An Unexpected Turn of Events

The wind blew softly against the soft brown curls of the two year old child. Cassiopeia, now Granger-Malfoy, was playing in the yard while her mother and godfather watched carefully from the porch swing. It had been two years since Hermione had come out of the coma, but every day she looked upon the children left her with a renewed sense of pride for the world. Hermione swung lightly on the swing as her roommate and best friend passed her a small glass of lemonade. It was late October and Halloween was coming up. It would be the twins’ first time trick-or-treating and she was looking forward to the joys of dressing the little ones up.

“Cassie. Please get away from the water; I don’t want to have to come in after you.” Hermione yelled toward her daughter who was edging closer and closer to the ocean. Draco smiled and hugged his female counterpart around the shoulders and watched as she kept a close watch on the twins. Perseus who was older than Cassiopeia and was also the more forceful of the two. He liked to roll and play on the ground as most boys do and he also enjoyed running into the ocean when Hermione let her gaze drift away from him.

Perseus Granger-Malfoy had long brown hair and light honey brown eyes. He was very thin and lanky and already showed a slight resemblance to Ron, especially with the freckles. His growth was much greater than his sister and although he was the same age as her, he was taller and had bigger feet.

Cassiopeia however, was Draco’s angel. She had long curly and fluffy brown hair with the same honey brown eyes as Hermione. She was delicate and smart and had a pale face with soft features and a small button nose that Draco loved to touch when he was playing with the toddler. She had been the first of the two to walk, and talk and play and now she was able to run around joyfully and was nearing the middle of potty training. She was beautiful.

“Mione. Don’t stress out. We’re watching them.” His words were timed correctly. He turned back toward the twins and watched as Perseus jumped his sister. They struggled on the ground for a moment, but Cassie ended up on top. She pinned his arms to the ground and laughed.

“Pinned ya!” She screamed in her high pitched female voice. Her brother struggled, but couldn’t fight her off. She leaned forward and gave him a peck kiss on his cheek. The boy ripped his hands from her grasped and rubbed his face obnoxiously.

“Ewwww. Get off me!” Cassie laughed and rolled off and onto the white sand. Her hair rolled in the sand and she rolled across the ground covering her in sand. Hermione smiled and laughed, watching the crazy antics of her children. Draco smiled as well and held her hand softly. The two had managed to raise two very beautiful young children together in the Malfoy summer house on the beach of Ireland.

“Drakie. Sweetheart, you have some guests.” Narcissa spoke softly as she brought out fresh cookies and milk for the toddlers. Scorpius Malfoy, nearing five years old followed her out and hugged her long robes.

“Scorp…what do you think you’re doing?” Draco asked his young son. Scorpius looked up at his father and Godmother and smiled a big cheesy smile before he ran and tried to scramble up the swing and sit between them. He couldn’t get himself up and he clutched the swing, dangling his legs as it swung lightly a few inches away from the ground. Draco flung his arms out and pulled his son onto the swing. Hermione laughed as the little legs bicycled in the air and then ceased moving as the boy was situated in between the couple. He hugged Hermione fiercely and cuddled up to her breasts, lying his head down and giving his father the classic Malfoy smirk. Scorpius’s hair had lightened to a very very pale blond and his eyes shimmered a metallic silver colour. He was tall for his age and he had pale skin despite the amount of time he spent in the sun with his “brother” and “sister.”

“See, your son couldn’t look more like a Malfoy if he tried!” Hermione exclaimed cuddling the boy as if he were her own child. Draco smiled and turned toward the French patio doors as Harry and Ginny Potter walked in coddling their two year old daughter Lilly. The little girl caught sight of the twins playing in the sand and immediately demanded to be placed down. Harry laughed at the squirming toddler in his arms and lowered her to the ground, watching as she scrambled away toward the children on her wobbly legs. Lilly was now sporting a vibrant shade of long red hair and beautiful green eyes that made Harry think of his mother everyday. He loved that little girl.

The couple looked at the couple on the swing. It wasn’t that they were dating or anything like that, but the way that Draco and Hermione looked as the cuddled the small boy on the swing would fool even the most trained of eyes.

“Ginevra Weasley Potter! Again!” Hermione shouted, jumping up from her place on the swing and rushing toward her best friend. It had been almost three months since the last time she had seen Ginny and during those three months she had obviously exploded. The young red-head was ballooned out and rubbed her swollen stomach happily. Hermione patted the hump and hugged her pregnant friend as best as she could. Harry and Draco watched the girls as they went off into a comedic ramble about the baby and the children and how good it was to see her. Draco stood up and Harry walked toward him extending his hand in a very masculine gesture of a handshake. After a few moments of handshaking, both the men went into a masculine hug and acknowledged their obvious friendship. After the hospital with Hermione, the old enemies had become good friends.

“Malfoy.” Harry shouted, patting Draco on the shoulder.

“Potter, my good friend, how have you been?” Draco was taller than Harry by a good several inches and his smile glittered several shades more vibrantly than Harry’s. It was very apparent that Draco Malfoy was the more attractive of the two men. Despite being pale, Draco had a very defined chest and some platinum blond five-o-clock shadow that made him look more like the beach man than he should.

