Edited 4/25/23: Almost 900 words were added to this chapter. I added a pretty hefty chunk about Hermione's Barbadian culture as well as I TOTALLY forgot that Severus lived, so he's back in this chapter and helping out the team.

Thanks to RabidCommentarian for beta work. And bam2305 for alpha-ing.

Here is the first part of Part III. We're only looking at a few chapters here, and its really a set up for the next jump. I'm almost done with these chapters, and then am going to throw myself into writing Book 2.

Enjoy!

June 5, 1998

Hermione

She was nervous, which was, frankly, ridiculous. The Granger-Nott-Tonks-Lupin and occasional Snape and Malfoy inhabitants of the Granger Estate had fallen into a very comfortable routine over the past weeks.

Hermione was hoping to take the next step with Draco this evening, after all it was his birthday. She'd been frantic almost all week preparing, much to Andi's amusement. The older witch had been coaching Hermione in typical Pureblood Customs. The whole affair was rather exhausting if she was honest. There were rules for everything. How to eat, how to smile, how to move your hands. Where to store your wand, how to invite people into your home, who was allowed into certain rooms. Her head was spinning.

In the month since the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione and Andi had been diving deep into everything to do with Pureblood Society while Ted, Severus, and Remus worked with Theo on their calculations.

It had, to put it lightly, been a tense conversation when Hermione pitched the idea of including Remus and the Tonks' in their planning. Theo had been uncomfortable expanding their circle of trust and Draco had been adamantly opposed. Finally she pulled out a piece of parchment and ran the calculations. Both men had begrudgingly accepted her plans and sat tensely when she sat the rest of the group down.

After she'd explained what they'd done so far, Remus looked even more tired than when she'd started, Severus looked angry, Ted was practically bouncing out of his seat, and Andromeda looked frustrated. Draco was clenching his jaw grimacing for most of the explanation and Theo was bouncing his knee anxiously.

"Hermione," Andromeda said after she'd finished. "I recognize that you've had a lot thrust upon you from a young age," she sent a glare towards Severus, who looked equally put out, "but why are you taking on all the work for this. Why didn't you include any of us earlier?"

Draco scoffed and Theo sighed while Hermione sunk into a seat, dejected. The disappointment emanating from her surrogate mother was jarring. "Andi," Theo said after a beat. "Severus and Ted died, you were barely hanging on and Remus was a shell of himself. From the age of 11 Mia has been taking care of everyone else. We did what we had to do, and now we'll do it again."

"Get on board or don't, but I trust these two with my life," Draco bit out.

Hermione felt tears prick her eyes, it was so nice to have them stand up for her so vehemently. "Don't mistake us," Ted cut in quickly. "We're in. We'll help however we can, we're just surprised. You know that we see you as another daughter, Mi. We're just worried."

"I can't believe that it's yet again entrusted to children," Severus scoffed, "but there is no question that I want Tom gone as much, if not more than you do. I'll help however I can."

Remus still hadn't said anything as he stared at the chalkboard with all their calculations on it. Hermione turned to look at him. She'd always known that Ted and Andi would get on board, even if they were worried, they were like her parents in that way, gung ho and dependable. They always trusted her. Remus, on the other hand, she still saw as Professor in many ways. She wanted to make him proud and impress him.

"Remus?" she asked softly.

He blinked a few times and then turned to look at her. "No denying you're brilliant," he said after a moment, "all three of you. I can see all of your influence in this. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but I know we have to do something. I want a better life for Teddy and if we can prevent even half of the things that have happened, I'll do anything."

Once they had support, the entirety of the Granger Estate had been thrown into planning and calculating. All three of the new additions had invaluable context for the First Wizarding War. Remus fleshed out almost everything he could about the Order of the Phoenix and the movements during his years at Hogwarts. Andi was knowledgeable about the build up as she'd only left the Black house in 1971, which coincided with Remus' first year at Hogwarts. Ted was a font of knowledge on both Muggle Britain in the 70s and the political climate for Muggleborns during the time.

Now she was sitting, anxiously waiting for Draco to appear for his birthday dinner. She'd worked with Bennett and Darcy to create a formal dinner menu that highlighted both Pureblood society and Barbadian cuisine. This was her first foray into hosting a formal dinner party. Fortunately, it would only feature their closest friends and family.

Finally the Floo came to life and Draco stepped out. Hermione had to bite back her gasp, he looked so handsome. To be fair, he always looked handsome but today was something special. He was decked out in brand new robes and was holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a small book in the other.

