Chapter 19

It was late; nearly ten in fact. But that didn't seem to matter to Hermione as she poured over the books in front of her. She hadn't told Draco, but ever since deciding that she wished to adopt Jamie, she had become more obsessed than usual in finding a cure for the boy. Even if the adoption didn't go through, whether it be because of the adoption agency, the Minister, or because Jamie didn't want her; Hermione knew she had to try more than ever.

She had always wanted to be a parent when she was younger; and truth be told, she sometimes felt as if she were one when she was with her friends. It never felt right to start a family with Ron, and she was so happy they never got to a stage where he would have expected it from her.

But even though she would be doing this alone, it didn't seem to bother her. Yes, children should have two loving parents, but if she was lucky enough to be able to adopt Jamie, then she swore she would give him everything.

Jamie was something special; maybe cause he reminded her so much of herself, or maybe because when she saw him, she saw someone who she could talk to for hours, someone who she wanted to raise, cherish, and love.

She had yet to tell Harry or Ginny. She wasn't sure how either of them would react, and it slightly worried her. She didn't want them to think she was doing this just because she wanted a family and didn't want to wait to start one; that definitely wasn't the reason why. If anything, she was doing this because she felt as if she already had a family, and wanted to make and addition to it. But Hermione knew she was going to have to tell them eventually. Hopefully Draco would be beside her, and supporting her while she told them.

"Need some help?" she heard a soft voice call out. Hermione shot up, trying to see who was there, but relaxed when she saw Draco standing there.

"Hi," she said in surprise. "Why are you here? Not that I don't want for you to be, it's just that I didn't expect you," she added.

He smiled, as he walked over to where she was sitting, and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I thought you were going to be up all night looking over books for Jamie, and I thought I would join you."

"What about Scorpius?" she asked, wondering who was looking after his own son.

"Fast asleep," Draco said gently. "Druin is watching him, and has strict instructions to inform me immediately if something were to happen. I was wondering if you wanted to come over and the two of us could look over the books together. You can stay at the Manor tonight if you wish; we have so many guest rooms always prepared and ready, so you don't have to worry about where you would sleep."

She smiled, "That sounds lovely. And thank you, Draco for being so accommodating of me. I know it's probably silly of me for not even wanting to share a bed but-"

"No it's not," Draco said as he kissed her lips gently, "A true gentlemen would never pressure a woman into doing anything she isn't ready for. I don't care if it takes years. As long as you let me be with you, and let me be by your side, then is all I care for. You mean too much to me to mess this up."

She placed a kiss on his cheek. "Let me just gather up my books, and grab a few things. Then we can go."

He sat down on her sofa as she magically waved all her books into her bag. She made her way to her bedroom, and added a set of pyjamas, her toothbrush, and a few other things she would need for an overnight stay. When she was ready, she came back to where Draco was sitting.

"Ready?" he asked her with a smile. She nodded, and he took her bag from her. She held onto him as he apparated her back to his home.

"We can work in the sitting room," Draco told her as he led her to the room across the hall from where they were standing.

"I haven't gone through this book yet," she said as she handed him Rare Magical Diseases and How They Wiped Out Small Populations. She sat on the couch, and sunk into the comfortableness of it. It shouldn't have surprised her that his home had such comfortable furniture.

He nodded and took the book from her. Draco plopped down on the couch beside where she was and opened the book she had given him.

Hours later, she felt her eyes begin to close. She was exhausted beyond measure, and she had already made her way through three 800 page books, with nothing in any of them. She was already into the fourth book, and about 300 pages through. She could tell Draco was beginning to drift as well, but she decided to just let him be. He worked so hard, and had so many hours at work, and he deserved to be able to take a break.

She blinked, and her eyes opened fully again. Hermione had to reread the page she had started, because she didn't take in a single thing from it.

In the 13th century, the populations of the Scaevus, who resided in the Northern Isles, were wiped out by something which has been named the Sanguine Fervet. Their populations had been found with their internal organs completely burned to a crisp, and their blood thinned to a level which left them completely unable to function at a proper level.

While researching around the area, it was found that a rare mutation in Aranea Suco, the blood sucking spider, which is believed to have been extinct since that time period. The disease was susceptible only though direct contact with the spider bite, however it also appears that the disease can be passed down hereditarily, leaving only a rare chance that it is not.

