A/N - TW in this chapter for mentions of possible miscarriage. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 20

23 July 2003

"Draco," Hermione mumbled into his lips. They'd had lunch and when Draco had walked her back to her office, he'd followed her inside and immediately pounced.

"Hmm?" he asked, moving from her mouth to her jaw.

"Draco, we're at work," she managed through a gasp as he reached a particularly sensitive spot.

"Never stopped us before," he said before he captured her lips again. He walked her to the desk and picked her up to sit her on top of it while he stood between her legs. Without breaking the kiss, he pulled his wand from his sleeve and waved it at her door, casting a silencing charm and a locking charm.

"You don't have any meetings, I checked with Sarah," he said.

Hermione's legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him closer to her. He groaned and continued to kiss her, unbuttoning her shirt with one hand while the other buried itself in her hair.

"Fuck, I missed this," he said. "Missed you." He punctuated the statement with a roll of his hips.

Overwhelmed by sensation, she only whimpered. Then Draco's hand was inside her shirt, and she stopped thinking altogether. A few seconds later, he'd pushed her skirt up to her waist and his hand was inside her knickers. She moaned into his mouth as he continued what he was doing.

"Draco," she whispered, her voice pleading.

"Gods, I love you," he said, yanking down her knickers and unbuttoning his trousers in quick succession. He pulled her hips to the edge of the desk and then he pushed into her. They both groaned. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment before he started to move.

Her legs wrapped tighter around hips, her feet digging into his bum. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips back to hers. When he reached between them, she bit her lip, burying her face in his neck as he pushed her over. He followed not long after with a groan and whisper of her name into her hair. They stayed that way for a few minutes as they both recovered.

Draco finally pulled away from her slightly. He looked down at her with a lazy smile on his face. Picking up his wand, he cast a cleansing charm on both of them as he pulled himself from her. Then he leaned down and kissed her languidly.

Once they had righted their clothes, he gathered her back into his arms and kissed her again.

"I can't believe we just did that," she said with a huff.

He laughed. "You always say that. And yet, you keep doing it." He waggled his eyebrows, and she rolled her eyes.

And then she sat up with a gasp. She looked wildly around the room, trying to remember where she was. The penthouse, right. Draco had picked her up at her office and they'd come home. She remembered lying down on the couch to rest while he made them something to eat. She must have fallen asleep. It had just been a dream.

A very realistic, rather good dream, though, she had to admit. She shifted slightly on the couch, remnants of the dream still lingering. Merlin, what was wrong with her? It's not as if she hadn't had sex recently and plenty of it for that matter. She did not need to be sitting here wondering if the real thing would be as good as it was in her dream.

She could feel her other self hovering, seeming a bit smug if Hermione were honest. Hermione rolled her eyes. She supposed that answered that question. But she was not going there, not this time. Even if Draco were a completely different person here, even if he had never called this Hermione a Mudblood, even if he were someone she could see herself with, if he had been this way in her world, she wasn't going to do that.

Her other self scoffed in Hermione's head. She didn't seem at all upset about what Hermione had dreamed or what she was thinking about, same as it had been in the other worlds. Which Hermione still didn't completely understand. How was her other self, any of her other selves, okay with this? Pushing for it almost?

Shaking her head, knowing it was unlikely she would ever understand, she glanced around the room. She wondered how long she'd been asleep. Draco wasn't in the room, but she didn't hear anything coming from the kitchen either.

"You're awake." His voice came from behind her, and she whirled to look at him. And immediately reddened, the dream roaring back to the forefront of her mind.

He frowned. "Are you all right, you look flushed." He moved around the couch and sat on the table in front of her, hands moving to her cheeks.

"I'm fine," she said willing the blush away. "Just had a dream."

"Something upsetting?" he asked.

"No, no," she said, attempting to laugh which came out rather breathy sounding.

Draco continued to look at her in concern.

"Sorry, it's just, I was a little disoriented when I woke up."

He smiled then. "Are you hungry? I kept the food under a warming charm."

"A little," she admitted.

"I'll just get it then." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, then stood and made his way to the kitchen.

Hermione watched him walk away, staring at his arse. "Merlin, stop it," she admonished herself.

