Disclaimer: Everything concerning Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Characters from the Oz books are property of F. L. Baum. I own nothing, nor is this done for any purpose except my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of anyone reading this. There is no attempt to make any profit.
The Most Ancient Magic
Chapter Thirty: A Glimpse into the Future
Breathing …
Hearts beating … together.
Awareness unfolding like a flower.
Harry allowed Hermione to sink back into the pillows. She opened her eyes and looked at him, studying his face. He tried to speak, but no words would come, so he smiled at her. She returned his smile as her eyes filled with tears. Harry kissed away her tears, when he drew back she reached to touch his face, gently caressing his cheek and running her fingers through his hair. He was afraid to move as if anything said or done would shatter the feelings of connection and togetherness he and Hermione were experiencing.
"I love you, Harry," she said at last.
"I love you too, One," Harry gently disengaged from Hermione's embrace. He lay beside her, gazing at the ceiling, feeling wonderfully peaceful. She nestled against him, still gazing at him, it was as though all she wanted to do was look at his face. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her close, as her fingers played across his chest.
Harry didn't know if he slept, but suddenly he felt as though he awakened from a dream. Hermione was still by his side, still watching as she caressed him. "One, that was amazing, being with you."
"It was beyond amazing, I never dreamed it would be like this." She stretched and began flexing her toes. Suddenly she heard Harry gasp. She looked at him, he was staring at her, his expression was stricken.
"Hermione, you're blee-,"
She quickly placed her fingers across his lips. "Yes, Harry, Mum told me I would, at least the first time or two. It's ok."
"But I hurt you," he continued.
She looked at his face, and the lie died on her lips. "Yes, Harry, it hurt, at first, but it wasn't so bad I wanted you to stop. Then after a minute or two the pain was just kind of swallowed up, it was incredible, Harry. I'm still tingling."
Harry refused to be consoled. "But the book said that you didn't have to, I could have stretched yo-,"
"Book? What book?" Hermione said rather sharply.
Harry blushed, "The book I read about sex-"
Hermione giggled, "That's my line, Harry. You read a book about sex? For me? How sweet. Where-when did you get it?"
"Last weekend, you remember when you couldn't find me. It's because I wasn't at Hogwarts. I was with your parents, your father gave it to me."
Hermione didn't know whether to be amused or horrified, "You talked to my dad about sex?"
Harry blushed more deeply than she had ever seen, "It wasn't like that," he protested, "he gave me the book, told me to read over it and said if I had any questions we could talk. He told me that he didn't think we'd have any trouble, it was just like any other magic and all he said was that I just needed to be gentle and take my time."
Hermione smiled at him, "You were gentle, Harry. Thank you for that. Did he tell you anything else?" she said as he caressed his face.
"Yes, he said that he didn't care if you were more powerful than Baba Yaga, Marie Laveau, and the Wicked Witch of the West combined, you still needed to have your teeth checked by a qualified dental professional twice a year."
"I bet Mum wasn't around." Hermione blushed as she giggled again.
"No, she wasn't, how did you know?"
"Right after I started having my period he called me the Wicked Witch of the West once. Mum was so furious, she didn't speak to him for three days." Hermione began to laugh, her laughter was beautiful, silvery, and infectious. Within moments Harry was laughing uncontrollably too.
For long moments they laughed, they laughed until their sides ached, just as one would stop, their eyes would meet and they would start again.
Love had come to live at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. His helpmate is joy and their child is laughter. At the sound of it the shadows retreated. The evil things there lost their grip, and the house breathed easier for it. With their laughter an armoring process began. When the pains and heartaches that are an inevitable part of life would come, with laughter the pain would be lessened. In years to come the house would become a place where one could come and the burdens of life would become lighter for a while.
At last they could continue no longer and they lay gasping for breath. Harry said, "Your father did give me one more piece of advice."
"What was that?"
Harry tucked the covers under his chin. "Your dad told me 'One good turn gets most of the blanket'." As he rolled away from Hermione, he dragged the covers off of her. After a cold foot on his chest to wake him up, Hermione squawked in a most satisfying manner.