When help from a nearby village stumbled upon the site, the populations of nearly 1000 had been wiped out for nearly three days, leaving one female child behind, who seemed to be on her last breaths. The villiage's healer had administered a combination of hazel, and pomegranate, in a potion, which cured the child slowly. However, those are the only two ingredients which could be remembered by the healer's apprentice when asked about the cure years later.

Hermione stopped reading, and felt excited. "Draco," she said softly, as she shook her boyfriend awake. "I think I found something," she said, causing him to rise up immediately.

"You did?" he said, sounding fully awake. She handed him the book, and he read the same excerpt that she just finished. "Hermione, that's great! For the first time we found a previous occurrence, and proof that there is a cure!"

"We still don't know the exact ingredients though," Hermione said, tiredly. "It could be any combination of just the two we know, as well as who knows what other items could be in it! There's so much more that we have to do still."

He placed his arm around her comfortingly, "I know, Hermione," he said softly. "But think about what this means. This means that we have a chance to find something to help Jamie; to give him a chance to grow up and not have to worry about having a disease which could kill him at any moment. We have a chance to save him."

"I know," she said with a smile. "I guess it can wait for tomorrow."

"Let me show you to your room," Draco said as he helped her off the couch. "We can worry about the rest of all this tomorrow. But for now, let's just go to bed." She took his hand and followed him up a case of winding stairs all the way to the top. He led her down the hall, and pointed to a room, "Scorpius' room is right there, and I sleep here, across the hall from him so I can always be there if he needs me during the night. You're going to be staying right here, the room beside mine. Don't hesitate to come get me if you need anything during the night, even if it means waking me up." Draco walked to the room and opened the door for her, the light automatically turned on.

"Thank you for everything," she said softly, as she placed a goodnight kiss on his lips. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you."

"Probably feel the exact same as I would; alone," he said softly. "But you don't need to worry about that. Just have a good night's rest okay? I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her softly again, before letting her settle into the room she was temporarily staying in.

Draco woke up slightly late the next morning. The many late nights had started to take its toll on him. However it was rare for him to be able to sleep in, as Scorpius usually woke him up on weekends when he was bored.

But there was not a sound this morning.

Worried, Draco shot out of bed, forgetting to change out of his pyjamas, and made his way down the stairs. Scorpius' room had been open, so he knew that his son wasn't there, which begged the question; where was his son?

He raced to the bottom, but when he reached the landing, he heard giggling; lots of it. He followed the sound, all the way to the kitchen. Once he got there, he saw his son covered in flour, laughing, as Hermione was standing over the stove, cooking something.

"What's all this?" Draco asked, amused as he took in the sight in front of him.

"Mione's making pancakes!" Scorpius said, as he clapped his hands excitedly.

Hermione turned around, and smiled when she saw him. "I hope you don't mind. He was hungry this morning, and I didn't want to wake you. I kept you up so late last night researching, and I thought the least I could do was cook you both breakfast," she said softly, as she placed the pancake she had been making on his son's plate.

The sensual aroma of strawberries and the freshly cooked pastry filled the room.

Draco placed a kiss on her lips softly, as she put the spatula down.

"Of course I don't mind," he said gently, as he wiped a streak of flour off her face. "Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to me that you care enough about my son to want to spend time with him, even when I'm not around."

"He's nothing short of amazing," she said with a grin, as she kissed him back. "We've been having a fun time together, haven't we, Scorpy?"

"Daddy, Mione's been telling me stories!" his son beamed at him. "About trolls, and time travel, and how she turned into a cat!"

"Oh?" Draco said with a rise of an eyebrow. "Have you been telling my son about how you broke so many rules in Hogwarts, Granger?" he teased.

She huffed, "Some rules had to be broken, for the greater good!" she said as she raised her head in pretend distain.

"Whatever you say," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Now, do I get any pancakes? Or is my son the only one who gets to enjoy all of them?"

She swatted his chest, before grabbing a stack from behind him and placed a few on plate and handing them to him. "Here's your food," she said as she pretended to be mad.

Draco reached forward and tugged her into a deep kiss, while his son gagged at the emotion, and he could feel her melt softly into him. He held her hand for the rest of their morning breakfast together.

"You're glowing," Harry commented as he stood in the door of her office.

She raised her head from the work she had been attempting to do on the murder cases all morning to see her friend analysing her.

"What?" she asked, wondering why how she looked had any relevance.

