The Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but if I did, I would have been a bit smarter about it!!

Author Note: Hey guys! It's been awhile, I know, but I was on the other night and I really for some reason wanted to read a `Harry and Hermione get married and have a baby in school' fic and couldn't find one, so I decided to write my own. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get it out very fast (sorry) since I have work and everything but I'll do the best I can. I'm so distraught over the events of Book 6 that this will be AU in that Dumbledore is still alive and there is no horcrux business, but some characters and events will be worked in. Sorry if it becomes confusing for you guys, I just couldn't bear to write a story that didn't include good `ol Dumbly-dore. Also, there's a line at the end of this chapter that I think is from a movie. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit. Anyway, on to the story.

“Thank you for coming.” Dumbledore gestured toward two chairs in front of his desk. Harry and Hermione sat, wearing matching looks of confusion.

They had been asked to Dumbledore's office in the middle of their first day of classes, both silently wondering what they could have done with it being so early in the year. Of course, they had both been made Head Boy and Girl for their seventh year, so he could have wanted them for Head business, but the twinkle was gone from his usually bright blue eyes, and without it, he seemed so much older.

“I'm afraid I have some startling news for you,” he started, sighing gently as he took his seat. “I have recently been made aware of something that will prove life-changing for both of you. It seems a prophecy had been made about 500 years ago, and we believe it is about the two of you. I'm sure you'll agree once you've heard it. He rose from his chair and went to the cabinet that Harry knew held his pensieve. After removing it, he returned and set the empty pensive on his desk. He removed a small phial from his robes and poured its silvery contents into the pensieve.

He gave it a swirl with his wand and a ghostly figure of a witch wearing very outdated robes emerged. “A savior and a knowledge seeker will join, and from this union will bear the salvation for their people. On the day of the salvation's birth, their people will know peace once more…” The old witch's voice trailed off as she faded down into the rest of the pensieve's silvery contents.

Harry was sure he knew what the prophecy was saying, and as he turned to Hermione, he could almost see the wheels turning in her head. He saw a look of understanding on her face, but was the first to speak.

“So basically, a kid needs to be born to be able to defeat Voldemort, and you think that it has to be Hermione's and mine?”

“Yes, Harry,” Dumbledore agreed with a sigh. “That is what we believe.”

“So,” Hermione started slowly. “Harry and I have to get married, soon I'm sure, and have a kid, and then we'll be able to defeat Voldemort?”

“That is what we believe needs to be done. We think that if you and Harry get married and have a child, then just the presence of this child will be enough. You see, the other prophecy said that Harry would defeat Voldemort with `power he knows not', and we had deduced that this power was love. The love of a parent for their child is so basic and pure that it is the most powerful of all. We believe it is this power that will destroy him forever.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other uncertainly. They only just that past summer had began to see each other as something more than just best friends, but were definitely not ready to jump into something as serious and permanent as marriage and children.

“I think we'll need a little bit to talk it over, if that is okay. Can we give you a decision tonight?” Hermione asked quietly.

“Certainly, I would expect nothing less. Please take all the time you need, and remember, I'm here if you have any questions at all,” Dumbledore said gently.

As they got up and left Dumbledore's office to have the most serious and important conversation of their lives, both remembered the events of the summer that led up to each seeing the other in a different light.

It was 11:59 on July 30, and Harry Potter sat on a small bed in the smallest bedroom of Number Four Privet Drive. He had a full trunk at his feet and was wearing rather large clothes and a rather large smile, for in just one minute, he would be able to leave the house he had called `home' for the past sixteen years. In just one minute, he would be seventeen and would be of age. He would never have to see his dreadful relatives ever again. As the broken clock on his nightstand turned over to 12:00 and he heard the chimes from the grandfather clock downstairs, he shrunk his belongings and put them in his pocket. Taking one last glance around the room as much as to check for lost belongings as to say a silent goodbye, he walked down the stairs and out into the night, never looking back to the house that had caused him so much pain in the years before.

He put out his hand to call the Knight Bus. Once it arrived, he instructed Stan Shunpike that he needed to go to the small town near the Burrow. The Weasleys were expecting him and he would be staying with them the remainder of the summer. Hermione was also supposed to have arrived earlier that day, and they would be having a birthday party later for Harry.

The Knight Bus arrived in the small village with a jolt and Harry disembarked a little shakier than he wished. As soon as he scanned the area after leaving the bus, he noticed a woman with bright pink hair. Putting on his widest smile, he strode over to her. She noticed him as well almost immediately.

