This was not the plan…

From the moment she found out about magic, Hermione Granger had a plan. The moment she stepped foot into Hogwarts, she could see it all laid out perfectly. She would excel in all her classes, become a prefect, maybe head girl during her seventh year. After Hogwarts she would get a job at the ministry, fighting for the rights of underprivileged magical creatures while she worked her way up the ladder. Hermione had a plan, but that plan was all blasted to hell. She did not plan to become best friends with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. She didn't plan to be treated differently for being a muggleborn and the obstacles that came along with it. She didn't plan to fight in a wizarding war where she broke the rules at every turn just to survive. She never planned to survive said war, battered and broken into pieces, just to become a public figure that the wizarding world adored and followed at every turn. She certainly didn't plan to go down a path that led her to becoming a single mother.

After the end of the war, Hermione had gone back to Hogwarts to complete her last year of studies. Harry had decided to take Minister Shacklebolt up on his offer to fastrack into the training program for a new generation of aurors while Ron went to work with George at the joke shop. Neither had wanted to return to a place that held such horrid memories for them and they couldn't understand why Hermione would want to. Harry tried to be supportive while Ron, still bitter over the decision to just stay friends, decided it was for the best since they clearly needed time and space from one another. Upon her arrival to Hogwarts, as Hermione was settling into her dorm as Head Girl she was surprised to find out that Theodore Nott would be joining her as Head Boy.

"Granger! Looks like we will be roomies!"

"Theodore Nott? You're Head Boy?"

"Must you be so formal?" Theo grinned, dropping onto the couch in their shared common room. "Shocking isn't it?

"I would say so…"

She could have never predicted just how close she would become to Theo. Unlike Harry and Ron, Theo was smart. He was ridiculously smart and Hermione found herself enthralled in intellectual conversations and debates with the slytherin. She was shocked to see that unlike many of his fellow pureblood slytherins, Theo was kind and thoughtful and didn't have a bigoted bone in his body. Their friendship didn't come without its share of challenges though. The remaining student body at Hogwarts was weary of the slytherins, many showing the same prejudice that was once shown to them. Theodore was good friends with Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson. While Hermione didn't care who he was friends with, it became a problem when they began to find themselves in her common room far too often. Being around the students that had spent years torturing her in classes was a hard pill to swallow.

The war had changed everyone though, in ways that not even Hermione Granger could deny. The slytherins that frequently occupied their common room were always quiet and polite to her anytime she entered the room. There were no sneers and underhanded insults thrown her way. It took time but she began to see just how much of a change there was. She found herself enjoying their presence, teasing along with them. There were qualities about them all that, once all the layers were pulled back, each could see why they could all be friends. So they became a group, a non judgemental post war group of friends. Draco Malfoy was carefully guarded around Hermione, but when he would let himself drop his mask, the real Draco was someone Hermione was drawn to. Pansy became a force of nature in Hermione's life, challenging her to step outside of her comfort zone and embrace her femanality that she had suppressed for so long. Blaise she learned was quiet but was fiercely loyal to a fault, especially when it came to Draco, Theo, and Pansy.

While she found herself increasingly comfortable with the group of snakes, Hermione's other friends at Hogwarts had a hard time adjusting to it. Ginny of course could be counted on to bridge the divide and bring around the other gryffindors to see reason. Harry was weary, especially about Draco, but he had learned that it was best to support Hermione because if anyone knew what they were doing it was her. Ron on the other hand was angry. He hated her new friends and it caused a larger rift between them in the end. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was putting herself first and having fun like a normal teenager.

Upon her graduation from Hogwarts, things took a downhill turn for the Golden Girl. The future she had planned for herself just didn't seem to fit anymore. She was no longer the idealistic girl that first stepped foot through the halls of Hogwarts. She was now a war heroine, a survivor. She accepted a job at the ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures. She soon found herself suffocating at the tedious day to day tasks the ministry provided with her. It was as if she was just a show piece to them and she found it hard to fit into the small box they wanted to keep her in.

"You hate it because it's not a challenge," Theo pointed out to her over dinner with the snakes that they all had agreed to try to keep up with after graduation. "You, Granger, need to be challenged to thrive. The ministry just doesn't do that for you."

"He's right, you know," Draco nodded, taking a long pull from his glass of firewhiskey. "If you stay too long that fire will just burn out."

"What fire?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"The fire that is the brightest witch of our age, golden girl." Blaise winked, earning snickers from around the table. "We worked very hard to see that flame burning again. I'll take it very personally if you let it die out."

It didn't take her long before she snapped and quit her job at the ministry much to the shock of everyone, well almost everyone, around her. The Daily Prophet accused her of a mental break, the snakes on the other hand cheered her on. She launched herself into a healer training program, soaking up all the knowledge she felt like she had been missing out on at the ministry. When she began her work at St. Mungo's, she realized that she should have been there all along. She felt alive and bold and that is where things took a turn that she couldn't even explain to herself quite honestly. She began to go on dates, many dates. The fire inside her had been lit and every part of her craved to be seen. The demure, prude, swot Hermione was placed on the backburner and the new Hermione Jean Granger was out to play.

"She's not coming," Theo said, answering the unspoken question within the group. "She has a date."

"Another one?" Draco grumbled, knocking back his whiskey in one shot.

"Can you blame her?" Pansy laughed while sipping her wine. "She's finally learned to appreciate her given assets."

