"I've received devastating news," Draco announced as he flung open the front door. He slammed it shut and threw himself dramatically onto the sofa.

Blaise was out at the restaurant, Dean was working upstairs in the office, and Hermione was busy staring at the countertop. Her shoulder felt different. It was a pauldron beneath her skin, something foreign, something to dig out and toss in the bin. Hermione had a good day in physical therapy, Oliver was back to being a twit, but the moment she returned to the Zabini house she had to sit with the reality of it. There was no work to prepare for. There was no follow-up on Draco's sudden desire for another little Malfoy. There was nothing in life except the metal shoulder, a constant irremovable annoyance rather like a permanent popcorn kernel stuck in her backmost teeth.

"Oi! I said I've just received devastating news!"

Hermione jumped off the barstool and made for the snug, reading the latest string of texts from the Gin's Girlfriends group chat.

Ginny: Who's free Saturday?

Hermione: I'm free.

Padma: Nothing for me & [muscle flexing emoji].

Ginny: Weird Sisters tix for Leeds. Girls' Night 2.0.

Ti: Ced took me to see them for our first date.

Ti: I might be a downer.

Ginny: You're coming.

Ginny: Not taking no for an answer.

Ginny: Manicures. Early dinner. Concert. Nobody dies, loses a limb, or has an emotional breakdown.

Padma: I'm in.

Padma: Still pissed at Bas, serves him right to spend Saturday alone.

Hermione: Blaise is still pissed. He bakes when he's angry.

Hermione: He makes great scones.

Ti: If I start crying halfway through "This Is The Night" it's your doing.

Hermione: Ced will come around.

She didn't realize she'd made it to the snug until Draco began speaking.

"Yesterday I was staring at my computer screen and it went a bit blurry. I visited the optometrist and he said …" Draco grabbed a pillow, placed it over his face, and screamed. He said in a muffled voice, "I need glasses."

Hermione chuckled.

"You need glasses? That is devastating news?"

Draco sat up and said, "Of course it's devastating. Hermione, I think …" He placed a hand on his chest. "I think I may be getting old."

"I'm nearly a year older than you."

"Yes, but you have plenty of collagen and fantastic tits. All I've got going for me is several generations of men with solid hairlines." Draco groaned, "I will look even more like my father. He always wore glasses, made him seem more professional."

"Did you order frames?"

"I did, yeah. Straight from Maybach, they're black and green and gold, a bit pretentious, but I am quite pretentious. They should be here in a week. Evidently my lenses are," he made air quotes, "'specially made' so it takes time. But I am getting older."

"Yes."

"Oh, God, by the time we have a child I will be at best thirty-five. I'll be sending my kid to uni in my fifties!"

Hermione frowned and said, "I'll be at best thirty-six and sending my kid to uni in my early fifties. What the bloody hell is wrong with being an older parent?"

"I dunno." Draco shrugged. "My mum had me at twenty-two, and my dad was twenty-four. Scorp was born when I was twenty-eight, Theo's twins were born when he was twenty, I've always thought you have kids in your twenties."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Do you even understand the hell women go through getting pregnant in their late thirties? We're termed 'geriatric.' Like I'm seventy bloody years old?"

Draco wondered, "Do they really say that?"

"'Advanced maternal age' is the proper term now, but 'geriatric' is just as common. It's what they label every mum thirty-five and older."

"Thirty-five?!"

"Thirty-five. I am already broken, and if we have a child together I will be 'old' in the eyes of the medical community and society. For you, it's nothing but a new pair of glasses. For me, I'm staring down the last few years I have of value according to the world. As though turning forty as a woman on camera isn't hard enough, let's add a baby!"

"I didn't think of it in that way." Draco admitted, "I was so excited to see you looking forward in life that I realized I wanted another child. I didn't know until then and I should not have added that stress to you right now."

"No, you should have, because I need to look at my future and see it. There is part of me that feels like I could be a mum, I could be a broadcast journalist, and I can be your wife. I know there is a way for me to do these things, it's just the grey pudding stopping me from doing it."

Draco asked, "Grey pudding?"

"PUDDING!"

