Thank you guys for putting up with me! It turns out that if I want to pass my classes, I have to actually pay attention. I know it's been forever. I'm hoping to get the next few chapters written up quickly and posted together. Thanks for your patience and your reviews. Hearing from you guys really motivates me to keep going!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns most of the characters and back-stories. If you don't recognize it from the Harry Potter books or anything else Rowling has published, then it belongs to me!

Chapter 10

"1-2-3-4-5…" Cham twirled and twirled to the music. "8-9-10-11-12-13-Shoot!" She stumbled out of that final turn, caught off balance. Frustrated, she stomped her foot and groaned. A small chuckle brought her attention to the studio door, where her mom leaned against the frame, a smile on her face.

"You get too confident and your technique suffers. It works better if you don't count as you turn. Instead video record yourself and then go back to watch." Cham sighed and flicked her ponytail. "If your hair was up, it wouldn't knock you off balance either."

Cham rolled her eyes. "Mum, my character has to dance with her hair down. I play a doll, with ringlets and everything. My teacher seems to think that since I'm not on point, I can do more forte turns than the rest of the girls who are all struggling to stay up. It's like hello, I've got it a little easier, but that doesn't make me amazing! She expects me to get to 20!"

Her mum just laughed. "You know she demands only what she knows you can do. And point is still a no. You can't guilt-trip me out of it. I don't care that the rest of the class is doing it. They're older than you. Physically, you could do damage to yourself, to your feet. You will wait until you're 12 like I did."

Cham huffed and wrapped her hair into a bun. "Did you come up here just to torment me?"

"As much as I enjoy that mother's right, I was looking for your audience." She walked over to the black owl perched on a bar in the front of the room. It was then that Cham noticed the letter in her hands. She watched her mother attach it to her dear Midnight, before sending him to the window and watching him fly off.

She crossed her arms. "You've been using Midnight a lot lately. The poor dear is bound to be exhausted."

Her mother rolled her eyes as she headed to the door. "His name is not Midnight, it's Zyon. He is not our owl so I would really appreciate it if you'd stop 'borrowing' him. And how often I converse with Mister Malfoy is really none of your concern." The door shut behind her.

Cham huffed as she hit record on the video remote and began to spin. Her mum had been writing Mister Malfoy a lot since he stopped by that one night a month ago. She and Cae were grounded for two weeks after the Weasley dinner when they took Mum's phone. As boring as it was without the electronics and friends to help pass the time, it did give her time to watch her mum, to figure out who the guy was that visited. She figured out pretty quickly how to owl Tori and Teddy without her mum finding out. They were more than willing to help her out, after she got Mel to tell her his name. There was something suspicious about the whole thing. Midnight was a daily visitor, sometimes even twice a day. Little Cham may only be nine, but that was old enough to know that no one had that much to say about fundraising. She wanted to know what else they had to talk about.

Mya sat back, slamming the bank book closed. With all the bad luck they'd been having at the club, money was running tight. If they didn't find some way to bring in a burst of money soon, they'd be running the club right into the ground. They had been doing so well. She just didn't understand what went so wrong. Her headache was interrupted by a knocking on her door. "Come in." Cham peaked inside, timidly. Mya smiled at the little girl, encouraging her to come in the rest of the way.

The little blonde opened the door revealing Zyon on her arm, the letter still attached. Mya jumped out of the chair and rushed over, fumbling as she untied the letter. "Are you ok, Mum? It's just a letter."

Mya smiled and kissed Cham on the top of her curls. "That is none of your business. Now get Zyon some treats. I'm sure he's very tired and I won't need him for a while." Cham nodded, looking at her suspiciously as she ushered the girl from the room. Once the door was closed, she took a deep breath and then rushed back to her desk to open the letter.

Granger,

Before I forget, the Board wants a meeting to discuss these fundraiser events. I guess the ads worked wonderfully. Your friend Jay is truly a genius.

While at work this morning, I met a little girl that you would love. She spent my whole visit with her nose buried in Hogwarts, A History. When I left, a nurse had just lent her a biography on Potter and the War. I'm sure it'll be finished by tomorrow. I was wondering if you have any suggestions of books I could lend her. She's pretty sick and will be at Mungo's for a while. I would hate for her to get bored.

