." Harry started to explain. "We were chasing some teenagers who had been vandalizing stores recently and right before I could stun the last one, you came out the back entrance for that shop and he ran into you. Im really sorry Hermione, I never meant for you to get hurt." He finished, looking at the floor nervously.
"It's okay Harry, accidents happen. It wasn't your fault." Hermione said gently and Harry gave her a grateful smile. Hermione looked over at Ron but he was too busy glaring at Theo to notice. Theo, now sitting casually on the chair by Hermione's bed, smirked.
"Problem Weasel?" he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yes. What are you even doing here? No one wants a slimey snake around while 'Mione is trying to recover." Ron spat, glaring at Theo. "Do as all a favor and get out."
"Nope. Im quite comfortable where i'm at." He replied, making a show to stretch out his legs. Then he completely turned away from Ron and focused his attention on Hermione, causing Ron's face to go about 2 shades more red. "I say you have less than a minute before it starts. You ready?"
Hermione glanced at the clock and groaned. "I'm never ready. Overprotective gits, the whole lot of them." She grumbled cause Theo to grin wide right as the door to her room opened and in walked Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.
"Hermione!" Narcissa called as she rushed toward her with obvious worry, pulling her into a hug. "Are you okay? What's happened?"
"Cissa, i'm fine. It was just a small accident in Diagon Alley."
Lucius reached her and promptly bent down to kiss her forehead. "An accident? What kind of accident? Who do I need to kill?"
Harry stiffened at the threat but relaxed a bit when he saw Hermione just brush it off and roll her eyes.
"Honestly Lucius, every time I so much as get a scratch on me you threaten to kill someone." Hermione sighed before turning to Harry. "Don't worry Harry, he's kidding."
Harry stood up straight as Lucius turned his attention to him for the first time since entering the room. "Yes. I would never kill anyone." Lucius stated with such a deadpan voice. Theo started laughing in the corner and Hermione just rolled her eyes again.
Lucius turned to look at Theo. "Did you see what happened?"
"No. I was just here getting lunch with Kate when Potter was carrying her in." Theo answered.
"Potter had to carry you? Can you not walk?" Narcissa asked with panic in her voice.
"I can walk." Hermione answered.
"She was unconscious." Theo supplied. Hermione glared at him and he just winked at her in return.
"Unconscious?!" Narcissa exclaimed.
"Cissa, it's not a big deal. I'm fine, really. We should all just go home and pretend this never happened." Hermione said, moving to get out of bed. She managed to take a step before she swayed on her feet, instantly dizzy. Lucius and Narcissa both moved forward to help but instead she dove for the trash bin and threw up. Narcissa knelt down to hold her hair and rub her back while she exchanged worried looks with her husband.
"What is going on?" Katie said as she walked back into the room with the pain potion. "Hermione, why are you out of bed?" She asked as she moved to help Narcissa get her back in bed.
"I'm fine. It's not a big deal." Hermione protested, though her voice was more weak than before and her eye lids looked heavier.
"You are not fine, you have a concussion. You need to be resting and then means staying in bed." Katie said with a stern voice.
"A concussion? What exactly happen, sweetheart? Why were you even at Diagon Alley?" Lucius asked, causing both Ron and Harry to look at him in shock at the term of endearment.
"There was a staffing issue at the storefront. Candice's mom had an accident this morning and she needed to go to St. Mungos to be with her and Jeremy is on vacation this week so they needed someone to cover the lab." Hermione said with a slightly guilty expression.
"And you decided the best choice was you? We have a large amount of employees that could have filled in." Lucius said.
Hermione sighed. "I know. But I was alone in the house and I didn't have any meetings so I figured I could just do it. It had been awhile since I got to spend a whole day brewing anyways. Plus, we have that big order to Winkers Apothecary that had to go out this week so I figured I could get a big chunk of that done."
"Sweetheart, if you were feeling lonely you should have just come and stayed with us." Narcissa said gently, understanding the real reason behind Hermione going into work.
Hermione looked at her and her eyes started to water. "I know. But he's only been gone a few days and I didn't want to make such a big deal out of it. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. I'm usually not so emotional about this, it just seems extra hard this time for some reason." She said quietly. Narcissa lifted her chin and wiped away Hermione's tears with an understanding smile.
Lucius cleared his throat, getting them back on track. "So what happened? Was there a problem with one of the potions you brewed?"
"No, I actually didn't get a chance to brew anything yet." Hermione answered. "I was setting all my ingredients up when I started to feel really nauseous all of a sudden. I went out the back door to try to get some fresh air when all of a sudden some teenage vandal rammed into me and the door. Then I blacked out."
"We were chasing a group that had been vandalizing stores along Diagon Alley the last few weeks. I was about to stun the last one but he ran into Hermione before I could." Harry chimed in, filling in the missing parts of the story.
"You caught the boy though?" Lucius asked Harry, who nodded yes. "We would like to press assault chargers then on top of his other ones."
"No we would not!" Hermione spoke up before Harry could respond.
"Yes we will." Lucius replied as he entered what seemed to be a glaring contest between himself and Hermione.