Scorpius appeared at the bottom of the stairs then beelined for his father. He jumped atop the sofa and flung himself over Draco's lap. Hermione couldn't find the will to be frustrated when she was looking at her family, snuggled together. Christ, they looked so alike. Scorpius smiled up at his father and asked,

"Is Uncle Blaise making pudding?"

"I dunno what Blaise left for us tonight, Scorp." Draco ruffled his hair and leaned back on the sofa. He wondered, "Do you think I'm old?"

Scorpius shrugged and said, "Old people look like wrinkly potatoes. You don't look like a potato."

Hermione choked back a laugh. Scorpius continued,

"Someday I want to be a potato. Then Al will be an old potato. We'll be a garden of potatoes."

"I need glasses, Scorp." Draco sighed, "I feel old, and I don't want to be a potato, yet."

Hermione couldn't stop herself from saying, "Perhaps we'll get Dean to write a book: Draco the Potato."

"Don't you bloody well start—"

"Draco the potato who falls in love with a tomato—"

"Does that make you the tomato, then?" teased Draco. "I rather think Dean should title his book The Hermione Jean Green Bean—"

"Jamie wears glasses," said Scorpius. "I think he looks nice with glasses. They're green." He smiled. "Like the Hermione Green Bean!"

Hermione threw her hands up in mock defeat.

"Let's put Draco the Potato and Hermione Jean Green Bean on the shelf for now. Would you like to play outside?"

"Yes, please! Can I drive my car?"

Honestly, getting Scorpius that child-sized battery-powered F1 McLaren GoKart was probably one of the worst ideas Blaise Zabini ever had. It would completely wreck the front drive every time, but Scorpius loved driving it so much none of the adults had the willpower to say no.

"If you're going to be Lewis Hamilton, please avoid Blaise's geraniums."

"Yes, father!"

Hermione shouted after him, "Wear your helmet!"

"Yes, maman!"

Then he was out the front door. Hermione walked behind him and shut the door as he left. She watched him from the front window, buckling his own helmet. Dean left it properly adjusted last time, and taught Scorpius how not to pinch his fingers when fastening it together. Hermione jumped a bit when she felt Draco's arms around her waist.

"You're so good with him. All that fretting about being a good mum, and you're a natural. I don't care how old you are, or how old I am, I meant what I said last weekend. We deserve a child together, you and me, whenever it happens."

Hermione admitted, "I can almost see it. I wish I could tell you what's keeping me from it, but I don't know."

Draco hesitated a moment before he asked, "Is it me?"

"No," Hermione insisted, "it's something to do with everything around us and how fragile it all feels. Losing Colin …" She shook her head. "I didn't know how much I'd kept myself away from the world."

"You can be incredible in it, if you allow yourself to be. All you need, golden girl, is to figure out what you want life to look like."

"I'm trying."

Draco wondered, "Would it help if we had a home to ourselves?"

"Perhaps."

"Good, then, because I've made an offer on a house. It's not perfect, but with time I truly believe it can be our home here."

"Is it more than eight million pounds?"

"Christ, the market's gone mad. This home is worth what I will pay for it, and that is all you need know."

Hermione smiled and watched as Scorpius began making circles around the drive. That little boy anchored her whole world. So this was what it felt like to be a mum? Perhaps … Perhaps she could have a child. If it was anything like this, then it would be worth doing. There was something vulnerable in Draco's voice when he asked,

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Hermione felt badly about saying, "No," but she wasn't ready to be with him in that way again. She needed the distance, needed to keep him away from the grey pudding otherwise he'd be caught up in it. Hermione felt his sigh more than she heard it.

"I'll hold you awhile longer, then."

.oOo.

Saturday was a breath of fresh air.

Girls' trip meant a two-hour train to Leeds where they were hidden away in first class, mumbling the latest gossip. Talking shit about work, catching up in a way they couldn't over text or at a half-ruined engagement party. Hermione complained about the sling again, happy this would be her last weekend her arm was in that wretched thing. They went to get manicures, which wasn't unusual except for Ginny inspecting Parvati's nails every five minutes. Hermione didn't comment on it because Parvati didn't comment. A good journalist respects 'no comment.'

They ate early dinner at an Indian street food restaurant and ordered one of everything on the menu. Padma gestured to Hermione's hair and asked,

"Did you do it yourself today?"