"What was that, love?" he called from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Hermione called back, cursing her other self who was currently laughing in her head.

24 July 2003

Hermione had managed to avoid any advances from Draco once more. She had gone to bed before he had, although her excuse of being tired wasn't an excuse. She had been exhausted, mentally and physically. She knew it was partly the pregnancy but also the emotional upheaval of the day before having to go through her entire story again, while listening to Severus'.

Even as tired as she was, she'd had a restless night. She had strange dreams, thankfully none like the one she'd had on the couch, that had left her disoriented and confused every time she awoke. While Draco didn't fully wake himself, he was always there to wrap an arm around her or pull her closer to his body, seeming to sense her distress even while asleep. It was rather lovely.

This morning, she had overslept. Draco had woken her with just enough time for her to take a vial of the nausea potion, force down some toast, and quickly shower and dress to leave for the office. He'd told her to take the morning, but she'd insisted. She wanted to know if Padma had any insight into her memories and the symbol on the device.

"What's Padma been up to?" Draco asked as he walked her to her office.

"What do you mean?" Hermione's heart started to race. He couldn't find out, not now.

"She's been in the labs an awful lot for not having anything specific she's working on."

"Oh, well, I think she's experimenting with a few different things, trying to decide what she wants to work on next. Why? Do we have a new client that needs the Charms department?"

Hermione had figured out how things worked at M.I in the week she'd been here. If they had contracts with a client, like St. Mungo's or the DMLE, for example, those projects took priority. If not, each researcher was free to work on whatever they liked, as long as it was approved by their department head. Malfoy Industries did not do anything they considered frivolous.

"No, I was simply curious. Still nothing concrete we need to discuss?"

"Not yet," Hermione said.

"All right then," he said as they reached her office door. "See you at lunch?"

She nodded. He leaned down and kissed her. Hermione shoved away the memory of her dream as the kiss deepened. He smiled at her when she pulled away. "I love you."

"Love you too," she replied, then gave him one last peck on the lips and slipped into her office. She leaned back against the closed door and blew out a breath. Merlin, she needed to get out of this universe.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Padma finally arrived at Hermione's office. She placed the box containing the Universe Hopper, along with the vials that held Hermione's memories on her desk. Although removing a memory for the Pensieve didn't erase the memory from one's head, so she had no need to 'replace' them, so to speak, she also didn't need to chance someone else finding them. Hermione cast a spell to destroy the memories in the vials, feeling better once it was done.

"Please, please tell me you've found something," Hermione said as Padma sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"I've studied your memories and the symbols from each of your jumps. I do feel like they have some similarities to some of the other symbols and runes on the device, but I haven't reached any conclusions about them. I think that symbol that wraps around must mean something, but unfortunately, that's not my area of expertise. I did spend some time looking through the M.I. library but I couldn't find anything that matched from any of the jumps."

Hermione slumped back in her chair, not entirely surprised. She had gone through all the runes and symbols on the device with Padma earlier. Padma had recognized almost all the runes, retaining more knowledge from Hogwarts than she'd thought. She hadn't been familiar with any of the symbols, however. They just weren't something she dealt with on a daily basis.

"That doesn't mean I haven't found anything," Padma said.

Hermione looked up, hope flaring in her chest.

"The disc in the center is definitely involved," Padma continued. "All the charms on the device are woven through it. I know that on a Time-turner you turn the hourglass that contains the time sand. I have no idea what, exactly, that sand is but it's got to be important. You said you've never turned it?"

"No," Hermione replied. "We've always been distracted by the runes and symbols."

"I think you need to this time."

"How?"

"I still think you should match up the runes and symbols like you have been. That's worked as far as having taken you to a different universe. But you need to turn the center disc as well."

"Just once or should I spin it multiple times?"

Padma sighed. "That's the thing, I have no idea. None of the charms or enchantments give any indication as to the number of turns for the disc or the outer rings. I'm not sure if turning it more than once is necessary though. I mean, on a Time-turner the number of spins determines how far back in time you go. But this is carrying you to different universes. There's been no time element involved at all.

