The air was heavy and damp with mist. The ground moist, wet from recent rain. Dark, solemn clouds lurked from above, perfectly matching the mood of the crowd dressed in black below.

With hands linked together in mourning support, the group stood in a circle for a moment of silence, remembering a special person who they had recently lost.

Loud sniffs and an occasional sob could be heard every so few seconds, each person unable to control their grief.

A child stirred next Hermione Granger on her left. The three-year-old Natasha toed the dirt beneath her. She was bored, too young to fully comprehend that she was saying her final goodbye to her deceased father. Her golden, white locks of hair had gotten loose from the braid that Hermione had tied them up in, and the wind was causing a strand to itch against her face. The little girl slipped her hand from Hermione's hold to brush it from her skin.

On the other side of Hermione, eight-year-old Anthony hollowly stared at the coffin that enclosed the body of his father. The boy hadn't said much of anything since the announcement of the man's death. He had taken the awful news the hardest out of all three of the man's children.

Curtis was on the other side of Anthony. At thirteen, he didn't want everyone to think he was a sniveling baby, and he continuously kept wiping the tears quickly from his puffy, reddening eyes.

"Curty needs a tissue, Auntie Hermione," announced Natasha after hearing her eldest brother sniff.

"I do not," argued Curtis in a whisper. His defending statement was poor as he sported a stuffed nose, and it mildly affected his speech.

Hermione tapped his shoulder, a tissue was discreetly folded into her hand. Curtis took it when he realized this.

"Who are they?" Scarlett Campbell asked, directing Hermione's attention to a couple of people off in the distance. She had been both Hydrus and Hermione's friend for the past four years and had helped the latter arrange Hydrus's funeral. She did not recognize the two visitors. Hermione did though. The platinum blond hair was a dead giveaway.

Hermione looked away from them, frowning in confusion. It was odd that they would travel across an ocean to pay their respects to a person that they had written out of their lives over fifteen years ago.

Maybe they had come to their senses though. Who was Hermione to judge?

She had been Hydus's best friend, that's who. She had been there for most of his life, including the time that his family had disowned him because he had the 'misfortune' of falling in love with a Muggle.

Hermione and Hydrus had vacationed in Canada together one summer, fifteen years ago. There, he had met Emily, and it was love at first sight. He had proposed to her before the month was even up.

The Malfoys hadn't taken the news well at all. Hydrus was their first born, and he was supposed to do everything by the book. That didn't involve him marrying a woman who didn't even have a single drop of magic in her blood. They wanted him to marry someone respectable. Someone pure.

Hydrus just wasn't like that though, and he refused to comply. His defiance angered them, and they quickly denounced him from their name.

Hydus had been so upset at the time. Hermione had never seen him in such pain before. He truly had hoped that they would accept his news with open arms. Hermione thought he was delusional for thinking it, but she didn't wanted to dampen his hopes, so she never said anything differently.

The man sent letters home after his move to Canada to be with his newly wedded wife, but they always were returned unanswered. Not one had been opened. None of them cared to know how he was doing in life. Hydrus no longer existed to them.

Hermione couldn't help wondering why, after all this time, they would show up now, but often enough, death tends to change people.

"Stay here with Scarlett," told Hermione to the children, and she made her way across the mushy field to the two who stood far off.

They saw her coming and hastily made to leave.

"You may come join the rest of us, if you wish!" she called out.

Mrs. Malfoy and the youngest Malfoy Draco exchanged looks, but did nothing more. They seemed to not know what to do either way.

"He would have liked knowing you came," Hermione added gently. She really had no good things to say about the bigoted Purebloods, but Hydrus would have treated them with decency, so she felt compelled to do the same.

"We're fine here," declared Mrs. Malfoy.

Hermione sensed that they wanted to be left alone. She gave a nod. "There's going to be a gathering after the service at the local Community Center. There will be food, and… well, he would have wanted us to have a good time and remember him in his best of times."

