Chapter 1

November 15, 2008

Buzz buzz buzz, the alarm clock rang. She groaned in her covers as she contemplated getting up. Almost on cue, the small pager on the nightstand went off. She popped up on instinct, grabbed the pager and ran out the door of the on-call room and headed to the north of the hospital. Another third-year resident joined her.

"What's the call?" She asked.

"I don't know Margaret, it just multi, emergency room stat," said Hermione checking to make sure she had all of her things and had grabbed the correct lab coat.

"Ooooh, I just love it when it starts to snow," said Margaret referring to the rise of surgeries that occur due to drunk driving plus ice. Hermione sighed.

"That's an awful thing to say!"

"But we get surgeries!" Said Margaret. "We make them feel better!" Hermione nodded.

"I guess so," she said.

"And they get knocked out of their stupidity, so really we're performing a public service," she said as they entered the emergency room.

"Holy—" said Hermione looking at the commotion in front of her. She ran over to her attending.

"Dr. Wright, what the hell is going on?" She asked.

"Multi-car pileup in the Lincoln Tunnel. There's more coming. Granger, you stay right here with this patient. Find an intern to get the general information and contact his family. Then come find me. I have an OR booked in an hour, he should be fine until then." Hermione nodded and looked down at the patient. The man looked absolutely awful, she noticed swelling in his chest, most likely due to rib fractures from airbags, his face was filled with shards of glass, and his legs were crushed. He was conscious and seemed able to speak a little bit.

"Sir, what is your name?" She asked slowly.

"Ian, Ian Thomas," he said. "What happened, where am I?"

"Mr. Thomas, do you have family?" Asked Hermione. She spotted one of her interns and waved them over.

"Dr. Richards will be taking care of you from now on," she said. She looked at Christine.

"Get his information, call his family and let them know he's here," she said. Christine nodded. Hermione turned around and spotted Dr. Wright. He nodded as Hermione went over to him.

"Now listen," he said amongst the hubbub, "This guy is probably the worst, I need you to be strong. I just paged the chief and told him we're coming to the OR," he said. "Just don't stare, and lets just hope for the best," he said. She nodded and opened the door to the trauma room. She looked at the patient and noticed he was lying on his side. Her eyes were then drawn immediately to the giant shard of glass impaling him, cutting in through one part of his body and coming out through the other side.

"How is he still alive?" Someone asked behind her as she stood there in shock. She walked up to him and put a cool compress on his forehead. He was yelling out in pain but Hermione could no longer hear any other sounds. She was focused entirely on him. She focused on the small situations while Dr. Wright went to go look at various x-ray scans taken earlier of his mid-section. She focused on getting shards of glass out of his arms and legs.

"Sir, I'll need you to calm down," she said, "We're going to get this thing out of you as soon as possible." He stopped screaming and nodded a little, perspiration trailing its way down his face. She wiped the sweat off and looked into his eyes. "You'll be fine," she said. "Trust me." Dr. Wright came back a few seconds later.

"Got anything?" She asked. He looked at her and nodded.

"He's a lucky one, that glass managed to just move all of his internal organs to the side and block the bleeding. For now its' acting as the compress. We can't take the whole thing out too quickly or else he'll bleed out. We're going to get someone to cut the glass as close to his body as we possibly can and then try and operate around it. It's going to be long; it's going to be messy. I'll need all hands on deck," he said. Hermione nodded.

"Yes," she said.

"Good, now go scrub in, you're assisting me on this surgery," he said. "Also call Markson, and Foreman, tell them they're scrubbing in as well." Hermione nodded and exited the room while someone with a glasscutter went in. She winced as she heard him scream some more. She headed down to OR 3 and after paging the other two residents began the process of changing out of these scrubs into her surgical ones. She put the surgical cap on as the other two residents entered the room. They looked extremely tired and pissed off.

"Hey," she said.

"4am," said Lisa Foreman getting into a set of scrubs. Hermione nodded.

"Tell me about it, I haven't seen my daughter in like two days," she said.

"She with your mother this whole weekend?" Eric Markson asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yep," she said.

"When do you get to go home?" He asked.

"Well I'm getting off night duty, I get to go home right after this surgery," she smiled. Both of them sighed. Being a resident was tough. As soon as all of them finished scrubbing in, the patient was rolled in. The glass had been cut to about an inch above the skin, giving Dr. Wright plenty of room to operate.

