Hermione racked her brain to try and recall a time when she had been in a room that contained as much tension as the one she was currently occupying. None of the four occupants seemed to have retained their capacity for eye-contact, and the revelations of the night were so intense that none of them knew where to begin the much needed conversation that should have been taking place. Hermione gave up on her trip down memory lane and focused her mind on counting the swirls of gold in the ornate picture frame in front of her. Next to her, Draco's eyes bored a hole into the plush carpet as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. Narcissa sat, stiff backed and regal, on the winged armchair next to the fire, her chin defiantly raised. Behind her, Lucius paced aimlessly, occasionally shaking his head.

Clearly they all needed to talk things through.

After what felt like an eternity of tension, Narcissa cleared her throat. "Have you seen the entire thing?" she asked curtly, her eyes never leaving the fire.

Hermione looked to Draco's sullen form uncertainly, and when no reply was forthcoming, nodded. "We have."

"Well?" Lucius prompted. "Is that all we get? No recriminations? No passionate declarations of anger and betrayal? No— " before he could complete his sentence, Draco had sprung to life and crossed the room in two strides. He pushed his father against the wall, his wand aimed at Lucius' throat.

"Draco!" Hermione also got to her feet, as Narcissa sunk her face into her hands.

"Is that all this means to you? Recriminations? Declarations of anger and betrayal? Something on a fucking to-do list to get over with?" Draco spat, grabbing a fistful of Lucius's robes and shaking him. "Ten pm: reveal earth shattering double life to son. Ten fifteen: listen to son rant about his feelings. Ten twenty: walk away feeling vindicated. You may not have been as evil and twisted as you made everyone believe, but I will never forgive you for what you did to me."

Lucius disdainfully flicked away Draco's wandtip. "My sincerest apologies for trying to keep you safe for over seventeen years. I will ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Perhaps talking wasn't the best idea after all.

"Maybe we should do this later," Hermione suggested tentatively. "After we've all calmed down a bit and had time to process the facts."

"No!" Draco and Lucius hissed at the same time, and then glared at each other.

Narcissa lifted her face from her hands and sighed deeply. "Draco, I know that we can't even begin to apologise for what we put you through, but everything we did to you, we did out of love. I'm sorry if you find our methods questionable, but they stemmed from wanting to keep you safe."

Draco turned on his mother. "It doesn't change the fact that you raised me to become a monster."

"We had faith that you would find your path," Narcissa argued back quietly, retaining her composure. "We knew that you would eventually become the sort of man we could be proud of, no matter how we raised you."

"Did I drool this sense of confidence into you as a baby?" Draco shot back angrily. "You didn't know anything. You got lucky. What if I had never questioned what you both ingrained into me? What if I had ended up a true Death Eater? I am your son, not your cover. You can't expect me to be fine with being toyed with."

Lucius inclined his head in acquiescence. "We cannot do anything more at this stage except apologise for what we did, and ask you to see not our actions but our intentions."

Draco looked at his father with a withering stare filled with loathing. "You can't even begin to comprehend the great regrets I have over my actions, actions that I only committed because you both, my fucking parents, made them seem like the right thing to do. Yet, all along, you never truly felt that way yourselves."

Hermione stepped forward and gently placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "I don't mean to undermine your feelings in any way, but right now we have bigger things to worry about. The fact that your parents were blood-traitors could be the motive behind the Arisen One targeting Narcissa. For the moment, we should be focusing on how best to protect her until he's caught."

For a minute Hermione was certain Draco would lash out at her, but the fight went out of him and he sank into the nearest sofa. "You're right," he bit out. "Who else knew about the fact that you were blood-traitors?"

"Nobody, apart from you both, that is currently living," Lucius informed them. "The only people we told were Regulus and Severus. Bellatrix and Dumbledore had strong suspicions, but neither ever openly confronted us."

"Everybody else is under the impression that we had a last-minute change of heart," Narcissa added. "Though the Death Eaters that were extensively present at the Manor during the time it was headquarters could tell that we were less than happy about the entire situation. Still, that doesn't mean much because towards the end everyone was living in fear."

Hermione sighed quietly. "So basically, even if someone does know you both were blood-traitors, we have no leads to finding out who they are."