Hermione watched the woman's jaw tighten. "Yes," croaked Mrs. Malfoy. "Yes, he would have."

Hydrus's brother added nothing to the conversation. He placed an arm around his mother's shoulders, attempting to comfort her in a very stoic way.

It was not surprising for Hermione to see this, the Malfoys (and several other Pureblood families in England) didn't show their affection for others where the public eye could see them. Hydrus explained that it was because the reporters could twist the event into an ugly story.

It was relieving that Hydrus hadn't been like his family at all. The man had been kind and sensitive, in both public and private.

Hermione turned from them, having no more to say and feeling immensely uncomfortable.

"His mother and brother," she informed Scarlett before the curious woman could even get the question out.

Scarlett's dark eyebrows lifted. If the children hadn't been present, she would have made a derogatory comment.

"It surprised me too," said Hermione, taking Natasha's hand and excusing herself after the child had whined about having to use the loo.

$-.-$-.-$-.-$

"Did you see her?" asked Narcissa wistfully. Her grip on Draco's arm tightened with her excitement.

"Mother, you are stopping the blood flow to my arm!"

"Sorry!" She released her grip, but her eyes didn't falter from the young girl that was being lead away by the Granger woman. "Oh, she's such a darling little one!"

"Yes, she's cute," concurred Draco automatically. He wasn't a fan of little girls, but Narcissa had always wanted a daughter and hadn't been fortunate enough to bear one of her own. He could understand her instant attachment to the child.

Draco eyes set on the eldest of his brother's children. The young teenager had the family hair, but he could see that he had coloured the tips of it with a green dye. Draco disapproved of this - no respectable wizard coloured their hair with such silly colours - but that could be changed later.

The middle child appeared to be a little slow, and unresponsive, but Draco gave him the benefit of the doubt; perhaps that was his way of reacting to the recent loss of his father. He did not have the light blond hair like his siblings, and instead it was a darker colour, almost brunette.

"Should we go to the gathering?"

"I don't exactly feel like socializing," muttered Draco as they started for the exit of the cemetery. "But if you feel so inclined to go there, I'll take you."

"Thank you, and I do."

Draco refrained from sighing, unwilling to show his annoyance. The news of his brother's suicide had been a shock. Though, after the death of Hydrus's wife, Draco should have known something was up with him; the letters had stopped coming months ago.

He had read every letter that had been sent. He made a copy of each one and had hidden them away so that no one knew he had them.

It was only when he found out about the death of his brother did he finally come clean to his mother. Narcissa broke down immediately upon hearing the news, devastated that Hydrus was gone. The chance of them getting back together was gone.

Lucius wasn't so heartbroken. Actually, Draco wondered if his father even had a heart at all.

"It does not matter, Narcissa, Hydrus is no longer part of our family, he made his choice years ago."

"No you made the choice, Lucius! And I shouldn't have let you control me like you have all these years!"

Lucius and Narcissa haven't spoke to each other since last week. Draco had an idea that their marriage was over.

"We must go retrieve them," said Narcissa when Draco informed her that Hydrus had children. "They'll need us now that they've lost both their parents!"

Draco wasn't exactly ready to raise any children. His own wife had divorced him five years ago when it was discovered that he couldn't have children of his own. Narcissa and Lucius both had been hounding him to find another wife just to keep the bloodline going, but he never had the guts to tell them that he would never be able to sire one of his own.

These three children were the only thing left of Hydrus, and Draco didn't care if they were only Halfblood. They were the closest thing he was ever going to have when it came to having children. Now that they were all orphans, it was only right that he offer his home to them.

And if Lucius had a problem with that, well then, the man could be heirless for all he cared.

Wifeless too. Narcissa was definitely onboard. Nothing was going to stop her now that she had set eyes on the littlest one.

At the gathering, Draco learned that Granger was attached to the children, and they matched her affection, lingering around her, as if afraid to wander off. She had been a part of their lives since the beginning - Draco knew this from his brother's letters - and she had been named their Godmother.

