Harry took the bookbag that Ron offered him. "You're spending too much time with Hermione, mate," Ron joked.
Dumbledore had decided that Harry and Hermione should be kept in the infirmary for at least 48 hours of observation, so both had become rather antsy. Hermione had calmed down from her euphoria of finding out Harry was still alive and well and both were sitting on his bed. They had been talking quietly to not disturb the other patient, namely Professor Snape, who was still recovering from Voldemort's curse. He would wake up sneering at Poppy and she would give him a good dose of some medicine the Potions Master had made himself. Then he would drift into a quiet sleep again.
"Thanks," Harry told him. Don't worry. I have no intention of studying." At this pronouncement, Hermione looked scandalized. "Well, I don't," he shrugged. "We just went through hell and back. Charms can wait."
"If you're not guaranteed all O's when NEWTS come around, there's no justice," Ron added. "It'll be smooth sailing from now on. I mean, you defeated You-Know-Who. That's got to count for something."
"He had some help," Hermione interjected with a smile.
"Why are you still calling him You Know Who?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.
"Old habits," Ron shrugged. "You'll get all O's too, Hermione. So will Junior."
"It's a little early to be predicting the baby's grades, don't you think?" Hermione asked, glaring at him. She had already had it out with Ron about calling the child "Junior" which only made him use the nickname more every chance he got. "I don't think we'll get any special treatment," she said meekly.
Harry looked at her, "Oh, that's what you think! You're now the Girl Who Lived!" he laughed, emphasizing the title. He pushed her bangs off her forehead. "Hmmm, no scar. Oh well, I'm sure they'll find some other way to identify you and report your every move in the Daily Prophet."
Hermione straightened her hair while considering her new nickname. Harry unzipped the bag and retrieved his aunt's letter. He had put it there for safekeeping after they got back from the memorial service. He had intended to read it that night, but had been otherwise occupied since they arrived.
"What's that?" Ron asked, seeing the white envelope.
"Aunt Petunia left a letter for me," he explained.
"Oh," Ron said bitterly. He fully expected the woman to have found a way to berate Harry from beyond the grave. "I think you should just toss it. She never said a decent thing to you while you were alive, so there's no point in listening to her now."
Harry was grateful that Ron was being protective of him. Sometimes he was not sure what to expect from Ron. He could be very jealous at times, but very loyal too.
"You mean deny the woman her dying wish? I can't do that, even if it is just to tell me what a worthless freak I am one last time." He tried to make light of it, but truly hated to open the envelope and see what Petunia had to say.
"Read it out loud," Hermione told him, sounding almost motherly. She could already tell that Harry was slipping into the darkened place that the Dursleys' verbal abuse had created for him.
Harry nodded and opened the envelope. He unfolded the white stationery and began to read, "Harry, I can only assume that if you're reading this, it means I have met an untimely death. I've struggled for days over this, ever since Vernon was sent back here with word that we were no longer your guardians. I admit that I was very glad to be rid of you."
"What a bitch," Ron commented, irritated. "Just throw it away, Harry." He reached for the letter, but Harry wouldn't let him snatch it away.
Harry paused a moment, but continued to read. "But something in me changed that night Vernon nearly killed you. I can not forgive myself for walking away from you when you begged me to help you. I realized later that we were not 'rid' of you. You had been taken from us because, quite honestly, we were not fit to have you. I don't know how I ever became what I am today. I did not think of myself as a cruel person, but I realize now that is exactly what I was. Even if I wasn't the one who beat you, I let Vernon and Dudley treat you poorly. I joined them. We starved you and kept you in that god-forsaken cupboard. We failed to treat you as a human being." Harry took a deep breath and put the letter down. He once more felt over-exposed, not wanting to be reminded of how he felt as a child while in Ron and Hermione's presence.
Hermione took the letter from him and skimmed it, picking up where he left off. "We failed to treat you as a human being. We failed to treat you as well as Marge even treats her dogs. The thing is, Harry, I don't even have a good reason. I guess I thought I could justify it because I hated my sister for being different and I hated you by extension. I think she one-upped me my whole life. I made the honors classes at school. She got accepted to Hogwarts. I met Vernon and got engaged. She brought home your father. I had a baby boy. She had a baby boy. Instead of enjoying having a sister, I was bitter and I resented her and I hated her for getting killed and leaving me with you, her little freak offspring." Hermione winced as she read the sentence, knowing it was cutting right into Harry's heart.
"This is her way of apologizing?" Ron asked incredulously, shaking his head with disbelief. "Bitch," he repeated.
"I think you've read enough," Harry interjected, feeling dejected, and wishing he'd taken Ron's advice in the first place.
But Hermione kept going, "I should have been grateful for the chance to raise another child. I should have seen you for the special person you are."
"Did she just call me a person?" Harry asked, looking up.
