Chapter 14

Hermione didn't end up going back to work that day. There was something about being with Scorpius and Draco that made the hours seem like moments as they rushed by, to the extent that it was only when Scorpius said he as hungry that she realized just how late it had become. And by then, there really was no point in going back in anyways.

She was rather lucky that she had no more patients to visit, or it might have just been a problem. Instead, she was on research time that she was meant to spend searching for ways to try and get the 'highlighting memory spell' to work.

She had owled her supervisor after, when she realized the time, but she had gotten back a simple reply telling her to enjoy some time off, and that it was more than fine.

So she had spent the rest with her apparent future family, enjoying the time she had with her son and friend. However she had insisted on staying on the ground while the two of them went flying. While it had been slightly worrying to watch her son that high in the air, she had to admit that Draco had taken several precautions to ensure that he was safe, as he said he had.

Thus as Hermione was on rounds extra early the next day to make up for her absence, she couldn't bring herself to regret the fun she had had yesterday despite the early hours she now felt obliged to put in. While it wasn't mandatory for her to have come in so early, she felt the need to make up for it.

She held the charts in her hands as she checked on a few of her long term patients, including the Longbottoms, making sure that they were all still doing alright.

While the Longbottoms hadn't been her case initially, the Healer in charge had retired shortly after the war, and had in doing so, distributed his cases over the other healers in the ward. Most of the long term memory patients were not as in high of a demand as those while "healable" cases, due to the fact that there wasn't all that much you could do for them. It was hard to see them each day, and it had a way of weighing own her soul due to the effects of the curse on them.

In a different world, it could also be Hermione in with them had Bellatrix managed to torture her for as long as they did Neville's parents.

And while memory selection was her current focus of study, she had hoped that one she had done so, she would go on to try and reverse the effects of the curse. While it wasn't their memories that had been addled as much as their mental state, there was a connection in the parts of the brain involved, meaning that she could quite possibly try and help them, and other similar cases if given the chance.

At least then one more of her friends could have a relationship with their parents. She knew that the same could not be said for Harry, which was probably why the two of them were so close.

She loved her parents more than anything, but they had never quite understood her. They had been extremely proud of her for getting into Hogwarts, and impressed by the fact that she could do magic. But the older she got, the more they had tried to pressure her into going to Muggle University and obtaining a worthy prestigious career. They had come to their own conclusions that the whole magic thing was temporary and that she would eventually make way back, despite her telling them on multiple cases that magic was a part of her.

It had made school all that much harder. She didn't belong in the muggle world because of her magic, but there had been times while at school that she had felt as if she didn't quite belong there either, especially with half the school against her simply because of her blood status.

The tension between her parents didn't quite help when she told them about the war and what it had meant for her. They took it as a sign that it was time for her to leave that world behind and come back to the one that she had hailed from.

They didn't see that she had to stay; that it had to be her that helped Harry, because despite their age, they were the only ones that could, and did bring down Voldemort and his army. And when push came to shove, she was forced to obliviate them to keep them safe as she sent them off from Australia without the knowledge that they had ever even had a daughter.

So when Hermione and Harry managed to track down her parents and restore their memories, they were definitely less than pleased. They thought she overstated her role in the war and they were furious she even stayed due to what it meant for her safety. They had given her an ultimatum right there and then: either leave the world entirely and come back to where she belonged, get a respectable career, and marry a nice muggle man, or to choose being a witch, and losing her family.

She had been at a loss for words when they had said it to her face. Harry had stepped in then, and tried to convince them that they were making a mistake, but they had told him to stay out of it, and that he had nothing to do with this at all, and there was no way he could come close to understanding the situation due to his lack of family. She had snapped at them at that, telling them that Harry was like a brother to her, and that they had no right to talk to them like that. And that they had no right to demand she made a choice about while world she wanted to live in. The muggle world was just as much a part of her as her magic, and she couldn't simply just pick one. So if they didn't respect that, then they had lost their daughter anyways.

