Ginny watched the loving and tender connection displayed between Harry and Hermione, and began to miss Draco that much more. She and her son were the last Weasleys; she and Draco never married and she never took his name. He had saved her life by forcing her to leave Hogwarts the morning of the battle. His arm still burned from the Dark Mark, his face still swollen from the beating he had endured. His one thought that saved him, was to save her.
With the exception of a small boy and a ghost, this home was empty.
"Harry and Hermione, can you stay for a while? I would love to have you here, only if you want and need a place to stay. We'd all love the company." The ghost nodded her approval at Ginny's invitation and even the youngest Weasley, of the last Weasley clan, nodded.
"Darling, can we? I'm afraid to see what our home is like."
"Ginny, we'd love to, if it's not an inconvenience."
"Please, there's plenty of room here. The two of you can stay as long as you'd like."
"I would like to hear more of Ronald from your world. I miss him," the ghost asked.
"Of course," Harry replied.
They say in silent reflection, Harry still had his arm around his wife's shoulder and continued to hold her. He kissed the top of her head and heard the unmistakable rhythmic breathing that told him she had fallen asleep. Possibly from the stress of the day, or because the last few days had been overly active.
Ginny noticed she had fallen asleep as well. " There's a room upstairs, third floor, that is larger than those on the second floor, you're welcome to use that if you wish."
"Thanks, Gin. That was the one Ron and I always shared." He turned to address the ghost, " I would like to visit him, is he, err I mean, are you both resting nearby?"
"Yes, it's unmarked and only known to a few people. There's a large oak tree near the glen, we're on the east side."
"That's where Molly and Arthur and Bill were buried in our world. I put a monument to Sirius Black there about eight years ago."
"It's a special place, even in your world." She watched as Hermione fell into a sound sleep, comfortable in his arms. " She's fast asleep; poor dear, Harry take her upstairs to bed. I'm going to put Arthur to bed soon, but if you want to spend time visiting, you're more then welcome."
He stood and picked up his wife, she moved her arms around his neck and moaned lightly.
"Thanks, Gin. You know, I never really told you before, but you've always been very special to us." He stopped past her and gave his hostess a loving, family type kiss on the cheek. It was the first time since Draco died that another man had kissed her.
"Come, Arthur, it's time for bed."
The next few days had been pleasant and quiet. They returned to the oak tree to visit two old friends. The spot was unmarked as Ginny said, but it was easily found by them all. Hermione could feel the spot call to her, and Harry felt it call to him as well. The call for both was an uneasy voice of someone lost before their time. Neither of them was certain it was Ron or Hermione calling to them. But they were certain where it was.
One bright and warm day, Harry had decided to spend some time in the air, it had been years since he played on a Quidditch team, and with the scarce time he and the others spent playing, he didn't get many chances to fly.
Arthur watched in fascination at Harry's abilities with a broom, Ginny still had an old Clean Sweep, but it was nearly fifteen years old. She didn't trust her son with it, since it was losing it s magic.
Harry's broom was as powerful and fast as the day he received it from Sirius. He could see the boy watch from the ground and it sparked an idea. He'd take the lad flying. They spent most of the morning and well into the afternoon soaring through the clouds, leaving Hermione firmly planted on the ground, where she was more comfortable.
She had resigned her day to watch Harry play with another woman's son. They promised to find a deserving child that needed a home and take him in, but it still hurt. She still wanted to know what other women knew, what it was like to carry a child and give it life. She sat back and watched with an ache in her heart.
Ginny carried a pitcher of lemonade to the porch, and sat next to the other witch. " It's a bit warm today, but it should cool down by tonight," she said without looking over. She poured two glasses and set one closer to Hermione.
"It was a bit warmer in Florida , that one day James and I spent alone swimming. Pity Harry didn't come along."
"Um hmm," she mumbled while taking a sip. " So you and James spent a day together?"
"He was so terribly lonely; I wanted to cheer him up. Both he and Harry have the gentlest touch," she said and quickly turned away. " I mean when he spread burn ointment on my back." Her added comment was more defensive.
"Really? And did you tell Harry about this?" Her interest clearly piqued at the slip.
"No, but he wouldn't mind, he's really an understanding sort," she added but looked flustered at the thought.
"Hermione!" Ginny shrieked, " You didn't? His father?"
She shook her head violently, " What were you thinking? No, absolutely nothing happened he's Harry's father after all."
"Right," Ginny replied with a wink.
"Right, what?"
"Well, yes. I mean, you have the younger, why bother with the elder?" Ginny smiled and shrugged her shoulders, " Father, son, I guess it doesn't matter much." She gulped her drink and left Hermione in a confused state.
