You should go."
"I don't want to."
"That doesn't negate the necessity of action. You should go. You'll regret it if you don't." She had walked him back to the living room, guiding him by the arm as his legs shook.
"I guarantee I'll regret missing the birth of our child more." His voice was hollow.
Hermione rubbed her belly instinctively. "It might not be today. It might all stop in a few minutes. You need to go and at least check in on your mother now." He looked up at her, steel-colored eyes swimming with a thousand unspoken words in them.
"Would you feel better if I went to the Potters until you got back? That way I'm not alone. Ginny is home with Albus; he wasn't feeling well. "
Evelyn turned herself into the conversation at the mention of the boy's name. "I want to go see Albus…"
"No...no-no… you need to get to Daphne's." The sudden threat of becoming entangled with the Potters for the evening motivated him into action. "Right. I'll take her then go to St. Mungos and...assess the situation. You...you should be with Ginny just in case, but I'll be back in just a moment… don't…."
A smaller tremor of a contraction ricocheted through her, but she tried to grimace through it, swallowing thickly and shooing Evelyn and Draco through the Floo before a real one rocketed up through her core muscles making her brace herself against the mantle.
Next time you're taking leave well before your due. A little voice nagged at her before she remembered there would be no next time. She chalked it up to stress and gathered her things to leave for Grimmauld place.
Before she stepped through the flames, a change in light caught her eye. The sunroom was darkening as a late afternoon storm rolled across blue skies, rustling the trees and hedges outside.
Ginny paced over the well-worn carpet, baby Lily on her hip chattering away in baby jargon to no one in particular. Albus sat in an armchair, empty rubbish bin on his lap, looking forlorn.
"I'm never eating Bertie's Beans again." he moaned, laying a cheek on the rim of the bin.
"That's what you get for getting the whole bag in one sitting, Al." Her middle son just sniffed in response.
Hermione watched this whole thing from a sideways vantage. Once she'd given Ginny a summary of events, the redhead had ordered her to lay down and not to move as she charmed a pillow under her hips.
"So...stopping a baby from coming…" Hermione's vision blurred as another contraction revved up, and Ginny's voice faded out. "That's 10 minutes, Hermione. I don't think you'll even make it to midnight."
"I haven't heard from Draco yet! "Hermione almost sobbed from exhaustion.
"Well, let's see...do the opposite of what would make labor start? Think unsexy thoughts! Let's see...Dumbledore in his underwear! Snape butt-naked! Uuhhh…"
"No. No. Stop Ginny. I will vomit and give birth on your rug, I swear it!"
"Joke's on you, I hate this rug; Harry's just attached to everything in the house. Give me a reason to finally throw it out." The house started to shake faintly. "Oh, bother, I summoned the green-eyed menace home early…"
Harry trudged into the sitting room, still in his Auror uniform, looking worse for wear. He almost sat on Albus but caught himself picking up his son and putting him on his lap.
Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but Harry raised a hand. " I already know. I was just part of Lucius's escort to leave St. Mungo's and return to the Manor. He's refusing treatment for...whatever it is…" He assessed her for a second before smiling. "Am I getting a birthday buddy?" He pulled out his wand; it took a few tries to summon something from the kitchen until he heard the clinking of glass.
"Unfortunately, it looks that way. I'm just scared Draco won't make it. I don't blame him, of course, and I told him to go, but…" her lip trembled.
"Nope! Don't get worked up! Unsexy thoughts. Madam Pince in a bikini!"
Harry choked on his beer. "Merlin Gin! Why?!"
"Because no one wants to be your birthday buddy!" Ginny snapped back.
"Hurtful. We've been married too long." Harry groused as Albus scrambled down from his lap.
"I agree. Divorce?"
Harry took a pull of his beer. "Sounds like a lot of paperwork. I still like you more than paperwork, so…"
"I think we'll make it after all then," Ginny said with a barely contained smile, replacing Lily in his lap.