"Yeah." Hermione felt her face turn pink. "I'm not meant to be using my shoulder much at all, but I figured doing my hair once a day doesn't hurt all that much. If it does?" She shrugged her good shoulder. "Then I'm back where I was, aren't I?"

Parvati said, "I think it looks very good."

"Short sleeves," Ginny pointed to Hermione's chest, "lots of cleavage, looks like Hermione finally received the girls' night memo."

Parvati pulled a tool from her purse to scrape beneath her fingernails. She asked,

"Is it okay that I'm not recovered from our last girls' night?"

Hermione tugged on her sling and replied, "I'm not."

"I think about Colin every day." Parvati shook her head. "I didn't know him, but I saw what he did. He was hurt and didn't even think about himself. The world is so cruel to take people from us."

Hermione didn't think that was entirely about Colin. Parvati had lost a lot in the past few months.

"I think," said Ginny, "that Colin would want both of you to embrace the life you have. Which means not being sad at girls' night! I don't get to be around you lot often enough. I've spent a year-and-a-half keeping my husband away from sharp objects, tall buildings, and alcohol. I am spread so fucking thin with Arsenal and my family and then my family's families that I just want to have a day with my friends that doesn't end in someone dying. You're all going to cheer the fuck up because we've got a concert to attend. We're going to sing too loud, get drunk, and be the most obnoxious bitches in first class on the train home."

Ginny's version of "concert tickets" was a bit skewed. Hermione was famous, well-respected, but everyone knew Ginny. You didn't need to watch the news to know Ginny Potter was the best female footballer in the history of England. It made sense, then, for a Weird Sisters concert she wouldn't be on the floor because security would be impossible. Padma, Parvati, Ginny, and Hermione filed into a suite capable of holding sixteen people. The opening act was nearly finished, so Ginny walked to the bar, grabbed a bottle of champagne, and popped it open.

"Girls' night is officially on!"

She poured them all drinks, then Parvati revealed,

"Ced made me dinner last weekend."

"Oh?" Ginny nudged Parvati's foot with hers and asked, "How did it go?"

"Honestly?" Parvati sighed. "I walked through the door and it was like I never left; like I'd come home to him."

Hermione insisted, "He cares for you so much."

"I told him some things that I kept from him."

"Like what?" asked Padma.

"He always thought of me as temporary. I thought if I kept being his party girl, eventually he would learn to like the other parts of me, too. I'm great at parties, I know how to work a room, and Ced always liked having a date who could do that. Once I moved in with him, though, it was clear he wasn't ready to take it on. His flat is too small, realistically, for the two of us. He had no plans to move into a larger space, and if you're having kids you need a house. The past couple of months, he's been asking me why I didn't phone him when I had the miscarriage. I finally told him that I was afraid he would see me differently if he knew." Parvati shrugged. "I wasn't wrong. A few days later, he dropped to a knee in the snug and asked me to marry him." She rolled her eyes. "It made me feel even worse."

Hermione winced.

"That's got to hurt."

"He said it was the worst thing anyone's ever said to him."

"Is it over, then?" asked Ginny. Though there was something in her eyes that made Hermione feel she knew more about this than she let on.

"No," Parvati smiled softly and said, "he pulled out the engagement ring he proposed with and said it was the ring his dad gave his mum."

"Oh." Padma said, "That is precious, Ti. You never mentioned it."

"I didn't know. He got down on a knee while I was watching telly, said, 'Pavi, will you marry me?' Nothing else. He didn't expound on it, and for a man who makes a living talking to the country I expected something more than, 'Will you marry me?' I told him he was being ridiculous, then I dumped him."

"He talks about you all the time," offered Hermione. "He'd say, 'Parvati knows the best restaurants in the city, these shit-looking Chinese places where she orders in Mandarin then they bring out the best food I've ever eaten.' Or, 'Pavi always knows how to get the stains out of clothes. It's so simple, but it's sort of incredible.' Things like that, little things."

"Right." Parvati smoothed out her dress and said, "It seems he told those things to everyone except me. I didn't know he loved me at all."

"He still does," insisted Ginny.

"Well, he said his mum gave him that ring shortly before she died and said he could only offer it to one woman. He had to be sure it was the person he would spend the rest of his life with. Ced had it resized to fit me—I don't even know how he knew—"

"He probably asked Bastien," said Padma. "My engagement ring is 8.5."

