Just a Warm Up

Chapter 1

Hermione's POV 

Im standing  alone in the middle of the ballroom at Malfoy Manor, waiting for my husband to return with a drink for me. The ballroom is decked out in elegance, people mingling from wall to wall. I take a minute to scan the crowd, looking for familiar faces. I haven't seen my old friends for the last 10 years. After the war ended, I returned to Hogwarts alone, Harry, Ron, and Ginny decided against it. Harry and Ron took the opportunity to start the Auror program early and Ginny couldn't stomach being in the same place that Fred died so soon.  Ron and I dated the summer before, and decided to take a break while I was back at Hogwarts. After graduation, Ron wanted me to move in with him at 12 Grimmauld Place where he lived with with Harry. Instead I went to Australia to find my parents and return their memories. I told Ron that we can discuss our relationship when I returned, but the truth was I already knew that I didn't want to be with him in a romantic way. 

When I left for Australia, I kept in touch with my friends through letters but after the first year, the letters were so far and few between from that we naturally just fell off. Finding my parents was relatively easy but returning their memories was a whole different story. It took a grueling 8 months, and a lot of help from some friends I made during my last year at Hogwarts. It was during this time that my relationship with my now husband developed. He helped me through one of the hardest times in my life and I helped him to grow from a place of darkness. My parents didn't want to leave Australia right away, and we had managed to build a life there too during the time it took to fix my spell, so we decided to stay. We got married in a small ceremony with just our parents and a few close friends. We've managed to keep are marriage out of the press, thanks to my very scary father-in-law. We didn't want the whole Wizarding world to feel the need to share their opinions on our life, and when we started a family we wanted our children to grow-up out of the press and have a normal childhood. 

My husband is the CEO of his own Apothecary chain and I am the head of the Magical Creatures outreach department. The company focuses on new research and development of potions to further advance the Wizarding world and the care for magical creatures. Because of the company's wild success, and the name attached to it, we've been able to majorly effect how ingredients are being procured from magical creatures, inadvertently making huge strides in better treatment for said creatures. 

Which brings us back to why Im here tonight in the ballroom of the Malfoy Manor. Malfoy Apothecary is having a charity gala for the equality and enrichment of werewolves communities. Lucius Malfoy, after being released from Azkaban on good behavior 4 years after the war, has taken it upon himself to be the host of the event. His favor has turned with most of the Wizarding world, due to  his commitment for causes such as these, although some are still skeptical of him. 

My husband and I decided that we would slowly start to integrate back into society, seeing that our oldest is only a few years away from attending Hogwarts himself. This will be the first major event that we've attended together as a family, and Im sure I will be running into quite a few familiar faces before the night is over. 

Im resting my hand over my small visible baby bump, listening to the end of Lucius speech, wondering where my husband is with my drink. Lucius finishes up with a small scowl, and I applaud along with the crowd, and a small giggle leaves my mouth. 

"Hermione?" 

I turn towards the voice and my grin widens as my eyes take in the messy raven colored hair and round glasses perched on the shocked face of Harry Potter. 

"Harry!" I exclaim as a launch myself into his arms. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you to 'Mione.." Harry says as he scans my face. He smiles broadly at me. "Merlin, it's really you. I haven't seen you in 10 years, where have you been?"