Chapter 36
There was rubble all around him, as Marcus heard screaming from the distance. Opening his eyes, he saw smoke and flames, as he realized that the Ministry had been brought down. Did they succeed? Or did their 'leader' fall in battle? Either way, he knew it was safer to disguise himself as he tried to figure out just what was happening in the wizarding world at the moment.
Casting a disillusionment charm over himself, he stood up, brushing the dust off of him. He felt a sharp pain in his arm, and he could tell that it had been broken, at least in two places. As he took his wand in his wand arm, he cast a quick mending charm to fix it.
He could see bodies everywhere, and he smiled softly to himself, knowing that they had caused quite a bit of chaos, regardless of whatever happened.
But his frown quickly vanished as he remembered just what had happened in the moments before he had been knocked out. He had been so close to taking Granger for himself, but then that idiot Zabini came and ruined it. He cursed under his breathe. He had been so close to having her, and everything he had wanted.
It was of no matter though. If they succeeded, then he would ask for Granger to be his subordinate servant. Salazar, what a sight that would be; having her meet his every desire. He grew more and more confident by the moment that they had succeeded. The amount of power the leader possessed was enormous. But it was also nothing that a bit of quick wit wouldn't be able to manipulate.
He didn't want the burden that went with being in control. It meant constantly watching over your shoulder for a chance of rebellion and squashing any attempts before it even happened. Being in control meant that you had to make all the tough decisions.
He wanted the power and he wanted the fame that went with it. But he did not want to be the one to make all the choices. So Marcus Flint was perfectly happy sitting on the sidelines as he manipulated the leader and his followers into doing what he wanted. It was like how Voldemort put another person in as the Minister of Magic, yet he was the one pulling all the strings. There was a certain power behind that, and Marcus felt the desire growing within him to take it.
He moved swiftly to the streets, where he expected to see panic and terror. But unfortunately for him, that was not the case. Remaining members of the Vetusta were being rounded up by Aurors as Healers were on site, helping mend those in far too critical condition to survive the journey to the hospital.
What had happened? Marcus clenched his fists in anger. This was not supposed to happen! They were supposed to succeed, and Marcus was supposed to reign! He would bring down every person who had ever belittled him, and he would have had all the power he had craved!
Yet it all had been taken from him! Where was the justice?
"Did you hear who was behind all of it?" one of the Aurors asked another as he binded the fists of a wizard together. "That wanker Zacharias Smith."
"The one who tried to put his name in for Minister, but no one took it seriously?" another asked in confusion. "That bumbling idiot is the reason the Ministry was burned to the ground? Merlin, I wouldn't want to be him right now."
"Me neither," the first said grimly, "Seeing how he's dead and all. Word is, Malfoy was with the Golden Trio and a handful of Slytherins when they tried to bring him down. The idiot nearly killed Malfoy in the process, who was the only one keeping the both of them alive. And when Malfoy apparated out, Smith died on site. A couple of Aurors dragged his pitiful body out of there earlier."
"Huh," the second one said in surprise. "Malfoy, you say? What was he doing fighting with Potter? I mean I know he's an Auror and all, but I never did buy his innocence before. Maybe I was a tad quick in forming my opinions on him."
The first nodded, "We all were."
Marcus balled his fists in anger. This was just bloody perfect wasn't it? Not only did they apparently fail in what they had set out to achieve, but now that wanker, Malfoy was being hailed as some sort of bleeding hero. It pissed him off so much, and Marcus could only think of one thing. Revenge.
He would get the fame he so desperately desired, even if it meant having to be the one in charge.
With the country still in a state of panic, it would be easy to swoop in and take them when they were already hurting. All he needed to do was come up with a plan brilliant enough to succeed. He turned around, and saw a familiar brunette helping heal several of the victims. Her bushy hair was tied up in a high bun and she had so much dirt covering her face. He couldn't help but smirk at the irony of the mudblood being muddy; it just seemed so perfect.
There was too many people around at the moment to do anything about her, but he knew that with the threat gone, she would soon drop her guard. And that would be exactly when Marcus Flint would strike. He would take everything he deserved and more, starting with her.
But for now, he would sit back in the shadows and plan. Everything would be executed perfectly. It was only really a matter of time; something which clearly Smith never bothered with. Everything had always been so rushed with him. Marcus was smarter than that; which would be the exact reason why he succeeded what his predecessor failed in.
And when he succeeded, everything would be his.