"—and I didn't know he felt so strongly about me. He never told me, so how could I know?"

Padma replied, "You know, now." As though it was fact.

Parvati didn't counter that assertion. In fact, she said, "When he told me he knew I would make a great mum, I realized that he does love me. I believed him when he said he told everyone how incredible I am, because he assumed I knew how great I am. Because I do. I'm fucking fantastic."

"Cheers to that," said Ginny, raising her glass so they could all clink then drink.

The champagne immediately relaxed Hermione, the tension receded though she knew something bigger was creeping toward them. There was so much pressure to be normal in front of her friends, she wanted to convince them she was okay even if it wasn't entirely true. It all seemed a bit too much to be casual. The box, the manicures, the champagne … Everything wasn't quite adding up.

"So," Parvati said, "I told Cedric I'd give him one more chance to propose. If he did it in a way that made me feel like he cared, like he's cared about our future the whole time, then I would say yes. He told me …" She dabbed at her undereyes with the pad of one finger. "He told me that after the miscarriage he started thinking about what we'd name our baby. Well over a month ago, he told me that. He didn't start imagining a future until I left, he said I was right to leave, and I felt it was only proper that I give him a way to earn me back."

Hermione insisted, "He will figure it out, I'm certain."

"How could he not?" Ginny hugged Parvati from behind and rested her chin on Parvati's shoulder. "Look at this fantastic, beautiful, multilingual woman. It's a wonder any diplomats can speak when Ti's standing next to the PM, she's so stunning."

Parvati smiled and said, "Thanks, Gin."

The Weird Sisters made their entrance, just then, and Hermione wished the four of them could have lingered longer in the moment. She hadn't worried about her shoulder. Parvati was having a good time. Ginny wasn't fretting about Harry managing the boys alone. Padma, as always, had everything together. How long had it been since they had a girls' night without worry? A girls' night of freedom?

Too fucking long.

They took their seats at the front of the box, listening to the Weird Sisters' set. Sometimes they'd jump up and dance, other times they'd sing along. Sitting in that chair, singing along to songs she'd buried far back in her mind, was the first time Hermione felt normal. She was just a woman enjoying a show; it needn't be more than that.

Except it was.

Toward the end of the set, the band paused between songs. Just then, security appeared at the door to their suite. The lead singer of the Weird Sisters stepped to the microphone and said,

"We're going to need a volunteer for this next song."

Ginny stood, leaned out over the edge of the suite, then began jumping up and down pointing to Parvati.

"HERE!" She shouted, "RIGHT HERE! THIS ONE!"

"Oi, is that Ginny Potter?!" Myron Wagtail looked around to his bandmates and said, in faux surprise, "That's Ginny Potter up there! Well, Ginny Potter's friend, how about you come down here and help us out with this next tune?"

Parvati looked mortified. She shook her head and stepped backward into the suite.

"No, no, I'm not going up there. I don't want to be in front of cameras, that's a job for the rest of you."

Ginny placed her hands on Parvati's shoulders and said, "Go. Trust me on this, you want to go onstage. Let go, be free, be wild just this once."

Parvati nodded, confidence bolstered by champagne.

"You're right. I deserve to have fun, to be ridiculous."

"That's right, Ti," Hermione added, certain there was a bigger plan at work, "be ridiculous."

Security escorted Parvati from their suite to the side of the stage as the band played the first verse and chorus of "This Is The Night." Someone took Parvati's proffered arm and pulled her onstage. The bassist gently led Parvati to the front of stage left. She waved to the audience with one hand, looking completely at home in the spotlight. The lead singer stepped up to the mic and said,

"Tell us your name, love."

The bassist offered her a mic, so she leaned in and said, "Parvati."

"Parvati! Everybody, a round of applause for Parvati!"

The crowd clapped and Ginny was grinning like she knew something.

"What's happening?" asked Hermione.

"You'll see." Ginny's smile didn't waver as she insisted, "This is going to be fucking awesome."

Padma asked, "What do you know that we don't?"

"Only that I didn't buy these tickets," replied Ginny.

Before anyone could press further, the lead singer spoke again.

"Parvati, somebody told us you had a first date at our London show earlier this year."