"I'm the one who got hurt and I say no charges." Hermione said in a hard tone.
"He should be punished. He hurt you. No one gets to hurt you and get away with it."
"For merlin's sake Lucius, he didn't hurt me on purpose!" Hermione explained before giving him a soft look and grabbing his hand. "He's just a kid, Dad. It was an accident." Lucius dropped his scowl and nodded, admitting defeat.
"Wait, did you say you felt nauseous before the accident?" Katie asked, her tone worried.
"Yeah, I did." Hermione answered. "Why?"
"It's probably nothing. It's just, I thought that you getting sick was just a symptom of the concussion but if you felt sick before the concussion then it could be something else." Katie explained quickly. "Like I said, it's probably nothing, but i'll just take a blood sample and run a few test just to be safe, okay?"
Hermione just nodded, her expression more worried than before. Katie took a quick sample and left the room to run the tests.
"Did Hermione call Lucius Malfoy Dad?" Ron asked Harry in an angry whisper. Harry picked up on that too and it basically confirmed what he first thought when he saw the Malfoys come in to the room, but it seemed Ron wasn't putting the pieces together as fast. He was about to answer Ron when the door opened again.
"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed when she saw the blonde in the doorway. He immediately rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.
"Love, what happened? I was in a meeting when I got the alert that you were admitted. I'm sorry I took so long but I had to get an emergency portkey to travel internationally and you know how slow those wankers are at the Italian Ministry. Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Who do I need to kill?" Draco rambled and Hermione laughed and pulled back, giving him a quick kiss before hugging him tight again.
"I missed you so much." She said into his neck. Draco tightened his hold on her.
"I missed you too. You didn't get admitted to St. Mungos just so I would come home early did you?" He teased. Lucius and Theo chuckled.
Hermione pulled out of his grip and hit his harm. "You prat, of course I didn't."
"So what happened then? Are you okay?" Draco asked, all teasing gone as he studied her face.
Hermione reached up and stroked his cheek. "I'm fine, baby." She proceeded to repeat the story she told everyone before to get Draco up to speed. He was surprised when he finally noticed Harry and Ron. To Harry's surprise, Draco gave him a quick nod as a greeting, although he did ignore Ron altogether.
"So you really are okay then? A few days bed rest for the concussion and you'll be good as new?" Draco asked Hermione once she finished the story. Hermione averted her eyes and Draco narrowed his.
"Kate said it was weird that Hermione felt sick before the concussion. She's running some test right now." Theo piped up.
"Bloody hell Theo, whose side are you on?" Hermione said with a glare. Theo just continued to grin at her. "It's not a big deal. Even Kate said that it's probably nothing, she's just being cautious."
"Why did you even go to work today? We have so many people to do that. You're a CEO Hermione, that isn't your responsibility anymore." Draco asked, giving her a stern look.
"I know that, I do its just.." Hermione trailed off, not making eye contact with him.
"What is it?"
"You were gone and I was just alone in the house and I couldn't take it anymore. So I figured it was a good way for me to forget how much I missed you for at least a day."
"Ah, so you did do this just to get me home early." Draco teased with a smirk on his face. Hermione glared at him.
"By the way, I learned something very interesting today." Hermione started, her tone a false calm. Draco picked up on it and his eyes widened as he slowly started to back away from her side.
"Oh?"
"Yes. Apparently, the hospital wards have a password to stop the Malfoy alert system. Would you happen to know anything about that dear?" Her tone growing more cold. Draco just gulped and backed away more. "What about you Lucius? Did you know about the password?" She asked, turning her attention to her father in law who was creeping his way towards the door.
"Lucius Malfoy, you stop right there!" Narcissa called, causing Lucius to freeze about a foot from the door. "Start talking. Now." She commanded.
"Well, yes I did know about the password. I could have sworn I told you ladies, did I not? My mistake."
"What's your excuse, ferret?" Hermione said, still glaring at Draco.
Draco grimaced at the nick name. "Hermione, love, you have to understand. I just wanted to be here for you if you ever got hurt."
"And you thought the best way to do that was to take away my privacy? I come here with a small cut and I have to deal with the whole family being crazy with worry every time for weeks after. How many times have you been here and I didn't even know?" Hermione asked.
Draco looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "Oh, uh you know. Maybe once or twice. But I just didn't want to worry you! And they were only minor injuries, a few bruises."
"Well except for that time a few months ago when you fell from your broom when we were playing quidditch? Remember? You had like 4 broken ribs and lost all that blood from the cut in your leg? You were here for like 2 nights at least." Theo added, eyes scrunched together like he was thinking hard about the details.
"You were in the hospital for 2 nights and you didn't tell anyone?!" Narcissa exclaimed, now glaring at her son. Draco was doing his best to look innocent as he looked to his wife. He watched as Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.
When Hermione opened her eyes, instead of anger Draco expected to see, all he saw was worry. "You were that hurt? And you never told me?" She asked softly, tears starting to well. She reached her hand out towards him and he immediately moved to her as she pulled him in for a tight hug.