Speaking of little kids, I know the twins have a birthday coming up. What do you guys normally do? I know the Weasley's are always talking about big birthday celebrations, but they were never very exciting in the Malfoy house, just big presents and parties for the adults, not as ideal for a ten year old. Is it different in the muggle world?

~DM

She couldn't help but smile. Although they'd been writing back and forth a lot, the letters were still a little awkward. It reminded her of their school years. They talked about planning the fundraisers, and she answered any questions about the twins. They had been grounded for two weeks and she couldn't help but complain about all the mischievous things they did. They reminded her of him and she finally got to blame him for those traits. She could tell how he soaked up the information, but they hadn't discussed him meeting the kids yet. Baby steps.

She picked up a quill and began scribbling a reply.

"Hermione, dear, I insist you eat more. You're far too skinny and you've barely touched the food." Molly Weasley shoved an overflowing plate into Hermione's hands. She laughed and set it down on the table next to her.

"Please, Mrs. Weasley. I'm on a diet for work and if I eat any of that, I won't be able to enjoy that delicious birthday cake you made. You know how much I love your baking!" The older woman scoffed at the idea of dieting but her cheeks tinged pink from the compliment. Hannah Longbottom, formerly Abbott, laughed and patted her growing belly.

"Why on earth would anyone make you diet? You're barely half my size! They can just take your picture standing next to me and the bigger I get, the tinier you will look."

Neville wrapped his arm around his wife sitting on the arm of his chair and kissed her belly. "Sweetie, you can't compare. Your belly is only growing because of the baby inside. I think you're beautiful just the way you are." She smiled down at him. "Besides, in four months the baby will be born and you can get your figure back." That comment earned him a slap on the head and caused the whole room to break out into laughter.

It was an abnormally large gathering at the Burrow to celebrate Harry's birthday. There were friends from school: Hannah, Neville and their two kids, Luna, her husband Rolf and their twin boys, Dean and his girlfriend Sydney, Seamus, Parvati and her fiancé Patrick, Lee Jordan with his wife Shanae and their three kids. There were Hogwarts teachers, including a visit from the Headmistress, and plenty of co-workers. Hermione was starting to think the entire Ministry showed up. The adults cluttered around the living room and dining room while the children ran circles outside.

Harry slip in next to Hermione and threw his arm around her shoulders. "What's with the goofy grin? You know Molly will just keep coming back until you eat more."

She laughed. "It's just so nice to be around real adults. I love my job, but I'm surrounded by performers. We basically play pretend for a living so maturity is not required. When I'm not working, I'm with the kids. This is such a nice break! And she can push all she wants but I've got a shoot next week, a performance in two weeks, and if I gain an ounce, all hell will break loose. The small piece of cake I insist on eating will add an extra half hour in the gym already. I don't have time for anymore."

Gin let out a snort. "And here I thought modeling was easy." The group chuckled as Hermione chucked a pillow at her head. "Sorry! What shoot do you have? Will we see your face plastering the streets?"

Hermione shook her head. "Only if you're wandering the muggle side of London. I'm in a contract with J'adore, an expensive, very exclusive lingerie line, very designer and high class. Which is why every ounce matters. They expect perfection because they don't believe in editing photos. If anything's out of place, you're fired. And I need the money too bad to risk that."

Ron's face was bright red as he struggled not to choke on his drink. "You model underwear? Like you stand around in no clothes while some guy takes pictures of you? And then the whole world sees these pictures? Sees you naked?"

Lavender smacked her husband over the head, while some of the guys shifted uncomfortably, and Hermione just laughed. "No Ronald, I'm not naked! I'm in the underwear! And next week is more lingerie, like teddies, baby dolls, things to sleep in or get torn off. Most of its sheer but at least it covers more. Does that make you feel any better?"

He just shook his head and stuttered. "Eh… no, not really…."

Fred and George saw their moment and jumped in, each hitting Ron on the back. "Come on Ron, you shared a tent with the girl."

"Are you really going to tell us you've never seen her in her underwear?"

"I find that hard to believe."

Ron choked on his drink and emphatically shook his head no.

"Well I don't know about you.."

"But I think we should take a trip to muggle London sometime soon."