It had been over two and a half years since she had talked to her parents, and it hurt sometimes to know she would never have the relationship the Weasleys had, simply because of her parents' stubbornness to accept who she was

Hermione blinked as she tried to push the thoughts out of her mind. They had plagued her sleep enough for her not to think about it when she didn't have to.

She flipped the last chart to the top of her pile as she went in to see the last person on her list of rounds: Oliver Wood. She hadn't seen him since she healed him the day before, so as she pushed open his room, and saw him sitting up, looking over a few papers as he glanced up at her.

"Morning," he said with a smile, "You're definitely a nice sight for sore eyes."

She grinned at that, "How are you feeling today?" she asked him as she walked over to examine him. There were no more signs of injuries, despite a few lingering angry bruises that covered his skin.

"Better," he admitted, "It still hurts slightly, but hey, I'm alive right?"

She walked over to a locked cabinet and pulled out some pain relieving potion before handing him a small serving of it to help.

"So if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you end up here?" she asked as she took the vial back from him, before vanishing it with her wand.

"A stray quaffle knocked be off my broom," he admitted sheepishly. "The beaters weren't properly paying attention and didn't see me until it was too late."

She winced, "Sounds painful. You're lucky that your injuries weren't more serious after a blow and a fall like that."

He nodded, "I know. But I have a feeling that even if they were worse, you would have been just as able to heal me as now. In fact considering those injuries, I feel pretty good."

"I'm glad," Hermione said. "I think we might just be able to discharge you in a few hours after we run a few more tests to make sure that everything is fine."

"Does that mean I won't be seeing you after this?" he asked, and she couldn't help but note that he seemed slightly disappointed by that fact.

"Hopefully not as a patient for a while," she said in a mocking stern tone.

"What would you say about seeing me in other capacities?" he asked her softly.

Her eyes widened at that, "What do you mean?" she asked him, despite having a good idea where he was probably going with it.

"Will you go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked her, sitting up a bit more. "I would really love to get to know more of you."

The first thing her mind when he asked, was flash to Draco, and what he would think about all of this. She supposed that it was natural, given their complicated nature of relationship at the current moment. But they had talked about it, and decided that they were better off as just friends, so he really shouldn't have a problem with it.

Then there was the added incident of Scorpius. If she did go on a date with Oliver, and it turned into something serious, he would eventually find out about her son and the incidents that lead to him coming back to the past. Would he really be okay with the fact that in some timeline she and Draco got married and had one son, with another child on the way?

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind; she was being ridiculous. He had simply asked her out on a date; he wasn't exactly proposing to her. There was no point worrying about such matters at this time anyways. Maybe she and Oliver would work out, and maybe they wouldn't. But that shouldn't mean she should stop herself from a chance at happiness.

He seemed to sense her hesitancy before saying, "Or not, if you're not comfortable with it."

She shook her head, "I would love to go to dinner with you, Oliver" she smiled.

He grinned at that, "Pick you up at 7, then?" he asked.

"Sounds good," she replied. "I'm working a later shift tomorrow, so I'll get off around then, so you can pick me up here."

"Brilliant," he said softly. "See you then. Now I'll let you get back to your job, since I'm sure you have more pressing matters to attend to."

She gave him a last smile before leaving the room, with butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't been on any dates since she and Ron had split up, and even with him, they had kind of rushed into it. They already knew each other, so the only awkwardness from their first date stemmed more from the transition from friends to something more, over the whole "getting to know you" type awkwardness.

She sighed slightly as her focus returned to the work in front of her; she still had several hours of work left to do before she could go home, and wasting it worrying would do no one any good.

When Draco returned home from work that day, he hadn't expected to see Hugo sitting by himself in one room while Scorpius and James were happily playing outside.

It had been a long day, between the distasteful looks his way that had started all over again after the explosion, and the cases he had been assigned taking dead end turns. So after all of it, all he wanted to do was drink a cup of earl grey tea, and settle down and get some rest.

There was something unnerving about seeing Hugo sit there alone however. While Draco was building a relationship with his own son, he hadn't done much bonding with the other two boys, other than in a group capacity.