"Essentially," Lucius spat.

"I'll owl Blaise, Potter and Weasley to change our meeting for tomorrow instead of tonight. We'll discuss extra security and some sort of plan until we can get more leads then," Draco muttered sulkily, addressing the ornate mantelpiece. "I'm going to bed. I think I've had enough for one fucking night."

Narcissa raised a hand to stop him, but let it drop back to her side in defeat. "Goodnight," she called out to his retreating back.

"I'm sorry that all of this came out in this way," said Hermione sincerely. "But once he's had some time to adjust, he'll understand the many sacrifices you both made for his safety. I'm sure of it."

"Thank you dear," replied Narcissa wearily, turning away from Lucius as he tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulders.

"Well, I should probably go make sure he's alright," Hermione mumbled awkwardly, picking up on the tension between her in-laws. "I'll see you both in the morning. Goodnight Narcissa, Lucius."

Lucius looked to her, and for a brief second his expression was beseeching. In the blink of an eye, his face had smoothed back into its usual impassive mask. "Goodnight, Miss Granger."

Hermione walked back to the master suites, her mind whirling. She paused uncertainly in front of the door and knocked softly. When she received no reply from the surly blond inside, she tentatively pushed the door open and shut it quietly behind her. Draco was lying on top of the covers, fully clothed, staring out of the window moodily. His silver eyes flicked over to her as she stood at the foot of their bed and slowly shrugged out of her robes. Hermione slipped one of the silky nightgowns over her head and carefully bundled her curls into a top knot, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. When she couldn't dawdle any longer, she made her way to their bed and softly sat down next to her husband. Draco wordlessly pulled her closer to him and she rested her head on his warm chest, feeling his heart thud under her cheek.

"How are you?" she asked him eventually.

Draco laughed dryly. "Just great," he said sarcastically. "Never better."

Hermione threaded her fingers through his. "Stop being an arsehole. I don't expect you to be great, but there's really no need to bite my head off."

"I'm sorry," Draco conceded, sighing. "What we saw in the Pensieve was hard for me to watch. It's one thing to suppress the memories of the awful things I've done, but it's another to relive them vividly. I always knew I wasn't worthy of you, but today I saw just how repulsive a person I truly am."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione replied forcefully. "You are anything but repulsive."

Draco held her tightly against his body. "One day I hope to be a man worthy of you. You deserve that and more, and maybe one day I will be able to give that to you."

"You already give me everything I could want and more," whispered Hermione earnestly. "You don't need to be anyone but who you are, because that's the man I'm in love with, and that's the man I'm proud to call my husband."

"I love you, Hermione," said Draco, as he leaned in and kissed her. "You make me happier than I deserve to be."

Hermione broke the kiss and placed one fingertip on his lips. "You deserve to be happy, and I'm lucky to be the one that makes you so." She reached for him and pulled him back towards her, silencing his protests with another tender kiss.

Draco rolled over so that he was on top, supporting his weight with one hand and unbuttoning his robes with the other. Hermione moaned against his ear, a soft purring sound that sent a jolt of arousal down his spine. Pausing briefly to pull his robes off his head, Draco slowly trailed kisses down the soft curves of her breasts as his hand pushed the flimsy fabric of her nightgown up her silky thigh.

"You look so beautiful in the moonlight," Draco murmured silkily against her taut stomach, as his hands ghosted over the faint outlines of her ribs.

Hermione gently grabbed two fistfuls of his silky hair as her hips involuntarily bucked against his ministrations. "Draco," she moaned, as she arched her back. "Please. I need you now."

"Patience ma'am," Draco smirked, as he leisurely kissed the insides of her thighs. "Good things come to those that wait."

"And yet, you came to me while I was asleep in my oldest nightgown, completely unexpectedly." Hermione gasped, as his clever tongue stroked her most sensitive spot through the wisps of silk underwear she had not been divested of yet.

Draco's teeth grazed against her hipbone as he lightly nipped at the underwear and pulled it down with his mouth. "I did make you wait twenty-one years for me though."

"It was certainly worth it," Hermione breathed, as he undressed her with painfully unhurried motions. "But don't you think I've waited long enough by now?"