Hermione woke up the next morning feeling extremely well rested. It had been such a long day, and by time she had even made it to bed, she could swear it probably was the early hours of the morning. But despite the fact that her bones ached and she was still sore, she felt blissfully happy.
It probably helped that she had two arms wrapped around her, and she was resting her head on her boyfriend's chest. She looked up and saw his eyes still closed, as he had a peaceful look about him.
"Go back to sleep," Draco murmured softly, and she felt herself cock her head forward so she could brush her lips against his. She was about to pull away, when suddenly, Draco sprang upon her own lips, and captured them with his own. She felt his tongue brush against hers and she let out a small moan as she leaned into him further.
"What was that for?" she asked, feeling breathless when she finally pulled away.
"You didn't think you could kiss me in my sleep and get away with it, did you?" Draco smirked at her, as he held her tightly.
She blushed softly as she stroked his cheek, "I'm glad you're okay," she said softly. "I was so worried when you didn't come out of the building. It made me realize just how important you are to me. You're family, Draco."
His silver eyes softened up hearing that, "I didn't mean to worry you, Granger, honestly. I know it was stupid, especially seeing all we know about the kind of person Smith turned into in the future, but I just couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving him."
"You're a good person, Draco Malfoy," she said, her hand stroking his chest softly. They had fallen asleep in the same bed last night, both of them exhausted after coming home. "It's part of the reason why I love you so much. You care so much about other people; even wankers like Smith."
"I still don't deserve you," he said softly, and then silenced her protests by saying, "No one does. You're a bloody amazing woman, and no one deserves to have you in their life. I'm just the lucky sod you fell for."
"Despite how jealous and broody you could be," she teased him.
"I'm not broody!" he countered back as he poked her rib softly.
"But you admit to being jealous," she remarked, noticing his lack of defense on that point.
"I wasn't exactly all that thrilled about you and Oliver Wood," Draco grumbled, "I still hate the idea of you with him. What made you end it with him exactly?" His fingers traced over her shoulders as she let out an exhale.
"He hated the fact that I was fighting in any of this. He told me I was stupid for fighting a battle I had no place in and that I was really only doing it because I had a hero complex. It didn't help that he had a few choice words to say about my friendship with you," she admitted softly, not meeting his eyes. "I doubt he would have been all that pleased to learn we had a child together."
"He said that about you?" Draco asked in shock, ignoring the parts about him. "I knew he was an arse!"
She kissed his cheek softly, and exhaled, "We probably should go downstairs," she said reluctantly, as thoughts of having to face reality slowly set in.
He groaned, "Can't we just hide out up here? I feel like we deserve that much."
"We have to talk to the press today," she reminded him, earning another groan.
Draco buried his head into her shoulder, and she let out a laugh.
Before either of them could say another word, the door opened, as Scorpius launched himself into the bed. "Yay you're up!" Scorpius said, seeming pleased. "Are you and Mummy together now?"
Draco grinned, and Hermione wondered if her two boys happened to be scheming against her. "I would say that, Scorp. Are you happy about that?"
The boy gave both of them a toothy smile, and Hermione couldn't stop but ask, "Scorpius, did we ever tell you in the future how we got together?"
It had been a question that had been nagging her constantly for the past little while.
The boy laughed, "Uh huh. Daddy got injured while working, and went to the hospital and you were his healer. And then he asked you out for a coffee and you said no. So he showed up with flowers every day until you yelled at him, and he told you that he thought you were beautiful. Daddy said you turned red at that, and when he admitted that he really did want to take you out for dinner, you said yes. Then you got married and had me," the boy said in what probably was an overly simplified version of events.
Hermione and Draco exchanged a look. Their first meeting again had been when he got injured and she had healed him. Was that the moment that could have been the start of their relationship?
"When I said I wanted to talk to you after, I wanted to apologise for everything," Draco admitted softly, "And I partially was debating asking you out for a coffee. I was on the fence though."
She smiled at that. The children coming back had clearly taken them on a roundabout version of the way things were supposed to have been, but they had gotten there in the end. Despite all her reluctance to admit it, and despite the fact that logically there couldn't have been such a thing as it, but maybe fate had a way of bringing certain people together in any version of events.
Hermione stood nervously at the podium. It was over twenty four hours since they had brought down Zacharias Smith, and it was time to finally tell the truth about what had happened in the world.
Harry and Ron were standing on either side of her, while Draco, Ginny, Luna, Pansy, Theo, Blaise, and Neville were standing behind them in support.
