Once more, thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 30: Yule 2
*****************************Godric's Hollow*****************************
December 25, 1997
3:17 am
"No..." Harry muttered and rolled over in his sleep. Hermione raised her head slightly from where it had been displaced off his shoulder, pushing hair out of her eyes as she looked at him sleepily. She bit her lip slightly as she watched him shaking, moaning, "No....leave her alone..." Small objects around the room started to vibrate, and shake, as her breathing sped up. A pile of books toppled from a nearby table and Crookshanks let out a startled "merow," and leapt from the bed to run to safety through the magical cat door in the bottom of the bedroom door that appeared and disappeared as he approached and passed through it.
Hermione fought down a spike of fear that shot through her core as Harry muttered, "Take me...you want me, leave her alone..." She groaned as she fought down the wave of despair that slammed though their link before it was cut off as Harry's subconscious fought himself to protect her. "FUCK YOU, TOM..." Harry screamed suddenly as he jerked, almost all the way off the bed. "No...Mione..." Harry sobbed and Hermione felt her stomach fall. Brown eyes flared, glowing emerald to light the walls of the dim room as she took a breath and ripped past the barriers that he had erected to protect her. The small little girl deep inside, who still believed in shining knights on a horse, swooned slightly at the thought of what he was willing to go through alone for her, but that flicker of emotion was dampened by her need to protect him herself...even when it was from himself.
Hermione...blinked and found herself in the midst of charred, smoking ruins. A quick glance to her right and left, finding the shattered remains of the courtyard fountain and the fallen debris of Gryffindor Tower, told her immediately where she was. She had seen this same place in hers/their dreams before. She looked down at herself to see that she was still in the clothes she had thrown on to sleep in, since her parents were down the hall, a long-sleeved t-shirt and red Gryffindor sleep pants, and with a thought she was in combat blacks. She nodded to herself as she felt the comforting weight of her twin daggers at the small of her back, and brushed her hand over the hilt of her wand where it was strapped to her thigh.
She passed down torn and rent halls, past classmates lying bloody and lifeless, or more horribly somehow, looking untouched except for the vacant, dead expressions in unseeing eyes. She almost cried as she paused at the door to the Great Hall, what was left of it anyway, as one of the doors was lying on the ground with the other hanging by only one hinge, and found Ron and Luna on the ground together, with Luna curled up on top of him as if she had tried to save him. The stones under her best friends were dark and stained with his blood and she didn't even try to stop the tears as she knelt down and closed their eyes with gentle fingers.
With a breath, she flung out her hand and watched as the last door blew inward into the Great Hall to land with a thunderous, thump. She walked into the long, high-ceiling room, that was so filled with memories, good and bad, and looked up to see the four house tables gone along with the Head table. In their place, and replacing Dumbledore's golden chair, which McGonagall had kept intact, a twisted back throne sat, like a cruel mockery of former greatness.
But nothing compared to what was on that throne, instead of the great, human, but still great Albus Dumbledore, a dark, hated presence filled the throne. Tom Riddle had come home to Hogwarts, his twisted, serpentine features sneering down on a shivering, broken form sitting on the cold flagstones of the hall at his feet. Hermione repressed a slight shudder as she moved between rows of Death Eaters, standing proudly around the throne. Her breath caught in her throat as she passed the twisted visage of Antonin Dolohov, dead these six months past, and stepped around Lucius and his bride. They were leaning together, talking to a sneering Severus Snape, pointing and laughing at the presence at Voldemort's feet.
Hermione felt her lip in her teeth in this shared, horrid dream as she saw Harry, kneeling, broken with her dead body in his arms. For a moment, she almost thought that she really was dead, in this nightmare of Harry's. Harry looked up at Voldemort as the Dark Lord looked down from his throne, pausing in his absent fondling of his...companion, "She's dead Harry...just like you will be soon. You have failed, Harry, just like Albus...just like your dear Godfather...just like your poor parents."
"SILENCIO," Hermione roared, a hissing vermilion fan shot from an ivy-wood wand, and the dream Voldemort tumbled backwards out of his chair. Hissing green bolts shot through her, without effect, as she walked to Harry and crouched down next to him, talking his face in her hands, and forcing it to hers. "This is a dream, Harry, wake up, Love, come back to me..."
"No," a choked, broken eleven-year-old voice whispered back, "you're dead." Harry tried to pull from her grasp, to look down at her double's body, lying in his arms. Hermione closed her eyes, and flicked her wand, vanishing the body, and forcing his eyes back to hers.
