A/N: I'm back with a new story! I've been working on the idea behind this for quite some time and while I have a few minor things left to work out, I have most of it planned out already. As usual, I will be updating every Sunday unless something comes up otherwise.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the plot leading up to Deathly Hallows minus the epilogue. This entire plot is mine and mine alone.

Chapter 1

Hermione sighed as she placed her hair in a tight ponytail to move it out of her face. It was going to be an extremely long day, what with the procedure she had scheduled and then checking in on her long term patients. Thankfully for her, it was nothing life threatening, so it would be a bit easier on her.

She was in her office, looking over the files of the patients she would be dealing with, trying to figure out the best course of action for each person.

For the most part, her job was easy; simple spells to reverse which had happened due to accidents, and were very rarely that life threatening. But every now and then someone would come in due to the use of dark magic. She had faced everything from children accidently cursing themselves or others, to deathly accidents from curses that had been as a result of some of the dark wizards that were still on the run.

While the end of the war meant the end of Voldemort, there were several Death Eaters that eluded capture. In the years since then, the Auror department had done a fantastic job of bringing them in. Hermione had been offered a job at the end of the war along with Harry and Ron, who immediately agreed, eager to join in on the action. She, on the other hand, needed a break. She was tired of the running and of the action. She had done what she needed to do during the war because it was the right thing to do. She didn't regret helping Harry, and she would do it over again if she had to. But it wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

Her friends had been supportive in her decision, despite meaning that she wouldn't be working with them every day, nor would she be able to help them on their cases. It was different, and it was scary since it meant that she would be once again out of her element. While she had long since grown up, she hated not being prepared for new situations. But healing was what she wanted to do, and she hadn't regretted it for even a moment since choosing her path.

Going into healing hadn't been a surprise to most of the people in her life. Hermione would be lying if she knew that it was what she wanted to do while she was younger, thus the reason she tried to take so many courses in her third year at school.

While she was on the run with Harry and Ron, she ended up having to use quite a few healing spells as they didn't have access to Healers or potions. When she had gone back to school after the war, she had weighed her options, and realized that Healing was what she wanted to do.

She had been a healer for nearly four years, but it was only in the recent year that she specialized. It had increased her hours and meant that she had far less time to spend with the people in her life, despite how much she cared about them, including her relationship.

It hadn't really been a surprise to either of them that it collapsed the way it did. Her relationship with Ron was a fantasy one. It was everything she wanted as a child; he was kind and caring, and she had genuinely loved him. But it hadn't been enough ultimately. They had both grown up and realized that sometimes it wasn't enough. There had been something missing in their relationship. She closed her eyes as she went back to that moment when it all had ended.

He had come into her office during her lunch break, looking slightly nervous and a bit grim. She had looked up from the papers on her desk, as she had been sorting through it, trying to figure out the reason for one to slip into a magical induced coma as a result of a dark spell. It had been a side project she was working on for months, as she needed to submit a paper on a topic of her choosing before she could become a senior healer.

"Can we talk?" he asked as he sat in the chair across from her. She hadn't seen him all week, due to him being on a case out of the country and her workload.

She nodded, "Of course. Did something bad happen? Please tell me no one was hurt," she asked, a bit panicked. He rarely visited her at work due to the fact that one of them was always busy.

"No, nothing like that," he said softly, "I wanted to talk about us. I know it probably isn't the best time, but we're just both really busy all the time, and I wasn't sure when else we would be able to talk."

"I know," she spoke quietly. She had been sensing it for some time. They were off beat, no longer in sync with the other. She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't blame him when she had been considering it for quite a while herself. "We're not working are we?" she asked, trying to make it easier for him.

"No," he agreed, "We're not. I love you, Hermione, and I always will. But I'm not in love with you, and I don't think you're in love with me either."

A tear slipped down her face, and he took her hand into his, "I'm going to miss this," she said softly. "I'm going to miss you. You were my first love, and I know we weren't right for each other, but I do care about you. Promise me we can still be friends? I don't think I could deal with losing you completely."

He got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her tightly, "Me too, Hermione. I promise I'm not going anywhere. You're my best friend, and I still want you in my life. It probably won't be easy at first, but we'll make it work. I'm going to be here for you through everything, I promise."

He stayed with her for the rest of her break, and when he left, she felt an odd sense of relief. Yes, she would miss what she had with him, but it would be unfair for either of them to stay with each other when neither of them were in love with the other person.

That had been six months ago. Thinking back on it, she had been extremely lucky that she was able to stay friends with Ron. There were a lot of different possible outcomes in which they could have hated each other and would never speak again. That wasn't to say that it hadn't been hard to maintain their friendship at first, but they had eventually overcome all the awkwardness, much to her relief.

