Chapter 24

Hermione and Draco sat together in the waiting room. They had received word a few hours ago that Ginny had gone into labour, and had arrived immediately after letting Scorpius stay with Narcissa. It had taken Draco quite a bit of convincing, seeing how his mother never cared for his son overnight, but she argued that she watched him just fine, and if anything, Draco's son was far better behaved than he had ever been, therefore would be less of a problem.

Harry was in the room with her, and Molly, but the rest of them waited outside. She could see Arthur talking with Bill and Charlie, and Percy looked as if he were forcing his eyelids to stay open. George was pacing nervously. Basically, everyone was here, but Ron.

Hermione knew she was past any sorts of feelings for him, even the anger and resentment had faded. But she knew he would probably create a scene. Today was about Ginny, Harry, and the newest addition to their family, and not the drama that he wished to create.

Arthur approached them, causing Hermione to look up from where she was sitting.

"I just wanted to officially meet the gentleman who has been making Hermione so happy," Arthur said. His face was filled with kindness, and there was no resentment towards Draco, despite the long history between both families.

She could tell that the rest of his family was watching the exchange curiously, as to see what would happen. They were all waiting to pass judgement, and she knew that.

Draco stood from his seat, and extended his arm out to Arthur, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weasley, on better terms. I apologise for how I acted when we met in the past, and I hope you will forgive me for my past actions.

"The sins of the past will continue to haunt us if we judge people based upon them," Arthur said. "You've made Hermione happy, and that's something I thank you for."

Bill and Charlie stood up as well, "We would like to get to know you personally," Bill said. "Hermione is like a little sister to us, and if she's going to have you in her life, then it would be nice to get to know you as well."

"I can assure you that Ron won't be there," Charlie added, "Unlike last time, he hasn't been around the Burrow in ages."

"Besides, we need to judge if you're good enough for her," George said jokingly, even though his voice had a slight edge to it. "Keep in mind, we will come after you if you hurt her in any way possible."

Hermione partially wanted to scold those boys for threatening Draco. But she didn't say anything, partially because she was tired, but also because she knew they were only looking out for her. It made her happy at times that even though she would never officially be a part of the Weasley family, it was nice to know they all still cared for her.

Draco simply smiled, "You guys are like her secondary family, and I would never want her to feel as if she couldn't have you in her life. We can do dinner, as long as you don't mind if I bring my son over. It would be good for him to meet more children his age. I won't hurt Hermione, so you don't have to worry about that. I'm so in love with her, and every day I'm reminded of just how lucky I am to have her in my life."

That seemed to satisfy the Weasley men. When Draco sat back down, she placed a kiss on his lips, then rested her head into his chest. He had his arm around her, and they stayed like that for a few more hours.

It was about two in the morning when Harry came out of the room, holding a baby. "It's a boy!" he said, as he cradled his son in his arms. They all immediately stood up and huddled around him.

"Have you named him yet?" Arthur was the first to ask, as Harry handed him his grandson. Arthur's eyes misted over slightly as he rocked the baby boy back and forth.

"We were thinking James Sirius Potter," Harry said, as he looked at Hermione. She smiled at the mention of his father and godfather. She knew just how important those two were in his life, and she knew it was a great choice. She was so happy that her friend had a son.

She and Draco stayed a while longer, during which Harry and Ginny pulled Hermione aside, while their family slowly started to clear out.

"Hermione, we were wondering if you would be James' godmother," Ginny asked her tiredly from the bed. "You've been such a good friend to both of us over the years, and we think you would be perfect for the job."

The couple looked at her expectantly, while Draco remained beside her, holding her hand.

"I would love to," Hermione said, tearing up slightly. "Thank you so much for choosing me! I promise to spoil him rotten."

It earned a chuckle from the new parents. Hermione placed a kiss on both of their heads, before she and Draco decided to leave. It was late, and while they didn't have work the next morning, she couldn't deny that she wanted to get some rest.

"Shall we go back to mine?" Draco asked her softly. She nodded, far too tired to apparate herself home. So she held on to her boyfriend as he took her back to his home. She crashed slowly after, but she had a smile on her face as she drifted into the land of dreams.

Hermione stared at the body of Terence Higgs. He had been dead from somewhere between twelve hours to one day, but she wasn't sure how long. The body had been found by his sister, something which broke a trend. For once, the killer hadn't targeted a former Death Eater with any other family, meaning that the person wasn't just targeting people who had no other family. Obviously, they were killing people pertaining to the death of a certain crime, but other than that, they really did know nothing.

