K... I'm sure you guys are going to flame me after this chapter, but that's okay. I really don't care anymore. (But, you know, sucking up to the author won't push updates back any...) My AP classes are getting a little bit in the way of my free time... (Mum says that if my grades drop, I have to close my portkey account and you don't really want that.) But anyway... So... You don't have to review, but thanks if you do and maybe I'll write faster... (lol, j/k)
Chapter 12:
Brand New Day
"Never thought I'd say I'm sorry
Never thought I'd be the one to bring you down
Now when I look out my window
But there doesn't seem to be anyone around
"And I... I think I'll change my ways
So all your words get noticed
Tomorrow's a brand new day
Tomorrow's a new day
"We said we'd take a little time
For both of us to see
And wonder what it'd be like to carry on
Yeah, I know I got crazy
Well, I guess that's just me
If I could turn back time before the wrong..."
'Brand New Day'
-40 Foot Echo
It's Friday... I've really been dreading Friday... It's James's birthday party... And then I'm free to leave tomorrow morning. But the funny thing is... I'm not sure I really want to... I'm sure that this is going to be a disaster... Oh, well... The only way to see is to go... And I'm going... So at 6:00 I gather the Nimbus under my arm and Apparate to the Burrow.
"Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" James bounds up to me and hugs me. "Hurry! Hurry! Mum said that we were waiting on you!"
How nice of her.
He drags me over to the large table Molly has set up in the middle of the yard and George takes the broom and sets it on a tremendous pile of presents... I only hope someone else hasn't bought him a broom...
"What do you want to do first, James?" Hermione asks him.
"Presents!" James runs over to the stack of colours and starts ripping. "Ooh! A Quidditch set! Thanks, Uncle Draco!" "Wow! Gryffindor robes! Thanks, Dad!" "Oh... A book... On Quidditch! Thanks, Mum!"
My gift is the last. He opens it slowly, almost as if he's afraid that I really did buy him a teddy bear, racecar or a book. He squeals. "Ooh! A Nimbus 2005! Thanks so much, Harry Potter!" He jumps up holding the broom. "Look, Mum!"
Hermione, who's been throwing me dirty looks since James opened the broom, smiles at him. "That's very nice, James. Why don't you give it to Dad and-"
"I want to play Quidditch!" he interrupts her. "Can we, Mum? Please?"
"Yeah!" Ron jumps in. "We can play four on four."
I do the calculations quickly. "Ron, how does that work?"
George puts an arm around my shoulders. "We get Harry..."
"Fine..." Fred agrees. "We get James."
"Yay! I get to play! And this time I can play high with all of you!"
Ginny crosses over to Draco. "I want to play."
"Red," Draco says lovingly, "do you think you should be on a broom given your-"
Ginny grins. "Shut-up-Draco."
"Yes, dear," he mumbles meekly.
Ron nods. "All right... We'll meet in ten minutes."
* * *
I love flying. It's been a long time since I've played Quidditch so I'm a bit rusty. The Snitch has stayed elusive, so I've been watching the match. It's been a close game. Draco and Ron have only have a few mishaps, usually because Hermione was yelling at them for letting James fly so quickly. We're tied now 40-40, so it's up to James and me and, I don't want to sound pompous, but honestly, what was Fred thinking putting James up against me?
Suddenly, a red blur streaks past me and as soon as I can focus, I see James in a nose-dive, plummeting toward the ground at breakneck speed. Everyone stops and watches.
He's getting closer... He's six feet away.... Three feet... A foot... Six inches... The red turns black... And then he pulls himself up, his right hand outstretched and in his palm... The Golden Snitch. I really need to get my eyes checked. I imagine his eyes changing colour on Monday... Now his hair? And it turned black of all colours... But... Wait a minute...
"Draco..." I call as he flies past me. "How old is James?"
"Eight today!" Draco calls over his right shoulder as he zooms past me.
Wait... March... February... January... December... November... October... September... August... July... June... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... Hmm... He's eight. So, I left nine years ago in June... Hmm...
July, one... August, two... September, three... October, four... November, five... December, six... January, seven... February, eight... March... nine... Eight years ago...
Dear Merlin.
I think I've realized something.
I land with a soft thud and make my way into the kitchen where Hermione sits with a cup of coffee in front of her, never looking up at me.
Dear Merlin.
I know I've realized something.
"Hermione," I say softly. "Can we talk?"
"About what?" She stirs the steaming cup and raises it slowly to her lips.
"About James." I'm trying to be nonchalant.
She takes a sip and sets the cup on the saucer. "What about James?" she asks guilelessly.
Am I wrong? "Well... Erm... How long were you and Ron married before he was born?"
She raises an eyebrow at me. "Why is our personal life any of your business?"
I shrug. She's going defensive. "Well, I was just thinking. I left nine years ago in June... James is eight today... So... Either James is my son... Or you were cheating on me with my best friend..."
She stiffens and Molly looks as if she's watching a tennis match.
"You weren't, were you?" I ask her. She can't sit there and lie to me.
