Trigger Warning for the beginning of this chapter: infertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and anxiety attack.
The stark, white room was brightly lit by harsh fluorescent lights and smelled of bleach and sterilization, but all Hermione could focus on was the pain and pressure in her abdomen as she pushed through another contraction.
"You got this, Hermione. Just one more, alright?" said a female's voice.
She gripped the bedside rail tighter and let out a scream, just as her baby was birthed into the world.
"She's precious, Hermione. Simply beautiful. And look at all that hair." The same female voice from before chuckled next to her. "Definitely inherited that blond from her father."
Hermione smiled down at the tiny bundle in her arms, running a finger softly along her daughter's face.
"What's her name?" the voice asked.
"Lyra. Lyra Jean Malfoy." She turned to look at the woman next to her. "You'll take care of her, won't you, Daphne?"
Hermione woke with a start, one hand on her chest, her heart thudding against it, the other on her abdomen, where the phantom pains of labor started to ebb away.
She'd had vivid dreams before, but nothing like this.
On shaky feet, she got up to splash water on her face and drink some water.
Of course, the dream was only a dream, most likely sparked by her conversation with Draco and lots of wine.
But it felt so…real.
She glanced at herself in the mirror and a feeling of heartbreak threatened to overwhelm her. Her face crumpled at her reflection and before she could stop them, tears streamed down her cheeks. No longer able to hold herself up, she slid to the floor where she continued to sob into her hands.
She found out two years after the war that the damage done to her reproductive system from the Cruciatus Curse was irreversible. The healers didn't know why her reproductive system was affected in such a way, but she would never be able to conceive or carry a child.
The dream she had would never be a reality for her—she'd never carry a child and feel them grow inside her. She'd never experience giving birth and bringing life into the world.
As she pulled her knees up to her chest, Hermione started the breathing exercise that her therapist taught her to help with the panic attacks that used to come regularly after the war. She counted as she took a deep breath, held it, then counted again as she exhaled. She reminded herself that even though she couldn't have children of her own, she could still adopt, when the time was right. Adoption was always something she had thought of doing, whether or not she had children of her own, but it was still heartbreaking knowing that she didn't even have the option anymore.
After repeating the breathing process a couple of times, her tears had stopped and she was no longer shaking.
Hermione crawled back into bed, exhausted from crying, and took a dose of Dreamless Sleep. She hoped to get a few more hours of sleep before she started her first solo week as manager. The owners had finally moved, so now she was really on her own.
Thankfully, she loved her job and the people she worked with. The camaraderie with her fellow employees made it so she actually looked forward to going to work and the work environment was much more relaxed than the Ministry had ever been.
And the best part, she thought as she drifted off to sleep, was no more Daily Prophet reporters camped out front, waiting for a glimpse of the 'Golden Girl.'
A week later, Hermione found herself dressed up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for Halloween. Her co-workers each dressed as a different character in the well-known tale. They had made sure to set up a display right in front of the shop that featured all the different Wonderful Wizard of Oz books, spin-offs, children's editions, as well as toys, bookmarks, and treats. It was a hit throughout the day and when nighttime came, and the trick-or-treaters started coming around, Hermione stood just outside the door to welcome everyone inside.
As the time passed, Hermione handed out candy to a variety of children, but she had yet to see Lyra and Draco. Draco had texted her the day after they had dinner at her place, saying that Lyra picked out a costume and that it was "all her fault." He wouldn't elaborate, no matter how many times she asked, even when she ran into him before work a few times, he remained tight-lipped.
As she refilled the picnic basket she was carrying with candy to hand out, she heard a loud "Roar!" behind her.
Hermione swirled around and gasped dramatically. "Oh my! A lion!"
The little lion laughed. "It's okay Miss Hermione! It's just me, Lyra!"
Hermione bent down to look at the little girl's face. "Oh! It is you." She stood upright and glanced behind Lyra and gave a surprised look. "And I see you are accompanied by your… lion tamer?" she asked, giving Draco's costume a once over.
"I'm the ringmaster, thank you very much."
Hermione bit her lip to keep from smiling too widely. "I thought you didn't do costumes?"
"Yes, well, someone got it into my daughter's head that I should dress up too."
"I've no idea what you're talking about." She gave Lyra a wink, which made the little girl giggle.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Sure, Granger, deny it all you like. Lyra, aren't you forgetting something if you want candy from Miss Hermione?"
"Oh, yeah!" Lyra held out her plastic pumpkin. "Trick or treat!"
Hermione placed a handful of candy in her bucket, then winked at her again and put in a few more. "I do love how you chose the lion costume out of all the circus animals. Did you know that that was my house mascot at school? Your daddy's was a snake!"
Lyra scrunched up her nose. "Ewwwww!"
"Ew is right!" Hermione agreed, stifling a laugh.
Draco's eyes were narrowed, though there was no heat behind them, and took Lyra's hand. "Well, we'll be seeing you Granger. Me and my circus lion have to visit more shops."
"Can you come with us, Miss Hermione?" Lyra asked hopefully. "Please?"
"Aw, I'm sorry sweetie, but I can't—"
"I can take over for a bit." Rachel, who was dressed as Glinda the Good Witch, joined them in the doorway. "You've been out here for a while and you opened today. You deserve a break."
"Oh, but… are you sure?"