"Granger," he said with a smirk as he took in her emerald robes that Darcy had helped tailor. "For you, I know my aunt has been educating you, but I wanted to make sure you knew that I'm putting in my own work as well."

Hermione flushed as she took the bouquet and book. It was called A Language of Flowers. She quickly thumbed through and saw that each entry had a hand drawn and painted example.

"Draco this is beautiful," she said looking up at him.

"I er, I added the art for you," he said, tapping his foot awkwardly.

"Y-You drew these?" she gasped. "Draco, they're gorgeous!"

"I also er, added a few pages in the back if you wanted to track your bouquets?" he said, cheeks a deep pink. "I did the first one for you."

She flipped to the back and saw the flowers listed with a brief description of their meanings. He'd sketched out a rough version of the bouquet that was in her hands.

She skimmed through the list quickly and felt tears prick her eyes.

- Red Camellias - Passion, love and romance

- Yellow tulips - sunshine in your smile

- White tulips - purity and rebirth

- Blue Star - admire their strength, determination and endurance.

- Balloon Flowers - I'll never stop loving you

- Pink azaleas - represent family and familial duty

- Calla Lily - beautiful (inside and out)

- Tansy - protection and hope for good health

- Iris - wisdom and respect

She wandlessly conjured a vase and thrust the flowers in, quickly setting the book beside it and threw her arms around Draco's neck. Peppering kisses all over his cheeks.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a real kiss. "I have something else," he said after a moment, "but I want you to know that even if you're not ready yet, I'll wait."

She leaned back to look him in the eyes and he unwound one of his arms from her waist, fishing something from his pocket. She had a feeling she knew where this was going as Ted was a notoriously terrible secret keeper when it came to his daughters.

"I know we've only been doing this for a short time, but it's traditional for a man's family to offer a betrothal contract on his 18th birthday, and er seeing as I'm head of my house and today is my 18th, I-"

He thrust a velvet jewellery box and a packet of papers at her. "How did you-" she started.

"I asked Uncle Ted and Aunt Andi last week and we nailed out the briefest details, but they figured you'd want to have a say as technically you're head of the Granger family and not them," he said quickly.

She grinned at him and dragged him to the couch, where she sat and began to look through the documents. It was exceptionally evenly split. All three houses, Malfoy, Black, and Granger were included. All three of the family assets were combined and split evenly.

"We took out most of the more antiquated requirements," he said after letting her peruse for a few minutes. "The rest is mostly just discussing how assets would be split amongst our future children."

"What about going Back?" she asked quietly.

"It sets any children we have in the past as secondary to the main lines. While they would technically be siblings, they'd be listed as more like cousins officially," he said.

"And is that something you'd want," she asked softly, turning to look at him. "Kids for the sake of having kids, not to fill the role as heir?"

"I'd never even given myself the chance to think about it," he said quietly, "but I don't think I'd mind having them, I'm not sure, I might even like it?"

She nodded at him thoughtfully, she'd always thought she'd be a Mum, not anytime soon, of course. While she'd enjoyed the attention that came with being an only child, there was something about the idea of siblings that she always liked. Having built in companions, even ones she might fight with sounded amazing.

"And you?" he asked, reaching for her hand and nudging the jewellery that she'd abandoned on the seat.

"We're only eighteen, I'm not in any sort of rush for them, but I'd like children, in any time," she said softly as she picked up the case.

She felt her eyes widen as she took in the sight of a bracelet that complimented the necklace he'd given her. She turned to look at him through her eyelashes.

"Hermione Jean Granger," he said formally, "would you do me the honour of formally courting me?"

"Of course!" she said with a grin, thrusting out her wrist so that he could put the bracelet on it.

After he'd finished putting the bracelet around her wrist, she was reminded that she had a dinner party organised for him, and that the rest of the guests were waiting in the formal parlour for them.

Draco

He held out his arm and they moved towards the formal parlour. He knew that she'd planned a formal dinner for his birthday, both as an opportunity to practise her skills as well as to celebrate him. He wouldn't lie though, knowing that she'd done this for him really inflated his ego.

He'd be the first to admit that he was a different person from the spoiled little boy that had started at Hogwarts all those years ago, but there was a sort of vindictive pleasure that he'd gotten the girl over either of the Golden Duo. He immediately recoiled from the thought, reminding himself just how broken up Hermione had been about Potter's death.

