The stark white of the ceiling tiles came into hazy view, settling into neat squares stacked next primly next to each other. Hermione groaned, her throat hot and dry as she blinked awake.

What was the last thing she remembered? The forest. The fight. Rookwood.

No, there was more.

She'd landed at St. Mungos, desperate to track down Ron but had been stopped before hse made it down the hall. She'd frantically tried to follow Ron but they stopped her, spotting the blood staining her legs and the paleness of her skin, most likely.

Draco had been there, materializing moments after her and wrapping his arms around her as she succumbed into a panic attack. A vial was shoved towards her and Draco pushed it back at them. Vaguely she registered him telling the healers that she was pregnant.

Pregnant.

A new vial was presented and tipped to her lips and she'd faded from consciousness tucked in Draco's arms on the cold floor, the hospital a frenzy all around them and a cramping deep in her belly.

She'd no idea how long it'd been since then. Wincing, she tried to sit up.

"I wouldn't do that…" Draco's voice was distant. Cold, even.

She fell back against the pillows, her gaze snapping to his as she let out a low sigh of relief. "Draco." She croaked, her vocal cord rubbing painfully against each other. "Can I have some water?"

Her palm rested against her throat, cradling it gingerly. It felt bruised from her altercation with Rookwood.

Rookwood… He was dead. She'd killed him. A tremble settled in her limbs as she remembered the feeling of the Avada pushing through her wand, splintering a part of herself.

Chair legs scraped against the tile floor and suddenly, Draco was there. With a long sigh he poured water into a cup and handed it over to her with a vacant expression. She gulped at the refreshing water, sighing with relief as her head rested back against the pillows.

Draco sat on the edge of her bed, his gaze trained on her fingers and after a long moment, he reached out to hold her hand in his. His voice may have been cold, but his face wasn't angry, just guarded and cautious.

She wondered if they'd told him about the fate of the baby. A painful twist of dread coiled tighter in her belly as she thought about what it would feel like to be empty.

"Is… is everyone…" Hermione couldn't bring herself to ask specifically about Ron or the baby. She wasn't sure she could handle the truth.

"He's going to be alright. He'll have one hell of a battle scar, but he's gonna be all right."

"And—"

Draco studied her with a furrowed brow, his eyes dark and stormy, his jaw tight. "You're still pregnant."

Surprising relief rushed through her and Hermione broke down crying, sucking in fast breaths as her hand splayed over her abdomen. When she finally looked up at him again, his trepidation was plain on his features and her nerves once again the best of her.

"What's wrong? You're—" Her breath caught painfully, sticking to the sides of her throat. "You're not happy about the baby," she said plainly, grappling with the emotions warring inside her.

The thought that Draco would not be pleased about their baby had indeed crossed her mind a time or two; they were young, after all. They didn't know what it was like to be together without the looming threat of death and war.

Draco snorted, his fingers tightening around hers as his free hand dragged down his face. "It's not that, not in the slightest. I'm so angry with you, Hermione."

Hermione's jaw fell open. Angry?

"You promised you'd stay in that safe house. What were you thinking coming out there at all, let alone in your condition? What if—" Draco's voice cracked as a tear slipped past his lashes. "What if I'd lost you... both?" His fingers moved to spread across hers and she felt a plucking at her heart strings.

"Not to mention," he continued, "but why in the hell did Weasley know before me? And I swear if that child comes out with ginger hair—"

She'd have been furious at him but for the quirk of lip in a teasing smirk. Batting at him with the back of her hand she stifled a painful laugh. "I was doing the test on myself and he saw after rudely barging in on me. He tried to get me to talk to you about it, but I wasn't sure how… and then you left. I know it was stupid of me to come, but I couldn't just sit there."

"You should have just sat there; you could have died."

"I should have told you right away— about the baby that is. I can't believe I was so stupid. But if you don't… if this isn't what you want..."

"What?" Draco's facade cracked, his shoulders slumping as he cradled her cheeks between his palms. "Are you mad? I mean, ideally, yeah— maybe we'd have waited a bit longer." A dark chuckle escaped him, his brows knitting together as he lost himself in thought. "But, it's you, Granger. I'm ecstatic to have my thestral hitched to your cart."