“Wotcher, Harry,” Tonks called out.

“Hello,” Harry called back.

“I've been sent to walk you up to the Burrow. They didn't want you to be out at night by yourself, so here I am. Do you have everything?”

When Harry nodded in the affirmative, they began the walk, chatting amicably on the way. Soon they were there, and were let in by Mrs. Weasley, who must have seen them coming. She immediately swept Harry into a hug and pushed him toward the table.

“Oh, Harry dear, it's so good to see you. My, are you thin! Sit, sit, I'll fix you a snack.”

Knowing it would do no good to try to persuade her otherwise, he sat and watched her whip up the snack. Not five minutes after he arrived, he heard the pounding of feet on the stairs and barely had a chance to glance around to see who it was before he was attacked by bushy brown hair.

“Hermione!” he said, laughing. “Ease up, will you? You're going to suffocate me!”

To his relief, she released him. He felt a twinge of disappointment.

Where did that come from? he wondered silently. And when did Hermione start to smell so good?

Once she had backed up and taken a seat at the table with him, he was able to get a better look at her. She had a slight tan, probably from her yearly vacation with her parents. She was wearing a pink shirt and jeans that hugged her curves nicely.

Wait! He mentally told himself. Since when do I notice Hermione's curves?

But notice them he did. And how could he not? How could he have missed the fact that one of his best friends had developed into a beautiful woman?

“Er-hi, Hermione,” he started, angry for not being able to be a little more eloquent. “How has your summer been so far?”

“Oh, it's been wonderful. My parents took me to America and we went to Disney World in Florida. We had a great time, and the best part is that Orlando, where Disney is, has a wonderful Wizarding History Museum. It was so enlightening. I learned loads about the history of the American witches and wizards.”

Harry chuckled to himself. Leave it to Hermione to do something educational on her vacation. He continued to chat with Hermione while he ate the snack (meal!) that Mrs. Weasley had prepared for him. After he was finished he thanked her and followed Hermione up the stairs. He stopped with her at the door to Ginny's room, where she would be staying.

“I'm so glad you're here, Harry. I love Ron, he's a great friend and all, but I'm getting tired of arguing with him. It's so much easier when you're here. We don't seem to argue as much.” She hugged him, and he again noticed how good she smelled. Strawberries. Definitely strawberries. She released him and entered the room, closing the door quietly and leaving the faint scent of strawberries behind. Harry made his way up to Ron's room, shaking his head and trying to get thoughts of Hermione out. As he climbed into bed and tried to ignore Ron's snoring, he could help but wonder why he couldn't get her out of his head.

Over the weeks that followed, he found that Hermione affected him more and more each day. Her scent, her smile, he couldn't get enough. All the things he had noticed before but never paid much attention to. On their last night, after dinner. Ron had gone up to his room mumbling something about writing a letter, so Harry went outside to find Hermione. He did find her lying in the grass, looking up at the stars. He lay down next to her, not saying anything for several minutes.

“Nights like this when it's so calm and peaceful, it really makes me think about the future, what it might be like when Voldemort is finally gone,” Hermione said quietly some time later.

“I know what you mean. Ever since I heard the prophecy, and I know what's going to happen, I can't help but wonder if I'll be around to know.”

Hermione sat up suddenly, looking at Harry as intensely as he had ever seen. “You can't say that Harry. You will make it. You will defeat him, and you will live to see what it's like after it is all done and over.”

He could see the tears shining in her eyes, and he didn't like knowing he was the reason they were there. He sat up with her and took her in his arms, hoping the simple act could calm her. It seemed to, and minutes later he loosened his grip and pulled her away to look her in the eye. Her eyes were so filled with emotion, it was almost overwhelming. At once it hit him. The way he had been feeling about her, not being able to get her out of his head. He loved her. He loved her more than he had ever thought it was possible to love another person.

“I'll make it, Hermione. If for no other reason than I'll live to be with you, I'll make it. I love you. It scares me, but I love you. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that I did and I hadn't let you know. Time is precious, and we need all of it that we can get.” With that, he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss, so light and quick it was over almost before it had begun.

“You have no idea how long I have been waiting to hear you say that, Harry. I realized I felt more than just friendship for you a long time ago, but never thought you might feel the same.”

“How could I not, when you're everything I never knew I always wanted?”

He lowered her back down onto the grass, still holding her tightly and they continued to watch the stars, wishing that night could last forever.

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