Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowlings.
Author's Note: I'M SO SORRY IT'S BEEN ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR AGIAIN. I really am the worst. I promise I'm going to finish this story - I hope my readers are still here! If there's anyone left, please please please read and review!
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Champagne and Problems
"Mer, come on. Let's just go grab some lunch, okay?"
Meredith shook her head. She couldn't. She couldn't leave Leo's side for a moment. Every time she did, she was afraid of what would happen in her absence. What if he…?
No.
Meredith wouldn't allow herself to think about that. She couldn't.
There wasn't any part of her that could handle it.
"He'll be okay for a little while." Teddy said softly, his hand on Meredith's shoulder.
"You don't know that." Meredith said darkly.
As much as she didn't want to admit it, her hope had been dwindling over the last two weeks.
Two weeks.
Leo had been unconscious for two weeks.
"I know. I know. But… you need to take care of yourself too, Mer." Teddy said.
Meredith tore her eyes away from Leo and looked at Teddy. He was standing against the wall on the opposite side of Leo's bed. She knew that he was just as tired as she was. He'd been there with her every day, more than anyone else — apart from Astoria.
"What I need is for him to wake up." Meredith said. "It's not… it's not fair. He's such a good person. He doesn't deserve this."
Teddy was quiet and Meredith was grateful. She was tired of everyone telling her that it was going to be okay, because no one had any idea if that was really the case. Both Meredith and Leo had faced more than enough hurt for a lifetime and she knew based on that that things could head even further south at any moment.
"A cup of coffee. Let's at least go get a cup of coffee. We'll be gone less than 10 minutes." Teddy said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder.
She turned to look at him again and reluctantly nodded. Teddy smiled at her but she couldn't return it as hard as she tried. Turning back to Leo, she leaned close to him, pressing a kiss against his forehead.
"I'll be right back, Leo." she whispered. "I'll be right back."
Every time Meredith spoke to Leo, she always waited a moment hoping that he would say something back — anything. But, as had been the case for the last two weeks, Leo said nothing.
"Come on." Teddy said.
Teddy wrapped his arm around Meredith as she reluctantly walked out of Leo's hospital room. She let herself lean on Teddy as they made their way through the hospital. Meredith had spent so much time here in the last two weeks that she practically had the place memorized. Every once and a while, she would let flashes of her time spent here after Ron's kidnapping seep into her mind.
"You're eating something, too." Teddy said as they reached the cafeteria.
Meredith moaned. "Teddy, you promised just coffee."
"You can eat back in the room, I don't care. Just as long as you eat something, Mer." Teddy sighed.
Reluctantly, she nodded. Everything she had eaten over the last two weeks hadn't had any taste to her. She hadn't had any kind of appetite — not that she had expected to. But, she knew she had lost weight over the last two weeks, which definitely wasn't good since she was quite thin to begin with.
"Alright, so what are we thinking? Sandwich? Pasty?" Teddy said, directing her over to the cafeteria.
Meredith nodded again and she knew that Teddy had clued in that she wasn't going to pick anything for herself. She could feel her level of panic increase further and further the longer they were away, but she squashed it deep down inside.
"Come on. Let's head back." Teddy said, placing a cup of coffee and a sandwich her hands.
The two headed back down the all too familiar path to Leo's room. Teddy's hand was on the small of her back, ushering her along. As they reached the room, Meredith caught sight of her mother. She usually stopped by everyday at least once. Since she had gone back to work last week, it had been on her lunch — now — and occasionally after work.
"Hey." Hermione said with a small smile.
Meredith greeted her mum with a forced smile and a hug before stepping past Hermione and back into Leo's room. Every time she stepped foot in there, she hoped and prayed that Leo would be awake.
Yet, of course, he was not.
"Any change today?" Hermione asked, her voice soft.
Meredith took her seat in the chair next to Leo's bed and shook her head with a sigh.
"Nope." she whispered, her voice bitter.
She heard Hermione and Teddy make quiet conversation behind her and she tuned it out, staring at Leo. She took a sip of her coffee, barely tasting it at all — a common thing for her these days.
"Wake up, Leo." she found herself whispering yet again. "Wake up."
