Author's Note & Disclaimer:

I own only the general plot. J.K. Rowling owns the characters, spells, most of the places, etc. No suing, please.

This is the sequel to "Fairytales Don't Always Have a Happy Ending". If you haven't read that then you should go back and do so unless you want to be slightly confused.

I am going to warn all of you right now, the third part of this trilogy will be rather dark for a while. Violence, language, adult themes (some pleasant, some not) are all part of it. If you're easily triggered or upset I would suggest stopping here. Really. Don't say I didn't warn you when you get there, okay?

Okay, here goes. I hope you all enjoy!

-Chapter 1: I Went to Paris-

It was mid May in 2005 and Harry Potter was driving back to his home at Number 12 Grimmauld Place from a Muggle supermarket when on the sidewalk he spotted none other than Hermione Granger. They had been best friends since they were eleven years old and in their first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but Harry hadn't seen or heard from Hermione in nearly six years. He had received nothing from her except a letter two months after she unexpectedly left London and shattered the heart of her ex-fiancée, Ginny Weasley.

Ginny and Hermione had started dating when they were in their fifth and sixth years, respectively, of Hogwarts. Their relationship sustained through raging hormones, being apart for over seven months at one point while Hermione risked her life to save the Wizarding World, and not to mention the battles of the Second Wizarding War that claimed the lives of hundreds including one of Ginny's brothers. Unfortunately, a mere three months before their wedding, a then 19-year-old Hermione had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time and managed to overhear the wrong part of a conversation Ginny was having with her older brother, Ron. It was a conversation which lead Hermione to believe that Ginny was going to break off their engagement. This was of course, not the case.

Ginny had been invited to play professional Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies in Wales but was having second thoughts about playing due to her upcoming nuptials. She knew Hermione would secure a job at the Ministry of Magic in London and didn't want to be parted from her for the lengths of time she knew would be required due to traveling all over for Quidditch matches.

Harry quickly parked his car on the side of the street and got out. He darted through the crowd after Hermione as she walked briskly along the street

"Hermione!!" he yelled as he ran up to her.

Hermione looked back at him in shock. She thought about running away but he was in front of her before she could take off.

"Hermione, what are you doing in London? How long have you been back?"

"Oh gods…Harry…I…I can't talk right now, I am running late," she said as she started walking away.

"Hermione, I haven't seen or heard from you in almost six years. Please, I have to talk to you; I want to know what you've been doing." Harry followed her as she started speed walking.

"I have no time for that right now. I have to go."

Harry stepped in front of her and stopped.

"Hermione, please. You see that café across the street?" Harry pointed at a small café with people sitting out front of it. "Meet me there tomorrow at noon. Please. I'm not going to let you go until you agree."

"Fine, fine. I will be there but I might be a few minutes late. I really have to go though."

Harry stood there, dumbfounded as Hermione walked away. He got back into his car and continued home.

"Luna!" Harry called to his wife when he got inside, "Luna! You are never going to believe what just happened." Harry walked down the narrow staircase that led from the ground floor to the kitchen. He hoisted the market bags onto the large kitchen table.

"Did you get the anchovies and that Muggle peanut butter and jelly that's in the same jar?" A very pregnant Luna Potter, formerly Luna Lovegood, met Harry in the kitchen and went through the market bags. "These cravings are going to drive me mad. At least I don't think we'll have to worry about these two being picky eaters." She patted her rounded stomach.

"Luna, I saw Hermione."

"You…what?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger. I saw her on the street just now!"

"Well…that's…did you talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"What did she have to say? How long has she been in London?"

"I don't know. I asked her to meet me at a café tomorrow afternoon," Harry said as he started putting away the groceries in the cabinets over the kitchen counter.

"Well did she look all right?" Luna asked as she ate a spoonful of peanut butter and jelly followed by an anchovy.

"She looked really tired. Something about her seemed quite different but I don't know what it was."

"Well I suppose you'll find out tomorrow."

"Luna," Harry stopped what he was doing for a moment and looked at his wife, "should I tell Ginny?"

"I don't think so, dear. You should find out why she is in town first, it might just be a temporary thing."

Harry was at the café right at noon. He sat near the door so he could watch for Hermione. Fifteen minutes after noon Hermione came in and sat down, she looked exhausted.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to…" she paused for a moment, "well, never mind what I had to do. I'm here now."

"I'm glad you decided to show up. I ordered you a cup of tea," Harry said as the waitress brought two cups to the table. "How have you been?"

"I've been really busy, I work at a Mug…at a law firm and I've been thinking of going to university soon so I've been studying up on what I missed in Secondary School. I'm sure I look like hell from lack of sleep. How are you?"

"Good, really good. Luna is expecting twins any day now, she's having some really odd cravings. She's really gotten into that peanut butter and jelly you can buy in the same jar but she won't eat it unless she has a tin of anchovies with it."

"So you two got married? That's great to hear, Harry."

"Yeah, we've been married for about four years now. We live at Grimmauld Place, she's really brightened it up. Her father died about six months before we got married, she gets a bit sad sometimes that the twins won't have any grandparents but Molly and Arthur have said they are excited just the same as if it were their own kids."

"I'm sorry to hear that for Luna. How is…everyone else?" Hermione asked.

"Good. Ron is living the bachelor life, he hasn't had a proper girlfriend since Lavender Brown. He lives in Hogsmeade. George opened up a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes there and Ron lives above the store but he still works at the Ministry with me. Neville is assistant teaching Herbology at Hogwarts, he and Hannah Abbott married, she runs the Leaky Cauldron now."

Hermione waited for Harry to continue. She opened her mouth to ask about a certain redhaired beauty was interrupted when her cell phone rang.

"Oh…just give me a second Harry. I'm sorry." Hermione answered her phone.

"Hello…Yeah, I told you I would be back later this afternoon…What? Why?...Well I am in the middle of something right now…Yes I am at the café, I told you that's where I would be…No, no you can't do that…Anna, no…" Hermione looked at Harry, she looked scared. She took a deep breath and continued. "Yes, okay just do that…Okay see you here."

"Girlfriend?" Harry asked.

"No, no definitely not. I don't have time for that, I work too much to have time to date."

"Hermione, where did you go? What have you been doing for six years that you couldn't even send a note to let everyone know you were okay?"

"Paris. I went to Paris and lived there for a little over three years."

"That's impossible; I would've seen you at the French Ministry there. I go in every few months for meetings," Harry said.

"I didn't work for the Ministry. I knew I could be found if I did so I worked in a library and a coffee shop for a few years before I decided to come back to London. I've basically left the Wizarding world behind."

"Why did you come back to London then?"

"I…" Hermione was getting ready to speak when she got up and met a young woman with a toddler at the café doors.

"I'm so sorry to do this to you Hermione. I know you were looking forward to this afternoon," the young woman said.

"It's alright," Hermione said as she took the young boy and a rucksack in her arms. "Tomorrow then?"

"Of course, again, I am really sorry."

Hermione sat back down at the table and gave the young boy a toy out of the bag to play with.

"You a part-time nanny as well?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm not." Hermione took a deep breath. "This is Lennox. He's my son, Harry."