A/N: Sorry I'm a little late getting this one up, loves! This weekend was a bit hectic in real life. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Beta love to MyPrivateInsanity! [I should really stop rushing when I type, the poor dear had a lot of work to do!]

Chapter 4

Draco couldn't sleep. He laid next to Hermione and listened as the breathing of the witch next to him deepened and evened out. He was too lost in thought to rest peacefully. She smelled differently than he was used to. Perhaps it was because of her being in Mungo's, but everything just seemed a little bit off.

Where had those scars come from? And that tattoo? What the devil was going on with his witch? Had she been attacked by some Death Eater who had evaded capture? Draco tightened his arms around his witch infinitesimally, and mentally made a list of every Death Eater who was still at large and might have the wherewithal to overpower his witch. It was a very short list, though he was almost certain Hermione had told him that they'd all been captured.

She hadn't wanted to be an Auror, not after the time she had spent in the presence of that megalomaniac. She used to have panic attacks from walking around the Manor before she had agreed to move in with Draco. It had been ages before she could stomach it. Regardless of Draco's willingness to defect, run, and hide, his father had not been willing to give up his place in the inner circle. The Manor was the Death Eater base of operations, and Hermione had suffered extensively there. Severus had done everything he could to aid in her safety, but there truly wasn't much to be done when the ringleader of their little circus was certifiably mental.

Draco had watched the gradual dimming of her fire with each raid. It had not happened quickly, but he could see it fade over time. She had told him once that visiting him had become her anchor of sorts. She had said he was a constant reminder of why she was doing this. All the pain and humiliation she had suffered at the hands of the other Death Eaters didn't matter, because she was doing it for him.

Draco had not understood her. Not really. He was a prat, and a prejudiced, hateful twat to her for years. Why should she care about what happened to him? Whynot just leave him to his fate? She wouldn't answer his questions, just flashed a wan smile, then asked how he and Narcissa were faring. Draco hated being cooped up, though he never once complained to her about his irritation. She was giving up far more than he was for his safety and the surety his mother wouldn't be tortured to death in front of him.

She looked now as she had then - her light had dimmed somewhat. It was as if she had taken two steps back, and he surely didn't know what had caused it. Yesterday she'd been herself. Normal, snarky, flirty, and loving. She had even taken Scorp out to fly for a little while. Their son was the only reason she would get on a broom. After all these years she still hated flying. Well, she hated flying on broomsticks, and it was something she was not good at.

Hermione was twitching in her sleep. This was not new to Draco. She'd been doing that since they'd begun sharing a bed. It was as if she was running in her sleep. Once she had even managed to cast a protego in her unconscious state, which Draco had to admit was rather impressive. Accidental magic usually came from a place of extreme emotion, though Draco couldn't say that it hadn't. He was not privy to her dreams. She didn't like to talk about them and he would not force her. She would wake, often afraid of what she had done or said in her sleep, and he would comfort her until she dozed back off again. It was the way they did things. Hermoine settled back into restful sleep, and not long after, Draco drifted off as well. The day had not been kind to him, and he was beyond exhausted with worry.

Meanwhile, Hermione was back in her dreams with the other version of her. The version of her that was far calmer and more collected. Just as before, she sat across from her other self at Hogwarts, waiting for her other self to instruct her on where to start.

"He knows something is wrong," she said.

Hermione fixed her with a look. "He's your husband. I don't know how to go about this. I don't know how to make him understand what's happening."

"He's a legilimens , so it won't be hard once we figure out what to show him. I've been working on putting together our lives and memories. It should make you feel more stable, once you wake, and give you more of a handle on what's happened in this time."

"I hope it wasn't as grisly as what happened in mine. I'm not sure I can handle any more of that in my head," Hermione responded.

"It wasn't like that for everyone. Unfortunately, we took the brunt of it for Draco and Harry both."

"Sounds like us."

"It does, doesn't it?" The Hermione sitting across from her wore understated dress robes, while she still wore her school uniform.

