Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 30)
Challenge: [Movie Week] Romantic Comedy
Title: Summer's Beginning
Word Count: 2,529
"How did I get here?" Harry asked in confusion as he sat on a bench at the side of a busy, London Road. "The last thing I remember..." Harry's back straightened and his eyes went wide. "Voldemort..." he whispered in astonishment.
His heart began to race as he remembered the blue curse that struck him in the chest. He felt as if he were being torn in two but then remembered nothing. Harry woke in the park and wandered in a daze before he'd finally stopped at this very bench and sat down.
"Hermione's wards... I didn't die," he said as he patted his chest and examined his pale hands.
"Even after three years you haven't changed a bit!" a familiar voice said with a laugh behind him.
"Ginny?" Harry asked with wide eyes.
"It's me, Harry," the older woman said with a wide smile. "I know I've changed since you last saw me, even I can grow up you know."
Harry laughed despite the strange situation he was in. "How long has it been now?" he asked trying not to sound too nervous or flabbergasted.
"You know very well that it's been three years since you've defeated Voldemort," Ginny said with a grin. "Where's Hermione?"
"Haven't you seen her?" Harry asked perplexed. Three years?!
"Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly and sat next to him. "After you and Hermione got married I... I left..." she looked to her hands and gripped the strap on her purse.
"Why did you leave?" Harry asked while trying to hide the tremor in his voice. Married? We just started dating!
"I guess I owe you that explanation and why I've been avoiding Mum's..." she said nervously. "How about we talk over tea?"
Harry's stomach grumbled in reply and he nodded his agreement. They stood and after a quick look apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry stumbled forward and leaned against a nearby wall, suddenly feeling weak.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked in surprise. "I've never seen Apparation do that to you before!"
"I think I'm hungrier than I thought," Harry said with a slight laugh. I don't think I should do that again... he added silently.
"Let's get a private room, we don't need anybody else seeing either of us," Ginny said quietly.
As soon as the two of them entered a private dining room, Tom appeared and took their orders, smiling warmly at the two of them. "I hope things get patched up this time," Tom said with an encouraging smile.
"I suppose you remember our argument before I graduated..." Ginny said with a sad look in her eyes.
Harry nodded as the hurtful words she'd shouted at him echoed in his head again. "I was rather surprised," he admitted quietly.
"I was jealous, Harry," Ginny continued. "Jealous of Hermione and wondering why I wasn't good enough for you..."
"Gin, we went over that..." he said quietly.
"I know, Harry," she said with a sigh. "I couldn't accept that you were in love with her and not with me. I took that kiss to mean more than what it was... Harry you don't look well."
"I feel drained," he responded sluggishly.
"Let's get you to a bed; you look like you need some sleep. We can talk more when you wake up." Ginny said concernedly. She helped him to stand and with some effort got him into a bed on the next floor. Tom brought their dinners there and Harry passed out before he could touch his food.
Ginny watched the man she'd fallen in love with sleep peacefully in the large bed that took up the majority of the room. She couldn't take her eyes off of the only man she'd ever loved and suddenly felt her head droop along with her eyelids. She glanced around nervously for a moment before looking back to Harry.
"He looks so content when he sleeps," she whispered to herself as she felt her drowsiness return. "I need to sleep too," Ginny said to herself as she gazed longingly at Harry. She stood and with the wave of her wand, transfigured her clothes into a short, silk nighty. Before she could change her mind, she slipped under the covers next to Harry.
Ginny's heart beat faster and faster as she began to comprehend the position she was in. Harry rolled into her and wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her warm body into his. Her mouth went dry and she turned her head and inched closer to him. She felt his warm, ragged breath float over her lips and she closed her eyes. Ginny crept closer and closer, her lips almost touching his and paused for a moment to steady her racing heart.
"H-Hermione..." Harry whispered softly in an almost desperate way. Ginny's eyes went wide and as quickly and gently as she could, extracted her body from Harry's hold. Tears stung at her eyes as she transfigured two chairs into a cot and blanket and cried herself to sleep.
Harry woke the next day to the tear-streaked cheeks of the love of his life. "Hermione?" he asked in a sleepy daze. "I just had the strangest dream..."