"I'm here, baby," Hermione pleaded softly as a softly glowing gold bubble slowly formed around them, deflecting the curses of the Death Eaters here in this malicious travesty of Hogwarts. Harry shook his head, trying not to look at her, afraid to believe.
"She's dead, Potter..." the high-pitched hiss came again, along with the dark laughter of the surrounding Eaters.
Hermione growled, twined her fingers in Harry's hair and crushed her lips to his. She watched, open-eyed as dead emerald eyes snapped fully open; then came alive again. She let out a soft groan as she felt his tongue against hers, returning the kiss, her eyes slipped closed as ethereal notes began to ring out in the hall. A giant phoenix, red and gold feathers as bright as the very sun appeared in the rafters of the hall, and spread its wings. One, by one, then in twos, and threes and dozens, Death Eaters burst into flames, silently crumpling into piles of ash until only Riddle remained. They broke the kiss and looked together to the front as Voldemort looked up at the flaming Phoenix in dawning horror; the huge, golden beak opened and a ray of light, like that of the sun breaking through a line of clouds enveloped the Dark Lord. His lipless mouth opened in a silent scream as a pillar of emerald fire consumed him, leaving only a pile of ash after a moment, which a sudden gush scattered.
"Mione..." Harry choked, tears in his eyes.
"Wake up baby, I'm here..." a swirling rush of color and sound, like a Portkey trip gone bad ripped past her senses, slamming her consciousness back into her body with a jolt. She opened her eyes, her real ones, and took a shuddering breath forcing magic down, back into her core as her eyes faded back to chocolate. She crawled up the bed, where she found Harry sitting up against the headboard with his knees drawn up slightly and shaking. She forced his legs flat as she crawled into his lap and slipped her arms behind his neck as she tangled her fingers in his hair. His neck bent slightly as she forced his head down enough to kiss his forehead, his scar, before she met his lips to taste salt and the copper taste of his blood where he had bit his lip sometime during the nightmare.
"Thanks, Mione..." Harry whispered hoarsely as his arms tightened around her. They began to rock slightly as he dropped his head to her shoulder. He sighed softly as he muttered into the crook of her neck, "I don't know why you put up with me."
"Because you'll do the same for me tomorrow," she replied, nuzzling his right ear. After a minute, as if it were being pulled from him he nodded, and grunted something she took as an affirmation. Hermione pulled back slightly, kissed him again and slipped from his lap to the floor. He looked up at her with a vague, forlorn look before she leaned back down and kissed him hard enough to push him back against the headboard. "Stay here, I'll go get us some hot chocolate, I know you won't sleep."
"I can get it, Hermione," Harry said, softly.
"I know you can, baby, but I want to alright?" she smiled and with a final kiss to his forehead, she slipped from the bedroom and paused for moment on the landing, looking down at the softly glowing lights of the tree in the living room below. Her knuckles whitened as she took a breath, collecting herself before she ghosted down the stairs, took a right and pushed the kitchen door open.
She took a breath as both of her parents were sitting at the butcher-block table sipping coffee. She bit her lip as she turned from them and flicked her wand at the stove. A small flame lit and a copper pan drifted down from the rack to rest on the heat. Another flick and an odd slashing motion later, milk floated out from the icebox, to pour itself into the pan, and an instant later a chunk broke itself off a block of Honeydukes' best chocolate, and dropped into the heating milk. "I guess you heard," Hermione commented to the silence. She reached up and pulled out the rubber band holding her hair into a ponytail, regathering it, and putting it back up.
"Is it always that bad, honey?" Jane said, as her hand reached across the table to hold her husband's left hand. Her thumb ran over his ring finger as Hermione's shoulders slumped slightly. Hermione shrugged vaguely and summoned a pair of mugs from the cabinets. She snapped her fingers, conjuring a cinnamon stick in each before pouring in the hot liquid. She waved her wand over the mugs, placing a Heating Charm and an anti-Spill Charm on each.
Hermione turned around after turning off the stove and sending the pot to scrub itself in the sink, "Sometimes...they've gotten worse after Dumbledore died. They were really bad after Cedric, and he tried to keep it away from me last year when we were...whatever, but yeah. Just be glad that that wasn't one of Tom's little gifts." Her eyes were slightly haunted as she looked down, "Those were-worse. Thank Merlin, he doesn't dare try that shyte any more." Hermione looked down at her hands, "I'm sorry you guys were woken by that. We have a permanent Silencing Charm up on our bedroom at Hogwarts, forgot we needed one here."
