Caden was asleep on her shoulder when Hermione apparated almost two miles away from the Burrow. She did not want the gunshot sound that would sound whenever someone apparated to be heard and have everyone running outside. Hermione was a nervous wreck already. She hugged Caden before she took her first steps towards the Burrow.

As she walked, Hermione devised an excuse to explain her absence. She would tell everyone that she had been held captive for those past eight years and shortly after Voldemort's downfall, she had been able to escape. Part of that story was true. She had been held captive, but not for eight years, only a little over three years. She had been able to escape a few months after finding out about Caden.

Hermione had yet to come up with a reason to explain Caden. She knew everyone would assume he was the result of a torture treatment. Hermione felt anger boil up in her body when she thought that Ron would be upset and order her to take Caden away, or worse, abandon him. She felt the tears form in her eyes. Caden was her world. He was the thing that kept her going, and was like a life-like picture of what she had lost. She could not leave her son, no matter what.

The Burrow came into view almost a half an hour later. Hermione could hear voices coming from inside. She heard Mrs. Weasley ask if anyone wanted any sweets. Fred and George were discussing Quidditch with Ron and Bill. Hermione could see Ginny and Harry cuddling on the couch through the window that viewed the main room. Mr. Weasley was reading the paper by the fireside. Everyone seemed so happy and relaxed.

She began to have second thoughts about entering the Burrow as she watched them through the window. What would everyone say? She did not feel up to a round of hugs and kisses, or any questions that they might have. Hermione felt her stomach flip. She was just about to turn back when she heard two gunshots in front of her.

Caden woke up suddenly by the sound. His bear was in his hand and he gripped it tightly as he looked at his mother, and then to the source of the sound. Hermione followed his gaze and saw three figures had appeared in front of her, a man, a woman, and a little one. Hermione's jaw dropped as their views became clearer and she realized they were Remus, Tonks, and a girl around Caden's age.

Remus and Tonks had been laughing before they saw Hermione. But when they noticed her, their faces went blank. A moment of silence passed before Remus looked at her differently and asked,

"Hermione? Is that you?"

She bit her lip and nodded as she put Caden down. He hid behind her as Remus and Tonks ran up to her to give her a hug to make sure she was really there.

"Hermione, we all thought you were dead," said Tonks. "We've really missed you."

"I missed you all, too." She said truthfully.

Remus smiled at her before looking down at Caden as Tonks went to gather their daughter. The little boy held his mother's leg tighter and glared up at him. Remus raised his eyebrows at him before turning back to Hermione. "It seems we weren't the only ones who able to be blessed with a miracle throughout that mess. Who's this?"

Hermione place a hand on Caden's back and gently pushed him out of hiding. "This is my son, Caden."

"Hello, Caden. My name is Remus Lupin. I used to be your mother's professor." He held out his hand for Caden to shake. Instead, Caden continued to glare at him and ignored his hand. Caden gripped his bear even tighter and tried to hide it out of Remus's gaze by returning to his hiding spot behind his mother.

Tonks returned holding a little girl's hand. "Hermione, this is our daughter, Laurie."

Laurie smiled at Caden. She was a bit shorter than he was, but Hermione thought that with her charms, she might be able to have Caden wrapped around her little finger. Laurie had Remus's light brown hair, but Tonks's dark eyes. Although she was a perfect mix of both of them, Hermione was able to find more of Remus's features than Tonks.

She felt Caden slowly peered out from behind her legs to take a good look at Laurie. The little girl's smile grew wider and she took a step closer to Caden. "Hello, Caden!" She said pleasantly.

Caden withdrew his head, but kept his eyes on the girl. His eyes widened when Laurie took another step closer to him. Her smile faded and she gave him a confused look. "I said hello. Aren't you going to say it back?" She asked him and Caden shook his head.

Laurie looked back at her mother and then to Hermione. "He's not very friendly, is he?"

"Laurie!" Tonks scolded, but Hermione laughed. She put her hand on Caden's back and pushed him out from behind her once more. Caden's body froze with fright and he tried to fight. Laurie grinned at him and grabbed his hand. Caden looked at her as though she slapped him in the face and got out of her grip.

The girl frowned at him. "That wasn't very nice, Caden."

He looked at his mother for help, but seeing that she was trying to hold back her laughter, he glared at her. But he did not notice Laurie glancing at his bear. "That's a dirty teddy bear. My mama can clean it for you."

Caden's head shot in her direction when he heard her mention his bear. Laurie tried to grab it out of his hands, but he held on tighter. When she pulled, he tugged it back harder. "Give me the bear, please." Laurie asked him. Caden shook his head and pulled it back towards him. Laurie's grip around the bear tightened and she yanked at it with all her might.

