Life After the War
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: And here comes chapter three! Sorry it's kind of late! I've been at Virginia Beach the past weekend, and had no time to update or type! By the way: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!
x.o.x.o.x.
Hermione tries to take a deep breath to calm herself. "Annie-girl, could you please go find Grandmother and tell her that I sent you to her so that you could play together?"
"Okay, Mummy!" Anne cheerfully answers, not sensing anything wrong. She bounces out of the room, no doubt in order to follow her mother's orders.
Once she is sure that her youngest daughter is out of earshot, Hermione turns to face her betraying husband, her brown eyes alight with a furious fire as they look into his calm, even slightly amused grey gaze. This just fuels her anger. "Don't stand there amused, you insolent git! Tell me who that bitch was before I take the children and go."
Hearing this last threat, Draco's emotionless façade drops. "You have no right to take my children away from me."
"I do, in fact. I'm their mother. I gave birth to five children. They are my angels. And I don't want them growing up thinking their father is a heartless, cheating man who has no care for them. Abraxas is old enough to understand, you know. So are you going to tell me or not?"
"I am their father. I have just as much right to them as you do. And no, I told you I wasn't going to!" Draco replies.
"Did you go through the grueling experience of pain? NO! And you won't? Well, I'll give you the rest of the day to mull that over. I'm going over to Gin and Harry's. Take care of the kids, not of your bitch," Hermione spits, and before her husband could argue, she turns on the spot, Apparating with a loud, almost angry-sounding crack.
"Why won't she listen?" Draco yells angrily, punching the wall.
x.o.x.o.x.
Hermione appears with a crack in front of the Potters' Godric's Hollow home. She studies the cottage and is ashamed to find a pang of envy prodding at her gut. Taking a deep breath, she strides forward and enters the cottage. Immediately, she is hit by three children, smothering her in hugs.
Hermione laughs, and feels a burden lifting off her shoulders. "Hello James. Hi there, Al. Hey, Lil! How are the three of you?"
"Hi Aunt Hermione!" James says, backing away quickly, but still grinning at Hermione warmly. Ever since turning ten, he refused to show any physical attraction to girls, even his aunt.
Hermione grins back. "Are you excited for your upcoming birthday, Jamie?"
James's nose crinkles at the nickname. "Don't call me Jamie, please," he says. "Yes! I can't wait to get my Hogwarts letter!"
"I remember how thrilling it was to receive it. What House do you want to be in, James?"
James doesn't hesitate at all. "Gryffindor!"
It was, of course, no surprise. The adults closest to him and that he looked up to had all been in Gryffindor… except Draco. His parents, his grandparents, his uncles, Hermione…
"But Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. And Hufflepuff doesn't sound like the boring, lame House everyone makes it out to be. I think that loyalty is a very valuable trait," James says wisely.
Hermione's eyebrows shoot to her hairline. "Since when did you receive the blessing of Athena, James?" she teases, referring to the Greek Goddess of Wisdom.
Of course, James had no idea what she was talking about, but says, "Slytherin would be okay too, I guess. Since Uncle Draco was in it. What do you think Abe will be in?"
Hermione laughs. "Of course, I hope he's in Gryffindor, the House I was placed in, or Ravenclaw, the other House the Sorting Hat debated for me. But he's so like his father" – her heart clenches at the mention of her husband – "and grandfather, I suspect he'll be put in Slytherin."
Tired of the Hogwarts talk, since he wouldn't be able to go for a few years, Albus tugs at Hermione's hand. "We played Quidditch this morning! I got hurt!" He proudly holds up his elbow, which showed evidence of being healed by magic.
"Really? How are you feeling now, Al?" Hermione asks, concerned.
"Much better! Dad gave me a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to cheer me up!" Albus cheerily replies.
"Did he?" Hermione chuckles. Sounds just like Harry to do that. She turns to Lily. "And what have you been up to today, Lil?"
"Nothing," the little girl pouts. "I want to hear about my grandma and grandpa, though. Daddy promised he'd tell me."
Did he? But Harry knows just a bit more than his daughter about Lily and James Potter the Firsts. "That sounds amazing, Lil! Can you tell me where Mummy is?"
"Out back with Daddy," Lily says, sounding proud that she could deliver the news unscathed.
"Come, I want to see them," Hermione says, offering her hands to the two youngest Potter kids.
James trails behind them as they exit the back door of the cottage.
Ginny glances up from the Witch Weekly in her lap. "What took you so long- Mione!" she cries, jumping up and causing the Witch Weekly to fall onto the grass. Like a whirlwind, she is on Hermione, hugging her tightly.
Hermione smiles over her shoulder at Harry, who is watching in amusement. "Can't breathe, Gin," she gasps.
Ginny relinquishes her hold. "Are you okay, Mione?"
That was just the question. Was she okay? Her life wasn't bad; in fact it was downright wonderful. She had five gorgeous children, a loving husband (up until that morning, of course), and a steady, stable job. She was set for life in terms of money. Even if she and Draco divorced (which she just couldn't envision happening), she would be sure to get at least joint custody of her kids, and that would ensure that the Malfoy fortune would be half hers until Abraxas was seventeen. She knew she wouldn't depend on the Malfoy family's money unless it included her kids starving, and she wasn't depending on it now. But money cannot buy happiness. It can buy strength from food and water, but not happiness. Her Abraxas, Faye, Catharine, David, and Anne were the very essence of her existence. So yes, she was happy. But that morning, she had walked in on her husband's potential affair. So no, she was not happy. But was she okay?