"Diane mentioned that when she saw you this morning, you looked absolutely radiant, and I just had to see it for myself," Harry explained.

"And?" she asked, as she gestured for him to come in. He closed the door behind him, and sat down comfortably in one of her chairs.

"She was right. I don't know what happened this weekend, but you look like you had a great one," he said, smiling.

"I spend the weekend at Draco's," she confessed to her friend. When she saw his face begin to scrunch up, and start to fill with speculation, she quickly stopped his train of thought, "It wasn't like that. We didn't do anything. We spent most of the time researching, but we also spent a lot of time in each other's companies, and with Scorpius. He just feels like home, Harry. When I'm with him I forget everything and nearly everyone."

"Good," Harry said as he squeezed her hand. "I've never seen you so happy, Hermione, not even with Ron. It would have been perfect to have you with him, but only on paper. In reality, you didn't work, and maybe it was my fault for somewhat pressuring you two together. If you told me a few years ago that you could be so happy with Malfoy, I never would have believed it, and probably would have laughed as if it were a joke. But you two work so well, and I'm so happy that you found someone who treats you as such."

"Thanks, Harry," she said softly. "I didn't even think it was possible. I guess I thought it was only possible for me to live a somewhat happy life, like that was how it was supposed to be."

"Molly wants you to come to dinner again," Harry said after a moment's silence. "I know it doesn't seem right, but she wants to meet Draco, officially. She says she still thinks of you as her daughter, even if you're not with her son, and if Draco makes you happy, then so be it. She said it doesn't even have to be with the rest of the family, so you can avoid Ron. You could even go for a sit down restaurant somewhere."

She smiled as she thought of the Weasley Matron, "I'll ask Draco when he's free and owl Molly about it. Is it weird to have dinner with your ex-boyfriend's mother with your new boyfriend?"

"Slightly," Harry said with a laugh, "But when have any of us ever been normal?"

"Never," Hermione grinned.

"How do you not care?" Daphne said, her voice rising slightly, as she paced back and forth. "How does none of it bother you?"

"Sit down, Daphne," Pansy said softly. Her friend had been coming to see her for a little while now, and she knew just how hard the war had been on her. Losing Blake had been hard on her friend, and she had suggested to Daphne that she come in to talk about her feelings.

"Your best friend is dating a mudblood and you don't care," Daphne said, as she froze in her steps. "The guy you cared for during school is with her."

"First, don't call Hermione that. It's impolite. Second of all, no I do not. I'm happily with Theo. We've been seeing each other regularly, and I wouldn't trade him for Draco. I never cared for him that way."

"What, are you all buddy-buddy with her?" Daphne seethed as she listened to her friend. When Pansy didn't respond, Daphne turned a dark red. "How could it not bother any of you? How can you forget what he did to Astoria? How can you forget what he did? What they all did?"

Pansy forced her friend to sit down, "Daphne, listen to me. Astoria initiated the divorce. She wanted out of it. She and Draco were so miserable together, and she found a way out, and took it. Draco even gave her a house for her to stay in, because he knew your family wouldn't be happy about it. You cannot blame Draco for everything. It is not his fault, none of it."

"Draco deserves to be happy," Pansy told her friend. "We all do. I know how hard it is for you to understand, but you need to move on. It's the only way you have a chance at happiness."

"How can I be happy when my family keeps pressing for my marriage to Goyle? I can only hold out for so much longer. He disgusts me, and I couldn't stand to look at him for a day. It's not fair. Draco got out of his marriage, your parents let you out of yours, yet you still found Theo, Blaise is happily a bachelor with no cares. I'm the one who repeatedly suffers. Not any of you. How is this fair? Where is the justice in this?" Daphne said miserably.

"If you want out of the marriage, go to your sister. Show her the marriage contract, and get her lawyer to go over it. If you're lucky, then there will be a loop hole, like her contract had. Stop accepting the circumstances of your pain, Daphne. If you want something to be different in your life, then change it. You have yet to lay the stones of your path down, and if you want to go about it a different way, do it. Moping around in your own self-pity won't get you anywhere, nor will it get you any sympathy. We all had crappy things happen to us," Pansy said, going full on therapist on her friend. Clearly she needed not to be spoken to as if she were weak, as it was going nowhere.

Daphne sat in silence for a few moments before getting up, "That will be all for this week," she said firmly, as she turned and left the room.

Pansy sunk back into her chair. Sometimes her job sucked.