She smirked at herself, "I guess you had better fill me in then. I can't very well be swanning about in Malfoy Manor without knowing where everything is. And I can't be terrified of the damn Drawing Room."

"Ah. Yes, about that. I sort of fixed that memory for you. We'll still have it in our heads, but I've taken the…heat out of it, as it were. It's still not a great memory, but at least we won't be terrified every time we go by it," the other Hermione stated.

"Thanks for that. So what changed here?"

"Well, basically I took Draco's place as a Death Eater. He came to me and asked for help, and I couldn't tell him no. He was a kid, just like we were, except that monster was going to be living in his home. Draco is a Potions Master, you know, and he's going to be tested to become a Healer at St. Mungo's next year. He never wanted to take lives; he's always wanted to help people." Hermione snorted, but her other self continued with an annoyed frown.

"I realize this might come as a shock to you, but there's a reason he lowered his wand on the Astronomy Tower. He couldn't kill Dumbledore, any more than he could have killed you. He doesn't have it in him, even though he's a prat at times. He's more like his mother than his father, and thank Circe for that."

"Severus arranged our introduction to Voldemort. Of course we weren't trusted, and we never actually took the Dark Mark since our blood wasn't up to par" - here they both rolled their eyes - "but we did end up going on missions. Or rather, sabotaging them."

"Would it be easier to show me?"

"It would, but it would be a shock to your system, and you're still recovering from hopping timelines."

"Eh. I'm in the hospital already."

"But do you want to have to stay in the hospital?"

"…Not really. Though I have to say Draco Malfoy is a fantastic cuddler."

The Hermione across from her smirked. "You don't know half of it yet. He blew our mind in more ways than one."

"The Slytherin Sex God myth?"

"Decidedly not a myth," she grinned at her other self smugly.

"Well, that certainly has appeal," she thought out loud.

"Yes, it does."

"Okay, show me what I need to know to have a decent foothold in this reality," Hermione prodded.

With a heavy sigh, the woman across from her nodded her assent. "I should have known you wouldn't be willing to listen to me about this, even though you're arguing with yourself on the subject."

"Yes, you should have," Hermione agreed sagely.

The scene around them changed. They were no longer at Hogwarts, but instead sitting in front of Dumbledore a day after having spoken with Draco in the abandoned classroom. Hermione watched the memory silently, her alternate self arguing on behalf of the other Slytherin, and Dumbledore reluctantly agreeing to allow her to remove him from school and put him somewhere for his protection. Then the scene changed. Hermione and Dumbledore sat with Severus in the Headmaster's office, discussing how best to go about everything. Of course Severus was opposed to involving her at all. She would be at risk simply by showing up in his presence, much less after the removal of Draco. Dumbledore insisted, and they came up with a plan. The plan had taken weeks to implement.

Hermione was introduced to Voldemort and subsequently tortured. He allowed his Death Eaters to beat her. Severus carried her back to Hogwarts that night, because she was certainly not able to walk. If she'd not been studying occlumency since her second year, she wouldn't have survived at all. Severus had helped her adjust her shields and nothing was getting into them unless she permitted it.

The memories sped up, flashes here and there; Hermione recognized them as the high points of what happened. There hadn't been a final battle, not like there had been in her time, but there had been a fight. With Hermione and Severus on the inside, they were able to take the fight to the Death Eaters, instead of Hogwarts being destroyed. The Manor had been worse for wear, but at least no students were needlessly killed. Additionally, Severus had lived in this timeline, which pleased her. . Snape had been an arsehole, but serving as a spy would have likely made her an arsehole, too.

Hermione saw images of exactly that - her being an arsehole to her friends and not being able to explain it. She obviously had a lot of secrets to keep, and she had kept them from everyone save Severus, Dumbledore, and Draco. Draco, she learned, had been the only reason she hadn't completely lost herself in her occluding. When Hermione needed a safe place to let her shields drop, she'd gone to the cottage where Draco was hidden. Draco would prod at her relentlessly until they would drop, and he would hug her to him while she screamed and tried to reconcile whatever nightmare she'd just been through. She'd been raped, she'd been beaten, she'd been tortured, she'd been forced to kill, and she hadn't had someone to save her from it.