"This isn't a dream, Harry," Hermione said gently as she slid his glasses on his face. He blinked wearily and saw she was speaking the truth. Sitting on the bed beside him was Hermione, only three years older and looking far more mature than he had imagined. "Why didn't you come straight to me when you appeared here?"
Harry moved to a sitting position and wiped his eyes of sleep. "I don't really remember much of anything before running into Ginny," he said with a yawn. "Ginny..." Harry looked around the room quickly to find the younger Weasley missing.
"She told me where you were," Hermione said evenly. "She said you didn't look too well and seemed to be lost. What were you doing in an inn with her?"
"We were talking about why she left," Harry said defensively. "I wasn't feeling good and the last thing I remember she helped me into the bed."
Hermione didn't take her eyes off of his as he explained what happened and she was apparently satisfied with his telling of the events. "She'll be back in a few minutes," she said quietly. "Do you know what happened?"
"I don't know how I ended up three years from where I'm supposed to be. I remember Voldemort hitting me with a curse with blue light and then waking up in the park," Harry admitted sheepishly, noticing the ring on her finger. "So, we are married..."
Hermione looked to her hand quickly and smiled. "We are," she informed him, "and we have to find a way to send you back or I'll never see the Harry Potter I married again."
"What?" Harry asked confusedly. "Is the future me missing?"
Hermione nodded. "It's called temporal displacement," she explained in her know-it-all tone of voice. "When Voldemort hit you with that curse something happened that caused my version of you to disappear as well. He was working on his first case involving a Time-Turner... He'd used the mirror that Sirius gave you to let me know he was on his way home and I saw that same flash of blue light before the mirror went dark..."
Harry winced at the tear that slipped from her eye and he instinctively hugged her. She melted into his arms but pulled away and shook her head. "Listen, I was in the middle of researching a way to get you back when Ginny called. Now that I've found you, it will be easier to get you back before it's too late."
"Too late for what?" Harry asked as he slid out of the bed.
"The longer the two of you are displaced, the less corporeal you become," she said sadly. "If we can't get this undone, then you'll both cease to exist."
"That sounds strange," Harry said with the shake of his head. "When we saved Sirius we didn't have that problem..."
"We used a Time-Turner then," Hermione reminded him. "The energies from one keep this problem from occurring. You two swapped places because of dark magic, there's no stabilizing force to keep you from fading away. Remember what I told you that year?"
"Terrible things happen to wizards who mess about with time or something like that," Harry replied, deep in thought.
"This is one of those problems, Harry," she said as she left a few Galleons on the table. "Take my hand and don't try to Apparate or you'll increase the speed of your deterioration."
"Is he ready to go then?" Ginny asked as she stepped into the room with a bag of food. "And to think, I thought he hadn't changed much from when I last saw him..."
"Take his other hand, Gin," Hermione said coolly. "It'll be easier to get him home with both of us."
Ginny did as she was instructed and with a loud pop, the three of them Apparated into a large library. One look at the place told Harry that this was where Hermione spent most of her time.
"Where are we?" Harry asked as he was directed to a chair in the center of the room.
"You haven't gotten your inheritance yet, Lov... err... Harry," Hermione stammered. "This is... where we live. I'll be right back; I have to let Mum know we're here." Hermione left the library for a few minutes and quickly returned, shutting the door behind her. "Lily, you can't come in right now... Go on and play with Gramma Molly," Hermione said in a whisper before she could shut the doors. "Daddy will be home soon enough, Sweetie." Hermione shut the doors quickly then placed a locking charm on the door.
"Lily? Who's that?" Harry asked curiously from his chair.
"You'll meet her soon enough, Harry," Hermione said quickly and went to a stack of books. She picked up a rather large one and began pouring over the information inside. "Eat, you'll need your strength," she ordered without looking up.
Harry didn't argue the point and found that he was very hungry in any case. He'd started on his third sandwich when Hermione sighed. "What's wrong?"