"Alright kids," he said with a smile, "Here we go." He grinned. "Luckily the glass missed his spine all together, so we have avoided the worst of it."

There was a scoff at the back of the room. Dr. Wright gave them a look.

"Now if we just go at it slowly, we can pull this shard out and then he'll go back to being alive."

Four hours later they were scrubbing out of the surgery. Hermione leaned over the sink as Dr. Wright washed his hands beside her. Lisa and Eric were already on their way to rounds.

"Tough day," he said. He looked a little bit like a stereotypical soap opera doctor, brown hair with flecks of grey, green eyes and a captivating smile. He had been first in his class at Johns Hopkins and had been the general surgeon attending at New York Mercy Memorial Hospital West for a few years. He turned and smiled at Hermione.

"You okay kid?" He asked. She nodded.

"Just a little tired," she said. He smiled.

"Go home," he said. "You did good today," he clapped her on the back.

She smiled and nodded walking out into the hallway. "Don't work too hard," she said heading upstairs to the locker rooms when she ran into her best friend at the hospital.

"Hey Mia," her friend said with a grin. Hermione smiled.

"Hey Jenny," she said.

"Getting in or coming out," asked Jenny.

"Getting out," said Hermione

"I'm off to rounds with my babies," Jenny said referring to her interns, "But I have stories to tell you later." She walked away.

"Excited to hear them!" Hermione exclaimed as she entered the locker room. Hermione walked into the locker room to change out of her scrubs and into street clothes. She sighed thinking about the long walk and subway ride back to her parent's house and then to hers. These were the moments she really missed magic. She hated that she had left the world but it was truly for the best. Her daughter deserved the best possible home and care and staying would not have given it to her. She smiled as she looked at a picture of her daughter taped on the inside of the locker. She had curly auburn hair and looked almost exactly like Hermione except a brown tinge to her hair. She blew a kiss to the picture and headed downstairs where she entered the streets of New York.

She looked up outside at the snow falling down and headed the four blocks to her parents' apartment. She admired them so much for putting up with her for the past ten years, especially through the long nights that she was up studying. She had been scared of their reaction—that was why she did not initially tell them. Little did she know how they truly would respond.

10 years ago.

"Oh my god mom," said Hermione opening the door. Her mom was none too happy, and neither was her father. They walked in quickly and shut the door.

"And what do you think you're doing here," her mother asked, "here we thought you had bought your own flat and become an adult and then we find out you run away just like that?" Her father looked at her silently. Tears threatened to pour down Hermione's face. She looked down at the ground. Her mom held her shoulders and looked at her.

"Honey. If there's a problem, talk to us, you know we love you no matter what. Just tell me what the problem is and we can deal with it," she said.

"I'm only 18 mother," said Hermione, "I'm too young to—I can't," she said starting to cry. Her grandmother walked into the room

"Edward," she said looking at her father, "Jane," she smiled, "What a pleasant surprise. Please come in," she said. They all walked over to the parlor, Hermione clutching onto her grandmother's hand as they did. "It'll all be okay," she whispered to the young woman. They all sat in some awkward silence when her grandmother looked up. "Edward, would you like to come with me to the corner bakery and get some bagels and food for breakfast. I can imagine you and Jane are absolutely starving," she said sensing Hermione would be more comfortable with her mother. Edward nodded and stood up following Margaret as they left the room. After the door had shut, her mother walked over to the couch Hermione sat on and held her hands.

"Darling, tell me what's going on, please don't keep your father and I in the dark. You know that we support you, no matter how much we do or don't know about the Wizarding World." Hermione looked down and started sobbing into her mother's arms, relieved that she had one person in the world to talk to.

"Mummy," she cried, "I screwed everything up."

"Tell me, just like a band aid ripping out," she said.

"I'm—having a baby," she said with immense difficulty. Her mother stiffened and parted from her holding her arms in her hands. "I'm keeping it," she said. Her mother's eyes were filled with something she couldn't read. It seemed more like disappointment in herself rather than Hermione.

"How did this happen?" She asked. "Is it that Ronald boy's?" Hermione shook her head. "No?" and with that, Hermione explained what had happened after Ron had left, from the very beginning. She poured her heart out, her fears her worries, everything that had happened. She felt a giant weight from her heart being lifted.

