Review offering insight to the story:

"This chapter was a very emotional one! And the questions are still running rampant through my head. Where is Hermione? What happened to her? Who's responsible? Will she be okay? Will there be a happy ending? Those are the kinds of things that I like to have happen when I read a good story; I love for there to be lots of questions that will never get answered unless I reach the end of the story and find out what is supposed to happen. I loved the flashback that Draco had of when Hermione was giving birth to Winnie and their conversation for the duration of it. It was funny and cleverly well-written! I love seeing the alerts that a new chapter has been posted because your stories are the addicting kind, the ones that make me want to keep on coming back for more! I look forward to the next one!" - angel17712 of FanFiction net.

Thank you to the following reviewers: Miss-Be-Haven, cmtaylor531, mrs.draco.malfoy.2010, Ishimaru Miwa, Cherice, Morgainne Moriancumer, dontfeartheunexpected, J-R-R13, babygirl36554, DanRadcliffe5666, Jules Lupin, Kyrah, Danielle, emeraldgray, slytherinfox, blondiexoxo, mari91, pstibbons, MiKaYGiRl, niicsmiles, AnaDry, Celtic-Dragon-89, wasu, Galleon-to-Galleon, candyrose1428, BlackDemonAngel, ebbe04, Jester08, ginsensu, dragoneyes5000, ProperT, cemicool, sophia666, Chrissy, Natural-181, Lee Swain, meganxrawr, bethygirl94, Toxxic-hugs, superdelly, MsRisa, EmilyLovesYOU, waffenmac, WitchAllonby, CraZIEdUCKIE, sodabug, yune-chan, angel17712, HIMluv, mskiti (Tabi), Vincent's Angel of Chaos, sarahyyy, Cryptic Sarcasm, Right or Ryn and especially pumpkin-pie-princess1990 (May), Pheydre, xmisundazst00d (Gypsy), SeanEmma4Evr (Noelle), CrystalizedHeart (Mel) and galloping-goose (Zeus).

Secret Life

Interlude

-Family-

"Rowena, don't get too close to the water, bug," Hermione called out, her nose wrinkling and her body poised to run over and stop her daughter from hopping into the tiny creek she was slowly stepping closer and closer to.

"Mummy, look at that rock!" she exclaimed, looking over at her parents from the corner of her eyes.

Draco grinned, knowing exactly what was going to happen in 3...2...1... SPLASH! He laughed to himself, shaking his head as he lifted his camera and took a picture of Hermione lifting her half-soaked giggling daughter, proudly showing off her new rock. Hermione looked exasperated, but there was a glitter of amusement in her eyes. After drying her off with a charm from her wand, Hermione begged her to stop going into the creek, which she agreed to, though her attention was on a peculiar looking frog hopping across the rocks in the water. Draco watched his wife make her way back to him, her head turned so she could keep an eye on Winnie. Her hand slipped into his pant pocket and deposited Winnie's new favorite rock, she'd have another in an hour or so, but she wouldn't be very happy with them if she realized they had tossed the one she'd just found. She had a large box sitting in her closet, filled with all the "pretty" rocks she found down at the creek and around the property. Draco couldn't see a difference in most of them, but he didn't mind her odd collection, as long as she was happy.

"The wild life out here is still rather confusing," Draco told her as she leaned against his side, her head propped near his shoulder. She looked up at him questioningly, before turning her eyes over to see what Rowena was doing, only to see her tap her chin in her deep, thoughtful, mischievous way. Hermione thinned her eyes, trying to figure out what her daughter was planning. Draco shook his head, "She's after the toad. But, look at some of the creatures out here. This isn't regular forest life. It's a collection of various animals and creatures, both magical and not. Some of these shouldn't even be on this continent."

Hermione turned back to him, her eyes wide. "But how is that possible? Certain animals survive with the climate. They wouldn't be able to handle various attributes other animals can. That's why we only find the surviving species in certain areas of the world. We couldn't move a kangeroo to a forest or drop them in Alaska!" she exclaimed, shaking her head.