She stares at the wall behind my head and says nothing.
"He's mine, isn't he?"
She looks toward me. "No! You have no claim to him!" She stands and faces me.
"But he's my son!" I yell, leaning in toward her.
She shakes her head. "You gave up any right you had to him eight years ago when you died!"
What... "What in bloody hell are you talking about? I'm as alive as you are! I didn't die!"
She sets her jaw decisively. "You did to me."
All right... Pick on Harry week is over! I back her into a corner. "Look, bitch," I mutter, low and angry. "I don't care if you think that I'm the biggest sodding bastard on the face of the earth. I don't care that you married my best friend after I'd been gone for five months... But I do care that everything you've told me about my son has been a lie." I pull my wand from my robes. "Now, you're going to tell me what the bloody hell is going on here... Or I'll hex you. I've been nice this far and it's over."
Her eyes flash and I feel her hand move in her robes. She's pulling her wand too.
"Mummy!" James says from the doorway.
She whips her head over to the door where James, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and Draco are standing, staring at us. "James..." she says. "Go back outside and let Mummy finish her talk with Harry." She smiles at him.
Fred and George grab him. "Come on, kid... Let's go get some ice cream..."
James smiles back at her and trots out of the door with Fred and George.
"Harry..." Ron steps up to me.
I point my wand at him, keeping my eyes on Hermione. "Don't make me curse you, Ron..."
"Mate..." he mutters. "Come on... What's this all about?"
"Come on, Harry..." Ginny pulls me away from Hermione. I move back but keep staring right into her eyes.
"Hermione..." Ron's speaking softly into Hermione's ear.
She keeps her wand pointed right in between my eyes. "Ronald... Back away..." Her voice trembles, but her hand is steady.
"Hermione..." Molly interrupts. "I think it's time."
She shakes her head. "I will not!"
Ginny nods. "Yes, Hermione... You need this now..."
"Nope. Sorry. Not going to do it."
Ron leans up to her again. "Hermione... Dear heart... It is time. You have to tell him. Everything. Tell him everything."
She looks at him, tears shining in her eyes. "Ron, what should I tell him?"
"You should tell him what he wants to hear... And what I think that, deep down, you really want to tell him..."
She stares at him. "What?"
"Think about it..." he prompts her.
"The truth?" she scoffs.
He sighs. "It is a very strange thing, Hermione... As you learned when James was born, people cannot change the truth... But, as you will learn now, the truth can change people."
Hermione nods and bites her lip. "All right then... I'll tell him everything."
* * *
19 September
My dear Hermione,
Happy birthday, love! I am sorry that I'm not able to be there with you. It saddens me more everyday that I cannot be with you.
I do hope that Dumbledore delivered my message to you. I want you to know that it's true, Hermione. I do love you.
Now, listen carefully, love... I don't know when I'll see you again but I love you more than life itself. You have to remember that. Everything that I'm out here doing... Well... I'm doing it for you... Know that, please, Hermione...
Know that if I don't come back to you it's because I died defending you. There is never a time when I don't think about you... Never a night that I don't dream about you. I wrote that to you in the last letter, too, but I lost it... I might write it in every letter from here on out... Just so that you will remember...
Something I just remembered. You have to hear something seven times for it to sink into your long term memory. Isn't that a strange thing for me to remember just right off the top of my head. I suppose that I must have heard it seven or more times in primary school because I don't think we ever studied anything like that at Hogwarts. But you already knew that, didn't you, love? You know everything, I'm convinced. Then I suppose you know how much I love you... But still... It can't hurt to tell you again... and again... and again...
God, Hermione... I miss you so much. Somehow I feel... I don't know... I'll always have a part of you and you'll always have a part of me... We made sure of that that night on the Astronomy Tower, didn't we? I'm smiling, love, and I hope you think of that night as often as I do. I can't wait to come back to you... But not just for that reason. But you already knew that, right?
How's Ron? Well, I hope... I hope everyone is well... I suppose alive would be good right now. Is everyone alive? I've seen so much death lately, Hermione... Tonks is gone... Mundungus Fletcher is gone... And if it weren't for you... I'd be gone too...
I swear, I don't know how much longer I can stand to be away from you. I feel quite certain that we'll see each other again... Not sure when... It will be soon, though. Every battles drains Voldemort a little more... Every battle drains me a little more... It's almost as if our powers are shared now... Perhaps even more than they used to be.
But then... Were they ever really shared or just transferred? Dumbledore said that I was a Parselmouth because Voldemort was a Parselmouth... But was it shared or just transferred? All these questions... I only hope that they'll be answers soon, love... I can't wait to hold you again... I want to kiss you...
I love you... Yeah... I love you.
All my love always,
Harry
TEASER
Ginny's taken our wands away so we won't kill one another and, believe me, I was angry enough to do it. Harry sits at the opposite end of the table and stares at me, waiting.
I sigh.
"Hermione, don't you think that we should be alone?"
"They are my family... I have nothing to hide from them."