I feel the elevator jolt to a halt as it reaches its destination. I get off the elevator and head down to my best friend Hermione Granger's office. After the war Ron and I became Auror's, while Hermione was working in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
"Is Hermione free?" I ask Elizabeth, Hermione's assistant. "Yes, go on in." I give her my thanks before entering Hermione's office.
As I walk in the office, Hermione is looking at her paperwork so intently that she does not even notice I am here. After a minute I clear my throat to try and get her attention.
"Oh, Harry your back," she says while running over to me to give me a great big hug. "When did you get back? How did it go? Are you okay? Is Ron Okay? I missed you so much."
I hug her back and feel her shaking, I pull back from her and see she has tears in her eyes. "Hey it's okay, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, sorry I just missed you," she says.
"What about me?" I hear a voice ask behind me and turn around to see Ron in the doorway. Hermione notices and walks over to give him a hug as well, "I missed you too."
"Well Ron and I were wondering if you wanted to get lunch? It's been a while since we had lunch, just the three of us," I say.
Ever since the war the three of us have not been able to spend that much time together. Ron and I have had frequent missions to try and hunt down the rest of the Death Eaters, and are gone for weeks at a time.
She looks up at me and smiles, "that would be great, it really has been a while. I actually have to talk to you about something."
When we arrive at the restaurant we sit outside on the patio. We shared what we could about the mission, which wasn't much before we switched the conversation over to Hermione. It was so great being able to catch up and just be the three of us again. That was until Ron had to open his mouth and ruin it.
"Hermione, before you say anything, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date with me this weekend?" Ron asked.
I could see the anger in Hermione's eyes. "Ron, we have been over this. I do not want to go out with you, I love you but as a friend nothing more, and if you can't understand that then I don't think we should be friends anymore."
It was true ever since their kiss in the chamber of secrets Ron has been trying to get together with Hermione. Hermione has made it perfectly clear that she has no interest in him, but it seems like Ron can't get it through his thick skull.
Ron's face turned red in embarrassment at being rejected again. "Fine, I'm done asking. I just thought that maybe you did not want to be a lonely know-it-all for the rest of your life. I don't see anyone else asking you out or wanting to be with you."
I want so badly to smack Ron over the head, this always happens he gets upset and lashes out and it's usually at someone he supposedly cares about. I look over at Hermione and see tears start to well up in her eyes. As I get up out of my chair to comfort her I see a flash of red heading straight for Hermione. Hermione collapses to the ground in pain, while Ron and I start to attack the wizard. We get him detained and I send Ron to take him into custody while I get Hermione to St. Mungo's.
"Help! My friend was hit with cruciatus curse and needs help," I yell to anyone who will listen that several healers rush up to me and put her on a stretcher before taking her away.
After pacing back and forth for a little while waiting, I hear, "How is she?" and turn around to find Ron looking at me concerned.
"I don't know she's still back there, no one has said anything to me," I responded. I look up and see tears in Ron's eyes. I go over and give him a hug. "It's okay, it's Hermione, she will be fine."
"I know, but what if all that mean stuff is the last thing I say to her. I don't know why I reacted that way, I just got so angry," Ron says sighing.
"Ron she will be okay, you can apologize and start to move on. I know you care about her, but is all of this worth losing her for?" I ask. Ron shakes his head no as we go back to sitting on the chairs to wait.
After what feels like forever, a healer steps out of the room heading towards Ron and I. "Mum and baby are doing just fine. I am aware that she has been hit with the cruciatus curse before. Luckily, you were able to disarm him before it hit her for longer. We used a sedative on her to keep her calm for a little while as her body recovers. From what we can tell from the scans the baby was unaffected by the curse, but we would like to monitor her for the next day or so."
"Thank you for everything, but I am a little confused. What baby are you talking about?" I ask. The healer looks between the two of us quizzically before saying, "Miss. Granger is 6 months pregnant."
I shake my head, confused by the whole situation. Ron looks angry and sad. How could Hermione be pregnant and we didn't know. We didn't even know she was in a relationship. "Do you know who the father is?" the healer asks us. I shake my head no.
"How can she be pregnant, let alone 6 months if she doesn't look pregnant?" I ask.
"It appears Miss. Granger has been using a glamour charm that must have worn off after you brought her in." Ron and I look at each other seeing the confusion and hurt in each other's eyes. Why wouldn't she tell us, we are best friends and supposed to tell each other everything.
