"Hey sweetie! I didn't expect to see you here for a while," exclaimed Mom as I walked in the door.

"Hey Mum. Yeah, Kingsley let me off work early today. I didn't have any reports to finish, so I thought I'd come see you."

I set my briefcase on the floor and sat down on the little couch in her room. The nurse checking my mum's vitals and meds muttered hi and scrambled out of the room. Nodding in acknowledgement, I watched the RN until the door closed. Then I turned to Mum, who was struggling to sit up. I rushed over to help her situate her pillows.

"Thanks Hermione. So how was work today?" inquired Mum with an interested smile on her face.

"It was okay. Nothing too complicated. I'm climbing the ladder at work," I replied with a straight face. All I could think about was my nearly empty briefcase. In it was my two weeks' notice.

How could I tell her? The shock would probably kill Mum, especially with as much as I had been lying to her. Mum thinks I'm doing great as Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation. Ah, the sweet dream world I'd spun for her. The fact was, I was planning on quitting to spend more time with Mum since she'd been admitted to St. Joan's.

"That's good. How's Harry? Is he treating you right?" Mum asked in her mock threatening ways.

"Harry's great. We go out on dates all the time, and we're going to move in together," I answered truthfully.

Of all the things I've lied about, being with Harry is not one of them. He and I've been together almost four years now, since the end of the war. We've been through it all: psychotic exes, rubbish in the Daily Prophet, and now, my mum's illness.

About a year ago, Mum was diagnosed with leukemia. Now, I know what you're thinking, but even wizards haven't come up with a cure yet. Mum used to be a dentist with Dad, but he died in the war. So now, we were sitting in a cold, sterile, green hospital room.

"Really? Where are you guys going to live?"

"His apartment is much nicer, so I'm going to move all my stuff over there at the end of the month. I practically live there anyway."

"Sounds like you guys are getting serious. Is he going to propose?

"Probably soon. So, anything new going on around here?" I didn't want to talk about that, especially since I was afraid she wouldn't be around to see anything anyway.

"Yeah," Mum did her paranoid eye peering, like she's looking to see if anyone else is around; I had to stifle a laugh. "Candice, the new triage nurse, is…psst-psst," she finished gossiping by whispering into my ear.

"No way! Really?" I said with fake surprise in my voice.

This was a game we liked to play. Mum would make up some rumors, and I'd act like it was really good, and I just had to pass it on.

Mum and I talked until around eight, when she slumped and closed her eyes. As usual, I sat in her room for a while and just watched her sleep. Lately, she had been feeling better. She was less tired and her bones ached less.

Finally, I fell asleep from exhaustion. Sometime later, I awoke to a shrill beep with doctors and nurses rushing into the room. All I could remember was a flash of color, a shrieking buzzer, and my own sobs of desperation. Then strong arms gathering me into a lap. I recall crying into his shoulder, and Harry kissing my forehead and neck. But, all I could do was rock back and forth and think of Mum.

After her funeral, I went back to work. Harry and I moved in together and are planning our wedding. Everything I did, going back to work, pulling my life back together, and trying to move on, I did for her. For Mum, because that's what she always wanted for me.