"Har-ree, that's not fair!" Hermione was wrestling with him trying to get some of the covers back. She had succeeded in a minor way when she wrinkled her nose. "Phew, Harry, I need a bath." Her face fell as a sudden thought crossed her mind. "That's the only thing I'm going to miss, we prefects had the loveliest bathroom."
Harry released the covers, "I know."
Hermione looked at him, "You know?"
"Cedric gave me the password during the tournament," he said sadly. "That's where I heard the Triwizard clue." He rose and put on his bathrobe then he handed Hermione hers. "Come on, I have a surprise for you."
Hermione followed Harry down the spiral staircase to the library. He walked to the back wall and tugged on a red book. He smiled at her, "I saw this in a movie a long time ago." With a snick the bookcase swung open. She followed him down a short passage. He opened a second door on an exact replica of the prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts. "I really liked the bathroom, so I had one constructed."
His wife looked rather dazed as she dropped her robe and climbed into the tub, she selected her favorite taps and began to fill the tub, relaxing in the warm water. Harry followed her into the water. Hermione leaned back against his chest with a sigh. "Harry, how much money do you have? You bought me that locket, you say you had this built, our rings weren't cheap, you gave your aunt and uncle money, and offered them more. You can't have done all this with the money I saw in your vault. Remus told me you were rich months ago."
Harry hugged Hermione to him, "After all of the things you mentioned and buying the Griffin's their new dental office, well that's a loan, really. We have over two hundred million Galleons."
Hermione was stunned, "No wonder they let us get married, they always knew we'd have enough money, no matter what. What are we going to do with all of it?"
"It's for after the war, there will be much that needs to be rebuilt, a lot of people will get hurt, with Sirius' help we will do what we can. Some of it is for S.P.E.W. if you will promise that you will talk to Dobby and Winky to see what they most need, and the best way to help, I'm sorry I never told you that the elves found your leaving them clothes insulting."
"You'd really fund S.P.E.W.?"
"Of course, It's important to you and maybe if we put the name of 'Potter' with it we can get people behind it, I'm going to try." said Harry.
"You bought John and Karen new dental equipment?"
"Yes, they are working for a cruise line as dentists, but the area where they live is a bit under privileged and they wanted to set up a clinic for when they aren't at sea. The ministry wouldn't provide funds so I bought the equipment for them, they are going to repay the money on a long term basis."
"That's wonderful, Harry." Hermione kissed him again. Harry helped her scrub with a soft sponge then he spent the rest of the time cataloging all the places where his wife was ticklish.
After their bath, the Potters went back upstairs. When they had dressed Hermione surveyed the bed, "I can't leave this for Winky. Help me strip the bed?" Harry nodded and they pulled the sheets from their four poster. He showed her the linen closet and they made the bed together.
They went down to the kitchen and she headed to the washroom armed with her wand and book. Her magic was able to clean most of the sheet, but she finally wound up using a scrub brush and some Mrs. Scower's Magical Mess Remover on the rest of it.
Meanwhile, Harry made some lunch, and they ate in the kitchen with Hermione sitting primly on a cushion Harry had brought from the sitting room.
"What now, Harry? It seems I've spent all of my efforts getting married, I really haven't thought about what to do next."
"Lupin asked me that. We're going to live, Hermione. When we're hungry we will eat, that means there will be dishes to do and we'll have to shop for more food. We'll have clothes to clean and new things to buy when we need them. We have our studies to complete. Plus I need to learn how to be your husband so you need to help me understand what you need, and I will always love you."
"Ok, and you tell me what you want so I can learn to be your wife. You will tell me, right? No more just fixing things like you did with the pancakes?" she smiled.
Harry nodded.
They spent the rest of the afternoon working in the library. Hermione was going through the lesson plans when she heard Harry say in a singsong kind of voice, "You're so beautiful, yes, you are, oh, yes, you are."
She turned around with a smile on her face. "Thanks, Har-"
Harry was grinning at her, but he was talking to a small snake he had conjured. "Well, I guess this means you are a parselmouth too."
