"It's not going to be easy. It's going to be really hard. We're going to have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want to be with you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day."

"That's absurd!" Hermione threw her hands over her face, dragging them down slowly.

Draco gave his witch a daring look, "The sky is orange, Hermione. Did you not notice that we went from enemies to everything to each other just like that?" he snapped his fingers.

"Well…" her voice shook, "You acted rather strange and then just started talking to me like a human one day. I remember the first time. You were with Theo and we were alone in the corridor. I was humming and you knew the song. You were kind. I assumed you just…changed… and… and I was drawn to the kind-heartedness."

Draco smiled softly, remembering when Theo told him of her experience. "Tell me, did Theo and I look a bit different that day? Older maybe? Because that isn't a memory we share." he gestured between them.

Hermione's mouth gaped and her eyes bulged in apparent understanding. "But that's almost impossible! You can't safely go back more than a few hours." she muttered, as if trying to convince herself of the facts she had researched so many years ago.

"Well it happened. They knew their fates from it." he paused, "You're right; I did change. And it was because of that day…but a different event. I can prove it to you." he whispered.

As he finished speaking, Draco stood from the bed and walked slowly toward his dresser, opening the top drawer and removing a bundled sock pairing. He carefully procured something from inside the tightly rolled fabric—a glass phial.

"Remember this?" he asked, giving it a little shake.

She nodded slowly, a questioning look in her eye. Draco held the phial up to the light trickling in from the French doors that led to the terrace, swirling the memories inside.

"Is that…" she breathed shakily.

"I didn't believe it either and they were standing right in front of us."

"So, Theo was there too." she stated, comforted by this piece of information.

"Of course! Why do you think he was so bloody protective of you," he chuckled, "The pair of you were quite close in the future. He was rather moved by it and latched on to you like an Erkling to a small child…" His voice began to trail into a quiet whisper. "Besides, he'd always taken a liking to you, much to my annoyance; He'd have never studied with you if he didn't." he winked.

Hermione smiled sadly, tears still stinging her eyes and blurring her sight once more. "I'm glad we were close here too. I am glad I got the chance of knowing him…"

Draco wanted to comfort the witch sitting before him, to take her hand into his. "Anyway, so they came and I couldn't believe anything that they said. They thought that they could stop us from falling for each other. You were… killed by Bellatrix. So they thought that they could save you by doing what they did." He looked up to see Hermione staring at the tattered purple rug, obviously trying to piece all of the information together.

"I still couldn't believe it. So he showed me these to prove it. At the time we were repulsed by one another so I thought the notion was absolutely bonkers. But then I saw for myself and I asked to keep them…so I could show you one day. So we could live them... because the love that is revealed within these little wisps is something I never thought to be possible." Draco sighed, handing the phial to Hermione. She hesitated to take it and examined it closely, in a state of quiet shock.

"But you told me these were your only happy memories in your life. That time in the Hospital Wing." she muttered, finally speaking.

"They are. Or they were. I've since added some of my own of you and I." he gave a small smile.

She blushed lightly at the thought of what he might cherish between the two of them. He sat beside her once more and wrapped his hand around her empty one. To his joy, she didn't push him away.

"That day…The happiest memories of your life weren't even lived by you?" she said feebly, "I was right. That is horribly sad." She could feel the tears piling up behind her eyes, waiting for release once more.

"Do you want to see them?" he proposed, "I think you'll understand everything. And you'll understand why I couldn't keep away from you. I needed to know you."

"Can I? Would it be safe, I mean?" she asked, ignoring the hungry look in his eyes.

"Trust me, we're already on a completely different timeline. And Theo would want you to see these. I want you to see them. Then for all of the moments he should have been here for, we can carry his memory through them together."

XXX

Theo's eyes opened once more in the white room.

"Matti?" he asked, bewilderedly gazing at the woman tinkering with some devices attached to his right arm. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, loose curls falling from it. She was dressed in a white coat and a lanyard was hanging from her neck with a photographed card of her face and name 'MD. Matilda Bettine' on the first line and 'Royal London Hospital' on the second.

"Doctor Bettine, to you!" she quipped, pursing her lips, "Hullo, handsome. Bout time you've joined us!" she replied.

He looked to his left, seeing Hermione was occupying the seat beside him once more. As he looked back at Matti, he noticed an exact replica of his mother's old pearl ring on that finger.

"A-Are you engaged?" he piped nervously, before he could stop the roll of his tongue.

She looked down at her ring as if questioning it herself.

"Oh don't be daft, Matti! He can take it." Hermione urged.