"I don't know," Draco pretended to ponder, stopping momentarily.

Hermione groaned loudly with frustration. "Draco!"

"Hermione?" smirked Draco, his eyes lightening with mischief.

"That's it," Hermione sat up and placed a small palm on either side of Draco's shoulders. Pushing him back with unexpected ferocity, she straddled him, kissing him intently. Draco briefly considered putting up a struggle, but the sight of his wife eager for him to be inside her warmth was too tempting to resist.

A second later, Hermione lowered herself onto his stiff erection, moaning as she adjusted to his width.

Draco's eyes widened slightly as Hermione slowly started to grind against his hips, pulling him almost all the way out of her silky wetness before plunging him back in with swift, sure movements.

"Holy fuck Granger," Draco moaned, as Hermione gained momentum. Her small breasts bounced appealingly as she threw her head back with reckless abandon. Draco placed one callused thumb over her clit and moved it in circling motions that built up an agonising ache inside Hermione. She leaned back down and kissed Draco, her thrusting hips urgently demanding him to orgasm with her.

Just as Hermione was certain she would explode from the intensity of the pleasure, her muscles clenched with release. The rhythmic massage of her velvety walls around him was enough for Draco to follow suit seconds later. Hermione collapsed on top of his chest, both of them panting heavily as they tried to regain their breaths.

An hour later, Hermione still couldn't sleep. Draco had fallen asleep minutes after performing a Cleansing charm over their bodies and had wrapped her in his arms in an almost vice grip. Hermione slowly wriggled out of his warm embrace and as quietly as she could, threw on a thick cloak over the nightgown she had put back on. Once she was swaddled appropriately, she wandered out of the master suites, aimlessly prowling through the house as she sorted through her turbulent thoughts. She checked the guest room and found Harry sleeping like a log, most likely worn out from working late. Her wristwatch glowed subtly to indicate that it was nearly four in the morning, distracting her momentarily. Hermione idly wondered if she should make another attempt to sleep given that she had to be at the Ministry in five hours, but considering that she'd had a lot more drama on a Tuesday evening than she was accustomed to, she knew that no sleep would be forthcoming.

As she passed by one of the many ornate windows at the Manor, a dark shape in the gardens caught her eye. Holding her wand aloft, she muted the light to the softest beam and rapidly made her way outside. The slight chill in the air hit her with a vengeance, and she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as she walked towards the shape, squinting to make out who it could be. Just as she registered the stranger, she stepped on a dry twig with a sharp crack.

"It's just me," she called out, as the figure jumped and whirled around defensively.

"What are you doing awake at this hour?" Lucius asked, relaxing.

"The same as you," Hermione replied, increasing the light from her wand.

Lucius arched a pale eyebrow. "Picking flowers for your angry wife? My, my, great minds do think alike."

Hermione laughed softly. "I couldn't sleep either."

"Well, since you are here perhaps you could be of assistance. Narcissa likes the small flowers that grow under this hedge, and I'm not partial to scrambling for them on my hands and knees," drawled Lucius, gesturing to the hedge.

"How are you doing?" Hermione questioned, as she Summoned the flowers and handed them to Lucius, who picked a silver bouquet holder off the ground that already had several peach roses inside.

Lucius avoided her eyes as he clumsily arranged the flowers. "Fine, and yourself?"

"Worried about my family," said Hermione quietly, her voice ringing with honesty.

Lucius stilled, and with great effort admitted, "I am too."

Hermione gently took the holder from his hands and artfully began setting the flowers. "We will make sure that Narcissa is fine, Lucius. Nothing will happen to her."

"I believe that I am in your debt once again," Lucius replied formally, as he handed her several peonies. "Though it is not just Narcissa that I am worried about."

"Draco will come around," Hermione reassured him. "I think he just needs some time to process everything before he can figure out how to act like an adult about it."

Lucius nodded. "I hope you are correct. While Draco has changed a lot since I've been at Azkaban, sometimes he still insists on acting like the twelve year old boy that came home complaining about the brilliant muggle-born girl that beat him in all his tests."

"I'm glad he knows my capabilities," Hermione teased, slipping the peonies through the holder. "It keeps him in check."