Jane glanced over at Roger, he nodded slightly, "What about yours, Hermione Jane?" he asked quietly.
Jane's hand clenched on Roger's as Hermione looked off into the distance. She paused as Crookshanks sauntered into the room and looked up at her as if checking to see if she was going to start gibbering, seeing she wasn't he rubbed against her legs and walked to his dish before giving her a meaningful look. She waved her wand at the refrigerator, causing the milk to fly out once more and poured a small amount in his dish, before replacing it in the same manner. "I have my good days and bad ones, just like Harry," she whispered. "Neither of us are insane, mother," she added after a minute, slightly defensively, "mostly anyway...I had thought I had gotten though it after Sirius died...he was almost Harry's dad in all that mattered there for a little while, but when Dumbledore...and it was my fault, I failed Harry," she whispered, "I, ahh...I'm going back to bed." She picked up both mugs and rapidly vanished from the room.
************************The Burrow*****************************
7:20 am
A crookedly hung door opened with a soft squeak, and a slight figure in a white cloak eased into the room and eased the door closed. She crept closer to the single, slightly cockeyed bed sitting in the middle of the room, and leaned over the unconscious form there. A bright orange comforter covered all but a shock of red hair, and matched innumerable posters all holding various renditions of a orange intertwined double 'C' logo, generally with a cannon ball endlessly flying out of it. Several broomsticks and riders flew over the bed in formation from one poster to another as the visitor lowered her white hood.
Silvery-grey eyes danced as she slowly peeled off a pair of white gloves and tossed them in a corner. A blue stone on her left hand caught the light from a single candle burning in a dish on the windowsill as she reached forward and slowly peeled the comforter back enough to reveal a freckled face. She lightly bent over, ghosting a kiss on his forehead. Ron groaned and rolled over in his sleep, "Luna," he muttered and she giggled behind her quickly raised hands. Ron opened and closed his mouth several times, and she giggled again.
Those grey eyes brightened, almost glowing she continued to peel the comforter down the bed, revealing Ron's sleeping attire of purple and gold boxers with tiny gold hoops that were defended by a single Keeper flying constantly from hoop to hoop and a t-shirt with a tawny lion munching contently on a snake held between its paws. "Wake up, Ronald," she breathed into his ear, smiling as he brushed at the warm air on his ear. A small pink tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she glanced downward and raised a shapely, pale eyebrow. "Ronnnalllddd," she purred, rubbing her cheek against his. "You need to shave honey, Sleepnirs could be nesting." Ron did not move other than smiling a bit and shrugging back into his pillow slightly.
Luna rolled her tongue around in her cheek, and stood tapping her foot. She reached down and kicked off her fur-lined boots leaving her in bare feet on the cold wooden floor of the Burrow. She looked back at door to the room, and frowned slightly. If Molly doesn't like it...too bad, he's mine...I need to put in a cat door for Greymalkin...I wonder if Ron can do carpentry... Luna shook herself slightly as her eyes focused, looking down at Ron.
Her fingers flicked near her throat, and with a slight shrug, her white cloak fell to the floor. She shivered in the cool room as she stood over the bed, clad in only a tiny pair of pale blue knickers tied on each side and a matching half-cup bra. Taking care not to disturb the bed, not that it seemed to matter really, Luna slid over him, straddling his legs and sliding forward to lie fully on top of him.
She began to nip at his neck, nuzzling his ears and giggling slightly as Ron grinned and shifted under her, still sleeping. Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. Drastic measures...
Luna slipped back, until she was crouched across his calves and bent forward. She wore a look of utter concentration as she slowly pulled down the Keeper boxers, carefully pulling them over the large obstruction in the way. She kept her eyes on Ron's face as she bent forward, and took him into her mouth. She started to bob up and down, pausing to run her teeth and tongue lightly up and down.
Ron stirred slightly as Luna redoubled her efforts. She let him slip from her mouth, licking the tip as Ron moaned softly, then took him back in, sucking in slightly on each up stroke, until, with a huge, shuddering groan, Ron arched up off the bed.
His eyes flew open as he dropped back to his pillow, panting. His eyes slowly panned down. Luna waved as she sat up, licking her lips before sliding up to perch on his stomach. She bent down and kissed him, shuddering as she kissed him thoroughly. "Good morning, honey," Luna whispered next to his ear.
