13. At The End of a Beautiful Day.
The morning of the twenty third of March dawned chilly but clear. Harry was trying very hard not to show the nervousness he felt. The only one who knew how he was feeling was Hermione and she wasn't telling. They were both sitting in the Heads Common Room watching Ron as he walked back and forth going through his plan for the umpteenth time.
Since Draco's disappearance after Professor Snape's 'accident' Ron had felt it was safe enough to talk to several of the seventh year students. As a result he now had Seamus, Dean, Hannah, and Justin all willing to Guard the inside of the main door, in case any of the Slytherins decided to support Voldemort after all. He knew that with those four and some of the staff in position he wouldn't have to watch his back, because his back was going to be tight up against that door.
All the other students were to be in their common rooms guarded by the rest of the old DA members and whatever members of staff were available. The castle was to be sealed as it had been the year Sirius was supposed to be after Harry's blood. Ron had been promised some outside help, but the Order was too disparate to be much use, he knew he could only count on six to be at the school. They would be hidden in Hagrid's hut and would fight as and where was necessary, he had to rely on Tonks and Remus to use them as they saw fit.
His other two unknowns were Harry and Hermione, and he still worried about the both of them, even though Harry had told him not to.
He and the other shield bearers would be on the steps of the castle, their aim to prevent anyone or anything from getting to the doors. Solomon would join them there as soon as he knew that Avalon was safe.
Voldemort, well there was another little problem, but not one Ron was concerned with, well almost not. Ron knew that Harry could take care of him, but he was still worried that he might freeze as he did in the speculator. Luna had promised that she was working on something to keep Harry's mind on the job, but she hadn't told Ron what it was as yet.
So that was the plan, uncomplicated and understaffed, but Ron knew he could rely on each participant to do their utmost. He wasn't worried, well yes he was, but not much, well rather a lot really, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He was as prepared as he could be; he had to hope it was enough.
The waiting became difficult; Solomon had already departed to Avalon to prepare for his task. He and Harry had maintained contact, although there as a considerable distance between them now, their thoughts crossed the gap with no noticeable delay. They practiced coordinating Harry calling a nimbus limen and Solomon stitching the exit seamlessly to the entrance of another back to Hogwarts.
Hermione tried the extended doorway and apart from the trip taking longer than she was used to, she could tell no difference, nor find the join, and she was looking for it. As the afternoon of that Thursday drew to a close Harry and Hermione left the other members of the Tyr swapping old school stories and walked down to the lake. They sat together by their favourite tree and watched the sun as it slowly headed towards the tops of the surrounding hills. The valley holding the lake always darkened early this time of the year, and as the dusk gathered the young witch and wizard sat enjoying each others company. It was Harry who broke the slience.
"I want you to show me one more time, then I'll be satisfied," he said.
Hermione sighed, "Oh Harry! I must have done it six times already this afternoon. You'll wear me out."
Harry fixed her with pleading eyes, "Please," he entreated.
"Oh all right, if I must."
They had been working on a refinement of the Aegis maximus shield by binding it with the power of Hermione's Tear; Harry stood to give her some room.
Hermione sat cross-legged, pulled her necklace out from beneath her robes and gripped the stone tightly in her hand. Her brow furrowed in concentration as a dim blue glow began to surround her body then expanded to form a perfect sphere with her at its centre. Harry could only see a dome surrounding Hermione but he knew that the enclosure was complete, half of the sphere was buried in the ground, anchoring it in position.
"I'm going to test it," Harry said.
Hermione shook her head and pointed to her ear. The shield, like the ball in the ministry, blocked sound and Hermione couldn't hear him. 'I'm going to test it' Harry repeated in thought "OK I'm ready' she replied.
There was a large boulder just on the waters edge, Harry considered it then raising his wand said "Wingardium Leviosa" and the rock lifted out of the ground and floated over to hover directly over Hermione's head. Harry dropped his wand and the rock fell with it to strike the glowing shield with a dull thud. It slid harmlessly down the dome to hit the ground and roll away toward the lake. Harry then fired a stunner towards his girlfriend and jumped quickly to one side. The spell passed through the dome and seemed to strike her but as before the brilliant flash of energy returned the spell to where Harry had been standing. The red beam of the stunner passed out across the lake and over the Forbidden Forest before being lost in the gathering gloom.
'Happy now', was the thought as the blue glow slowly dissipated.
"Yes," said Harry, "now I'm happy."
They walked back to the castle arm in arm when Hermione voiced something which had been on her mind for several days.
"Harry?"
"Yeh?"
"Tomorrow…" she hesitated.
"What about tomorrow?"
