I made my way to the Ministry of Magic, pacing myself. I was not a total wreck by the time I got there. I was still feeling very anxious about what was going on. This was the last thing I wanted to deal with, especially now while I had other problems, like my husband.

It was like being seventeen all over again. I didn't ask for this shit again.

I entered the middle elevator and pressed the button that would take me to the floor Hermione's office was on, the doors closing and immediately taking off. As I was moving, I felt myself getting more sweaty by the second. My heart was racing, feeling like it was about to beat out of my chest. I tried to slow my breathing down, but it didn't help, not one bit.

Too focused with my thoughts, I didn't even realize that I had reached my destination. In fact, I didn't even hear that little voice in the elevator announce where I was at. So I stepped off and headed for Hermione's office. When I got there, she ran my way and gave me a tight hug.

"Max, I heard what happened!" she cried. "Ginny sent me a Patronus. I have no idea how you feel right now. Oh, I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay," I assured her. "I just need some time to think right now."

She nodded her head and went over to her desk as I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. We stayed silent for a few hours, when the sun was finally rising.

Finally, after being quiet for so long, Hermione huffed a sigh, making me open my eyes. "I can't believe this is all happening again. I thought we were done with Voldemort for good. Why can't we just live normal lives?"

"We're not normal, that's why," I replied, trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione gave me a soft smile. "I suppose you're right. It sounds nice, though, doesn't it? Being normal, I mean."

"It sounds overrated," Ron said from behind me, a grin on his face while holding a bowl of porridge. "Are you okay, Max? I heard what happened to you and Harry. It's crazy, isn't it? You'd think we put all of this Voldemort business behind us now."

"Just like old times," I added. "Those were the good days."

Ron scoffed. "If you say so."

So the three of us waited in Hermione's office for Harry and Ginny to show up with some news. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good news. We were all hopeful, but most likely Harry and Ginny would tell us the last thing we wanted to hear.

"I'm so glad our kids behave, Hermione," Ron stated. "We raised them well, haven't we?"

I shot Ron a glare. "Do you even have a filter?" I asked him, sitting down in a chair.

"I think we all know I never had that," he responded.

"Oh, believe me, we knew," Hermione muttered.

Ron huffed a sigh and looked at his wife, chucking. "You know..." Ron sat down on Hermione's desk, eating some porridge. "I can't get over it."

"Get over what?" Hermione asked.

"The fact that in some realities we aren't married."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, we don't have much time to talk about this--"

"I mean, we've been together for so long and married for so long--"

"If this is your way of saying you want a marital break, Ron, then, to be clear, I will skewer you with this quill." She realized what she said and looked at me with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Max."

"Wait, you know? I never even told you."

"No, but Harry did."

"Know what?" Ron spoke up, confused.

"Draco and I are separated," I said.

"What?!"

I rolled my eyes. "It's a long story, Ron. Now, please go ahead and tell Hermione what you were going to say."

"Well, I can't now," he protested. "Not after I get new information like that."

"Honestly, do you even care about us?" I questioned.

"I mean, I want you two to be happy," he replied, then turning to Hermione. "I want us to be happy as well."

"We are happy, Ron," Hermione assured him.

"I know, but I...I want to do one of those marriage renewal things I've read about. What do you think?"

She raised her eyebrows, melting slightly. "You want to marry me again?"

"Well, we were only young when we did it the first time and I got very drunk and...well, to be honest, I can't remember much of it."

"Oh, but I can," I added. "That was dumb of you to do that, by the way..."

"Shut up, Max. Anyway, the truth is, I love you, Hermione, and whatever time says, I'd like the opportunity to say so in front of lots of other people. Again. Sober."

Seriously, why did she marry him when he was drunk?

Gazing at him, she smiled and pulled him in for a short kiss. "You're sweet."

"And you taste of toffee."

She laughed and pulled him in for another kiss when Harry, Draco, and Ginny barged into her office, causing them to quickly pull apart from each other.

"I'm so glad you lot finally got here," I said. "I did not want to see them snogging."

"And thanks for knocking," Hermione added in a sarcastic tone. "So? Did you find them?"

"No. McGonagall checked the entire school and they're gone. They're missing again," Harry answered.

I knew it. "I can't believe this is happening again..."

"I'll get the Aurors summoned immediately, I'll--"

"No, you won't, Hermione. It's all fine. I saw Albus and Scorpius last night. It's all good."

We all looked at Ron with curious and puzzled looks.

"Where?" Draco asked.

"I was having a couple of firewhiskies with Neville in Hogsmeade..."

"Oh, that's nice," I groaned, rolling my eyes. "You're corrupting Neville now, that's great."

"We're all adults now, Max. As I was saying, we were coming back quite late...very late...and trying to work out which Floo I could use because when you've had a drink sometimes you don't want to use the tight ones or the turny ones or--"

"Can you get to the bloody point before we all strangle you?" Ginny asked, sounding annoyed and frustrated.