The blue teddy bear flew out of Caden's hands as well as Laurie's. Caden watched in horror as his most prized possession went high up in the air and landed in the mud between him and Laurie. His eyes flared with anger and his fists curled into a ball as he looked up from the bear and at Laurie.

Hermione's eyes widened when the bear went into the mud. Although she knew in the back of her mind she could easily clean it off with magic, the sight still shocked her. She knew Laurie was but four-years-old and was clueless how much the teddy bear meant to Caden and herself. But when Hermione gave Caden the teddy bear, he instinctively knew how to take care of it. Why could not Laurie?

While his mother allowed the scene process through her mind and took a deep breath, Caden looked at Laurie and began to shake with anger. That was his teddy bear; how dare she ruin it! Caden gave Laurie a murderous look before shouting, "YOU!"

The girl was shocked when Caden spoke, but she was terrified when he came running after her. She screamed and ran around her parents for help, but Remus and Tonks were watching in embarrassment as Hermione picked up the teddy bear and cleaned it off with her wand. Laurie ran towards the Burrow, pleading for Caden to stop and screaming that she was sorry. But Caden continued chasing her.

The screams from the little girl that they all knew and loved dearly caused the Weasleys, along with Harry, to quickly leave the house to see what was the matter with her. They were shocked to see a mysterious boy chasing Laurie around and around the perimeter of the house. Upon instinct for his godchild, Harry took out his wand, pointed it at the boy, and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

He instantly froze in his place. The large group heard running footsteps coming towards them. Everyone turned to see Remus, Tonks, and another woman holding a blue bear. Laurie was in tears as she ran up to Remus, who lifted her up.

"He was very mean to me, Daddy! I don't like Caden!" Remus rolled his eyes and sent an apologetic look to Hermione.

She ran up to her frozen son and reversed the curse. Caden was shaking and also in tears. Hermione gave him to now-clean teddy bear and lifted him up. Caden rested his head on his mother shoulder and cried, telling her he wanted to go home. Hermione patted his back and whispered a few calming words to him.

Remus handed Laurie to Tonks and approached the group. Hermione hesitantly walked up to him and knew the look in his eyes. He was going to reintroduce her to everyone. Hermione wished she had listened to Caden and was back at the cottage. It was too late to return to their home now, though.

"Everyone," Remus called to them, causing them to tear their eyes off of Hermione and her son. "I would like to reintroduce to you all, Hermione Granger."

Their jaws all dropped as though it had been rehearsed for sometime. Hermione stood holding Caden awkwardly as the group registered the fact their best friend was no longer dead as once thought. Mrs. Weasley was the first to recover from the shook.

The old woman ran up to her, with tears coming out of her eyes. She hugged Hermione as best she could and kissed her on both cheeks. "Oh Hermione," she cried happily. "We all thought you had died. It's good to see you again. You must be starving. Come have a bite to eat."

She led Hermione inside the Burrow, ignoring the others who wanted to welcome her back. They followed Mrs. Weasley and Hermione back inside and sat down at the table, still watching her in amazement. Hermione felt her cheeks go red as Mrs. Weasley continued to put more and more food in front of her until she finally admitted to her that she was not hungry. Mrs. Weasley then led her to the living room and sat her down on the large, lumpy couch.

Caden buried his face away from the curious eyes. Hermione could feel him shaking as he held his bear and tears still ran down his face. The room was silent for a moment before Mr. Weasley resumed his place by the fire and asked her one of the many questions that was on everyone's mind, "Where have you been, Hermione?"

She let out a deep breath before nervously telling them her whereabouts for the past few years. She could not lie to them as she had thought. "I was hiding in a cottage for the past four years."

"Why?" Fred asked.

She met Ron's gaze as he looked away from Caden for a moment. She replied without taking her eyes off of him. "I had been able to escape, but You-Know-Who had sent practically every Death Eater after me. I was ordered to stay in the cottage until it was safe."

Caden dared a look at the large group at was gathered around him and his mother. He did not listen to what she was telling them, but he examined their faces. One of the men with fiery red hair was looking at him in a way he did not like. Then, when the man looked at his mother in a different way, Caden felt the anger boil up in his little body and he knew he had to protect his mother from that man. He glared at the man and looked away from him.

His eyes caught the gaze of the old woman. She smiled at him and leaned forward in her chair. She then turned to his mother and asked her, pleasantly. "Who is this charming little boy?"

Hermione instinctively smiled proudly at her son. "This is my son, Caden."

Caden caught the man's eyes and saw them flare with anger. Something inside Caden made him want to stick out his tongue at him and laugh. But he did not, although Caden felt it was right.