Must be the hormones, Theo thought. Best not cross her. Then he panicked. He loved Matti—at least in his dream. He would be absolutely shattered if she was with someone else.

"Yeah! Who is the lucky bloke?" he asked, mentally trying to prepare for the answer.

"Sorry…'Ermione said you didn't remember things. I did not want to overwhelm you… But we are engaged." she beamed, pointing between them.

"Oh, praise fucking Merlin!" he sighed heavily with reprieve, his face brightening into a cheeky grin. Matti pounced in that moment, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him all over. He ignored the bouts of pain that scattered over his bones, "Don't scare me again, woman!"

"You're one to talk!" she retorted somewhat angrily, "I go to work one night only to have my fiancé, his best mate, and my best friend driven right to the door! It would be one thing if I worked at a restaurant and I were speaking of valet service, but NO, you lot were driven by ambulance to the HOSPITAL and bleeding…Two out of three of you have been comatose!"

"I'm just…going to sit with Draco…read to him again for a while." Hermione said, pulling herself up and waddled out the door.

Theodore grabbed Matti's cheeks, holding her face still. "Listen to me—I am so sorry, sweetheart." he pleaded, "I love you."

She melted into his touch and his voice, having craved them endlessly. He relished in the feel of the words he had wanted to say for so long finally leaving his lips, and his mouth was reunited with hers.

When they finally pulled apart, he spoke once more, rubbing his thumbs over her freshly fallen tears.

"Tell me everything. I want to know what happened. I want to know what day it is. How long have I been here? And why are you working in a bloody muggle hospital?" he asked.

Matti sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her fiancé's hands into her own, giving them a light squeeze. "It's such a biggie that you don't remember everything." she sighed, "But I'll leave what happened for 'Ermione to tell you, I don't want to mess any of it up. 'Owever, it's the third of January, so a little over a week. And, I've been working at this hospital for almost a year, love. It was my best bet, St. Mungo's was on overload with staff, besides, it's not that huge a deal… We live in London anyway."

Theo scoffed with a furrow of his brow, "Muggle London?"

The blonde couldn't help but laugh, "Yes, you insisted. So I could be closer to work, since you could just Floo into your office. I can't necessarily do that here, now can I?"

"Honey's?"

"Of course you'd remember Honey's of all places." she playfully slapped his hand, "Honoria was here just the day before last, in fact."

Theo nodded his head, taking in all of the information that Matti was giving to him. So far he gathered: He was indeed engaged to her—which he was absolutely ecstatic about. He lived in Muggle London. He was in a car crash? Gods what the hell happened to cause that? He never even rode in those muggle death-traps.

Matti stood from the bed and gently placed a chaste kiss on Theo's cheek, "I have a few other patients I need to tend to, but I'll be taking off from work once we can get you out of here." she smiled, "I love you, Teddy Bear."

Theo grinned. "I love you too, Doctor." he winked.

Matti merely shook her head, "Don't play so clever, Mister Nott. You didn't know what that word even meant an hour ago."

XXX

Hermione had grabbed herself a fresh cup of decaf coffee from the nurse's station as she bundled her free arm into her chest. Matti strolled up beside her, making her own paper cup of the freshly brewed caffeinated coffee. "I thought you were going to read to Draco?" the witch asked.

Hermione shook her head, "I was going to… I will. It's just so hard. I'm so terribly happy that Theodore is awake. I'm just worried for Draco… I was hoping once you had gotten Theo's blood into him, maybe…" Her voice trailed off and she filled the silence by taking a sip from her steamy cup.

Matti nodded in understanding, placing a hand on her friends shoulder, "I know. The only thing I can think of is that he's got some sort of mission he has to take care of… My Nan used to tell me about things like this from when she was younger and working at St. Mungo's. He'll come to when he's ready."

Turning to face the room with open shades, she watched as the lines went up and down on the monitor, "I can only imagine what he thinks he needs to take care of." she whispered.

XXX

After reading a few chapters to her husband, Hermione found herself increasingly put-out that her voice wasn't enough for him to come to. She moved back to Theo's room. She found him sitting up in his bed, pillows fluffed behind his head, a heaping bowl of ice cream in his lap, and watching the muggle telly. As Hermione entered the room, they both beamed at one another. "What are you watching?" she inquired.

"I… am not sure to be quite honest." Theo laughed, "But it looked interesting. It's not Quidditch, I can tell you that much."

Hermione went into her own bout of giggles, "Um… You're watching football! Oh, yes, Manchester United is playing."

