"Draco!" Hermione shouted from the center of the massive foyer, she was hoping that with the twenty foot tall ceiling and tile floors turning the mostly empty room into an echo chamber there would be a chance that he'd hear her wherever he'd wandered off too. This house was way too big for just the three of them, and she knew if she went looking for him the chances of her finding him before he arrived at the foyer looking for HER were slim. So she stayed put. "Where on earth is your father, Sunshine?" Hermione sighed as she swayed side to side, rocking the baby on her hip. She had no idea where her husband had disappeared to and it was time to go. She had her swimsuit on under her tank top and shorts and the diaper bag sat waiting by her sandaled feet. The bottle of Dragon Barrel Brandy Draco had pulled out of his collection as a gift to Harry was wrapped prettily and tucked into the bag as well as the book on broomstick design she had picked out for him. She only lacked Draco. She looked down at her watch and was just about to send for Gadsby to locate him when he came striding into the foyer with his broom and quidditch bag slung across his shoulder.

"My lady called?" he said as he swung the broom to the floor.
"Where were you?" she tried not to snap at him, technically he wasn't late- they still had 5 minutes before they HAD to leave.

"Outside getting my broom. Scorpius actually called me." he leaned in and blew a raspberry kiss on Scorpius' cheek, making the baby shriek with giggles. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the interaction between father and son. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep." he shifted his stance slightly and kissed her before snagging the diaper bag and settling it on the same shoulder with his quidditch bag as he stood up straight.

"After you, Love."

Hermione stepped into the floo and tossed the handful of powder to the ground "Potter Cottage."

She stepped smoothly out into Harry and Ginny's main living area, the room pausing in the buzzing conversation to see who had arrived.

"Hermione!" Blaise called with a wave as Scorpius started bouncing and kicking, reaching for his godfather. He was by her side taking the excited baby from her arms as Draco came through the floo. The conversations that had resumed in that brief moment froze as Draco set his broom to the side and brushed the ash out of his hair. Hermione caught the sudden movement of someone turning and leaving the room, Hannah Abbott Longbottom turned to follow her husband, "Neville?" She called after him. A few moments later Hermione heard the front door slam and then the pop of someone disapparating from the yard. Hannah came back in almost in tears, Alice on her hip as she collected the diaper bag and said goodbye to Ginny who had appeared at her elbow to make sure she was alright. She left as quietly as possible, obviously embarrassed at her husband's behavior. The rest of the room stood frozen until Andromeda Tonks and nearly 9 year old Teddy Lupin came through the floo before anyone else could decide to take active offense at Draco's presence.

Draco had been in contact with his aunt regularly if infrequently the past three years and she greeted him warmly.

"Draco! Lovely to see you dear! And I hear congratulations are in order. You could have owled me you know." Teddy bounced away as only a hyper 9 year old could with a "Hi Draco, Bye Draco!"

Draco leaned down and kissed Andromeda on the cheek, "my apologies aunt. It's been a chaotic week."

"Mmmm." She lifted a censuring eyebrow at her nephew before turning to his wife and embracing her affectionately. "Hermione, welcome to the family darling. Cissa was so pleased when she heard the news." Hermione responded warmly as Harry and Ginny made their way over to greet the new arrivals.

"You're just in time! we're fixing to settle the teams for a quick round of quidditch before we eat. You still play seeker?"

"Eh, started playing chaser a couple years ago." Draco shrugged, handing Hermione the diaper bag.

"He's got one hell of an arm," Blaise said, knocking his shoulder against Draco's as he still held Scorpius. "nearly took the keeper through the rings with the quaffle one round during med school. You'd make a great keeper too Drake. between your seeker skills and the way you throw the quaffle."

"You know that's the least fun to play." Draco said

"Doesn't change the fact that you'd be good at it."

"I'd be bored out of my skull."

" How come you never played chaser in school then?" Ginny asked as she snugged down one of her bracers. She was dressed and ready to play.

"Because Flint was an idiot." Blaise said flippantly as Draco shrugged,

"I don't think Flint ever thought about me playing a different position really. He wasn't much for using his brain honestly. Kinda baffling how he even ended up being quidditch captain."

"Well I can't argue with you there." She turned to her husband, "I'm taking Charlie for seeker then."