“Hello Drake.” Ginny smiled and went to hug her friend.

“Hello Ginny.” Draco responded, rubbing the woman’s stomach and hugging her at the same time. She laughed at the excitement and let them play with her stomach like everyone else in the family had been doing for the past five months. “Are we having a Weasley race? Are you guys playing in the competition to have the most children?”

Draco’s comment earned him a light smack on the shoulder from Ginny and a prideful glance from Harry. Draco met Harry’s prideful smile with a carefree Malfoy smirk and placed his hand on Hermione’s lower back.

“You know what they say Malfoy. Keep them barefoot and pregnant.” Harry’s obviously Muggle comment made Draco smile. Their banter of last names had still continued despite their friendship. They laughed and smiled and chatted. Finally after several minutes, they decided that it would be a good idea to go inside and get some dinner ready. After all, it was getting closer to dark and the children shouldn’t be playing so close to the ocean when it was difficult for them to be seen.

Draco turned and picked Scorpius up off the ground and pulled him close to him. The boy had a very confused look on his face, but Draco ignored it and turned to their friends.

“So are we ready for something to eat?” Draco asked and received a nod from the couple. They discussed food for a moment and then laughed as Narcissa emerged from the dinning room talking about how they were having lobster and potatoes for dinner.

“Come on kids!” Ginny yelled casually over his shoulder. Perseus and Lilly immediately ran toward the house. Harry and Ginny walked into the house, followed by Hermione. Draco lagged behind for a moment, but a comment from Scorpius made him suddenly alarmed.

“Where’s Cassie?” Scorpius asked, looking over Draco’s shoulder back toward the ocean that was only a matter of feet from their backyard. Draco turned and looked over his shoulder, but didn’t see Cassie anywhere. It was getting darker and the sun was setting into the west of the house and it was difficult to see too far out. Draco turned toward the house.

“Mum, is Cassie inside with you?” Draco shouted and waited for his mother to respond. She looked around at the people and saw Perse and Lilly sitting comfortably in the high chairs, but Cassie was nowhere to be found.

“No son, isn’t she out there with you?” Narcissa asked. A wave of panic spread over Draco’s face. He almost threw Scorpius from his arms as he walked out into the yard. Hermione, hearing the statement from Narcissa was thrown into a mild panic and went out to join Draco. She watched for a second and then realized what was happening. They had been so busy talking that they had lost track of Cassiopeia.

“Draco do you see her?” Hermione asked, panicked, but Draco shook his head. This time, he ran out toward the ocean.

“CASSIE!” He shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth and running closer to the water. That was when he came across a soft lavender coloured teddy bear with the initials CPM on its collar sitting in the surf of the water. That’s when the severity of the situation hit Draco. He picked up the bear and looked out toward the ocean. She had been here. He flicked out his wand screaming Lumos and raced along the edge of the water.

Hermione confused watched Draco as he walked toward a strange object in the water. She lit her wand and caught sight of what it was. Cassie’s teddy. Hermione screamed as Draco took off down the beach. Harry heard her scream and realizing what was happening, took off down the beach after Draco. Hermione ran the opposite way.

“NO!! MY BABY!!!” They could hear her screaming as her feet pounded the sand and water as she ran. Ginny and Narcissa searched the house frantically, praying the little girl had hidden in the house somewhere.

“Lilly! Lilly where’s Cassie?” Ginny asked her daughter, but Lilly just put her head down on the tray of the high chair. “Lilly, please. Where is Cassie?” She demanded, but Perseus answered.

“Ocean.” The word sent a chill down Ginny’s spine. She ran out and looked over the landscape of the yard and watched the three figures running around the beach yelling for the small child. Ginny participated in the yelling.

“CASSIE!!!!!” She shouted, amplifying her voice with her wand until it reverberated across the beach. Some of the neighbors had come out, hearing the calls and had joined in the search. Calling out for the little child. They searched frantically running through every blade of grass and every inch of sand. Everyone was panicked that maybe this little child had gotten swept up in the water. There was an undertow that led northward, parallel to the beach and another one that ran eastward and would pull the small toddler out into the ocean. Hermione was hysterical.

For thirty minutes they raced across the sand searching for the child, frantic that something may have happened. They hoped and prayed that she was safe. Maybe fast asleep in some tall grass, covered in sand and alive, but with every minute that passed, that hope was dying. Draco brushed his hands through his hair and stared out pleading for a miracle, hoping that she would be there anywhere.

That’s when he heard it. It was the most terrible thing he had ever heard in his entire life. He had only heard that scream once in his entire life.

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“PLEASE STOP! RON PLEASE!!!!” Hermione screamed with all of her might as Ron ripped her clothes from her body and bound her arms and legs with a paralyzing spell. Hermione tried to move away, but she couldn’t. She could only shake her head from side to side. Ron looked down at her as he began to remove his own clothes.