She saw the guilt on Draco's face in the memories; he couldn't hide it from her. Once she had been put back together, she would admonish him for feeling guilty, and boss him into studying for his N.E.W.T.'s. "What about the Horcruxes? What was the plan? How did we defeat him in this timeline?"

"Let's save that for another time. You're about to be rudely awoken," Hermione said. "You should feel better now, more stable and even. I'll continue putting things together in the background, so we can merge properly."

Hermione woke up, memories still running through her mind as if they had been a dream. Hannah was running diagnostic spells, and she smiled at Hermione when she'd noticed she had woken.

"Did you sleep all right?" Hannah asked in a hushed voice. Draco was still soundly asleep next to her. Not wishing to wake him, Hermione only nodded at the witch as she went about her business.

"Are you ready to talk about these curses? This tattoo?" Hannah prodded her gently.

Hermione shook her head, looking pointedly at the man sleeping next to her. She owed it to him, and to certain others, to speak with them first. Dumbledore might be dead, but Minerva, Severus, and Draco were not. She could discuss this with them. She would. And then they would figure out how to go about explaining everything else.

Hermione vaguely recalled Luna should be coming for a visit; perhaps the witch could help her get in touch with them and bring them here. She wasn't sure how to explain any of this, but Severus would know it was her. They'd spoken mind-to-mind on more than one occasion. Hell, for that matter, Draco would know she was telling the truth, but perhaps having his Godfather here would soften the blow.

Hermione was struck with the sudden urge to kiss Draco Malfoy awake, starting at the corner of his mouth and inching her way across until his eyes opened. She surmised this wasn't entirely her idea, but the other her pushing the thought to the forefront of her mind. Hermione mentally shrugged at the suggestion. After the slew of memories she had waded through with her other self, she certainly didn't find the idea repugnant. Not knowing how long it would be until Luna arrived, she decided to go with it.

Hermione shifted just slightly in his hold on the narrow hospital bed, and lightly kissed the right corner of his mouth. He barely stirred, so Hermione repeated her actions, a little closer to the center of his mouth. Eventually she heard a deep thrumming purr of contentment in his chest as he wrapped her more closely in his arms. Hermione chuckled lightly.

"Good morning," she said, plopping a light kiss on his cheek.

"Much better than yesterday," Draco replied, kissing her back.

"Luna should be here soon. I thought I should wake you."

"Hopefully she has something to say other than, 'I've no idea what transpired, but surely we'll figure it out. Just sit here in an uncomfortable room forever while we research for five hundred years,'" Draco mocked imperiously. He was being a prat.

"I don't care what they say, I want to go home. I want Luna and Severus' help," Hermione said firmly.

"You know Severus doesn't like to be out and about," Draco said, a little shocked.

"He's not going to be. That's why I want to go home. He will come for us, for me. Besides, he hasn't seen Scorpius in ages," Hermione smirked knowingly. She knew if her plight wouldn't move the acerbic man, Scorpius would be the motivation needed to put his potions under stasis and leave his lab.

Draco smirked back at her, knowing she was correct. Severus doted on Scorpius as much as any grandparent would have. His mother loved the little boy immensely, but the only people she trusted to take care of Scorpius in her and Draco's absence were either the Potters or Severus. She refused to have Narcissa swanning about and twisting her grandson's mind, much as she had allowed to happen to her own son. Draco didn't disagree, though his mother was far less likely to be a dehumanizing influence than his father, but she had been brought up to revile anyone who wasn't Pureblood, and he wouldn't wish that for his son. It had caused Draco enough problems.

"Fine, fine. We'll conspire with the other blonde one and get you out of here, posthaste," Draco agreed.