"And it stops his head from inflating any further than strictly necessary for a Malfoy," Lucius responded, deadpanned.

"Oh yes, the famous Malfoy ego," said Hermione, as she handed the holder back to Lucius.

Lucius surveyed her handiwork with approval as he offered her his arm. "At least he comes by it honestly," he offered, the smallest hint of a twinkle in his eyes. "Shall we go back and try salvage some sleep?"

An exhausted Hermione drained her third coffee of the day as she watched the boys devour what appeared to be their body weight in food. As Draco had promised, he had owled the Aurors for an emergency meeting, and had cancelled all his appointments for the afternoon to make the time for it. Having only received less than an hour of sleep herself, Hermione sat there torn between her cravings for caffeine versus her cravings for her warm, silky bed and Draco's arms around her.

"Are you alright Hermione? You look terrible," Ron commented through a mouthful of food, with all the tact of a gutted boar as per usual.

Hermione scowled at him. "I'm amazed that Lavender puts up with you."

"Wha-?" Ron muttered defensively. "I'm just being honest."

"Let's focus more on how to protect my mother and less on how tired my wife is, thanks," Draco snapped, pushing his plate of food away. "Because right now we have absolutely no leads on whom the sick bastard after her could be. All we know so far is that my mother's letters to Granger's father were being intercepted."

"Though the letters don't explain how they knew that your mother was meant to be visiting you the day your office blew up," Hermione reminded, putting a small asterisk in Blaise's case notes. "I can't help feeling like that is significant somehow."

"Either way, for the moment I have already ordered a security detail around the Manor, Andromeda's place and Herman's place," said Harry, passing a Butterbeer to Hermione. "Two junior and two trainee Aurors will be patrolling at all times. We've also sent in a wards expert to set another three layers of wards around each of the houses, and all their mail will be scanned for magical signatures in the event that someone tries to intercept anything."

Hermione frowned as she sipped her Butterbeer. "Bu—"

"Don't worry," Blaise cut her off. "We've provided them the best Invisibility cloaks the Ministry has, and made them undergo six hours of mandatory Disillusionment training as well, just in case there is ever a problem with the cloaks. The Arisen One will not be tipped off that the security has been increased."

"Perfect," Hermione nodded. "We need to retain the element of surprise."

"What we need to do is to catch the Arisen One on our own terms," Blaise supplied thoughtfully, twisting the cap of his Butterbeer around. "What if we set a trap for him somehow?"

"Or her," Hermione added darkly. "I still think Vanessa is linked to this."

Ron slammed his fist down on the table, startling the room. "I've got it!" He said excitedly, hurriedly swallowing. "We should spread the word that Narcissa is going to be somewhere alone and catch him as he tries to strike."

"Fuck you Weasley, we're not using my mother as bait," Draco shouted, scraping his chair back violently as he jumped to his feet.

"We don't have to," Hermione put in quickly. "Calm down and hear this out."

Harry looked at Ron in surprise, mulling over the suggestion. "That's actually not a bad plan. We can have Narcissa send Herman a letter about it."

"But if we do that we'll have to take down the wards around his house," argued Blaise, leaning back in his chair. "If we tweak the wards just so that the letters can still be intercepted, a good wizard might be able to detect it and catch on to the fact that it's a set-up."

"I agree with Blaise," Hermione said tiredly. "We don't know what sort of skills the Arisen One has. The last thing we want is for him to be tipped off to the fact that we're onto something. It will negate all the efforts we've made to keep the security detail concealed if we're caught out over something as obvious as selective warding."

Draco's eyes widened. "I know how we can spread the word. The anniversary of the War is coming up in two weeks, and every former Death Eater worth his salt will be sure to make an appearance. While we're there, I can mention to just the right people that mother is going away somewhere."

"That's brilliant," Harry grinned.

"Though I think we should raise the stakes slightly," said Hermione, her eyes shining with determination. "We should say that your mother and I are both going away. If the Arisen one thinks that she has the chance to not only separate us, but to also catch Narcissa, there is no way she'll be able to resist."

"I think that's a solid plan," Ron agreed rapidly, eager to make up for his earlier remark about Hermione's appearance.