"I want to come with you." She confessed.
"No! no way, you have to stay here; you know what my mum wrote in her letter."
"No you misunderstand," she said quickly, she didn't want an argument, "Not to Black House, to Godrics Hollow, I'll come back here before you go on."
Harry had decided to stop at his parents' old house, first before travelling on to Voldemort's headquarters the following day. He thought that the surroundings of Godrics Hollow would help him prepare for the battle.
Now that the waiting was almost over the idea of just saying goodbye was more than Hermione felt she could cope with, she could feel the pain, and knew her eyes were filling with tears. Harry didn't want to leave her either, but would it help them both to drag out the parting?
Then he remembered a piece of advice given to him on his sixteenth birthday. Helga Hufflepuff's message to him that day had been to 'Follow your heart', he had done it then and the result was standing in front of him, her eyes shining and her breath catching in her throat. So he did it again and drew her to him in a tight embrace.
"OK, but only to Godrics Hollow."
The mood in the Heads Common Room was a little strained the following morning, Harry was saying his goodbyes, they all knew they had confidence in each other but in war things don't always go as planned. They couldn't help but be a bit sombre.
It was Luna who lightened the mood. She played dizzy to the hilt making all the others smile at her, and just before Harry and Hermione left it seemed that she had forgotten something terribly important, because she began to rummage through a very large carpet bag she had inexplicably brought with her.
"Here!" she cried having pulled two small objects from the depths of the bag. "I wanted you to wear these, they're for luck." She rushed over to Harry and pinned a small silver-coloured disc to the inside of his robe. Then to his surprise she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Err…Thanks," he said with a little embarrassment at her display of affection.
Luna then turned her attention to Hermione and repeated the process. The kiss was just as brief but left Hermione completely bereft of words. So she gave her an awkward smile instead.
"Those are very old Lovegood heirlooms," Luna explained, "look after them and wear them at all times."
Harry and Hermione nodded to her, took one last look at their friends, and gripping each other by the hand, vanished.
"OK," said Ron looking at Luna, "what was all that about?"
"I was just fulfilling my promise to you, to make sure Harry kept his mind on the job. I've been talking to your brothers," she explained, "they're very clever you know, I told them what I needed and why, and they came up with those little silver discs."
Ron looked horrified, "You've been talking to Fred and George, but they could have developed anything, this could be a disaster."
"Oh Ron, have a little faith," Luna chided him, "they know how important all this is, they don't want us to fail. They will be in Hagrid's hut tomorrow; they know what we are up against."
Ron nodded, "I suppose so, but what about those things you pinned on Harry and Hermione?"
"Well if Harry becomes distracted from his task he will get a little reminder of what it is he is fighting for. Then I thought Hermione will be alone as well, so I had one made for her too. The boys are going to market them; I think they said they were going to call them 'Emotion Brooches'."
"Ri i i i ght," said Ron, "what about the kissing bit then?"
"Oh, that seals the charm, I think that's what they said it did," she grinned, "why Ron, not jealous are you?"
…………………………………..
Harry and Hermione appeared in the garden of the house in Godrics Hollow. As it had before, the tranquillity of the place distracted them for a moment. They felt the worries and tensions of the past few days leave them, and Harry knew that coming here had been a smart move. In the bushes and the trees of the garden they could see the little golden lights, there was the occasional flash of colour as one of the souls of Voldemort's Inferius caught the sunlight, and then Hermione saw movement as one light floated out towards them.
'Hi you two, everything going according to plan?' Sirius' thought came through clearly.
'Yes, so far. Tomorrow is the big day, you'll be ready?' thought Harry.
Sirius chuckled 'Not as if we're busy with anything else at the moment.' There was a ghostly pat on Harry's shoulder. 'We'll be there Harry, don't worry.'
'It's hard to worry about anything here,' thought Hermione dreamily.
'I think you two ought to get inside, this garden is likely to make you forget why you came here,' Sirius thought, 'it was always was a distraction but it seems our presence is making the effect worse.'
'You coming with us Sirius?' asked Harry.
'No, I'll wait out here; there are too many memories in there for me to feel comfortable. I'll see you tomorrow,' he replied.
Harry led Hermione to the back door and reached for the handle, as he turned it a shiver of magic shot up his arm, the house recognised him and welcomed him home. Inside the house was fresh and clean, there was no sign of the devastation that Harry had expected.
There was furniture in each room and pictures on the walls, there was not a speck of dust to mar the simple beauty of the place. The arrangement of the rooms was four square, the kitchen and scullery were at the back looking out over the garden. In the front of the house the sitting room was to one side of the small hall and a dining room to the other.