Hermione slumped back in her chair and thought about that slip. She watched her husband in the distance as he played with the small boy, and felt a longing she had pushed aside return and deepen a gap in her heart. He'd always wanted; deep down, the one thing she can no longer give him. In that aspect she was a failure. The chair seemed to be the only safe refuge, but that would also prove wrong.
She was being watched by another with a longing, the ghost of Hermione slipped into the chair next to the living one not allowing her time to mull through her thoughts. " Hermione … God that sounds strange."
"Yes, it does," she said with a weak smile, but her sorrow had shown through.
"You are so lucky," the ghost said while also watching the wizard.
"How so?" she asked.
"You have so much to live for here or in your world. You have a man that loves you unconditionally, that accounts for a lot."
"I wonder sometimes why he stays with me," she sighed heavily.
"Surely you can see it, that man worships the ground at your feet, and you wonder why? And he did something for you I doubt anyone else would have, he followed you here, anyone else would have seen that as certain death."
Hermione sat quietly; she knew her ghost form was right. Only Harry would have done that.
"You've had years with someone like him, and your friends are all alive wherever it was you came from. I know somehow the two of you will return to them." The ghost paused and watched Harry in the distance. " What is it like?" the ghost whispered, she almost didn't mean to ask, but it slipped out.
"What is what like? I don't understand," she replied and had a flash of déjà vu.
"Being loved and happy, what is it like having someone that loves you and cares about you so deeply?" the ghost asked as she floated to face her mortal self.
"Surely you had this with Ron, if you both were as close as you said."
"No, we never had what you have. I'm not certain I ever really experienced love. He and I were so close and with times the way they were, we desperately clung to each other."
"You miss him, don't you?"
"Yes, I wish he could have lingered as a spirit, but it wasn't meant to be, I guess."
She warmed a smile for her ghost. She wanted the same thing Harry wanted as a child, the one thing she was still able to give him, her undivided love. " Being loved is easy, loving another is not hard, but being in love with someone and keeping that love strong takes a lot of work. Yes, we are still very much in love with each other. I've seen others that started the way we have, but they seem to fade and stop working at it. They become comfortable and begin to take each other for granted."
"Do you love him just like when you first fell in love with him?"
"No. It changed over time; it's not the same as when we first became a couple. I so desperately wanted him in a physical way, and I know he did too, but he made us wait. He wanted to wait until it was safe for us. He even had Dumbledore put the Fidelius Charm on us to hide our love for each other. He was afraid I would be hurt to get to him"
"Then you wait until you were married to make love." The ghost stated as fact.
"No, I decided a few weeks before, well just before the attack, to have his child in case he was killed."
"You have a child? Why haven't you told us? This is wonderful." The ghost exclaimed until she noticed her mortal self became quiet and began to retreat into herself.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" she asked and sat observing Hermione's eyes begin to tear. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she realised they must have lost the child, and if she had tears, they would have shed too.
"We lost the child in the battle," she whispered.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. Please forgive me?"
She began her weak smile again. " I forgave myself a long time ago, we have talked about adopting. We grew up and we were lucky to have each other for support. Ron was always there with Luna. They married a couple years after we did, they have a son, and I think another on the way."
"He's happy then?"
"Yes, for the most part. They have their problems too, everyone has some issue with their spouse at some point, it's a matter of being able to work it out and work past it. She does love him, but I think she's jealous of what the three of us have together. If we ever return home, it's one error I intend to correct."
"I'm glad he's happy. He was a good man."
"No, he is a good man, even if he's gone; he's still with us, like you're here in spirit. He'll always have a place in my heart and in Harry's heart. Ron's the brother neither of us had."
"And Ginny, in your world. Is she …"
"Happy with twins, a boy and girl. She and Draco married and have been happy together. We have all been each other's family for the past ten years." She sat in reflection of her words and sipped her tea, while her ghost pondered the same words they had shared.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"I want to feel it, just once."
"Oh?"
"I want to know what it feels like to be with someone that loves you that much. But all I'll have is the memory of the one night with Ronald, and we never … you know."
"You remained celibate."
"Yes."
She smiled at the strange wish her dead self had, of all the things she could wish for, this was a wish that was possible.
"Would you like to find out?" the mortal posed the question.
"Pardon?"
"With Harry, we could share a night together with him. I mean you could merge with me and we could experience it together."
"No, it won't work. You can't. It could kill you," the ghost said, not actually believing the offer.
"I don't see why not; you are me, maybe a bit younger, but you're still my spirit. It should work."
"Should we ask him first? It is a very personal thing we're talking about."