"And I couldn't tell him, I really couldn't. If I did, he would have stayed with me, but it would have split apart the family. He couldn't afford that, not when he had lost too much. Seeing him every day, it was too hard. I made a mistake, and didn't think about the consequences. And I tried to stay, but the moment I found out about the baby I knew that it was not going to work, that I needed—I needed to get out of there, and Grandmum was the first person I thought of," she said looking at her mother, "I knew that she was by far the most removed. She was someone I could go to and completely leave everyone's lives." Her mother stared at her with sad eyes.

"Oh Hermione," she said. "I haven't been able to be a good mother to you. I've let you down haven't I?" She asked. Hermione was shocked; this was not even close to the reaction she had imagined.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I just feel like I haven't been there for you. I thought sending you to Molly's would be okay, because I didn't understand your world. I did not that there was even a small thing I could have contributed to. I apologize for that, I just felt so out of place in your life, with the magic and the whole different world." Hermione hugged her tightly.

"Oh mother," she cried, "You've been supportive, loving, and you always tried—I just pushed you away, thinking you would never understand me." Her mother laughed.

"A common trait in most teenagers," she said. "Hermione, although this is disappointing, your father and I are here to support you. If you would like, I'll speak to him before hand, and prepare him. But we love you so much. You're always going to be our baby girl. And frankly, the way you've chosen to deal with the consequences of your actions have been amazing, and I respect them. We will help you in however way possible."

"Oh mum," she said hugging her mother tightly. Her mother held her back as Hermione cried into her shoulder. A few minutes later her father and grandmother entered the room.

"Hermione, will you please leave and give your father and I a second to speak?" Asked Jane politely. Hermione nodded and exited the room. Her grandmother pointed to the kitchen before she closed the parlor door. Hermione sat in the hallway on a chair and waited for the discussion. She heard muffled yelling, pleading, and suddenly her father burst through the door, crying, red faced, obviously angry. He strode over to her and she felt her body shake in fear. He leaned down to her seat put his hands on hers and started crying.

"Why didn't you tell me sweetheart?" He asked gripping on to her. He then released her hands and hugged her tightly. She fell into his embrace. "Why?" He repeated over and over again as they both cried. He stroked her hair lovingly. He then parted with her. "I'm looking for a position here or near the city. We will move here and support you to the best of our ability." He wiped away the tears pouring down her face.

"I love you daddy," she said.

"I love you too Mionebee," he said hugging her tightly again.

(10 years later)

Hermione had played over about a million responses to the announcement of the pregnancy in her head, but absolutely in no scenarios did her parents act as calm and supportive as she did when she broke the news. Of course this wasn't something they let her live down easily, their trust was shattered and it took her ages to build up. She walked into the apartment building that her parents lived in and the doorman smiled at her as she walked in. She entered the elevator and proceeded up the 9 floors to her parents' apartment. She knocked on the door and her mother answered a few minutes later.

"Hey sweetheart," her mother said tying up her robe. "She is just finishing up getting ready for school and then I was going to drop her off—"

"I've got it," said Hermione walking in. "How was she?"

"Goofing around instead of doing homework as usual," said her mother. Hermione laughed a little. "You know what I hate?"

"What?"

"She can goof around all she want, and still get all As in school. She's a clever little one." She said happily. Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," she said leaning against the bar. She yawned.

"Tough shift?" Her mom asked. Hermione nodded.

"Luckily I won't have to go again until tomorrow morning," said Hermione, "So I should be able to drop her off. And Cathy will be back by then so you don't have to babysit anymore mum," she said yawning once more. Her mother patted her on the head.

"I'd be happy to," she said. "Your father wants to know if you want anything from Italy by the way, he's bringing back presents of course, but do you or—" As she said this, a small barrel of red curly hair came running into the room into her mother's arms.

"Mommy!" She exclaimed, hugging her. "Guess what," she said.

"What?" Hermione asked, leaning down.

"I bet you can't roll this quarter down the side of your face without picking it up," she said. Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"You're on." She picked up the quarter and did it.

"Anna, why are you laughing," she asked. Anna giggled some more. "Do you want me to tickle it out of you?" She asked as her mom prepared breakfast.

