Sorry it took me so long to return to the story. I was very busy at work and couldn't find the time and (I have to admit) mindset to write. But now here it is, chapter six, and I hope you haven't given up on me yet.

I think you'll like this one.


At the end of her shift late on Monday evening, Narcissa found herself wandering through the quiet hallways of the hospital, eventually ending up in front of a door at the far back of the ward.
She'd been standing in front of this very door more than a dozen times ever since she'd begun working at St. Mungo's but she'd never had the courage to actually open it.

Until now.
Something felt different today.
The usual fear and hesitation she felt whenever she got close to that particular door were notably absent and her hand wasn't quivering on the door handle but carefully pushing it down.

Softly, so as not to make any noise, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, shutting out the light from the hallway and plunging the room back into the heavy blanket of darkness and silence.
Only for a startled and high-pitched gasp to escape her throat when she realized that a pair of eyes was eerily staring at her from the bed closest to the window.

Alice.
She'd heard stories but to see her with her own eyes was an altogether different experience.
Alice Macmillan had been a beautiful young woman with full rosy cheeks, curious eyes, short blonde hair, and a womanly figure. She'd been a vision of life itself, of vibrancy and youth.
The woman that was staring right at her but also through her was only a shadow of her former self: Haggard, forlorn, pale, skinny, white hair, absent.
She didn't move and she didn't speak, she simply kept staring as though there was nothing else she could do.

Then, suddenly, when Narcissa was starting to think that this had been a truly bad idea, Alice swung her legs over the bed and her bare feet hit the floor with a barely audible thud.
She watched in something akin to a trance as her former classmate approached her, eventually coming to a halt only a few inches in front of her and holding out her right hand.
Feeling awkward and uncomfortable because of the loss of personal space, Narcissa took step after step back until she hit the door. There was no escape from the dull, expressionless hazel eyes that seemed to see right into her very soul.

Both women stood rooted to their spots for what felt like eternity.
Then, Narcissa finally placed her hand palm up beneath Alice's outstretched fist, waiting.
It didn't take long for the thin greyish fingers to relax and to release the hidden object into her own hand, the empty plastic wrapper of a chocolate wand.
As Narcissa's fingers closed around the gift, she thought, if only for the fraction of a second, that a tiny smile appeared on Alice's face.
Staring from Alice to the plastic wrapper and back again, she felt the unmistakable prick of tears stinging in the corners of her eyes.
Alice walked back to her bed as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened while Narcissa felt a heavy weight settle in her chest.

Bellatrix had done this. Her beloved sister whom she still couldn't help but miss dearly.
What did it say about her, that she kept loving Bella, knowing what a monster she'd truly been?
Taking a deep and heavy breath, she left the room that had become the home of the Longbottoms over twenty years ago, locking the past inside and escaping from the feelings that were trying to drown her.
She knew the once pretty and insouciant Hufflepuff and her Gryffindor husband would be following her into her dreams for the days to come.


"How was your day, Rosie?" Hermione asked as she was tucking her daughter in, grabbing a book from the nightstand as she did so. "Did you have fun with your grandma?"
The small redhead eagerly nodded, smiling. "Nana Molly let me help her with the garden gnomes! One of them bit her in her big toe, mummy!"
"It did?" Hermione chuckled, remembering all too well how she had gotten rid of the little annoying gnomes for the first time. It was during summer break between her second and third year at Hogwarts. Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny had taught her various and highly entertaining techniques to get a garden gnome-free.
She sighed. They'd been so carefree back then, so light, so happy.

"Mummy? Are you sad?"
Hermione looked at her child, her beautiful, wild girl, and shook her head. "No, sweetheart, I am not sad. I am the luckiest witch there is and do you know why?"
Rose bit her lip in thought. "Me?"
"Exactly. Cause I've got you and your little sibling in my tummy."
"And daddy!" Rose added, a big toothy grin on her face as she expectantly waited for her mummy to add it to her list.
"And… daddy," Hermione added hesitantly. Once that sentiment might have rang true. But these days? It was as much a lie as 'the sun sets in the morning'.

Ron didn't make her happy anymore. It was the scary truth of what their marriage had become, a ball and chain rather than a warm cocoon. And Hermione wondered what that meant, if it had to mean something.
Could she really leave Ronald? Didn't she owe it to Rose and the child growing inside of her to give their life together another chance? To try to make things good between them?