She had been in the hospital with Jamie when she got a letter from the office about the murder. Jamie had found it so cool that she got to solve mysteries for a living, and had made her promise that she would tell him some of the stories later. She knew that he was too young for the gruesome details of cases like these, but she also had plenty of light, minor cases which were perfect for five year olds.

She barely had any sleep the night before, as she got up early to spend the day with her son. Hermione enjoyed weekends, as she ended up getting to make up time with Jamie, seeing as during the week she often had to work. She spent most evenings with him, and saw him at least once a day, but she still felt so awful that she couldn't spend every moment with him.

Hermione had arrived at the home, and immediately met with her team. She was stunned that there had been another murder. She was really hoping that it would stop, now that they had an eye on Dennis Creevey, but it seemed as if nothing would halt the murders, shy of finding the killer.

They had collected minimal evidence once again from the crime scene, but Hermione was hoping this body would help confirm some of the earlier suspicions that they had, and hopefully would be enough to find the murderer.

Hermione was back in her lab with the body. They had cleared the scene, and while the Aurors were still gathering samples for her, it was safe to move the body, so they decided to get a head start in trying to find any clues.

Patrick, Dean and Zacharias Smith were busy taking samples from the body while Hermione stood there, looking over the notes of the physical damage. For the most part, it seemed as if the body had been mutilated in an identical fashion to the rest. However there was one thing different; there were long scratches in both arms, as if either the victim or the killer had dug their nails into Terence's arms. It would have been difficult to tell, seeing how the body seemed to have a billion more curses overlaid on top of it, as if it were to hide it. She had looked in the fingernails of the body, and saw that while there was bloody there, the markings that his nails would have made would have been far larger. No, his hands were far too big to do such a thing. Which meant it was the killer who made the scratches. And whoever it was had hands that were tinier than Terence's.

But that begged the question of why. Why did the killer scratch Terence's arms? For it to have happened, they would have needed to be close to the victim to do so. She could see faint rope markings on his hands, which meant that he had been bound at one stage. That would have allowed for the killer to get close enough. But methods such of scratching were thought to be muggle equivalent ways of attack. She remembered when Harry, Fred, and George had gotten in trouble in her fifth year for trying to fight Draco, and how it had been looked down upon that they had chosen to use their fists, over their wands.

So why scratch, if it was something so muggle related? Terence's wand had been found on the other side of the room, and even if he were bound, he had no way of defending himself. The killer easily could have used their wand's to torture him, just like they had done with all the other bodies. What made this one so different?

"Hermione?" Dean asked, causing her to look up from the pile of papers she had scattered all across the table.

"Yes?" she asked. The other two came over as well, and they sat down. They had been looking over the body for a few hours already, and it was time for a break.

"I can confirm that Sectumsempra has been used on this body," Dean said. "I got the spell from Harry a few weeks back, and I've been testing it out on inanimate objects, so I could compare the markings, and it's a match."

"So whoever the killer is, they have a connection of sorts to either Draco or Harry, no matter how minimally," Hermione surmised. "It is possible that someone simply overheard a conversation, but we'll need to bring them both in to question who was around in both cases. We'll need their memories of course, so Dean, if you could get on that next, it would be great."

"I just got a letter from the Aurors tailing Dennis; he was in muggle London all day, visiting his parents. So if he's the killer he has an accomplice; which would make all this something to help clear his name. But it's also just as likely that he's not the killer at all. I haven't found any traces of his DNA on the body, so we have nothing to tie him to this crime," Patrick mentioned, causing her to sigh.

"So essentially, we have no suspect anymore," Hermione groaned. "This is just wonderful."

"I have a stronger sample of the fragrance that I found on the past bodies on this one," Smith said. "I have no idea why, but with several tests I should be able to narrow it down in a matter of a few days."

"That's great," Hermione praised him, causing his brow to rise at her. True, they didn't exactly have the best relationship, but she had to give him credit where credit was due. "I know why there's a stronger sample. The killer got intimate in a sense with this victim; they personally scratched them. Dean, look in those wounds specifically to see if you can find any DNA samples, but Smith, you also might be able to get a sample from there to help your testing."

