Notes:

This is it, the last chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking with me through this journey!

I don't own the characters!

...

Chapter 17

Exactly a week after the bonding ceremony, they had their public wedding ceremony. Everything had gone perfectly. Many guests, even some of the skeptics shed tears over the obvious love and devotion shared by all three couples. After the ceremony, the guests all joined them for an elaborate reception. Everyone had fantastic. There had been hours of dancing, eating, and drinking. Hermione had avoided alcoholic beverages, except for a few sips during the toasts, and noticed with a smile that Pansy, Daphne, and Astoria were all taking the same precautions. None of them were willing to risk overdoing the alcohol consumption in case they had conceived.

Hermione and Theo both took time off from work after the wedding. Deciding that they wanted some time to relax away from everything, they had planned a honeymoon in Greece. It had been a wild year, and they knew that there was more to come.

A few weeks after their honeymoon, Hermione began to experience morning sickness. Knowing that pregnancy was likely, she took a test. It was positive. They immediately made an appointment with a healer to determine the date of conception, though Hermione already knew the answer. She knew that she had very likely gotten pregnant on 2 May.

At their appointment at St. Mungos, her suspicion was confirmed. She was 6 weeks pregnant and conception had occurred between 1 May and 4 May. They decided to wait to announce their pregnancy to everyone until she was further along, but they wanted to share the news with the other two couples immediately.

Like the first night the group got together, they planned for Hermione to cook and the others to come over. Hermione and Theo had decided to tell everyone over dessert. When they did, their news was met by delighted laughter. In answer to Hermione's questioning look, both Pansy and Daphne had blurted out, "me too!"

They had all known that if they were successful in breaking the curse that this was a likely scenario, especially since they used a fertility ritual to complete their bonds. Even knowing that, they were still a little shocked to find that all three of them had managed to conceive at once. They were happy that they would be able to experience this together and thrilled that their children would all grow up together.

After discussing their pregnancies, Hermione brought up the subject of the journal that Astoria had loaned her. She asked everyone if any of them had noticed enhanced abilities or anything unusual since their bonding ceremonies. Thankfully none of them had experienced anything too intrusive. All three couples admitted that they felt more in tune with what their partners were feeling but that was the extent of it. Hermione had exchanged a meaningful glance with Harry at this admission. She had been especially worried about what her friend would have felt if he'd had to endure an intrusion into his thoughts or feelings, even if it was experienced with someone that he loved and trusted. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to go through that again.

A few weeks later, they had all been invited to Malfoy Manor for dinner. During the dessert course, Draco and Astoria had tearfully shared the news that she was expecting. They were ecstatic and couldn't stop thanking the group for everything they had done to break the curse. When pressed for details, Astoria confided that her healer thought that she had conceived sometime during the first week of May. Finally, they had proof that the curse was broken. Now, they just had to wait and see if the babies were magical before there could be any kind of public announcement.

...

When Hermione returned to work, she didn't inform her boss that the birth issue had been corrected. She quietly continued to work on the project, gathering more data from St. Mungos as it became available to her. She wasn't allowed to know the names of the couples of course, but her contact was able to give her anonymous data detailing the number of new pregnancies along with the month of conception, and approximately how long each couple had been attempting to conceive.

The new data was staggering! Conceptions in the month of May alone was twenty times higher than the number of total conceptions in the past seven years! When Hermione had seen that number, her heart had lept with joy. She knew that she shouldn't get too excited until the babies were all born and could be tested for magical ability, but her gut told her that they had been completely successful. It was amazing to know that they could thumb their noses at old Voldy because his final attempt at controlling the magical world had been thwarted.

The months seemed to pass quickly and soon they were all unable to conceal their pregnancies any longer. Their announcements, combined with pregnancy announcements from many other couples in the wizarding world brought speculation from the media once again. It also brought the scrutiny of Hermione's boss. He confronted her the day after her pregnancy had become public knowledge. She had been summoned to his office by way of a message delivered by one of her coworkers. Sighing, she left her office, knowing what was coming.

