Chapter 3

Draco's head was spinning around with questions upon questions as to what could have happened. His first thought had been that the three children were indeed a younger version of himself, Potter, and Weasley. But obviously that was ridiculous, seeing how he would remember landing in a pit and somehow in the future. There was no way for the past version of himself to have gone to the future, regardless of what shenanigans Potter and Weasley got up to in school.

Harry and Weasley had been just as stunned at what happened, but Harry had collected himself and insisted they quietly get the children back to the Auror's office to deal with everything privately. The kids were in a state of shock, so leaving them out in the open would serve no purpose to help them figure out exactly what had happened to lead to the three kids in their current predicament.

They had decided for the time being, other than the Aurors who had been with them, the only person they would tell about everything was Kingsley, given his role as Minister. The last thing any of them needed was to cause any more of a panic over what was happening. And if there was one thing that Draco knew, public panic was quickly transformed into a deadly weapon even when they only knew half the facts.

He was currently standing behind a two way mirror with his arms crossed as he observed the three boys inside the room. The blonde mini version of himself seemed to be the youngest child, with the ginger as the middle one and the raven haired kid the oldest, judging strictly by their size. The redhead seemed to be worried and scared, while the older boys consoled him.

He heard the door behind him open and saw Weasley and Potter make their way into the room. When Weasley saw him, he didn't look impressed.

"Why is he here? I thought we decided we would look into this together," Weasley demanded as he stared at him.

Draco rolled his eyes. While he wasn't on as bad terms with Weasley as he was during school, the two of them were still not particularly as close as Draco was with Potter.

"He's my partner," Harry said in a warning tone towards his friend, "I trust him enough to be here. Besides, clearly he's involved with this. I hope you can be mature enough about this, Ron. There's too much at stake here for the past to be dragged back up again."

Weasley didn't look happy as he nodded in understanding. He turned to Draco as he said, "We alerted Hermione about needing her to come in to give the boys a check up to see if they have any physical damage done to them. While she might be extremely busy, she's probably also the only one we can completely trust to be discrete on the matter. She should be here in the next couple of minutes."

Draco pursed his lips. "Shall we go talk to the boys then?" he asked, as he turned to leave the room with Potter and Weasley following him out.

As they entered the room, the three boys turned to face them. Draco sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the table from the boys, while Harry and Weasley sat beside them.

The boys looked nervous as Draco spoke to them in a soft tone, "What are your names?" he asked them carefully.

"James Potter," The dark haired one said as he looked at Harry slightly sheepishly.

"Hugo Weasley," the ginger one said, and when the blonde one looked a bit too scared to respond, Scorpius responded for him, "and Scorpius Malfoy."

Harry looked startled at the revelation but tried to keep his face calm, "Is it safe to say that you're our children then?"

James nodded, "Yes, from the future."

Harry paled slightly, and it wasn't hard to figure out what was going through his mind; hell he was in the same position himself.

A large part of him was freaking out. He hadn't thought much about having a family in the recent years. Growing up it was nearly expected of him to find a nice pureblood girl and settle down with her. There were several women that his father had lined up for him, and had expected him to pick one to court while at Hogwarts.

He nearly laughed at the thought; it was such a long time ago and honestly felt like another lifetime ago. Since the war and his father's arrest, he had stopped thinking of things like producing an heir. It wasn't as if the Malfoy name was anything like it used to be. Sure, he had done a lot of good work to help get rid of some of the bad stigma, but as he was cruelly reminded a few hours ago, there were still a lot of people out there who didn't quite buy the whole reforming things.

Sure, he had gone on a few dates every now and then, and his mother was always trying to set him up with witches, but it very rarely got past the first date. He had honestly doubted that he would ever settle down and have a family of his own, and somehow he didn't seem to mind that fact very much. Yet somehow there was a child in front of him, stating otherwise.

"I suppose the three of you coming back is what caused the huge pulse of magical energy?" Draco asked them, causing the boys to squirm slightly.

Harry and Weasley looked at him, a little stunned as if they hadn't thought of such a thing themselves.

"Clearly however they came back caused some sort of disruption in the fabric of time. Whatever future they came from has imploded, thus the pulse of energy which caused the earthquake, flooding, and the other phenomenon," Draco informed his co-workers.

"Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time," Harry appeared to be quoting. Draco didn't question the source, but nodded in agreement.

"I suppose that brings us to why," Weasley said, as he stared at his child in amazement. The boy had all of the trademark Weasley features, and even if he hadn't known who his father was, there was no questioning his heritage.