And that was that; Hermione adjourned the mini-meeting, and they all went back to their research. But her mind kept wandering, wondering why anyone would want to go to these efforts. She would have to talk with Pansy Parkinson again to see what could drive someone to these measures. Better understanding the killer may just be the key to finding out their identity.

Hermione arrived back at the hospital a little after four that day. Ginny was being released from the hospital, along with James. The new family wanted to stop by and meet Jamie, seeing how they hadn't met as of yet.

Draco was already at the hospital with Scorpius, and the three had spent the day together. When she had gotten the owl about the murder case, she quickly asked her boyfriend if he wouldn't mind spending the day with Jamie. She knew Scorpius was excited to see Jamie again, and Draco had been more than happy to come in when she couldn't stay.

She met Ginny and Harry outside Jamie's room. Ginny was holding the baby in her arms, and Hermione greeted them both with a smile.

"Thanks for coming to see him," Hermione said. "Jamie loves Quidditch, and he knows all of your stats by heart, Gin, and Harry, he so excited to meet you too."

"We can't wait to meet him," Harry said with a smile. "This way James can meet his cousin."

Hermione grinned at that. She knew that Harry though of her as a sister, but seeing how she was an only child, her children would have no biological cousins. But if there was one thing she had learned, friendship could run thicker than blood ever could.

"I'll take you inside," Hermione said, as she opened the door.

Scorpius broke out into a wide smile as he saw Harry and Ginny, and immediately began talking to them both about his new friend, Jamie.

Draco placed a kiss on her lips, "How was the scene?" he asked her gently.

"It was Terence Higgs," Hermione said softly. She knew that Draco was in the same house as him, and that he probably knew him as well. "His body was so broken."

Draco shook his head, "It's awful," he said, pulling her in tighter. "I had a great day with the boys. It was nice to spend the day together."

"I'm glad," Hermione said with a smile.

Jamie looked up at Harry at that moment, "You're my mom's friend, right?"

Harry was sitting at the edge of the bed, while Ginny had pulled up a chair, "Yes, her bestest friend," Harry said as he sounded cheesy.

"Will you be my friend too?" Jamie asked, sounding a bit shy. "I don't really have a lot of friends."

Harry put out his hand, "I would love to be your friend. But if we're going to do this, then I want us to be officially acquainted. I'm Harry Potter, and you are?"

"I'm Jamie," her son said with a giggle as he shook Harry's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jamie," Harry said. "Now, why don't you tell me all about yourself? And don't leave out any of the juicy details, especially about Hermione. Tell me, is she a strict mother? Does she let you eat much candy? Her parents are dentists, and they don't let people eat a lot of sweet things."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she watched Harry go on about her, while Jamie and Scorpius listened intently as Harry started telling them stories about silly things Hermione used to do.

"I have a present for you both," Harry said with a smile, as he pulled out two tiny bags from his pocket, and increased the size of them back to normal.

"You didn't have to do that," Hermione protested.

"Nonsense. I'm an uncle now, as well as a father. And you promised to spoil my children, so I'm going to spoil both of yours," Harry said with a grin.

Hermione shot a look at his wife, but she shrugged, "I agree with the man, what can I say? Besides your son is so adorable, and so is Scorpius. Maybe I want to spoil them both a little."

Draco simply shook his head, even though he had a smile plastered on his face, "You'll regret this, Potter," Draco said with a grin. "I'm going to spoil your kid so much now."

"We get presents?" Jamie asked, sitting up in his bed eagerly.

"Presents?" Scorpius asked, as he sat up beside his friend. The two boys were cuddled together in the bed, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at how cute the two of them were. She was glad that the two of them were friends, and that they would have each other.

In the bags were huge amounts of chocolate, something which made Hermione playfully yell at Harry for, as well as a few toys which were fresh off the market. She could tell that the boys loved their gifts, and they both thanked Harry with a tackling hug.

She knew she had to start trying out different potion combinations for Jamie. She had a huge list of several ingredients which she knew would help make it more potent, and hopefully help Jamie, but it would be a long trial and error period, one which she prayed would end well.

The two families spent the evening together, and Ginny talked to both boys about Quidditch. While Harry and Draco kept cutting in and arguing about which team they liked better. It seemed as if her life was destined to revolve around the sport. Even Jamie, the adorable bookworm boy he was loved the sport. She swore there was no justice in the world. But regardless, she was happy that she had such a wonderful family, and there was nothing she would trade it for.