So, what would more spins do? Take you to a universe that was vastly different from your own? That doesn't seem likely considering where you've been so far. You haven't turned the disc at all and still ended up in a universe where Neville was Harry's other best friend instead of Ron, one where there was a marriage law and one where Voldemort really did die in 1981. Those seem pretty different already to me."

Hermione didn't say anything about Voldemort not being dead, of course, but she understood what Padma was saying. "Maybe I'd end up in a universe where I wasn't even a witch. Or one where Voldemort won the war. Or maybe one where I didn't even exist."

Padma's brow furrowed. "Would that even be possible? I mean now that you're jumping into your counterpart's body, if you didn't exist wouldn't that make it impossible to jump there?"

"Perhaps," Hermione said. "Although, in the first two universes I didn't jump into my own body."

"If you just turned the disc and not the rings that might happen." She looked intrigued by the possibility. Hermione understood; if she thought about all of this on a strictly academic level it was fascinating. When it affected her life, though, not so much.

"I don't think that's something I'd want to risk," Hermione said, a shiver going down her spine at the thought. "If I didn't exist, how would I get anyone to help me?"

"That's true," Padma agreed. "I can keep looking through the library to try and find that symbol around the edge if you want."

"No," Hermione said with a sigh. "That could take days or even weeks and I can't stay here much longer. I can't keep using the pregnancy as an excuse for everything and my other self is starting to get agitated. The same thing happened last universe. I knew it was time for me to leave."

Padma gave her a sad smile.

"Plus, Draco keeps asking questions about what you're working on or what our new project is. He'll want something concrete soon. And I'm supposed to go shopping with Pansy on Saturday afternoon to look for her wedding robes. I definitely have to leave before that."

Padma chuckled. "When do you think you'll go then?"

"Soon." Hermione said. "Maybe even tonight." She sighed. "I always write a letter to my other self before I leave, explaining things, so I have to do that first. Without Draco knowing, of course. I may not be able to jump until tomorrow night or Saturday morning."

She fell silent, pensively thinking about what might happen this time. What Padma said about the sand-filled disc made perfect sense. She should have done that last time instead of turning the rings the opposite direction. But would it be enough? Somehow, she wasn't overly optimistic.

"I suppose then that I should say good-bye in case you leave tonight."

Hermione shifted her attention back to Padma. The other woman's eyes were bright, and Hermione felt her tears gather as well. As much as she wanted to be back in her own world, she absolutely hated this part.

She stood and came around to the front of her desk as Padma rose from her own chair. Hermione hugged the other woman.

"Thank you for all your help," Hermione said.

"I wish I could have figured out something concrete."

"What you did discover will help, I know it."

"I hate that I won't know what happens to you."

"I know. This is the worst part of all this."

"The worst part?" Padma said with a laugh.

"All right, maybe not the worst part," Hermione agreed with a watery smile. "But it's a horrible part all the same."

"I'll miss you."

"Please help my other self understand everything when she's back."

"Of course, I will," Padma promised.

Hermione finally released her. Padma squeezed her hand before leaving the office. Hermione sank down into the chair Padma had been occupying and took a deep breath. She really didn't know how many more times she could do this.

Hermione made her way to the loo next to her office. She'd had a good cry after Padma had left, which she was going to blame on pregnancy hormones, although she was well aware it was more than that. She was emotionally drained and rather tired, glad it was nearly the end of the workday. Draco was currently in a meeting at the Ministry with the DMLE about a possible new project. He planned to come back to M.I. to go over the meeting with Lucius before they went home for the day.

Reaching the bathroom, she went into a stall to use the toilet. When she finished, she froze as she went to pull up her knickers. There was blood. Not a lot but that was definitely blood. She looked in the toilet and there was a bit there as well. Oh gods.

She stood frozen in fear. Fear that was not completely her own. Her other self was panicking, Hermione could feel it. Which, in turn, made Hermione panic. What should she do? She had no idea who her other self's Healer was. Did she just go to St. Mungo's?

Draco, she needed to tell Draco. She flushed the toilet and hurried out of the loo before she remembered that Draco wasn't there. Should she go to Lucius? Floo Narcissa? She stood in the corridor, unable to think of what to do. The panic coming from her other self was overwhelming her and her breaths grew shorter. She put a hand to the wall, leaning her shoulder against it. She needed to get to a Floo or Apparate or, or, she didn't know, she couldn't, this wasn't-

"Hermione?"