"Thank you, dearest," Hermione said with a smile. She didn't know how she was going to break this to him - but why did she care? It was strange, to feel so suddenly sweet towards Draco sodding Malfoy...but it wasn't unwelcome, knowing how the other her felt about him. It was quite odd, though, noo matter what way you looked at it.

Hannah came into the room and checked her vitals, seeming happy with the results. Hermione had a theory that the majority of her exhaustion stemmed more from being forcibly removed from her other timeline by a sweet, if somewhat misguided phoenix than from the dark magic that was eating at her. It had never bothered her before, and she had certainly grown accustomed to the feeling.

"You're looking much better," Hannah said happily.

"I feel much better. Can I go home now?" Hermione prodded.

"Not just yet, we want to run more tests," Hannah hedged.

"She's fine, Hannah. There's just two of her now," came a soft, lilting voice from the doorway.

"Luna! Come here!" Hermione was suddenly overcome with tears. The last time she had seen Luna, she had been fighting for her life. It was Luna she had taken the curse for. She dragged herself out of bed, and crushed Luna into a hug.

"Hello Hermione, it's good to see you again. Sorry I couldn't be here sooner; I was hunting the Crumple Horned Snorkack. I thought I was getting close too," Luna said with a soft smile.

"What do you mean there are two of her?" questioned Draco seriously. "Do you mean that she's pregnant? Lovegood, I swear if that's your way of breaking the news…"

Luna started laughing lowly, as did Hannah, and Hermione shortly thereafter. Draco looked between the three women, feeling greatly outnumbered and definitely as if he was being laughed at. "What?" he asked grumpily.

"She isn't pregnant, Draco. It would have shown up on the diagnostics," Hannah was still chuckling.

"Right. Right. What did you mean then?" Draco asked Luna. Luna just smiled at him and changed the topic. She wouldn't answer the question, and she made it obvious by pointedly asking him about wrackspurts. Draco rolled his eyes.

With the three of them working together, Hermione was out of Mungo's and back at home within the next hour and a half. Of course, the Healers wanted to argue with her, so she'd threatened to call the Chosen One in to escort her out. They'd eventually relented when she promised she would come back in a week to be looked over once more, or sooner if she started to feel off again in any way.

Draco took Hermione home, then promptly asked Luna to stay with her while he went to check on their son, inform everyone she was fine, and attempt to wrangle his surly Godfather into a visit. Luna readily agreed, and Hermione was glad for the development. She needed to talk to the witch privately; she needed her perspective on how to best approach this. Hermione gathered the witch had already figured out the issue from her previous comment made at Mungo's, so as soon as Draco had left to see to their son, Hermione got down to business.

"I'm glad you're here. I need your help, Luna. I don't know how to address this," Hermione said, handing the witch some tea.

"Well, of course. I'm glad you're both here. And also I'm sorry you died for the other me. And I'm sorry that because you died for the other me, the other you and you are sharing one mind and time stream now. It's all so very confusing… how can I help?"

"How do I bring this up to Draco? How do I tell this story? Do I hide it? Do I brush it off and insist it's nothing? Do I just...tell the world what has occurred?"

"I think you're on the right track with Severus and Draco. First, show Severus, then Draco. He'll probably panic, but after all, you're still the you that you were before."

"Am I though?"

"Yes, Mi, you are. You're still you, though you'll have different experiences from your timelines to merge and deal with. But you're still you, and you already fell in love with him once."

"I suppose you're right…"

"I've missed you, Mi. You're the only person that embraces me as I am, you know? And you always have," Luna said warmly.

"Well, you just see things that we don't, Luna. You've always connected the dots differently, and you're a damn good witch. I'm lucky to have you in my life," Hermione said with a smile, and she meant it.

Luna and Hermione sat and chatted for some time before Draco returned with Severus. From the disheveled look of her husband - ye gods, her husband - he and his Godfather had had a minor disagreement before he'd been properly maneuvered to visit. Hermione chuckled inwardly.