"Bloody hell," Ron said in a voice full of awe. He looked down at her, and gulped slightly as he took her in. "You're gorgeous, luv," he whispered, and Luna beamed.
"Ronnie," she muttered, "you might want to cast a few charms." She bit her lip slightly and motioned towards the door with her head as she sat up and began to peel his shirt from him. "And I'd use something a touch stronger than Colloportus, though..." she shrugged, "I guess Molly'll find out eventually." Ron looked suddenly panicked, though she noticed idly that his...attention seemed unwavering. Luna smiled at him shyly, as her heart thumped in her chest, "I love you too; Ronald...try Securita...I doubt your mum can break it," her eyes brightened as she rubbed against his stomach slightly, "and don't forget..."
Ron nodded quickly and took his wand as she dropped it in his hand with a huge grin on her face. "Securita," Ron whispered, slowly as Luna wiggled slightly, smirking. "S..Silencio," the walls flashed white, "Inconceivious." A warm flush filled Luna's belly for an instant. She closed her eyes as Ron reached down to rub against her knickers with the palm of his hand. She muttered something unrecognizable, as he pushed aside her knickers, to slowly side a pair of fingers inside her. She shuddered and nipped at his shoulder, as he began to slowly, teasingly, move them in and out.
"Now...would be good," Luna commented almost conversationally, reaching down to either side and pulling the strings. She rose on her legs slightly and tossed the scrap of fabric somewhere in the room. Her eyes held his as she placed both hands flat on his belly and slowly lowered herself. Ron groaned, as Luna leaned forward, kissing his nose, then lips before she started to rock on his lap.
"Ohhh....ugggh..." Ron moaned feelingly.
"Roonnniieeee...." Luna grunted, "f..faster." She began to push off, bouncing harder, as Ron began to meet her thrust for thrust. Her lip trembled as Ron slid his hands down until the palms rested on her hipbones, with his thumbs rubbing in time to their shared rhythm where they met.
"I'm..." Ron panted, as he felt his heart try to start to beat right out of his chest.
"What?" Luna gasped, leaning forward until her loose hair covered them both. A soft purr grew louder as she felt her stomach muscles begin to twitch...Her eyes slipped closed, narrowing to silvers, not seeing that Ron's were dropping as well.
"Come on, baby," Ron managed, as he felt himself begin to tingle, then in a sudden rush he felt her clench around him, pulling him along with her. "Oh...fuck..." His hips came up off the bed, taking them both with him, as Luna collapsed on him, quivering. She panted, trying to catch her breath as rested her head in the crook of his shoulder before stretching enough to share a slow kiss. She snuggled down, tucking her head under his head, not moving from where they had finished. Ron moved enough to kiss the top of her head, his breathing more or less back under control, "What brought this on, Luna, luv?"
"Did you like my-outfit?" Luna asked, anxiously, or at least as anxiously as she ever got, "Hermione helped me pick it out...she has one, like..."
"Alright..." Ron said quickly, pulling her head up to quiet her with a quick kiss, "luv, I really don't need Harry beating me to a puddle because you put ideas in my head like that," he reached up and pushed damp blonde strands behind her ear, "and more to the point, I have everything I ever wanted here right now." He grinned slightly and pulled her into his chest tighter, "But for the record...I loved it."
They both looked to the door as the knob rattled fiercely. Ron pulled his wand back out from under his pillow, where he had replaced it earlier, and canceled the Silencing Charm. "Ronald, wake up," Molly's voice came through the door, "Why's your door locked?" Ron didn't answer as Luna buried her face in his neck and giggled, loudly.
"Is someone in there with you, Ronald Weasley?" Molly snarled suspiciously. Ron rolled Luna off his chest and covered her mouth with his hand lightly. She bit her lip as she rolled all the way off his small bed and padded over to where she had thrown her knickers. She tied them back on, and with a quick flash of inspiration, dove for Ron's equipment pack, tossed her own cloak into the open closet and vanished under Ron's invisibility cloak. Ron stood, threw on what he had slept in, flicked his wand to vanish the evidence of this morning's activities and canceled the locking charm.
"No mum," Ron yawned, as she pushed the door open. He yawned again and paced over to his closet to find a pair of clean jeans, which he slipped on, not flinching at all as Luna goosed him invisibly. "I locked it to keep Fred and George out," he explained simply and Molly nodded unthinkingly.