She turned terror-filled eyes to see Severus standing next to her. His confused expression morphed to one of worry when she looked at him.

"What is it? What's happened?" He reached out and grasped her arms as she swayed. She was getting lightheaded.

"I need, I need," she paused, swallowing thickly. "There's blood."

"Blood? Where?" He began to quickly look her over for injury, brow furrowing when he didn't find any.

"The baby," she managed, eyes closing as she tried to regain her equilibrium. Her heart was racing, and she felt sweaty. She was having a panic attack. She'd had them after the war for a while and knew all the signs. Except, this time, she knew it was her other self that was making it so much worse. Her hands were going numb now too.

Snape's eyes widened when he realized what she was saying. He began to pull her towards her office and Sarah's desk, but Hermione stumbled, dizziness getting worse. Severus bent and scooped her up into his arms, striding down the corridor.

Sarah's mouth dropped open, and she stood from her desk as Severus approached.

"Tell Mr. Malfoy his wife needs to go to St. Mungo's."

Sarah just stared at them, eyes wide.

"Now!" Severus snapped.

Sarah jumped. "Yes, sir, right away."

"Draco'sin a meeting," Hermione slurred, her cheek against Severus' chest. "Minis-minstry."

Severus growled in frustration. "Then tell the other Mr. Malfoy that I've taken his daughter-in-law to St. Mungo's. Have him retrieve his son."

"Yes, sir." Sarah scurried away from her desk, heading for the lift to take her up to Lucius' office.

Severus strode down the corridor towards Draco's office. Malfoy Industries had Floos on the ground floor for their employees, but Draco, Lucius, and Severus had private Floos in their offices. Thankfully, Draco's office was on the same floor as hers, just at the opposite end of the corridor.

When they reached the fireplace, Severus looked down at her. "Can you reach the Floo powder? I can't unless I set you down and I don't think that's a good idea."

She nodded and reached up, managing it on the second try. She threw the powder into the grate. Severus stepped in, calling out for St. Mungo's and they disappeared in a flash of green.

When they reached the hospital, Hermione calmed slightly. She was still terrified, but she was breathing a bit easier and the feeling had come back into her hands. Unfortunately, her mind hadn't stopped racing.

What if this was her fault? What if this were happening because she'd jumped into the other Hermione's body and had caused stress that affected her pregnancy? What if her other self was going to lose her baby? It would be all Hermione's fault. At this thought, tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Welcome to St. Mungo's. How can I help you?" the Welcome Witch asked in a bored tone.

"I need help immediately," Severus said.

"Everyone needs help immediately," the witch said. She handed him a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill without looking at them. "Fill this out and wait over there."

"I will not," Severus snapped. "You will get a Healer here right now to tend to Mrs. Granger-Malfoy."

At the name, the witch finally looked up, surprise on her face. Hermione knew that Malfoy Industries did quite a bit of business with St. Mungo's as well as donating generously to their fundraisers.

"Of course, sir. What kind of damage?"

"She's pregnant and bleeding."

The woman nodded and immediately rushed off to an office behind her desk. Seconds later, a Healer emerged, a stretcher floating behind her.

"If you'll just put her here, Mr. Snape, we can take her up to the third floor and have a look."

Severus helped Hermione settle onto the stretcher but when he went to step back, Hermione grabbed his hand. "Don't leave, please."

He looked at her stoically but nodded. He turned back to Welcome Witch, glaring at her. "Mrs. Granger-Malfoy's husband and in-laws should be arriving shortly. Please direct them up when they arrive."

"Of course, sir."

"This way," the Healer said, and Severus followed Hermione's stretcher to the lift.

"Will they know?" Hermione asked fearfully once the Healer had left the room. She'd done an initial scan on Hermione that she said looked 'positive' whatever that meant. She had left to get Hermione's obstetric Healer.

"I do not believe so," Severus said. "Your magical signature does not show up in a diagnostic scan."

She nodded. She hadn't noticed anything odd on the scans she'd run on herself. Still, she was worried. "What if they can tell that there are two of me in here?"