"What, pray tell, is so important that you pull me from my haven of solitude and potioneering, you infernal witch?" Severus snapped at her. He was amused though, she could tell from the very slight uptilt in the corner of his eyes.

"Can I just show you?" Hermione said seriously.

Severus sighed, sounding put out and as if the prospect was extremely irritating. She knew he was being facetious, though. "Fine, fine. Let's sort this quickly; I want to see Scorp before I trudge back to seclusion."

Hermione just smirked at him as she sorted her thoughts so they would be easy for him to view. She found it came easily. In her own timeline, she hadn't been the best at this, but it was much easier with the help of her other-self. It was very strange, the meshing of all her memories from both timelines. Hermione Granger would have never willingly called for Severus Snape, but Hermione Malfoy had no second thoughts about it. Stranger than fiction, this life she was living.

She opened her mind, and he rifled through her thoughts, searching for details. t felt like it took an hour, though she was sure it was only moments. Severus had taught both Malfoy and her, so it stood to reason he had no problems probing to find what he needed to see. When he broke the connection, he looked at her very curiously.

"I assume Miss Lovegood is here, because she knows things?" Severus commented tonelessly.

"Well, rather because she sees things others don't," Hermione replied.

"And I am here, obviously, to attest to the validity of this possibility, as well as to the truthfulness of the story?"

"Something like that, Sev," Hermione smirked.

"Witch. You try my patience," Severus said with a smirk.

"Hello, yes. Wife, and godfather. How about you inform me of what's going on?" Draco said petulantly, though he was smirking. Luna's laugh was tinkling and light as she sipped her tea.

Hermione's eyes shifted quickly to Luna, comforted by her lack of seriousness regardless of what was about to happen. "Err- maybe you should sit," Hermione said apprehensively.

"Alright…" Draco moved to sit beside her on the couch. "Now what is going on?"

"This is really difficult to try to explain, so I'm going to show you what I showed Severus. It's just easier that way, as I really don't have the words for this."

Draco only nodded. "Are you ready?"

"Not really, but do it anyway," Hermione quipped, her face full of worry. Draco gently placed his hand on her face and dove into her mind, not at all prepared for what he was about to see.

Draco swam through Hermione's thoughts and found himself standing in front of Hogwarts, though it didn't look anything like he had ever seen. Half of the castle was as pristine as he remembered it, and the other half of the castle was greatly damage. All he could see was fire, detritus of broken castle walls on the ground, and he could smell blood, and...were those bodies?

"Hello, love," Hermione greeted. "Not exactly what you remember, is it?"

"Not at all. Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Well, about that, we wanted to show you this," Granger mentioned quietly. Draco's head swivelled to the right, seeing another version of his wife looking significantly worse for wear. The woman on the left wasn't as scarred as the one on the right.

"What...is going on?" Draco asked, looking between the two witches. In the time since Granger had been here last, her other self had done a significant amount of work. There were fewer fires to put out, and all of the bodies which had been nearby had been removed. The castle was still in need of repair, but she had been warned this was going to be a bit of a process.

"Just stick with us, alright? I'm going to show you some things and I'm going to ask you to hold your questions until we're done," Hermione Malfoy commented wryly.

Granger had let her other self take the questions and explanations. She would know better how to handle her own husband, and she was here, along for the ride and willing to answer questions asked. For the moment, she stood silently to the side. Draco nodded his assent, and Hermione started at the beginning of the story. She brought forth the different choices the three -two?- of them had made in the separate timelines.

She showed him how his choice to ask her for help, and conversely his choice not to ask her for help, had affected their lives. One becoming Hermione Granger, who had "died" protecting her friend, and the other became Hermione Malfoy, who had instead infiltrated the inner circle with the help of his Godfather. The woman who had come to him for help when she couldn't break down her own mental shields. The woman who had come to love him, and given him a son.

