Author's Note: CLIFFHANGER FREE ZONE!!!! LAST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY…
Chapter 23
"I Believe in You and Me"
"I believe in you and me
I believe that we will be
In love eternally
Well as far as I can see
You will always be the one
For me (Oh yes, you will)"
"And I believe in dreams again
I believe that love will never end
And like the river finds the sea
I was lost, now I'm free
Cuz I believe In you and me"
"I will never leave your side
I will never hurt your pride
When all the chips are down, baby
Then I will always be around
Just to be right where you are
My love, you know I love you, boy"
(Whitney Houston (from The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack)
"Harry?" the woman's voice said again.
Harry quickly fumbled in the dark for the switch on the lamp to light the room. He managed to do so, but not before stubbing his toe on the bedside table and yelping out in pain.
"You're going to wake up the entire hospital with that racket, Harry!" the voice said again, this time much clearer, and not as hoarse.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at her awake on the bed, her eyes wide open. Her cheeks were flushed and tiny beads of sweat were running down her face.
"Are you alright?" he asked her. He took her hand in his and smiled down at her, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"I think so," she said. "How long have I been out?"
He looked quickly at his watch. "Almost 11 hours by now. Are you okay?"
She looked thoughtful as she sat up in bed. Harry pushed her pillows back and helped her sit up comfortably.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Should I get Sean?"
"Don't go," she said, quickly. "Please don't leave."
"I'm not going anywhere," he said. It suddenly dawned on him that she was talking. She was alert. She wasn't in a vegetable-like state. She was…
"Hermione?" he asked her cautiously. "Are you-I mean---can you remember?"
She looked puzzled as she watched his face. Her brown eyes grew wide as she took him in.
She didn't say a word and the silence was about to kill him.
"June 4, 1992," she said simply.
"What?" he asked, incredulous.
"June 4, 1992," she said again, her eyes twinkling.
"I heard you," he said. "What about June 4, 1992."
"That, my dear husband, is the day that I knew how I felt about you."
"What?" he asked.
"Honestly!" she said, rolling her eyes. "You do remember our first year at Hogwarts, don't you? We went down the trap door to try and stop Snape from stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. Well, at least we thought it was Snape. Anyway, you were about to go off on your own and you were telling me to go back and help Ron. I gave you this massive hug-I think I scared you half to death when I did that! Well, that was the night that I knew that I would love you for the rest of my life. I know it sounds stupid and maybe at the time it was just a stupid school girl thing, but that's the way I felt and that's the way it was."
"You remember that?" Harry asked, suddenly overcome with emotion.
"I remember everything," she said, her eyes shining with tears, but there was a bright smile on her face as she looked at him. "I remember everything, Harry."
He took her in his arms and felt as if the biggest weight in the world had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders.
"Your mum and dad? Ron, everything?" he asked her.
"Yes," she said beaming at him.
Harry could barely contain his elation at this joyous news.
"I have to go tell everyone," he said. He let go of Hermione and ran to the door. He looked back at her and grinned.
"Go and get Sean Talley immediately," he called from the doorway to Hermione's room. "Get Hermione's parents! Now!"
"Harry!" Hermione called to him, laughing. "You'll wake up the entire hospital!"
"I don't care!" he said. "They should be awake and celebrating with us!"
"What is it?" Karen Granger said coming into the room, followed by Robert. They were both somewhat disheveled in appearance and they both looked absolutely exhausted and emotionally drained.
They stepped into the room and looked at their daughter, awake and alert sitting up in her bed.
"Mum!" Hermione said her voice breaking. "Mum, I remember, everything."
Karen felt as if her legs were about to give way so she grabbed onto her husband for support.
"Sweetheart, is this true?" Karen asked breathlessly.
Hermione smiled at her mother. "Do you remember when Billy Smythe from next door didn't invite me to his seventh birthday party? I was so upset that I peeked through the fence and managed to levitate his cake over his head and when you caught me, the cake dropped all over him."
Karen cupped a hand over her mouth.
"And you never knew this, Mum, but when Daddy used to retire to his study to work on some journal articles, he was usually listening to Beatles albums and smoking cigars."
"Is this true?" Karen said, looking at her husband.
"Well, I, um," Robert said defensively.
"You said you gave that up ages ago," Karen said.