He couldn't help but feel skeptical however. What were the chances that the three of them would find their own children in that pit? Despite the similarities, he knew as a good Auror that simply taking their word for it would be insufficient. If anything, it could be a set up; he was sure there were plenty of potions out there that one could use to disguise the kids to look like their own. They also could have fed the children answers to get them to believe the kids, in order to develop trust. To what purpose it would serve, he was unsure, but discounting the possibility was out of the question.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," Draco heard a female voice say as the door opened and Granger came though. "You wouldn't believe how many people are at St. Mungos right now. I'll have to warn you Harry that my supervisor wasn't too pleased that you wanted me to come in right now, so you might get an angry letter later."

He turned to see Granger, whose hair had been tied up. She looked even more exhausted than when he had left her earlier, but she kept her poise as she straightened up when she saw the three boys sitting there in front of her.

Her brow furrowed but she didn't say anything; he assumed Potter had briefed her generally, but from the look on her face, that was not the case.

"Mummy?" Scorpius said as he saw her, causing Hermione's eyes to widen and his heart to stop.

First, not only did he apparently get married in the future, but he got married to Granger? There was no bloody way that he married her. He didn't even like the witch! Hell, he had seen her for the first time in years yesterday, yet apparently in the distant future they become a thing? He felt his throat tighten up; it was all too much for him to handle.

"I'll be right back," he stood. Harry seemed to be stunned himself, and Weasley was glaring at him furiously. "I should go brief Kingsley anyways."

And with that he walked out of the room. He would be back of course. But he needed to get away; he needed some time to process everything that happened and he needed to be alone.

Hermione stared at the little boys in shock through the window as Harry briefed her on what was happening. There was no way she had a son, let alone with Malfoy! She wasn't sure whose idea of a joke this was, but it wasn't funny.

He had taken her outside to talk to her so they could have some privacy from the children inside while Ron stayed with them. She couldn't quite say she blamed Malfoy for taking off; hell, she wanted to run as far away from this as possible. She had very little knowledge of what was happening inside or how/why the children had come back in the first place. What she did know was that life as she knew it was going to change drastically; that clearly if the three boys had come back from the future, there had to have been something so terrifying and wrong to do so. Which scared her terribly, seeing how despite danger Voldemort had been, no one had dared to travel back and prevent his birth or even try and guide him a different direction. So what could have happened to be so bad to warrant her supposed child and his friends to come back?

Harry had looked at her sympathetically, and she felt her heart drop.

"How can you even be sure that they are who they say they are?" she questioned her friend, "For all you know, they're lying about their identities."

"That's one of the reasons I asked you here," he informed her, "We're going to ask them a couple of questions to try and verify their parentage, but I'd also like you to perform a spell to check."

She was a bit shaky at first but she nodded as she walked back into the room. The blonde boy lit up at the sight of her and it broke her heart slightly. If he was back here, had something happened to the future version of herself? He was just a young child, yet here he was.

Which begged the question of why the children were sitting here in the first place. Why hadn't Hermione or whomever in the future chosen to send themselves back? Why the children? Clearly it would have been easier to have an adult who completely understood the situation and the events of the future back with them, instead of the children. It didn't make sense to her.

She smiled at the three boys, "We need to ask you boys a few questions okay?"

James nodded, taking the lead for the boys, "Sounds good, Aunt Mione," he said, as he took Scorpius' hand in his own.

"First we need to make sure you are who you say you are," she said lightly, trying to keep them calm. "Your father is going to ask you some things, so answer it however you think fit."

Hugo looked nervous, "Are we in trouble?"

"No!" Ron insisted firmly, "Just making sure of some stuff okay, boys?"

"Constant Vegilance?" Scorpius asked, stuttering over the second word as he attempted to pronounce vigilance.

Harry gave her a look, and Hermione immediately understood. It was definitely a good sign that the kids knew that phrase, but then again Professor Moody had used it so often that anyone would know about it.

"Yes," Hermione said gently.

"Can you think of something to tell us that only the three of you would know, or something that we don't tell a lot of people?" Harry asked the boys.

"Like a secret?" Hugo asked in confusion.

Hermione listened along silently as she raised her wand. She circled a spell around Harry and James quickly to test the DNA result, and saw instantly that it was a match through a thin white band of light wrapping around the two of them. She wasn't really surprised, as the boy definitely had Harry's messy hair. Moving on, she did Ron and Hugo, which came out positive as well.