"Do you know if she has any other family or is there someone else we should contact?"
"Her parents are muggles and live in Australia. I can give them a call," I respond.
"Thank you. Please let me know if they have any information on the father or if there is anyone else we need to contact."
I look over at Ron before heading out to make a call to Hermione's parents.
"Hello?" I hear a female voice respond. "Hi Dr. Granger, it's Harry, Harry Potter," I say.
"Oh, Harry dear, so good to hear from you, what can I do for you?" she asks.
"Well, Ron and I were having lunch today with Hermione, when a wizard came out of nowhere and used a curse on her."
"Is she... is she okay?" Dr. Granger asks, her voice shaking.
"The healer said she is fine and they have sedated her."
"Oh, good, um, did they say anything else about...," she trails off.
"About the baby," I ask unsure if she knows or not about the situation.
"Yes, the baby, how is the baby? Is her husband there can I talk to him? Why did he not call us?"
My eyes go wide. She has a husband, she's married and having a baby and we know nothing about it.
"I'm sorry Dr. Granger, this is all news to me. I didn't know she was pregnant until about 20 minutes ago and just learned about a husband from you," I say apologetically.
"I told her to tell you and Ron, but she kept saying you wouldn't understand and would hate her," she says.
"Dr. Granger, I am not sure why she wouldn't tell us, but I assure you we could never hate her. I just wish she had told us, or at least me. I know things with her and Ron have been hard but I thought we were okay. I thought we were best friends," I say frustrated and sad by the situation. I had always thought of Hermione as my sister, someone I could tell anything and everything to.
"Oh Harry, I'm sorry. We will get this all worked out, and in the meantime I will contact her husband. Richard and I will be on the next flight out."
"Thank you. I could arrange for a port key or an international floo trip." I offer.
"That's very sweet dear but us and magic travel does not go well," she chuckles. Harry remembered that Hermione had tried different forms of magical transportation with her parents to try and have them visit her, but they always hated the feeling.
"Tell Hermione we love her and will see her soon."
I say my goodbyes to Dr. Granger before hanging up and heading back to the hospital. I stop at the front desk and tell them that Hermione's husband is being notified and should be here soon. I then go over to the waiting room and brace myself for having to tell Ron that Hermione is married.
"Hey Ron, how is she any update?" I ask him.
Ron looks up at me and shakes his head, "any luck with her parents? Did they know anything about this secret baby?"
I nod and take a few breaths unsure of what to say and even more unsure of his response. "I spoke with Dr. Granger, they will be heading out on the next flight. They did know about the baby and Ron, there is something else." Ron looks at me confused and I take another deep breath before responding, "Ron, I need you to stay calm for this and let me finish before you say or do anything. Can you do that?" Ron nods his head.
"Dr. Granger told me that Hermione is married...," Ron opens his mouth to say something before he quickly shuts it when I give him a look. "I am as surprised as you are. Apparently she thought we would hate her and that's why she did not tell us. Dr. Granger is contacting Hermione's husband now so he should be here soon."
I finish and look over at Ron to try and gauge his reaction. He seems to be taking it okay, but I can see hints of anger on his face. I try to place my hand on his shoulder in comfort, but he shrugs it off and stands up to walk away.
"Ron, wait where are you going? What are you going to do?" I ask following him down the hallway.
"I'm leaving," Ron says.
"Ron, you can't just leave, she's your best friend," I argue.
"Best friends tell each other everything they don't have this secret life," he replies.
"Ron! Wait, we don't even know why she kept this secret. We should find out before we do anything. Either way, Hermione is my sister and I will stick by her no matter what," I declare.
"It doesn't matter. She lied. I'm done!" He shouts as he leaves the hospital.
I put my hands in my pockets, making my way back to the waiting area. Suddenly, I see a streak of blond run past. The blond rushes straight up to the desk and is speaking to the healer quickly.
"I'm sorry sir but you can't go back there yet," the healer explains.
The blond slams his fist on the counter before running his hands through his and turning around to face me.
"Malfoy?" I ask. The last time I had seen him was when he thanked me for standing up for him and his mother at their trials.
His eyes shoot up to mine and I see sadness and desperation in his eyes. "Thank Merlin Potter, what the hell happened?" My eyes open wide in shock. Malfoy noticing my expression gives a soft chuckle which just further confuses me. "She didn't tell you yet? She was planning on it when you got back from your latest mission."
