Chapter 37

The Truth Comes Out: What have the Golden Trio Been Hiding?

By Jane Epson

As we all know, two days ago the wizarding population of England was brought to its knees by the shocking fall of the Ministry of Magic. First hand witnesses describe the fall as sudden and unpredictable. While the staff showed up for what they thought was just a regular day of work, they were thrown for a loop when members of what previously were known as the protestors who demanded a change, stormed the Ministry and started hexing random employees.

As Aurors were quickly brought on scene, it turned out that they were not alone in fighting the Vetusta, or so they have taken to calling themselves. Aurors Potter, Weasley, and Malfoy, were seen fighting alongside Hermione Granger, Theodore Nott Jr, Blaise Zabini, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Pansy Parkinson. For full details about what went down and who was responsible, see page 2.

But the question still stands: how did they know what was happening, and how did they manage to stop it? What have they been hiding from us for weeks now?

As it turns out, time travel was involved, and not the regular kind.

On the night of the earthquake, three children were brought back in time, causing a disruption of the space-time continuum (for further theories on this, see page 5). These three children are those of the Golden Trio to be specific. The son of Harry and Ginny Potter, Ronald Weasley and Luna Lovegood, and Hermione Granger with DRACO MALFOY. Yes, that's right; Golden Girl Hermione Granger had a child with Malfoy in the future. When questioned about their relationship currently, Miss Granger released a small statement, "Draco and I are still adapting to all of this; having a son, and being together, and honestly, just because we know we're together in the future does not guarantee everything will work out between us. However the two of us genuinely care for each other, and despite believing in logic and rational thought, it feels a little like destiny."

So there you go! Turns out the two of them are actually together! Previously linked with figures such as former classmate and War Hero, Ron Weasley, and Quidditch Player, Oliver Wood, Hermione Granger is certainly a witch who has her pick of gentlemen.

When asked about the children, and their status in our time, Hermione Granger said that they were here to stay. Harry Potter responded with, "The children are ours. I know there are going to be a lot of questions about this, and I know that people are going to want to talk to them and ask them things about the future. What you must keep in mind is that they're extremely young. They do not know things like who will win the next Quidditch cup, or about anything concerning your personal lives. They're just children, and in their time, half their life was filled with war and despair. We ask that you respect our privacy and respect our children. In turn, we will provide full answers for anything you wish to know that we have answers for. It was secrets that tore us apart this time, and my hope is that we can slowly work to bring our society together again."

When asked about how it was possible that the children came back, Hermione Granger responded honestly with an, "I don't know. According to the memories we saw, it was me who sent the children back. But I don't know how I did it. I am curious and I think it is fair to say that it will be one of the things I look into in the future once I have finished my current project. Also, the memories which we witnessed will be made available to the Ministry of Magic for cross examination of the Aurors. They are personal memories that the children have witnessed, despite not knowing completely what was occurring at the time, and it is my sincerest hope that it will bridge any more questions that anyone may have about what the future could have turned out in different, and terrible, circumstances."

Hermione Granger is currently working on a project concerning memories and how they can be stored in the brain, which no doubt aided her in the future as she sent back the children.

I must say, that despite being furious for being kept in the dark, I can understand why they kept the children a secret for so long, despite the fact that the secret did help fuel the falling of the Ministry. However, in the other future, it seems as if different circumstances propelled the same war, so regardless of what we may believe, we all know how fierce parents can protect their children.

While it is fair to say that this entire week, and probably month, will be spent covering the aftermath of this, I do hope we are able to slowly heal and move on as we rebuild our society and take into account the reasons in which we fell before.

Marcus angrily tossed the paper across the room. It wasn't enough that Hermione Granger was bloody in love with that tosser Malfoy, but now she had a child with him too? So what, they were some sort of happy family? There was no way he would accept that laying down. No, he would fight for what was his, and even if that meant helping her by taking away the things that bound her, then so be it. Or should he say, the people who bound him.

Hermione was tired. It had been a long week since they had finally brought down that wanker, Zacharias Smith, and she just wanted to sleep for a year. But she was needed at work constantly due to all the injuries, and new sicknesses. For the most part, they had patched up all the people involved in one way or another with the attack at the Ministry, but there was a lot of checking up on patients, and slowly discharging them. And on top of that, there was a lot of paper work to be done. It was all hands on deck as they sorted through and treated the different patients' ailments.

However, to say she only worked on treating the aftermath would be an understatement. She had also been dedicating herself back to her research on memories and just how they were stored, and if possible they could be recovered.