The night passed in a blur for Hermione. The long-anticipated arrival of this baby was suddenly overshadowed by a force she never saw coming. But the closer it got the harder it became to contact Draco. Though she could tell Ginny was exhausted, she never left her side and kept timing her contractions, encouraging her through them.
An old grandfather clock chimed Eleven from somewhere upstairs when Ginny finally said the words Hermione had been dreading all night. " I think it's time...we should go...Harry will stay here with the kids…"
Hermione tried to object but had her breath stolen away by another contraction. Flames lit in the Floo, and a witch asked for permission to come through. The next time she opened her eyes, Pansy Parkinson was there, saying something she couldn't quite make out.
"...on his way...just sitting with his mother…"
"What?" she pushed a stuck-on curl off her cheek. " What's happened?"
"Lucius is dead. Draco's just sitting with his mother for a moment longer, but he'll meet you at the hospital. He's also trying to pull himself together to be strong for you, but you know...he won't admit that...he's seven kinds of scared right now…"
She nodded to show she was listening. "I...I can't imagine...but…"
"I know...this is a good thing...she's finally here...let's go, huh?"
"Oh, Pansy, you don't have to -"
The raven-haired witch snorted. "I know I don't have to. Haven't you learned anything about Slytherin loyalty yet?"She pulled on Hermione's elbow. "To St. Mungos with you before my niece is born on his hideous rug."
Draco's mind felt as if someone had found a thread in a sweater and was slowly pulling at the seams holding it all together.
Fear lanced through him, burning, leaving an acrid taste in his mouth. Anger pulsed viscerally through his veins. At fate, which once more seemed determined to fuck him over and at his father for picking this time, to forever taint and entwine his memory with such a sacred occasion.
Mishandled artifact. Not fucking likely. Lucius just couldn't stomach being on the same earth as his half-blood descendant. The only pity he felt was for his mother, left behind despite her heartbroken pleas.
At the forefront of it all, longing, to be next to Hermione, to be rejoicing in the baby they tried so hard for. To feel her soothing magic against his, the gentle lilt of her voice calling to him through the fog.
His feet carried him through the halls of St. Mungos without thinking. He knew just on some unspoken instinct, tied with his magic where they were when they needed him most.
He opened the door. Grey eyes met brown instantly, locked on the other, forever etching the moment into their story. Her tanned skin was flushed with effort, curls stuck to her face, climbing every which way...but she smiled despite it all. She was relieved to see him, just as happy as he was to be back in each other's presence.
The silver pendant dangled from her neck and she stood, gripping the edge of the hospital bed: a shining beacon of hope that this time, if she needed she could take everything from him, to get through his. A long-dormant fear of losing her reared its head and his knees threatened to buckle from it.
"Draco." Just a breath when she said his name, time suddenly seem to return to full speed. The world lost it's hazy dream-like filter and noise sprang into existence. Chattering healers, people walking in the halls outside, Ginny and Pansy words of encouragement and relief. "Come here."
Once again, his feet moved of their own accord, not trusting his brain to make decisions at the moment. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest.
It was like a downpour on a wildfire: the danger was over but the damage still smoldered in it's ruin. Her magic mingled with him, calming and steady, absolving him of it all, if only for a moment. He held her tight, kissing the top of her head.
Lyra was born at 1:30 am on July 31st.
Her parents sat up, side by side in the bed, looking down at their newborn witch.
"She has my hair. I'm so sorry, Lyra." Hermione tried to smooth down an errant piece of hair on the baby's head that just continued to stick straight up.
"She has everything from you. I'm not even sure I was a part of this...I was a decoy in a magical cloning experiment."
"She has your eyes. I saw her peek a few minutes ago."
"I doubt that; I think you're just tired."
"I am, but that doesn't mean I didn't see it. She also has your flair for the dramatic, being born like that."
"Tell me, how did the world look from on top of that dragon you rode out on after the bank robbery?"
Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "Doesn't matter anyway. She's perfect, and she's ours. We have 3 girls Draco...who would have thought."
"Yeah." He sighed. "This is it."
Chapter 21: Granger's army
Summary:
Someone new announces their intention to run for Minister, Hermione rally's her army.
Notes:
It's time for another jump forward! Last one until we're in the present for good!
Once again a huge thank you to TalonWillow and her commas.
Chapter Text
July 31, 2013.
Hermione had developed a routine over the years of telling each person in her family that she loved them in their own language. It appeased to her sense of logic that if everyone had a different way of expressing it, that she could decipher it, like solving a puzzle. The emotional side of her was satisfied that she'd let them know how she felt.
Between the war and working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the keen sense that one day she might not be able to say it still lingered around like an unwelcome spector, usually appearing in the twilight hours before sleep or the minutes of decompression from coming home from work.
First today was Rose. The preteen had her long freckled legs folded under the porcelain one's of Evelyn and they barricaded the couch for themselves.
Acts of Service: usually involving food.
"I have to go in for a little bit, but I'll be back in time for Lyra's birthday dinner," Hermione announced to the older girls who didn't even move their eyes from the TV. She put the plate of cut-up fruit on Rose's lap, who was startled as if she hadn't even seen her.
"Oh, thanks, mum. I'm starving."
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Perpetually hungry."
"I expect you two to help, don't put it all on your dad and Tilly."
Hermione got two lackluster "Yes ma'am" answers.
Evelyn: Gifts.
She pressed a bottle of green sparkling muggle nail polish in Evelyn's hand, and the eleven-year-olds eyes lit up.
"Oooh. That's a gorgeous color, thank you, mum. I'll wake up Cas from her nap…"
"I'll do that before I go. Love you, girls."
Two grunts responded . But that was the way it ought to be, she thought. They shouldn't grow up with the prospect of loss looming over them. She didn't want their formative years to look like hers and Draco's.
Lyra: Words of Affirmation.
Hermione knocked on the door to her middle daughter's room to see her emerged in yet another huge tome on potions, one that she looked like she nicked from Draco's bookshelf. One hand was following a line of text, and the other stroking her battered orange cat stuffie. Judging by the way she tried to stash the book away, she knew she had been right.
"Hand it over. You can't just take things without asking."
Lyra whined."I did ask!"
"You did?"
"Yes. The answer was no." She hoisted the book into Hermione's outstretched palms.
"I have to go to work for just a few hours. I will be back in time for your birthday dinner, I promise." Hermione said firmly, looking right into Lyra's steel-colored eyes. She received a suspicious look in return.
"Promise?"
"I promise I will be there." Hermione planted a light kiss on her forehead. "Happy birthday. I love you."
Lyra huffed and climbed down from her reading chair. "Fine. Maybe Rose will play with me."
Cassie: Touch
Well, is she only two...subject to change.
Hermione pushed the open as quietly as she could manage as the 2-year-old was supposed to be napping.
"Mummy!" Cassie climbed out of the toy box; the bed hardly touched.
So much for a nap.
"Cassie!" Hermione scooped her up and peppered her face in kisses until she squealed. "I have to go, for just a little bit. Can you be daddy's big helper?" Cas shook her head. " No?"
"No. I'm the princess. I don't help." she touched Hermione's robes. "Going to work, I'll come too."
"No, stay here and be good for Daddy."
Cassie looked at her mother like she was losing her mind. "I go find Lyra."
Hermione let her down to run away, conceding that it wasn't the worst answer.
Draco: Touch.
The tiny cauldron was bubbling over, and a scorched smell filled the air as Draco stormed around the kitchen.
"That fucking book was just - "
"Looking for this?" Hermione held up the large book she'd taken back from Lyra. "It was commandeered." She pressed the book into his hands, letting her fingers touch his hands and skim over his arms.
"Going in?" He put the book on the counter and vanished the contents of the cauldron, stepping out of her reach. "Did you forget what day it is?"