As Harry opened the door to the dining room he was surprised to see the table laid for two. Food was there, hot and steaming, and the cause of all this was standing to one side of the table his woolly hat held clasped in his hands at his chest. The little figure bowed to them.
"Harry Potter Sir and Miss Hermione pleased be welcome to Godrics Hollow, there is food here for you. Dobby hopes you likes it."
Harry was dumbfounded, "Dobby, how did you know we were coming here?"
The house elf looked crestfallen, "I is sorry Sir if I did wrong in coming, but you must know that where ever Harry Potter lives away from Hogwarts Dobby is always coming to look after you, and Miss as well," he added, indicating Hermione with a bow to her. "That is what I does now, that is Dobby's life. It is what Dobby wants."
Harry didn't know what to say, but Hermione knelt in front of Dobby, gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek, the house elf giggling almost turned himself inside out with embarrassment.
They ate their meal and retired to the sitting room, Harry thought there must be workshop somewhere that produced nothing but soft squashy chairs and sofas, for more of that inestimably comfortable furniture was in evidence. They sat for a while in silence, then before the afternoon began to dim into evening Harry stood and pulled Hermione to her feet.
"Come flying with me?" he asked.
"Oh Harry, I don't know, you know I don't like it much," then seeing his puppy dog expression relented, "OK then but not too high, and nice and slow."
They rose out of the front garden, circling the cottage, gaining height slowly. Harry kept the speed down partly for Hermione's sake, and partly because he wanted to see just what was on the land around the Hollow. The stream that passed behind the house cut the only passageway through the surrounding hills, which isolated the cottage. Apart from the area around the hollow the countryside was wooded. In the distance the trees gave way to muggle farmland and the odd building with lights beginning to shine in the late afternoon light could be seen. Even from the height they were flying there were no large muggle towns visible.
Godrics Hollow was so perfect it was hard to believe that sixteen years ago it was the site of a double murder, but sadly the evidence was there. The two white cover stones were clearly visible to both the youngsters. They were on the rise of the hill to one side of the house, surrounded by a stand of small trees that would have hidden them from the ground, but marked them well from the air.
Harry almost headed to them to land, then caught the sight of a single golden light weaving backward and forward over the stones. He knew it was Sirius and he didn't want to intrude, he would have plenty of time to pay his respects when this was all over, so he turned the broom away and landed in the back garden.
Harry put the broom by the backdoor then returned to Hermione who had stayed out in the garden. She was just standing there watching him as he crossed the lawn to her, the moon was out now, its silvery light making her face seem pale and cold but when he reached her found that it was warm, if a little damp, as she drew him into a long slow passionate kiss. Harry could feel her body crushed so tight against his, it was so soft and so alive, the fragrance of her perfume filled his lungs with air that was so sweet that he knew he never wanted this evening to end.
Hermione held him close, he encircled her with those strong arms of his that made her feel so safe and gave her the courage to believe that everything was going to be alright. Yet those strong arms held her so tenderly, as if he was afraid of breaking her, and she could feel his hands caressing her telling her that above all else he loved her.
They stood, as the stars began to shine in the sky above, in each others arms at peace with each other and with everything around them. There was a click as the backdoor opened on its own and they turned toward it and walked in. The cottage was in darkness but their way was lit by the stone on Hermione's necklace that was glowing quietly as if in anticipation.
They climbed the stairs together and crossed the threshold of the room that led to the beginning of life ever after.
Harry knew beyond any doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this wonderful young woman. Even if his life ended tomorrow, he would have his dreams to take with him. Hermione could feel herself standing on the brink of the rest of her life, she knew Harry would never force the issue no matter how much he wanted it, it was up to her to reassure him, to give permission to take their relationship past that invisible line they had drawn.
How do you do this without feeling awkward, without feeling brash, without making an idiot of yourself? You do it without words, you look into each others souls, the questions are asked and the answers given by a look and the nod or shake of the head. The acceptance of the next step forward can be found in a touch or a kiss which burns so deeply that you think you will never survive its effects. You realise that this other someone is really the other half of yourself, and that without them living would be impossible. You are completing the circle and forging a link that can never be broken or repeated.
This wasn't Hogwarts and they weren't scrunched up on an old sofa. There was love and tenderness. There was innocence and awkwardness. There was passion and a need for them both to feel complete. If this was all the future they could ever have together it had to be just right.
In that small upstairs room the radiance of Hermione's Tear burned brightly and this time it didn't waver or die.
Outside in the garden those who waited sensed the power of the magic in that room, and acting as one took to the air, and circled the house, enclosing the little white cottage in a band of gold.