Draco watched their daughter over Hermione's head, but listened to her words carefully, she was saying exactly what he had been thinking. "I know. Look at the trees though, they're of all kinds. And d'you feel the air? It changes temperatures randomly. One minute it can be incredibly cool, the next it's overwhelming hot." He knelt down, pointing through the trees at a far opening in the distance. "D'you see that mound of orange fur?" he asked, his eyes bouncing from Winnie to the animal in the distance. "That's a tiger. He's used to the heat of savanna, which is why, if you'll notice, the air around him seems to be distorted. There's a heat over there, settling only on the feline." He turned, pointing up at a Clabbert high up on a branch. "Now that little guy is used to a cool atmosphere, which is why it feels cold when you stand near him. He's a magical species of rainforest monkey, so his habitat is usually very damp, that's why we always see them around here and the waterfall. I think--" He sighed, turning his head quickly. "Winnie, what did your mum say about the water?" he asked, staring at her with a no-nonsense expression.

"Sorry daddy," she sighed, jutting her bottom lip out as she stopped chasing the hopping toad down the path of rocks. She rocked on the balls of her feet before walking out of the water and making her way to the blanket where an apple and a water bottle of juice sat waiting for her. Water soaked her legs up to her ankles, but she didn't seem put out by it in the least.

He smiled at her, to which she grinned back before wiping her apple off on her shirt, like she had seen her dad do a million times before, her small hands having trouble wrapping around the large fruit. Her hair was a mess from all her playing, with the pigtails half out and long blonde tendrils hanging down the side of her face and sticking up in odd places. Her eyes roamed the area around her, watching the Clabberts with interest as they swung around the trees, a smaller one hung from right above her, his tail keeping him from falling. He kept twisting his head back and forth with curiosity, his large eyes blinking as he stared at the little girl. Draco noticed that the red pustule on his head wasn't blinking for danger or the notice of Muggles.

He turned his attention back to his wife, who was fixing her own hair, as it had come out of its ponytail from chasing after her daughter while she explored the creek. She shivered, a Clabbert hopping across the branches right above her. There was only three or four of them, and he knew they weren't the least bit dangerous, so he wasn't worried at all that there were a number of them all watching the group below. Hermione had her elastic in her teeth as she gathered her curls, and tried to speak around it, "Mew merr smaying," she said, lifting her brow but then furrowing it as some of her hair slipped from her grasp.

Draco chuckled, moving behind her to gather up all of her hair and took the elastic from her mouth, slipping it over the curls and tying it up with ease. He was used to having to do the same to Winnie all the time, and smiled amusedly to himself. "I was saying that I think the forest is a Magical Adaptive Forest," he told her, noticing her body stiffen with excitement and watching as she whirled around with wide eyes. He nodded, smiling at her, "Any animal can live here. It adapts to whatever is around, but only in the area that animal is occupying, so it doesn't harm the others."

"Is this good or bad?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowing. "Were anybody to find out about it, we'd have a lot of people coming in search of it. Plus, who knows what could be living out here!" she exclaimed, her eyes roaming around the forests. "I just saw a tiger, what else could be in here? Dragons? Chimaeras? Red Caps? Manticores?" she asked, sounding a slight bit hysterical.

Draco was beginning to think he shouldn't have told her about the forest and shook his head. "I don't know what's out here. I think we would've noticed a dragon by now though, don't you think? The Clabberts circle our house though, and they sense danger. So if there was anything coming toward us now, we'd see it in them," he told her, nodding. "Most of the creatures won't leave the tree border though, so we don't have to worry about them coming near the house. There's a magical repellent, that way nothing dangerous can come in or out. So unless they leave planning to play with Buck and not eat him, we're fine."

Hermione looked relatively reassured, but she still looked around at the Clabberts, likely checking their pustules to check for danger. Draco turned back to see what his daughter was doing, since she was being especially quiet. He heard her giggle and looked up to see her hanging from the green scaly hands of a Clabbert, swinging back and forth, playing with it. For a moment, he was shocked and worried that an animal was holding his little girl, but then he heard a weird gurgling noise and realized the Clabbert was laughing too. Draco walked toward them, slowly, in hopes of not scaring it. But before he got too close, the Clabbert let go of Winnie, launching her up into the air at just the right angle for her to land in Draco's arms. The green monkey made a hee-haw noise and then disappeared up into the branches.

Winnie was giggling still, a wide grin on her face. "Did you see me? Did you daddy? I was playing swing with the frogkey!"

"Frogkey? Draco asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yeah, the frog monkey, frogkey," she told him, shrugging, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "He was real nice, daddy!"

