AN: Many thanks to Fredasally, HeroInTheWings731, and Angel Girl5 and the rest for the reviews and follows! Also, I have a few points to make about the last chapter since HeroInTheWings731 caught a few mistakes I left behind in my haste to get this story up.
- According to the timeline I have established in the story, Hermione is 21, Harry is 20, and Ginny is 19. As mentioned in the first chapter, yes, Ginny and Harry are married and have two sons already. Clearly, this does not match up with the timeline established by JKR in her series...so in this story, I will say that I have taken some liberties for the sake of my plot and adjusted some events, mainly birthdays and the like for Next Gen.
- Another oversight was that in the first chapter I said Hermione had no babysitting experience. Obviously, since she is friends with Harry and Ginny, she's been round the house to look after the little ones before. Again, my mistake. I do my own editing and I don't catch everything. So a mighty thanks to HeroInTheWings731!
-To answer a question left in a Guest review: Draco's backstory will be explained in full shortly! Sorry for the vagueness, but it is a pretty large plot point...and I don't want to spoil anything!
Sorry for the monstrous AN but I needed to clear some things up before I continued on!
"Oh good heavens that smells divine." Hermione groaned as she popped into the Potter kitchen, the tow headed baby perched on her hip and a small bag in her hand. Ginny smiled at her from the stove top, executing the same stance as Hermione with her own toddler Albus. "And look at you, you little cute thing!" Hermione rubbed her nose against Albus' tiny one, bouncing slightly as she readjusted her own child.
"How was this week?" Ginny asked. It was her new favorite question and kept Hermione on balance. It was easier for the brunette to take things week by week and Ginny had promptly set up a weekly dinner for the Potter family and Hermione.
"This was a good week." Hermione said as she looked at the blond toddler. "He decided that he wanted to be a good boy and participate."
"See, I knew my little Scor wasn't going to be difficult." Ginny cooed at the boy, who blew an especially drool filled raspberry of giggles into her face. "That's right! My darling little stinger, yes you are!"
"Is Hermione here?" Harry called from a distant room.
"Yes I am!" Hermione hollered back, picking a spare piece of pasta from the infamous Weasley pasta salad Ginny had thrown together. "I'm seriously going to need this recipe at some point or other."
"I have spare copies of it in one of these drawers somewhere." Ginny easily moved Albus to her other hip and began rummaging through drawers as Harry entered the kitchen. "Finally! Here, husband, make yourself useful." She passed Albus over.
"Yes wife." Harry rolled his eyes but took his second son without complaint, greeting Hermione with a peck on the cheek. "How's the ferret?"
"He isn't a ferret." Hermione glared at Harry and kissed Scorpius' forehead for good measure.
"God this is like looking into a time machine, still. Imagine, his parents had to look at that for years." Harry bent down slightly to look at Scorpius' face square on. An eyebrow lifted in amusement. "No wonder the git grew up rotten as bad eggs."
"Harry!" It was Ginny's turn to scold the man and she did so with an accompanying swat to his backside. He grinned and took a step back, earning himself another quick pop.
"She knows how I like it." Hermione laughed at Harry's playful actions and sat at the table, placing Scorpius directly in the center of her lap. Ginny somehow held down the trademark Weasley blush but quietly reprimanded her husband, who took on a solemn expression and walked into the other room.
"What did you threaten him with?"
"Not getting it how he likes it if he didn't quit acting like a randy schoolboy." Ginny replied with a smile, placing two steaming pots on the table before stepping back to admire her handiwork. Small footsteps came barreling into the kitchen and a head full of unruly black hair popped over the edge of the table.
"Hello James!"
"Auntie Hermy!" He shouted, waddling as fast as he could over to her for a hug and kiss tradition they had established. "Baby Sorpus."
"Right you are again, James." Hermione ruffled his hair affectionately. Harry reentered the kitchen, his head still slightly bowed in humility.
"Oh quit pouting and get the dishes right, you impossible man." Ginny harrumphed, her arms buried in soapy water as she quickly washed a few dishes. Hermione laughed as Harry stuck his tongue out at his wife behind his back but nonetheless he set about placing the plates and silverware on the table correctly.
"Have you happened to hear anything, Harry? Anything at all?" Hermione asked as she fished in her bag for Scorpius' bottle. Harry paused in his chore and looked up at the brunette woman.
"Sorry Hermione but…we even raided the Manor again last week and nothing came out. It doesn't look likely that we'll find him. He is, probably, dead."
"Well I don't want to give up just yet. I'll ask Kingsley if I can pop in and look at some things myself."
She scratched a spot behind her ear as she pored over the files in her possession, all currently spread across her small kitchen table. Her pen was holding a messy bun in place at the nape of her neck and Scorpius was sleeping quietly in the napping sling she had draped over her shoulder and chest. It was the only way the baby would nap without proving to be a distraction from her work, and she found it much easier to work with him attached to her instead of running to a bedroom every half an hour. Ginny insisted that Hermione could leave the baby to nap for hours, that she did it with her own sons every now and then, but Hermione actually enjoyed the feeling of the weight bearing down on her shoulders.
Ginny often told the brunette that motherhood suited her, despite the child not actually being of her own flesh and blood. The redheaded woman attributed it to Hermione's nurturing attitude and already matronly air that had been accumulated from being with Harry and Ron at school.
Hermione sighed and toyed with a few strands of silken hair on Scorpius' head, peeking down at the still sleeping child before she grabbed a piece of paper with a name stamped across the top.
Astoria Madeleine Greengrass.
A picture accompanied the report. Astoria was, as she always had been, strikingly beautiful. Dark hair was tumbled perfectly across petite shoulders clad in the finest of fabrics, a hint of a classic smile gracing her bow shaped lips. Blue eyes peered out from the photo and mesmerized Hermione for a moment or two before the brunette could carry on with her reading.