"You...you're her husband?" I asked, stumbling over my words still so confused.
"Yes," he says with his classic Malfoy smirk. The smirk shakes me out of my shock and I just start to glare at him.
"Start talking," I tell him.
"I will, but tell me what's happening first, how is Hermione? Is the...," He trails off.
"Hermione and the baby are fine." I see him visibly relax. "She was hit with the cruciatus curse but they don't see any permanent damage, they also said that there was no damage to the baby. They have her sedated right now to let her body heal, they want to keep her for a few days to monitor her and the baby." Malfoy nods his understanding.
"Did you catch whoever did that to them? Do you know what they wanted?" He asks
"We were able to apprehend the wizard. It was a lone attack. Someone trying to attack the golden trio for taking Voldemort down." Malfoy nods again. "Now start talking about you and Hermione."
He gestures for the chairs in the waiting room and I hesitantly take a seat. "Well it all started after the war. I went to Hermione to thank her for standing up for me at my trial as well as to apologize about the way I had treated her. She told me she forgave me and then we went our separate ways. Over the next few months we kept running into each other and would have cordial conversations. Eventually, it turned into me asking her to go get tea until we progressed to dinner. We dated for a year before I proposed and then we got married two months later. Four months after the wedding Hermione found out she was pregnant."
After he finishes he looks back up at me waiting for my response. I am speechless and not sure how to feel. He looks back down at the floor before saying, "it hurt her everyday not telling you and Weasley."
"Why didn't she tell us?" I ask.
"Neither of us told any of our friends for the first nine months of our relationship. We wanted to be sure about each other because we knew this would be a shock for both of our sets of friends. The day before we were going to tell you, you and Weasley were called away for a mission. We went ahead and told my friends and it went a lot better than expected. Your mission lasted three months, and when Hermione got word that you were returning she was so happy. She was excited to tell you we were engaged. She set up lunch with you guys the day after you got back. When you guys arrived at lunch you noticed that Hermione was talking to Blaise and Pansy. She introduced you to them as her friends and Ron got really mad at her and confronted her for being friends with snakes. Ron told her that she was being stupid and that he thought she was smarter than being friends with snakes. She looked to you for support and when you said nothing she changed her mind about telling you guys."
I looked up at Malfoy, "I remember that day she did seem happy until Ron started to talk about Blaise and Pansy and she looked really sad and distant throughout the rest of lunch."
"She came home that evening crying. She said that if you guys could not support her being friends with Blaise and Pansy, then there was no way you would be okay with her marrying me. She was so upset she did not want to lose your friendship so we just decided to keep it a secret from you guys. We had a very small private ceremony and made sure no one in the press found out. We glamoured our rings so only the people who could see them were those who knew. When we found out she was pregnant she knew there was no way to keep it a secret. We were able to create a special glamour over her stomach to prevent people from seeing and feeling her bump, but there would be no way to hide her taking maternity leave and concealing a baby. She was going to tell you whenever you came back from your latest mission, which I suppose was today," Malfoy finished and looked at me in anticipation.
"I'm sorry that we made you guys hide your relationship and that I was not able to be there for her wedding. But, I understand. After the war Ron still kept his high prejudice against Slytherins, and although I disagreed with him, I never stood up to him. Ron has had more of a temper since the war and I never felt it was worth it to get on his bad side," I try to explain.
Malfoy was about to respond when he heard the healer call, "Mr. Malfoy, your wife is starting to come off the sedation if you want to see her." Malfoy immediately stood up and started to walk towards her room, when he turned back and looked at me and said, "Potter, are you coming?"
I look at him with shock again before nodding my head and following him into the room where Hermione is.
Walking into the room, the first thing I notice is her very visible baby bump. I see Malfoy quickly walk to her side and grab her hand before giving her a kiss on the forehead and whispering something I can't hear. There is a seat on the other side of Hermione and I take it. We wait in silence for a while, until I see Malfoy's head shoot up from Hermione's hand to her face. Hermione's eyes start to flutter open and she starts to blink to get adjusted to the light.
"Hi love," Malfoy says with a smile on his face, an actual smile not his stupid smirk.
"Dr...Draco," she says, her voice sounding hoarse. Malfoy reaches over for some water before helping her take a sip. "Is the baby okay?" He nods and she sighs in relief before asking, "What happened?"
