Chapter 4

According to her watch, she had arrived with Rose a minute or so after they had gone back in time. Ron and… Pansy Parkinson were staring at them in confusion. Obviously, a lot had been changed despite her being careful.

"What are you doing here, Mione? Ron asked.

"I'm not entirely sure myself." she answered carefully. "Though, I suspect I should fill you in on what's happened."

"Not a problem! I always love having you and Rose over. Rose is such a darling with her blonde hair. You should put her in pigtails. Come here, Rosie. I'll take you to Diagon Alley while Uncle Ron talks with your mum." The little girl looked to her mother for permission. Hermione nodded, letting Rose gleefully skip alongside the former Slytherin. If Ron trusted Pansy, why shouldn't she?

"Now to business. How'd you two end up here?" he said as Hermione slid into the seat Pansy had vacated.

"Well, about ten minutes ago, I caught Rose fooling around with my time turner." Ron looked pale. "We went ten years into the past. I thought I was careful, but I apparently was not. In my timeline, I was married to you."

"How does that explain Rose's hair? She's clearly Draco's."

Hermione blushed and put her head down in embarrassment. "I, er, cheated in my timeline."

Instead of blowing up like she thought he would, Ron began to laugh. "I always knew you two would end up together. Hearing this just proves it." He stopped laughing as his face took on a more serious tone. "I do hope you were a good enough mate to tell me the truth. It would have been wrong to lie to me."

"The truth did eventually come out. I hadn't meant to cheat. We were both working hard at the time. We were engaged but I barely saw you. I had managed to clear my schedule for a date with you but you were called in for an emergency. I remember being so angry that I blew caution to the wind and I went to a pub.

"I saw Draco there. The poor bloke looked so glum. I had had several drinks before he approached me. He told me he had recently gotten a job as a secretary in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Draco went on to tell me how horrible they were treating him and how he thought he deserved it because of his role during the war. I couldn't believe how much he had changed. I then started to blabber on about how stressed out and lonely I was. It didn't take long for the both of us to leave and find a… suitable place for our activities."

"He didn't pressure you, did he?" Ron asked with a concerned look.

"No, nothing of the sort. It was mutual. I woke up that morning and realised what I had done. I felt so ashamed. Draco woke up only a minute or so after I did. What he told me cemented my new opinion about him. He told me that he shouldn't have taken advantage of me in my emotional state and that if I wanted to press charges, it was all right with him. I laughed at that and told him that I most assuredly knew what I was doing. I was as responsible as he was."

"When did you find out that you were pregnant?"

"About two months or so afterwards. I had first attributed my late period to stress but I was suspicious the second month it happened. I went to see a healer who confirmed my suspicions. I immediately told you. Since we had been shagging, I honestly thought she was yours. We were so thrilled, especially you. I didn't think to tell you about my indiscretion because it was a one-off and because I was so scared to go through raising a child by myself." Hermione pulled out a photo of Rose as a newborn.

"As you can see, she had no hair when she was born. Her eyes were blue at first. I was so relieved because you have blue eyes too. But then, they began to turn grey and the hair she did grow was a platinum blonde colour. I knew I was in trouble. People began to gossip and spread malicious rumors. When Rose was eight months, Harry confronted me about it and convinced me that I should tell you the truth."

"I don't imagine that went smoothly."

"No, it did not. You screamed at me, left, and wouldn't speak to me for a few months. It was only fair though. At the time I found out I was pregnant, you wanted to get married. I couldn't get the nagging feeling that we shouldn't. I'm so glad we didn't."

"Me neither. Pansy is the most amazing witch I have ever met." he said fondly.

"You were telling me that you wanted to introduce a girl to Harry and me a couple of days ago. Perhaps, it was Pansy too."

"Yeah, I bet it was. Did Draco ever find out?"

Hermione sighed. "No.
He became engaged to Astoria Greengrass when I was six months and married seven months later. I didn't want to ruin his marriage."

There was a distinct crack of apparition coming from downstairs.

"I think you're in for a surprise, Mione."