"As his wife, I can allow it. And anyway, it would still be me with him, it just may be a bit crowded inside," she grinned.
"Then when?"
"Tonight? He and I have a healthy relationship, and I can promise you he's always eager."
"Then tonight, thanks," she tried to hug her mortal self, but her arms passed through her body. The two smiled and began to giggle like schoolgirls with a plan.
"Come to my room after Ginny goes to bed. I'll leave for the loo and we can join there."
Ghost and mortal selves of the same person left each other for the remainder of the day. Since one of them didn't require food, she spent the dinner hour staring at childhood pictures of Ron on the wall of the home. There were also many pictures of her with Ron, she had avoided this room since she decided to stay here as a spirit. This was the room where Molly had hung all the family pictures. She was as much a part of that family as any of them, Molly fully expected at some point for her to officially become a Weasley. She reminisced of the holidays they spent, her muggle parents joining the wizard family sharing the holiday spirits.
She was certain she loved Ron, she even imagined after all the year she had been in love with him. But now she wondered what if the baby Potter boy had lived those many years ago, would she have felt the same for Ron? Her mortal self was very much in love with that man; would she still feel the same for Ron after spending so many years together?
She had regretted making him wait that night; it was the only night they were together. It was the only night they could have consummated their feelings. He died protecting her. He loved her into death.
She remained hidden with her memories until there were new sounds through the halls, footsteps outside the door and up the stairs. The time her mortal self had said to meet was approaching. She thought of this as betraying Ron's memory and decided not to go on with this.
She hovered inches from the floor, watching the pictures on the wall.
The appointed time came and left, still she remained. She thought of this as an invasion of their privacy, something she didn't have a right to. She watched the wizard pictures as they moved, reset and replayed the scene, over and over.
Nearly an hour past the time the agreed time, the door to the study silently opened, and a shadow crossed the room. If she were mortal, she would have felt the hand on her shoulder, if she were mortal; she would have had tears to shed. She heard the voice call her name, and turned.
"Hermione? It's okay, she told me about your ' plan'," Harry's emerald green eyes sparkled with a glint of moonlight through the window. He was smiling and held a hand out as if to take her spirit hand in his.
"She told me what you two planned after you didn't come. She is terribly upset; she wants to help you so desperately. Come, it will be fine, you can help each other."
"No, I can't, Ronald and I never …"
"Ron is my brother, of sorts. Did you know Molly and Arthur legally adopted me as a son before they were killed? And I want to share this with you, come."
Touched by his sincerity and the openness he and her mortal self shared, she followed him to their bedroom, to find her mortal self sitting on the edge of the bed, red-eyed. The mortal Hermione patted the corner of the bed, inviting the spirit form over.
"I told him, he is willing, it's up to you, I'm ready." The look on the mortal form touched the spirit self and she nodded.
Harry watched the conflict of love between the two spirits of Hermione, his wife had so much she was willing to share; he felt selfish to keep her to himself. The spirit flowed into the mortal body, she stiffened slightly, then her head slumped forward momentarily. He began to sprint to her side, and halfway across the room she held out a hand, to stop him.
"We're fine, we're both here," she said and smiled at her husband. She turned her hand over to invite him to her side.
He sat next to her and kissed her hand, she closed her eyes as his lips pressed on her palm, then he turned it over and kissed each finger. He ran his hands up her arms, across her shoulders and felt her shudder. He remembered her shudder like this that time on the beach when he refused to risk her life, when he chose to wait. She shuddered at his touch then, it was the first time he kissed her bare skin, as he now began to kiss and caress her neck.
He knew every spot that drove her wild and he was determined to hit each one, slowly and deliberately. This was to be the best night they would share; he wanted her ghost to have this memory for eternity.
She opened her eyes as his fingers slipped her nightgown from her shoulders. His lips ran down her breast, first to the right, and then to the left past the familiar scar from when she died. He gently laid her down on the bed, and stood, slipping out of the dressing robe he wore, and slipped off the boxers from his waist. He reached to her waist and slipped the nightgown from her hips. She obliged by lifting her bottom, freeing the garment.
She lay there; sweat beginning to build on her bare skin while his lips continued their conquest of her flesh. He resumed his attack on her left breast, her nipple now stiff. His tongue flicked lightly over the tip, sending waves through both souls in the single body.
She began to moan with the pleasure he was giving when he stopped and pulled away slightly. He snapped his fingers, and a glistening wave enveloped the room. " We don't want to disturb Ginny or young Arthur, do we?" he whispered as he resumed his descent from her breasts.