"Well, fine...everyone is waiting to open presents," she frowned, slightly and gave the tiniest of headshakes, "well almost all of us are here." She huffed slightly as she looked around the room at the scattered clothes, books and extremely messy bed. "Hurry up Ronald," she put in, "and clean your room sometime, it's a pigsty...would you want your...girlfriend to see it like this?" She left, muttering, leaving the door open.
Ron watched her leave, before Luna's head appeared at his shoulder. "I'll go outside, and come back in."
"Honey," Ron frowned slightly as if remembering something, his eyes focused on the area under her floating head, "You need some...clothes; I don't know if Mum would appreciate it, I would, and I know Gred and Forge would, though I'd have to hit them, but..." Ron rambled.
Luna cut him off with the fingers of her right hand against his lips. She tossed off the cloak to reveal herself fully dressed except for her still bare feet in a pair of khaki jeans and a dark blue jumper. "I had them shrunk in the pocket of my cloak," she whispered with a knowing grin. She bent over and pulled on her boots, before wrapping her arms around him and pecking him quickly on the lips.
"I love smart girls," Ron whispered against her lips. She smiled at him and walked to the door, knowing his eyes were on her the whole way, "and I love it when they walk by," he added unthinkingly. Luna paused at his door, blew him a kiss, pulled on her white cloak, and flipped his invisibility cloak over that, vanishing instantly. Ron followed her silent footsteps down the stairs, pulling on a dark green jumper over his t-shirt as he went. He purposefully bumped into a table as he came into the living room, distracting every eye from the door to the outside that opened and closed silently.
Ron took a seat on a dilapidated loveseat, and nodded to Fred and George, who were sitting on the couch across from him. As one, all three boys' eyes flicked to their grandfather clock in the corner, once again finding it was empty of two names that once decorated it. The rest was relatively uninformative, as every other name, including Fleur's recently added one, was pointing as had become usual to "Mortal Peril." Ron frowned slightly, before blanking his face, as Fred looked over, a mug of coffee already in his hand.
"Oi, Ron, where's Luna this fine morning?" he leered slightly. George glanced up from looking at a plate of Christmas snacks, and shared a look with his twin.
"Yeah, Ronniekins, where is the blonde bombshell this morning?" George put in. Ron looked down, flushing slightly.
"Boys," Molly snapped as she came in from the kitchen levitating a tray holding a carafe of hot chocolate long with a plate of muffins, "leave your brother alone. She's a nice girl, unlike some he could be with," she added softly, but not so softly that none of the three heard her. Ron's fists clinched at his side, before he looked up at the twins. They frowned, and Fred gave him a miniscule headshake.
The kitchen door slammed open, and a moment later Luna came into the living room. She stopped to hang her cloak on a hook near the door and shook snow from her hair, before she crossed to Ron and curled up next to him on the loveseat and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Would you like some cocoa, Luna dear?" Molly asked with a small smile.
"That would be lovely, ma'am," Luna replied. Luna reached for the mug that Molly poured her with her left hand, not thinking. Molly screeched and grabbed her hand. She held it up to the light, gaping slightly at the ring on Luna's finger.
"When dear?" she asked breathlessly, not letting go of Luna's hand. Luna shared a glance with Ron, as the twins sniggered behind her. Luna managed to extract her hand from Molly's, with a soft, torpid smile.
"Last night, Mum," Ron muttered sheepishly. He was almost instantly slammed back into the couch as Molly threw her arms around both him and Luna. He fought for breath, and glared over Molly's shoulder at the Twins as they made kissing faces at him.
"Ohh, my baby's growing up..." Molly sobbed, "my little Ronniekins is becoming a man." Behind them Fred and George clasped their hands over their mouths, fighting to keep their laughter silent. They each cast silent Silencios on each other, as they escaped the room. Sudden, loud, raucous laughter came from the next room as they lifted the spells.
Ron sighed, thinking of what he would have to go through with the twins when he and Luna were free of their mother. Molly let them go, and stood, hurrying back into the kitchen muttering something about making the dinner extra special. Ron glanced down, nodding as Arthur came over and gave him a hug, before leaving to follow Molly into the kitchen from where they could hear soft sobbing coming. Luna squeezed his hand, and curled up next to him, kissing his cheek and settling in contently, "Happy Christmas, Ronald."