. . .
"So how's it going?"
Marley looked up at Roxanne from their spot at the Gryffindor breakfast table. Roxanne was watching her with a bemused smile and Marley raised an eyebrow at her as she took a long sip of her coffee.
"How's what going?" Marley asked.
Roxanne sighed. "You and James. We've barely talked about it. I've just seen you two all loving and snogging and stuff. There was so much family stuff going on, there was never really the time for me to ask you."
Marley smiled slightly, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "Oh. Yeah, no, it's going great. At least I think so. Were you surprised at all?"
"Are you kidding?" Roxanne snorted, letting out a loud laugh. "Blimey, you may never have said anything to me, but it's been bloody obvious forever."
Marley rolled her eyes. "Apparently."
"Speak of the devil…" Roxanne said, her eyes travelling towards the door.
Marley turned around, finding a rather sleepy looking James walking towards her. He slid into the seat next to Marley and kissed her lips quickly before immediately pouring himself a coffee. Marley pushed the milk and sugar towards him and he kissed her temple.
"Sleep okay, Mars?" James mumbled.
Marley shrugged. Truthfully, she had been up all night tossing and turning — just as she had been every night since returning to Hogwarts. She missed being able to fall asleep with James. He gave her so much more comfort than she had ever truly realized. Despite all the awful things that had gone on — and were still going on — at home, Marley had still been able to sleep because of him.
"Not really. I missed having you there." she admitted, quietly.
He took a sip of his coffee as he stared at her, before reaching out and tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. He left his hand on her cheek for a moment and Marley couldn't help but let out a small smile at him.
"Me too." he said, softly.
"Were you two sleeping in the same bed over the holidays?" Roxanne asked.
Marley felt herself blush slightly. "Yeah."
"And your parents were okay with that?" Roxanne continued. "No, hold on. Marley, your dad was okay with that?"
Marley let out a laugh. "Of course not. He was right pissed about it at the beginning. But then, when all this… Leo stuff happened, they sort of gave up on telling us off — for the time being at least."
Roxanne nodded sympathetically at her as she felt James wrap an arm around her waist, sliding her just a bit closer to him.
"Wait…" Roxanne asked.
"What?" Marley sighed.
Roxanne shot Marley a look and she blushed deeply, immediately realizing what Roxanne was insinuating.
"Oh my god, Rox." Marley mumbled.
"What?" James asked, through a mouthful of toast. "What?"
Roxanne let out a loud laugh as Marley shook her head. She couldn't believe that Roxanne was asking if they'd…
They had just gotten together! Of course, Marley was unbelievably in love with him, and she knew that James felt the same. And they had just said that they had been staying in the same bed. So she supposed it made sense to ask — but Marley would have definitely told Roxanne if that had happened.
"Never mind, never mind." Roxanne said with a laugh.
"No, what?" James asked.
Marley shook her head, laughing a little herself now as she buried her face in James' shoulder. He tightened his arm around her waist for a moment and she looked up at him, laughing at the confusion on his face.
"What are you… oh." he said, the realization coming over his face. "Bloody hell, Roxanne. Mind your own business."
"Shove off, James." Roxanne laughed. "Marley's my best mate, and therefore it is my business."
Marley looked up at him again, finding his face flushed deeply. She kissed his lips for a moment before turning back to look at Roxanne. She realized for a moment, that she was actually managing to not think about all the mayhem and devastation that had come over the Christmas holiday. She was managing to return to her life — something she didn't think she would ever be able to do. She almost felt guilty. How could she enjoy her life knowing that Meredith was in so much pain?
"Marley, hey." James said.
She looked up at him. "Sorry, what?"
"Where'd you go there?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Nowhere, James. I'm fine."
He studied her for a moment before sighing and touching her cheek. "You're such a bloody liar."
She shrugged and looked away from him. He let out a sigh and just wrapped his arm tighter around her, pulling her closer. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her ear.
"I love you." he whispered.
She looked up at him, nodding her head and being unable to contain a grin. She would never tire of hearing James say those words to her — ever. Who would have thought that three simple words could ever hold that much power?
"Bloody hell, you two." Roxanne groaned with a light laugh.