"It looks like we'll need Voldemort's wand to find the exact spell he cast," Hermione growled. "The one you described was the last one he was able to use before you destroyed him... I thought we might need to use a priori incantatem to find out and luckily Ron should be here any minute with what we need."
No sooner had she finished than another pop went off and Harry turned to see his other best friend standing there with an ashen face and gaping mouth. "Bloody hell! You weren't kidding when you said he'd be here..." Ron crossed the room and clapped Harry on the shoulder with a smile, seemingly recovered from the initial shock of seeing Harry. "You're quite the sight, Harry," he said with a wide grin.
"You've put on weight, Ron," Harry laughed in return, "I think it's a pot-kettle issue in terms of looks."
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Still the bundle of laughs, mate," Ron said dryly. He turned to Hermione and handed over a long, rectangular box. "Here you are. It still hasn't been tampered with. I had Bill check it over before I left, sorry for being late."
Hermione gave him a quick hug after accepting the box. "That's good," she said with a smile and took Voldemort's wand from its box. After discovering the curse Voldemort used it was a simple matter for Hermione to track down the counter-curse. "Harry, you'll be running into yourself when we counter the last spell. You'll need to cast the counter-curse again to send our Harry back."
Harry nodded and read over the counter-curse. "How long do I have?" he asked quickly as they took their places.
"Not long, five, perhaps ten minutes at the most," Hermione explained as she looked into his eyes. "Please hurry, if you don't get him back in time, you'll both disappear... Don't let him touch you either!" she pleaded and quickly kissed him on the cheek before he could do or say anything. Hermione stepped back and raised her wand. "Here we go," she said before waving her wand and reciting the incantation necessary.
Harry felt something akin to a Portkey's effects overcome him and he stumbled forward into the same dark chamber he was in before the whole mess started.
"Not the effect I was going for, boy!" Voldemort spat at the panting, older version of Harry. "But you've been weakened enough!"
Harry didn't have much time and did the first thing he thought of and sent a stunner at the Dark Lord. Voldemort spun at the unexpected voice of the younger Harry Potter just in time to catch the stunner full in the chest.
"What in the nine hells?" the older version of Harry asked as he too spun towards his younger self. "It's about time you got here, Harry!" he spat impatiently.
"Sorry, but you know what happened," Harry retorted as he rushed over to the taller, well-muscled version of himself. "We don't have much time to fix this."
"I know," older Harry said as he got to his shaking feet. "The killing curse will rebound if you use it because of our blood... Use something simpler that will destroy his body completely."
"The incineration charm should work," Harry said as he brought his wand above his head. The older version of Harry did the same and the two shouted "INCENDIO" at the same time, engulfing the helpless Tom Riddle in a pyre of cleansing flame.
Harry turned to his older self and raised his wand again. "Who's Lily?" He asked suddenly. "That's Mum's name..."
"Cast the spell before it's too late!" the tall Gryffindor said hurriedly. Harry complied and just as he brought his wand into its final arc and the last word escaped his lips, his three-year-older version smirked. "She's my daughter..." he said as he faded from view.
A strong fatigue overcame Harry and he collapsed to the ground, spent. Harry looked up to see Hermione rushing towards him, skirting the burning robes of the now deceased Tom Riddle.
"Harry!" she yelled in desperation as his vision failed and he blacked out.
Harry's eyes fluttered open to a sea of white walls and linen. Floating amongst that vast ocean was a nodding ball of brown. He licked his lips and whispered hoarsely, "Hermione?"
Hermione's eyes shot open and she rushed to his side. "Harry, how are you?" she asked desperately, cradling his face in her hands. Hermione slipped his glasses over his eyes and her tear-streaked face and puffy, red eyes came into focus.
"Tired," he admitted with a grin. Her smile grew wide before she bent to kiss him.
"You had us scared, Harry!" she admonished him playfully.
"I'm here and we'll be fine, Love," he croaked before falling asleep to her beaming face.
"I love you, Harry," he heard her whisper just before he was encompassed in comforting darkness.
A/N: There we are, my Romantic Comedy. There's not much humor in it and it's based off an Anime titled Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning. You can find out more about it from A.D.V. Films. Hope you liked it! :) (and sorry it's sooooo late!)