"I don't think I'll be available for at least another week."

"Sounds like we're going to have to deal with seeing Granger naked."

"Damn."

By this point Ron was beat red and even Harry was getting uncomfortable. Ginny just rolled her eyes as the laughter died down. "Boys can be so dramatic. We just can't take them anywhere, can we?" Hermione just grinned and winked at Ron, causing another coughing fit. "Now what about this performance? Will we finally get to see you dance?"

"Oh it's not that big a deal. It's a ballroom invitational. Technically, it's a competition with prize money and a trophy, but it's styled as a show for some fancy pants, part of the entertainment for this CEO conference thing. Unfortunately, it's only open to the conference attendees and their families. The kids are counted as my beauty assistants or else they wouldn't even be allowed to attend."

"Wow," Parvati gushed. "That sounds so fancy!"

Hermione shrugged. "Mostly just a hassle. I know the judges and they could care less about technique. As long as you look good in the costume and don't fall on your face, you get the points. Any jiggle of fat and you're out. So much hassle, but it's money."

Harry squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure you'll look amazing. And when you bring home the trophy, we'll have a big cake to celebrate!"

The group's chatter was interrupted by two little blonde heads tearing into the room. Lorcan and Lysander, Luna's two-year-old twin boys, ran straight to their mom. "Mummy! Mummy! Help!" Teddy appeared in the doorway right behind them, his normally teal hair brown with worry. "Aunt Hermione, its Cham! She fell, hit her head. I think she twisted her foot, too."

In a flash, the room cleared. Cham was laying on the ground near Mrs. Weasley's garden, surrounded by kids, her head in her brother's lap. Hermione fell to the ground beside her kids while the rest were cleared away by the other adults.

"Cham, look at me." The little blonde slowly opened one glazed over blue eye and whimpered. Hermione gently brushed her hair out of her face soothingly. "Shh, there, there sweetie. It's ok." She directed her attention to her son, while reaching down to check the ankle Cham was clutching. "Cae, what happened?"

The boy took a breath. "Cham and Tori were dancing around. Cham though the big rocks made great set pieces. She hopped off that big one into some forte turns. I don't know what happened. She was fine one second and the next she was down. There was this popping noise, sounded like her ankle snapped something terrible and she hit her head on this rock right here. I'm pretty sure she was unconscious for at least a minute."

Finishing a motherly check, she gave a small reassuring smile to Cae. "It's ok. You kids are pretty sturdy. We'll take her to St. Mungo's to get fixed up." Harry crouched down next to her, scooping the little girl up into his arms. He followed Hermione and Cae back inside the house toward the fireplace. Cae watched his mom, confused, as she grabbed a handful of powder and ushered him into the fireplace.

"Um… Mum?" Why are we in a fireplace? And what's St. Mungo's?"

She smiled down at him as Harry stooped and squished in, but offered no explanation. Instead she threw down the powder, saying "St. Mungo's lobby," and they disappeared into the fire.

Cae would have fallen over if he hadn't latched onto his mum when they first took off. She guided him out of the fireplace before peeling him off her waist. He peeked one eye open to see they were standing in what looked to be a hospital lobby. There were fireplaces lining the walls, one of which they had just stepped out of. There were people everywhere, running around in robes of all kinds. He couldn't help but stare at some of the strangest injuries he'd ever seen. One boy was covered in glittery, purple boils that kept popping, releasing sparkly confetti. He sheepishly ducked his head as his mother scolded him, but the smile kept creeping up on his face. Another woman ran screaming by, yelling for a doctor to help the two halves of her daughter, who was split directly down the middle. She hopped past and one half smiled at Cae before moving on. In the corner by the front desk crouched a man, tinged green and croaking like a frog. The frog on the counter was standing like a man, wearing mini robes and explaining to a nurse what happened in a strong Cockney accent. Next to them a woman wailed hysterically, scolding the boy grinning next to her. "Just look what you've done to your father!"