She looked at the blonde kid in front of her. While he probably was Malfoy's son, she was afraid to test the spell with herself and the child. If it was positive, it would mean that in one future she was supposed to get together with Malfoy, and while she had often dreamed about peeking into the future to know how her life was and who she was with, now that the chance was right in front of her, she couldn't help but feel squeamish at the idea.

Ron seemed to notice her hesitation, but he gave her a nod. She could tell that he wasn't too pleased about her apparent future choice of a husband, but he hadn't said anything yet, as not to disturb the children who wouldn't quite understand why it was such a big deal.

She took a deep breath as she waved her wand around herself and Scorpius and held it as she waited for the results. She saw the band of light around herself and her son begin to appear and waited for the colour to show, to indicate the truth of the matter. As she saw the white shine through, she felt herself grow faint, but kept her face neutral to hide her feelings.

"You, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione became friends when you saved Aunt Hermione from a troll," James said, scratching his head.

Hermione nodded at Harry to confirm what the spell had indicated. James' secret had helped as well, as the story was not one that was public knowledge. While people had known of the event, very few knew that it was what started the friendship.

Malfoy slipped back into the room at that point, still looking paler than normal. As he did, Hermione quickly cast the same spell she had used earlier to check if Scorpius was indeed his son as well. She felt slightly hopeful that perhaps he might not be, but she wasn't all that shocked when the spell was once again positive. Malfoy leaned against the table as he gave her a strange look, but he seemed to realise what the spell had meant, and his grip on the table tightened considerably.

She could see the boys begin to yawn, and she could tell they were just as exhausted as she felt.

"Harry, we should get these boys some sleep," she prompted them slightly. "They're drained, and perhaps it would be better for all of us if we allow them some rest before getting the rest of the story."

He looked like he wanted to protest, but she gave him a firm look and he conceded, "I don't suppose you know what to do about sleeping arrangements?"

"I'll take the three boys to Grimmuald Place," Hermione said. "I don't think they'll want to be separated. Ginny and I can watch them together."

"Granger, can I have a word?" Malfoy interrupted at that, "Alone?" His face was tense and he appeared to be burning a hole in her forehead.

She felt herself get nervous, but agreed as she stood from the chair and followed him into the next room, "What, Malfoy? I know you wanted to talk earlier, but surely that can wait until later?"

"I don't want to talk about that," he said, looking stiff. "Look, I know you don't quite like me, but Scorpius is my son too; shouldn't I have the right to say what happens to him over night? I refuse to let you push me to the side and let you make all the decisions. You can't just take complete control and not even consult me."

She seemed slightly shocked at that, "That wasn't why I wanted Scorpius over at Harry's, Malfoy," she said. "I don't know what kind of relationship we have in the future, and honestly, I don't care at this point. I only said that because I assumed you, Harry, and Ron would probably get called back in to work early tomorrow morning, which at this point is really only a few hours away. I just thought that if that was the case, Ginny and I could take care of the boys, seeing how Ginny is taking the season off from Quidditch, and I legally can't work anymore today seeing how I've already put in all my hours and overtime hours."

He seemed to relax slightly at this but wasn't completely satisfied, "I still don't want to leave him alone, Granger. Damn it, I just found out I had a kid, and the first thing I do will not be to abandon him."

She understood this, "Of course, Malfoy. Now I can't speak for Harry really, but I'm sure he'd be fine with letting you stay the night over at his place, all things considering. I'm not going to keep you from him, Malfoy. We have a lot to figure out and talk about, but it can all wait for later. Now, can we go back in?"

He nodded, as he followed her back into the room.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind, but I've invited Malfoy to stay the night," she said. Harry looked at his partner, but simply nodded.

"Of course, we have plenty of spare rooms that you could stay in," he said, tiredly.

Scorpius stood from his chair and walked over to where she was standing and slipped his hand through hers. She could tell that he was trying to make a connection to her. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if the poor boy even knew or understood what had happened to him. She squeezed his hand back and gave him a soft smile.

She extended her hand out to Malfoy to side along with her back to Harry's place. There was a lot to figure out still, but it would have to wait until they all got a decent night's sleep.

In another part of England, a man stood at the window as he watched the chaos ensue before him. The sudden pulse of magic meant that someone else was getting a move on to either stop or take over what it was that he had planned on doing, and if he wasn't careful, he would find himself at a loss. It appeared that his hand would be forced, and he would need to make a move on his plan far sooner than he had originally planned.

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! I'm having a lot of fun writing this. Let me know what you think, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.