"Hermione, would you like anything to eat?" Her mom asked. Hermione shook her head. Her mom laughed when she looked at her. "And also go look in the mirror." She walked over to the mirror in the hallway and there was a black charcoal line down her face.

"ANNA," she yelled, "You're really going to get it now." She ran through the room and grabbed Anna and began tickling her furiously.

"Mommy!" Anna yelled, giggling. Hermione's mother watched them and smiled, reminded of Hermione's exuberance when she was younger. Hermione laughed.

"Now you all ready for school?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah mom," she said. Hermione smiled. "You're not going to prank Mrs. Blumfield again are you?" Anna rolled her eyes.

"Oh my god mom, she totally deserved it." Hermione looked at her.

"Well regardless, you shouldn't play practical jokes on people, its mean."

"It was just a whoopee cushion," she said. "And besides, she's come to expect it now, I can't deprive her of that can I?" She said with a mischievous grin. Hermione sighed. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle here. Hermione sighed.

"Anna," she said taking her over to the couch and sitting her down, "There's a time and a place for jokes. Now if at the end of the year you decide you do indeed want to drop a water balloon on her head, then I would have no problems. But you need to focus on school and reading," she said pleadingly. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Fine Mom," she said. Hermione raised her eyebrow. She rolled her eyes once more and sighed walking into the dining room. Hermione grabbed a towel and water and began to wash her face while yawning.

"You need to get some sleep, those bags under your eyes could carry groceries," her mother said while putting toast on the table. Hermione laughed a little bit.

"I know, I guess it's all part of being a doctor though," she said. Her mom smiled. Pretty soon Anna finished and she and Hermione left to get to school. As they stood at the doorstep, Hermione's mother raised one eyebrow.

"Now, you have food at home right?" Hermione nodded.

"Yes mom. I still have most of that lasagna you made," she said. Her mom nodded.

"Alright, now Anna you be good, and I'll see you both next week for Thanksgiving." Hermione smiled.

"We may both be a little late though," she leaned into her mother's ear and whispered, "I'm taking her to the parade." Her mom smiled.

"Oh alright then, I'll see you both next week."

"Come on Anna, let's get to school," said Hermione.

"Okay mom," she sighed. They both walked out the door hand in hand.

"So where did you learn the prank?" Hermione asked as they both walked down the stairs.

"Um, some guy at school told me. You blacken the edge of a quarter and then you tell someone, 'I bet you can't take this entire coin and roll it down your face without leaving…and then they do it and they have a black-grey line all down their face," she said with a mischievous grin. Hermione laughed.

"That's clever," she admitted.

"How was work?" Her daughter asked.

"Well, we had a pretty big accident last night. A huge car crash in the Lincoln Tunnel," said Hermione, "So we were busy with that."

"Yeah I heard that on the news this morning before you got here," she said. "Hey Mom, can we go to the Central Park Zoo sometime this week? I have to do a project on the Lion and apparently there's information that we have to get from the plaque on the exhibit." Hermione nodded.

"Sure Anna," she said. Anna smiled.

"Thanks Mom."

"Actually, we can go today after you get off of school. I'll come pick you up and we'll go see the animals, how's that?"

"That sounds great!"

"Okay good," Hermione said stopping in front of her small school building, "Now, remember, pay attention in class, and no pranks. I don't like going to see your principal on a weekly basis." Anna rolled her eyes.

"Fine mother," she stated. Hermione hugged her and watched her walk inside the building.

"Granger?" She heard. She closed her eyes. It had been ten years but she still recognized that voice.

"Hello Draco," she said. She turned around and there he was, blond hair, smirk, and pale skin. "Wha—what-what are you doing here?" She asked. He stepped closer to her.

"The better question is, what are you doing here?" He looked oddly genuinely concerned.

"I can't discuss it here," said Hermione, noticing people starting to look her way, "I live a couple blocks down. Lets go back to my place and talk." Draco nodded. A few minutes later, after an incredibly awkward walk, Draco Malfoy was sitting at her couch sipping a hot cup of tea.

"How did you find me?" She asked.

"Well there was a batch of some very powerful magic radiating from around here, we have reason to believe it's your daughter," he said matter-of-factly. "And I know for a fact you told the board of trustees at Hogwarts that you wanted nothing to do with this world." He turned to Hermione. "Look I know that we never quite saw eye to eye—"

"Eye to eye? I was tortured in your house by your aunt while you were watching!" He turned red and looked down.