"Well, basically, Albus hasn't run away. He's having a quiet moment. He's got himself an older girlfriend, actually..."

"An older girlfriend?" Harry repeated.

"Yeah, and a cracking one at that. I saw them on the roof together, near the Owlery with Scorpius."

We all tried to think of who Ron was talking about. Surely, Albus would've told someone about this girlfriend of his. Scorpius never said anything to me about it. Wouldn't one of his cousins mention it to someone if they had known about this mystery girl?

"Wait, her hair...was it silver and blue?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah, it was," Ron answered, nodding his head.

"I don't think I've seen anyone with silver and blue hair," I stated.

"Max, he's talking about Delphi Diggory," Harry informed me. "She's Amos Diggory's niece."

Niece? Since when did Amos Diggory have a niece? "She was there with him when he was yelling at us about Cedric that night," I recalled. "Her and Albus must have talked. Otherwise, him and Scorpius wouldn't have gone back in time to save Cedric."

Harry headed for the door, turning around to face us. "We need to go."

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.

"We're going to see Amos Diggory himself," he said firmly. "Come on. We don't have any more time to waste."

*******

We all arrived at St. Oswald's Home for Old Witches and Wizards not even fifteen minutes later. Harry was in a rush to get there so that we could talk to Amos Diggory. That stupid girl came out of nowhere and tricked everyone. The worst part was that no one noticed it, not even Amos. Of course, he was an elderly man. Still, if we wanted to know more about this Delphi girl, then talking to Amos was the best place to start.

"Okay, Max, Draco, and I will go see him," Harry explained. "Wait here for us," he added towards Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.

Since the home already knew we were coming ahead of time (thanks to Hermione's message), the nurses immediately led us to Amos. He was sitting in his wheelchair with a book in his hand when we came in.

"Where are they?" Harry asked in annoyance, getting his wand out, along with Draco.

Amos looked up, surprised, closing his book and placing it in his lap. "Harry Potter? Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy? This is a surprise. What can I do for you three?"

"We know how you've used our sons," Harry replied.

"Used your sons? No. You, Harry and Maxine, used my beautiful son."

"Oh, no, not this again," I mumbled.

Draco was growing impatient. "Where are Albus and Scorpius? Tell us now or face the profoundest consequences."

"But why would I know where they are?" Amos asked innocently.

"Don't play the senility card with us, old man," Draco snapped.

"Stop it, Draco!" I hissed.

"We know you've been sending them owls," Draco continued, ignoring me completely.

"I've done nothing of the kind!" Amos protested, beginning to get annoyed by us. "You lot need to think long and hard about what you're accusing me of..."

"Amos, you're not too old for Azkaban," Harry warned Amos, shooting him a serious look. "They were last seen in the Owlery with your niece when they disappeared."

"Listen here, I have no idea what--" he stopped abruptly, looking puzzled. "My niece?"

"Yes, your niece," I spoke up, finally frustrated with all of this. "She was with you the night you came to Harry's house and confronted us about Cedric."

"Are you denying she was at Hogwarts under your express instructions?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, I am, because I don't have a niece," Amos retorted firmly.

"Yes, you do. She's a nurse and she works here. Her name is Delphini Diggory, goes by Delphi," Draco explained.

"Listen, I know that I don't have a niece because I never had any brothers and sisters and nor did my wife," Amos told us. "I don't know where you're getting that from, but it's not true. Sorry that your time has been wasted on a false statement."

We bid Amos Diggory goodbye and left his room, feeling dumb, confused, and defeated.

"Well, now what?" I asked.

"We need to find out who Delphini is right now," Draco said.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Then let's start with her room. That's the best place to begin if we want to know more about who she is."

We gathered the other three and explained what Amos told us. The six of us headed to Delphi's room, our paces faster than usual. I remained a bit behind the others, along with Draco.

"You didn't have to be so harsh on Amos Diggory," I informed him.

"We weren't going to get information out of him by being nice, were we?" he retorted.

Rolling my eyes, I caught up with the others and stopped beside them once we reached Delphi's room. It looked like every room here, with its oak-paneled walls and an ordinary bed and desk placed across from each other. Everything about her room seemed perfectly normal.

"So Delphi isn't who she says she is," I muttered. "I'm sure she fooled a lot of people."

"Like Albus and Scorpius," Draco added.

"Like all of us," Ginny also made an input.

"It must've been a Confundus Charm she used on him," Harry said, stepping inside the room first. "Maybe not just on Amos Diggory, but on everyone that works here. She faked being a nurse just like she faked being Amos' niece."

"I checked in with the Ministry not too long ago and there are no records of her," Hermione informed us. "She's a shadow."

"But why would she go through all that trouble?" I asked.

Draco pulled his wand out and shouted, "Specialis Revelio!" He got nothing as a result, only weird stares from everyone else, including me. "Well, it was worth a try."