Theo chuckled, "You know about muggle sports?"

She nodded, "My dad is all about it. He tried to get me to play when I was younger, but I liked ballet instead."

Still standing at the door, Theo watched his friend stand with a vague frenzy covering her face. He took the muggle remote and casted the telly off, calling for her to come over to his side. He held out his arms and she hastily moved into them, settling her head against his chest.

"What's wrong, buttercup?" he asked as he smoothed over her braid.

Her voice quiet, she shook her head into his chest. He could feel the wetness from her tears invading the thin gown he had on. "I'm just worried about Draco…" she sobbed openly.

Theo nodded silently, "I am too. Could you possibly fill me in with what happened? The accident."

Hermione rubbed her nose and sat up, turning to face her pal. She crossed her legs as well as she could without her baby bump getting in the way.

"Well…"

Flashback, December 25, 2001

"You all need to be careful, you hear?" Jean called from the front door of her home.

"We will mum, I'll send an owl as soon as we arrive home." Hermione called back.

Draco, Theodore, and Hermione gathered into the car Draco had rented from a service for that evening. The driver closed the doors and moved behind the steering wheel and they began to journey on to their destination.

"I am so stuffed." Theo groaned as he lay sideways across the backseat, propping his now shoe-less feet over Hermione's legs.

"Merlin, Nott, do you ever wash your feet?" Draco chortled as he waved his hand in front of his face.

Theo moved his sock covered foot to Draco's nose, "You know you like the smell."

Draco shoved the foot away with a sneer and Hermione sat in the middle giggling at the two men and their constant immaturity.

"Honestly, you two." She rolled her eyes with a smile, "Sorry that Matti couldn't make it tonight."

Theo brought his feet back to his side and sat up, throwing his arm over Hermione's shoulder, "It's alright, we had a fancy breakfast, and her Christmas present was… A very nice emerald negligee…" he started to explain but was instantly cut off by the sudden breaks being hit by the driver.

"Blimey! What the bloody hell?" he yelled, he and Draco both throwing their arms over Hermione's stomach protectively—instinctively.

"I am sorry, sirs and m'um, a bit of black ice." the man apologized.

"Yeah, well do better at paying attention, would ya?" Theo retorted, earning a smack to his chest by Hermione, "It's not his fault, Theod-"

Suddenly flashes of red and green lights peered into the windows. The sound of a blaring horn was instantly swallowed by the rigorous cracks of shattered glass and a gurgled scream flying from Hermione's mouth.

The car rolled down, down, down a snow covered hill, landing on it's roof, stopping just short of an ice-covered pond. Draco had hit his head clear through the window as Theo was ejected into the front seat. The driver was tossed out of the driver side window. Hermione was the only one that remained settled in the middle of the back seat. She had only managed a bump to her head on the ceiling of the car, bruises from the impact, and small scrapes across her face from the flying glass. Hermione began to smell the faint scent of gasoline, oil, and smoke.

"No." she breathed, unbuckling herself, reaching for her Vinewood wand from her bag, "Draco?" she coughed, "Love? Wake up." She nudged him, but he wasn't moving, she couldn't quite reach Theo. Taking a deep breath, she pulled Draco's head from the broken window, trying to keep from much more damage. She turned to the other door and found that it was not completely busted through—the glass was only cracked. She cast Diffindo and knocked it out completely, pushing her body through the small exit. Noticing the small golden flames dancing on the bonnet of the car, Hermione shattered the windshield and levitated Theo out and settled him as far as she could from the wreckage. She turned back to pulling Draco through and she set him beside his best mate. Before she could manage to pull the driver from the danger, the car burst into flames completely and with only moments to spare, Hermione was able to run forward to the broken men. The car exploded with a loud boom.

The energy was taken from her almost completely, she flicked her wand once more murmuring out a Patronus.

Flashback ends.

"…And I woke up in my own hospital bed, I was magically drained. The baby however didn't sustain any injury. I have Narcissa Malfoy to thank for that." She smiled sadly. "She cast a protective enchantment the day we found out I was pregnant."

Theo ran his fingers through his hair, "Holy shite! You saved my life, Granger Danger."

Hermione scratched at her neck, "Of course I did, you've saved mine plenty of times."

Smiling, Theo placed his palm on Hermione's enlarged abdomen, "Who did you send the Patronus to?"

"Harry."

"How did we get here? Why didn't we apparatus to St. Mungo's?"

"We weren't in any state to apparate. Luckily the man who hit us called for help. This was the closest hospital. Harry was here when I woke up."

XXX