The War is Over

Chapter 1 - A Chance Meeting

A/N - Hello! This is a Hermione/Draco fic, which is weird for me considering my other HP fics are Severus/Hermione & Harry/Draco but nonetheless!

PLEASE READ: this story won't be updated that regularly, once a month probably, but it will only be around 20 chapters long, it isn't going to be a long fic :) and I promise not to leave it unfinished! :)

The title is from the Kelly Clarkson song of the same name :)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!

When Hermione Granger walked into the accident and emergency room of St. Mungo's she was a wreck, but being Hermione Granger she was trying her best not to show it. Her 5 year old daughter had a pretty deep cut on her forehead and although Hermione had tried her best to stop the bleeding she knew it needed to be examined properly.

Rose was curled up in her Mother's arms because she didn't want to walk and that in itself was enough to worry Hermione. She sighed deeply, and told the Nurse at the desk what was wrong, she said because Rose was a child they had priority and said someone would be with them as soon as possible.

Hermione walked over and took a seat, she kept Rose in her arms, afraid to let her go, the little girl curled in closer to Hermione and whispered, "Mummy, my head hurts."

"I know sweetie." Hermione said gently, placing a hand on her daughter's cheek, "But the Healer is going to examine you as soon as possible and he'll make it all better."

Rose nodded slightly, "I want to go to sleep Mummy." She said, and this was what had worried Hermione, she knew with a head injury she couldn't let her daughter fall asleep which was why she'd brought her here partly. Hermione sighed, she felt sorry for the poor girl, "I know, but you can't sleep just yet, after you've talked to the Healer you'll be able to sleep."

Rose sighed and said okay, knowing even when she wasn't well not to cross her Mother, Hermione bit her lip, glancing up at the sound of her name, a Nurse smiled at her and beckoned for her to come over, Hermione lifted Rose and followed the Nurse into a small room, "You should have said you were Hermione Granger." She said, "You wouldn't have had to wait at all."

Hermione would normally have chuckled at such a comment but with her daughter in such a state all she could muster was a smile, "Thanks for getting us seen so quickly." She said kindly and the Nurse just said it was no problem as she left to get the Healer.

Hermione placed Rose gently down on the bed and sat there, stroking her hair until a tall man with a receding hairline and glasses walked in. He smiled briskly at Hermione and asked what had happened.

Hermione explained, "Rose used under-age magic by accident and she smashed the living room window, a shard hit her in the head and she's been saying that she's sleepy ever since." She couldn't keep the worry out of her voice.

The Healer ran a few tests with his wand and said, "The cut is a little deep, but nothing harmful." He removed the makeshift bandage Hermione had put on and with a couple of charms he had cleaned and sealed wound up, "We'll give her some pain potions and keep her in overnight just in case." He said, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't anything serious.

The Healer waved his wand a few more times so that Rose was drifting off to sleep from the pain potions, at least after a little nap she'd feel better. The man who had seen to Rose handed Hermione a few sheets of paper, and she looked down at them with a frown.

"What are these?" She asked as the Healer handed her a pen.

"One is a form to sign your daughter into the hospital, one is for insurance and the last one is a parental permission form for a psyche consult." The Healer rattled off, as if he'd said and done all this before and just wanted to be elsewhere.

Hermione raised her head in alarm, "A psyche consult? Why would she need that?" She asked.

"It's customary because of the dangerous incident of under-age magic, especially if it's happened more than once; often such events are caused by stress." The Healer drawled, again sounding bored, Hermione sighed and signed all three forms, Rose had been under a lot of stress lately. She handed them back to the Healer and he left without as much as a goodbye.

Hermione sat down in the comfy seat by Rose's bed and just watched her sleeping, she looked peaceful, and Hermione wished she'd look like that more often. She wasn't sure how long she sat there for but the room got lighter and lighter as the sun came up.

Rose's accident had happened late the night before, by the time they'd gotten to St. Mungo's it was after midnight. For the first time since the accident Hermione felt hungry so she asked a Nurse to bring some breakfast for she and Rose, the Nurse happy obliged when she recognized Hermione and it made her want to roll her eyes.

"Mummy?" Came a soft voice from the bed, Hermione looked up and smiled, "You're awake Rose." She said happily, "How do you feel?"

Rose smiled, "Better." She said, sounding happy too.

"Are you hungry?" Hermione asked and when Rose nodded she handed her a tray of food.

They talked for a little while, about meaningless things like Quidditch and the new toy she'd seen in Diagon Alley. After about half an hour the door to their room opened and a very familiar man walked in.

This familiar man didn't notice Hermione because she'd been in the bathroom attached to the room when he came in and he was already by Rose's side when she emerged.

"Good Morning." The man said, with a smile that looked odd on his face, "You must be Rose." He said kindly. Rose nodded with a smile and the man said, "I'm Healer Malfoy, but you can call me Draco." He said.

