"Where's Cat and Xavier?"

"I sent them with my parents. They've been around enough of this as it is."

Hermione shook under the feel of Harry's hand on her shoulder. It felt like he wasn't touching her at all; almost like she really wasn't there or was simply incapable of comprehending touch. She had long ago forgotten that Ron had been holding her hand. The warmth of it had melted away into nothing so that only an empty feeling was left in her palm. In thinking of all this Hermione deemed herself there and nowhere and feared that she would stay that way for the rest of her life.

"We should get back to the house, 'Mione." Ron said quietly. He slipped in a joke about having a bunch of freeloaders in your house when you're not there wasn't a good thing. He wanted to get a laugh out of her, a chuckle, or even a grim smile.

Hermione did none of those but just nodded. She, Harry, and Ron gave one last look at the tombstone that they were standing in front of before disapparating. It was an expensive white marble with newly engraved words that were done to perfection. Hermione read them to herself a final time, as though doing so would mean waking from this terrible dream.

"Here lies Christopher Reid. Beloved husband and father,"

The apparation gave Hermione some bit of strength, but barely enough to keep away the feeling of numbness. There were tons of people at the house having small conversations of their own and eating the food made by the house elves that the funeral home had loaned her. Once the guests realized that Hermione had finally arrived, most of the small talk died down. Their focus had now turned to her and she really wished that it hadn't. Special attention wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to hear how sorry someone was for her loss. She didn't want to be asked how Catalina and Xavier, her children, were dealing with things because they were "So close to their father. It must be torturous for them."

It was all too much and Harry and Ron understood. They were Hermione's brick walls and blocked people's paths to her. With them by her side she made it upstairs and to her bedroom without much of a fight.

"We'll be right outside the door if you need us."

"Thanks," Hermione said, opened the door and slipped herself inside. She closed and leaned against the door and took a deep breath. This was the first time she had been in the house, let alone her and Chris' bedroom, in two weeks. When she had found out that Chris was dead she had dropped to the floor in disbelief and cried her eyes out. What made it worse was that at that moment her parents had just pulled up into the driveway and were dropping Catalina and Xavier off after spending the weekend with them. To think that they had to see their mother like that?

Hermione shivered as she remembered that moment. She had tried so hard to stop her tears and to calmly tell her children what had happened to their father, but it was…difficult. Without even being asked Hermione's father sent owls to Harry and Ron while her mother ushered the children into an adjacent room and ordered them to stay there while she attended to Hermione.

It was an awful day, truly. Harry and Ron tried consoling her the moment they arrived, and their last act of goodness was to help her and the children pack away some things in order to stay at Ron's place. Tomorrow she'd be moving back, and she had no idea how she'd handle it. Just standing in the bedroom now, the bed neatly made, and the expectation of Chris coming out of the bathroom and gargling was bringing tears to Hermione's eyes.

Sighing, she pushed herself off the door and walked further into the room. She headed straight to the window from which she could see the car parked in the driveway. It made her laugh really. She remembered the exact conversation she and Chris had about getting the car in the first place.

"What's the point? For Merlin's sake, we can apparate, Floo, or fly to wherever we need to go. It's unnecessary."

"It's practical. We live in a muggle neighborhood-"

"Four of the neighbors are wizards-"

"And they have cars too." Hermione smiled. "And if that's not a good enough reason for you, Cat's six and Xavier is only a year old. I highly doubt it's advisable to apparate, Floo, and definitely not fly with children so young."

Chris sucked his teeth. He took a deep breath, stared at his wife and began to smile and laugh. "Can't believe you're trying to bribe me into getting a car by using the children."

Hermione laughed. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder as she felt his arms glide their way around her. "Did it work at least?"

"Yes it did… How much do these things cost anyway?"

"…Uh…not much, I swear."

Hermione found herself to be smiling. Chris nearly went on another tirade when they had actually gone car shopping and saw how much one would cost. But luckily Hermione had Xavier in her arms and looking at that cute little face reminded Chris why he was car shopping in the first place.

"You'd do anything for them." Hermione said in the air. "You'd do anything for me."

Sighing, Hermione placed a hand on the window, and as she did so she immediately drew it back and turned around. The room was empty save herself, but she couldn't help but think that she had felt a hand brush across her cheek.

She left the bedroom after that, preferring not to have any more memories of Chris. Not until she was able to do so without crying, that is.