Hermione grabbed Cae's hand with a worried smile. "Keep up, sweetie. We're going to see the doctor now." He nodded and followed her, his mouth hanging open while he continued to take in his surroundings. They followed Harry into a lift that closed and rose two floors. When they got off, they were in the children's wing. The nurses wore brightly colored scrubs and on the walls, painted animals and people ran around. After greeting the nurse at the front desk, they followed a cuddly painted koala down the hallway into a small examination room. The koala waved to them making Cham giggle, and assured them that the doctor would be right in. The walls of the room were each painted a different color and had a giant painting of a circus on one wall. Harry laid Cham down on the bed and took a seat in the window, giving Hermione the chair by the bed. Cham and Cae stared in awe at the juggling clowns at the circus when there was a knock at the door and in walked Draco Malfoy.

"So what have we got here?" He looked up from the chart and gave a small start of surprise at the room's occupants. Cham gave a glazy smile of recognition and help out her hand.

"Hey I know you! You've been owling Mum about the fundraiser, Mister Malfoy. I'm Cham." He smiled and shook her hand. "I fell over my ankle and bumped my head on a rock." She pointed to show him. "My ankle hurts really bad and so does my head. My brother Cae tried to help, and Uncle Harry carried me here. The pretty little koala was very nice to us, showed us here and the clowns were making me giggle."

He glanced over at the worried expressions on Harry and Hermione's faces before smiling at the girl. "Nice to meet you, Cham. Here I go by Dr. Malfoy. I hear you're quite a fan of my owl Zyon."

Cae tugged on his arm. He was standing opposite his mum at the head of his sister's bed. "Is my sister going to be ok?" I think she's a little numb to the pain and she's talking funny, but her head really hurts. I can feel it."

Dr. Malfoy reached over and checked her head right away, feeling for bumps and checking her eyes, etc. "Cae, I will do everything I can to make sure your sister is ok. But I need you to answer a couple of questions for me. Can you do that?" The boy nodded. "How big was the rock that she hit her head on?" He help out his hands about a foot and a half and showed that it came up to his knees. Hermione chimed in.

"It was a small boulder decorating Mrs. Weasley's garden"

Malfoy nodded. "Did she fall backwards?"

Cae shrugged. "She was mid turn, but I think she hit the side of her head, towards the back. Like there." He pointed to a spot on her right side and Malfoy carefully felt around the area. Cham winced and the doctor frowned, moving around the bed to get a better look.

"Was she unconscious at any moment between falling and now?"

Cae nodded his head. "She was out for at least a minute right after she fell, but she woke up by the time Mum got to us."

Harry chimed in. "She was going in and out on the way here. I did my best to keep her awake, talking to her and the koala and clowns helped."

Malfoy nodded. "It appears to be a concussion. I'd like to get some scans down to clarity just how serious it is. As we go through everything, I need you to keep her awake." Hermione nodded worriedly. "I can tell her left ankle is sprained." He reached down and ran a hand over the swollen ankle. "Yes, nothing is broken, just badly sprained. There is not a lot we can do for that besides wrapping it up and letting it heal. She'll need crutches and to keep it elevated at all times. It should heal in the next two weeks to a month."

Cham cried out. "No! My dancing! I have to dance." Hermione stood up, soothing the distraught girl. Slowly she quieted down and just looked at the doctor through teary eyes. His heart yearned to comfort her, his poor little girl, but he couldn't so he quickly looked away, muttered something about the scans and made a quick retreat. Hermione watched him go, the sight of his struggle etched in her mind. Sniffling brought her attention back to her tearful daughter. "Mummy?" She looked down into shining blue eyes. "Am I gonna be alright?"

She smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course darling. Dr. Malfoy is going to take perfect care of you. You'll be better in no time."

After a few hours of having nurses poke and prode Cham, pointing wands and waving them around, she was finally wrapped up and free to go. Hermione had sent Cham back to the party with Harry after the doctors first visit, assuring the boy that his sister would be just fine. She slip the medication, instructions, and other things they'd acquired into a bag and helped Cham crutch her way out of the room. They passed Malfoy near the lift and the little girl smiled tiredly.

"Thank you, Dr. Malfoy. You were really helpful."

He gave her shoulder a small pat. "Of course! You were a very good patient. I look forward to seeing you at our next appointment. I'm positive you'll be better in no time."

The painted koala joined in on the conversation, causing Cham to giggle. Taking advantage of her distraction, Hermione gave me a smile. "Thank you so much. I know this was a bit of a shock and I'm sorry, but it means a lot. You're so good with her."