"Yes," Hermione answered, angry that this came as such a shock to her husband. If not for her tact, she would have repeated what Ron had already called the woman a couple of times. She continued, "Harry, I'm sorry I treated you so poorly simply because I did not understand you. I'm sorry I did not take the opportunity to understand and love you. I'm sorry I did not protect you from Vernon and Dudley and I'm sorry I went along with the years of abuse and neglect we put you through. I regret so deeply that I became the person I am today. I hope one day you will find it in your heart to forgive me. Love, Aunt Petunia."
Hermione folded the letter and gave it back to Harry. He opened it just to see if she really had signed the word love. He knew the woman did not really love him, never had, and never would.
"Well, that was… nice," Ron commented sourly.
"It's better than I expected," Harry shrugged. He was still astounded that Petunia had referred to him as a person.
"Which is a shame," Professor Snape said, surprising them all that he was awake and not complaining.
Harry's first instinct was to ask if the professor had been listening, but realized quickly that answer was obvious. "How are you feeling?" he asked instead, refusing to get into a fight over his privacy. He had, after all, just allowed Hermione to read the letter aloud in the hospital wing.
"Like a Death Eater warmed over," Snape answered dryly.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron exchanged glances, wondering if it were possible that Severus Snape had just made a joke. He had a sense of humor?
"Um, do you need anything?" Hermione asked, the first one to regain control of her voice.
"Out of here," he answered.
"Good luck with that," Harry told him. "Hermione and I are perfectly fine and being kept for observation."
"That's reasonable," Snape told them. "Given that you just had an encounter with the Dark Lord, I'm sure you were nearly killed again and Mrs. Potter should take all precautions... for other reasons."
"He knows about Junior?" Ron asked, more shocked by this news than by the news of the baby itself. "He knew before me?"
"He knew before we did," Harry answered.
"Stop calling him Junior!" Hermione snapped.
"Him?" Harry asked.
"Or her," she shrugged.
"Junior Weasley works either way," Ron argued.
"Weasley?" Harry asked, confused.
"My parents adopted you. That kid is a Weasley."
"Potter-Weasley, maybe." Harry shrugged, wondering if the Weasleys did expect him to take their name once the adoption was out in the open. He didn't want to disappoint them, but he did not want to dishonor his own parents either.
"Granger-Potter-Weasley," Hermione corrected. "If we're going to get silly about it, let's go all the way." Harry supposed that answered how Hermione felt about him hyphenating his name.
"Junior Granger-Potter-Weasley," Ron smiled. "I like that a lot."
"Stop calling him Junior!" Hermione barked again.
"I'm going to be sick," Professor Snape announced. Ron quickly took him a bedpan, but the potions master pushed it away. "That was sarcasm."
"Oh," Ron said, his ears turning pink. "I'll just go back to Harry and Hermione." He found both his friends snickering softly. "Oh shut it, you two."
"Potter!" Snape called, making Harry feel like he did when he was caught off guard in potions class.
"Yes, sir?" He turned to face the professor across the room. He wondered if somehow he was doing something wrong by joking around with his friends.
"Good job." Snape nodded his head approvingly.
"Thank you, sir." Harry was stunned. In that moment, he realized that all these years that no matter how much he had loathed the man, he had always wanted his approval. "It was Hermione, the baby..."
"It was you, Potter," Snape corrected. "No one could have taken your place. No one else has faced that monster the way you have time and again and lived to tell, much less defeated him."
"Um," Harry glanced at his wife, unwilling to take all the credit for Voldemort's demise.
"He's right, Harry," she said. "You fulfilled your destiny. Your choices in life made all the difference. I only got lucky enough to be taken along for the ride."
"Lucky?" Harry laughed. "Knowing me is hardly-"
"Shut up!" she said, and she covered his lips with her own, kissing him briefly, to keep him from degrading himself again. "If you don't stop putting yourself down all the time, I'll, I'll," she paused. Exactly what could she do the the most powerful wizard alive? She leaned in and whispered in his ear so Ron nor the professor could hear. "I'll hold out on you," she teased wickedly.
Harry's expression fell and he began to laugh. "On second thought, I'm actually a pretty awesome guy."
"That's better," Hermione giggled. "I really want to get out here."
"We want out," Harry said loudly.
Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. "Be quiet!" she ordered. "You'll wake-"
"I want out too," Snape said, cutting her off. His black eyes were piercing.
"You are all recovering," she huffed. "Now be quiet. Young lady, get out of that bed!" she said to Hermione, finding her with Harry. The two of them were going to send her into early retirement.
"Okay," Hermione said, "I will if we can leave. And if we can't, then, then I'm going to sic Harry on you! He can take you, you know! Don't think for one minute he can't get us out of here. Did you see him kick Voldemort's ass?" she asked, stunning the nurse. "Well, I did and-"
"Hermione!" Harry gasped. That outburst was so unlike her. "Don't get so worked up!"