"Someone attacked and shot the cruciatus curse at you as payback for defeating Voldemort. Weasley and Potter-" Draco says looking over to me alerting Hermione to my presence. "-apprehended the wizard and it seems to be a lone attack, you're safe now." Hermione nods at Malfoy before looking back at me.
"Harry im im i i...," she stumbles through her words trying to figure out what to say and tears start to well up in her eyes.
"Shh, love it's okay, he knows everything," Malfoy says comforting her.
"Everything?" She questions.
"Everything, Mrs. Malfoy," I reply. She opens her mouth to speak and she looks at me with fear in her eyes and I realize she thinks I'm mad. I quickly grab her hand and say, "Hermione I am so sorry that we made you think you had to hide such an important part of yourself and your life. I am sorry that I was not there to support you, but I want you to know that I am so happy for you and not that you need it but I fully support you and Malfoy. Can you forgive me?"
She looks at me with a small smile and says, "only if you forgive me." I nod my head yes before standing up to give her a hug.
"Aw, a Griffindork hugfest, how sweet," Malfoy says from his chair. Hermione and I both give him a glare before he raises his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry it was just getting too emotional."
"Oh good, I was so worried that you were completely different it's good to still know you are a git." Hermione laughs and Malfoy just shrugs.
"So does that mean you will be Uncle Harry to Scorpius?" Hermione asks.
"Lyra," Malfoy cuts in. I look between the two of them hoping for some context Malfoy sees my confusion and answers. "Hermione here is convinced it will be a boy while I am sure it's a girl."
"All firstborns in the Malfoy line for hundreds of years have had a boy first; the research doesn't lie," Hermione defends.
"Well, there has not been a half blood let alone a muggle-born in the family so who knows what else might change" Malfoy counters. They both looked at me with a question in their eyes.
"I can see both of your sides," I start but then get looks from both Malfoys. "Okay, don't be mad but I agree with Malfoy. I think it will be a girl."
"See, even Saint Potter agrees with me," Malfoy says with his hands in the air.
I try to glare at him but can't help but laugh. Hermione looks over to me and says, "traitor," which just makes me laugh more.
After the laughter dies down Hermione looks over at me and asks what happened and where Ron is. I proceed to tell her everything that has happened and saw her get sadder when I got to the Ron portion of the story. "He will get over it," I tell her and she looks at me doubtfully.
"He was so mad at first I told him I don't want to date him. Then he finds out I'm pregnant and married. Can you imagine how mad he will be when I tell him I married Draco Malfoy."
"You what?" We all turn around to see a red faced Ron.
"Ron, wait a second let me explain," Hermione pleads.
"Explain what? You choose a bloody Death Eater over me, you chose a snake who is just using you for your name to give himself a better reputation."
Malfoy snorts at that and Ron glares at him, "what ferret, what's so funny?"
Malfoy is about to respond when Hermione jumps in, "How could Draco possibly be using me for my name to better his reputation? There are less than 10 people who know that Draco and I are married. So, if he is using me to better his reputation he is doing a shit job at it." Malfoy laughs and I try to hide my laughter with a cough. Ron notices though and gives me a look.
"You're okay with this?" Ron questions.
For the first in a long time I don't care if I am on his bad side.
"Look Ron I do support this, Hermione is my sister and if Malfoy makes her happy then I guess I have gained a brother." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I grimaced and saw the annoying smirk on Malfoy's face.
"Aw Potter I didn't know you felt that way."
"Shut it Malfoy, it was a slip of the tongue," I try to argue.
"No I don't think it was," Malfoy says with a smirk
"Enough!" Ron yells before I get a chance to retort.
"This is ridiculous when you see the snakes as they truly are, don't come crying to me, you are on your own," Ron says before turning around and walking out the door.
I look back at Hermione and see she's looking at me "I'm sorry Harry I never wanted to destroy your relationship with Ron, you can go after him and say you were caught up in the moment."
I let out a small chuckle before taking her hand and saying, "Hermione, I have spent so much time going along with what Ron says just to not make him upset, and I am tired of doing that. I love you, Hermione and I am choosing to stand by you. I meant what I said."
"So you do see me as a brother," Malfoy cuts in before Hermione hits him and I laugh.
Super short epilogue
Three months later, Hermione learns that research can lie when Lyra Narcissa Malfoy was born.
A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction let me know what you think.
All characters, setting and anything that looks familiar belongs to J.K. Rowling