Marley felt herself blush slightly before picking up her coffee and taking a sip. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt this confused before — she wanted to live and enjoy her life, but she just couldn't. Not with Meredith in that much pain. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel fair.
None of what had happened to her was fair.
. . .
"Mummy! One more story!"
"Yeah, Mummy! Please!"
Hermione smiled softly at Lyra and Scorpius. The two were tucked in their twin beds, beaming up at her with eager eyes. She had already read them two bedtime stories when she usually only read them one. She could feel herself want to give in and say yes, but knew that she shouldn't as it was already past their bedtime.
"No, you've already had an extra story tonight. But, how about we read one in the morning, okay?" Hermione sighed.
She watched them both pout and she sighed, shaking her head before leaning down and kissing both of them on the forehead.
"Sweet dreams, my darlings." Hermione whispered.
"Night, Mummy!" the twins said.
Hermione began walking towards the door just as it opened to reveal Draco on the other side. He brought a hand to her waist and pulled her close, kissing her forehead.
"Don't let them talk you into another story, okay?" she murmured.
Draco smiled at her and nodded. "Sure, angel."
Before Hermione could move past him out the door, he pulled her close wrapping her in a hug. She hugged him right back, hearing the happy shouts of both Lyra and Scorpius for their dad to finish tucking them in.
Draco pulled back and kissed her lips quickly. "By the way, Harry's downstairs. He wants to talk to you."
Hermione nodded, giving Draco one more kiss before heading out the door and down the hall. Every time she had seen Harry since the New Year's Eve party, she had wondered when Ginny would tell him about her pregnancy. She knew that she was putting it off due to everything that was happening with Meredith, and she understood why, but had also tried to convince Ginny to tell Harry.
As she made her way down the stairs, she caught sight of Harry sitting on the couch. She smiled weakly at him before heading over and sitting down beside him.
"Hey." he said.
"Hi." Hermione said.
She leaned back against the couch, letting her tiredness take over. It had been such a two weeks that she felt like a zombie almost all of the time. She could still barely sleep, as she was constantly so worried about Meredith and Leo.
"What's up, Harry?" she asked with a yawn.
Harry was quiet, staring straight ahead and causing Hermione to snap slightly more awake.
"Harry?" she prodded, placing a hand on his arm.
He looked at her, a small smile on his lips and Hermione felt herself become slightly relieved. She had seen that look in her best friend's eyes before — three times before to be exact.
"She told me." Harry said.
Hermione let out a wide and brilliant grin. "Finally! And how are we feeling about this?"
Harry nodded, smiling at her. "Brilliant, Hermione. Just brilliant. I mean… I'm surprised as hell and… and I'm worried just what kind of a world we're bringing a new child into right now, but… I feel brilliant."
Hermione pulled Harry into her arms and hugged him tightly. This was just about the only good thing going on in any of their lives at the moment and Hermione let herself feel the joy.
"Congratulations, Harry." Hermione whispered, pulling back. "I'm so excited for you two."
Harry nodded. "Thank you. I'm so excited. I never expected anymore children — I mean, I've basically got four already."
"Five is a whole new world, Harry. Be ready." Hermione joked, nudging him in the ribs.
Harry let out another grin and a laugh, shaking his head. "Blimey, Hermione. I'm having another child."
Hermione nodded, amused at Harry and his obvious joy. "Yes, you are."
"Ginny told me she didn't want to tell me until Leo was okay." Harry said, his voice low. "But, she didn't know if she could wait anymore."
Hermione took in a deep breath. "I know. First she was waiting because of Meredith coming clean about Ava, and then Leo… but it's the kind of news that you should know. And you should be unbelievably happy about it, irregardless of what else is going on."
"How tempted are you to just scoop Meredith up and take her away from all this?" Harry asked.
Hermione sighed and leaned back against the couch again. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close in a comforting embrace.
"That's all I've ever wanted to do. But, I think we know as well as anyone that you can change the scenery, but not the situation." Hermione said.
"Yeah, really." Harry mumbled.