Ginny sat at the breakfast table and glanced at the calendar on the wall, July 31 st 'summer's half done' she thought as she watched her son at the table. The boy had already finished his toast and jam, and was asking for his Uncle Harry. She sent him outside to play, while she waited for her houseguests. They had been extremely quiet during the night, too quiet in her opinion. The past few days had been enjoyable, to have friends share the loneliness of this isolated existence seemed to lighten her mood and the mortal Hermione's time spent with the ghost form brought out a change in her attitude.
The door to their bedroom finally opened, and they came down the stairs, seemingly not have had a restful night's sleep.
"Sleep well?" Ginny asked as she sipped her tea.
"Mmmmm," she heard from Hermione and noticed their hands locked together.
"We were up quite late, talking," Harry offered. Ginny noticed a blush pass through Hermione.
"I haven't had anyone ' talk'to me like that in a long time," she teased with a raised eyebrow.
Moments later, after she had sat at the table and he was filling their plates, Ginny noticed another entrance into the kitchen, the ghost had a wide grin and dreamy look in her eyes as she forgot herself and poured a cup of tea.
"So, where did you spend the night, Hermione?" Ginny asked the ghost.
The mortal version smiled and sipped her tea looking into the cup, as if inspecting the leaves swirling on the bottom. The ghost form sat next to the mortal form and they both sat with elbows on the table, propping their respective chins.
Harry sat opposite his wife, and had an equally secretive grin.
Ginny smiled into her cup and stood to let them to bask together. She left the kitchen with the pretence of finding her son.
The two mortals and one spirit sat silent at the table. The afterglow the mortal couple experienced that morning was shared with the ghost, more so since she had never felt this way before. Harry sat quietly, and finished his breakfast, stood and kissed Hermione on the top of her head.
"I think I'll leave you two girls alone," he said with a grin and left to find his young playmate.
They sat silently for a few minutes after he left.
"Hermione?"
"Mmmm?" the physical form sighed.
"You never told me about the curse."
Stunned, she looked away. She had hoped to forget about it and hoped it was well in her past. " It's all in the past. It's something we have accepted," she finally mumbled.
The ghost smiled and placed her hand over the mortal's shoulder. " No, it's not in the past. It's very real and now part of me," she said as she placed a kiss on Hermione's cheek. " You've given me a wonderful gift last night. Thank you," she vanished to unknown parts of the home, giving her mortal form a radiant smile as she left leaving a last thought lingering in the air, " Enjoy your gift."
Hermione pondered the ghost's comments and thought about what about other details she had omitted that were now known in the ghost's memories. She must surely know about what she did to Malfoy, and more importantly, the prophecies.
Her reflections were short-lived as she felt an object strike her sharply in the back of her head. A warm fluid ran down her back. She instinctively reached to the wound. The sudden attack drew her defenses as she spun around to find the source. A young boy knelt in the corner, snickering, and a much older one ducked for cover down the hall. Discarded rubber spheres lay forgotten on the floor.
"Harry!?" She screamed in shock. She left the table and viciously began her attack on the assailants; she knew where Harry was most ticklish and also knew where most little boys were ticklish. The laughter shared began to soak into the walls that had long forgotten such merriment.
Author's Note
It's time for a poll of sorts. This part of the story is almost half way done. As you have seen there were different directions taken, giving the appearance of confusion. I'm certain you all can imagine how Harry and Hermione must feel. But, each different task will have a specific reason, for example, Hermione's time journey as you can see had a significant reason, although as the time it seemed irrelevant. Past chapters, for example, included a mechanism for Hermione to finally release her anger and frustrations for her 'condition'. (And since I've had many personal inquiries to that event and a possible reversal, let me add that the curse is bound to her and cannot be broken, it will remain intact forever.)
This story was originally going to be the third leg of my planned trilogy, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to complete the events originally detailed. This There will, unfortunate, be many points of unanswered issues, mostly in the alternate realities.
As many of you have seen, this was started well before HBP was released; the first two parts were actually completed before the 6th book in canon was even named. I have received some comments that this is not following canon. That being the case, and since this story was well underway when HBP was released, I feel it may be necessary to end this story once the required tasks have been completed.
But I will make the point that many of the events in my first fic predicted canon events, mainly with the different relationships explored in Canon, Ron and Hermione being in 'like', and Harry breaking up with Ginny. The additional point of Draco's possible redemption is also portrayed in my story line.
My one question is this, is there sufficient interest in a fourth part to this story or shall I "gracefully" end it where I originally planned it? The main reason for this question is the readership has dropped significantly for this story, possibly due to the complex issues. Also the feedback I've received provides only a glimpse whether this fic is being enjoyed.