Hermione sat silently in the head dorms, far too shell-shocked to do anything other than just sit. Her friends clearly had a lot of questions, and had tried asking some, but she was in no mood to talk. Finally they got the message and backed off, instead choosing to sit and talk about poor Tonks and the fact she was gone. Hermione herself hadn't had a chance to process Tonks's death as she was far too worried about Draco, Lyra and Narcissa. Her boyfriend and daughter still hadn't returned, nor was there any sign of Narcissa, and she had no idea of she would see any of them again.
For a while the only sounds in the room was the quiet chatting of Hermione's friends. After ignoring Blaise and Theo for the majority of the time, the Gryffindor trio suddenly decided to talk to the Slytherin duo. Unfortunately, Harry and Ron thought the pair should leave and got rather insistent on the subject. However, Blaise and Theo made it clear they weren't budging. They'd promised to look after Hermione, and they weren't leaving until they knew what was going on and that Hermione was perfectly safe.
Hermione didn't get involved in the disagreement, but she did feel a small prickle of relief when Blaise and Theo refused to leave. It wasn't that she thought her friends wouldn't be there for her, as she knew they would be, but they wouldn't understand what she was going through with Draco. At least Blaise and Theo could understand her worries as Draco was their best friend and they cared about him.
As time ticked on, Hermione began to get increasingly anxious. Dumbledore kept wandering off to check on the rest of the Order, and he let her know that there was a few people who wanted to see her when she was ready. Madam Pomfrey tried to get Hermione to take a potion to help her rest as her anxiousness grew, but Hermione wasn't having any of it. She couldn't take a potion and relax when the two people she loved more than anything were in danger.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the door to the head dorms opened and Snape entered the room. Slung over his shoulder was Lyra's bag full of her stuff for when she was out and about, and nestled in his arms was the young baby.
"Lyra!" Hermione was on her feet and at Snape's side before he could shut the door behind him.
"She's okay Hermione," Snape reassured her as he handed the little girl over to her mother.
Tears flew down Hermione's cheeks as she cradled her daughter in her arms. For several minutes she just stood there holding onto Lyra. Eventually she looked up at Snape, her questions evident in her tear filled eyes.
"He's alive," Snape answered. "I should go and get Dumbledore, and we can all talk together."
"What about Narcissa?" Hermione asked. "Please say she's okay."
"She's fine," Snape replied. "She's at the manor with Draco."
"They're not coming back, are they?" Hermione whispered.
"Not for the foreseeable future," Snape answered, giving her a sympathetic smile. "I'll go and speak to Dumbledore, and when we return I'll tell you everything."
"Thank you," Hermione said, before taking Lyra's bag from Snape and heading back over to the sofa she'd been sitting on.
"Wow, she's beautiful," Ginny gasped as everyone stared at Lyra. Even though they knew she existed, it was just hitting them that Hermione had a baby.
"She looks just like Draco," Blaise said with a chuckle.
"She does," Hermione agreed as she gazed down at her daughter. "Don't worry Lyra, Daddy will be back."
"Would you like me to give her a check-up?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"Yes, I'd appreciate that," Hermione replied. Giving Lyra another hug and a kiss she handed her over to the medi-witch.
Madam Pomfrey took Lyra over the other side of the room, as Hermione anxiously watched. Five minutes later, Madam Pomfrey handed Lyra back to her mother.
"She's fine," Madam Pomfrey replied. "I think she's a bit stressed with everything that's happened, and she's hungry, but other than that she's okay."
"I'll go and feed her," Hermione said as she got to her feet.
"If there's a bottle in her bag, I'll do it for you," Madam Pomfrey offered.
"I doubt Narcissa would have been planning on having her out long enough to need a bottle," Hermione replied. Even so, she checked the bag and found no sign of any of Lyra's bottles. "No bottle, so I'll have to feed her."
"Where are you going?" Ron asked as Hermione headed for the stairs. "Can't you feed her down here?"
"I would rather not," Hermione replied as she continued heading off upstairs.
"Why won't she just feed her down here?" Ron asked. "And how is she going to feed her without a bottle?"
"She's going to do it the natural way," Ginny told her brother, staring at him until it was clear he understood how Hermione was feeding her daughter.
"Oooh," Ron muttered, turning slightly red at the thought.
Hermione remained upstairs with Lyra for nearly fifteen minutes. As well as feeding her, Hermione took a while to just enjoy having her daughter back with her. If only Draco was with them, then things might be alright, but for the time being it was just the two of them. Steeling herself to find out just what had happened with Draco, Hermione settled Lyra in her arms and headed back downstairs.