Parvati nodded.

"Well," he strummed the next chords in This Is the Night. "This song is about watching someone you love go through the darkest time in their life and wanting to be there for them. The somebody who took you on that first date, well," he strummed another chord, "I think he wants to be there for you." Another chord. "I think he wants to be there for you for a long time."

Hermione sat up straight and asked, "Is this—"

"It is exactly what you think it is," Ginny replied. "Penelope is the publicist for the Weird Sisters, she scored these tickets, and this is going to be so good."

Padma reached out and gripped Hermione's arm tight enough to leave an imprint. Without warning, Cedric walked out from stage right. Hermione's heart was racing. She placed her hand atop Parvati's as Cedric stepped up to the lead singer's mic. Cedric clapped him on the shoulder and said,

"Thanks, Myron. Hello, Leeds!"

The crowd screamed for him as he waved. He was wearing a Weird Sisters t-shirt, jeans, and (of course) a blazer. Hermione's heart warmed to see him embraced by an audience in real time. They spent their careers staring into cameras, so the audience response was never visible. God, it was nice to know they loved him almost as much as she did. Cedric said,

"About ten months ago, my partner, my friend, my girl Hermione Granger—"

The crowd cheered again, many of them turning around to look at her as Cedric pointed toward their suite. Hermione smiled and waved, happy to be recognized for her role in their show.

"Hermione introduced me to her best friend, Parvati Patil. Pavi shook my hand and said, 'I can ask you to fuck me in six languages, is there one you prefer?'" He paused for the crowd's laughter. At the time, Hermione had been rather mortified, but it was quintessentially Parvati. Cedric continued, "I took her to a Weird Sisters show for our first date and bought a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. A couple months ago, I asked Parvati to marry me and the proposal was so bad that she said no. It was so bad that she dumped my sorry arse."

Gasps rose from the crowd. Parvati looked stunned, like she understood what was happening but couldn't believe it.

"Last week she said, 'Ced, I'll give you one more chance to propose. If you do it right, I'll say yes.' I started thinking, then, about our first date. We had a blast, and midway through This Is the Night, I kissed her for the first time. Parvati is the most charming, intelligent polyglot a man could ever hope to love. She has so much empathy for others, she's the funniest person I've ever met, and she's an incredible painter. I've met loads of people in my job, but nobody has ever stolen my heart so fully so quickly as Parvati. I figured that a Weird Sisters show was the first date we had as boyfriend and girlfriend, so it should also be our last."

Cedric pulled a ring box from his pocket and the crowd went mad. Ginny leaned over the edge of the box and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"WIFE HER, DIGGORY!"

Padma used her second hand to cover Hermione's, gripping her tight. Cedric leaned into the microphone and pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket.

"Pavi, I've got them written down right here. I can ask you to marry me in six languages, is there one you prefer?"

Parvati covered her mouth with both hands. She shook her head and managed to say something that only Cedric could hear. He shouted to the crowd,

"She said English is fine!"

Everyone screamed in delight as Cedric leaned into the microphone while looking directly at Parvati. Parvati, whom everyone could see shaking from a dozen metres away.

"Parvati Jivika Patil, will you do me the honour of becoming Parvati Jivika Diggory? Will you marry me?"

He opened the box and bent down on a knee. Padma looked like she was made of stone, desperately trying to send a telepathic message to Parvati. Hermione had no doubt it was a steady stream of say yes, say yes, say yes. Ginny seemed to hear the message, too. Down toward the crowd, she shouted,

"SAY YES! SAY YES!" She gestured for the crowd to join in, and they followed her lead. "SAY YES! SAY YES!"

Parvati offered her left hand and nodded. The crowd screamed. Padma pressed her hand to her chest and Hermione leaned over to hug her. Ginny fist pumped and fell back into her chair. Myron Wagtail said,

"It looks like this is the night … that she said yes!"

Cedric and Parvati sang the lyrics:

I would have walked on burning coals for you,

Sailed across the ocean blue,

Climbed the highest mountain

Just to call your name!

Everything was a blur. The next thing Hermione knew, Parvati and Cedric were stumbling through the door, giggling like drunk teenagers. Padma rushed over to her twin and pulled her into a tight hug. She half-cried, half-spoke Bangla words that Hermione didn't understand. She could guess their meaning well enough. Cedric pointed at Ginny and said,

"You pulled it off perfectly, you fantastic woman."

