"Hey dad. Dad? Dad!" shouted a little girl of about nine years old, her golden locks flying in the wind.
Looking down at his shirt, he smiled at the small hand that was tugging to get his attention.
"Hey there Delphine, what is it sweety?"he asked as he bent down to her eye level.
"I was just wondering when mummy will be arriving, we always do this together, remember? Like last year, you made mummy laugh so hard that she collapsed onto the ground as she tried to regain her breath even," she said.
A shadow passed over Draco's face as he remembered what happened last year. His heart nearly stopped beating at the prospect of Hermione collapsing on him on this special day. Of course they had to pass a wool over their daughters eyes for her sake, they didn't want her to worry about her mother, yet.
Trying to put a smile on his face, he fetched his phone out of his pocket to check his messages.
A frown quickly came to his face as he read the prospect of his daughter seeing her mother today. It didn't look good.
"Is there something wrong daddy? You don't look happy," inquired his inquisitive daughter there's know doubt about where she got that trait from.
"No, nothing's wrong, why don't you go play in the water fountain? I just need to make a quick phone call," replied Draco. Smiling, his daughter looked angelically up at him and ran off with a squeal as a sudden spurt of water erupted from the ground.
Standing back up, Draco walked a little way off, but made sure he was still able to see Delphine, his phone to his ear as he listened to the phone dial.
"Hello, Healer Greneth speaking."
"Hello Healer Greneth, it's Draco Malfoy, I was just enquiring about the message I received from you a couple of minutes ago about my wife. I thought you said she would be able to come out today, if only for half an hour. Delphine misses her mother, and I have yet to tell her what is going on," replied and anxious Draco.
"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, but she really should not be away from the hospital, she's in quite a serious condition, and due to how far along she is, we aren't having that strong of a success even with the use of magical potions," replied Healer Greneth in a placating tone.
"Please, please I need her to be able to come here, if only for the both of us to Delphine together in this special place of ours that we're currently at," pleaded Draco, I've given enough funds to St Mungo's for them to do this one thing for me.
"Please hold on the line, I shall consult with Mrs Malfoy."
Whilst waiting, Draco smiled and waved at his daughter as she frolicked around in the water.
"Against my better judgement she is determined to come out, but be warned, she has to be back within the hour. A healer will be keeping an eye on her from a distance and will bring her back promptly if something happens or when the hour is up."
"Thank you, Healer Greneth," replied Draco as he pressed the button to hang up.
A couple of minutes later, Draco heard the faint pop of apparition, as did their daughter.
Turning around, he saw his frail wife walking towards him, a beaming smile on her face as she heard her daughter scream MUMMY! and ran into her waiting arms.
Approaching her, Draco leant down and kissed her on the forehead as their daughter snuggled into her arms.
"I'm so glad you're here, how're you feeling, and don't lie," whispered Draco.
"I love you too, and I'm fine, honestly, I have the best Healer on my case and despite how far along I am, I'm going to make it through," whispered back Hermione as she kissed him on the lips.
"Ewww! Kissing is yucky, James tried to kiss me the other day as we played kiss chasey and that was gross, he had snot running down his face!" interrupted Delphine.
Laughing for the first time in a couple of days Hermione, Draco and Delphine started to walk down the beautiful garden path.
As Delphine raced ahead, Draco grabbed onto Hermione's hand and placed it onto his lips.
"We'll get through this. And I want you to know, that if I don't make it through this, I want you to be happy," smiled Hermione as he lowered her hand and linked their arms together.
"Don't worry, we'll make it through," replied Draco lovingly as he saw a stray tear roll down Hermione's face. She will make it through.