Draco had known Granger from school. She had been an exceedingly annoying know-it-all who did absolutely no wrong. In their fifth year, Hydrus asked her to a banquet that the school was hosting for Prefects and Headboys and Headgirls. The two had been friends since.

Draco wasn't sure if his brother and Granger had been romantically involved, the letters never said so. Hydrus implied that they had only been friends.

It took no time at all for Draco to realize that taking the children back with him may not end up being be a simple task. Granger accepted her Godmother status easily.

"Draco," worry clung to Narcissa's voice.

"It'll be alright," comforted Draco. "We have rights to the children."

"But Godmothers do too," she whispered, clinging onto Draco arm.

"Not if our Pueeblood name is on the brink of going extinct."

"But it's not - "

Draco sat his mother down at a table. He tapped her hand gently and looked seriously into her eyes. "I can't have any children, Mother. It's why Astoria threw me to the curb."

Narcissa shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, Draco…!" she breathed out. "Oh, how terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that!"

"These will be the only grandchildren you'll ever have, and I promise you that they will be coming home with us."

Narcissa teared up. "You are a good boy, Draco."

$-.-$-.-$-.-$

"You need to eat Anthony," said Hermione softly. She pet back his hair, frowning in concern when he didn't respond and continued to stare at his dinner plate.

"It's Daddy's favourite!" Natasha used her tiny fingers to pick up a lone string of spaghetti and held it above her wide-open mouth.

"Use your fork!" scolded Hermione, holding out the said item for her to take.

"I don't feel like eating either, Aunt Hermione," stated Curtis, pushing away his plate.

"Alright, well maybe later then." Hermione felt the same, and she didn't think it would be fair to force them to eat when she hadn't had anything herself that day.

"Granger, would you mind if I had a word with you?"

Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy standing at the other side of the table. She nodded. "Sure. Curtis, please watch your brother and sister. I'll be back in a few."

Curtis took her seat after she got up so that he was in between Natasha and Anthony.

"Do you know if my brother had a will?" Draco wasted no time, speaking as soon as they had stepped outside.

"A will?" asked Hermione slowly. Anger bubbled up in her when it dawned on her exactly what he was asking. "You came here to see if he left you anything?! How dare you! You greedy, selfish worm! I knew you hadn't change after all these years - "

"You've jumped to conclusions, Granger," interrupted the man, holding up his hands. "I was wondering if you knew what he wanted of the children."

Hermione's mouth clamped shut. She was surprised over what he said. Guilt plunged into her gut. "Sorry!" she stressed, running a hand through her hair. "I just - I haven't had any sleep lately. I'm running on strict emotion right now, and even that is pretty much dried up!"

"Not from what I can see."

"The children?" she asked, averting back to the previous subject, ignoring his dry retort.

"The will, specifically," he corrected. "I'm intrigued to know if he thought to name them a guardian before he…" Draco didn't finish. He uncomfortably cleared his throat. "I would hope that he was pre-prepared for his outcome."

"I'm not sure he had one - actually, I haven't thought to look, like I said, I haven't had much time. This was so - " Suddenly Hermione couldn't speak. Her voice was lost. She covered her face, sobbing. "I'm sorry," she said a moment later when she had the strength the speak again. She took out a tissue from the pocket of her suit. "I'm just a mess! I don't know what to do. I just lost my best friend. Those darling children just lost their father, one won't eat, and one doesn't completely realize what's even happening. I just - " She took a deep breath, catching herself.

This was Draco Malfoy, one of the most insensitive men she knew, and she was blubbering away like a pathetic schoolgirl.

He hadn't changed the expression on his face since he asked the first question. She knew he was feelingless toward other people, but how could he look at her as if she had said nothing at all?!

Hermione stood up straight and took a quivering deep breath. "I'll see about that will," she whispered, unable to manage anything stronger.