"Thank you." Ginny curtsied. "I'll be waiting for my BAFTA."

"And you." Cedric hugged Hermione gently around the shoulders. "You've been through so much, but you did this, you know? Pavi and I wouldn't have met were it not for you."

Hermione hugged him back.

"You're my partner, and I want you to be happy."

"Whether you come back to our show or not," Cedric said, "you're not getting rid of me, now."

"I would never want to. You gave up your job for me, put everything on the line. You're incredible, Ced, and I wouldn't have let Parvati settle for anyone less."

He stepped away and said, "I know you mean that."

Padma FaceTimed Bastien a moment later. He greeted her in Bangla before asking,

"What's happening at girls' night?"

"Quite a lot." Padma grinned. "We're getting a brother-in-law, Bas."

"Wha—"

Padma flipped the camera to reveal Cedric holding Parvati, who raised her left hand. Bastien immediately smiled and fist pumped. He was so excited he nearly dropped the phone and they wound up looking at the ceiling for a moment.

"YES, CED! FUCKING YES!" Bastien reappeared in the frame and asked, "When I met your sorry arse ten years ago who'd've thought we'd wind up married to twins? Welcome to the family, mate."

"I've got to phone my dad next," said Cedric.

"Your dad's going to start making wedding plans the moment you tell him. God, I'm so happy for you two. Abhinandana, Parvati."

"Dhonnobad, Bastien."

Padma ended the call then Cedric FaceTimed his father. It took a few rings for him to answer, but Cedric waited patiently until his father said,

"Son! How are you?"

"Pretty damn good, dad." He moved the camera so both he and Parvati were visible. "I'm here with Parvati."

"Oh, my beautiful girl! It is so good to see you."

Parvati said, with tears in her eyes, "I've missed you so much, Amos."

"Dad, d'you remember what you told me after you met Pavi the first time?"

"Of course, my boy. I told you that you better make that woman your wife someday."

Cedric said, "About that …"

Parvati held up her left hand and Mr. Diggory let out an excited laugh.

"I proposed to your mother with that ring, Cedric; I can't imagine any woman more worthy of it. I'm so proud of you. Now, Parvati, you make a list of everything you want at your wedding and I will be sure it's done. Nothing but the best for you, and I am so happy to have you as part of my family. If Cedric's mother ever had the good fortune to meet you, she would have been overjoyed to see how much light you've brought into our son's life."

"Almost as much as he has brought to mine," replied Parvati.

"Well, you two have fun, and come visit as soon as you can. Tell Uttam and Nuri I say hello, and we've got lots of wedding planning ahead!"

"Thanks, dad." Cedric's voice cracked when he said, "I love you."

"Oh, son, I love you, too."

The call ended, and they all turned toward the sound of a champagne cork popping. Ginny was sitting with her feet kicked up on another chair, drinking straight from the bottle.

"Now this," she said, "is a girls' night."

.oOo.

Tuesday afternoon, Hermione received a worrisome text from Padma.

Come over when you can. It's an emergency.

She rushed straight from physical therapy to Padma's home. Hermione parked her Jaguar outside and pulled on a t-shirt before walking to the door. She flexed her fingers, happy to be free of that God-forsaken sling. Padma opened the door and Hermione asked,

"Are you okay?"

"No." Padma gestured inside and said, "Follow me."

Hermione hesitated a moment before stepping across the threshold. Everything seemed normal about the house. Nothing was broken and everything was clean. Bastien was fastidiously neat, something about being so large a person and not being able to move through a space. Hermione followed Padma into their bedroom and then her bathroom. Padma gestured to the sink and the world turned upside-down. Hermione's legs went numb, looking at four positive pregnancy tests sitting on the countertop.

"This one, I bought because it's best for early accuracy. This one is best for quick results. The next one is a triple-check, and I did the strips as well in case the digital wasn't correct." She placed a hand to her chest and said, "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Hermione couldn't believe it. Of every couple she'd ever met, Bastien and Padma were the most solid. If someone asked which of her friends was most likely to cheat on a spouse, Padma wouldn't even be an option. They loved each other, worked through everything together, supported each other in a way everyone around them envied. How could Padma do this? Bastien had been an arsehole at dinner, but who wouldn't be upon learning their mum didn't want them as a child? This must've happened far before his outburst at Dean's engagement party, anyway.

