Hermione Granger-Weasley woke up to see the sunlight streaming brightly through her window. She stretched, sat up, and looked over to where her husband, Ron was supposed to be sleeping. Instead of finding Ron's sleeping form beside her, she found a note on the pillow where his head was supposed to be. She picked up the note and unfolded it to read:

Dear 'Mione,
I didn't want to wake you, which is why I left you a note. I had an emergency meeting at the Ministry. I shouldn't be gone long. I love you.
Signed,
Your loving and handsome husband

You forgot humble, Hermione thought. She got up and walked over to her wardrobe. She chose a green jumper paired with grey trousers. She cast a quick straightening spell on her normally flyaway curls before putting her hair up in a bun. She took a final glance in the mirror set in the door of the wardrobe. Satisfied with her appearance, she headed downstairs to start breakfast for Rose and Hugo.

When she entered the kitchen, a familiar voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Finally! It's about time you got up."

No, it can't be, Hermione thought. "Malfoy..." her voice trailed off at the shock of seeing Draco Malfoy at the stove making scrambled eggs.

Draco turned from what he was doing to say, "I was gonna come make sure you were alive and breathing. I'm glad to see you among the land of the living."

"Malfoy..."

"We're back to last names, are we? All right then, Malfoy..." Draco interrupted.

Ignoring him completely, Hermione continued as if he hadn't spoken. "... What the hell are you doing here? What have you done with Ron? Where are Rose and Hugo? I swear Malfoy, if you've done anything to harm them; I'll Avada Kadvera you where you stand," she threatened.

Draco abandoned what he was doing to come over to Hermione. He reached out to take her hand in his, but before he could, Hermione yanked her wand out of her pocket and pointed it straight at Draco's chest.

Thinking twice before touching her, Draco put his hands in the air and backed away slowly.

"I'm not going to hurt you, 'Mione. Could you please put your wand away?" He tried to come closer, but stopped when Hermione started to mutter what sounded like an Unforgivable Curse under her breath. Draco closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever curse Hermione had hurled in his direction. When no curse came, Draco opened his eyes and looked at Hermione. She had lowered her wand and was shaking her head with a confused expression on her face.

"I don't understand what's going on. I married Ron. I remember falling asleep beside him last night. I can't be married to you. That's impossible," she said.

Noticing how very confused she was, Draco approached Hermione, slowly and cautiously, and took hold of her arm. He guided her over to the table and lowered her gently into a chair. He then sat in the chair directly across from her. They sat together silently for a while. Hermione was the one to break the silence when she asked again, "Where's Ron?"

Draco reached across the table to hold Hermione's hand, looked her in the eyes and asked, "You don't remember do you?"

"Remember what?"

Draco seemed to have a hard time speaking for a moment. He coughed nervously and then cleared his throat. "I'm not sure how to say this, Sweetheart, but Ron..." his voice trailed off.

"Ron what?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Ron was killed during the Second Wizarding War," Draco finished reluctantly.

Hermione stared at him with a disbelieving look on her face. "No that's not true. It can't be true. Ron's alive. We got married a few years after the war ended. There's no way Ron's dead. Even if he were, Hell would have to freeze over before I'd ever marry you!"

Draco tried not let her words affect him. He knew the truth even if his wife didn't believe it. Just before he could say anything to convince her of the truth, Scorpius bounded into the room.

"Hi Mummy!" Scorpius exclaimed as he ran to Hermione, climbed up onto her lap and gave her a hug.

"Oh no, I'm not..." Hermione started to say.

"Mummy's not feeling well today, buddy," Draco interrupted her. "Why don't you go play while I take care of her, OK," Draco suggested.

"OK, Daddy," Scorpius agreed. "I hope you feel better soon, Mummy," he hugged her again, jumped down from her lap, and ran to go play in the living room.

After Scorpius left the room, Draco turned his attention back to Hermione and said, "I don't know what's wrong with you, but until we figure this out, you can't tell Scorpius that you aren't his mother."

"All right," Hermione agreed.

Draco sighed with relief that at least she was going to cooperate that much. "Would you like something to eat?" he offered.

"No thank you. I've lost my appetite. I think I'll go lie down for a while," Hermione said. She tried to stand up, but her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't walk. Draco hurried over and wrapped his arm around her waist to help steady her. She hung onto him for support as he walked her back to the bedroom.

He pulled back the covers and helped her into bed. He tucked her in and made sure she was comfortable. Without thinking about it, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She flinched as if his kiss had burned her skin. Trying not to feel too discouraged, Draco turned out the light and went back out to the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast.

When Hermione was sure that Draco was gone, she allowed some of the tears she'd been holding back to escape. If Ron's gone, then that means Rose and Hugo don't exist. I wish I knew what was going on. Maybe this is all a dream. When I wake up Scorpius and Draco will be gone. I'll wake up next to Ron, and everything will be back to normal. With this last thought floating through her mind, Hermione cried herself to sleep.