"Unspeakable Granger, come in, close the door behind you," said the gruff voice as she knocked on the door.

Hermione did as she was told and approached her boss's desk. "Sit," he said, indicating the chair in front of him. She took the seat and waited for him to get on with it, "Granger, did you have something to do with the sudden increase in pregnancies? Was that the special project with Minister Shacklebolt? Was that the cause for all the closed door, after-hours meetings with that odd little group the minister put together."

At Hermione's shocked gasp that she hadn't been able to control, her boss smirked nastily, "Don't think I didn't notice, I have eyes everywhere. I wanted to find out what was so important that he would pull you from other projects and demand that you report to him. Malfoy was in on whatever it was too and I heard that his wife is expecting as well. You may as well tell me the rest, I'll find out."

It was Hermione's turn to smirk, "I'm not telling you anything. You won't learn more than you already know until the Minister is ready for you to be informed."

Turning beet red in his anger, Smithe demanded, "Granger, you will tell me, or I will make sure that you no longer have a job. I am still your superior, or have you forgotten?"

Hermione calmly met his angry gaze, "Unspeakable Smithe, in case you've forgotten, Minister Shacklebolt requested that I report directly to him, he never rescinded that order. I do not report to you. If you have a problem with me, I suggest that you take it up with him." With that, Hermione rose from her seat and left the room. Leaving the unpleasant man to stew on his own.

Later that night as she lay in bed with Theo, Hermione related the confrontation with her boss. As she told him what had occurred with the nasty man, she considered the request she was planning to make. She had been thinking about it all day and as much as she loved her job, she disliked her boss. Also, she realized that once the baby was born, the demands of her job may be more than she wanted. It was strange to her, she'd always thought that her career was something that could never come second, but being with Theo and expecting their first child had made her realize that this wasn't true any longer.

Nervously, she brought up an idea that had been going through her head all day. She knew that Theo would support her in any way that she wished and if she decided that she didn't want to work anymore and wanted to stay at home with their children, he would be more than happy to make that happen. She just wasn't sure how he would react to this idea. "Theo, I don't know if I want to continue to work for the ministry once the baby is born. I... I..."

Theo, sensing her apprehension, pulled her onto his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly and whispered, "Hermione, whatever it is, whatever you want, we will make it happen. You don't have to work. If you don't want to go back tomorrow, you don't need to. Tell what will make you happy and we will do it."

Gazing up into his eyes, she whispered, "Thank you, love. I know that you mean that. I do want to continue to work, just not at the ministry and I'm not certain how you will feel about this request."

Curiosity peaked, Theo encouraged her to go on, "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. I promise not to be upset regardless of how crazy your idea proves to be," he said with a grin, knowing that Hermione would never have a truly crazy idea.

Finally, she admitted, "I want to work with the orphanage and children's center. I want to work with the director to run the day to day business and work on the fund-raising side to make sure that we can continue to maintain it for our lifetime and beyond. This will be our children's legacy and I want to make sure that it's there for them. Originally, I know that it was your way of giving back and making up for what your father did but, you have done more than that. It's grown into something truly amazing and I want it to become something that the entire wizarding world can come together to support," Pausing, she looked up at Theo, a little afraid that she would see apprehension on his face. Instead, she was overjoyed to see a bright smile and eyes that were full of genuine happiness.

Theo kissed her gently on the forehead and told her honestly, "Nothing would make me happier than to know that you are the one taking care of things at the center and orphanage. The director and workers that I've employed are wonderful and they have done a fantastic job for me, but it would ease my mind to know that someone that I love and trust and someone that believes in this as much as I do is overseeing everything. I will, of course, continue to visit the children as often as possible, but knowing that I don't have to check up on the business part of the operation will make my schedule easier. That was something that I was struggling with. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to make sure that I am involved in every aspect of our child's life. I don't want to be the kind of father that is only around for dinner. I want to be there for everything. This is the perfect solution. This will allow us to have ample time for family life and still maintain the businesses."