"I'll be back before dinner; there's just a few minor things I need to check in on. Oh, don't pout: it won't be but a minute." Undeterred by getting the cold shoulder the first time, she slipped her arms around his one.
He sighed, finally giving in. "Fine. But I can't work on this while you aren't here, you know."
"I know. I'm terribly sorry. I want to watch you brew it too…"
A slow smirk crept across his face. "Yeah?"
She returned it at the same pace. "I don't get to sneak down to your lab anymore. It's my second favorite thing to watch you do."
"What's the first?" He leaned in to steal a kiss.
"Watching you be a good dad. I'm privileged to see a lot of that." She bit her bottom lip and looked at him coyly. "Guess what the third is ?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Granger, what has gotten into you? No, that's a real question...don't just laugh at me…" she stepped away, but his hand caged her waist. "Let me guess...is it..." He bent as if to whisper in her ear but instead kissed the spot underneath it, making her shiver. Sighing, she melded into him.
Just when she was considering telling the department that she couldn't come in -
"Ew, God, you two -" From Rose covering her eyes with her hands.
"You have a bedroom! With a door!" From Evelyn. "This is where we eat!"
"Calm down." Hermione straightened her robes and patted at her hair, a smile still playing around her mouth. "You should be happy we love each other so much."
"Yeah, but I don't want to see it. " protested Rose, propping Cassie up on her hip. Lyra was standing on tiptoe, trying to see what the commotion was.
"Alright, alright, disperse the crowd! I'm leaving…" she gave Draco another peck on the cheek earning fresh shrieks from the peanut gallery.
As the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, running in unexpectedly on days off was not a new experience. When Rose came home from Hogwarts, she vowed to spend as little time as possible in the office for the summer.
So she was more than dismayed when Harry, who also should have been at home, demanded a meeting in her office right away. Simply walking in meant she would be rushed with updates, questions, paperwork that needed her signature, possibly a visit from Kingsley, who had one foot out the door to retirement as soon as he knew he was leaving it in "good hands."
"This better be good. You're supposed to be at my house in 2 hours…" Hermione kept scribbling on papers as she walked.
"It is. There's another department head that announced she's running for Minister."
Hermione froze, mid-step and mid-scribble. "You're not saying…"
"Head of Transportation…"
"No! Harry... no! Don't say it..."
"Marietta Edgecombe."
She pressed her lips together until they were safely in her office with the door silenced. "Why? She can't possibly win. Who gives a fuck about transportation? Oh'"I regulate portkeys and the knight bus, that make me qualified to run the country.' No! She just wants to take shots at me because of the whole ...face thing! I apologized publicly years ago! She doesn't want to be Minister, she just doesn't want me to have it." The edges of the papers started to singe.
"She says that you are the reason she can't find love..." Harry pushed up his glasses nervously as the room began to vibrate slightly.
"Has she ever considered it's her atrocious personality?!" Hermione let the papers fall on her desk with a thud as the trinkets on her desk started to shake with unchecked magic. " Great. That's just...peachy."
Harry caught a framed photo before it fell off the desk. "I get the feeling this is beyond tattle-tale Edgecomb."
"No. Why?"
"Because I've known you my whole life. You hate Edgecomb, but …" Harry wiggled the frame in hand. " But losing even a little bit of control of your magic, only happens when it comes to the deep stuff."
"Fine, but you can't tell anyone. No one, not even Ginny yet…" she twisted her constellation chain in her fingers. "Draco and I are talking about having another baby. But as if things weren't hard enough, now she wants a smear campaign! Close your mouth; we're just talking about it."
"Another?! Are you -"
"Yes, we are mad! I realize that! Don't you judge me, Harry! Not you!"
Harry schooled his expressions at once. "No, I'm just surprised, that's all. You guys are great parents...and Merlin knows the wizarding world needs your genes."