"Yeah I was hoping you wouldn't mention that." He said scratching the back of his head. She rested her elbows on the bar and put her head in her hands. "Ron doesn't know," he said. Hermione looked up.

"What?"

"I was the only one assigned to look into the magic around here."

"You're an auror?" She asked. Draco's eyes widened.

"Oh Merlin no," he said, "Like they would let me be an auror. I'm on parole until the day I die Granger," he said smiling, "No no no, we both work for the Ministry of State. He's actually one of the top candidates to become Foreign Minister," said Draco.

"Oh?" Asked Hermione. She felt a knot forming in her chest and a mysterious lump appeared in her throat. He noticed her uneasiness.

"But what I do is, I monitor pockets of energy and magic in various parts of the world and most witches and wizards are registered, and your child was not, so I checked to see if she had muggle parents and you were the name as her parent on the birth certificate," he said.

"Oh?" Asked Hermione.

"It's not Ron's is it?" Asked Draco. Hermione shook her head. Draco nodded. "I just came to ask if you were sure not to let her begin a wizarding education because I just sense that she has remarkable talent and could really flourish in our world."

"I don't think so," said Hermione.

"Come on Granger, she deserves it," said Draco.

"Look Draco, I know that she does. I know what she deserves, but I can never go back, nor can I let her ever go into that world. It is a very small world and she would be forever plagued with hatred and judgment for MY mistake," she put her hands in her hair. "I could never do that to her. I love her too much." Draco nodded.

"Also, you have a significant amount of money left in Gringott's, would you like me to convert and transfer that into your bank account and close your Gringott's one?" He asked. "Let me do that, it'd be the least I could do for troubling you," he said. Hermione sighed.

"Just mail me a check for the money, I'll take care of it here," she said. Draco nodded.

"Thank you for your time. I'll personally monitor the magic around this area," he said.

"You've changed," noted Hermione.

"Ten years does that to you," said Draco.

"What happened? If I'm not being too presumptuous," said Hermione.

"I just grew up Granger. It was a lonely time for those of us who sported the Dark Mark," he sat down as she directed him to the sofa. She sat in an armchair across from him, "I served time in Azkaban. I worked hard during my time in prison. I helped serve meals; I even began to help prison workers with ledgers and accounting. Pretty soon I came up for parole, and my judge looked at my record and decided I had been rehabilitated. I was a child during Voldemort's time, and although it was terrible and cruel, they decided to forgive me and give me a second chance." Draco smiled, "I left Azkaban a changed man five years ago. I applied for a small job in an office, and worked my way up for about a year, and then applied to the Ministry of State. I guess they decided to give me a chance as well," he said, "And I'm utterly grateful for it, and would never jeopardize it for the world." Hermione nodded. He smiled. "But don't think this makes us friends," he raised his eyebrow.

"Never expected it," said Hermione. Draco smiled.

"Well you take care now, I'm off to begin my rounds," he said.

"Rounds?" queried Hermione.

"I got the lovely job of counseling parents whose children are showing signs of magic, we do it early nowadays and therefore, I am off to London," he said putting on his coat. Hermione nodded. He then walked to her foyer and disappeared with a crack. She rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to do dishes. Her mind wandered back to so many years ago, when all of this began.

It all started with an urgent owl letter from Ginny at three o'clock in the morning, eleven years ago. Hermione was just about to go to bed after a late night of reading when Pig rapped on the glass urgently. She opened the window to her flat and the owl dropped a letter onto her lap. She opened up the letter and all it said was, George's flat, now. She put on a jacket over her pajamas and apparated. Ginny was standing in the living room, her eyes on the floor. George was lying there, smashed bottle in hand pieces of glass covered the entire flat. Blood trickled across the floor and Hermione barely saw his chest move up and down.

"What happened?" She asked, shocked as healers began to move into the apartment. Ginny rushed into her arms sobbing hysterically.

(A/N) Hey! Chapter 2!!! Don't worry guys, I have a plan, everything comes together. I just needed Draco there so that we explained why, for now, Anna won't be getting a letter. Tell me what you think, hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!! :D

Faster if you review!!

Thanks for reading

-WWW12