"I could not even when I knew there were two of you and I performed Legilimency on you."

"I feel like this is my fault. That me being here caused this."

"We do not know if this is even anything yet," Snape said. "Perhaps you should wait until you speak with the Healer."

If Hermione hadn't been so worried she would have wondered more at how comforting Severus was being. She couldn't imagine the Snape of her world acting even slightly this way.

"I should jump. If you go back to M.I. and get the device, I could."

"You will not," Severus said emphatically.

She looked up at him in surprise.

"Until we know what is happening, if anything, you will do nothing that might make things worse."

"Then you do think this is my fault."

"That is not what I said." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, appearing to be close to losing his patience. "Please, let's just wait for the Healer."

"Sorry," she mumbled.

He sighed again but a moment later, she felt him take her hand. He didn't say anything, but she squeezed his hand in thanks.

The door opened and another Healer walked in. She smiled at Hermione and for some reason, Hermione immediately relaxed a bit. Or maybe her other self did, she was having a hard time teasing their emotions apart right now.

"Good afternoon, Hermione," the Healer said. She walked to the side of Hermione's bed and patted her arm. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Hermione described what had happened, the Healer listening to her intently and asking a few questions to clarify. She cast a diagnostic and was studying it when the door to the room burst open.

"Hermione!" Draco said as he rushed to her side. Severus dropped her hand and Draco took his place. His parents followed him into the room.

"Draco," she whispered and immediately began to cry.

"Shh, love, it's all right. Everything is going to be all right." He sat on the edge of her bed and leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers, holding her hand tightly.

The Healer smiled at the two of them, then turned to the other three people in the room. "If you could just wait outside, I need to examine my patient."

Both Lucius and Narcissa smiled at her, Narcissa patting her leg before they left the room, Severus following behind.

"What happened?" Draco asked, sitting up. The Healer continued studying the diagnostic, flicking her wand at it now and then. Hermione explained it all to him, her voice trembling as he ran his thumb reassuringly across the back of her hand.

"Everything in the diagnostic looks good," the Healer said a few minutes later. "I see no cause for concern, but I'm just going to have a look, all right?"

Hermione nodded and Draco remained at her side as the Healer examined her. When she finished, she smiled at the two of them. "Everything is fine. As scary as it is, it's not uncommon to have a bit of spotting or light bleeding in the first trimester. Your body is going through a lot of changes."

"You're sure?" Draco asked as Hermione blew out a relieved breath.

"Positive," the Healer said with a smile. "I would like to keep you here overnight, however. I don't foresee any problems but because this is your first pregnancy we like to be cautious. If everything stays the same as it is now, you can go home in the morning. All right?"

Hermione nodded.

"Thank you," Draco said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Malfoy. Would you like me to send your family in?"

"Can you let them know everything is all right and ask them to give us a few minutes before they come in?"

"Of course. I'll be back to check on you in an hour. If you need anything before then, just ring the bell there and a mediwitch will come in."

"Thank you," Hermione said. The Healer smiled and left the room.

When she was gone, Draco crawled into the bed and gathered Hermione into his arms.

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered.

"This isn't your fault," Draco said.

She nodded against his neck but for all she knew, it was her fault. She knew what the Healer had said but she couldn't help wondering if this would have happened if she hadn't come here. As soon as she could, she was going to leave.

He put a hand on her abdomen. "You're all right. You both are and you're going to stay that way. I'll do whatever I need to make sure."

She put a hand to his cheek and kissed him. She predicted a lot of hovering in the coming weeks and hoped that the other Hermione wasn't going to mind too much. Somehow, she didn't think so. The terror she had felt earlier hadn't been all hers.

When they parted, Draco smiled down at her. "I love you."

"I love you too." It was extremely odd how easy that had become to say to him.

25 July 2003

"Draco, I'm fine, honestly."

"I'm sure Mother would come by and sit with you while I'm gone."

"Healer Smythe didn't say that I needed to stay in bed." They'd arrived home from St. Mungo's two hours earlier. Hermione hadn't had any other issues during the night and her Healer had given her a clean bill of health. She had recommended rest over the weekend but told Hermione she could go back to work on Monday.