"Speaking of genes, we really need to try to get out of here. What else did you need…"
"Tilly" the house-elf appeared at Draco's feet, tacky make-up covering her face and bag over her shoulder. " I need you to get these -" Tilly took the list from his hands and scanned it, obviously ignoring him. "You already knew it didn't you?"
The elf let out a long-suffering sigh and disapparated away. Before he could contemplate the creature any further, Lyra and Cassie came running into the sitting room, Cassie immediately holding her arms up to be picked up.
"What kind of cake am I getting?" Lyra asked, trying to walk across the couch.
"Strawberry just like you asked for. Get down; we do not walk on the furniture."
"Yuck!" Cassie yelled from his arms. "Chocolate cake."
"We can have that on your birthday. It's Lyra's turn, as long as she gets off the couch…"
"Extra frosting?!"
"Chocolate! Chocolate Cake Now!"
"For the last time… get down. Cas...stop thrashing like that. You can have cake later -" Cassie began to screech in a temper tantrum, but Draco had his head turned toward Lyra as she finally caved and stepped down. He turned to deal with the other child when -
WHACK
Cassie's forehead collided with the bridge of his nose on a spot that had broken five years previously. Pain radiated from the spot as he carefully put the toddler down, eyes squeezed tight.
"Lyra...is your sister okay?"
"Yeah, she's just…"
"I HURT DADDY OH NO." The lights flickered in the house as she screamed undiluted magic spiraling from her. "SORRY! OH, NO!" The lights flickered again and went out entirely. The toddler bolted from the spot. "I fix it! I fix it -"
Draco had made his way to sit on the couch though it still hurt to open his eyes. The blood was minimal, but the ache was too familiar to deny it was broken.
"Tilly!" He tried, hoping against odds he could summon the elf from wherever she had wandered to. No luck, as Tilly was technically freed;l she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to.
He grappled for his wand and pointed it at his face. Screwing up his concentration, mumbled Episkey . Just as he had dreaded, nothing happened, his head was throbbing and the room started to spin. Trying once more, there was just another wave of sharp ache.
"Fucking….great… ROSE!"
The older girls came thundering down the stairs like a herd of hippogriffs. Evelyn shrieked, and a fresh wave of pain pierced his skull.
"Evelyn, go find Cassie and keep her out of trouble. Rose, go get your wand."
"But but...I can't do magic outside of school. Can you just get mum?"
"No, I can't conjure a Patronus like this, Tilly's out..." The once light trickle of blood was picking up. "And Mum's phone doesn't work inside the Ministry…"
"I'll get kicked out of school! They'll snap my wand, and I'll have to live with Nan and Grandad and be a dentist!" Rose was twisting the end of her copper curls in her fingers.
"Rose, stay calm. It's a simple spell. You won't get kicked out of school. Go get your wand."
"I have it with me. I got scared when you yelled…" Evelyn came back, holding Cassie's hand, then Lyra with yet another book.
"Episkey, minor injury healing charm." Between the now slightly concerning blood loss and Lyra reading from a textbook, Draco was having a strong flashback to first year. "Point your wand at the victim and speak the incantation Episkey! Seems simple enough."
"That's the one."
"Right. Okay. Hold still." Rose said, pointing her mahogany and unicorn hair wand at the top of his nose. The whole room held its breath. " Episkey !"
There was another crack as pain bloomed and receded immediately. Draco blinked the room back into focus.
Green flames erupted from the Floo, and the room fell still with fear instead of anticipation this time.
"What in the name of Merlin-" Hermione wasn't yelling. It was a deadly sort of half-whisper.
"He told me to! And he was bleeding and getting pale, well paler and I said -"
The room erupted into a cacophony of voices. Draco couldn't distinguish one from another from the other, and it was like watching one person polyjuiced into different bodies; the five witches all had such similar mannerisms. Rose waved her wand wildly, and the curtains went up in blue flame. Hermione put it out in an instant while still arguing.