"She's been ditching spending time with us for over a month now."

"Is someone feeling jealous?" Blaise smirked.

Ten months. It had been over ten months since Hermione had attended a dinner or a game night. Ten months since wizarding London had heard a peep from the golden girl. Theo had heard through the grapevine that she had taken a leave of absence from St. Mungo's and that's when the snakes began to worry. However, a few months into her disappearance, Theo announced that they didn't need to worry about Granger and that she was just taking some personal time to deal with issues she had been putting off. He wouldn't say anymore than that. It was frustrating to no end for the rest of her friends but Theo assured them that she was perfectly fine and that there was no need to worry. As time passed, the group began to accept that they may never see their lioness friend again. Theo would never say more than his previous excuse but they had a feeling he still would talk to her.

"Well Granger," Theo smiled, walking into her room at St. Mungo's with a bouquet of flowers and a stuffed unicorn. "I hear you caused quite a stir today."

"I suppose you could say that," Hermione smiled, shifting the small, pink bundle in her arms.

"Well it's not every day I get a call saying Theo, I'm in labor, the boy who lived is taking me to St. Mungo's. Come save me."

"That's not what I said." Her quiet laughter filled the air as Theo silently took a seat beside her.

"I would have taken you myself, you know, any of us would." Theo gave her a pointed look before trying to get a peek of the tiny human swaddled in pink. "Don't worry, I didn't tell them."

"Thank you…"

"They wouldn't have judged you Hermione. They aren't Weasley."

"Theo…"

"Well Granger," Theo smiled brightly at her, effectively ending the conversation. "Are you going to continue to hold me in suspense or do I finally get to see what all this fuss was about?"

"I suppose I should introduce you," Hermione sighed dramatically, shifting her arms to give Theo a full view of the tiny baby girl sleeping in her arms. "Theo… this is Lyra Elizabeth Granger."

Theo looked down at the small bundle in her arms and couldn't help the smile that immediately spread across his face. Even as a baby, Lyra Granger was the spitting image of her mother. She already had a mop of brown curly hair that rested on the top of her head and she had the same nose as her mother. If he were being honest, he half expected to see a baby with bright red hair sticking out in all directions. As she opened her eyes, Theo found himself lost in the chocolate ones staring up at him. "May I?" Nodding her head, Hermione shifted gently handing over Lyra to Theo. He took a moment to adjust her in his arms, Lyra being smaller than he had expected. She was quiet as she stared up at him, her eyes already so expressive. "I have to say… I expected Mini Granger here to have unruly red hair."

"Theo…"

"But I am unbelievably happy to report that I do not see a single Weasley feature in her." Theo smirked at Hermione. "Nor do I see any Weasley hanging around your room. So I assume she isn't Weasel's then?"

"I already told you the answer to that," Hermion spoke softly, looking down at her hands. She wasn't ready to divulge that information to anyone yet, especially with how complicated everything had become in the last few days. "I'll tell you who he is when the time is right… and that's not this moment."

"Well, where is the father hmm?" Theo asked, looking down again at Lyra, smiling softly as she wrapped her tiny hand around his finger. "Should I be expecting to be kicked out of here any moment so your secret isn't blown."

"There's no one coming…" Her voice was so soft, Theo immediately looked back up at her. He studied her face for a moment, noticing that there was something definitely wrong. He knew Hermione like the back of his hand and she did not hide her facial expressions well. What did she mean by no one was coming?

"Hermione… what's going on?" Theo asked gently.

"Lyra's father is… well he's not going to be in the picture." Hermione took a deep breath, steadying her emotions that were on a rollercoaster ride thanks to her hormones. "He's decided that he wants no part of any of this." It took a moment before Hermione gathered the courage to look up into her friend's eyes. When she did, she was met with concern and what looked like a hint of anger.

"He just… what does… he DECIDED? I'm sorry, didn't he DECIDE to have sex with you?" Theo started, trying to comprehend the words that were coming out of his friend's mouth. "So he's just DECIDED that he can walk away. I thought you said he was part of this!"

"He was going to be part of this. This was a...recent development on his part." She didn't know what else to say to him. She had never planned on any of this to happen. "This wasn't the plan…"

"Ok so he wants no part of this," Theo nodded, keeping his cool the best he can, shifting Lyra in his arms. "So ok, Potter and I will get you and Lyra home and settled."

"I was out looking for a flat for Lyra and I when my water broke. She came earlier than expected…"

"Wait… so you're telling me… not only has he decided not to be part of this… but that he left you without a place to live?" Theo spat out seething. "Oh for fucks suck Hermione. Why did you not fucking call me?"

"I didn't want to be a burden…"

"We are friends. Burdening each other is what we do," Theo said, shaking his head and gently handing Lyra back to her. "So what exactly is your plan?"

"Harry said I could stay with him and Ginny until I'm able to sort things out."

"At Grimmauld Place?" Theo laughed. "You really have lost it."

"It would only be temporary…"

"Fuck it," Theo said throwing his arms up. "I happen to live in a manor. Alone. You and Lyra will come and stay with me until you sort this shit out."

"Theo…"

"Before you even say Oh Theo I couldn't possibly impose," Theo said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You two would practically have your own wing. There is too much room at Nott Manor and I for one would be glad for the company of two beautiful women."

"Theo…"

"This really isn't up for discussion Granger. Let me go and see about getting the two of you the hell out of here."