She knew that Harry was thinking about their months in the tent just as she was. During that time, Hermione had wanted to hide away with Harry forever and grow old, hiding from all their problems in the world — the War, Draco's absence, Ron's abandonment, everything. But Hermione had known even then that that wouldn't have solved anything. All the raw emotions that they had felt didn't disappear just because they did.
Everything always stayed with you, no matter where you go.
"I just really wish Leo would wake up." Hermione whispered. "I can't stand seeing Meredith like this. She shouldn't have to handle another loss. It's not fair. Nothing that has ever happened to her has been fair."
"You're right. It's not fair." Harry said quietly.
"You know… when I found out I was pregnant, I was so scared. I basically all but collapsed in your arms in Grimmauld Place, remember?" Hermione said.
Harry nodded. "Of course I do."
"All I've wanted since that moment was to give my baby girl a brilliant life. I've just wanted nothing but happiness for her and it seems like she's so rarely had it. And every time she does… something snatches it away. How is that okay, Harry? I just want to protect her from everything a-a-and I've never been able to protect her from anything." Hermione explained, her voice breaking.
Harry tightened his arms around her. "Hermione, none of what has happened to her is your fault. It's no one's fault, any of it. You've always gone above and beyond for that girl — for all of your children — and you continue to do so everyday. You're an amazing mother, and you have an absolutely amazing daughter who doesn't deserve any bit of the shit life has put her through."
"Sh-she is. She's so amazing." Hermione stuttered.
"Which is why I know that no matter what happens to Leo, she will be okay." Harry said.
Hermione let out a sob as she turned her head into Harry's shoulder. She hated that she kept breaking down — especially when she wanted to be strong for everyone, for Meredith.
"Hermione."
Hermione pulled away from Harry, watching Draco walk down the stairs towards her. Immediately she was on her feet and in his arms. He held her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She was immediately slightly calmed by his presence, just as she always was after all this time.
"We're doing all we can, angel. Okay? You're doing all you can." he whispered.
Hermione looked up at him, blinking through her tears. He cradled her face in his hands and pressed his lips down onto hers. She kissed him softly for a moment before pulling away and turning around to look at Harry.
"I'm sorry, Harry." she whispered. "We should be celebrating."
Harry smiled at her, shaking his head. "Don't worry, Hermione. We can —"
"No, no. We're celebrating right now." Hermione said. "I think we've got some champagne in the kitchen, right Draco?"
"Champagne… what are we celebrating?" Draco asked.
Hermione looked up at Draco, amused with the mask he was putting on. She had told him about Ginny not long after Ginny had confided in her. She had known that Draco wouldn't mention it to anyone and hadn't wanted to keep it from him.
"You're really going to act like Hermione didn't tell you Ginny's pregnant?" Harry said with a laugh.
Draco's face cracked in a grin and nodded. "Alright, you got me. Congratulations, mate."
"It's you two. I know there aren't any secrets." Harry said with a laugh. "Thank you."
"I'm going to go find that champagne." Draco said.
Hermione turned around in his arms and pressed a deep kiss to his lips. He pulled back and smiled at her before stepping away and walking towards the kitchen. Hermione sat back down next to Harry and watched as he smiled at her.
"So where's Gin? She should celebrate with us. Could Teddy stay with Lily?" Hermione asked.
"He already is, actually. She's gone to see Meredith and Leo." Harry explained softly.
Hermione nodded slowly, trying to keep the tears from her eyes. She had gone back after work to the hospital today, dropping off some food for Meredith, Astoria and Theo. She had wanted to stay with them, but knew that she couldn't, as Lyra and Scorpius had needed her. However she was already planning on going back again tomorrow on her lunch break. Every time she stepped foot in there, she prayed for good news and every time she left… well, nothing had ever changed.
The hospital was the only time she ever saw her daughter. Over the last two weeks, she swore that Meredith hadn't spent a single night away from Leo. She barely spent a moment away from him.
"Is she going to tell her about the baby?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. I know she wants Meredith to be godmother, though. Did she tell you that?"
Hermione beamed. "Yes she did. I think it's wonderful."
"Alright, champagne!" Draco exclaimed, walking back into the room with three flutes as well as a bottle.