He nudged her playfully at her brain powered into overdrive, chasing errant thoughts and worries that shouldn't possibly be of any consequence right now. "We just came out of a war, Draco. We have nothing. No jobs, no money, certainly no idea how to raise a baby. What in the hell are we gonna do?"

Draco barked out a loud laugh."You have nothing, maybe. I, on the other hand, am incredibly wealthy." She gaped up at him, finding him smirking in all his smugness. His cocky smile melted into one more genuine as he pushed a curl back from her temple. "Don't worry, Granger; our son will want for absolutely nothing."

The tender moment died as her features fell dejectedly. "First, I guarantee you right now that any child of mine will not a fraction of spoilt as you were. Second, you do not know it's a boy."

Rolling his eyes, Draco shrugged. "Malfoy's have boys. They have for generations."

"Well, I'm a Granger. Our genes might be stronger than you think."

"Oh I have no doubt he will have a whole mess of hair…"

"You're impossible." She laughed, wincing at the pain it wrought as she tugged him next to her.

"You love me," he grinned.

She sighed, long and drawn out as his hand moved to rest again on her belly. "I suppose I do."

Harry arrived in her room sometime later, pushing an empty wheelchair. With surprisingly minimal help, Hermione shuffled to it's seat and as Harry pushed her down the long, quiet corridors, he recanted the story of how he, Ron and Malfoy, along with dozens and dozens of Aurors and Order Members, stormed Malfoy Manor. Everything from the last seven— or some would argue seventeen— years, had culminated in a final epic duel. It was over. Really, truly over.

"So…" Harry breathed, his step slowing as they rounded the corner to the Intensive Care Wing. "Anything you feel up to telling me?"

Grinning, Hermione managed a peek over her shoulder. "Found myself just a tiny bit pregnant…"

There was a stretch of silence between them, only the creaking of the wheels and the slap of his shoes against the tile. "And… we're happy about this?"

Hermione sighed, deciding that she knew the answer already. "We are. I mean, I certainly didn't expect this. Have no idea how in the hell to do any of it, but yeah, it'll be good. From all the mess and heartache of this war, something new and fresh, and hopefully cute, will be born. That can't be so bad, right?"

Harry huffed out a happy breath. "Right."

"He's a good man, Draco. He'll be a good father, I think. I just need to figure out how in the hell I'm going to be a mum."

"You'll be brilliant, just like you are at everything else. Hell, you've been watching out for us all these years; if you can keep Ron and I alive, I've no doubt your child will thrive. Besides, he will have two uncles that will teach him all the important stuff."

"Why do you all keep assuming it's a boy? It could very well be a girl! The Granger genes are strong!"

Harry laughed and paused outside of a door that could be any other, but she knew it was Ron's.

"Can I have just a minute with him?" she asked, her voice quiet and her fingers pulling on each other.

"You got it, I'll be back for you in a bit." Reaching for the door, he opened it wide so she could wheel herself through.

Ron was lying flat on his back with a white sheet draped over him. She thought he was asleep at first glance, but when the door creaked, his eyes shot open.

"They won't let me eat!" He shouted, pushing up to seated. "Bollocks, is what it is. They're starving their patients!"

Hermione giggled and pushed her chair to his bedside. "I'm sure there has to be some kind of law prohibiting the inhumane treatment of patients. I will look into it at the first opportunity."

"That's my girl." His lips pulled into a lopsided grin.

"Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

"A little, but they're taking care of me. The cut was deep, so it's taking awhile. I'll be here another week, they say."

"Thank you so much, Ron. You saved us." Her voice trembled.

"The baby alright?"

"Baby's okay. Guess we had a bit of a scare… but I was unconscious. I shouldn't have been there, should have just stayed put."

"Yeah, you should've." She peered up through her lashes at him and he loosened an exasperated breath. "But you wouldn't be Hermione if you had. I'm proud of you. I've heard some stories already. You saved a lot of people."

"Not enough. Never enough."

"You did good, and I'm gonna be alright. That Rookwood bastard had it coming."

"I haven't even begun to deal with that…"

"He deserved worse, Hermione. Trust me, his war crimes weren't in short supply on the field and he'd have gotten the Kiss before long if you hadn't killed him. You gave it to him easy."