"Oh, great! Harry, you've always been a parselmouth, you don't know how creepy it sounds. What are we going to do about it?"
"You mean besides hissing at each other in the halls and terrorizing first years?"
Hermione turned back to her work, with a tutting noise. But she found the idea of being able to understand another creature vaguely intriguing and looked forward to exploring her new talent, but why did it have to be snakes?
After a time Harry came over and started kissing her on her neck. She tried to ignore him as long as she could but at last she gave up and smiled at him, "What?"
He looked seriously at her, "Hermione, are you going to be uncomfortable at school now, because everyone will know that you lost your virginity? The reason I ask is because the idea seemed to upset you last night."
She looked at him, her expression registered hurt at first, then after a moments thought she said, "Harry, I was only thinking of myself last night, and the thought that something which was private between us would be common knowledge for some reason upset me. I don't know why because it is something all married couples do. It was just something that came over me and I wasn't thinking."
Hermione continued, "Harry, I didn't lose anything. I know people talk of it that way, but my parents taught me to look at it differently. They said that they were very old fashioned and out of step with the times, but that my virginity was a gift that I could give only once, so I should save it for someone really special. They taught me it should be my husband, but they realized it would be my choice. I know you had no one to teach you so I'm not mad, but my love, I gave my virginity to you, it was a wedding present."
Harry looked at his wife, "I'm sorry, I didn't know, but thank you. I didn't realize the honor you did me, thank you for teaching me." Hermione responded by giving him a big hug.
They worked on their studies through the afternoon. Then they practiced Tai Chi. Rather than bother with supper, they brought things that they could toast up to the library and camped out on the floor in front of the fireplace.
As they snuggled before the fire something happened that had never happened through his years of studying divination. It was as if a curtain lifted in his mind and he saw down through the years.
The near future seemed to be full of turmoil and he saw no details that he could put into words. Voldemort, may have been wounded but Harry sensed that only made him more dangerous than ever. It seemed he saw another wedding, one with a tall, red-haired groom. He experienced a sensation of profound grief and guessed that it would not be many years before Dumbledore began his "next great adventure". As he moved rapidly through the years he saw children, his and Hermione's, he was unable to tell if there were three or four, and there was some sadness connected with one of them. Somewhere down the road he would pass the torch to them as it had been passed to him and it seemed to have something to do with Hogwarts. In his vision time seemed to spin away from him. He was unable to see what happened, but it seemed he and Hermione would pass from this life together, and the others, children and friends would be sustained by the memories of the laughter that had begun today. Life was before him and would continue after him until the appointed time ran out. "Progeny of the former generation and progenitors of the next", Dumbledore had said, was it only yesterday? He had joined the cycle of life and there was nothing to do but live it, again as Dumbledore had tried to teach him, in the here and now. The future would take care of itself if he could just take care of today.
Hermione nudged him, "What is it, Harry?"
"I don't know," he confessed. He told her of his vision.
When he had finished she kissed him. "Sounds like fun, I look forward to it." Then she stood and dragged him to his feet, "Harry, would you make love with me some more?"
Finis*******************************************************************
Gentle Readers,
I have reached the point I was aiming for when I set out thirty chapters ago. I intended to hurry along where I thought JKR was going. This was finished as HBP was released, and well, you know as well as I what happened.
Someone asked about Idewild and Fornost. Hermione will learn about them, of course. I will leave that and the rest of their honeymoon to your imaginations. Sequel, well, perhaps. I have some other things I'd like to try before I write one, but it will be interesting to look in on them a few years down the road.
As is probably apparent this is my first try at fan fiction. If you liked it, I am human enough to enjoy a pat on the head. If you didn't like it I would like to know why. I would like to better next time, and as Hermione said, "Unless you tell me, how can I learn?" Believe it or not I started this as a means of improving my typing skills, it was infinitely more fun than Mavis Beacon key combination drills. I have no ego to bruise so please be honest.
Until next time, God Bless.