She also was looking into the long term results of treating patients who had suffered from the cruciatus curse. She had initially gotten the idea from Neville's parents, who despite being in perfect health, were not quite recovered from the torture they had endured. It wasn't fair to her friend to have his parents around, yet not even remember him. He deserved that much.

It didn't help that on the rare occasion she still had nightmares from her own experience with the curse, and wanted to do all she could to prevent it from happening to others.

She also had lately been working on her personal life with Scorpius and Draco. With the immediate threat no longer hanging over their heads, Ron had moved out, and she was in the process of slowly doing the same. Draco hada flat on his own, which was small for his taste, yet in no way modest. He had been slowly trying to convince her to move in, and to be honest, while she liked her place well enough, it never felt all that like home. She supposed the word had lost its meaning to her over the years. She considered home to be with her parents for the longest time, but now it simply brought back pain, sorrow, and what-ifs. Hogwarts had been one of the first places she felt like she belonged, but she was no longer a student. She spent more days at Harry's or nights crashing at the hospital, and she knew she needed a change. So when he asked, despite her initial reluctance that they were moving rather fast, she accepted after he pointed out that they loved each other and had a kid. However, she did make a point in saying if it didn't work out, they would hold out on trying to move in together again until their relationship had gathered more time to grow.

And things were slowly turning around for Draco too. She knew he wouldn't outright say it, but she could tell how pleased he was with the difference in the way he was being treated, and how people no longer held him with contempt. Maybe, just maybe, things were slowly going to turn around for them.

Draco was nervous. Well not nervous, as much as excited and slightly giddy. Despite being together for a week already, the Draco and Hermione were finally having their first date, and he was ecstatic. In all honesty, it was more of a family dinner, seeing how they were bringing Scorpius along, but it just didn't feel right not to. The two of them loved Scorpius, and while they did enjoy the occasional moment alone, they both treasured the moments they spent with their son as well.

Harry had made a point to note just how backwards the two of them got their relationship; having a kid, falling in love, and then dating. It sounded like a terrible book meant to make witches swoon, despite their circumstances.

She had moved into his place after much convincing earlier that day, and they had decided to celebrate by going out to dinner. Hermione had however kicked him out of their room as she wanted to keep it a surprise when he saw her, so he was currently sitting on the couch with a properly dressed son beside him, as Scorpius began to question when his mother would finally be ready.

Draco had laughed at that, and told his son that despite how restless he may be, waiting was always worth it. Especially when he knew just how much Hermione could dress up, given her Yule ball appearance back in fourth year.

Scorpius was about to complain when they heard the bedroom door open, and Scorpius eagerly stood in anticipation. Draco followed suit, but unlike his son who was eager to get the restaurant, Draco simply wanted to see her.

Despite her hair softening up over the years, Hermione had styled it into a formal ponytail, while she had light makeup on her face. They were going to a muggle place so they would be afforded more privacy and the red dress she wore was absolutely stunning.

Draco grinned widely, and a small smile graced her face. He walked over to her and tenderly kissed her cheek.

"I got you something," Draco told her softly as he pulled a box from his suit. He opened the lid as he presented her a ruby bracelet.

"Red?" she questioned, as she looked up at him with surprise, "I would have thought for sure you would have gone for green."

"It belonged to one of my ancestors," Draco explained, "The only Malfoy in Gryffindor. I thought it would suit you."

She was speechless at that, "Draco, you didn't have to! It's an heirloom, it wouldn't be right for-"

"-the woman I love to wear it? You're wrong about that. Besides, I asked my mother, and she agreed. It suits you, Hermione."

She looked up at him with wonder as she pressed her lips to his, "I love you, Draco," she told him, as he slipped it onto her hand.

"What about me?" Scorpius perked up as he looked at them.

"I love you too, baby," Hermione said as she kissed her son's forehead.

"I love you too, Mummy, but I'm hungry!" Scorpius complained.

She laughed, and Draco took in the richness of her tone. She held his arm tightly, and took Scorpius' hand in her other one, "Shall we go?"

Draco nodded, and she apparated them to the restaurant they were planning on eating at. As they were quickly seated, she began to sift through the menu, Scorpius pointed at a picture of fish and chips. They had decided to go to a relatively child friendly place, and he could tell that Scorpius was excited. He couldn't help but wonder if they had taken him out a lot when he had been younger.

"Can I have this?" Scorpius asked, just as the waitress came up behind them.

"Your son is adorable," the blonde lady said, smiling at the pair of them.