"Fine with me, but I get Draco and Blaise."

Apparently Ginny and Harry were playing opposite teams.

"Hey, I wanted Blaise."

"No bickering till we get everyone lined up, Ginevra." Blaise quipped and Ginny shot a glare at him "I let it fly the last time you called me that because we were in public, Zabini. Be glad you've got the baby this time or Harry'd be down a chaser while you iced your balls." Harry snickered as Blaise stepped back, paling slightly

"Yes ma'am. Won't happen again."

The quidditch discussion moved outdoors, leaving Hermione with Scorpius once more. She made the rounds greeting her friends. Most had polite congratulations for her after having read the article in that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet. She moved out to the back yard where the quidditch game was just getting started, Luna had settled in a low chair under a shade tent that had been erected.

"Hey Luna."

"Hello Hermione."

"How did the teams turn out?"

"Oh Ginny's team is red and Harry's is yellow."

Hermione looked out across the field that the potter's had set up as a short quidditch pitch. The rings were only 15 feet tall and the overall pitch size was about half. She could easily recognize each of the players even as they mounted their brooms and took off. Blaise had ended up on Ginny's team after all.

Hermione watched with interest for the first ten or fifteen minutes, it didn't take long for Draco to score a couple of times for his team and Blaise and Ginny to bring the teams even again. The keepers were struggling to keep up. Hermione had just stood up to sooth a fussy Scorpius when Molly Weasley came out and stood at the edge of the shade,

"Hermione?"

She turned, Scorpius was humming in her head, happy and content now that she had started moving. "Molly! Come sit, there's a good view of the game from here." She said pleasantly, she'd had time to think about what Molly had said and done since Wednesday and had decided that she wouldn't approach Molly, but if Molly came to her she'd not hold anything against her, whether she apologized or not.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day, I shouldn't have said what I said, to either of you. Ginny told me what Malf– what your husband has gone through. I didn't realize– I was so wrapped up in my own pain..." she squeezed her hands together, "I'm sorry." Hermione gave Molly a one armed hug which the older woman returned careful not to squish the baby who wriggled and giggled in Hermione's arms.

"Thank you." She said into Molly's shoulder. When the two women separated Hermione shifted Scorpius higher up on her hip. "Would you like to meet my son?"

Molly sniffed and wiped a stray tear away, giving Hermione a watery smile. "I'd love too." Hermione shifted Scorpius around to face molly. "This is Scorpius. Blaise and draco call him scorp, I call him my sunshine." Molly held a hand out to the baby and he turned his face away, hiding in Hermione's shoulder. "He can be a bit shy around strangers."

Molly rubbed his back gently. "I understand, little one." She took a deep breath and moved on, little Scorpius would get to know her in time. "I read the article in the prophet this morning. The picture is lovely."

"Thanks, I took it yesterday in–"

"Merlin's balls, that's gotta hurt." Luna exclaimed. Hermione turned to the pitch to see who had been injured and saw Draco headed for the ground, his arm wrapped around his chest.

"I'm just gonna go check and make sure he's alright." She handed Scorpius to Luna and started walking briskly toward the pitch. When he hit the ground and didn't stand back up, her walk turned into a dead sprint. Something wasn't right.

Draco was focused on getting the quaffle through the ring, the seeker training he had was doing him the disservice of making him tune out the Beaters that were shouting for his attention, he'd outstripped his own team mates and didn't see the bludger coming straight at him before it hit him. It was only by pure reflex that he stayed on his broom, it hit him square in the chest and he felt the bones snap at the impact. He landed carefully, the rest of the players filtering down slowly. He went to his knees, unable to stand upright from the pain in his chest. Harry hit the ground running and was next to him in a minute. "Drake, you all right?"

Draco struggled to get a full breath in, it burned like hell.

"I think I'm out for this round, Potter. Broke at least one rib." his arm was wrapped around his torso- and he felt himself getting light headed. Hermione was coming across the pitch at a dead sprint. "What happened?" she gasped as she reached them,

"Bludger to the chest." Harry said

"At full speed" Draco rasped, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Hermione looked panicked, he was pale and sweating. She flicked her wand into her hand and stopped. She wasn't this sort of doctor. Her eyes scanned the other players as they landed in a wide circle around them. Where the Hell was Blaise? The similarities to her nightmare from the other night made her blood run cold. Where the hell was her emergency training? Gone. Because this was her husband and she loved him and she couldn't handle the situation by herself. Draco started to waver and Harry propped him up, "should he lay down, Hermione?" Harry asked, "Hermione?"