"How … How did this happen?" asked Hermione.

"It shouldn't have! I didn't plan for this, I'm not prepared, Bastien's going to be so upset—"

"I would expect so, yes."

"This is terrible—"

"Padma, you cheated on your husband, of course it's terrible!"

Padma frowned.

"What the bloody hell are you on about? I would never cheat on my husband, you know that."

Hermione said, "You told me he had a vasectomy. That's why I had to ask Ti about—"

"Oh!" Padma half-laughed, half-cried as she said, "A bit over a month ago we decided to try for a baby, so he had his vasectomy reversed. The doctor told him it would be three months before he could get me pregnant."

Hermione sighed in relief.

"Thank God, because if you cheated on him I would've had a hard time ever believing in love again."

"That first week, we were quite excited by the thought of expanding our family and we had a lot of sex. Great sex. I didn't know my husband has super sperm, defying modern science and my fucking work schedule. I have a massive conference to speak at in three months and Bas isn't retiring for eleven months. This is shit, he's going to be so pissed, our entire schedule's been upended." Padma gripped Hermione's arms and said, "I'm scared. My work is so important to me, your work is important to you, tell me I can do this. Tell me I can be a mum and work at the same time."

Wide-eyed, Hermione replied, "Ginny played in the World Cup with two sons and a husband five metres from suicide. I think you can attend conferences as a mum of one with a very capable husband."

"What if I'm a terrible mum?"

"I don't think that is within the realm of possibility."

Padma's voice wavered when she asked, "Have I made a mistake?"

"Listen to me." Hermione held onto Padma's arms. "There are a load of shit people in the world, and many of them are shitty mothers. You are an exceptional woman with a husband who loves you, and cares for you unconditionally. Your relationship is so rare, Padma, it would be a crime not to give the world more of it. You will be a fantastic mother. Even in the slightest chance you are less than perfect, your husband will pick up where you can't. You are going to have a beautiful bilingual baby with a large family who adores them. You will still be an expert in your field; this will not change that."

"But what if it does?"

"You won't let it."

Padma hugged Hermione tightly and said, "You've become a mum so fast, I'm afraid even though it's months and months away."

"Our whole family will be here to support you. Padma," Hermione grinned, "you're having a baby!"

"I know!" She said, "I had wine at dinner, then champagne at the concert, what if I've done something wrong—"

"Dea!"

Bastien's voice came loudly from the front of the house. He shouted something in Bangla, and Padma grabbed Hermione's right arm. She dragged Hermione to the bedroom door and shouted something back in Bangla. Padma whispered,

"He said, 'I'm home, my love, travel clinic closed early.' He asked whose car is in the drive. I told him it's yours and we need to talk before takeaway."

Hermione followed Padma back into the living area, then to the dining room. Bastien was pulling cartons out of takeaway bags and placing them on the table. He waved Hermione over with a large grin, and she felt at ease in his presence. Bastien said,

"Hermione, if I'd known you were coming over I would have cooked myself. If you aren't in the mood for Chinese, I can make a quick—"

"No, I'm fine." Hermione gestured to the food and said, "Whatever you've got is perfect."

"We always get enough for three, because sometimes Padma doesn't have time for lunch and I know she'll just skip it if something isn't at the ready."

Padma said something in Bangla and Bastien held up his hand.

"Dea, we've got to talk in English. I want to take care of Hermione, it's been a tough time—"

"Bas, I'm pregnant."

"—for her, and being with Draco isn't easy in the best of times." He blinked. "Sorry, what?"

There was a look of despair on Padma's face when she said, "I know our schedule wasn't meant for this. I am so sorry, Bastien, I took four tests to be certain. We aren't prepared, there's so much work we weren't ready for."

Still holding boxes of Chinese takeaway, Bastien asked, "You're having a baby?"

Padma nodded. Bewildered, Bastien said,

"The doctor told me it'd take three months."

"I know, babe. Apparently Queensbury sperm are Olympic swimmers."

Bastien repeated, "You're pregnant with our baby?"

"Yes."