"Thanks," Hermione grinned as she rubbed Scorpius' back.

She tucked a napkin into Scorpius' shirt to prevent spills and Scorpius beamed at them. Draco ruffled his hair slightly, as Hermione began telling them about her day. He listened attentively and asked her questions about it, and she smiled. When she asked about his own, he mentioned that they had nearly finished processing all the members of the Vetusta fully, and that hopefully soon they could move on to trails to see who was truly guilty, and who was 'brainwashed'. It was going to be a long process, but hopefully soon things would be relatively normal again.

The food arrived shortly after, and Draco helped Scorpius cut up his fish as he turned to his own food, something Hermione had recommended to him. HE took her hand under the table and squeezed it gently and she smiled as she asked Scorpius what he had done that day. Despite the fact that they had all been tossed a child at, he couldn't help but admire her skills of being a mother. He wondered what she would be like to any other children they had, but pushed the thought quickly out of his head when she asked him a question.

Despite Scorpius' initial request for dessert, when Hermione began to tease him about lack of hunger, he pouted slightly as he admitted that he wasn't all that hungry. Draco had promised him some ice cream the next day, earning a scolding from his girlfriend but laughter and happiness from his son.

As they left the restaurant, Hermione made sure no one was looking as she quickly transfigured her shall into a jacked for Scorpius. There was a light breeze, and while Draco was unaffected, he knew Hermione didn't want the boy to catch a cold.

They began walking to the same abandon stretch of road in which they apparated to earlier, and Draco intertwined his fingers with Hermione, as she used her other hand to hold Scorpius.

To say it had been a great evening would be an understatement, and Draco didn't think anything could ruin his mood.

That is, until he heard the words, "Expelliarmus!"

Draco turned to the direction of the words as he watched their wands fly through the air to a person masked by darkness.

He watched in horror. Who was in the muggle world now? It wasn't as if many people had known they were coming here, so was this this planned, or a terrible coincidence?

That was until Marcus stepped out of the shadows.

Hermione let out a gasp as she gripped his hand tighter and ever so slightly pushed Scorpius behind her.

"Isn't this just the perfect little family?" Marcus sneered.

"What do you want, Marcus?" Draco shifted his jaw. "Give us our wands back. It's over. Zacharias Smith has fallen, or haven't you heard? Just give up now."

"I never cared about him," Flint sneered, "Who cares if he's gone? That doesn't mean I have to lose. It just means I need to change my plans to get what I want."

"And what do you want?" Hermione asked, trembling slightly.

"All of it," Marcus waved his hand. "I want my wealth back. I want the power and influence. And most importantly, I want you."

"What?" Draco asked in confusion, "You want her? Why?"

Flint rolled his eyes, "Obviously. I don't need to explain myself to you, Malfoy. I will get everything I deserve, trust me."

"You deserve to rot in Azkaban," Hermione spat at him. "You can't just possess a person! Why would I ever want to be with you?"

His eyes flashed dangerously, "I'm afraid you misunderstood this situation, Granger. You see, I'm the one who has all the power here. You will come with me, and you will restore everything that once was mine. People listen to you. Your good name can do wonders for one's tarnished reputation. Just look at Malfoy. Suddenly he's some big hero."

"Because Draco is a good man!" Hermione yelled out, and he felt his heart flutter slightly at that, despite the situation they were in."

"Right," Flint laughed, "He's playing you, and you're blindly eating it up."

"That's a lie!" Draco bellowed out, getting angry.

"Crucio!" Marcus yelled out, and Draco felt pain shooting through his body.

"Stop!" Hermione yelled out, "Stop please."

"Then come with me," Marcus said simply. "Come with me, and I'll give Malfoy and your bastard a chance to live."

"And if I don't?" Hermione asked, slightly defiantly and slightly out of fear.

"Then they both die here," Marcus said dangerously, "And I take you with me anyways. Make your choice, Granger."

"Don't, Hermione," Draco spat out, from the ground. Scorpius was crying, and Draco wanted nothing more than to comfort his son. "He doesn't have the guts."

He felt the spell hit him once more, and he let out a cry of pain.

"Please," Hermione begged, "Stop. Stop. I'll go, just stop hurting him. Please."

"That's better," Marcus said with a grin.

"Find me," Hermione whispered as she fiddled with her bracelet.

He took a step forward and grabbed Hermione by the waist, as he apparated out, but not before throwing Draco's wand back at him.

Draco stared at the spot were Hermione and that bastard vanished from, as he let out a yell filled with anger, agony, and despair.