Draco started to laugh, although the extra hard breaths reawoke the pain in his injury. Five identical expressions stared at him, which only fueled it more.
"Care to share with the class, Draco?"
"What was that group called...that you made with Potter...Dumbledore's army? You've made...Granger's army, but it's just copies of you…"
"That's not funny," mumbled Evelyn. "We are not all alike."
Rose looked down where her fist rested on her hips in a very "Granger" pose. "Oh...dammit…"
"That's ok. I want to be like Mummy." Lyra bounded over and wrapped her arms around Hermione's legs. That just made him laugh harder. He expected Hermione to be upset or exasperated, but instead, she was grinning from ear to ear as she patted Lyra on the head.
"Granger's army. I quite like that."
2 August 2013
The atrium was packed with reporters and onlookers to the press conference. Hermione led the way through the mass of humanity, followed by Rose, Evelyn, Lyra, and ended with Draco carrying Cassie, watching like a sentinel over them all, wand gripped tightly in his free hand.
He'd objected to this showing, loudly and vehemently. In recent years it had slipped her mind just how outspoken Draco could be. He'd reminded her in full force, trying to poke holes in her ideas and at one point even refusing to go.
"They don't need to be there! "
"Of course they don't need to be there! I want them with me and they all agreed to it! Draco if I'm going to do this I want...no...I need your support, everyone's support and I won't do it if I don't have it. " He waved a flippant hand at her. "Use words! I need to hear you say what you're actually thinking!"
Hermione: Words of Affirmation.
"Fine. I don't think it's safe...I don't think it's safe for you or them. If it was up to me I'd hide us away forever." He cupped her chin in his hand as Hermione placed her hand over his. There it was again, the unwelcome shadow of the war that would never truly fade. "But that's not you. You'd never hurt us but you'll never quit fighting,never hide away from what needs to be done. You've wanted this forever and you've given me so much…" his hand shook slightly. "I can't stand the thought of losing you."
"You have 4 of me now. " she quipped
"It's not the same." He grinned despite himself. "But...I suppose I can do this for you...Madam Minister."
They'd never made a public appearance like this, especially since Cassie was born. Big families were a rarity in the magical world, and people often stared and whispered...well more than they had before.
Hermione took her place at a podium on a small stage at the front. The children and Draco stood behind her, letting the photographers take as many pictures as they could manage.
Cassie gave an enthusiastic wave and the crowd " aww'd " in unison. Lyra tried to hide behind everyone's legs. Rose looked like she was trying not to vomit, but Evelyn looked quite comfortable, giving a dazzling smile.
"Good morning. " Hermione's voice rang out, magically amplified." As you can see, I've brought my whole family with me today, so I'll keep it brief. I've called you all here today to announce my candidacy for Minister to the Wizengamot. I'm aware of the challenges that face us as a community, and I understand how important it is to secure a better future for our children and loved ones. I will not stop fighting for it, Minister or not, neither will my army behind me." The crowd gave a round of cheers. "I'll now take a few questions, but before you ask, yes they're all mine, and yes, I know we're mad for doing this to ourselves. Now- "
Bonus reel :
From her vantage in the doorway, she could see Rose practicing some kind of plait in Evelyn's long dark auburn hair.
"Can I put it up in a bun at the end?" Rose asked with a brush in her mouth.
"Yeah, just don't make it too tight," Evelyn answered. "Are there any cute boys in your year?"
Rose snorted in a way that reminded her of Draco's brand of snark. "Not at all. And none of them even remotely worth the time when there's so much...bloody homework… and next year, Quidditch." She patted the bun, and it fell apart. She began an attempt again. "Besides...don't you like Al ?"
"He'll be in Gryffindor, though, I'm sure of it."
"So? "
"So we'll never see each other if...when I'm in Slytherin…"
"You never know…" Rose shrugged.
Hermione took the break to knock on the open door so as to not startle the girls but stored away what she had overheard.