Granger watched some of the memories as raptly, as she hadn't yet seen them, and she had definitely not experienced them herself, or, Granger hadn't. Draco didn't speak, though he did scoff in a few places. He had, however,, held his tongue until the stream of memories caught him up to present time.

"So, just to be clear, you," he pointed at Granger, "are actually from a different time stream altogether and were saved by a phoenix who brought you into our time stream, and now you share a body and mind with my wife?"

"Err, yes I suppose that's about as far as we've gotten," Hermione replied.

Draco broke the connection to Hermione's mind and promptly carded his hands through his hair in frustration. He looked up to see his amused Godfather looking at him.

"Why is it my witch is always putting herself into danger for others and then these things happen?" Draco questioned the room.

"You married a Gryffindor," Luna commented sweetly.

Severus barked out a laugh at her comment, and went to pour his godson a firewhiskey. It was likely he could use it after such a reveal. He handed the glass over to Draco. "I'm rather shocked you're not yelling yet."

"Give me time, Godfather. I'm sure I'll find something to yell about, eventually," Draco smirked at him while he took the tumbler and knocked back the beverage.

After a few moments, he looked at Hermione, "So, you're my wife, but you aren't. And you don't remember our life. And that is why you completely freaked out yesterday morning and why you were so exhausted, and why you wouldn't let me anywhere near you. Oh, and you're here because of a phoenix, and because you saved Luna's life in your time stream." Hermione nodded in affirmation. "Oh, Merlin. I...I let my bat-shit crazy aunt torture you. Here, in this house. Fuck!"

Hermione looked up at Severus, who raised an eyebrow at her in challenge. It told her to do something about this. Hermione Malfoy wanted to comfort him. "Sod it all," she thought. Hermione scooted closer to him on the couch and put her hand on his back.

"That wasn't your fault. It has never been your fault. Specifically, you in this timeline chose to refuse to be a part of it at great cost to yourself, and the you from my timeline didn't see that he could have had a way out. I never blamed you for...that. You were living under the thumb of a psychopath and you were worried about your Mum," Hermione soothed. She discovered, shockingly, that these were not empty platitudes at all. Rather, she had always felt that way, about Draco and what happened at Malfoy Manor. "I would not, however, be opposed to going to Chateau de Malfoi for some time, and completely remodeling the Manor…"

Draco took her hand in his, squeezing gently, "Done. Severus will just have to deal with our company."

"Lovely," Severus snarked.

"For the record, Sev, I'm glad you didn't die in this timeline," Hermione told the looming man. "And thanks, by the way."

Severus rolled his eyes at the witch, "I assure you, I'm also happy to be alive. I think. Most days." Luna started to chuckle at this. She had been quietly sipping her tea across from Hermione and Draco, watching the show.

"Perhaps we should all go? After you collect Scorpius of course. I haven't seen my godson in a good long while," Luna replied with a smile.

Hermione, now able to show her shock since everything was out in the open, smiled at her best friend. "Of course! I would have always made you godmother, Luna."

"Fine, apparently my safe haven is going to become a home for wayward Malfoys and Lovegoods," Severus sighed. He stood from perching against the liquor cart, acting put upon, but actually seeming rather pleased.

"Draco, go and collect Scorpius please. I want to get out of here, and quickly," Hermione commented. "I'll go and pack our things, and send the elves over to the Chateau." Draco nodded and left to collect their son.

Severus started walking toward the Floo grate after him. "I'll see you all there. I'll have the elves tidy the rooms and get everything in order."

Luna got up from her couch, and tucked her elbow into Severus' arm. "I'll go with you. They won't be long anyway and she is in no danger."

"That," Hermione thought, "is very interesting…" and as soon as they had left through the Floo she summoned bags, clothing, and anything else they might need while they were in France. She couldn't leave this place quickly enough, truly. She was only handling it so well because the potency of her memories had been lessened somewhat. She called for the elves, told them where to be, and without a backward glance she called her destination into the Floo and disappeared.