Draco narrowed his eyes speculatively. "But we won't actually be sending you or mother there, right? We'll just be making it look as though you are going there but in reality it will be us waiting to catch the sick bastard, right?"

"Sure," Hermione muttered quickly. "Narcissa won't be anywhere near the place."

"And you think you will?" Draco demanded, scowling.

Blaise leaned across the couple, breaking their angry eye contact. "We can discuss the specifics of who will be there later." He looked to Harry and Ron for support.

"Exactly," Harry jumped in, catching on. "First we need to come up with the location. It needs to be somewhere Narcissa would go, but secluded enough for the Arisen One to think that she will be an easy target."

They fell silent for a minute, contemplating their options.

"How about our villa in Tuscany?" Draco suggested. "Mother goes there fairly frequently to relax and recuperate."

"Not bad, but isn't Goyle there?" Hermione questioned.

Draco shook his head. "He was only going to be there for a couple of weeks, remember? He sent me the key back ages ago."

"That sounds perfect then," said Blaise, pulling his notes towards him. "And just to be on the safe side, in case Hermione is right about Vanessa, we can have her tell Vanessa to mark vacation days in the Ministry calendar."

"Which I would be obliged to do in any case," replied Hermione. "Whether we were leaving a trail for Vanessa or not, so it won't look suspicious. Just to make it a bit more believable, I'll be deliberately vague about where it is I'm going."

"Before we wrap this up, Adrian owled me again yesterday asking me if we'd come any closer to finding who was attacking the former Death Eaters," Blaise said, rubbing his neck. "I don't like not being able to be open with him, but at this point we can't be too careful. It's hard to tell just whose letters are being intercepted."

Hermione bit her lip worriedly. "Does he still think that he's being followed? Can't we assign him some protection?"

Harry sighed. "Most of the former Slytherins are jumping at their own shadow, Hermione. We are using all our resources to protect the people we know are definitely in danger, and we still have two of our people watching over Valmont. It would be like squeezing blood out of a stone to expect us to spare even more people. We've already put in three requests for extra funding to Podmore since all of this started, and even he won't be able to grant us any more without going to Kingsley. Even then, it doesn't guarantee that we will get anything."

"By the time the parchmentwork goes back and forth, it will be at least fourteen working days," Blaise replied, shrugging. "Seems sort of pointless to even try."

"If everything goes according to plan, the killer will be distracted much sooner than a protective detail can be assigned," Draco pointed out. "I'm sure that once we spread the word of your Tuscan vacation the killer will realise he has bigger fish to fry than targeting Adrian."

"Fine," Hermione capitulated, bristling. "We'd better get back to work. I need to actually be out of here at a decent time today. Pansy is coming over after dinner."

Blaise, who had been in the process of gathering his notes, jerked and looked up at Hermione. "Pansy is going over to yours? Why?"

"Because she is my friend and is always welcome at my house?" Hermione volunteered, looking at him speculatively. "Why are you so interested?"

"No reason," said Blaise, swiftly striding out the door. "I'll see you all later."

Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance, wordlessly communicating their joint realisation that Blansy drama was no doubt on the horizon.

"We'd better get back to work as well," said Harry, as he got to his feet and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "I'm meeting Ginny after work, so I won't be at the Manor for dinner. I'll see you and Malfoy later."

"Bye," Ron added, as they left.

Taking advantage of the momentary solitude, Hermione slipped out of her chair and put her arms around Draco's neck. Standing on tip-toes, she kissed him softly. "Don't look so bothered, Malfoy. Like you said, we've got a plan. We'll catch the killer soon."

"I know, I just wish it was all over," Draco rested his chin on the top of her curly head.

"It will be," Hermione assured him. "The end has begun. This time next month we can finally run away to Mexico."

Draco smirked as he broke away from her. "Looking forward to it Granger," he said, as he walked over to the Floo and threw in a fistful of shimmering powder. Just before he stepped in, he turned back and winked at Hermione. "See you at home, gorgeous."