"Well, it helps me to relax," Robert said. He broke out in a grin and looked at his daughter. "You told me you'd never tell your mother about that."
"Well," Hermione said. "We women have to stick together, don't we?"
Robert and Karen stepped to their daughter's bed and enveloped her in warm hugs and kisses. Tears were flowing right and left and the newest member of the Granger family, Harry, was looking at it all, shedding his own tears of delight.
At that moment, Sean Talley came into the room followed by Ron and Kit. Ron was still dressed in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt and Kit was wearing a long flannel night gown.
"We flooed here straightaway when the nurse notified us," Ron said sleepily. "What's going on?"
"Ickle Ronniekins!" Hermione said, laughing at him. "And Kit-Kat!"
Ron and Kit looked incredulously at the bed and saw Hermione beaming back at them.
"She's awake!" Ron mumbled. "She's really, truly awake! She's awake!"
"Hello, Captain Obvious," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Ron. "I am awake. You were always quick to notice things."
"That's the Hermione I know and love," Ron said. "I know that eye-roll anywhere!"
He gave her a big hug and as he did so, Hermione whispered in his ear.
"Don't worry," she said smiling at him. "I won't tell anyone what a truly sensitive man you are."
"You heard me?" he asked, pulling back from their hug.
"Yes," she said, winking at him. "I wasn't the cleverest witch at Hogwarts for nothing now, was I? Don't worry, Ron. Your secret is safe with me. I have suspected this all along, though. When you cut down to the quick of things, you really are just a man capable of collapsing into a tub of emotional goo, aren't you?"
He laughed at her. "Zip it, Granger."
"We'll see," she said cheekily to him.
Kit came over just then and tears were shining in her eyes as she hugged her friend.
"I missed you," Kit said.
"I missed you, too," Hermione said, smiling at her. "We have loads to catch up on, you and I."
"Yes, we do," Kit said. "Yes, we do."
At that moment, Sirius and Billie came breezing into the room.
"As I live and breathe," Sirius said, looking at the assembled group. His eyes fell on Hermione and he beamed back at her.
"You are a sight for sore eyes, Mrs. Potter," he said.
"So are you," she said. "So are you, Sirius Black."
For the next few minutes, Sean seemed to forget hospital visitor protocol as everyone shared in laughter and excitement at Hermione's recovery. He didn't have the heart to break up the celebration. This was one of the reason's he was involved in healing---the joy it brought to the faces of those whom he helped. This was one of those times. There was a time and a place for rules, but this wasn't it. Every now and then, rules needed to be broken.
He gave a knowing smile to his patient before closing the door to let her enjoy her friends and family, as she now knew and remembered every last one of them.
*************************
The next day, Hermione was packing up her belongings with the help of Harry when a knock on the door got their attention.
"I'll get that," Harry said, walking over to the door and swinging it open. It was Severus Snape.
"Professor, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"I heard you were awake," he said solemnly. "I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" Hermione asked. "It's I who should be thanking you. You gave me back my memories. I don't know how in the world I could ever repay you for that."
"Me, either," Harry said, looking earnestly at the man who had held him in contempt for many years. "You gave us both an incredible gift, Professor Snape. I'll never forget you for that."
Snape gave a slight smile. At least, Harry and Hermione thought it was a smile. Snape's bottom lip moved a little.
"There's no need to thank me," Snape said uncomfortably. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm glad that I could help."
"Me, too," Hermione said sincerely.
"Well, I'll just be off then," Snape said. He turned to leave, but Hermione called after him. She hesitated a moment before going up to her former professor and giving him a hug. Snape looked quite taken aback by this gesture, but did pat Hermione's back as they embraced.
"Thank you," she said. "I'll never forget what you did for me."
"You're, um, welcome," Snape said awkwardly. "Good day."
"Good day," Hermione said. Harry put an arm around his wife as they watched Snape leave the room. Hermione rested her head on his shoulder.
"Weird isn't it?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," she said. "Who would ever have thought after all that happened between us that he'd be the one to help us out?"
Harry nodded and placed a kiss on the top of Hermione's head.
"It just goes to show you, doesn't it?" Hermione said softly. "There's a little good in everyone. You just have to dig a little harder to find it sometimes."