"I'm sure he was," he replied, feeling himself relax a little more. Harmless or not, seeing his little girl hanging from a magical creatures arms wasn't exactly the most comforting image he'd ever seen in his life. Hefting her up a little higher, he turned to his wife, who was chewing her lip and stepping under and then away from a Clabbert, likely checking the temperature change. He laughed, shaking his head and using his wand to gather up the food and blanket that Winnie had previously been sitting with, shrinking it and then hovering it over so he could put it in his pocket. "You guys wanna stop by the waterfall, or just head home?"

"Waterfall! Waterfall!" Winnie shouted, gleefully.

Hermione smiled, leaving the "frogkey" to come and stand with her family. "The waterfall sounds nice, but then we're heading in," she told her daughter, looking serious. "You, little one, need a bath!" she told her, wrinkling her nose for emphasis.

Rowena sighed, her fingers playing with the ends of her father's hair. "Can't I have a bath tomorrow?" she asked, pouting.

"Doll, d'you remember that week that I told you you didn't have to bathe until you wanted to?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Yeah..." she said, slowly, her eyes turning off.

"D'you remember how much you smelled?" he asked, smiling.

"Real bad," she replied, her shoulders sagging. "Kelsi didn't want to play with me and Buck ran away whining. Even mummy didn't sit close when she read to me," she told him, throwing her head back dramatically and letting her free arm hang down in a defeated manner. "Okay, but can Crookshanks have a bath with me?" she asked, hopefully.

"Sweetheart, d'you remember the last time you tried to give Crookshanks a bath?" Hermione asked, looking mildly miffed at the memory. Draco grinned, sharing a look with his daughter, who smiled, but then looked sorry when her mum looked at her.

"She smelled too, mummy, I was trying to help her," Winnie told her quickly, her eyes wide in innocence. "I didn't know kitties didn't like water! And I thought she needed lotsa soap 'cause she has lotsa hair!" she added, nodding.

Hermione sighed, which was obviously hiding her laughter. She hopped over a log as they continued making their way to the waterfall and the miniature lagoon below it. Winnie held onto Draco, while her eyes roamed around the forest, watching the Clabberts follow them. He held her up with one arm, his free hand was wrapped around his wand, just in case. They had numerous trips out to the forest, but now that he'd figured out the logistics behind it, he was a little more cautious about where they went and what could be around them. Hermione was a few paces in front of him, and he could see her hand wrapped around her wand, too.

They made it to the waterfall just fine and Draco put Winnie down on a large rock near the shallow end of the lagoon, while Hermione slipped his camera off his neck and began taking pictures of everything from random angles. He sat down beside his daughter, who immediately moved to sit in his lap and lean back against him, soaking up the sun as it warmly fell down on her. Her legs swung over the side of the rock, her yellow sun dress, damp on the bottom from her gallivanting in the creek. Her eyes closed and Draco took the time to fix her hair, smiling at her disarray. She made a content sighing noise and snuggled closer to him, her small hands curving around his forearms as he wrapped them around her, hugging her tightly.

"Daddy," she said quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning closer to hear her.

"Can I have a frogkey?" she asked, hopefully, her little eyebrows lifting. "I'll be real good to it an' I'll feed it and give it baths and play with it all the time. I promise!" she told him, her eyes slowly opening to look up at him.

Draco laughed, his head falling back as he let the noise echo through the area. She sounded so innocent and hopeful that some irrational part of him wanted to say yes. However, there was no way he could tell her she could just go and pick out a Clabbert from the forest and bring it home with her. "No, doll, you can't have a 'frogkey,'" he told her. "They have families of their own, and they belong in the forest. You can see them whenever your mum and I take you out here, but you can't bring one home with you."

She sighed dejectedly, though she didn't look all that surprised. She turned her head back and gave her mum her thin-eyed, deep in thought, mischievous look and he chuckled to himself.

"Your mum will say the same thing I just did, except she'll add a lot of history on Clabberts." He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand, and shook his head. "You already have a cat and a dog, what d'you need a Clabbert for?" he wondered, staring down at her. He heard the click of the camera a little closer and knew Hermione had taken a picture of them. He lifted his head, smiling at his wife.

"Well, the frogkey lets me swing on his arms," she told him, sitting up a little more. "I like swinging!"

"So why didn't you just ask me to make you a swing?" he wondered, his brow lifted.

She opened her mouth, but then closed it, looking pensive. "I dunno," she told him, shrugging. She looked a lot like her mum right then and he had to smile down at her, shaking his head. Her brow wrinkled and she shook her head at her own lack of knowledge. "Will you, daddy? Will you make me a swing? I'll let Kelsi play on it, and mummy if she wants to! You can push her, 'cause mummy doesn't like going up high, but she'll do it if you help her!" she said, nodding. "Like with the broom!"