Dinner at the Manor was surprisingly enjoyable that evening. If the bouquet holder taking pride of place in the centre of the dining table was any indication, Narcissa and Lucius appeared to have resolved their issues. Herman, Andromeda and Teddy joined them, and even agreed to let Teddy sleep over, much to Julius's delight. Even Hermione, in spite of her exhaustion, managed to have a good time. All the Malfoys seemed more relaxed now that a resolution seemed to be on the cards, but Hermione's happiness was twofold when she saw how happy her father appeared to be with Andromeda. When she had married Draco, Hermione was certain that she'd closed the door on any possible mixed family gatherings, yet the three couples at the table were practically the picture of domestic harmony. Draco seemed to have picked up on Hermione's buoyant mood and playfully squeezed her thigh under the tablecloth several times as a promise of what was to come later that night.

After dinner, Narcissa, Lucius, Herman and Andromeda retired to the sitting-room for a game of cards while the younger Malfoys took the children to Julius's playroom. Draco had endless patience with the two children, and watching him play with them, Hermione suddenly had a vivid image of what it would be like if they were to ever have more children. The time when she and Draco seemed too dysfunctional to even consider it a possibility seemed so far into the past that it was almost an alternate reality.

"You look tired today Mummy," Julius commented, breaking into Hermione's thoughts.

Hermione scooped him into her arms. "I was up late last night darling," she explained. "Mummy needs to get more sleep."

Julius made a beeline for a stray ringlet and began twisting it enthusiastically around his pudgy fingers. "Were you and daddy making babies?"

Draco laughed and hastily turned it into a cough, discreetly winking at a mortified Hermione. "You ask too many questions little man."

"Where do babies come from Uncle Draco?" Teddy asked innocently, clambering onto Draco's lap. "I asked Nan, but she said she didn't know."

Clever lady. "Tell you what Teddy," Draco pretended to whisper conspiratorially in Teddy's little ear. "Not many people know, but your uncle Harry is one of the few that do. You should ask him as soon as you see him."

"Really Malfoy," Hermione admonished him, suppressing a grin.

Teddy however, considered what Draco had to say thoughtfully. "Is that why some people call Uncle Harry the Chosen One? Because he knows where babies come from?"

It was now Draco's turn to suppress his laughter. "That's exactly right. You're such a clever little boy Teddy."

Teddy beamed and slipped off Draco's lap to chase Julius around the playroom in a furious game of tag, the rules to which couldn't be comprehended by anybody over the age of five, or so the two boys claimed. It was nearing their bedtime when there was a knock at the door, and Harry and Ginny walked inside a second later, much to Hermione and Draco's surprise.

"Uncle Harry!" Teddy and Julius made a beeline straight for Harry's knees.

Harry affectionately tousled their hair. "Evening boys, have you been behaving yourselves?"

Both boys assumed an expression of almost convincing solemness. "Yes Uncle Harry," Teddy promised, his hair turning jet-black. "I'm a good boy, just like you."

"Clearly he doesn't know Harry that well," Ginny jokingly said to Hermione and Draco in undertone.

"What are you both doing here? I thought you had plans," Hermione asked, looking to Ginny significantly.

Ginny made sure Harry was occupied with the two children before she winked and gave Hermione a thumbs-up. "We did," she said, her voice normal even though her face sparkled with mischief. "We decided to come tuck Teddy in when Andromeda told us he was staying at the Manor tonight."

"Why don't you ladies get the bath ready while we let the boys finish up in here?" Draco suggested, tuning in to Hermione and Ginny's desire to have a private conversation without making it too obvious that they were itching to go dissect every second of the date.

Hermione smiled at him gratefully. "Good idea."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Ginny turned to Hermione. "You have him well trained," she said admiringly. "He would not have figured out such subtlety had it not been for you."

"You'd be surprised," Hermione commented. "He is a Slytherin after all. Now, tell me all about your date."

They prepared the bath and laid out the boys' pajamas as Ginny gave Hermione a detailed account of her evening with Harry. Hermione watched her friend animatedly describe their time at a muggle carnival, struck by how pretty and happy she looked. Everything seemed to be coming together lately, not just with regards to the killer but also with their personal lives. It was a refreshing change from the constant state of dystopia they had all been marinating in.

"So, do you think you both will get back together soon?" Hermione interjected, as Ginny paused for a breath.