"A terrible thing happened yesterday," Harry spoke solemnly to the crowd. They were standing in front of the remainder of the Ministry, where the press and civilians had gathered, "The Ministry has fallen because of the secrets that we kept nearly tearing apart our world, but it is my hope that the truth could bring us back together again."
"We live in a society where everyone does not know all the details of what is happening at one moment," Hermione spoke, "And that is the way governments tend to function, both muggle and magical. For if every person knew the truth then terrible things could happen as a result. However, in the past two decades, the Ministry has kept too many secrets which the public had a right to know about. The Ministry did not tell us that Voldemort was back, nor did they tell us the truth about certain events that happened. They did not tell us about why the explosion happened, or the secret group slowly plotting to bring down our world as we know it. And you have a right to be angry, but you also have a right to the truth."
"Those weeks ago, when the explosion went off, it was not because of anything our current society did or did not do, but that of our futures," Ron said, pausing. "That day, three children came back, causing a disruption in the time continuum, which caused the earthquake. Those three children were mine, Harry's, and Hermione's sons from the future, sent back to prevent a terrible thing from coming to pass." There was a gasp in the room, and shouts began to break out.
"You must understand, we kept this from you not only to prevent panic, but as parents who were concerned about the safety of their children. When we learned what had happened to the future of England, we could not wonder if the very people who had caused this destruction were already out there, scheming to bring down the country and our life as we know it," Harry explained
"You see, in the future everything that happened yesterday happened five years in the future. But the difference is that they succeeded. The group known as the Vetusta managed to bring down the Ministry of Magic, and they reigned over England. It became a land filled with terror more known as a dictatorship under the guise of resurrecting the old council to run society once more. And there were far more deaths than yesterday and Voldemort's reign combined. We lost men and women close to us in the future, and Hermione figured out the only way to stop any of this from coming to pass was to send the children back and warn our past selves," Ron explained to them.
"And when the children came back, we were terrified," Hermione admitted, "We just fought the war for blood purity, and now this? But it seemed as if the other side decided to use the panic which ensued from the earthquake to start early. And they began to recruit as a result. They spread lies on what they planned on accomplishing and gathered many men and women into their ranks who whole heartedly believed they were making a change in the world. So many innocent men and women on both sides died because nobody knew the truth about what Zacharias Smith was trying to accomplish."
"We understand you need to keep the children a secret," one of the reporters butted in, "But why not tell us about the plot so we could be aware? Why let them grow in size?"
"Would you have believed us without any proof?" Harry interjected, "I was basically chewed up by the press when I was fifteen because I told the truth that Voldemort returned but no one seemed to listen to me then."
The reporter silenced herself at that.
"Looking back on it, there were so many things we could have done differently," Hermione told them. "A government cannot function on full transparency, but we need to start making an effort to alert the public of things that concern them. This has been a wakeup call to all of us. It's not fair that those with money can influence our government still, and it's not fair that those with connections get further than those who don't. Both of those were driving factors in Smith's campaign, and they were true. Of course, Smith simply wanted to be the one who held those connections, and not equality for all. We need to strive towards adapting towards this. And we need to heal together as we restructure our ways."
There was an applause at that, and it struck her in that moment how many people had been affected by the fact that there were still issues of equality in their government.
"What about the children?" a citizen asked out, "Do they go back to the future now? Or do you keep them?"
"The future in which they came from no longer exists," Hermione admitted, "So they cannot go back. Harry, Ron, and I, along with help from our partners, are going to raise them and treat them no differently than any other children we have in the future. They're ours, regardless of how they came to be."
Draco smiled at her at that, and she grinned back at him. She knew the press probably saw the exchange between them, so she couldn't help but add, "I would like to also mention that the men and women behind me were monumental in bringing down Zacharias Smith and preventing the future that could have happened from coming into existence. And I would like to extend a thanks to the Italian Aurors who broke protocol, but without their help, we never would have made it out of there alive. Finally, I want to also make sure that all the civilians and Aurors who played any part in helping yesterday get the thanks they deserve."
She stepped down, interlocking her fingers with Draco as Harry and Ron made some closing remarks. Things were going to be hard for a while, but she couldn't help but see a silver lining along the horizon.
A/N: I always intended to keep the children in this timeline and not send them back. If you're worried about multiple James' existing at the same time, or the fact that they could fade from reality, refer to chapter 4 where I explained all of that! And the personal headcanon of how Hermione and Draco initially got together has been on my mind since the first chapter, so I'm glad I finally got to share it with all of you