"Healer Granger?" she heard a voice call out from the door, causing her to look up. Standing there was Mary, an intern at the hospital, "A patient just came in and is need of urgent care."

She stood up and grabbed her white jacked from the chair behind her. As she followed Mary out the door, she began to get the details on the case, "Tell me about the patient," she asked authoritatively.

"Male, 22, injured on active Auror Duty. His partner says he was hit by some sort of spell, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. The patient seems to be bleeding from a single source on the body but all initial attempts of sealing the wound failed. Patient also seems to have several broken bones, which have been treated, except for a bone which is puncturing a lung, meaning if it isn't healed quickly the patient could stop breathing. However the bleeding wound is definitely the priority," Mary said as she walked beside Hermione to Emergency Care.

Her pulse was raised as she heard it was an Auror. The chance of it being either Harry or Ron was extremely slim, because while the age matched, after the war there was an increase of recruits in the division. She couldn't afford to go in with a nervous headspace.

"Mary, I'm going to need you to heal the rib while I work on the wound. You should be able to use a healing charm on it, but you need to be careful, as you need to make sure that none of the bone broke off into the lung. Use a quick scan spell to check that first. Once you heal the bone, the lung is going to lose what was holding it up, and you need to immediately cast a charm over the lung to close it off, which depending on the spell that caused the puncture could vary. I would suggest a simple healing charm first, but then work your way up," Hermione instructed as she took her wand in her hand and entered the room.

Harry was on the far end of the room, and when Hermione saw him, she froze, as she knew just who was lying on the bed; someone who she hadn't seen since his trial. The patient on the bed was Draco Malfoy.

Draco woke up to see strange white walls around him. He instantly shot up, but felt a painful sensation in his chest, and yelped.

"I would take it easy if I were you," a feminine voice called out. He looked to his right and saw a Healer dressed in white robes, going over a few charts, "You had quite the damage done to you today. You're lucky Harry got you in as quickly as possible.

He took a double take when she mentioned his partner's name. Not many people who were not close to Potter felt comfortable referring to him by his given name. "Granger?" he asked, unsure of whether it was her or not. He hadn't seen her since his trial three years ago, and so much had changed since that time, including her. Bloody Hell, out of all the people who could possibly treat him, it would be her.

She, along with Potter and Weasley had vouched for him at the trial, to his surprise. He understood them being there for his mother, she had lied for Potter after all. But they didn't need to for him.

Potter had claimed it was because he was there that night at the tower and he knew that Draco would have given in to Dumbledore and accepted his offer if he had a bit more time alone with the older wizard. Granger had also stated that he hadn't given them up when they were at Malfoy Manor. He was grateful for the second chance he had been given, so when Potter suggested he go into Auror training with him, he agreed. He didn't really have much to lose at that point, and it would be good for him to try and make amends for the damage he had caused, directly and indirectly.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, looking up from her papers. She had a way of sounding completely professional and looking at him as if he were nothing but a patient, despite their history. He supposed he should be grateful for that fact, but it had a way of making him feel extremely small.

"I-uh, wasn't expecting to see you here," he admitted, hearing a chuckle from his right. He looked over and saw his partner laughing.

He would be lying if he said working with Potter wasn't a bit weird, given all their history at school. But their skills complemented each other, and their supervisors had decided it would be a good idea to pair them up. It was definitely strange at work, but the two of them worked well together, and had closed a significant amount of cases.

"I was a bit surprised to see you here too," she admitted, as she came over to his bed side. She raised her wand to cast a couple of spells over him, seemingly to check his vitals.

"So am I free to go?" he asked, trying to sit up again.

She handed him a vial of a pain relieving potion when he winced again from his injuries, "I'd rather you not. Given the severity of your injuries, I prefer to keep you overnight for observation, but you should be free to go in the morning."

Draco looked over at Potter, hoping his partner would convince his friend to release him.

Harry simply raised his hands and said, "I'd help if I could. But Hermione's word is law when it comes to these things. Besides, I've seen firsthand what happens when you get on the wrong side of her wand. I'd rather get home to my wife in one piece, thank you very much."

Granger mockingly glared at him, and nudged him with her shoulder. "I'll be back here in the morning to release you, Mr. Malfoy. You might want to take the next couple of days off, or at least be careful. You were in pretty bad condition when you came in, and I would rather you not be back here dying anytime soon because you didn't listen to my instructions."

He frowned, "Fine," he conceded defeat, "But I expect you in here first thing, Granger. I'm not spending all day in this place."