"No. Keep him upright until I can see what's wrong." Blaise was beside her now. Thank Merlin. Bless him.

Harry helped Draco sit on the grass, putting a shoulder behind him to give him something to lean on. Draco's head dropped against Harry's shoulder and his breathing was more labored by the second.

"Drake, I need you to stay awake- I know it's hard mate." Blaise knelt and with a muttered spell cut a slit in the hem of Draco's Tshirt, then with quick movements ripped it from hem to collar. The right side of his chest was grotesquely caved in, thank Merlin the stupid bludger hadn't deflected to the left or he'd never have made it to the ground alive. Blaise started casting diagnostic spells, "Mione, I'm going to need my medical bag unless you have yours on hand." Hermione pulled herself together and with surprisingly steady hands but a shaking voice "Accio Med Bag" she stuttered.

Blaise watched the diagnostics- shattered sternum, multiple broken ribs, both lungs punctured, massive internal bleeding. His lips were tinged blue and eyes were going unfocused.

"I can't lose him like this Blaise." Hermione choked. Blaise didn't respond. He knew Hermione had never been all that great with the emergency medicine, she'd struggled all through the clinicals when dealing with her fellow students. For a complete stranger she was the best person to have on your team. But if it was someone she knew she couldn't take herself out of the equation.

"Lay him down flat Potter. This is a particularly tricky bit of wand work and I need him as still as possible." Harry eased Draco flat on his back, then moved to kneel next to Hermione. He could see she was not all right- and wouldn't be alright until Draco was healed.

"'Mione" Draco said, feeling cold and faint, more like he was going to die than he'd ever felt in his life- and he'd had more than one brush with death. He tried to lift his hand, but the muscles in his chest screamed at the motion. "Be still Drake" she said softly, taking his hand in hers.

"I love you." he whispered, there was barely enough air in his lungs for that, but he had to tell her. She looked at him,

"I love you too." She brushed the hair out of his eyes, her hand resting briefly on his cheek. His skin was cold and clammy, and she saw the consciousness start to fade from his eyes. "Drake, stay with me love." she was starting to panic for real now. "Draco!" Harry caught her about the shoulders, pulling her away from her husband so Blaise could work.

Blaise sat still as stone. Collecting himself as Draco gasped out a few words. By Merlin's beard he wasn't about to let them be his last.

"This is gonna hurt." Blaise said, even though Draco was past being able to hear him, and even if he could, Hermione was screaming now. His hands were steady as he lifted his wand, running through the pattern once before speaking the incantation.

The magic that hit Draco hurt worse than the broken bones and collapsed lung but it pulled him back from the edge of oblivion and he could breathe again. The ribs popped back into place as his lungs filled fully once more and the blinding pain turned into a throbbing ache in his chest.

Color filled Draco's cheeks, his chest the appropriate shape again, his breathing ragged but easing with each passing second- his eyes blinked open. "Fuck Zabini." he croaked. Hermione had stopped screaming but Harry still held her locked in his arms as she just sat there in shock.

"I told you it'd hurt." Blaise sat back on his heels, hands in white knuckled fists on his knees- he'd be shaking like a leaf if he relaxed at all. Merlin, if he never had to perform that spell again in his life he'd be happy. "Also pretty sure I said 'don't die.' not even twenty minutes ago."

"That was a joke! And it was an accident." he coughed on the words, his lungs still stretching themselves back out.

"Regardless. You owe me mate."

"I promise next time I won't let the bludger kill me."

"Next time listen to your fucking beaters or play Keeper you asshat." Blaise snapped.

"Blaise." Draco said gently. "Thank you for saving my life, again . "

Blaise huffed and gathered himself as well as he could, tamping down the anger and after effects of the adrenaline rush he'd relied on to save his best friend's life. He turned and dug through the bag he had summoned, pulling a couple potions out "has he had a pain potion in the last 24 hours?" He asked Hermione who still sat clutching Harry's arms as he held her. She just stared at nothing. He shifted to kneel in front of her and Harry, his hands cupping her face gently. "Hermione." no response. He patted her cheek gently. "Hermione." still nothing. "Hermione Jean Granger Malfoy." he snapped his fingers an inch from her nose and she startled, eyes finally meeting his. "He's fine. Has he had any pain potions in the last twenty four hours?"