******************************Godric's Hollow************************
10:15 am.
Roger gave Jane a small grin from his post on the floor next to the tree as Hermione slid down the banister from the floor above, giggling slightly. She turned her head, looking up, only to slam into Harry at the bottom as he suddenly appeared in front of her. "No fair, no Apparating," Hermione squeaked as Harry picked her up, and spun her around slightly. She laughed as she jumped up and wrapped herself around him, leaning to meet his lips.
"I don't remember agreeing to that rule," Harry whispered breathlessly, as he walked backwards with her still wrapped around him and fell back onto the couch. Hermione somehow, possibly through magic, remained in his lap as they landed with her arms still around his neck.
"Honestly, Harry," Hermione smirked and kissed his cheek, "it was implied. You should know that."
"Huh?"
"Happy Christmas, Harry," Hermione muttered, "love you."
"You too, Mione."
"It, um, took you two long enough to make it down his morning," Jane mentioned conversationally as she took a sip from her morning cocoa. She crooked her eyebrow at Hermione as she leaned over the arm of her chair to set her mug on the floor next to her.
Hermione looked down for an instant, her cheeks burning slightly, before she caught her mother's eye with an almost defiant glare for an instant. "We were...delayed a bit." She leaned back, grinning despite herself as she watched her mother's jaw drop for a moment, before she laughed.
"It was bloody well long enough," Roger put in softly, Jane rolled her eyes and threw a pillow from the chair at him. Harry sat silently. "We've been up for hours."
Harry's jaw worked for an instant, with no sound coming out, before Hermione took pity on him and summoned a present from under the tree for him. "Here you go, Harry," she smiled slightly and patted his knee, as Crookshanks jumped up on the top of the couch next to him and stretched out, purring. "This is from mum and dad, Harry." Hermione plucked a brightly wrapped red and green package from out of the air next to her shoulder and handed it to him.
The package was rather heavy, Harry noticed, as he took it from Hermione and sat it on their joined laps. He ripped open the paper to reveal a carved wooden box, about the size of a hatbox. The box was engraved with his name in script under a lion sitting on its paws. The lion's tail twitched periodically, as it waited for him. Harry watched, slightly dumbfounded, at the magical gift from Hermione's parents. He glanced up at them and Jane waved at the box, he nodded and eased it open to find thirty-two, velvet-lined fitted compartments, each with a small figurine in them. Harry laughed as he realized what the figures were, it was a chess set, but instead of the usual knights, and castles and such, small figures on brooms, golden hoops, stadiums and snitches filled out the places. The two oversized teams were dressed in red and gold and green and silver, and Harry laughed again. He gave Hermione's parents a slightly awed look. "Hermione helped us pick it out...obviously," she added as a small red and gold seeker took flight. The tiny, Gryffindor-robed Seeker, that Harry thought seemed to have on a tiny pair of glasses whipped around his head and shot up the tree as if looking for a snitch.
"You can change the teams with a spell, Harry," Hermione put in flicking her wand at the green and sliver pieces still in the box, and changing them to the bright Orange of the Chudley Cannons. "It will let you have any of the Hogwarts' House teams or any of the Professional teams of Great Britain, the Americas or the National teams...The players change to suit the teams."
"Cool," Harry enthused. Thanks, Mione, he whispered as he looked over at her parents. "Thanks, I love it..." he looked at both of them and grinned, "I...ah..."
"You're welcome Harry," Roger replied, "maybe we can play later, I used to play a bit in my younger days," he looked at Hermione and Jane, "I never could get Hermione or Jane to play much."
Harry shared a grin with him, "I don't know about Jane, but Hermione doesn't play all that often with Ron or I...she doesn't like to lose."
"Funny how that seems to be passed down," Roger quipped, "OW!" both men snapped as one, as both of them were whomped in the back of the head at the same time.
Harry rubbed the back of his head, frowning, until Hermione reached up and kissed his hair behind his ear. She smiled nervously as she flicked her fingers over her shoulder, not looking as a small present dropped into her lap. She picked it up, and handed it to him, "Here, Harry, I ahh...thought that you might like this. I talked to Remus about it, he..." Hermione broke off, she bit her lip slightly, "well open it." Harry ripped open the white paper with small golden snitches flitting about, revealing a flat, book-sized box. He opened it, to find a torn, battered notebook bound in stained pebbled black leather. He glanced up at Hermione to see her looking at him nervously, "It's well; it's the notes and such that the Marauders came up with to be Animagi." Harry's eyes widened as he opened the pages to see Lupin's cramped, almost pained handwriting interspaced with James' messy, spiky script and Sirius' large looping one. Harry looked back up to Hermione to share a soft grin, "If you look in the back, your mum's added in her notes in the subject."