Ginny shrugged, as she tossed Julius and Teddy's favourite toys into the bathwater. "I hope so, but I think it's best that we take it slow for now. Though, it does put us in a bind with regards to the awkward housing situation. I'm reluctant to sign a lease to anywhere in case Harry and I will get back together, but I can't see us moving in together again anytime soon either."

"You know that we love having Harry here for as long as it takes you both to sort things out, right?" Hermione said firmly, as she added charms to fill the water with multiplying bubbles. "Even Malfoy likes the company, though he'd sooner eat his foot than admit to it."

"Thanks," said Ginny sincerely, squeezing Hermione's hand. "I still feel a bit weird about having essentially kicked Harry out, but I don't feel as bad about it now."

"Technically you didn't kick Harry out of anywhere," Hermione pointed out, as she pulled out the towels. "You moved into myold room in an apartment the three of us jointly own. Harry chose not to stay at Grimmauld Place alone and to stay with me instead."

Ginny shrugged. "I suppose you're right. Still, once Luna gets back I'm definitely going to move in with her. I got a letter from her last week, but she didn't mention when she was coming home."

"I got one too," Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was full of her difficulties in finding a list of creatures I'm convinced don't exist. Though, did you notice that she kept talking about her partner every two lines?"

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed, laughing. "Practically every sentence began with 'Rolf said this' or 'Rolf did that'."

"No wonder she's in no rush to come home," Hermione joked.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the four boys, who were all in high spirits and rather flushed from whatever game they had been playing. The children managed to burn off their remaining energy during bath time, culminating in four thoroughly soaked full-clothed adults. By the time everyone had finished drying off, both boys had drooping eyelids. Harry and Draco picked up their wards and carried them to Julius's bedroom, where an extra bed had been prepared for Teddy. Hermione watched tenderly as Julius and Teddy picked out the bedtime stories they wanted read, amidst intense debating over the order in which they were to be read.

"Ooh! Uncle Harry, I almost forgot to ask you something," Teddy cried suddenly, dropping Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump.

Hermione and Draco masked identical expressions of amusement at what was to follow.

"Sure Teddy, what did you want to know?" Harry asked, completely unaware of what was in store for him.

"Where do babies come from Uncle Harry?" Teddy replied expectantly. "Uncle Draco said you were the Chosen One because only you knew. Please tell me, Uncle Harry, because nobody else knows."

Harry paled. "Did you seriously tell Teddy I was the only one who knew the answer because I'm the Chosen One?" he hissed to Draco.

"Actually," Draco smirked, smugly whispering back, "I told Teddy that you were one of the few that knew. He came up with the Chosen One thing all on his own, and I didn't contradict him because encouragement is important for nurturing cognitive development in children."

"You are living on borrowed time Malfoy," Harry spat, racking his brain on how to answer Teddy. "And unless you come up with a solution in the next three seconds, I won't hesitate to hex the living daylights out of you."

At that moment, a house-elf appeared at the door. "Master Draco, Mistress Hermione, Miss Pansy waiting in the living-room for yous."

Draco sprang to his feet. "Can't keep Pans waiting, sorry Potter."

And he was out the door before Harry could process what had just happened.

"Hermione," Harry pleaded, his voice drowned out by Ginny's laughter. "Help."

"Sorry Harry, can't keep Pansy waiting," Hermione mimicked, rushing out the door after Draco. "You'll figure something out," she threw back over her shoulder. "You are the Chosen One after all."

Hermione laughed to herself all the way down to the living-room. Even though Harry and Draco had come a long way from their old rivalries, there were some things that would just never change. By the time she made it downstairs, Draco was sitting opposite Pansy, looking smug while she was laughing uncontrollably. Clearly, he had already filled her in on his doings.

"Hermione!" Pansy smiled as she caught sight of her. "How are you feeling now?"

"Good as new, thanks," Hermione smiled back as she kissed Pansy on the cheek. "I take it Draco told you all about his so-very-mature actions?"

Draco smirked. "In vivid detail."