Malfoy nodded and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "Well it's not how I imagined it, but she's delightful. I guess we can't really plan anything in this…. yeah." The lift arrived and Hermione caught Cham's attention, bringing her back over. Thanking him once again, she said her goodbyes and ushered Cham into the lift. The little girl turned around quickly, a twinkle of an idea brilliant in her eyes. "Mum, can Dr. Malfoy come to my birthday party?"

Hermione faltered, scrambling to cover her surprise. "He's a very busy doctor. I'm not sure he'd be able to come. Do you really want to invite him?"

"I'm gonna show him how fast I can get better! Please! Dr. Malfoy! Promise you'll come!"

He laughed in surprise, joy trickling through his body. Meeting Hermione's wide eyes, he silently asked her permission. She unperceptively shrugged and his face broke out into a brilliant grin. "If I don't have to work, I promise I'll be there." The lift doors closed before Cham could argue, and he was left standing there, grinning stupidly. She wanted him at her birthday. Sure, she didn't know who he really was, but that was the kind of girl she was. He couldn't help but laugh. Nothing could wreck his mood now.

Hermione and Cham returned to the Burrow to see the party still going. It had been reduced to family and close friends, most just waiting to see the injured little girl. They walked out of the fire to cheers, which made Cham stop and giggle. Tori ran over followed by Teddy and Cae. "You're alive! Never leave me alone with these boys again!"

"Woah crutches! Can we play with them?"

"So did they find the brain damage on the tests?"

Cham laughed and crutched off. Hermione returned to the adults, answering questions and assuring them everything was well. Once Molly was convinced they were ok, she declared it time for more cake! The room quieted down as everyone sprawled across the living room, eating birthday cake and ice cream. Ginny sat on the arm of the birthday boy's seat and called over to Cham, who was lying on her stomach with her injured foot up in the air.

"So I hear you were taken care of by Dr. Malfoy." The girl perked up, nodding enthusiastically. "How did you like him? I hope he took good care of you."

Cham swallowed her big bite of ice cream and rocked up onto her knees. "He was really nice and funny. He stayed with me the whole time, even when Mum couldn't. I know he and Mum are friends, so I made him promise to come to our birthday party!"

Cae popped up from his spot in front of the fireplace. "No way! He was cool. Did you know that the koala follows him around because he saved him? He like went to Australia and brought him all the way back and stuff. I gotta find some books explaining how he did it."

Many of the adults stiffened at the idea of Malfoy coming to the party, but the kids were oblivious. Ginny smiled tightly and muttered a "That's nice, dear." As soon as they finished their dessert, the kids were all ushered back outside to play in the warm summer night and attention turned back to Hermione.

"So…." Harry looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "I guess I missed something."

Hermione slumped sheepishly. "It was a bit of a surprise. We were getting in the lift and she just blurted it out. He looked at me for an answer and I was just so shocked that I kinda shrugged. He told her he'd come if he didn't have to work."

"So how do you feel about him coming?" Ginny looked across the room at Hermione, concern etched clearly on her face.

Hermione shrugged. "Honestly I'm not sure. We've been writing some back and forth, mostly about the fundraisers, but a little bit about the kids as well. It's been kind of nice. And he was so good today, so sweet with the kids. I could see how much of a struggle it was for him. He just looked so happy when she asked. How could I take that away? But we've yet to be in the same room for very long without arguing. Today doesn't count because he was so back and forth. I don't want to disrupt the party with some big fight."

Ron cut in. "So tell him not to come! Nobody wants that ferret here. We live just fine in our own separate worlds."

Lavender smacked him over the head. "You hush your mouth! He is the twins' father. If they want him in their lives, then he gets to be around. If he wants to come to his children's birthday, then you will be supportive of 'Mione and play nice!" Ron glowered, but shut up.

Neville patted Hermione's shoulder. "We'll be here for you no matter what. If that means dealing with Malfoy, then so be it. We're all adults now and can act like it. However, if that means burning down his house because he's hurt our little Cham and Cae, or our 'Mione, than all the better."

Hermione smiled at her friends. She couldn't imagine not having them back in her life. Now she just had to figure out how to deal with Malfoy.

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