Hermione shook her head and stared at her palms. "Harry's gonna be back soon and I just have to say something before he does." Ron shifted uncomfortably, moving his gaze to his lap. "You've been saving me for as long as I can remember. You and Harry are the only reason I'm still here, but you especially. I'm so thankful for you. I know that so much has changed, but you'll be one of the most important people in my life. I don't want to lose you, no matter what comes next for us all."

These last few weeks Ron had been amenable enough, but he'd also been trapped. She wasn't sure that now he had a choice, he'd stick as close. That terrified her.

"Don't you worry, 'Mione. I'm not going anywhere." Half of his mouth curled up into a smile and Hermione reached for his hand.

There was a knock at the door and Harry's messy haired head peeked through.

"There is an ugly, slimy Slytherin out here looking for you Hermione, should I tell him to get lost?"

Hermione barked out a laugh and wiped the few stray tears from her cheeks. "You could try, but I doubt he'd listen."

Harry and Malfoy strode in and made their way to the other side of Ron's head.

"Thanks, Weasel," Malfoy said, his jaw tight, hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"I'd say anytime, Malfoy— but if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to avoid this kind of confrontation in the future." The four of them broke into a quiet, cautious laughter that settled into a deafening silence.

"What in the world are we gonna do now?" Harry asked quietly.

Hermione smiled, her mind wandering towards the baby growing in her belly. Hope bloomed warm in her chest. "Whatever we want."

Epilogue

Looking back at it all, Hermione still wondered how in the hell they wound up here. There had been too many times that things had gone wrong, too many close calls— and yet, here they were.

Together.

Everyone kept telling her to sleep; but how could she? There was a piece of her, something that grown and existed deep inside her, that now existed outside of her. The soft little milk drunk noises coming from the bassinet kept her from resting; she could stare at those perfectly pink cheeks and the dusting of blonde hair all day.

"Is she alright?" Draco asked, his voice drenched in fatigue as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"She's perfect. Little Lyra Jean." Hermione reached into the bassinet, a single finger sliding down the downy fuzz covering her cheek.

Distantly, Hermione registered two pops of Apparition and she grinned down at the little lady swaddled tight. "Your uncles are here," she whispered.

Draco groaned. "Do we have to let them be uncles? You've already insisted they be co-Godfathers, as if such a thing exists between heterosexual men."

"Oh, hush! They'll be brilliant; won't they, Lyra?" Her little pink lips parted and rooted for Hermione's finger and a deep, unfathomable love surrounded her heart, fixing every crack that had ever marred it.

"We're here!" Harry's voice boomed through the cottage and with no thought for privacy, the door to the downstairs bedroom was pushed open.

Hermione couldn't help but chuckle as Draco groaned loudly. The two of them were laden with presents, including a giant lion stuffed animal sitting proudly in Ron's arms.

"Where's the little lion cub?" Ron grinned, shaking his gift at the two of them curled up on the bed in the afternoon light.

Lyra whimpered and both of her friends features fell seriously, their gifts falling unceremoniously to the floor as they made their way to her side.

"She's beautiful," Harry said seriously, tears welling in his emerald eyes.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Thank, Merlin she looks like you, Hermione. You'd be totally fucked if she came out with Malfoy's ugly mug."

"Language, Ronald!"

He barked out a teasing laugh and gestured to Lyra with a hopeful quirk to his brows.

"Go on, just be careful and no cursing!" Hermione chastised, shifting in her seat.

Ron lifted the baby, cradling her gently in the crook of his arm, his features lighting up as he stared at the newest addition to their little crew. Harry peeked over, brushing her soft curls gently.

They'd all been so utterly broken not so long ago that she wasn't sure how they'd ever be whole again. But somewhere along the way, she realized that they weren't meant to go back to how they were before. Their new, jagged edges fit together perfectly, forming a strange little family that she couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.

A/N: Thanks to Ravenslight and MCal for all their lovely work on this fic as I rewrote it. It was a very difficult piece for me to revisit.

I wrote this at a time when I was really sick and pregnant. I was in and out of the hospital and couldn't drive or leave my house. I didn't realize it as I wrote it just how much of myself I was putting into this story and now looking back, I found I couldn't change much at all. It might not be my most favorite piece I've ever written haha but It's part of my story!

Thanks for reading along! I hope you enjoyed it and sorry about the long break there. Until next time, loves. - LK