The three friends caught up on their lives over platters of cheese and fruit, though Hermione and Draco deliberately refrained from discussing their plan for trapping the Arisen One by mutual unspoken agreement. For the first time in a long time, they were both having a good day and neither was willing to break the fragile thread of denial that had helped them hang on to some semblance of regularity. Pansy too, seemed a bit preoccupied and didn't bring up any questions that would shatter the veneer of normalcy irreparably.

"So, Blaise acted really strangely today when we mentioned you were coming by after dinner," said Draco suddenly, surveying Pansy intently.

Pansy fidgeted slightly. "Eh," she sputtered inelegantly, badly feigning nonchalance. "I gave up keeping up with what goes on inside that boy's head a long time ago."

"Liar," Draco shot back, leaning back in his chair. "Spill. What did you do?"

"Why do you always assume it's something I did?" Pansy retorted, rolling her eyes.

"So you did do something," Draco replied, looking like the cat that got the cream. "I was just taking a shot in the dark."

Pansy sighed. "Fuck you. You do realise I already have one annoying brother, right? I don't need you to take the place of another."

"Well, considering that Blaise is like a brother to me, you can be demoted to sister-in-law instead of sister figure," Draco smirked, deliberately antagonising her.

"Bloody hell," Pansy groaned. "I'm not sodding marrying Blaise!"

Draco grinned. "I'll be sure to remind of this charming statement at your wedding."

"How on earth do you put up with him, Hermione?" Pansy demanded, massaging her temples.

"With a lot of patience," Hermione teased. "Now, spill."

"You both are getting eerily similar these days," commented Pansy sulkily. "What is up with that?"

"Topic changes won't save you now," Draco replied, unfazed.

Pansy groaned again. "Fine! Last night, Blaise asked me to meet him for a drink because he unexpectedly had a free evening."

"Did you go?" Hermione asked interestedly.

"Yes," Pansy admitted, dropping her head into her folded arms. "I figured it would be a good way to show him that I didn't care about him any longer. While I'm avoiding him or being mean, he knows that what he did is still messing with my head, so I figured I'd act like everything was normal and that I'd moved on to the point where I literally wasn't bothered by his presence."

"And…?" Draco prompted.

"I slept with him," Pansy confessed, cringing.

"Well you certainly showed him," Draco smirked. "Great work."

Pansy raised her head to glare at him. "Hermione, are you going to kill him or should I?"

Hermione shot Draco a warning look before turning back to Pansy. "Surely Blaise won't be completely insufferable about it?"

"You're right," responded Pansy. "He won't be completely insufferable. He does sleep sometimes."

Draco deliberately kept a straight face while humming something that sounded suspiciously like 'here comes the bride' whilst loudly tapping his fingers in tune with the song.

Before Pansy could channel any of her nuclear rage at Draco, Harry burst through the door scowling, followed by an amused Ginny.

"I'm going to get you back for that one Malfoy," he growled, throwing himself into an armchair.

"I'd like to see you try Potter," Draco remarked, impassively.

"Oh don't worry, I have a plan," Harry informed him with a self-satisfied smile. "I'm sure that sometime, somewhere, you'll need me to babysit your son."

Draco paled. "Fuck."

Pansy burst out laughing. "And if Potter fails, I'm next in line."

"Great," Draco managed weakly.

As the four friends laughed at Draco's stricken expression, Hermione felt her spirits lift even higher. The veneer of denial didn't seem as fragile as she'd thought. As long as they had each other, it would take a lot more than another psychopathic megalomaniac to break them, and no matter what was in store for them in the upcoming weeks, in that moment they were young, carefree and happy.

A/n: I'm back! I do apologise for the time it has been taking me with updates, but real life keeps getting in the way of my muse. Don't worry though, I have no intentions of abandoning this story at any point, especially not with the end so near. I don't have a fixed number of chapters decided, but Known Unknowns is definitely drawing to a close.

As always, thank you all for the many kind reviews. I'm certain I've lost all my readers by now, but if any of you are still out there, please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Reviews make me smile, so please feel free to put a giant smile on my face! ^.^

In other news, the fabulous JennyHale, who is doing the Spanish translation of my story, has begun translating another story. The link can be found here s/8149192/1/Between-the-shadows and I hope that any native readers will check it out.

Keep an eye out on my profile page for the ETA on the next update. Will be a lot sooner, I promise.