He passed the bottle to Harry, sitting down next to Hermione and placing the flutes down on the table. He wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and kissed her temple.
"Pop it open, Potter." Draco said.
Hermione watched as Harry held the bottle out from him, popping open the cork. Hermione let out a laugh as the champagne began to overflow and she quickly shoved a flute in front of him. She felt Draco kiss her temple gain and let out a small, genuine smile.
At least there was a small piece of absolutely wonderful news to celebrate throughout all the tragedy.
. . .
"So! You and Malfoy, eh?"
James rolled his eyes, fighting off a smile at the prodding of his friend Noah Jordan. He was sitting around the Common Room with his guy friends, unsurprised that they were finally asking him about Marley. They had been back at school for a week now and it was about time.
"About bloody time that happened." Jack Robins muttered. "Honestly, it was getting quite pathetic, mate."
"Yeah, yeah." James said, looking down at his Potions textbook and pretending to read.
The guys had teased him about Marley mercilessly for years — basically since they had all met. They were friends with Marley, too, but only really by association through James. He also knew that Marley wasn't entirely all that fond of them, but put up with them for James' sake.
"So how's it going, mate? Good?" Noah asked.
James sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah. Really good. Pretty much the only good thing going on right about now."
"What d'you mean?" Jack asked.
James looked up from his textbook, shifting his eyes between his two mates. He didn't really want to get into it. He didn't get into any sort of deep talks with his friends — not usually. That kind of stuff was reserved for really only Marley, and occasionally Roxanne.
"Just family rubbish. And a hell of a lot of it." James muttered, shrugging. "Both our families."
"Oh the trials and tribulations of being related to the Golden Trio." Noah joked.
James rolled his eyes. When he had first started Hogwarts, it had been a big deal that he was Harry Potter's son. Not to him, but to everyone else. He had found a lot of people only wanted to get to know him because he was Harry Potter's son. He had quickly weeded out the people that didn't actually care about him from the one's who did, and he had done that with Marley's help. She understood. After all, she was Hermione Granger's daughter.
He also knew that she had faced a bit of trouble being Draco Malfoy's daughter. Of course, Draco had turned his life around after the War, everyone knew that there were some people who couldn't look past seeing him as a former Death Eater. James wasn't sure if any of their parents knew how much James and Marley knew about Draco's past. It definitely wasn't something that anyone talked about anymore.
"Yeah, yeah. Sod off." James muttered.
Noah laughed. "In all seriousness though… things okay?"
James sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Not really. But, there's not much I can do at this point."
"Is Marley okay?"
James looked up, realizing that Colin Finnigan had joined them. He suddenly felt a strange feeling in his chest, remembering that Colin had asked Marley to Hogsmeade before the holidays.
"Yeah. She's fine." James said, his voice tight. "None of your concern."
Colin nodded his head slowly, sitting down next to James on the couch. The two were never really close, but had always been friendly. Marley was actually the one who was friends with Colin.
"She's my friend, mate. It's a little of my concern." Colin said.
James let out a sigh, turning his head to look at him. "It's just family stuff, okay? You know our families are close. Let's just leave it at that."
Colin just stared at him for a moment before nodding. James knew that he shouldn't feel weird, but it was obvious that Colin was into Marley. But he knew that Marley had no feelings for him — she had said so herself over the Christmas break. He was just feeling overprotective. Before Marley and him had gotten together, he would have been weird and jealous, but now that they were together he knew that there really wasn't a point. He needed to trust her, and he did.
Suddenly the portrait door opened, revealing Marley and Roxanne. He felt his heart lighten up at the sight of her, as it always did. Almost instantly he noticed her sad and worried eyes. She was so, so concerned about her sister that James knew she could barely focus on anything else. James caught her eye and watched as she smiled at him.
"Hey." James called out.
Marley smiled at him as the two girls walked over. She sat down beside him and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. He pulled away just in time to see Roxanne roll her eyes, yet smile, and sit down on the other side of Colin.
"Hi." Marley said.
"Hey, Marley." Colin said.
James watched Marley's eyes flutter to Colin for a moment. She smiled at him softly before turning her attention back to James expectantly.
"What?" he asked.
