A/N: Here is another One Shot in the FEM! Harry:Holly/Sirius series. This one is much shorter than my other One Shots that I should really be calling this a 'snippet'! It's a look into the life so far with Holly, Hermione, James, Albus and Scorpius. Little girl gossip happening between best girlfriends, too. Enjoy!
Content
"Did you ever think that this would be in our future?"
Holly turned to look at her best friend. Hermione sat beside her on the long park bench. There were two prams on either side of them. One for the sleeping six month old Albus, otherwise affectionately known as Albie; and the other was for the newly born Scorpius Granger-Malfoy.
"No," Holly answered honestly, turning back to watch as James swung himself on a swing. "I honestly thought I would be dead before I got to actually see what a normal life would be like."
The raven haired woman turned to her curly haired companion with a sly grin.
"Did you ever think you would have married Draco Malfoy?"
Hermione laughed loudly before shaking her head. "No! Absolutely not! I wanted nothing to do with that - "
"- Foul, louthsome little cockroach?" Holly asked with a laugh, finishing Hermione's sentence.
They laughed together; Hermione nodding, tears of mirth spilling from her eyes. This had become somewhat of a norm for them both. Hermione would find time to go with Holly, James and Albie to the park. The bookworm's pregnancy had been quite a surprise to them all.
"Have you seen Neville Longbottom?" Hermione asked in a stage whisper. "Remember when we were in Hogwarts and he -"
"-Was a stuttering, dopey and clumsy boy?" Holly asked, still wiping tears from her eyes. "Yeah, but I saw him in Diagon Alley the other day and let me tell you, I was gobsmacked! If I had known he was going to be so handsome I would have shagged the man senseless in our fifth year!"
Hermione threw her head back and laughed again. Holly shushed her, trying to fight off her own laughter. They looked in on Albie and Scorpius, but both babies were fast alseep in their prams.
"I would have, too!" Hermione insisted while Holly raised a eyebrow in her direction. "..Well, okay, I probably wouldn't have had sex with the boy but... I could have given him a hand job or something!"
Holly chortled. "A hand job, Hermione?!"
"What?" Hermione asked, her cheeks pinked. "I was a bookworm in school! You know that! That's as naughty as I would have allowed myself to get with a boy! Ask Draco! The man was practically frothing at the mouth to get me naked in school! I practically had to jack him off twice a day to tide him over until we were both of age!"
"My stomach!" Holly cried out, wiping away more tears. "I'm cramping! Too hilarious!"
"Shut it, Potter!"
"Mummy!" James came running from the swing area. "Can I get some candy floss?!"
Both women stiffled their laughter long enough for Holly to fish out a muggle note from her pocket and hand it to James. They both watched, still giggling as James bought his blue candy floss from a young woman and then run back to his swing.
"You know," Hermione sighed as she peeked into her son's pram. "I don't regret this."
"What do you mean?"
"Scorpius," said Hermione with another sigh. "I know that when I first got pregnant, I was devastated. I was able to study until my 8th month, but when I had to put my studies on hold I was so angry."
Holly reached over and rubbed her best friend's back. "I know, sweetheart."
Hermione sniffled. "I was so angry at this.. thing in my tummy. I had no one. Draco was in the middle of an apprenticeship in Argentina, my parents decided to stay in Austrailia... I didn't want to bother the Weasleys because they were still grieving over Fred and had their hands full with Ron and Lavender's baby. I had you most days but you had you're own pregnancy and a young son to deal with.. I had to deal with Lucius and Narcissa, who are still apprehensive about me and my bloody blood status!"
Hermione took a deep breath before letting it out. She sat back and continued rocking her son's pram. "And then I went into labor and it was fucking horrible.. I was so happy though when you, Mrs Weasley and even Narcissa dropped everything to be at my side for Scorpius' birth."
"So was I," Holly said softly, taking Hermione's hand to hold. "And the look on you're face when they handed you Scorpius was... unbelievable."
Hermione nodded, her eyes shining. "I had honestly thought I would be one of those mothers who hated their children, but all my anger just dissappeared. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Covered in blood and amniotic fluid... Shrieking his little lungs out for the whole world to hear him. Blonde hair and grey eyed, just like his father -with the lungs to match. And those were his mother's words, not mine!"
Holly chuckled.
"I never knew I could love something so much," Hermione continued, a content smile forming on her smile. "Other than Draco... Don't tell Draco. He's been a little jealous lately."
Holly chuckled again, before miming a motion of zipping her lips together.
"I'm just glad that everything worked out in the end for you."
Hermione smiled. "Yes, me too."
"Just imagine," Holly grinned. "If you would have given Neville that hand job, this would be his baby!"
"Puh-lease, Potter!" Hermione shook her head with a scoff. "If you would have shagged him these two boys would have been his!"
"That's Mrs. Black, thank you!"
They laughed again shortly before they fell into a comfortable silence. They watched James go from the swings to the small play area with a slide and sand box. The ducks quacked loudly from the small pond and there were muggle couples and family sitting on the grass, laughing and talking softly. It was quite a content setting.
"Do you ever wish you could go back in time and change things around?"
"All the time," Hermione answered as they watched a young couple walk by. "I mean, I wouldn't change anything significant, like my relationship with Draco and Scorpius' birth."
"Small things, right?" asked Holly with enthusiasm. "That's what I would do. I would have changed the way I had acted with Snape. I would have gotten the chance to know Luna sooner to save her from all those awful bullies. I would have been nicer to Colin and his little brother... I always thought that I would have saved Cedric's life."
"You can't save everyone, Holly," whispered Hermione with a sad smile. "No matter how hard you tried."
"Yeah," Holly sighed. "You're right... You know, Dumbledore told me something very wise almost about ten years back. I can't quite remember it word for word but he said 'it does not do well to dwell on dreams'."
"Quite right," Hermione murmured. "Because we are living our dreams. We are the ones that made this time of peace possible. I don't know about you, but I am quite content in that knowledge and this life."
The green eyed woman looked to her best friend and wrapped an arm around the bushy haired woman's shoulders.
"I am, too," Holly confirmed. "I am quite content."
The two women sat back on the park bench. They rocked their baby prams and listened to the sound of the children laughing and playing. The ducks waddled out of the pond, ruffling and flapping their wings. James laughed from his descent down the slide and Holly smiled widely when he waved, running back to climb it again.
"Quite content."