Draco, as predicted, had been hovering since they had gotten back to the penthouse. But he had a meeting at Malfoy Industries that he couldn't reschedule. He was fretting about leaving her alone, even for the hour that it would take.

Hermione, for her part, planned to use the time he was gone to write the letter to her other self and send a Patronus to Padma asking her to bring the Universe Hopper to Hermione. It was still in her desk drawer at M.I. It wasn't even warded, which concerned Hermione more than anything. Not that she thought anyone was going to go rifling through her desk, but she still wanted it with her. Besides, she was planning to jump this evening.

Draco still didn't look convinced. She reached out and took his hand. "I promise that I'm just going to rest here on the couch. I can summon anything I need. The only reason I'll get up is if I have to use the loo. All right?"

"What if something happens?" he asked.

"I'll send you a Patronus or Floo call your mother."

"What if you can't?" he asked in a small voice.

Hermione tugged on his arm and shifted on the couch so he could sit down next to her. He pulled her into his arms. They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"For what?"

"I know I'm being overbearing."

"You're not. You're just worried. It's okay."

"When Father came to the Ministry to get me, I was terrified, Hermione."

"I know," she said. A wave of guilt crashed over her. She didn't know if what had happened was because of her or not but regardless, this was something he should be sharing with his wife, not her.

He kissed her. It was a kiss full of love and adoration tinged with a bit of desperation. She sank into it, feeling even guiltier. She had to leave.

When they parted, she kissed his cheek. "Go to your meeting. Everything is all right."

He stared at her for a few seconds before seeming to come to some kind of decision. "Tippy."

The elf popped into the room. "Master Draco be needing Tippy?"

"Are you busy right now, Tippy?"

"Tippy has just finished cleaning from lunch."

"Do you think my mother could spare you for an hour or so?"

"Yes, Tippy does not have anything pressing to attend to."

Hermione realized where this was going. She did not need, nor want, a House Elf here while Draco was gone. It would interfere with her contacting Padma. "Draco," she began but he held up a hand.

"If Hermione needs you, will you answer her call?"

"Of course. Mistress Hermione bes family."

"Thank you, Tippy. I must leave for a meeting, so I want you to come to Hermione immediately if she calls for you."

"Yes, Master Draco. Tippy will be happy to help." She turned to Hermione. "Does Mistress Hermione need anything?"

"Not right now, Tippy, thank you." At least Draco hadn't insisted the House Elf stay with her until he returned. "You can go back to the Manor."

Tippy curtsied to both of them and then disappeared.

Hermione looked up at Draco. "Feel better?"

He smirked at her. "Immensely."

She couldn't help but laugh. He grinned down at her and then leaned in and kissed her again.

After Draco had left, Hermione summoned parchment and quill to write her letter to her other self. She again didn't know how necessary this really was, as the other Hermione seemed to be quite aware of everything that had been going on. Perhaps even more so than in the previous universe. Still, Hermione wanted to do it all the same.

She then raised her wand to cast her Patronus to Padma, to ask her to Floo so Hermione could have her bring the Universe Hopper. Her Floo flared before she could. Hermione looked over in surprise as Severus' head appeared in the grate.

"May I come through?"

"Of course," Hermione said curious as to what he wanted.

Seconds later, he stepped out into her living room, siphoning ash from his robes. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Thank you again for getting me to St. Mungo's so quickly."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "I assume you have been given a clean bill of health from your Healer?"

"Yes," Hermione said, wondering what was going on.

"Then I have something for you." He pulled the box containing the Universe Hopper from his pocket.

Well, this definitely made things easier. "Thank you." She took the box from him, opening it to look at the device briefly before she closed it again.

"When do you intend to use it?"

"Sometime this evening. As I haven't always had the same job in every universe, I thought it might be best to wait until the workday was over. It's hard enough trying to figure out where I am without having to worry that I don't know what kind of work I'm doing."

He raised a brow. "This has not been an issue for you before?"

"I've always jumped at the weekend before."

"And if you are in a profession where you keep different hours? A Healer for example."

"Then I'll have to deal with that. But I should at least play the odds."

He nodded, then glanced down at the parchment and quill.