"Mummy, I'm tired… Can you read to me now?"
"Of course, sweetheart," Hermione briefly shook her head to get rid of the dark clouds she felt brewing over her and opened the book on her lap. "Which one do you want?"
"Uhmm… Rapunzel?"
"Alright, Rapunzel it is." Hermione leafed through the heavy tome of fairytales, caressing the thick paper as she searched for the right page. She remembered how her father had used to read to her from this book every night and how her mother more often than not sat beside them on her bed, listening along. The fairytale anthology had been a gift from her grandmother, just a year before she'd passed away when Hermione was six.
She'd always dreamed that her father would one day read to her own children and that both she and her mother would stand in the doorway of the nursery, listening to a proud grandfather tell stories to his grandchild.
It filled her with unimaginable sadness that it would never come to pass.
Running a hand through her daughter's red curls, Hermione began to read.
"Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom,…"


Thursday

"Hermione, what a pleasant surprise," Narcissa greeted the young woman with a smile.
She'd been about to go to the staff room to eat the small lunch she'd packed, when she'd run into the other witch.

Studying the brunette, Narcissa realized that she looked exhausted. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, of course," Hermione smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. It seemed forced.

"Is it Rose?" The Gryffindor shook her head. "The baby?" When there was nothing but silence, Narcissa felt dread well up in her stomach. "Is the baby alright?" She touched the young woman's arm and guided her to a chair with a soft hand on her elbow. Once Hermione sat, Narcissa crouched down in front of her.
"Tell me," she implored the other witch.

"It's nothing, really..." Hermione eventually began, rolling her eyes at herself. "God, I feel so stupid." She made to get up but a gentle hand on her knee held her in place.

"Hermione..."
"I have an appointment with my mediwitch today. I… Ron and I are still not talking and I didn't want to go alone. I realize now that it was stupid of me to come here…" she blushed and averted her eyes. "Ginny is away with the Harpies and Hannah's always busy with the kids and the Three Broomsticks, so I didn't want to ask her and–"
"Hermione," Narcissa waited patiently for the younger woman to meet her eyes. "Did you come here to ask me to accompany you to your appointment?"
It took a little while but eventually, Hermione nodded. "I did," her voice was small as she replied in the affirmative. "I shouldn't have. I know we're not friends, far from it even, and–"

Seeing the emotional turmoil in the brown eyes, Narcissa decided to put a stop to her suffering. "I quite like the idea of being your friend, Hermione. And if you really want me to come, I'd be happy to accompany you."
"– I apologize for even thinking... What did you just say? ... Do you really mean it?"
"Of course. What's the point of uttering things you don't mean?"
A big smile spread on the Muggleborn's lips and shushed away some of the tiredness.
"When is the appointment?"
Hermione's face fell and she sheepishly bit her lower lip. "Fifteen minutes?"
Narcissa chuckled. "Well then," she got up to her feet. "Let me just tell the nurses that I'm taking a longer lunch break today."
"You're really coming?"
"Yes, I said that, didn't I?" Narcissa shook her head at her new friend. "Wait here. I'll be back in five."


Hermione couldn't stop smiling.
'Probably', she thought, 'one of the nurses will send me down to the psych ward soon, thinking I've lost it.'
But she felt happier than she'd felt in a long time and her recent problems and troubles seemed far away for now.

Her first week at work had gone surprisingly well so far – it felt good to be back, to be a part of changing the Wizarding world for the better – and Rose was settling in nicely in the Muggle kindergarten. Today was Rose's third day of kindergarten and just yesterday, her daughter had told her how much more fun it was spending the day with lots of other kids instead of at her grandma's.
Of course Rose loved her grandparents dearly but even garden gnomes and flying cookie brooms couldn't compete with finding new friends to play with.

The best part of her week however, was Narcissa claiming to be her friend and agreeing to come with her to her appointment.
She couldn't quite fathom why, but somehow every kindness the blonde Pureblood showed her felt like being engulfed in a warm hug or sitting on the beach on a sunny day.
Spending time with Narcissa was like nourishment for her soul.

"Ready?"
Hermione looked up to see the witch she'd just been thinking about, a fine eyebrow raised at her.
"Yes, I'm ready."
With a smile, Hermione accepted the offered hand and let the older witch help her to her feet. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."