Harry turned to face her, "Can you come by for dinner tonight? Ginny and I have something we want to talk to you and Ron about," he said, touching her arm gently. Draco couldn't help but feel curious, but he figured that if it as relevant, his partner would tell him in time. They weren't quite friends, but he respected Potter and got along well with him and even cared about the man to a degree.

She smiled at him as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had grown up nicely, Draco could admit to that. She might still be slightly stuck up, but she didn't appear to hold any grudge against him, and for that he was grateful. Truth be told, he was a bit unsure of how to react to her being the person who saved his life. He and Potter had a mutual understanding and a level of respect reached after years of partnership, and he was on semi-decent terms with Weasley, although the two of them still had quite a rocky relationship. But he hadn't had a chance to make amends with Granger yet, despite his partner trying to give him a constant push in that direction.

"Of course," she said. "I finish my shift at 6, so I can be there around 6:30 or so, is that alright?"

He nodded, "Sounds perfect, see you around then."

She reached to grab the stack of charts, "Mr. Malfoy, there are nurses stationed to this area in case anything happens or you need something. You can summon them using the switch on your bed," she said, before pressing a kiss to her friend's cheek and leaving the room.

"That wasn't awkward at all," he said sarcastically, causing his partner to laugh at him.

"She's really not that hard to talk to. If anything, she's the most forgiving out of all of us. Besides, if you convinced Ron to forgive you, then she really is easy compared to that," Harry reasoned. "Are you going to be fine here? Or do you need something for me to do."

"Can you tell my mother I'm here?" he asked Potter softly, "Downplay what happened. She's going to panic, especially since she can't be here."

The conditions for his mother not going to Azkaban had been to spend seven years on house arrest. It was more than fair, given the alternative. But he still worried about leaving her alone in that large house by herself for too long.

"Of course," Harry said, giving him a nod before leaving him alone in the room to his thoughts.

Hermione arrived promptly at 6:30 at her friends' house. To say she had a weird shift was definitely an understatement. She knew Harry was partners with Malfoy and that Ron ran into him from time to time, but it was a strange experience to see Harry and Malfoy together without one of them taunting or trying to kill the other.

"Hermione!" Ginny said, appearing in the hallway to greet her. She and Harry had gotten married a year and a half ago. It had been such a lovely ceremony, and the romantic in her had been wistful that someday she would be in her friend's shoes. They had been living together in Grimmauld place for some time before their marriage. Hermione had helped her friends after the war to try and make the place more cheerful, which after several days of work, was finally accomplished.

"Hi, Gin," Hermione smiled as she wrapped her arms around her friend. "How are you doing?"

"Good," her friend grinned, "Harry's just finishing up dinner and Ron's in the sitting room." Ginny lead her through the house, "Tell me about you. You've been so busy working lately and I feel like we've barely had any time to catch up. Promise me we'll do something really soon, just the two of us."

As they made their way to the sitting room, her eye caught the portrait that the four of them had taken a few months after the war. Their faces were tired from the lack of sleep and the stress of what had just occurred, but she loved that picture as it showed just how much they had overcome together.

"Hermione," Ron greeted her as they entered the room. He got up and hugged her softly. She smiled at her friend as she greeted him back.

She could honestly say that she could look at Ron now and have no more lingering feelings towards the wizard, much to her relief.

Harry entered the room just then, "Dinner will be ready soon, but in the meantime, Ginny and I wanted to tell you both something," he said, exhaling as he sat down beside his wife and wrapped his arms around her.

Ginny looked like she couldn't hold it in any longer, "We're pregnant," she squealed, causing Hermione to immediately get up and hug her friends.

"I'm so happy for you guys," she said genuinely, "How far are you?"

"Nine weeks," Harry said, "I wanted to wait the first trimester before we told you guys, but we couldn't keep it in any longer."

"Congratulations guys," Ron said, clapping Harry on the back.

"There's more," Ginny said, looking to her husband to speak.

"We want you both to be the godparents," Harry said, causing Hermione to burst into a wide smile.

"I would be honoured to accept-" she started to say, before the lights started flickering, before going off completely.

She felt a surge of power race through her body as she looked around the room scared. The earth under her started to shake and things around the room began to crash to the floor. It couldn't have been an earthquake, due to the magical power she felt flowing freely all around her. There was something very unnatural about what was occurring. Whatever it was, lasted several moments before finally coming to a halt, leaving destruction in it's wake.

"What just happened?" Ron asked, breaking the silence around the room.

Hermione looked up, and uttered a sentence she had said on a handful of occasions in the past, "I don't know."

A/N: A slightly slow chapter, but it will pick up soon, I swear!