"I'm writing a letter to my other self. I think she knows what's been happening, but I want to tell her in case."

"Tell her to come and speak with me."

"I will," Hermione said, remembering the oath he'd said he would ask her other self to take about Voldemort and the pseudo Horcrux still in Harry's head.

"Good luck, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, sir."

She felt herself tearing up. When she got back to her own world, if she did, this man wouldn't be there to speak to. She'd never really thought much about that before. She'd mourned his death, especially after she'd found out his true motives for everything, but she hadn't really missed him like she knew she was going to now. Perhaps she would go to Hogwarts and visit his portrait. She knew Harry had made sure it hung in the Head's office, just as all the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses did. Although, he wouldn't be the same man she'd come to know in this universe. Maybe it was better she didn't.

He nodded to her once more, then spun and stalked to the Floo, disappearing in a flash of green. She thought that he was going to miss her a little bit too.

She needed to leave. It was almost half seven and she'd been putting it off for two hours now. She was lying with Draco on the couch, her head resting on his chest as he idly played with her curls. As shocked as she had been when she first realized she was married to Draco Malfoy in this universe, she knew now that she would miss him. This version of him at least.

She wondered if the Draco Malfoy in her universe still clung to blood purity as hard as he had when they were children. He had married Astoria Greengrass, a Pureblood of course, but Hermione had seen them during her and Draco's eighth year at Hogwarts, and they seemed to genuinely care for one another. Astoria had been the only one to make him smile at any rate. The younger Malfoys now gave liberally to social causes that Hermione was positive Lucius and Narcissa never would have, but that could just be for show, to improve their image.

It didn't matter really, she supposed. Except that she hoped that if he had children, he'd raise them differently than he had been. The Greengrasses had always been neutral in the wars and neither Daphne nor Astoria had seemed to participate in the whole blood bigotry thing, so maybe there was hope.

"Do you need anything?" Draco asked quietly.

"No." She had to do it. It was time.

He looked at her questioningly as she sat up. She smiled and leaned down and kissed him softly. "I need the loo."

He grabbed her hand as she stood, giving it a squeeze and smiling up at her. Hermione nearly faltered but managed to return the smile and hurried into their bedroom and then through to the loo. She closed and locked the door and then opened the linen cupboard and pulled out the Universe Hopper and the letter she had hidden there earlier.

She propped the letter up on the counter, then took the device out of the box and carefully hung it around her neck. Taking in a deep breath and slowly blowing it out, she rested her hands against her abdomen for a moment.

"Good luck, little one. You're going to be so loved."

She felt tears gathering and picked up the device, turning the rings to line up the runes and symbols. Then she turned the sand-filled disc in the center and with one last glance in the mirror, disappeared.

When she landed, Hermione immediately picked up the device to look at the symbol around the edge. It was different again but similar too somehow. She committed it to memory and then looked around. Was this? Was she? This was Grimmauld Place! Oh gods, had she made it back?

Looking around quickly, she realized that while this was Grimmauld, it wasn't Harry's Grimmauld. It had definitely changed and been redecorated, but it wasn't quite as bright and open as it was in her world. Harry had completely gutted the old townhouse, taking down walls and pulling up carpets, refinishing floors, and painting everything. This one had been redone as far as decorating went, and it was much less dark and dreary, but the basic structure was still the same, all the old rooms still intact.

Did her other self live here? If she did with who? Harry? Hermione's heart beat a little bit faster at that thought. After the war, Harry had stayed at the Burrow until she and Ginny went back to Hogwarts. Then he'd moved into Grimmauld, redoing it a little at a time. Ron had moved in with him about six months into Auror training, helping with the remodeling. Hermione's parents had stayed in Australia for a little over a year after she'd found them and restored their memories, so Hermione had spent her holiday breaks at Grimmauld with Harry and Ron, along with Ginny when she could escape from Molly's hovering. After Hermione finished school, she had stayed with Harry and Ron that summer, then gotten her flat.