So he wasn't all that sure if he should go over there and talk to the six year old, or if he should simply leave him be. After all, would the child even want to talk to him?

In the end it was the need to go talk to the boy that got the better than him. Sighing slightly, he walked over to the couch where Hugo was sitting and sat down beside him.

"Hi Hugo," he said, slightly awkwardly, unsure of how to start the conversation with him.

"Hi Uncle Draco," the boy said, trying to hide the glumness in his voice.

"Is everything okay?" Draco asked. "Why aren't you playing with Scorpius and James?"

"I just wanted to be by myself for a little bit," Hugo answered honestly.

"I know the feeling," Draco replied. "There are some days when I just want to be by myself. If you want, I can leave, but I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me if you want. I don't really know what kind of relationship we had in your time, but things here are different. So if you ever find that you want someone to lend an ear, I'm here for you."

Hugo looked deep in thought for a few moments, "Promise you won't tell my parents?"

"As long as it's not serious, you have my word," Draco said, not wanting to make a promise to the boy if he wouldn't be able to keep it.

"It's just, everything is different here, you know?" Hugo said with a deep sigh. "Like you and Aunt Mione aren't even together."

"I know," Draco said gently, wondering slightly where he was going with this.

"I'm not really sure what I expected," Hugo admitted. "It was really weird seeing my dad at first, especially since he's been gone for so long. But seeing him here, it's different. He's might be the person who eventually became my dad, but he's not really my dad. He's not the same. Just like my mum is not the same either. And I can't tell them that, because it would hurt them."

Draco was silent for a few moments as he took it in, wondering slightly if Scorpius felt the same way, or if he was too young still to make any sort of similar connections.

"I know it must be hard for you," Draco responded, "I never had a close relationship with my parents, but if I had, it would be hard for me as well. But I want you to know something, Hugo. Yes, it's strange for all of us to unexpectedly become parents, but we do love all of you. I can't promise you that things will ever become as you're used to, but think of this as your second chance with your family. Things will be different this time, hopefully for the better, and no matter what, your parents will always fight for you."

Hugo smiled at that, "I know," he said, before giving Draco a hug. "Thank you for letting me talk to you. I really needed that."

Draco hugged the boy back slightly before releasing him, "Now I think Scorp and James miss playing with you. How about you go play with them for a bit before dinner?"

Hugo jumped up before running outside to go play. He smiled as he stood and walked to the window as he saw the boys playing on the other side of the glass. Despite everything they had gone through in their own time, they were still so young and innocent from all of it.

He hoped that they would be able to protect the children from any more pain, because they didn't deserve to have to live through the events twice.

He hoped for their sake that they would be able to stop the events from repeating themselves, and giving them some sort of normal childhood, all things aside.

He stepped away from the window as he walked over to the kitchen to prepare some tea for himself. As he walked into the room, he saw Ginny sitting there, reading a book as she sipped some of her own drink.

When she heard him enter, she placed her book down on the table and glanced up at him, "That was a very nice thing you did for Hugo," she said softly.

"You heard that?" he asked in surprise.

She nodded. "Malfoy, I'm going to be honest with you. When I heard you were my husband's partner, I wasn't all that pleased. But you've changed a lot since school. You're a good man, Draco."

He was silent, unsure of how exactly to respond to her statement.

"I also think you'd be good for Hermione, if the two of you started dating," she said, giving him a pointed look.

"We won't," he said turning his back so she couldn't see his expression. "We already decided."

"And you don't think it's possible to change your mind?" she asked him softly.

"No," he said. Because he hadn't considered changing his mind. Sure, he liked Hermione enough, but he still didn't see himself with her, did he?

She was about to respond to him, probably to say something in an all knowing voice, but the floo sounded, cutting them off. He looked up to see Harry enter the room, with grim look on his face as he spoke to them.

"There's been a break-in."

A/N: Thank you so much for the continuing support! Hearing back from you guys always encourages me to keep writing! Also, I love hearing all your theories, and thoughts on where you think the story will go and what you think of current events. So until next time, readers!