Draco nodded. "Send me an owl when you do." He stuck his hand into a pocket and pulled out a card. "I'm staying at the bed and breakfast on East."

$-.-$-.-$-.-$

"I would have told him to hit the road," said Scarlett that night after the children were in bed, and Hermione had explained what Draco had wanted to talk with her about.

Hermione was looking around Hydrus's computer area for a possible will.

"We both know Hydrus wanted a good relationship with his family. If the Malfoys want to be in the children's life, I'm not going to stop them. Obviously, they have an interest."

Scarlett huffed. "It's a bit late for that!"

"Better than never though." Hermione backed away from the desk. She had just searched in every drawer, but there was no will in any of them.

"It's so weird being here now," said Scarlett quietly. "I'm expecting him to walk into the room with a ginormous bowl of popcorn and ask us what movie we're going to watch tonight."

"And then he'll grumble and tease us about the one we picked."

"But he always enjoyed them!"

Scarlett's smile slowly faded in sadness. "He must have really missed her."

Hermione nodded. It was suddenly hard to breathe. She sat down in the desk chair.

"I knew he missed Emily, but not that much."

"Hydrus was putting on a good show," informed Hermione. "He didn't want us worrying about him. I confronted him about it, but he pretended that everything was fine." She shook her head. "There was nothing we could do. Nothing we could have done would have stopped him from doing it."

"How could he do it though? Didn't he think of Natasha, Anthony and Curtis?"

"I'm sure he did, but he…" Hermione sighed. "I'm don't know what was going on in his head these past few months. I wish I knew, but even if I did, it probably wouldn't have helped. He was sick with grief. Emily was his everything."

"Shows what he thought of the children though."

"We both know he loved them," Hermione defended Hydrus. "I don't doubt he tried everything to help himself, and I'm not going to judge him for something that I can't relate to. I wasn't in his place, but I do know that he did everything for those children, and he wouldn't have done what he did if he wasn't sick."

"So do you think there's even a will here?"

Hermione shrugged. "All we can do is look and hope that he wrote one."

"And if he didn't, what then?"

"I'll see what options there are, and then pick the one that's best for the children."

"You're their Godmother, Hermione, aren't you going to look after them?"

Hermione's eyes fell down to her hands. She intertwined her fingers and thought.

Of course she was going to look after them. She had been helping out since Emily had lost her fight against cancer. She loved those kids, and they loved her. She just didn't know how she was going to manage it by herself. It would take a long time for them all to heal, and right now she felt incredibly overwhelmed with all that was happening.

"I'm going to do the best I can."

$-.-$-.-$-.-$

"She won't be able to care for them on her own, at least not right now. She's going to need some breathing space, Grangers already having meltdowns, and it's only just begun."

"It's better if we take them then," said Narcissa.

"If there's no will, I have copies of the letters showing that Hydrus would have liked his children to know us. Granger always does what's right - or rather she used to. If she's anything like she was when I knew of her at Hogwarts, she'll let us have them."

"But what if she's too attached or if she takes her Godmother status too seriously?"

"Then things could get ugly, and Granger wouldn't want to drag them into a custody battle; with our financial status, blood relation to the children and my medical issue, it would be an easy win for us - her Godmother title would be worth as much as a Leprechaun's gold coin."

"I feel we should compromise with her," said Narcissa hesitantly. "I don't want to upset those babies anymore than they already are, and they like her alot."

"What are you proposing?"

"Your home is spacious enough for everyone."

"Mother, are you implying that I marry this woman?!" Draco was repulsed over the thought.

Narcissa laughed. "Goodness, no! She could have her own suite, of course! Granger could be a considerable amount of help. As you know, I'm no spring chicken, and you've never had children before. Children are a lot of work - a lot of physical work."

"Isn't that why we have house elves?"

Narcissa sighed and clicked her tongue. "They need human interaction, Draco."

Draco pressed his lips together, thinking over the idea. "It's not a terrible plan, but will she go for it?"

"And that's the real question, dear."