When Hermione got back to the common room, Snape had returned with Dumbledore. McGonagall had also returned to the head dorms, and with them were Arthur and Molly Weasley. Molly instantly got to her feet and rushed over to Hermione. Pulling the younger witch into a half hug, Molly cooed over a drowsy Lyra in Hermione's arms.
"Would you like us to send an elf for Lyra's things?" Dumbledore asked. "We could then set up her cot so she can sleep."
"I'd like that, but for now we can just settle her down here," Hermione replied.
Summoning a couple of pillows from the bedroom, Hermione settled Lyra onto the sofa and surrounded her with pillows. She then settled down beside her daughter and prepared herself to hear what was happening with Draco. However, before Snape could get started, there was a popping sound and Tipsy appeared in the room.
"Tipsy," Hermione gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Mistress Narcissa sent me," Tipsy answered. "She sent me to look after Little Miss Lyra."
"Are Draco and Narcissa okay?" Hermione asked.
"Master Draco said to tell you they love you," Tipsy replied. "I can go and see him every week, to pass messages."
"At least that's something," Dumbledore mused.
"Master Draco also said to tell you that someone told his father about Lyra," Tipsy added.
"A leak?" Severus questioned.
"Perhaps," Dumbledore mused. "I'll look into to."
"Good, but I want to know what's happened with Draco," Hermione insisted. "Tipsy you can go downstairs and meet the other elves. I'll call you when I need you."
Once Tipsy had disappeared, everyone's attention turned to Snape. Now it was time to find out what was going on with Draco.
"Draco's been forced to take the mark," Snape announced.
Despite expecting the news, Hermione felt a fresh wave of fear wash over her at the news that Draco was officially a Death Eater. Voldemort could make him do anything, and she knew that her boyfriend would do whatever it took to protect Lyra.
"That's not all though," Snape continued in a quiet voice. "He threatened Lyra so that Draco would obey him, but he's still got control over her. He's cast some sort of spell and tied it to one of her ribbons. If he tears the ribbon, Lyra will die. He demonstrated by scrunching the ribbon, and Lyra cried out in pain. He's using that to control Draco. He can't risk not doing exactly what Voldemort wants."
"No," Hermione cried, turning to where Lyra was sleeping peacefully beside her. "Please say he can't hurt my baby any more than he already has."
"I've heard of spells like those," Dumbledore said. "I'll check Lyra out and see if I can add some protection spells to her. Although, I will warn you that I wouldn't be able to totally counteract the spell until Voldemort is dead."
"But can you stop him from killing her?" Molly demanded.
"I'm sure I can," Dumbledore replied. "We'll look into it tonight. I promise I will do everything I can to protect your daughter, Hermione."
"And what about Draco?" Blaise asked. "We can't just leave him there."
"Actually, that's exactly what we have to do," Snape said. "Voldemort made it clear that any attempt to rescue Draco would result in him snapping the ribbon."
"So all we can do is work on defeating Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "If we do that, then Draco will be safe."
"I need that in writing," Hermione said, her mind clearing as she tried to make the best of the situation.
"I don't understand," Dumbledore said with a frown. "What do you want in writing?"
"I want you to ensure me that Draco won't be in trouble once this is all over," Hermione clarified. "We all know Voldemort is going to make Draco do terrible things. I will not have him convicted of being a criminal once this is over. Everyone here knows that he's only got the mark because he was protecting Lyra. I want some sort of agreement sorted, ensuring he won't be arrested once Voldemort is gone."
"I'll do my best, but I'm not sure I'm legally entitled to do that," Dumbledore replied.
"Your word counts for an awful lot in the wizarding world, one letter of recommendation will be enough to ensure Draco is treated fairly once this is over," Hermione argued. "Please Professor, you promised to help us, so help us."
"I'll do what I can," Dumbledore vowed. "I'll draw up a letter and ensure it's put somewhere safe in case anything happens to me. But I promise, if I'm still around when Voldemort is defeated, I will not let anything happen to Draco."
"Providing nothing's happened to him in the meantime," Theo muttered. "Do you know what The Dark Lord will want him to do?" He asked Snape.
"He didn't say, but the next few months won't be easy for him," Snape replied. "He'll have to do things that he'll never forget."
"He's just doing what's necessary to protect Lyra," Hermione said. "As tough as it will be, he'll manage it. Now what about Narcissa? What's the situation with her?"