"You've read it?" Harry asked, amused.
"Of course," Hermione agreed, "it's a book isn't it? Look under it," she added. Harry looked under another layer of the package to find a small vial filled with a glowing opalescent potion. "It's the final potion, it took a while to brew, and the ingredients I could get without anyone knowing were just enough for...two. I thought that we could..." She shut up as Harry hugged her.
"Sure Hermione, just us?" Harry whispered against her ear. She giggled slightly, and nodded.
Something just for us...a last fall back maybe...or maybe we'll turn out to be little bunnies or field mice or something.
You'd look cute as a bunny...I'd hold you and kiss you and call you Bob.
Hermione barked a laugh, and her parents looked over at the silent pair, Why Bob?
I don't know, Harry shrugged. Hermione grinned and kissed his nose, before sitting back and snuggling back against his chest. So do you want to see what I got for you? Hermione nodded eagerly like a little kid and looked up at him. Harry waved his hand and watched as a clumsily wrapped package meandered over to them. Hermione crooked an eyebrow, What...I wrapped it by hand, Harry explained, Hermione smirked slightly and started to open it, carefully untying the ribbon, easing the tape back with a nail, and unfolding the paper, Alright, you're doing that to annoy me.
Hermione rolled her tongue in her cheek, looked him in the eye and ripped the paper off in about half a heartbeat. Harry laughed as she looked down at a blue and silver box. She glanced up at him for an instant, and watched him nod, before she opened the box along a thin, concealed hinge. Hermione gasped slightly as she pulled out a bracelet. Each individual link in the chain was a melded blend of platinum and gold, the same pattern as Harry and Hermione's wedding rings. Several charms hung from the links and Hermione looked up at Harry. Harry?
The charms are there for some of the times you've saved me...even from myself, he explained as he took her hand and pointed to each in turn, The train is for when we met, which pretty much saved my sorry bum for the next seven years by itself. Hermione smiled slightly, watching him, the potion bottle is for when you were smarter than anyone else...which is pretty much all the time. The broom is for when you cared enough for me to risk our friendship just in case you might have been right. Thanks for that by the way.
You're welcome. And the rest? Hermione whispered, with the tone of her thoughts choked, as she fingered each charm in turn.
The toast is for when you believed me and no one else did, and then saved me again by staying up all night trying to beat that damn charm into my head.
It was rather difficult, Hermione agreed, it is rather hard.
Yeah, it is, Harry replied, he ran his thumb over the back of her hand, and the wand is when you came up with the way for me to fight back against Umbridge. Hermione gave him a small, half smile, and a tiny nod.
What about the other two? Hermione asked with a small lump in her throat, even though she knew what they meant somehow.
The ring, Harry fingered it, that's for everything this year, he took a breath and held up a tiny, silvery baby carriage, this is more of a promise, Hermione. That's to remind you, when you need it, that we are going to get through this, and we are going to put that nursery to use again. I could have had more...but your wrist isn't big enough for all of them.
Oh Harry, Hermione sobbed, and buried her head in his shoulder as tears began to flow. She held out her wrist without pulling her head from his shoulder, put it on, please. Harry fastened it around her left wrist, and listened to the soft jingling as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry leaned his head to hers and kissed the top of her head. You've gotten much better with crying girls, love.
Thanks, Harry snorted, as Hermione giggled softly before leaning back and pulling her wrist back to look at the bracelet jangling at the end of her arm. She rose up on his lap and kissed him, closing her eyes as their lips met and her parents broke out in spontaneous applause.
Hermione dropped her lips from Harry's and placed the crown of her head on his shoulder as she turned to regard Roger and Jane with a gimlet eye. They looked unrepentant, "You know since you are my parents there's no secrecy acts protecting you two..."
Jane smirked and leaned against Roger's hand as he reached up to rub her neck, "It's your fault really, Hermione Jane," she shared a look with Roger, he laughed, "if you two had admitted it years ago, we could have gotten it out of our systems a long time ago."
There you go, next chapter, The Hippogriff will drop....it'll make sense later. And then, back to
reality.