"No. just the slow healing salve this morning." she said softly, finally sounding more like herself.

"Alright, I need you to help him drink this and then we can go back to the house." Blaise handed Hermione the first bottle, giving her purpose. "He can have this one when we get to the house. He'll need something to wash it down with anyway." Blaise tucked the second bottle into his pocket. Harry let Hermione go and she helped Draco to sit up, he was able to stay up under his own strength now, but he felt like he'd been run over by a truck. "I'm right here." he said, his voice working fully again.

"Yeah, well, you were more than half past dead a second ago." Blaise snapped the medical bag shut "and she needs something to do to keep her on her feet until she can fall apart in your arms inside." Draco hadn't thought of that. He shifted his weight and groaned. The bones were fixed, but the muscles still hurt like hell. "Drink that and it won't hurt so bad." Blaise waved at the potion Hermione still held, she pulled the cap off and handed it to him. He threw it back like a shot of firewhiskey and hissed. A shot of firewhiskey would have been preferable to the bitter healing potion probably aimed at repairing any lingering damage to his lungs and muscle structure. Harry helped him to his feet and Hermione slipped an arm around his waist, giving him her shoulder to lean on as they made their way back to Potter cottage. She heard Blaise telling the rest of the players that had circled round that everything was alright, but the game was over.

The potion had come to full strength by the time they hit the house and all the spectators and non-quidditch folk were buzzing with what had happened. Harry took command of answering the many questions while Blaise, Draco, and Hermione made their way inside. Hermione helped Draco settle on the couch and started to turn away to find Scorpius and get a glass of something to help him take the second potion Blaise had recommended when Draco pulled her down nearly on top of him. She braced her hands on the back of the couch, trying not to put her weight on his healing chest. "Draco!" she exclaimed, "be careful!"

"Snap out of Doctor mode for a minute, Love."

"I– I can't." she looked away from him, and he saw the glint of tears filling her eyes. "Hermione." he brushed the back of his hand along her cheek,

"You nearly died, Draco. I froze up and couldn't do anything about it. All my fucking training and I couldn't do anything. I knew what was wrong- and I knew what needed to be done, but I couldn't." she sniffed and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her fully into his lap.
"I don't want to hurt you." she said as she resisted slightly,

"the pain is tolerable and will be gone shortly knowing Blaise. I love you and I want to hold you." she melted into his chest at that, her tears turning into deep wracking sobs.

"You did the best you could, Love." he stroked her hair, "Blaise was there, and he took care of the rest." Blaise stood back by the door- keeping the curious at bay while Draco calmed Hermione. It took several minutes before the tears eased enough for her to be coherent, and when she finally collected herself enough to not be overwhelmed by tears again she got up and hugged Blaise hard. "Thank you." She said, Blaise patted her back, "I didn't want to lose him either." He told her softly,

"since you're up 'Mione, any chance you can track the diaper bag down? I keep an extra shirt in the left side pocket." Draco asked, picking at the edge of his ruined shirt. The collar was still intact- and it hung funny with the ragged tear up the front. Blaise snickered, slinging his arm across Hermione's shoulders as she turned to look at Draco.

"I think your wife is enjoying having you half dressed, Malfoy." Hermione blushed,

"If you start in on our sex life Zabini..." she warned.

"Oh, do you have one now?" Hermione shook her wand into her hand and Blaise stepped back

"Gonna hex the guy that just saved your husband's life eh?"

"Accio Diaper bag" she said, and Draco chuckled as Blaise rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna go get something so you can take that second potion Drake." And Blaise turned and was gone.

The bag came flying into the room a moment later and Hermione pulled Draco's spare shirt out of it then helped him get out of the torn one and into the new. Once he was dressed Hermione snuggled close and laid her head on his shoulder, her right hand resting on his chest just over his heart, his arm about her waist holding her close.

"I love you, Draco." She whispered. He laid his cheek against the top of her head, his left hand covering her right.

"I love you too, Hermione."