A Snake's Secrets ~Draco&Hermione FF~

Chapter 16 ~ The Aftermath

Author's Note ~ I am skipping to the end of the Battle of Hogwarts. I didn't think it was worth my time to write anything on the battle since I was not changing anything that happened in it. So, hope you are not disappointed!

Hermione’s POV

I sat on the steps in front of what remained of Hogwarts, watching Draco talk quietly with his parents a short distance away. The battle was won: Harry had defeated Lord Voldemort, and the remaining Death Eaters had fled or been captured. Well, the Malfoys had hardly participated in the battle, so Draco’s parents had been left alone.

We had won, but we had lost many. Fred. Remus. Tonks… There were many more, but those were the ones that hurt the most. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, thinking of poor little Teddy, now an orphan.

I had hardly seen Draco during the battle. Until he suddenly appeared during the fighting, I hadn’t seen him since leaving Bill and Fleur’s. When it was all over, he had pulled me into his arms and held me for what seemed like forever. Then he had told me to wait for him while he talked to his parents. I watched him, seeing how much he had changed. It almost made me laugh to think of him as that snide little boy in third year that I used to despise.

I shifted my gaze to Lucius and Narcissa. They had changed much since the first time I saw them. Both had aged greatly, but, somehow, they still managed to maintain a regal air. But I could see the slimness and weakness of Lucius’ tall frame and the worry lines that were permanently etched into Narcissa’s face. They had been servants of Voldemort, but I believed they had suffered just as much as anyone. Watching Narcissa hold her son, I knew that I wouldn’t object to calling them my mother and father-in-law.

Draco finally broke away from his parents and came over to me. He sat down a step lower than me and leaned back against my legs, laying his head on my lap to look up at me. I instantly began running my fingers through his longer hair.

“How are you feeling?” he whispered, eyes closed.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I was hardly ever in any danger. Harry and Ron barely let me do anything here.”

A small smile touched his lips. “Good.”

I leaned down and kissed his lips lightly. “What are your parents going to do now?”

He opened his eyes and looked up at me. “They’re going home and going to remain inconspicuous so the Order hopefully doesn’t decide to come after them. I told them I would go visit them eventually.”

“Did you tell them they’re going to be grandparents?”

He nodded slowly and moved to sit next to me. “If you don’t want them to see the baby, I would understand.”

I shook my head. “Of course they can see their grandchild. I know they’ve made their mistakes, but if you trust them, so do I.”

Draco wrapped his arms around me and sighed into my hair. “Did I tell you I have a house for us?”

I smiled. “Really?”

“Yes, Remus helped me find it.”

When I paused, I leaned back to look at him. He wasn’t looking at me, but I could see the pain in his expression. I knew that Remus’ death hurt him just as much as any of us after the way Remus helped him. I wrapped held him close and rested my head against his chest.

“The house has a nice view of the ocean,” he finally continued. “And it’s still close to all our friends and family.”

I nodded with a small smile. Then a peculiar feeling hit me, and I gasped. “Draco… My water just broke.”

Draco sat back and looked at me with wide eyes. Then a smile broke out on his face and he swept me into his arms as he hurried inside.

I gave birth in the infirmary with the help of the available nurses. Draco was the only one they let stay by my side, but the rest of my friends were eagerly waiting just outside the infirmary. I held Draco’s hand the whole time, and he talked sweet words to me through all the pain. When our baby’s cries filled the room, we looked into each other’s eyes with tears rolling down both our faces.

“It’s a girl,” the nurse said as she handed me my baby.

I held my baby girl snuggly against me as she cooed. “She has your eyes,” I whispered to Draco.

He held on to her tiny hand when she reached toward him. “What should we call her?”

“Rose?” I asked, the name just popping into my head as I looked at her lovely red cheeks.

“It’s perfect,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I smiled and held her toward him. “Want to hold her?”

He took his daughter into his arms carefully, and a new batch of tears filled his eyes. As I looked at him holding Rose, I had never felt so happy in my entire life.