Authors note: Alright I know it has been forever. Literally years. Obviously for those of you who followed For Always you know that I went through a very serious trauma and I went down a dangerous path. I would like to announce that I am back on my feet and will continue writing. Thank you all for your support and I appreciate everything. Also, I find that when I upload a file sometimes it deletes words that are in the original file or words that are within quotations but the original saved document is correct. Any ideas? Message me! Thank you all again!
Chapter 8:
Hermione awoke slowly at first and then all at once her senses were alive and buzzing, the smell of garlic hitting her nose sweetly. She rolled over, enjoying the feeling of the silk sheets touching the parts of her body that were bare. She remembered putting on her undergarments just before her and Draco had fallen asleep next to each other. She sat up realizing that she missed him, throwing the blanket back she jumped out of bed and followed the smell of food cooking; taking the steps two at a time.
Draco was at the stove, jeans on and shirtless, with a blue towel lying on his left shoulder while he stirred a pot. Hermione watched as his muscles rippled at every movement, how every action was precise and quick; he did it with perfect efficiency despite not having a wand. Hermione walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso.
"Good morning sunshine." He turned around in her arms and faced her, planting a kiss on her forehead. Hermione smiled at the tender action and revelled in his scent; it smelled like strong amber and warmed her up inside.
"Morning." She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him soundly on the mouth before she pulled back for a yawn.
"I do recall telling you that you were going to be tired." His eyes roamed Hermione's body, only in her white lace panies and matching bra. "I like this look." He said huskily.
"I might not ever wear clothes again." She teased.
"I could be okay with that, but we would never leave the house again."
Hermione released him to continue his work, she got a glass cup and filled it with water from the faucet, enjoying the bubbles scrambling in a flurry like fresh snow as it filled. She moved to their island and plopped herself down on the seat, playing with the rim of the glass. Her mind wandered to the simplicity of it; the beauty of glass without it having to be anything specific at all and how she wished to have a life like that; but those weren't the cards she was dealt. The cards she was dealt was to have to defend herself against those who thought she was not good enough, to deal with curses being thrown her way and mysteries that always needed to be solved. If the war hadn't been enough the situation with Lucius and the missing baby had been the tipping point.
Hermione knew one thing was for certain, Lucius wasn't in his right mind; if he ever had been. He had acted kindly towards her, very amicable and was proud when he thought he was a grandfather. When the switch had flipped that caused him to act out, it didn't look as if there was anger there; it was intense fear, the same gripping fear that she had seen in her dream before he had stabbed her and it had become a reality. Whatever was going on had him scared, and he had said that the 'Seed had been planted' that Hermione had been the carrier and it must be destroyed. When he had grabbed her at 's he looked so desperate and scared and ashamed, when he had hurt her in the dream he looked terrified and determined. He knew something, something horrible.
"What has you thinking so hard, love?" Draco came over and rubbed her shoulders. "I can feel it coming off of you."
Hermione sighed. "I think we need to talk to you father. The sooner we get these things figured out the sooner we can be to having a normal life. I can go find books and research until we crack this thing; but we know this is dangerous. We know some type of Dark Magic was involved but we don't know the extent of it or the effects; I think we should let the Weasley's in on this and see if they can watch Teddy while we figure this stuff out. I don't want to expose him to all of this so young."
"I think that is a wise and a good decision. I am glad you are becoming yourself, I knew your love for research wouldn't stay hidden for long. We will have him tonight with us at dinner, then we will floo for some help. Might as well tell Potter and Weasle what is going on."
"Thank you." She sighed. Looking up she noticed that Draco looked brighter, his eyes more vibrant his hair a crisp white; the colors in the room looked brighter. It felt like everything had been dimming and all the colors lost their value; they were duller and not as beautiful, but now is almost as if they were normal.
"You might want to change Hermione. They will be here soon."
"You might want to change Draco. They'll be ogling you soon." She laughed, hopping down from the stool and running upstairs. Hermione headed to Teddy's room and watched as he played in his play pen, instantly feeling bad that she left him there while they slept and did unmentionable things. Hermione walked over and picked him up, caressing his chubby little body against hers.
"I'm sorry we left you alone." Teddy smiled up at her and Hermione couldn't help but smile back. "You are a good boy though, we are lucky to have you. I bet you will be wild when you are older, just like your mother and father. Your mother was so hot headed, she needed your father to cool her off; they were perfect that way. I hope you don't mind if I am your new mother." She sighed, pushing the bedroom door open with her hip. She walked into the closet with him, setting him on the floor and digging through the clothes for something suitable. "I will be good to you, help you through things and teach you things. You will be so special Teddy and you have all the potential in the world."
Hermione grabbed a simple light pink summer dress that had a v neckline and a simple a line fitting. She slipped it over her body, not remembering purchasing this dress, but loving how it fit perfectly and the soft texture. Hermione decided to skip on the shoes, it was her own home. She sat down in front of Teddy, crossing her legs by him.
"And we will have a bunch of fun. I promise I am getting better then we can go to the zoo and park and play. You might even have a little sister. It will all work out as it should be, but right now we have things to take care of. I don't know why I am telling you this, its not like you understand. I just want you to know I love you, and so does daddy." Hermione stopped talking for a second and pondered that word. It was so fitting.