Hermione watched with a smile as Draco Malfoy interacted with her daughter. He had a box out and from it he pulled some toys, there were some men, women, a few children and some pets.

Draco said, "Now, do you think you'd be able to show me what you're family looks like with the toys?" He asked, and Hermione frowned, was this a social work visit? Her parenting was fine.

Rose nodded eagerly; she grabbed one of the child figures of a little girl with brown hair and said to Draco, "This is me." She then grabbed the woman who also had brown hair and said, "And this is my Mummy."

"Good." Draco said, "And what about this man? Who's he?" He asked as he handed the man to Rose.

Rose looked thoughtful for a minute, "He's Uncle Harry." She said brightly.

Draco nodded, smiling at her still, "Okay Rose, that's good." He said, "And who is Uncle Harry? Is he your Mummy's brother?"

Rose shook her head, "He's my Mummy's bestest friend." She said.

"And does Uncle Harry live with you and your Mummy?" Draco asked, putting the toy figures back into the box.

Rose shook her head, "He lives with Aunt Ginny, but he visits every weekend with James and Albus."

The light seemed to go off in his head at that moment as to who Rose was but he didn't say anything, he couldn't of course to Rose. Draco just continued with his tests, "I'm going to say a sentence now and I want you to finish it for me, is that okay?"

Rose nodded again, sitting up straighter in her bed, Draco said, "I like it when my Mummy…"

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Makes cake!"

Draco chuckled, "I don't like it when my Mummy…"

"Tells me off." Rose said, making a face.

Draco continued, "Okay, now can I ask you some questions about your Daddy?" He asked.

Rose nodded, the smile gone from her face, "Does your Daddy live with you and your Mummy?" He asked.

Rose shook her head, "My Daddy lives in America, I don't remember him but my Mummy says that's a good thing."

"Alright." Draco said slowly, he then asked, "Are you upset about anything right now? Anything at all?"

Rose bit her lip and looked down, almost shyly, "I'm upset when my Mummy's upset."

"And is your Mummy upset now?" Draco asked, taking a few notes.

Rose nodded, "She's always upset when one of her dates doesn't like her." She explained, "And I think it's my fault they don't like her."

Hearing that broke Hermione's heart and she stepped forward, not even looking at Draco, "Of course it's not your fault sweetie." Hermione said gently, "You're a wonderful little girl and anyone would be lucky to know you, Mummy just doesn't meet the right people is all." She kissed Rose on the forehead and Rose smiled at her, "Sorry Mummy."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Darling." Hermione said gently, and she finally looked at Draco, he was watching her in surprise; he caught her eye and smiled, "Could we talk for a moment outside Miss. Granger?" He asked.

Hermione told Rose she'd be back very soon and left the room with Draco. The moment they got outside Draco smirked, "So it's true, the deputy minister of magic is in the hospital."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Who cares, what did you determine from psyching my daughter then Malfoy?"

Draco frowned a little, "I think the incident was caused by stress, and I do have to ask, what happened with her Father?"

Hermione sighed, looking away from her old enemy for a moment, "When Rose was two I confronted my Husband about his affair, he admitted to having one and handed me divorce papers, I signed them and he left, he's been playing Quidditch in America ever since."

"Weasley…" Draco realised and Hermione nodded, "Do you think it's had some sort of traumatic effect on her?"

Draco nodded slowly, "It might have." He said, "But if she was only 2 she's not likely to remember it well or even remember having a Father or what it was like before he left."

"That's what I thought." Hermione said in agreement, "So you think it might be that she's upset because of the fact my taste in men is awful?"

Draco smirked, "That hasn't changed about you then." He teased, "Although Viktor Krum was a pretty good catch, I'll give you that."

Hermione shook her head in amusement, "I'm serious Malfoy, is she going to be alright?"

Draco nodded, "I think she'll be fine, just try not to talk about Weasley in front of her, and go on dates with nicer guys." He said, joking about the last part.

"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione said with a smile, Draco smiled back, "I sympathise you know, I have a son, he's the same age as Rose and my wife died when he was 1 and a half, in some ways its better, they can't miss what they don't remember, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah." She said softly, surprised at Draco sharing something like that with her, he smiled again, "I have to get back to work, it was nice seeing you again Granger."

"You too Malfoy." Hermione said as she watched him walk along the corridor, and she'd meant it, as odd as it was, it had been nice to see him again.

"Uncle Harry!" Rose squealed happily as Harry Potter walked into her hospital room and hugged her tightly, grinning Harry handed the girl a cuddly toy.

"It's a unicorn! Now all I need is a hippogriff!" Rose said in excitement as she held the toy close to her, Harry smiled, "I know, maybe you'll get one for your birthday." He hinted, winking at his Goddaughter.

"You spoil her Harry." Hermione said in amusement from her seat next to the bed, Harry laughed and kissed Hermione on the cheek, "I know." He said, before sitting down next to her and asking, "How is she?"