Marital status: Married (Draco Lucius Malfoy) 25 September 1999.
Blood status: Pureblood.
Family members: Lawrence Greengrass (father, living), Jacqueline Greengrass nee Burke (mother, deceased), Daphne Greengrass (sister, living).
Education: Hogwarts, Years 1-6 (Year 7 not complete due to Wizarding War).
Hermione continued reading the report until she reached the end, her breath catching when she read the final sentence.
Hospitalized 11 December 2000, pregnant. Died in childbirth complications late evening 11 December. Child released into custody of father, Draco Lucius Malfoy, on 14 December 2000.
She drew in a sharp breath and subconsciously held the babe closer to her chest, as if to protect him from the information she read on the paper. She looked at the calendar she kept on the kitchen wall, thinking back to when this child had been dropped on her doorstep. It was near the end of May now, and he had been in her custody for almost ten weeks.
Draco had been a father for all of three months before he decided he couldn't cope any longer.
Fuming, Hermione began searching for the man's file and flipped it open with a determination that could keep her fueled for hours. She scanned all the information in his report quickly, knowing most of it by heart anyway since she had looked it over before the trials at the end of the war. She reached the end, where the most recent updates had been entered, and was surprised to see Harry's untidy scrawl on most of the last paragraph.
13 May 2001- Malfoy Manor entered and searched, no living family found. Dark artifacts removed from basement cellar. Dark paraphernalia removed from several rooms of the Manor.
15 May 2001- H.P. returned to Malfoy Manor for final sweep. Conducted thorough search of basement cellar and all rooms of Manor. Minor sign of recent activity in west wing bedroom, most likely elves still residing in Manor. Missing three framed photos from bedroom.
Hermione closed the file and marched to the Floo, sticking her head in and covering Scorpius' ears with her hand as she yelled for Harry.
Her feet kicked some of the dead leaves in the foyer around, the rustling echoing in the grand entrance. The wind was howling outside, blowing past the windows as if it were intent on making her uncomfortable. She wound her arms a little tighter around her midsection and stepped into the front hall, looking down towards the parlor where she had once been tortured.
"Which bedroom?" She finally asked. Harry pointed up the stairs to the right, which obviously led to the west wing, and they began to climb. Hermione shivered involuntarily as they ventured deeper into the Manor itself, passing by numerous closed doors and a few open entryways. They reached a hall that was darker than the rest, the curtains at the end of the passage pulled closed.
"We've tried prying those curtains open but they won't budge. Probably some sort of Sticking Charm that's set into the fabric for too long. Short of burning them, I doubt they'll ever open." Harry made small chatter as they walked down the dim corridor. He finally grabbed a door handle, twisting it until Hermione could see inside a finely decorated bedroom. "Don't know whose bedroom this was, exactly."
"Probably just a spare." She whispered, still not entirely at ease with being inside the Manor. She moved to the large dresser where picture frames dotted the surface. "The pictures that were taken…what were they of?"
"One of Lucius and Narcissa, on their wedding day. One of Draco and Astoria, on their wedding day. And the last one was of Astoria, obviously knocked up."
"And it didn't occur to you that Draco may have been the one who stole the photos?"
"Why wouldn't he just stay here, if it was him? It's his house, technically." Harry shot back quickly. "Although I don't say I blame him completely, this place creeps me right the fuck out."
"Does Ginny know you've upped your swearing vocabulary?" Hermione laughed and picked up a picture, watching as a much younger version of Draco flew by on a toy broomstick. Harry rolled his eyes. "Besides, I wouldn't want to stay if I knew government officials were searching my house on common occurrence."
"It's not common." Harry argued. "Just…conveniently random but evenly spaced out over a period of weeks."
"Harry, the Ministry is not subtle and it is definitely not random. Every two weeks is common." Hermione grumbled. She looked around, taking in the decorations. "Perhaps this was Draco's room?"
"No, his room is in the eastern wing. We're certain, we found all of his school things buried in trunks there."
"Precisely, buried in trunks. What's the first thing you did with your school things, hmm?" Hermione asked, giving Harry a knowing look.
"Son of a bitch." Harry pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You know, for an Auror, you give it your best shot." She patted his arm sympathetically and began walking around the room. "It's nice enough to be his bedroom, far enough away from everything for him to maintain his distance should he so choose, but yet close enough to never have to worry about someone really coming to look for him. Decorated in hints of Slytherin colors, like the silver piping on the bedspread and the green breaker border. Plenty of personal photos on the dresser yet not too many as to raise suspicion." She opened a drawer on the bedside table, pulling out a book and waving it over her shoulder at Harry. "And some reading material suited to a young twenty something male."
"Missing In Action?" Harry asked as he read the title. "Who the hell is Vonnegut?"
"I'll pretend you never asked that." Hermione clucked her tongue as Harry opened the book. A few pieces of folded paper fell out from between the pages and both people dove for them.
"Shite." Harry whistled as he unfolded what soon revealed itself as a picture, black and white and grainy on glossy photo paper. Hermione found hers to be a copy of what Harry held. "An ultrasound?"
"Well, she was pregnant." Hermione muttered, refolding her paper and putting it into her pocket.
"Hermione!"
"What? Put your copy in the book, if he comes back he'll still have one."
"You're talking like he's alive."
"And you're talking like he isn't, let's at least attempt to be optimistic." Hermione said. "You know, for Scorpius' sake."
AN: Hopefully I've cleared up some/any confusion there may be about the timeline but if not then let me know via review or PM and I will do my best to explain it. More to come soon! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!