By the time he'd fully spiralled into thoughts about if he was actually a better man than he used to be, they were arriving in the formal dining room. Theo was sitting next to Remus and Severus, all three holding glasses of what he assumed was Firewhiskey. Andromeda and Augusta Longbottom were cooing over Teddy who was sleeping in his cradle. Ted and Longbottom seemed to be talking animatedly over a Herbology text.

Hermione cleared her throat and drew the attention of the room. "Good evening, everyone," she said, demurely, "I'd like to announce the arrival of our guest of honour. And if he doesn't mind me stealing a bit of the spotlight, he officially asked me to Court him today."

Draco was mildly surprised at the positive response the announcement caused. He knew on a logical level that he was surrounded by friends and family, but he was used to the stoicism of traditional Pureblood society. He was a bit taken aback by the fawning that Theo, his Aunt and the Longbottom Matriarch were doing.

He stepped back and joined his Uncle and Longbottom, trying to keep the flush from painting his cheeks. "You know," Longbottom said after a few moments, "with everything that's been going on, I didn't think I'd see her smile like that again. You're a lucky man to call her yours."

"I definitely don't deserve her," Draco said quietly.

"And that's why I've agreed to the match," Ted said with a wink.

Longbottom snorted, "As if Hermione Granger would ever wait for permission to do something she wanted to do."

Draco couldn't help but agree, Hermione Granger was, if anything, a force of nature. There was nothing he, or anyone, could do to convince her to do something she didn't want to do. What felt like moments later, he was escorting her to the dining room and pulling out her chair. Her elves were serving them a feast of foods that were quite unfamiliar to him.

The whole meal was a feast for his mouth, nose, and eyes. There was so much colour.

"For our first course," Bennett said from the front of the room, "we have fresh Sea Eggs with a side of rice." Draco looked down at the spiky balls on his plate. "The mistress wished to inform you that Sea Eggs are quite popular on the Island. They're fresh sea urchins and would be most similar to shrimp."

Draco looked down at the plate and with a smirk, took his cue from Granger, eating the urchin with little pause. The rest of the guests ate at a slightly slower pace, but all seemed to be impressed by the new food.

"Our soup course is a traditional stew," Darcy squeaked from her perch. "This stew features cucumbers, lemon, and scotch bonnet peppers as well as chicken feet. Be careful as this one may be a bit spicy!"

Draco paused before he took a bite of this dish. He wasn't known for being all that adventurous of an eater, but he didn't want to appear ungrateful. After watching Theo take a large bite, Draco followed suit. It was spicy, although surprisingly delicious as well.

"For our main course, we have Pudding and Souse," Bennett continued when the bowls had been cleared. "This sweet potato and pickled pork dish is sure to delight both in colour and taste."

Draco thought this course looked the most familiar to ones he'd had in the past, and was delighted to find that the flavours exploded on his tongue and melded together most comfortably.

"Our final course for the evening is Guava Cheese," Darcy squeaked, but didn't add any more.

Draco looked at the balls on his plate, trying to decide how guava and cheese would go together.

"Try it," Granger said with a grin. Draco followed her lead and carved out a small piece, prepared for an odd combination. He was shocked. It almost tasted like cranberry fudge, something he'd loved as a child. His eyebrows shot up and he tried to hide his flush at Granger's laugh.

Overall, the meal passed in easy conversation, everyone avoiding the discussion about the War that was raging outside of their walls.

At the end of the meal, Granger was levitating a platter with a cake on it towards him. There were candles flickering merrily on top. If you'd told him even six months ago that this was where he'd be, he'd have hexed you. He hadn't felt so content, so at peace since before Fourth Year. He looked around the table at the people singing to him and could barely contain his emotions.

"Make a wish, Draco," she said as she stood behind his chair. He could barely contain the sigh that was aching to erupt from him. Maybe he was a fool for falling so fast, but his only wish would be her, and she'd already agreed to be his. So with a final thought, he wished for success in their task.

Being with Hermione Granger was never boring. She constantly surprised him, never doing what he expected her to do. After the party, the group had dispersed, allowing him to sit with his betrothed. They sat in front of one of the large windows looking out at the stars with his arm draped around her shoulder. "This was perfect," he said, leaning in to drop a kiss to her temple.

"Really?" she asked, looking towards him, a flush painting her cheeks.

"I would venture to say it was the best birthday I've ever had, Granger," he said, smiling at her.

She looked down shyly and fiddled with the bracelet that was wrapped around her wrist. "I was hoping…" she trailed off.

He drew her chin towards him, gently forcing her to look at him. "Yes?" he asked softly.