The sound of dripping water reminded Hermione that she was still stuck in the dreadful stone-blocked room. She let out a sigh and looked down at the words in front of her. After reading a few more sentences, Hermione closed the book. She could not concentrate, even if the book was at an exciting part. She placed the book down on the wooden table and let out a sigh. She wanted to talk to someone, anyone.

She had not seen him for a few weeks now. Hermione was able to keep track of the days by the meals she had been given by the house elf. She has been here for seven long weeks now. Throughout that entire time, she had only seen him twice after the fourth day of her hunger strike. Once he had came down after she reluctantly ordered the house elf to call him down in order for him to receive her list of things she needed if she was going to stay here for who knows how long. After an extremely long argument, he gave her a dresser filled with new clothes and other small items she needed.

He came by about three weeks ago for lunch. Hermione was surprised to see him, but she allowed him to stay. They talked for a few hours about everything. She learned he was the one who actually cooked her food, unlike the house elf which she had presumed. Hermione told him about her parents and he surprised her by offering his regrets for her loss. She was shocked and did not believe him at first, but the look in his green eyes told her otherwise.

Hermione was surprised again when she found out his love for books. He told her he had an entire library filled with books beyond her wildest dreams. The next morning she found five books on the table with a note explaining that if she placed the books where the door normally appeared when she was done, more would appear in their place. Hermione read and read. Each time more books appeared. After the first week a note appeared telling her that if she planned to see just how many books he actually owned, she would have to wait awhile.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the door suddenly appeared. Hermione got to her feet, expecting it to be him. Her face fell when she realized it was just the house elf, Binky. He reminded her so much of Dobby, only Binky was a bit more down-to-Earth. He walked over to the table where she was at, happily doing his job by giving her the tray of food in his hands. Hermione looked down when she realized it was just lunch. She still had nine or hours until she usually fell asleep.

"Is something bothering, Ms. Hermione?" Binky asked her in his squeaky voice when she did not thank him as she usually did. He also noticed the look of disappointment on her face and he was worried the meal was not right for her.

"Master can fix it for you, if you want. Binky will go get him." He said to her as he looked down at the food, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Binky will go get him right now."

Before Hermione could protest, Binky was out the door. She sat back down in her chair and rolled her eyes. She knew how pathetic she was, wishing to be in the presence of a Death Eater, particularly one who almost killed her friend.

Binky returned a few moments later, dragging his master into Hermione's room. Even after seven weeks, Hermione had yet to learn his name. She never dared ask for it, she did not know why. A part of her longed to know his name, the other was rather cautious and reminded her that he was a cold-blooded killer. Binky never said his name either, he was always known as 'master' to him.

Hermione inhaled sharply when she looked at him. He was not wearing his usual black robes she had seen him in before. He wore black pants and a black button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing his tanned, muscular chest. His sleeves were also rolled up to his elbows, also showing off his muscles. Her eyes lingered over him longer than needed and she blushed.

"Calm down, Binky." He ordered the house elf. Binky instantly quieted down and calmly told his master the problem. His green eyes wandered over to Hermione for a moment before telling Binky to leave them. Hermione's eyes widened and sat straight up in the chair as Binky left them alone in the room.

He smirked at her and took the seat across from her. "Is there actually something wrong with my cooking, or am I going to have to wait another two hours again?"

Hermione glared at him when she noticed the amusement in his wondrous voice. "No," she told him.

A frown appeared on his face. "Well then, why did Binky drag me down here?"

She felt her cheeks go red and she looked down at the tray in front of her. "I… well, I… you haven't been here in three weeks." She told him.

He did not say anything for a while. Hermione wondered if he even heard what she had said. Suddenly, his eyes looked up from the table and locked with hers. She was not sure, but he seemed to hesitate when he asked her, "You missed me?"

"No!" She said quickly, causing him to look down. He slowly got up from the chair after a moment and looked back at her, trying to read her.

After a moment of sitting there awkwardly, Hermione looked away from him. But when she returned to face him, he had a small smile on his face. His eyes were gentle and kind as he looked down at her. Hermione raised her eyebrows when he let out a chuckle.

"What?" She asked him, slightly annoyed.

He smiled again. "You are very difficult to understand, Ms. Granger." He said to her, softly. "One moment you look as lost as a puppy, and then the next you're as determined as an owl, flying to its destination through harsh storms. I admire that about you."

With one last look, he turned to leave. Hermione stared at his spot for a moment. Suddenly she called out to him, making him stop in his tracks. He turned to look at her, and Hermione knew there was no turning back now. She let out a deep breath and looked into his eyes.

Nervously, she asked him, "What is your name?"

He looked down at the ground for a moment, as though he was deciding whether or not to tell her. He had his eyes closed when his head went back up. Slowly he opened them and met her gaze.

"Roland," he said, as though it pained him to say so. "My name is Roland."