Seeing the mental war going on in his friend's eyes, Harry pulls James, Albus, and Lily to the side before approaching the two women.
"Hey, Mione," he greets softly and warmly.
Hermione jerks out of her reverie. She had almost completely forgotten that she was a guest at a home, and she was acting totally out of it. "Hi, Harry. Sorry for my spacing out," she says half-heartedly but sincerely.
Harry shrugs it off. "Don't worry about it. Gin, I'm taking the kids for a walk, okay? We might go to the Burrow." His eyes know. He knew. He knew that Hermione wanted to talk to Ginny alone.
"Harry- I wouldn't reject the idea of you joining us," Hermione says, reaching out a hand to stop her best friend of twenty years.
Harry surveys her eyes, looking into the depths. Finally, he replies, "Are you sure?"
Closing her eyes, the image of her Draco and that woman flash in her conscience. "Very sure."
"Okay. I'll just Floo the kids over to Molly's, okay?"
Hermione nods. Ginny sees her eyes starting to glaze, a sure sign that she was about to drift off into a daze. Hurriedly, she hugs each of her sons and daughter and bestows kisses upon their foreheads. "Be good for Grandma Molly, okay? And say hi to Grandpa Arthur if he's there. Remember your manners," she reels off.
"We'll be fine, Mum," James assures her. "I wonder if Teddy will be there."
"He's with his grandmother out on a day trip today," Harry answers his son. "So no. But your other cousins may be."
"Bye Mummy!" Lily cries as she walks back into the cottage.
Ginny smiles. "Goodbye, my dear Lily-flower."
x.o.x.o.x.
Once the kids and Harry are gone in emerald flames, Ginny orders Hermione to sit at the kitchen table as she brews tea. Half looking at the stove and kettle, Ginny keeps an eye on Hermione, whose brown eyes start to glaze again. But they stop glazing as the kettle shrieks.
Wrapping her hand around the warm mug of tea, Hermione breathes in the scent, trying to calm herself. She couldn't let herself slip away from the conversation. She needed to talk this out.
Harry reappears and his wife serves him tea before sitting down as well. "Now, Hermione, what's wrong?"
Hermione finds the whole tale slipping past her unwilling lips, but once she gets started, it's hard to stop. Seeming to understand, the Potters don't try to interrupt. She goes through saying goodbye before the girls' night, getting Narcissa's owl, taking care of her children, going up to their room, finding Draco and that woman, fighting with Draco, and finally the incident with Anne.
"Anne didn't want to go near her own father because she thought he was scary?" Harry exclaims, outraged. "No child should ever feel that way."
"I agree." Hermione sighs, dropping her head into her hands. "I feel so helpless and lost. Abraxas will be going off to Hogwarts soon, and I want to be the supportive mother I couldn't have since she was a Muggle and unknowing of our world. I can't do that if I'm juggling work, caring for all five children, and trying to keep my weakening guard up. I can't lose my cool. I'm the 'Princess of Gryffindor', one-third of the Golden Trio, married to the 'Slytherin Prince', blah, blah, blah. I'm in the public eye almost as much as you two are. If I lose my cool and am seen crying or looking desolate by the public… let's just say I'd probably endure worse than Rita Skeeter in our fourth year."
Harry blanches at the mention of Rita. "Hermione… have you tried speaking to Draco, instead of yelling? I know you're mad, I would be too, but have you heard his side of the story? I know Draco; I've learned a lot more about him, his background, and his personality since you got together. And I happen to know for a solid fact that he loves you more than life, more than his own life. He would never cheat on you. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this."
Ginny, who had been silently sipping her tea to this point, sets down her mug and looks Hermione squarely in the eye. "Hermione, do you love Draco Malfoy?"
Without a split second of hesitation, Hermione answers, "I do."
"Do you remember your wedding day?"
"Vividly."
"How did you feel that day?"
Hermione pauses. Her mind flashes back to that day, one of the seven best days of her life (receiving her Hogwarts letter, graduating from Hogwarts, and the births of her children were the other six, since Faye and Catharine were born on the same day). "It's hard to explain, but I felt like my heart was going to explode with the love I felt for him."
Ginny nods solemnly. "Do you trust Draco?"
"With all my being."
"So why do you suspect him of cheating?" Ginny asks gently, breaking the intense eye contact.
Hermione sighs, closing her eyes and tilting back in her chair slightly. "I saw them, Gin. I haven't seen him that happy since the day Anne was born," Hermione confesses, her voice hoarse.
Harry now knew that this was absurd. Draco did love Hermione, and he had looked absolutely ecstatic on the day of Anne's birth, his youngest daughter's birth. "I'm going to pay your husband a visit, Hermione Granger-Malfoy."
With that, he kisses his wife on the lips and Hermione on the forehead and disappears with a crack.
Ginny's mind is going into overdrive as her husband disappears and Hermione goes back to being lifeless and in a daze. Something occurred to her.
x.o.x.o.x.
A/N: Done!
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31 July is our queen, Jo, and Harry's birthday! We are going to make them a video to tell them happy birthday, not unlike the 15 Years of Magic video. For details, go to s/8285276/1/Details_for_the_Birthday_Project!
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