"I was hoping to go further," she said softly. "I know you've probably done loads of things with loads of girls, but I'm…"

He choked on his own breath. "Wh-What makes you say that?" he asked, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked like a schoolboy.

"Come on, Draco," she pouted, "Slytherin Sex God? All the girls were atwitter about it."

He chuckled softly, then quickly sobered when he saw her face drop. "I'm- oh Merlin," he stuttered. "I'm untouched, Granger. Well, not completely but I've never gone all the way. I know that a lot of Muggleborns don't really wait until marriage, but there are some pretty intense bonding benefits if you w-" she surged up and kissed him.

He was taken aback by her response and froze, until he felt her begin to pull away. He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, having learned that he should not put his fingers in her hair. "Draco, you can't just put your fingers in curls! They're bound to get frizzy and absolutely ruin the style and curl pattern!" spun through his mind on repeat. She'd of course let him play with her hair after a while and after a crash course on how to handle it.

"So you want to wait?" she breathed against his lips.

"I don't want to wait, but we should," he said, kissing along her jaw. "There is things we could do if you're interested, I'll send you a book about some of the bene-"

Yet again, she pulled him into a heated kiss and straddled his thighs. Books were a surefire way to engage Hermione Granger, if he'd ever found one. "W-Would you like to come to bed?" she asked quietly.

"A-Anything you want, Granger," he groaned softly, running his palms along her generous curves. Merlin was he grateful for her House elves. Any weight she'd lost during their time on the run had been replaced. He found her curves to be mouthwatering.

He followed her to her bedroom, with what he could only assume was a dumb expression on his face. He'd fooled around a bit with Pansy of course, but it had always felt like a chore. There was a time that Astoria Greengrass had been throwing herself at him, and while he'd tried to appreciate her enthusiasm, she was so much younger than him, it felt gross.

Granger was the furthest thing from Pansy or Astoria. Pansy had been sure of herself because she was Pure, and had been told for so long that she had to use her body to keep her future husband interested. Astoria just wanted to make her parents proud of her and secure a favourable Betrothal Contract. He couldn't blame them, that was how they were raised, but he vowed to himself that his daughters, if he ever had any, wouldn't be raised that way.

Granger exuded confidence in a way that would have made Pansy green with envy. She was sure of herself, even if she hadn't done any of this before. Her combination of shy confidence was a constant fascination for him. She never did anything by halves, including this.

When he stepped into her room for the first time, he couldn't hold back his grin. It was exactly the type of space he'd want to cohabitate if she allowed it. It was decked out in greys and creams and looked so light and airy, far from the overbearing style of Malfoy Manor. He could see where hints of Granger were in all corners. The pile of books in front of the fireplace, the mug of Muggle pens on the desk. He was absolutely pleased to see the empty half of the closet that he could only assume was for him.

"Draco," she said quietly, looking up at him through her eyelashes, "we don't have to do anything if you don't want I just wanted to show you how much you've come to mean to me in the past months, especially after you've given me this," she raised her wrist.

"N-No," he said quickly, pulling her towards himself. "It's not that at all. I was just thinking about how I wouldn't mind living in your Estate, how nowhere else has ever felt so much like home."

She flushed prettily. "Oh."

"You're it for me, Granger, and I could see us waking up in that bed when we're old and grey and wrinkly, and I'd still be awed at how beautiful you are. I can picture our kids running around the halls, shouting about this or th-"

She started crying. "Granger, are you alright?" he asked quickly.

"I'm- yes, I'm alright," she sniffled. "You're just not what I expected. You're so different than you were when we were kids."

He stiffened a bit, it's not that he was different, he just had different priorities. He sighed, and led her to the loveseat that was situated by the fireplace. "It's not that I'm different, Granger," he said after they'd settled, "It's just that I've seen a lot, we both have… I care about my family more than anything. When my mother was in danger I did things I'm not proud of, but if it kept her safe, I accepted the consequences."

"I guess I'm just surprised," she said after a few moments, "I have forgiven you, but sometimes I think about the little boy who called me Mudblood and teased me for my hair and I-"

"I can't even explain how sorry I am for those things, Granger, especially now that I know how hard those things were for you. I wish I could take them all back, I wish I could rewrite history and fix it."

"But we are going to rewrite history," she said quietly, "maybe we'll fix it for ourselves?"

He pulled her towards him and laid a kiss on the top of her head. They talked quietly about their plans for the future and what they hoped for. Eventually they laid on the bed, her head resting on his chest as he stroked his fingers up and down her back.

