Three Wizards and a Little Lady

Chapter 1: Back to Hogwarts

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart- Winnie the Pooh

March 2011

Time is a funny thing. Always moving forward, never slowing down. The more time that passes, the less it feels like it has passed at all. For Hermione Granger-Malfoy, six years felt like the blink of an eye. She had started as a single mother, worried and still slightly broken from a war that had torn so many people apart. As time brought family back into her life, it was unknowingly healing old wounds she didn't even know were still festering. She learned that life never went according to plan and sometimes the most unexpected gifts were spontaneous. Sometimes it could be ugly and scary but the plan going off the rails could be the most beautiful ending of them all. She was no longer a single mother alone in the world. She wasn't just a mother or a friend. She was a sister, a wife. They were all a family.

Two years ago, Hermione and Draco were wed in a small, intimate ceremony in the gardens of Nott Manor, much to the shock of anyone that didn't understand how their love story had developed. They stood in front of their loved ones and performed what Pansy referred to as "the most beautiful soul binding ceremony" (after her and Blaise's at their wedding, of course.). Many of the witches and wizards in attendance had never witnessed one before due to it being so rarely used and considered a bit dangerous. The celebration that followed was grand and elegant and everything a proper pureblood wedding was intended to be. While many more people attended the reception than they had invited to the ceremony, Lucius had made it very clear that no press would be invited except the lone photographer, Dennis Creevey, and one reporter that had been chosen by Hermione and Narcissa. While on their week-long Honeymoon in the French Riviera, the story and photos were released in the Daily Prophet as well as Witch Weekly.

When they returned home, life went back to how it always had been. More in love than ever, they raised their daughter and spent time with their friends and family. They still tried to have dinner every Friday rotating between Hermione and Draco's home and Nott Manor. Lyra continued to be the light in everyone's lives and with Luca Matteo Zabini now in the mix, Lyra had another little baby that she claimed as her own. While James Potter was her best friend, Luca Zabini was like a little brother to her. Pansy and Hermione loved how close their children were.

The older Lyra became, the more difficult things became though. She was a tornado of emotions and a spitfire just like the Slytherins that helped raise her. Her accidental magic was tied more and more to her emotions every day and it wasn't until Lucius sat down with Hermione and Draco that a possible scenario was presented to them.

"Have you considered the possibility that Lyra is an empath?" Lucius asked, taking a sip of his firewhiskey. Hermione looked up at him from her glass of wine as Draco tensed beside her."

"An empath..." Hermione stated slowly, keeping her emotions internalized as best as she could.

"Lyra is extremely powerful," Lucius explained. "She began her accidental bursts of magic at a very young age and I think we have all seen that each time it occurs it is attached to her emotions yes?"

"Yes," Draco nodded. "I... I have wondered the same thing myself before."

"You have?" Hermione asked in shock, looking at him.

"She's always been so attuned to how we all feel love," Draco explained, tucking a curl behind her ear. "When you've had nightmares that she doesn't even know about, she's tucked into your side all morning. When I've had a rough day at the office before I can even step out of the floo she's attached to my leg. She just somehow knows..."