"But I want to go home!" she suddenly whined, tears brimming in her eyes. "I want to see my mother and father and sister and tell them everything is okay. Why haven't they come to see me today?" she asked, resting her head against Harry's shoulder and crying.
"I'm not sure," Harry said, rubbing her back reassuringly. "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe they're busy." He looked at Ron who just shrugged.
"It's not up to me," the nurse said apologetically. "Professor Dumbledore will let you know when you can leave."
"But he's not a mediwizard," Harry argued."How does he know when we'll be ready to leave? Besides, there's nothing wrong with us."
"He's the boss," she said. "And don't even think of sneaking out because he put up wards to protect you all from your own hard heads." All of the patients were taken aback at this bit of news and Ron smirked. "He has your best interest at heart."
"Why, that--" Snape was cut off as the nurse continued speaking.
"But, Hermione, dear, if you're not feeling well, I can get you something for," she hesitated, "mood swings. It's perfectly normal for you to be having these mixed feelings right now."
"You're really a very good mediwitch," Hermione said, dabbing at her eyes. "I'm sorry I snapped. I didn't mean to."
"It's quite all right, dear. But I'll give you something to help balance those hormones. I'm not sure Minerva would take it so well if you blew up at her in the middle of class." She turned to Professor Snape. "Do you need anything for pain?"
"I'm perfectly fine, but tired of being here. I need to check on my house to see who's left."
"None of them were killed," Harry told him, realizing Snape had not been awake when they got a report on how things had turned out in the battle.
"That doesn't mean none of them have left the school," Snape clarified.
"True," Harry replied, saddened that some of the students would leave or their parents would remove them because the Voldemort had been defeated. He knew that those who were secretly supporting Voldemort would find a way to continue to support the Dark Arts. He knew that he and Dumbledore would never be rid of enemies. Life would never be simple. Despite that, life was looking pretty good right now.
They passed the hours of the afternoon in an odd calm. They were surprised that no one other than Ron had come to see them that day. Hermione took her potion and said she felt more like herself within a half an hour. Somehow the hostility between Snape and the Gryffindor Trio had vanished as their true unity against evil had been revealed. After beating Harry at wizard's chess twice, Ron was challenged to a game by the bored professor. Ron's intimidation alone made for a very short-lived competition, but Harry and Hermione watched, both amazed by what they were witnessing. If there had been any doubt left in their minds, the mere sight of Ron playing chess with Snape demonstrated that things had truly changed at Hogwarts and in their world.
About a quarter until 6:00 that evening, Madame Pomfrey came out of her office again and announced that Dumbledore had sent word that the patients could all be released and were expected to go straight to the Great Hall so they would not miss dinner. Hermione complained that she wanted to change into some decent clothes and Harry shook his head. "Not a problem," he said, transfiguring her gown into a clean, well-fitting school uniform with just a few words.
Hermione looked at her new robes, a simple thing reminding her that Harry was still the powerful wizard who had just defeated the Dark Lord. "Can you fix my hair?" she asked wryly, twirling an strand.
Harry simply waved his hand and, in seconds, Hermione's hair was pulled back and smooth in a pony-tail.
"Uh-huh," Hermione said, touching the top of her head to feel her smoothed locks. "Now fix your hair."
"Merlin couldn't fix my hair," Harry laughed. He transfigured his own clothes into a school uniform.
"Why couldn't you do that when my mother bought me a pink dress robe with a lace collar?" Ron asked, still taken aback at the things Harry could do so easily and without a wand to direct his energy. If anything, he seemed more powerful now that Voldemort was gone than he ever had before.
"It was not pink," Hermione reminded him, feeling the urge to defend his mother since she had done the best she could.
"Might as well have been," Ron shrugged.
"This ability might come in handy soon," Hermione commented, looking at her reflection in a mirror. She was still not showing, but knew that was just a matter of time. She flattened her skirt against her stomach. "I better enjoy this flat tummy while it lasts."
Professor Snape came from behind the curtain that was drawn around his bed wearing the clothes he had had on the night of the attack. No one had thought to bring any of them a change.
"Harry can fix those for you," Ron said in an unusually brave moment. He then realized he had crossed a line and looked down at the floor as if the tiles were the most interesting thing he had seen all day.
Harry's eyes bulged, embarrassed and very aware that the professor would not accept any help from him.
Snape sneered at first, "I can transfigure my own clothes if we must rush straight to the Great Hall. Poppy, where's my wand?"
"It was broken, Severus," she answered. "The destruction in the dorms was unbelievable," she added, shaking her head. Hogwarts had looked like a tornado went through the campus after the attack.