"You've got a look." Marley explained. "What is it?"
James sighed. He had wanted to surprise her with this closer to the weekend, but he should have known that Marley would have been able to read him like a book.
"Fine… okay. I've talked to the Headmistress." James started.
Marley blinked at him. "What, are you in trouble already? It's about time."
James laughed and nudged her ribs, shaking his head. "No, I'm not in trouble."
"Then what did you talk to her about?" Marley asked.
"I've got us permission to go to St. Mungo's on Saturday." he said softly.
Almost immediately he watched Marley's face light up. She threw her arms around him and held him tightly. He let out a light laugh, grinning along with her obvious happiness.
"Oh my god. Thank you." she whispered, pulling back and pressing a deep kiss to his lips. "I really really need this."
"I know you do." he whispered back. "I know it's taking everything you have not to be there right now."
Marley nodded slowly, pulling herself back to him and resting her face in the crook of his neck. James looked over, finding both Colin and Roxanne staring at them. Colin had a weird expression on his face, and Roxanne looked a little bit in awe.
"Rox, you can come too, if you want. See Mer." James offered.
He had asked the Headmistress if that was okay, too. He wasn't sure if Roxanne would want to, but he felt he should offer. She and Meredith weren't really all that close, but he knew that she might want to be there for Marley.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." Roxanne said softly, nodding. "Thanks."
James nodded at her, tightening his arms around Marley. He was suddenly very aware of Noah, Jack and Colin watching him with Marley but realized he didn't care. Before Marley, whenever he'd been with anyone else, he had hardly ever been affectionate in public. But now that he was with her… he realized that he didn't care. She was the best damn thing in his life and he would be damned if he didn't let the word see.
. . .
"I'm so happy that Harry finally knows." Hermione said.
Draco looked down at Hermione lying in his arms and smiled, kissing the top of her head. The two of them had shared a few glasses of champagne with Harry before he had retired home, and the two had gone off to bed. He could tell Hermione was a little bit buzzed due to the pink in her cheeks. She almost seemed relaxed though — something incredibly uncommon lately.
"Yeah, me too. It's about time." Draco said.
Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes and he just looked at her, waiting for her to say whatever was on her mind.
"I wonder what she was like." Hermione whispered.
Draco was about to ask who she was referring to, when it suddenly hit him that he meant Ava. He tightened his arms around Hermione, kissing the top of her head again. He had found himself wondering that constantly since Meredith had divulged the truth to them all. He wondered what she had been like, and who she would have become if she hadn't…
"I don't know how Meredith bears it. When I thought that she was… that she was dead when Ron had her…" Hermione trailed off, shaking her head.
Draco slid down in the bed, making his face level with Hermione's. He kissed her lips slowly before pulling back and staring into her eyes.
"She's strong, love. She's strong just like you." Draco said softly.
Hermione smiled weakly at him. "And you."
"You've always been so strong. Even when you've had every reason not to be — every reason to give up on life and the people around you." Draco said. "You never gave up on anything life threw at you. You never gave up on anyone. I mean… just look at us, angel. You never gave up on me and now we have a beautiful life together. She gets that from you. She's not someone who gives up. She's strong."
Hermione pressed her lips back to his and kissed him deeply. He kissed her back immediately, pulling her on top of him and connect his hands low on her waist. He felt her sigh with happiness into the kiss and he couldn't help but smile.
"God you're gorgeous." Draco murmured against her lips.
Hermione pulled back and sat up on top of him before lifting her silk night-dress over her head and letting it fall off gently onto the floor. He took in a deep breath at the sight of his wife before him. He had seen her like this a million times, but it never failed to amaze him — just how beautiful she was.
"Fuck." Draco mumbled, staring at her for a moment before pulling her back to him and kissing her deeply.
Soon they were rolling around, kissing and holding each other with just as much passion as they had when they were teenagers — if not more. Hermione pulled off Draco's boxers and he flipped them around, laughing as she squealed as he did so. He intertwined their hands, pinning them above her head and pressed a slow kiss on her lips.
"I need you, Draco." she whispered, her voice barely audible.
And then he leaned back in and kissed her, allowing Hermione to make him feel everything.