She was beautiful. Her blouse was torn open in the front and revealed a lacy black bra that came from a Muggle lingerie shop. Her firm breasts were erect in the cold of the autumn weather and they had rounded out with her positioning on the ground. He had pulled her skirt up to her midsection revealing her conservative, yet very small matching underwear. Her shoes and knee-high socks were still on her body. Her wild mane of hair thrashed wildly in the grass. Ron was going to enjoy this very much.

He removed his shirt carefully and tossed it aside where his robes were. His body was not very well defined and was rather boney. He opened the belt of his pants and let them drop to the ground, leaving his shoes and socks on. Hermione stared in disbelief. This wasn’t the first time he had done this. In fact he had done this several times, but she was too scared to tell him to stop. She wouldn’t consensually give in to his sexual advances, so he was going to force them out of her.

Despite how horrible this act was that he consistently put her through, she couldn’t help but to compare him to Draco. His chest was not well defined and his pale skin was blemished with freckles. His touch was cold and his body was thin and lanky. Draco was well built and had perfect white skinned that almost glowed in the moonlight when she frequently made love to him. His touch was warm, filled with sensual pleasure that made every woman he touched almost senseless. Every move he made was graceful and seamless and his posture was impeccable.

Ron dropped his boxers, revealing his obvious erection which brought Hermione out of her brief daydream about her evenings with Draco. He lowered himself between her legs and tried to place a kiss on her lips. When he was rejected, he thrust himself into her body forcefully.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!” Her scream was deafening. The sound was the most horrible sound Draco had ever heard. He was taking his evening run through the forbidden forest when he heard the scream. It echoed through the dark woods so loud and so petrifying that Draco had to go find out whether the woman was hurt or not. He rushed through the woods, wand drawn to the place where he was hearing the horrible scream. That is when he saw the figures lying on the ground.

“Hermione.” Draco whispered. He cast a spell on himself to make him impossible to recognize. He raced forward.

Ron thrust himself into her faster and faster, grunting with every motion. She screamed the same terrible scream until he finally lifted her legs to increase his speed and it silenced her in pain. She winced and cried and begged for him to stop.

“Stop? Why should I stop Hermione, don’t you love me?” Ron asked thrusting her harder than he had ever done before. He didn’t understand why she didn’t just submit to him. After all, she was his girlfriend. It should be perfectly natural for her to want to please her man.

“Because you’re hurting me!” Hermione yelled. Her body was wracked with agony, which increased when he seized her breasts and squeezed her nipples until they bruised. He scream of pain just urged Ron onward.

“No one can hear you scream Hermione. No one can save you now. Just submit and enjoy it. You know you want to. I am the only one who can love you. I am the only one who can pleasure you. I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS YOU!” Ron yelled pounding her as hard as he could and listening to her horrible screams.

“NOT ANYMORE!!” Came the shout of a man’s loud bass voice. Ron was torn from Hermione’s body and thrown against a nearby tree. A fist immediately collided with his face and he was punched several more times. After being kicked viciously in the balls, by another man of all people, Ron slid down the tree trunk and was kicked in the face before the man stunned him.

“Stupefy!” Draco shouted in the false voice, stunning Ron. He turned and raced toward Hermione who was bleeding and sobbing. He lifted her up off the ground, but she struggled, thinking he was another assailant.

“NO! NO! PUT ME DOWN!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Her petrifying scream was almost unbearable to listen to. He gripped her tightly and hugged her body close despite her thrashing.

“Calm down Granger it’s just me! Hermione. It’s me!” He tried to rationalize with her, but she wouldn’t listen to him.

“HERMIONE! It’s ME!!” And with that he kissed her passionately, the way he did every night when she lay in bed with him. She struggled at first, but then realized who it was. His kiss was so recognizable. She slowly let in to his movements. The battle was over for now.

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“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” The scream brought back old memories. Draco disapparated to where Hermione was almost one hundred feet away from the house and that is where he saw what she was looking at. There, lying in the surf of the ocean one hundred feet north was the body of a little girl lying face down in the sand. Hermione was running toward her screaming hysterically. When she got to the body, she lifted the girl up and began CPR, trying to revive her.

Hermione screamed as loud as she could and sobbed, holding the limp lifeless body of her two year old daughter. Her screams echoed throughout the night sky and made Draco cringe with horror. He ran to her side and took the little girl from her hands.

“NO! NO! NO! MY BABY!” Hermione screamed in protest, but Draco seized her by the arm and disapparated straight to St. Mungo’s. They arrived and rushed the little girl into the arms of one of the healers and they rushed her straight to the emergency room. Hermione turned to Draco and pounded angrily on his chest sobbing and shaking and Draco held her close to him while she broke down. Her body was wracked with tears and pain as she shook. The others in the waiting area were frightened by her apparent anguish and some even tried to comfort her, but she would have none of it.

After three hours of waiting they came and told Hermione that she was going into surgery to have some of her lung tissue removed and then repaired. It had been damaged from drowning and she wasn’t doing so well. In all honesty the child had less than a thirty percent chance of surviving. Hermione broke down and sobbed as they took her baby away. For an hour she sobbed into Draco’s chest and after that hour she collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a walking coma in her roommate’s arms. Draco held her. That was all he could do.