I step off the train,
I'm walking down your street again,
and past your door,
but you don't live there anymore.
Its years since you've been there.
Now you've disappeared somewhere
like outer space,
you've found some better place,
and I miss you
- like the deserts miss the rain.

"What time will we need to get the twins up in the morning?" Draco glanced up at his wife from where he sat at the large wooden table in their kitchen and smiled, unable to understand how he could ever have hated her. She was beautiful, intelligent and the most diligent mother he could ever have hoped to have for his children. "Draco, I doubt the Evening Prophet is that interesting, answer the question." Draco smirked; she'd never lost her sarcasm and took every opportunity to shrink his ego, always failing.

"What time does the train leave?" He raised an eyebrow and sipped his glass of red wine. Hermione was right; there was nothing to read in the paper, watching her cook dinner for the two of them would be a much more enjoyable pastime.

"11. As usual. It's only fifteen years since you were there, forgotten so soon?"

"I've been distracted since." He raised an eyebrow suggestively and Hermione giggled softly as she placed two bowls of spaghetti carbonara down on the table and sat down next to Draco as he sprinkled parmesan across his dinner.

"Do you think they're asleep?"

"Hermione love, did you sleep the night before your first day at Hogwarts?"

"No. I was incredibly nervous; I was worried it was all a joke and that if it wasn't I would be appalling."

Draco raised an eyebrow, not needing to reply. He'd given up trying to convince Hermione that she was the best witch of her generation. A blood curdling screech from above them echoed through the room but neither reacted quickly, this was obviously a regular occurrence.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad." A small girl's voice screamed down the stairs and rolling his eyes Draco stood up and stuffing his hands in his pockets left the cavernous basement kitchen and began to make his way up three flights of stairs to his daughter's bedroom. Reaching the second floor landing he pushed open the door with "Lissy" written on it in pink and silver sparkling letters and saw his son stood on the end of his daughter's bed threatening her with his newly acquired wand. Lissy was cowering against the pale beech headboard.

"Alexander Malfoy, stop threatening your sister this instant." Draco scolded strongly and his son jumped down immediately, Draco drew in a sharp breath as he realised how much like his own father he sounded. Except he wasn't like his own father, he loved his kids, showed them affection, played with them.

"Dad?" He looked up to see Alex and Lissy sat on the end of Lissy's bed looking up at him with anxious looks playing on their fine features. Draco smiled softly and sat down between the twins, placing an arm around each of their shoulders, he was so fond of the children, his children – his children that were also Hermione's children. He smiled once more and pulled the children back down onto the bed.

About fifteen minutes later Hermione, having finished both Draco's and her own dinner opened the door to Lissy's room to find her children curled up fast asleep, tucked into their father's sides. Hermione giggled softly and levitated Alexander through the doorway and into his own bedroom down the hall, making sure he was safely tucked up in his dark blue bed she levitated her husband down the stairs and into their own room.

"Merlin, isn't this exciting…" Ginny rubbed her hands together as she and Harry watched their son board the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

"Very." Harry grinned and wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist as James waved at them from the window of the compartment he and Ron and Lavender's son William had snared for themselves.

"Definitely." Ron agreed but in a slightly melancholic tone he added; "But someone else should be stood with us."

"Hermione." Harry, Ginny and Lavender all spoke her name softly. The friends hadn't seen her in thirteen years, the end of the crusades that she had fought valiantly with Harry and Ron, searching for the Horcruxes and destroying Voldemort. One night in the glorious aftermath of his destruction, Hermione had sat Harry, Ron and Ginny down and explained that she was leaving, she had been severely affected by the War and wanted to get away from it all. They hadn't realised she meant forever; and when after eighteen months the trickle of occasional letters had stopped the friends had resigned themselves to the fact that she was gone. Of course they'd looked for her, but Hermione was clever, if she didn't want to be found she wouldn't be.

Could you be dead?
You always were two steps ahead
of everyone.
We'd walk behind while you would run.
I look up at your house,
and I can almost hear you shout
down to me
where I always used to be,
and I miss you -
like the deserts miss the rain.

Draco crouched down so that he was level with Alex's face; Hermione was stood a few feet away hugging Lissy, they were at the far end of Platform 9&¾ at Hermione's request, she didn't' want to confront any friends from the past just yet. Alex clutched his father's hand and Draco spoke solemnly. "Promise me you'll take care of Lissy?"

"Yes."

"Good. And uphold the family name." Draco smirked knowing that the children's name had such huge connotations and stood up, pushing Alex towards the train where he joined his sister in a compartment. Hermione stood next to Draco and glanced up at his thoughtful face as he stared across the platform spotting some familiar red hair. "Hermione…" He spoke softly and she screwed her face up.

"Not today, Draco. I'm not ready."

Ginny hugged Harry and over his shoulder saw a tall man with a black baseball cap hugging a young boy with messy platinum blonde hair, a few feet away a petite woman with wavy chocolate brown hair was saying goodbye to a girl with long wavy platinum blonde hair, clearly the children were related. Twins perhaps Ginny thought as they got onto the train together; the hair reminded her of the Malfoy's but they couldn't be Malfoy's children, everyone knew that he had been killed by aurors.

The woman turned to speak to the man in the cap and Ginny gasped, even after thirteen years she would recognise those deep brown eyes anywhere: Hermione.

"Ginny, what is it?" Harry pulled away and looked into Ginny's eyes searchingly.

"Harry, Hermione." Ginny breathed and Harry's eyes flew open, he turned around and followed her gaze to see her hugging the man in the black cap, he could just make out bits of blonde hair at the rim of the cap and shook his head. It couldn't be, she was meant to have left their world, and he was meant to have left any world.

"It can't be her, why would she be with him?" Harry scowled.

"Harry it is her and you know it, please can we go and talk to her."

"Gin, let her come to us. When she's ready." Harry went against his better judgement and turned away from Hermione and Malfoy.

Hermione rolled over into Draco's arms as they lay in between the cream sheets in their burgundy and cream themed bedroom. "You saw them today didn't you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact and Draco shivered slightly. He knew that they'd received many questioning gazes today at King's Cross; they were just too recognisable to be ignored.

"Yes." Draco replied and wrapped an arm around Hermione. "But you said you weren't ready."

"I don't know anymore Draco, the twins aren't here to distract me anymore…" She began to sob quietly and Draco held her close once more.