"She's to stay at the manor from now on," Snape answered. "She'll be used as another way of controlling Draco. Like Draco, she'll be stuck there until we win the war."
A lengthy silence fell over the room, before Dumbledore broke it by summoning some parchment. Quickly he wrote what was essentially a pardon for Draco, and signed it with McGonagall signing as his witness. With that sorted, he turned his attention to Lyra and cast every protection spell on her that he knew. By the time he was finished he was satisfied that if the worst should happen and Voldemort was to try and kill Lyra, the little girl would fall into a deep sleep that they could wake her from upon Voldemort's death. He was also fairly sure that he'd all but alleviated any other side effects she might suffer from if Voldemort tried to hurt her.
"So what happens next?" Molly asked. "Surely things with Hermione and the baby have to change."
"I'm not leaving Lyra again," Hermione insisted. "We stay together."
"I think we have two choices," Dumbledore said. "Option one, Hermione and Lyra go into hiding somewhere and remain there until Voldemort is defeated."
"Then we're going with her," Blaise announced, glancing at Theo who nodded his head in agreement.
"What?" Ron questioned. "Why would you go with Hermione?"
"We promised Draco we'd look after her," Theo replied. "And we intend to take that promise seriously. From now on, Hermione and Lyra are our top priority."
"Thank you boys, I appreciate it," Hermione said, genuinely touched by the two Slytherins and the gesture they'd made. "But I don't want to take you away from your schooling. And to be honest, I'm not sure I want to go into hiding. I need to help make sure we defeat Voldemort. I can't just sit back and do nothing while Draco is stuck doing god knows what to protect out daughter."
"We also have option number two," Dumbledore said. "You stay here in school. Hogwarts is quite possibly the safest place you and Lyra could be. You would stay in the head dorms, and if you wished you could even carry on your schooling. I'm sure we can organise childcare between Madam Pomfrey, the house elves and the rest of the Order."
"I'd be more than willing to come up and help," Molly offered.
"And I'd help look after Lyra," Madam Pomfrey confirmed.
"See, you'd have a good support system," Dumbledore said. "True, it's not ideal to have Lyra in school, but it could be the best option."
"And that way you could still help us," Harry said. After destroying a Horcrux over Christmas they now just had something of Ravenclaw's to identify, locate and destroy before moving onto Nagini and Voldemort himself.
"People are going to talk," Hermione said with a sigh. "Lyra and I would be the source of all the gossip in school. I don't care what they say about me, but I won't have anyone insulting my daughter."
"Just you leave those people to us," Blaise said menacingly. "I promise you that no-one will say anything against you once we've made our position clear."
"Thank you," Hermione said, feeling overwhelmed by how supportive everyone was being. "I appreciate all the support everyone is giving us."
"So you want to stay?" Dumbledore checked with Hermione.
"Yes, I'd like to stay," Hermione replied.
"In that case, I'll have a few of the elves go and get your belongings from the house," Dumbledore said. "You can stay here for the rest of the day, and over the weekend we can sort a schedule for childcare."
"Thank you," Hermione said. "What'll be happening about Tonks? I'd like to go and see Remus, if I could."
"Sirius took Remus back to Headquarters," McGonagall answered. "That's where they took Tonks as well. Her parents have been informed and they're with her at the moment."
"I'll talk to Remus and see if he'll come and visit over the weekend," Dumbledore said. "And as for Tonks, I'm thinking her funeral will be next week. Don't worry, everyone who wants to attend will be allowed to go."
"If you need anything for Lyra, let me know," Madam Pomfrey said to Hermione as she got to her feet. "I'll be here in an instant if you need me."
After thanking Madam Pomfrey, Hermione turned to Molly and Arthur and thanked them for their support. Molly had already vowed to help as much as she could, and she reiterated that before her and Arthur left. When the Professors left, Dumbledore gave Harry, Ron, Ginny, Blaise and Theo permission to stay with Hermione for a bit longer, but he made it clear they were to leave when Hermione said so.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you guys the truth," Hermione said to her friends once everyone else had left. "We were hoping that the less people who knew, the less chance Voldemort had of finding out."
"We understand why you kept it a secret," Ginny reassured Hermione.
"But we would like to know the full story," Harry added. "Do you feel up for telling us what's being going on these last few years?"
Nodding her head, and glancing down at her sleeping daughter, Hermione began to explain to her friends and Draco's all about their romance, and the child they had together. As hard as it was talking about Draco and not knowing when or if she would see him again, Hermione also found it helped her to finally open up about what her life had been like for the last few years. Finally she could tell her friends the truth, and it felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.