Draco nodded, looking up at his wife and winking. She had no idea why he was doing it, but she looked suspicious about it, like he and their daughter were plotting something. "I'll make you a swing," he assured Winnie.

She shouted in excitement and hopped out of his lap, jumping up and down on the rock. "Mummy, mummy! Daddy's going to make me a swing and he'll push you on it, okay! You'll like it! Swings are fun!" she told her, happily.

Hermione smiled at her daughter, but then turned her attention to her husband, half-frowning, though it looked as though she were trying to hide a smile. Winnie suddenly stopped jumping and stared down into the water. "Hey, look!" she exclaimed, pointing. "Daddy, look at the rock!" she told him, pointing excitedly. "It's so pretty! Can I get it? Please? I'll be real careful and I'll swim just like mummy taught me! I promise!" she told him, turning around and staring at him with wide eyes.

Draco leaned forward, staring down into the water, knowing she could only see the rock because it was incredibly clear water. Otherwise, the depth would've caused her eyes problems. "It's way too deep, Winnie. You wouldn't be able to reach it without going under," he told her, shaking his head.

She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "But it's real pretty, daddy, did you see it?" she asked, her bottom lip jutting out and her eyes widening even more, creating a very adorable puppy-dog-face.

He turned his eyes back to it, and found it was much better looking than most of her rocks. It glimmered when the sunbeams managed to hit it through the water and looked to be rather colourful. Standing up, he slipped his shoes off and tugged his shirt over his head, dropping it down on the warm rock. "Stand back from the water, Winnie, you don't want to give your parents a heart attack," he told her, pulling her back from the edge of the boulder. "Don't come too close and I'll grab the rock," he assured. She nodded, clasping her hands together in excitement.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, coming closer and holding her camera in one hand.

"Just getting a rock," Draco told her, smiling, before he dove into the water, gliding through it and relishing in the cool feel of the liquid. The rock was further down than he expected and he cut through the water with his arms, bringing them together in front of him and then separating them swiftly, as though he were opening heavy curtains. He beat his feet behind him, and brought himself closer and closer to the glimmering rock below. He reached out and wrapped his hand around it, his thumb brushing the dirt and sand from the top of it, before he turned back up and used the ground to kick himself higher. When he finally reached the top, he breathed out heavily, sending water sputtering away from his face. Shaking his head, he felt water spray off his hair and hooked his hand onto the boulder to pull himself up.

He laughed heavily when he got high enough to see Winnie, beside her sat a Clabbert, the same one, he thought, that had been swinging her around. Both of their heads were to jutted to the right and their arms hung down by their sides as they sat watching him. He looked over to his wife, smiling at her as she clicked the camera, getting a picture of the odd occurrence going on. He handed the rock to Winnie and then laid himself out on the boulder. The Clabbert stared at him a moment before making a noise and scurrying off into the forest. He could hear Winnie making a squealing sound, before she hurried over to him and launched herself onto his chest, hugging him and soaking herself in the process.

Hermione laughed, coming over to join them on the warm boulder. She laid down beside them, and made a strangled laugh as Winnie moved over to her, getting her wet too. Draco turned over, nuzzling her neck and soaking her face with his damp skin and dripping hair. Winnie moved up so she was laying between them, staring up at the sky with one eye closed. Hermione lifted her camera, angling it above them and telling them to all smile, she clicked it, getting the three family members in all of their wet, laughing, happy glory.

A/N Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this interlude. I found it to be a lot more tying, given that it's the whole family, rather than separately. A lot of reviewers have been wondering when questions will be answered. The next chapter is in Harry's POV and it sets the groundwork for the more action filled chapters coming. So it's very soon. Also, many have been asking about a Hermione POV chapter. I feel that the story needs to progress some still before I do so.THat does not mean that Hermione is still alive, as I won't be answering that question personally, the story will do it for itself. Were I to write in her POV it would show what happened and who has taken her. You'll have to read a bit more before I post that though. I hope you've enjoyed this so far. I really liked writing it.

On a seperate note. For those of you wondering, "Only In the World of Dragons," my Charlie/Hermione 7-part story is complete and posted entirely. :D

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, it's greatly appreciated.

Much Love,
-Amanda