****************************************
The next day after Harry and Hermione enjoyed a little time alone together at Harry's flat, the Weasleys held a large party at the Burrow to celebrate Hermione's recovery. All the Weasleys were present as were Hermione's parents, Billie and Sirius, Professor Lupin, Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Even some of their fellow Gryffindors had made an appearance at the party.
It was quite a joyous occasion and Hermione enjoyed being back with her friends and family. She and Harry were apart a good deal at the party as someone was always taking Hermione away to share a memory or have a quick chat. Their eyes would meet across the room occasionally and they'd wink at each other and exchange long glances at each other.
Toward the end of the party, Harry finally made his way back to his wife and looked at her before he made his announcement. She gave him a nod, letting him know that it was okay to share their news.
"Everyone," Harry said, calling out to them. "I have something I'd like to say. First of all, we wanted to thank everyone for coming here today to help us celebrate. We can't thank you enough for all that you've done to help us throughout this whole ordeal."
"Here, here!" Arthur said, raising his glass of wine.
"Hermione and I have an announcement to make," Harry said.
"Oh, Merlin's beard!" Molly said, emotionally. "They're going to have a baby!"
The crowd gave out a collective gasp and then "oohs" and "ahhs" could be heard all over the room.
"No, we're not going to have a baby," Hermione said, standing beside her husband. "At least not yet!"
"We're, um, going to be going back to the States," Harry said. All around them, faces fell at this news. "Not permanently, of course."
"Just until I finish up school at Carolina," Hermione said. "I've worked really hard with my studies and I don't want to give that all up. Becoming a teacher is very important to me. I want to finish up what I started there. If Billie will still have me, I'd like to continue working with her."
"I need all the help I can get," Billie drawled from beside Sirius. "Of course, you can come back and work for me, Hermione. Who'll stop me from killing Ray?"
Hermione laughed. "Thank you."
"We don't know what we'll happen in the next couple of years," Harry said. "But this will always be our home and you all will always be our family. That can't change no matter how far apart we are."
"That's right," Hermione said. "And be prepared to get sick to death of hearing from us on the telephone and e-mail and owl post."
"E-mail?" Molly asked. "What on earth is e-mail?"
"Oh, it's fascinating, Molly," Arthur said to his wife. "It's absolutely fascinating. Except when you get something called 'spam', the muggles can't stand spam."
"Spam?" Molly asked chagrined.
"Mum," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "You are so out of it."
Kit playfully slapped her husband on the arm. "Okay, Ron. You calling your mom out of it is like the pot calling the kettle black. You still don't know how to use my computer."
"That thing is possessed," Ron said.
"Oh, excuse me," Kit said. "I didn't realize I'd married Bill Gates."
"Bill who?" Ron asked.
"Point taken," Kit said, laughing.
Harry and Hermione laughed as they surveyed their family and friends.
"You sure you want to leave all this?" Hermione asked. "You've already given up so much for me, Harry."
Harry looked at her. His green eyes were wide with disbelief.
"I'd give up the world for you," Harry said, resting his forehead on hers. "You know that, don't you?"
"I know," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I'd do the same for you. I just feel like it's a lot to ask for you to move away from your home and your life."
"My home and my life are with you," he said simply. "Wherever you are, that's where I want to be."
"I love you," she said. "I love you so much."
He kissed her softly and they still stood there, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. It seemed as if everyone else just drifted away as they held each other.
"I love you," he said.
"Maybe we can have that normal life we've always wanted," Hermione said.
"This normal thing you speak of," Harry said laughing. "What is that?"
"I don't know," Hermione said. "But I'm ready to find out."
Author's Note: Well, that's the end of this one, folks! I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I want to thank all of you who took the time to give me your opinion---good or bad. I needed the encouragement!
I am planning an all new story that I will be posting soon. It's still in the planning stages. It will tentatively be titled "Circle of Friends"---this is subject to change. Keep a look out for it! Again, thanks to all of you for reading my little story!!!!
Special thanks go out to the following: Angel-Wing, ShadowMaster, Ash, ECR Potter, VicariousLeigh, Caroline Delacour, erroompotter, The Sweetest Things, Catianna Granger, IssaBissa, KypDurron, Sophie, Muirnin, Love's Fool, Shawn Pickett, Jenna, and everyone else who read and reviewed!!!! THANK YA'LL.
GO TAR HEELS!!!!! (shameless plug for my alma mater!!!!)