"Ah, Mrs. Granger!" Miss Ecklestone, the old mediwitch, excitedly greeted her as they entered her small practice in the basement of St. Mungo's. "And you brought back-up! How nice! It's always nice to have a friend along if the husband is unavailable! You can go straight into the examination room, I'll be right with you girls!"

Hermione and Narcissa exchanged amused looks before they entered the examination room.
Hermione went directly behind the curtain to change but not before noticing the confused look on Narcissa's face.

"Miss Ecklestone is a Muggleborn," Hermione explained while she was struggling out of her jeans. "She offers both Muggle and Wizarding examinations for pregnant women and I always choose a mix of both."
Realizing that this could make the Pureblood somewhat uncomfortable, Hermione stuck her head out from behind the curtain, only to find Narcissa staring at the gynecologic chair and the instruments on the table.

"I uhm… I should've mentioned it to you beforehand. I'm sorry, if you want to leave–"
"No," Narcissa shook her head, moving her gaze from the strange chair to Hermione. "I'm perfectly fine, Hermione, I am a healer after all. I'm... familiar with a woman's anatomy and I've actually read up on Muggle pregnancy and childbirth about a year ago."
"Oh."

"I am interested in every form of treatment. I actually think that we would highly benefit if we learned from Muggle medicine. I've been trying to communicate my idea to the head of the clinic but so far without success. It doesn't mean that I'll give up though. There are so many terrible maladies and illnesses… We should take every chance we can to find the best solution to treat and maybe even cure them."

"I uhm… " Hermione gulped down the lump in her throat. Narcissa's words had touched her more than she would like to admit they had. Here she stood, thinking that the blonde could be uncomfortable with witnessing a Muggle procedure, thinking that the blonde harbored prejudices.
When in fact, the one with the prejudices seemed to be herself. "I never thought you'd be so open about the Muggle world," Hermione confessed, holding the blue-eyed gaze. "But I am glad you are. You truly are a special woman, Narcissa Black."
Narcissa felt the treacherous heat spread into her cheeks but shook her head nonetheless. "It's nothing, really..."
"I think it's everything."
The two women stared at one another, getting lost in each other's eyes, sharing soft smiles.

Before the moment could turn awkward or something else entirely, Miss Ecklestone stepped into the room and broke them from their trance.
"I'll be ready in a minute!" Hermione called out, her head disappearing once more behind the curtain to change into an examination robe.


"I still can't believe that this is a picture of your child," Narcissa smiled, her eyes glued to the 3d-sonogram she held tenderly between her right index finger and thumb. "Just look at these tiny fingers! This is incredible!"
"It is…" Hermione dreamily agreed, even though her eyes were currently fixed on the exuberant smile on the blonde's face instead of the sonogram printout. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage and she began to suspect that it had everything to do with the Pureblood sitting next to her.

After the examination – which only had been a little awkward – Hermione and Narcissa had decided to go for a stroll through the park in the inner courtyard of St. Mungo's, seeing as the healer's break wasn't over yet.
Eventually they'd settled on one of the many benches, sharing Narcissa's lunch after the older witch had insisted that Hermione needed to eat something.

"This is truly amazing," Narcissa continued to gush over the print. "I wish I could have one of these of Draco." She finally looked up from the picture. "Once Astoria is a little further along in her pregnancy, I'll definitely take–" Only now did Narcissa realize the strange expression on the brunette's face.

Time seemed to slow down and all the sounds from the tweeting birds to the patients' conversations seemed to ebb away until the only things she heard were her own heartbeat and Hermione's steady but somewhat rushed breathing.
The two witches were slowly leaning ever so much closer towards each other until finally, Narcissa drew back and closed her lunchbox with a loud click, effectively destroying the bubble they'd been caught in.

"I uh… I should return to work now," she cleared her throat and swiftly rose from the bench, placing the sonogram in Hermione's lap. "I'm glad your little boy is doing well. It was nice seeing you."
And before Hermione could even say goodbye or wrap her mind around what had just happened and especially what she was pretty sure had almost happened, Narcissa was already rushing away towards the nearest entrance to return to her ward.


AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter as well as the ones before. I'll make time to reply to each of them over the weekend! And, of course, thanks to anyone who's reading this - I'm writing for you.