Hermione replied to her friend, "She's fine, the cut was deep but it's all sealed up, she had to get a psyche consult."

"Psyche?" Harry asked in disbelief, Hermione bit her lip and lowered her voice as she said, "Yeah, the underage magic is caused by stress apparently, Malfoy said it was because she's stressed about me getting frustrated with all the stupid men in my life."

"Malfoy?" Asked Harry in confusion, "What the hell does Malfoy have to do with any of this?"

"Oh, he was the one who did the psyche consult, he works here, I think he does social work or something but he was really good with Rose." Hermione explained, Harry still had a look of distaste on his face though, he and Draco had sort of called a truce after the War but that didn't mean they got on.

"He's still a git." Harry said, and Hermione shuddered as the thought of how much he sounded like Ron there passed through her mind, Harry noticed and looked slightly guilty, he knew it was hard on her being a single parent and remembering the way things ended with Ron. When the War ended they'd seemed perfect, meant to be almost.

"He's a git whose wife died when his son was a year and a half old, give him a break Harry." Hermione said quietly, so Rose wouldn't hear, her voice was a little colder with Harry but she wasn't really that angry with him.

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise, "That's really horrible." He added and Hermione was glad to hear the guilt and sympathy in his voice, he had Ginny, he'd never known how hard it was to raise a child alone.

"I know." Hermione said simply, the chill no longer in her voice which Harry was glad to hear, Harry was about to apologise when a Nurse walked into the room, she smiled at Hermione. "Hello deputy Minister for Magic." She said brightly, this annoyed Hermione to be addressed as such.

"Hello." Hermione said all the same, Harry announced he'd brought clothes for Rose to change into and 10 minutes later Rose was changed and steady on her feet. As Hermione talked to a Nurse and signed all the discharge papers for Rose she had failed to notice that her daughter had wandered off a little to talk to a boy of her age.

"Hi, I'm Rose!" The brunette said happily to the boy, he turned around and smiled, "Hi." He said in return.

"Why are you in the hospital?" Rose asked the blonde boy conversationally.

"My Dad works here." The boy said, adding, "My name is Scorpius."

"My Mum works at the Ministry." Rose said and Scorpius made a face, "My Dad doesn't like the Ministry."

"Why not?" Rose asked defiantly, "It makes the Wizarding world safe!"

Scorpius shrugged, "My Dad says all they do is let the Daily Prophet write lies."

"That's Rita Skeeters fault." The smart 5 year old said, she talked to her Mother all the time and listened carefully to all her conversations with her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

Scorpius seemed to be equally smart, "My Dad hates her, she once wrote that my Dad only cared about being famous but he isn't even famous and he doesn't even want to be famous."

"I think my Mums famous." Rose said thoughtfully, "People are always happy to see her, and they smile and ask her to sign things, they always call her a weird name. My Mum once caught Rita Skeeter in a jar."

Scorpius's eyes widened, "Really? She fit in a jar?"

Rose nodded, her eyes wide too, "Yeah!"

"Cool!"

"I know!"

Hermione had finished signing the papers and turned to Rose who wasn't there, her heart started to beat fast as she looked around the waiting room, she finally saw her, she was standing talking to a small boy with blonde hair, as Hermione approached the pair she was vaguely aware of a man approaching from the other side of the room.

"Rose! What did I tell you about wandering off?" Hermione said at the same time as a familiar voice said, "Scorpius, you were supposed to wait in the cafeteria!"

Hermione and Draco both looked up, surprised to see the other person there, "Oh, this is your son?" Hermione asked as Draco took Scorpius's hand, Draco nodded, "This is Scorpius Abraxas Malfoy." He said with a small smile at his son.

"He looks like a mini you." Hermione said with a chuckle, Draco laughed too, "I could say the same about your daughter." He said, and it was true, Rose did have the traditional Granger bushy hair and her hazel eyes, she didn't have any Ron in her at all, Hermione was often very thankful of that.

"Well, we'd better head off; I'm sure Rose needs to get to her bed and rest." Hermione said as she took Roses hand and wondered where Harry had gone.

Draco nodded and Hermione turned to leave, she'd taken about 3 steps when Draco called, "Granger?"

Hermione turned around and was surprised to see Draco looking a little uneasy, "Yes?"

"Would you and Rose like to come by the manor on Saturday for an evening meal?" Draco asked, he looked quite vulnerable and Hermione was incredibly shocked that he'd even ask, was it a date? No, he was asking if Rose wanted to come too.

Hermione stood for a moment, shocked and confused, she had been on so many dates and they had all gone wrong, even the dates that had gone right had gotten bad when he dropped her off and found out she had a child. Draco understood and Hermione appreciated that, was it worth taking a chance on him? She hovered for a second over the line of yes and no before eventually smiling at Draco, "Yes, we'd love too." She said politely.

Sometimes in life you have to take chances to create opportunities.

TBC.