It was quiet in the house, there didn't appear to be anyone home. A quick perusal of her person found the other Hermione's wand in a holster strapped to her forearm. She cast a Homenum Revelio, but she was indeed alone. She'd landed in the entry and realized that she hadn't set off Walburga's portrait. In her world, Harry had promised Kreacher the portrait if he helped get it off the wall. Unsurprisingly, Kreacher knew how to remove it and it was relocated to the attic, where Kreacher could visit it whenever he liked.

Here, it had been bricked over. Hermione had suggested the idea to Harry in her world if Kreacher wasn't able to remove it. She ran a hand over the bricks that stuck out just slightly from the rest of the wall, wondering if it had been her idea in this world too.

She glanced into the dining room which appeared to still be a dining room, albeit with lighter walls and polished wood floors. There were no heavy curtains on the windows and the Black family china had been replaced by something that was much less…Slytherin. In fact, it looked remarkably similar to Hermione's mother's china.

A glance at the stairs showed that the House Elf heads had also been removed, thankfully. She made her way down to the kitchen. It was still a bit dark down here, it was a basement after all, but it was immaculate, cleaner than it had been even when Molly had had a go at it. And it was brighter, the old dark walnut table replaced with one of light oak, the floors polished to the same lighter color. Hermione hesitated for a moment before finally opening the cupboard where Kreacher usually slept but it housed only the boiler, no hint of Kreacher in sight.

Climbing back up the stairs, Hermione continued to investigate the house. There was no hint of the former décor of the Grimmauld Place during the war, although it was still different than Harry had done it in her world. She reached a bedroom that seemed to be hers, if the photographs and books were anything to go by. She stepped inside, looking over a few things but more curious as to who else lived here, if anyone did. Maybe she lived here by herself? She couldn't imagine why she would though.

She finally found another bedroom that was clearly occupied; the rest had been furnished and decorated but it was obvious they were used as guest rooms. But the master bedroom, where Sirius had kept Buckbeak in her world, was definitely occupied. There were men's clothes in the wardrobe and a shaving kit in the attached bathroom. But there were also women's things here. A dressing gown on the back of the door, shampoo and conditioner, the same kind that Hermione used coincidentally, in the shower, make-up in one of the drawers of the vanity.

She moved to the bed and picked up a photograph that sat on the nightstand. It was her, well her other self. Her back was to the camera as she looked over her shoulder at whomever was taking the photo. She smiled, then blew a kiss and winked. Hermione didn't think she'd ever looked at anyone like that in her life.

The photograph seemed to indicate that the other Hermione was involved with whomever lived in this room. If that were the case, why did she have her own bedroom as well? She looked down at her hand but there were no rings, engagement or otherwise. Was her other self involved with her roommate or something? But again, who was it? All the photos in her other self's room had been from her Hogwarts days.

Harry was a possibility, obviously. But the clothes in the wardrobe hadn't really looked like things that Harry would wear. Of course, this was a different Harry, so she supposed she couldn't really judge based on that. Maybe the other Hermione had been the one living here first for whatever reason and the man had moved in later. But then why would he have the master bedroom and not Hermione?

Brow furrowing in thought, she tried to figure out who else might be living here if not Harry. Ron was always a possibility; he'd lived with Harry until he had moved into Hermione's flat in her world. She supposed Harry could have gotten married or something and Ron had stayed. And if the other Hermione had lived here with the two of them at one point, it made sense that she had her own room. Although the clothes in the wardrobe didn't look like things Ron would wear either.

Deciding to look through the drawing room and possibly the library to see if she could determine the other inhabitant of the house, Hermione began making her way back down the stairs. She stepped into the drawing room but before she could begin to look around, someone wrapped their arms around her from behind.

She jumped, shrieking and grabbing for the wand on her arm as a male voice laughed in her ear.

"I'm back," he said and loosened his arms enough that she could whirl around.

She didn't know why she hadn't thought of him, this was his house after all, and he had been alive in the previous universe. But it was still a shock to see him standing there, arms around her waist.

"Sirius," she whispered.

His brow furrowed. "What's the matter? You look like you're surprised to see me."

Recovering herself quickly, she shoved at his shoulders and scowled. "You scared me half to death, you prat!"

Laughing, he tightened his arms around her, then leaned in and nuzzled her neck. "Sorry, love."

Hermione froze. The other Hermione was dating Sirius? Mother of Merlin.