He dropped the takeaway containers on the table and gently hugged Padma around the shoulders. He kissed her so sweetly before saying, "We're going to be parents! Babe, this is incredible."

"You're not cross with me?" asked Padma.

"Why would I be cross?"

"The schedule—"

Bastien turned around, grabbed Hermione by the waist and spun her around. She held onto him as best she could. Bastien placed her on the ground and shouted,

"WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" He said, "Sod the takeaway, we're going out. This deserves the best restaurant in the city … That Blaise doesn't own … Or know the owner …"

"So Taybarns," replied Padma.

"Okay, okay," Bastien raised his hands and said, "I fucked up. But I chose the best wife in the world, and I will un-fuck this fuck-up. He can un-invite me from his wedding, but Blaise can't cut me out of his life; I won't let him. He's part of our family, which is about to get a bit bigger."

"Bas?" Padma smiled. "Are we really doing this?"

"Yeah, babe, we are. A bit earlier than we thought, but that means we get to meet our little one sooner."

"You're just excited because my tits will be massive."

Bastien wrapped his arms around Padma's waist and said, "You know me so well."

He leaned down for a slow, very intimate kiss and Hermione stepped toward the front door.

"I'll leave you to it."

She may as well have said nothing at all. Hermione was out the front door and in her Jaguar a moment later. While she was happy for Padma and Parvati, Hermione couldn't help but wonder whether anyone would be as excited for these moments when they happened to her. Her relationship with Draco seemed to be in the background when compared to everyone else, and Hermione supposed much of that was her own doing.

.oOo.

Hermione spent hours lounging in bed, thinking of her friends. Ginny was a nationally-recognized athlete in the history books ten times over. Padma had the best husband of anyone and was having a baby. Hermione's broadcast partner was marrying one of her best friends. Dean was engaged to a man who loved him more than anything in the world. Harry was living life again. Ron was preparing to have a third child.

What of Hermione? She felt so distant from them. She jumped when Draco knocked on the bedroom door. He stuck his head in to say,

"Letting you know I've come home for the day."

Hermione looked over and her heart skipped a beat. Draco's glasses had come in, and Christ almighty. She was the luckiest woman in the world to have a man who looked like that. To have a man so desperate for her time that he popped in just to say I'm home. She'd been so concerned about keeping up with her friends that Hermione hadn't realized she was keeping pace even through the grey pudding. Draco couldn't meet her gaze, as though he was ashamed to look at her through the lenses. He clenched his jaw then said,

"I know, they look—"

"Get on top of me."

He finally looked at Hermione and said, "Come again?"

She shifted herself a bit against the pillows and said, "Get on top of me right now."

Draco closed the door behind him then made for the bed. He placed his knees on either side of Hermione's hips, then stole a quick, tender kiss. Hermione tugged on his shirt and snogged him again, sloppy about it. Draco pulled away and asked,

"What's brought this on?"

"You in specs," she replied. "I dunno what it is about them, why it just hit me all at once how much of an idiot I've been. Maybe it's that you look more mature with them, but I can see it now, the future I want."

"Really?" Draco began unbuttoning his shirt and asked, "What does it look like?"

"It looks like this. You coming home to me, fucking me, calling me 'golden girl' and telling me to be quiet because our son's downstairs. Me coming home late Monday through Thursday because …" Hermione smiled as wide as she had in weeks. "Because I'm the ballsy bitch on BBC News at Ten."

Draco tossed his shirt on the floor then confirmed, "You're going back to work?"

"I think I may need two more weeks, but I want to return to work."

"Fucking hell, if I'd known a pair of glasses could do this, I'd've ordered them weeks ago," he teased. Draco pulled Hermione's pyjama bottoms down to her ankles then tugged them off entirely. "Is this what you want?"

"I just want to feel close to you."

Draco flattened himself on top of Hermione, so she placed one hand on his bum. He kissed her cheek, then her neck, with no space between them. Her whole world was Draco Malfoy.

"I love you, these moments when you're whole, Hermione, are worth everything to me. Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you."

Hermione was breathless when she asked, "Do you truly wish to know what I want?"

Draco nodded. Hermione threaded her fingers in his hair as he stuffed his hand down the front of her knickers.

"I want you to sleep in my bed tonight."