Letting out a relieved sigh, Hermione rained kisses over Theo's face, saying, "I love you, you make me so happy. I love that you want the same things as me." Then, with a thoughtful expression she added, "I'm going to speak with Kings first to make sure that he doesn't need me for anything else and if he says that he's okay with it, I'm going to go ahead and put my notice in tomorrow. I'll let Kingsley know that I will still be there to assist him in sharing whatever we decide to make public once all of these babies are born with magical abilities."

Theo smiled, "Of course, Kingsley knows that you are fully invested in this, as are the rest of us, but you especially since you discovered the problem in the first place. I'm happy that you are going to go ahead and do this now. It will allow you to spend the rest of this pregnancy in a stress-free environment."

The next morning, Hermione went into work early and went straight to Kingsley's office. Thankfully she found him alone and not too busy to meet with her. After explaining everything, from what had occurred with her boss to her desire to be more available to her family, she waited for his reaction. Fortunately, he understood completely her reasons for leaving. He realized that she'd fulfilled her biggest reason for staying at the Ministry in the first place. She could leave knowing that she'd been the one to solve a major mystery in the wizarding world. He knew that losing her would be a huge loss to the department, but he was happy that she was moving on to something that would be so meaningful and give her purpose.

Biding Kingsley goodbye, Hermione headed downstairs to the DoM to break the news to her boss. Even knowing that he wasn't going to react well, she was looking forward to seeing the look on his face when he realized that he didn't have a hold over her any longer.

Entering the Department of Mysteries, Hermione went straight to Smithe's office. Finding him at his desk, she informed him that she had already spoken to the Minister but she wanted to let him know as well that this was her official notice. Smithe looked at her, disgust evident on his face and said coldly, "Unless Minister Shacklebolt has reason to keep you around for the next few weeks, you can go now. I have no use for you. You've been worthless."

Hermione ignored his words and kindly said goodbye to him. Entering her office, she packed up her belongings and research that she'd compiled, and prepared to leave. Before she did, she decided to let a few of her coworkers, including Draco, know what was going on. She spoke to a few people, telling them that she had given notice but that she was leaving immediately as she made her way toward Draco's office. Knocking on his door jam, she waited until he looked up and beckoned for her to enter. Closing the door behind her, she explained everything to him. He gave her the kind of smile that she never would have guessed him to be capable of before he said, "I'll be sad to see you go. I've honestly enjoyed working with you and being able to get to know you better over the past few years. I'm happy that you're with Theo and that we've all become friends through this crazy experience. Now, go and enjoy being able to do something that you are going to love without having a crazy boss breathing down your neck." He smirked before adding with a wink, "You get to be the crazy boss now."

...

The next few months passed quickly. Hermione settled into her new role in the Nott Foundation and was truly loving everything about her life. Soon, the holiday season approached. This Christmas was very different from the previous year. Instead of being filled with trips and exciting activities, they preferred a more low key approach. They spent lots of time with their friends but with all the ladies in their final month of pregnancy, they mostly hung out at home. Hermione and Theo spent some of their time preparing a nursery for their new little one and helped their friends do the same.

Once the holidays were over, they had less than a month before the babies were due. They spent that time, happily enjoying baby showers and finishing preparing their homes to welcome their children. Although Astoria had been the last to conceive, she was the first to deliver. She and Draco welcomed baby Scorpious three weeks early on 9 January 2006. He was Draco in miniature and though he was early, he was perfectly healthy.

The very next day, while visiting the happy family in the hospital, Hermione got confirmation that Scorpious was indeed a magical child. The healers at St. Mungos had confirmed a strong magical core. Finally, the proof that they needed to tell the public about everything that had occurred.

After getting permission from Draco and Astoria to share their thrilling news, Hermione visited Kingsley to fill him in. He was just as happy as she had been to hear that they finally had confirmation that everything they had done had been successful.

Kingsley suggested that they do an interview with a reporter that he trusted and tell everything. Hermione quickly agreed and knowing that she could go into labor at any time, they decided that if the reporter was available that they would go ahead and plan the meeting for the very next day.