"Then, I'll just go to my quarters and change," he said, proudly. He then looked at Harry and softened. "Of course, you do owe me a favor or two."
Harry was fleetingly irritated, then realized that the professor was simply asking for help in the friendliest way he could muster. "True," he responded. "So, what are you in the mood for today? Basic black? Midnight blue? Plaid?" He smiled as the man glared, "Kidding." In a moment, the professor was in new black robes just as he usually wore.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter."
The Trio, professor and nurse all made their way to the Great Hall. It would have been impossible to notice that things were different on campus. It was evident that portions of the castle had been destroyed because they now looked entirely too new for such an old building. Magic could easily repair the damages to the structure, but it would never look as though it had been untouched.
"Does it seem kind of quiet to you?" Hermione asked as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. "I wonder if a lot of kids did leave? Or if some are still at St. Mungo's?"
"I doubt it," Ron replied. "They work really fast there."
Harry pushed open one of the doors and was astounded by what greeted him. The entire student body and the professors were standing and waiting on their arrival. The tables were laid out in a glorious feast that would rival anything he had ever seen at the school before. As soon as Dumbledore spotted him, he began to clap, and soon everyone had joined in making a thunderous noise. Even those left at the Slytherin table were applauding their arrival. A crowd of house elves were standing along the wall, unusually out in the open for all to see as they cheered.
Ron darted off to the end of the Gryffindor table to join his housemates in cheering on his best friends. To the right of the head table, a special table had been set up and Hermione's family and the Weasleys were all there, waiting for the couple to join them. Molly was beaming with pride and Jane had happy tears in her eyes. To the left, another table had been added for aurors from the Ministry and members of the Order and the press.
Harry caught Hagrid's eye and smiled, grateful to see that his first friend was alive and well. He saw that Professor McGonagall looked positively gleeful and almost as proud as Molly Weasley. Remus Lupin nodded and Harry knew that his father was looking down on them at that moment.
Blushing slightly at the attention, Harry took Hermione's hand in his own and led her to the front of the room, receiving whistles, cheers, and pats on the back the entire way. They were embraced by their family and soon Ron was with them again while Professor Snape had taken his usual seat with the other staff members.
"You knew about this?" Hermione asked him, waving her hand at the surroundings.
"Yep," Ron nodded and smiled broadly. He had been given the task of keeping the two of them occupied while the celebratory feast was prepared.
Dumbledore clinked his a fork against his crystal goblet to ask for silence. Everyone stopped clapping and returned to their seats, waiting for him to make a speech, just as he would at a Welcoming Feast.
"Thank you," he said, as he had gained everyone's attention. "Yes, thank you," he emphasized the words. "It barely seems enough, but, that is what we are here to do." He looked directly at Harry. "We are here to thank you, Mr. Potter."
Hermione squeezed his hand.
"You have, once again, freed our world from the most evil of influences."
"It wasn't just me," Harry said meekly. "Hermione and... others helped too. And it was your plan and our families and friends were right there beside us."
Dumbledore held up his hand to silence the teen. "Harry, you know as well as I do that only you had the power to defeat Voldemort. I would like to elaborate a bit, if you will oblige an old man to speak freely. Please, everyone, relax, for the first time in decades we can relax. I'd like to tell you a story."
Harry shrugged and led Hermione to the table. They sat between Molly and Jane.
Dumbledore started at the beginning of Tom Riddle's rise to power and briefly recounted the history. He revealed the prophecy to awestruck gasps and heads shaking in disbelief as students and guests alike realized that one in their midst was so powerful. He recounted the plots the students themselves had witnessed without always realizing that Voldemort was still working to kill the child he had failed to murder as a baby. He chastised the press and the Ministry for doubting Harry and making the path of freedom for them all more difficult.
"Choices," Dumbledore said. Everyone was captivated by his wisdom and the truth he spoke. "We all have choices. Life can be hard and we all have decisions to make. You can let the circumstances you're given destroy your heart, or you can learn to hold onto what is good. You can choose to be what is good. Harry Potter is an example for us all. No matter how powerful he is, his true strength is found in his heart. Harry, we raise our goblets to you." Dumbledore lifted his glass and the others followed suit. "To Harry Potter."
Harry was thoroughly embarrassed, but somehow pleased that the truth- most of it anyway- was out.
Hermione leaned over to kiss his cheek, "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too." He looked around the table. "All of you."
Dumbledore once again silenced the indebted crowd. "Throughout Harry's life at Hogwarts, Ms. Hermione Granger has been by his side. As you are all well aware from recent press, there will be a wedding in just a few days. I think the very least we, as a community, can do is to create the biggest celebration the wizarding world has ever seen. We will honor Harry and Hermione for their part in defeating evil and we will celebrate their marriage. Tonight, I want you all to eat, drink, and be merry. And I will see you all again soon for the wedding of the century."