Rachel took the basket from Hermione and gave her a wink. "Yup. We've got it handled here."
Hermione looked at Draco, then at Lyra. "I guess I can join you after all."
"Yay!" Lyra shouted. She handed Draco her candy bucket then used her newly freed hand to grab Hermione's. "Let's go!"
Hermione laughed at Lyra's excitement and when she glanced back at Draco, she saw a small smile on his face as well.
They crossed the street, Lyra between the two adults, holding each of their hands. When they were safely across, she let go and raced ahead to the next shop, leaving Hermione to walk side by side with Draco.
"So, who are you supposed to be dressed up as anyways?" Draco asked after a moment.
Hermione gave him a curious look. "I'm Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz."
At his confused expression, she said, "Have you really never heard of it? There are books and a famous movie, too."
"Unless it has princesses, I probably haven't seen it," he said with a shrug.
"Well, we'll have to fix that," Hermione said with finality. "I own both the book and the movie. You'll just have to come over with Lyra and we'll do another movie night at my place."
Draco chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sure Lyra won't argue with that. But, I do believe it's our turn to host dinner."
Hermione shrugged. "Either way, you both need to watch it. Though I do suggest you read the book first."
Draco slid his hands into his pockets. "What's the story about?" he asked.
While Lyra continued collecting candy along the downtown strip, Hermione explained the storyline to Draco, then went on to suggest other movies and books she knew from her childhood that she thought Lyra might like. When they ended up back at the bookstore, Hermione was surprised to learn that an hour had passed.
"I suppose I better head in and help close up," she said.
Draco looked down at Lyra, who was trying to stifle a yawn. "Yes, we need to be heading home anyway. Someone has school in the morning."
"Awww, does that mean I can't have any of my candy tonight?" Lyra asked, turning on every bit of charm she possessed.
Draco sighed. "You can have one small piece on the car ride home, okay?"
Lyra smiled widely and nodded at him before rummaging around her bucket.
Draco sighed again as he looked at Hermione. "I dislike Halloween when there's school the next day," he said quietly. "It'll take her forever to fall asleep, and it's nearly past her bedtime as it is."
Hermione winced. "Good luck, and I mean that with sincerity."
"I'll need it," he said, then looked at Lyra. "What do you say to Miss Hermione?"
With her chosen candy in her hand, Lyra hugged Hermione around her middle. "Thank you for trick-or-treating with us."
Hermione gently squeezed her back. "You're very welcome. I'll see you soon, okay?"
She watched as the lion tamer and his charming lion walked away and waved when Lyra turned around one last time to say goodbye.
All thoughts of crawling into bed disappeared when she got home and saw Shakespeare waiting for her. She gladly accepted the scroll from his leg and gave him two treats before she told him to go rest. Shakespeare hooted then flew off towards the trees while Hermione made her way to the couch and began reading her letter from Harry.
Dear Hermione,
Sorry that it took so long to send your owl back, but I wanted to make sure he was able to rest after such a long journey. Plus, if you'll notice, I've tucked a few other letters in with mine. You're welcome.
Your owl is huge, by the way. He nearly gave me a heart attack when he tapped on the window in the middle of the night. Ginny found it quite hilarious and now won't let me live it down, so thanks for that.
Stanley was afraid of him at first, but thankfully he realized Shakespeare wouldn't hurt him and eventually let him share his cage. It was rather comical considering Shakes took up most of the space.
It's weird not being able to talk to you every day, and I'm rubbish at writing letters, which is why we need to start a weekly or bi-weekly floo-call to one another. You're five hours behind us, so that's not too bad. Let's plan for you to floo-call us at around 5pm your time, 10pm for us, on November 2nd. I know we both have mobiles but the rates for calling and texting internationally are outrageous. Thank Merlin for magic!
We all miss you terribly, but I'm happy that you're happy in your new place.
Love from across the pond,
Harry
At the bottom of the letter, she saw a note from Ginny.
Hermione,
I hope you're using your new anonymity wisely. And by that, I mean I hope you're finally letting yourself find a nice bloke (or two or three, I don't judge) who will finally break you of your dry spell, if you know what I mean.
Love you,
Gin.
P.S. I meant sex. Please have lots of it.
P.P.S. You should have seen Harry's face while reading this. Priceless.
Hermione chuckled and rolled her eyes. Ginny would be sorely disappointed to learn that there hadn't been any blokes helping her with her dry spell. The ones she worked with were either married, too young, or preferred the same gender as she did. Apart from her work colleagues, the only man she interacted with regularly was Draco. And while Hermione could admit he was quite fit and much more tolerable now that he wasn't sneering at her or calling her names, she was enjoying their newly-formed friendship too much to consider him an option, especially because of Lyra.
Though, that hadn't stopped her from wondering how he looked under his button down shirts he wore to work every day…
Hermione groaned. Thanks, Ginny.
She set aside the letter from Harry and Ginny and began reading the others that he'd attached. When she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, she fell asleep on the couch, surrounded by letters from her friends, and dreamt of stolen kisses, heated touches, and whispered promises.
A/N: I want to thank you all for all the reviews! I may not respond to them, but I read them and love them! Some have asked how often this fic updates and I will update every Sunday! It might be just one chapter, or every so often, I may do two... like this week! Chapter 10 will be up shorty! Enjoy! xoxo HufflepuffMommy