The next morning, Hermione arrived at the Ministry early, wanting to arrive before the reporter. She had just gotten settled into Kingsley's office when the reporter arrived. Hermione was surprised to see that it was Dennis Creevy. She relaxed immediately, knowing that Dennis would make sure that the article was honest and written in a way that put a positive spin on things, pretty much the opposite of what Rita Skeeter would have done, given the chance.

As soon as they exchanged greetings, Dennis asked, "Minister, Hermione, what's going on? I have a suspicion that this has to do with the so-called birth problem, that all of a sudden isn't a problem anymore," pointedly eyeing Hermione's round stomach, " but I could be completely wrong." He sat back, looking at them expectantly, waiting to be told why he was there.

Hermione and Kingsley exchanged an amused look. Kingsley nodded at Hermione so she began to explain. She took Dennis through everything that had occurred over the past year and a half, from the prophecy to the birth of a magical Malfoy child the day before. As she spoke, Dennis remained professional but his eyes grew comically wide. Hermione was sure that whatever he had expected to hear, what they had to say wasn't close to any of his wildest guesses.

When she was done, they asked Dennis if he had questions for them. He looked down at the notes that he'd taken and clarified a few things before asking, "Will you be releasing the results of the blood testing?"

Kingsley nodded and answered, "Yes, we plan to make that available to anyone who is interested. We are going to offer a 2 week time period where those who weren't eligible to be tested before to come in if they desire. After that, we will run the spell again and then distribute the results to anyone who wants to know. If someone has been married since then, we will not include them in this round of testing.

Dennis nodded slowly, still a little overwhelmed by what he had learned. He looked at Kingsley, "I'm going to go home and write this up. I don't want to go to the Prophet because I don't want anything to be leaked. As soon as I'm done, I will personally deliver a copy to you. I want you to read and approve of the article before I submit it to be printed. After Kingsley agreed to the plan, Dennis said goodbye to them both before quickly leaving, looking like he was becoming more and more excited by the minute. Hermione laughed to herself, thinking that he had just begun to process everything and was realizing that this was the story of a lifetime.

The article was in the morning edition of the Prophet and Dennis had done a wonderful job. It was clear, concise, and stuck to the truth. Most of the population was shocked but happy that the curse had been discovered and stopped. There were, of course, a few who claimed that this was a cover-up, or were angry and said that they had a right to know as soon as this was discovered, or that Hermione had fabricated it all to catch herself a rich wizard, or any other number of negative opinions.

A few days later, Pansy went into labor and delivered a beautiful little girl that they decided to name Rose. She was a lovely mixture of both of her parents with hair that was a deep auburn color, icy blue eyes, and delicate features. The day after Rose was born, it was Daphne's turn. She and Harry named their son James Sirius. James was the spitting image of Harry. Hermione visited both families in the hospital a wished that she would hurry up and go into labor.

Finally, on 2 February when she was nearly two weeks overdue, Hermione delivered a gorgeous baby girl that she and Theo named Isabelle Helene after both of their mothers. Isabelle was truly lovely with her father's stunning blue eyes and a little head covered with dark ringlets. Hermione and Theo were both immediately smitten with her. She was the most perfect child that either of them had ever seen. After a few hours of getting to know their new little one, their friends had begun to show up to meet Isabelle.

That night, after all of their well-wishers, had gone home, the three of them were finally alone, snuggled together on the bed. Theo was holding Isabelle with his free arm around Hermione. They sat in silence, staring at the perfect little creature that they had created together and reveled in the joy that they both felt at that moment. Sighing happily, Hermione cuddled closer to Theo and thought that everything they'd gone through had been worth it just to get to experience this moment. Her elation grew when she realized that this was just the beginning and there would be many more perfect moments to come.

The End

Thank you for reading! I appreciate the support that I've received over the past couple of months while publishing my first fanfic. It's truly meant the world to me. If you enjoyed my story, please leave a review and let me know what you think!

I plan to start publishing my next story in a month or two. It's a wartime/post-war George/Hermione story. Follow me for updates!