He was slightly disappointed that night didn't end up in the passionate night that she'd planned, but when he woke up the next morning, with her wrapped around him, he found that it had turned out exactly as he'd wanted it to.

July 1998

Theo

The past few months had been a blur, Theo had barely taken a moment to think about what he'd lost. He knew that the way he was coping was probably exceptionally unhealthy, but he also didn't have time to process.

He'd found a kindred spirit in Ted, and fervently wished that he'd had someone like him or Severus as a father instead of his own. They had spent hours discussing alternate timelines. Ted and Andi, like the Weasleys, hadn't been formally involved in the Order during the First War, but had a lot of connections. The Prewitt Twins were some of Ted's best mates in school. Lots of events seemed to hinge on their deaths. If they could prevent their deaths, it seems like many other things would fall into place.

Severus and Hermione were pushing very hard to save Lily and James, but their deaths seemed like a fixed point. Severus had made it his mission to find any potential missing variables that could change the outcome for the couple.

One thing they could definitely affect was preventing Sirius' incarceration. The goal was to have Remus, Sirius or Severus toraise Harry. Alice and Frank would do in a pinch as well. Theo worked hard to get his Aunt and Uncle free. He'd kill the Mad Witch himself if he had to. He didn't want Nev to be raised without his parents again.

Remus would float in and out of the planning, but he was more focused on the here and now, unwilling to put all his energy into a potential past-future. One of the pieces that he pushed for was to eradicate Greyback. It wouldn't help him necessarily, but it would drastically curb the violence that occurred during and after the First War.

Andi wanted to protect her family above all, she pushed for Regulus to be protected and to see if they could stop Bellatrix from going so far into the Black Family Madness. After much manoeuvring, Theo and Ted silently agreed not to share that Bellatrix's madness was another inevitable event.

Theo wanted to begrudge Mia and Draco their lack of engagement in the calculations, but he recognized that they had other duties. If anything, he found himself getting closer with the older group and feeling further from his friends. Most days he could understand the changes, but it didn't stop him from missing the time he'd spent with them before everyone else had gotten involved.

Draco was quickly moving up the ranks with the Death Eaters, consistently ferrying information to the Order, who had begun to stage more attacks. One of the most shocking revelations was that Tom hadn't created another Horcrux. With Harry dead, he no longer felt the need to protect himself in that way.

Mia was working closely with the Weasley twins on Brewing and Invention. They were working on products, spells, and potions that would increase their chances of success going forward. He was more than a little disappointed that he couldn't be as close to George this time around, but he understood how things were different with Fred around. Regardless, he was consistently impressed with their ingenuity.

One afternoon in mid-July, he pulled the whole group together. Remus cradled Teddy to his chest, looking even more exhausted than he had in past weeks, Ted and Andi sat next to each other quietly talking, Severus sat brooding by himself as he was wont to do, while Mia and Draco sat next to each other as close as they could appropriately could.

"Ahem," Theo said, gaining everyone's attention. "Ted and I have been running the calculations again and again, and we've found that in order for the most success, we can't go back until 2000."

"What?" Draco practically shouted, "I have to keep up the charade for another two years?"

Ted grimaced and continued, "My guess is that it's because of your ages. If you were to go back then you'd be a bit older than Andi and I's and we'd be more apt to trust you. Right now you're still rather young, at least your bodies are," he added before Draco and Mia could argue. "This would give you all a chance to pursue Masteries and have the credentials that would prove invaluable to the cause."

Mia looked between the two of them thoughtfully. Theo continued, "Draco should get his Potions Mastery, ask Tom if it's something you can pursue amongst your other duties. I'm sure Sev would help?" he asked raising an eyebrow to their former Professor. "I'm going to reach out to the person Vector apprenticed under and work on a write-in Arithmancy program. So much of the work is paper based, so I'd probably end up meeting with them once a month or so."

"That's lovely," Andi said, "and for Mia?"

"Charms," Mia and Remus said simultaneously.

"And the calculations for this increase our chances of success?" Draco asked after a moment.

"Dramatically," Ted said succinctly.

"Seems we don't have much of a choice then," Draco grumbled. "I'll talk to Tom this week about a Potions Mastery."

"And I'll speak with Professor Flitwick," Mia said with a small smile.

Overall, the conversation had gone better than he anticipated. He knew the conversation was far from over and they had a lot more to finalise before they made their next jump, but his focus had to be on the future not on the past or conversations that would need to be had in the future.

What did you all think?

As always to bam2305 my sounding board. I can't even describe how wonderful it is to have you to throw all my ideas at!