Ginny huffed a sigh. "Well, I guess all we can do now is look around and see if we find something. But where could she have hidden anything? It's quite a spartan room."

Ron went over to the wall, running his hand down the oak. "These panels...these panels must conceal something..."

"Or the bed does," Draco stated.

Draco and I examined the bed, Harry decided to help Ron with the wall panels, Ginny went to a lamp, and Hermione was just standing around, watching all of us.

"What are you hiding?! What do you have?!" Ron cried out, hammering on the walls.

Hermione, shooting her husband an odd look, exhaled. "Maybe we should all stop for a moment and think about what--"

All of a sudden, a breathing-out noise came out of nowhere, making everyone stop what we were doing. We turned towards the lamp Ginny was messing with as it hissed some words.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, sounding worried.

"I don't know. I was unscrewing the chimney from the oil lamp and then it made that noise," Ginny explained.

I listened closely to the words, realizing that I was able to understand them. "Harry, do you recognize that?"

He nodded his head. "We're not supposed to be understanding any of these words. It's Parseltongue."

"And what does it say?" Hermione questioned.

We did our best to focus on the words. "This is strange," Harry said. "Max, when was the last time you understood Parseltongue?"

"Since we died in the Forbidden Forest," I answered. "You?"

"Same."

"Our connection with Voldemort was the only reason why we were able to understand it," I pointed out.

"Or even speak it," he added.

"Your scars stopped hurting after you two died as well," Ron pointed out.

"We all know that changed recently," I uttered. "Okay, let's see if we can figure out what it's saying."

"Well, hurry up, then," Draco snapped.

I gasped. "I think I know what it's saying."

Harry shot me a confused look. "You do?"

"Yeah, it's saying, 'Draco needs to shut up before his wife strangles him.'" I faced Draco, glaring at him.

He rolled his eyes in response. "You're bloody hilarious," he said in a sarcastic and annoyed tone.

"I know I am," I retorted, looking back at the lamp. "Okay, we've got to focus now."

We let the words repeat over and over until Harry cracked the code. "It says, 'Welcome, Augurey.' Max, we need to tell it to open."

"Then do it," Draco spoke up once more. I shot him another glare. "We don't have much time. I hope you two realize that."

We ignored him, closing our eyes and muttering some words in Parseltongue. It was strange how Harry and I were able to speak it again, almost like the language never went away. When we opened our eyes, the room became more dark and eerie, even a little more desperate. Painted snakes emerged on all of the walls, creeping everyone out. Then, in fluorescent paint, something was written on the wall.

"What the hell?" I mumbled.

"'When the spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their mothers and fathers: Then will the Dark Lord return,'" Ron read out loud.

"A prophecy," Ginny stated. "A new prophecy."

"Cedric...he was called a spare," Hermione pointed out.

"When time is turned..." Ron repeated. "She has that Time-Turner, doesn't she?"

"She has to have it," she replied, shaking her head. "This is bad, really bad."

"But why does she need Scorpius and Albus?" Ron asked.

"Because Max and I are parents who haven't seen or understood our kids," Harry told him. He shook his head. "I really have been awful to Albus."

"So have I to Scorpius," I replied. "I really am an awful mother," I added in a hushed tone.

"So who is she to be obsessed with all of this?" Draco questioned.

"I think I've got the answer to that," Ginny replied, pointing up at the wall where more words appeared, dangerous and horrible words. "'I will rebirth the Dark Lord. I will bring my father back.'"

No. No, this was not happening...

"No, she...she can't be..." Ron said in disbelief. "Voldemort had a daughter?"

"How is it even possible?" Hermione inquired.

"Was he even able to have kids?" I asked.

"Well, obviously, because Delphi is his daughter," Harry retorted.

"So who's her mother, then?" Ron questioned.

"No idea," Harry said. "But we need to figure out a plan right now or else it'll be too late for all of us."

So we all left Delphi's room and thanked all of the nurses for their help as we departed from St. Oswald's. We went back to the Ministry of Magic and decided to hold a meeting so that we could figure out our next move.

"You're not an awful mother," Draco muttered beside me as we walked towards the elevators.

"What?"

"I heard what you said back at St. Oswald's. You're not an awful mother."

"Oh." I nodded my head. "Thanks, Draco."

He paused, then continued. "Are you scared?"

"Terrified," I admitted, shooting him a fearful look. "You?"

"Same," he replied, taking my hand, which caught me off guard. "We'll be okay once all of this is over."

I huffed a sigh, trying to calm my nerves. "I hope so."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Heyooo!

I decided to wait and post this until Wattpad got their mess together. With all of the glitches they've been having, I didn't want to post it and then no one sees it. I think it's okay for now, so I took a chance and decided to post this, LOL.

ANYWAY, I'm almost done with this book, but then I'm not done with this book. You know what I mean?

Song above is My Fault by Imagine Dragons.

So comment, vote, :)

-A