"Im sorry. You had just left with Pansy and Kate for Paris and I didn't want to ruin your trip when I knew I was going to be fine. Then by the time you got home as I was already basically healed and I just didn't want to worry you for no reason." Draco explained.
Hermione pulled back and looked at him, placing her hands on cheeks, her thumbs sweeping back and forth out of habit. "You don't get to do that. I want to know when you're hurt. I want to know everything. This isn't going to work if you keep making unilateral decisions about our life."
"I promise, never again."
"Good." Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms back around him and relaxing her cheek against his chest.
"Don't you take another step towards me Lucius Malfoy. You'll be getting no hugs from me, or anything else for that matter, for the foreseeable future." Narcissa said with a glare, causing Lucius to stop in his tracks and gulp.
Draco and Hermione chuckled. "Soo... your not mad anymore?" Draco asked hesitantly. Hermione hugged him tighter and snorted.
"Oh i'm bloody pissed. And we will be having a huge fight about this later, but right now I just want to hold my husband that I've missed so much, so i'm pushing down the rage for now." Hermione explained and Draco paled a bit.
"Oh. Good to know." He mumbled and Theo snickered from his place against the wall. Draco shot a glare at him. "Keep laughing Theodore and i'll make sure to tell Kate about all the times you got hurt and never told her." Theo paled and Draco smirked.
"Seriously?! What is wrong with you three?" Hermione exclaimed, pulling back to glare at both Malfoy men and Theo.
"Hey! I'm not in this!" Lucius said.
"Oh save it. You were probably the mastermind. You don't fool me Lucius Malfoy." Hermione said, giving him a look as if she was challenging him to disagree.
"I hate when they use my full name." Lucius mumbled.
"Quite a tension in this room." Kate said as she walked in, eyeing everyone. She noticed Harry and Ron were standing off to the side, Ron looking angry while Harry just looked amused. "What did I miss?"
"Our husband's are idiots." Hermione and Narcissa said together, sharing a grin.
"Ah. And i'm guessing by how pale Theo is right now, my husband is included in that?"
Theo grimaced. "Quite right." Hermione answered. Katie just sighed.
"Fill me in later, right now I got news. Your blood test came back." Katie said. Everybody seemed to stiffen and hold their breath.
"And?" Hermione asked. Katie looked around at everyone before turning to Hermione with a wide smile.
"You're pregnant."
Harry watched the group with a grin. Theo started cheering and Narcissa started crying. Lucius went to hold her and Harry could swear there was tears in his eyes as he stared with a smile at his daughter in law. Hermione and Draco seemed to freeze before turning to each other with huge grins, tears running down Hermione's face.
"We're pregnant." Hermione said with a laugh. Draco just pulled her tight against him, whispering in her ear.
"I can't watch this shit anymore. If Hermione wants to breed with death eaters then thats her choice but I for one don't want any part in it." Ron spat next to Harry as he moved for the door. "You coming Harry?" He asked, looking back.
Harry looked towards Hermione to find her looking at him, happy tears still running down her face. "No, I think i'll stay for a bit longer, you go on." Harry answered, not breaking eye contact with Hermione, who was now smiling at him.
"You can't be serious!" Ron said, his volume raising enough that the others heard him.
Lucius turned towards them, his face going hard. "If you don't mind, this is a family matter. You need to leave." He said, his tone clipped and unyielding. Harry felt himself deflate a bit.
"See Harry, they don't want us here. Let's go." Ron said, his tone indignant.
"Potter is free to stay. I was talking to you, Weasley." Lucius drawled with a smirk. Harry looked up at him in surprise and Lucius just gave him a slight nod. Ron stood shocked for a moment, looking to Harry one last time. When Harry didn't move to join him, he stormed out of the room, muttering curses as he went.
Harry looked back at Hermione to see her smiling at him still. He went to stand by the other side of her bed.
Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "How are you holding up? A lot of knew information revealed today." Hermione said with a teasing tone.
"I think shocked would be an understatement. I have so many questions." Harry said and Hermione laughed, causing the rest of the group to relax a bit and start talking among themselves. "God, Hermione. I missed you so much."
Hermione reached for him at the same time he moved towards her, wrapping each other in a tight hug. "I missed you too, Harry." She murmured into his shoulder. When they pulled away they both had new tears in their eyes.
"I can't believe you're pregnant. Ginny is going to freak that you beat her to it." Harry said and they both laughed. "I'm so happy for you 'Mione, for both of you." He said, looking at Draco tentatively.
Draco just smiled wide. "Thank you, Potter." He said before turning to smile at Hermione. The couple just sat there grinning at each other, eyes locked. Harry backed away, feeling as if he was intruding on an intimate moment and Theo came up to him.
"You'll get used to it. We find it best to just ignore them completely when they get all gross and affectionate. It's honestly nauseating most of the time." Theo said in a matter of fact tone. Harry couldn't help but choke on a laugh and Hermione turned to glare at them.
"For merlin's sake Theo, do you ever shut up?" Hermione snapped and Draco started laughing next to her.
Fin.