"We are adopting him." Draco said, causing Hermione to jump. "Just sign the papers and we are adopting him."
"How long have you been standing there?"
Draco grabbed a blue button up T-shirt and smiled towards her. "Long enough to know that we are adopting him and he will be calling us mom and dad. Long enough to know that I am going to marry you soon, we will find our daughter and have our own baby."
"That means three young kinds Draco." Hermione laughed, grabbing Teddy and standing up. "Do you know how much work that is and money?"
Draco finished buttoning his shirt before looking at her. "Money? Really?" He kissed her forehead and smiled at her before taking Teddy from her arms; right as the doorbell rang. "Show time. You look nice, I like this color on you." He took her hand and guided her out of the room and down the stairs.
"I'm sure that's why you picked it out. Stop buying me clothes, we have too many and we hardly go anywhere for me to wear half the things you've gotten me."
"Shut up." He laughed, opening the door. Jessica stood there in a nice blue dress that reached her knees and and made her pale skin pop against the beautiful hue. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she looked up sheepishly.
"Hey."
"Hello." Draco said.
"Where's your sister?" Hermione asked, gesturing for her to come in before closing the door.
"She had some problems but she's on her way over right now. She will just be a little late and I told her I would be next door. I hope you don't mind."
"We don't." Hermione assured her. "Dinner is just finishing up and I haven't even set the table."
"But I did." Draco laughed. "You are welcome." He kissed her cheek before walking to the living room.
"Well we can just sit and chat while we wait then." Hermione offered.
"Sounds great."
Hermione followed Jessica into the living room, sitting beside Draco. "What did you do all day?"
"I cleaned." She laughed. "I like cleaning and I knew my sister was coming over for the night so I was preparing everything. She's very specific about things and she's kinda stressed so I didn't want to give her anything to worry about and took care of everything."
"Is she older or younger?"
"Younger. But she's brilliant and very successful, already married and everything like that. We are very close though so we spend a lot of time together. Do you have any siblings?"
"Nope." Draco said, while Hermione shook her head.
"That had to have been lonely." Jessica said.
"Actually," Hermione laughed. "It was rather peaceful. The school we went to had us surrounded by people all the time, we had roommates for the whole year and plenty of people to annoy us there. When I got home I just felt so peaceful."
"Didn't you ever want a sibling?" She asked.
"Sometimes." Hermione stated. "But my two best friends are just like my brothers. We practically lived together last year and, as much as I love them, I don't think I could handle having them around me all the time like a sibling would be."
Jessica nodded. " I was always glad I never had a brother, boys can be vile. No offense Draco."
"None taken. I lived with boys during my school days and I am well groomed if I don't say so myself, they were all disgusting."
Hermione and Jessica laughed. "I am sure you never had a gross moment during high school." Jessica giggled.
Hermione gave Jessica a look. "No. You don't understand. He was never gross, too mature for his age and everything. He wasn't even a teenager."
"I'm right here, love."
"These are things I have told you before." Hermione smiled.
"So how did you guys fall in love with each other? I've never seen anything like the way you guys are."
Draco burst into laughter. "We hated each other. I mean absolutely loathed each other. Well at least she did me, I think I only pretended but still. We are the last couple the school expected to see together." He reached over and pushed Hermione's hair off of her shoulder.
"So how did you get where you are now?"
Hermione brought her legs up to the couch, uncomfortable, and grabbed Teddy from Draco. "Long story. But you might as well hear it. Draco do the honors."
He looked at her confused, not sure how to explain this but then he remembered the earlier conversation about a gang or something. "Well it was gang related. Members from my gang took her away from hers and she was stuck living at the manor."
"Manor?"
"He's a rich snob." Hermione interjected with a small sarcastic smile.
"Anyway," Draco continued, flicking her leg. "You spend all the time with someone and you fall in love with them. During everything that was going on she was so strong, she was so brave and resilient the entire time. She was always plotting and thinking and playing her part that she needed to. I admired that. She was brought into the gang as a member and she still was able to smile, it took some time but she did it."
"If you don't mind my asking, what was the gang for?"
Hermione sat forward, placing Teddy on the ground to play at her feet. "There is a whole other world that you don't even know about. It's a dark world out there and people don't even know the half of it. There are people who believe in something that's called blood purity, which we never knew what that meant exactly. It was basically they were rich and they thought that anyone but them had to be eradicated from this world. My side wasn't like that."
"Is it safe now?"
"The leaders dead if that's what your asking." Draco said. "Potter's the hero."
"Potter?"
"He's my friend and Draco's just bitter because he's being Draco." Hermione sighed. "There as still some bad people out there but it's safer now than it has been since this thing started. It'd been brewing for years and we knew the outcome was going to be intense."
"And yet you guys still love each other, despite being on opposite sides."
"Yeah. We do." Draco smiled.
"Its an amazing story. It's so unreal."
"You don't even know Jessica." Hermione smiled. "You don't even know."
The door bell rang and Draco stood from the couch to go answer it. There was an awkward silence but Hermione took that moment to decide that Jessica wasn't a threat. She was beautiful and kind, but even Jessica could see there was nothing that would split Hermione and Draco up. She was curious and that was something Hermione liked a lot about her. There was a couple of seconds of calm before a strange whining noise erupted from the entryway.