By the time everyone had gone home the sun had already set. It had been a few hours after that and Hermione was waving to Harry and Ron who were leaving via Floo. Once they were gone, she fled the house as well with her car keys jingling in her hand.

Her parents didn't live too far from her, just two towns over –a twenty-five minute ride with traffic, twenty minutes without, and fifteen today, because Hermione was purposefully driving over the speed limit. It probably wasn't a wise choice, but as she pulled into her parents' driveway Hermione let out a sigh of relief and happiness that her one-time reckless driving hadn't gotten her into an accident.

Before she managed to make it to the front door it opened, revealing Hermione's mother wearing a sympathetic smile. "Couldn't get the people out of your house fast enough, hmm?"

Hermione smiled and chuckled as she hugged her mother and went inside. "Harry and Ron were the only ones who were hard to get rid of. But of course you know they're the only freeloaders I'll allow."

Mrs. Granger nodded knowingly and led the way into the kitchen where, anticipating her daughter's arrival, she had already made cups of tea.

"How are the kids?"

"Your father just sent Xavier to bed."

"And Cat?"

Mrs. Granger frowned a bit. "She sent herself to bed about an hour ago."

Hermione sipped her tea. She would check on Catalina soon. Knowing her, she had said that she was going to bed, but instead had been and was still staring up at the ceiling and thinking, crying as well.

"How are you doing, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked softly. "How are you holding up?"

"…I'm surviving." Hermione shrugged and crossed her arms. "You know, it didn't seem so real to me until today. It wasn't like I didn't believe Chris was dead or anything like that, but today it just…the funeral made it real. It made it final."

"…I wish I could say that you'll get through this, but the truth is, is that you don't. You learn to live with it instead."

Hermione silently agreed. If there was one thing she was good at doing, it was learning. She supposed she would have to look at this as something else she would have to teach herself to do.

Later on that night Hermione checked on the children. Xavier was fast asleep which didn't surprise her. Sleep could come to him during an earthquake, hurricane, and tornado, all occurring at the same time. It was quite the blessing, especially when he was a baby. She smiled to herself at that and then moved on to checking on Catalina.

Like she guessed, Catalina wasn't asleep. She was cuddled up underneath two blankets despite the summer heat and staring out at nothing in particular. She scooted over in bed when she saw her mother at the door and Hermione took the invitation to lie next to her.

"Death sucks no matter how old you get." Catalina said, and Hermione nodded. Her daughter went on to ask her mother to do something before they went to bed, and Hermione took a deep contented breath as she gave in to the request.

Catalina, though sixteen, asked in a very childlike voice for Hermione to tell her about her father from beginning to end. So Hermione did what she asked, but not without guilt. Not all of what she told her was a lie, but just the beginnings of it. She couldn't very well say that she and Chris met in St. Mungo's only hours after Catalina was born. She thought Chris was her father for Merlin's sake!

But he was just as well. Chris was sweet and kind and he and Hermione married quickly. They dated for three months before moving in together, and seven months after that Chris proposed. Hermione said yes of course and though she didn't dare show it, her readiness to be with him frightened her. He reminded her so much of Draco that it was nerve-wracking. Everything he said and everything he did screamed Draco's name. It grew so much that Hermione was sure that it was really him, using an alias. But she dismissed that theory entirely with the letters she received.

Draco wrote her vague letters to let her know that he was alright. They came once a month for six months after Catalina was born until he couldn't write her anymore due to the risk of exposure. Though it hurt, Hermione had understood. They knew what would be left of the relationship they had once the Samuel Delaney alias fell through. And at each time Draco wrote her, Hermione wanted to tell him that he had a daughter, but she held back her hand from doing so. She knew what he'd want to do if he knew. He'd want to come out of hiding to be with Catalina, and though this was what Hermione wanted more than anything, she couldn't allow it. There were few things she could think of that was worse than not having Draco: Catalina having her father around only to have him taken away.

She had Chris though. They both did. He molded himself into their lives perfectly and not once did he ever feel out of place. He had been a wonderful father right at the start, which was another reason why Hermione had fell in love with him so fast.

Either way, Chris loved them and he was loved by others. There was no other way to describe it, and Hermione went to bed that night feeling lighthearted and very reminiscent.

Author's note: Apologies for the wait! I wanted to make sure this was far enough along if not all the way finished before posting. And what a first chapter I must say! You all must hate me. It's alright if you do, because I really do hate myself haha. We're on a long-winded adventure with this one, full of twists and turns. So I hope that you like this final installment!

-WP :)