Lady in Red
Previously, at the end of Chapter 18:
`What if I'm wrong? What if she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with me?' he said to himself. Outwardly, though, he managed a stuttered reply.
"Well…I just thought…I mean I assumed…I know you shouldn't assume but I thought at some point you and I-," Harry began then fell silent as she lifted her head and looked straight at him. He felt his heart jump as he saw the look in her eyes. There were tears glistening in the corners and she looked almost scared and happy at the same time. "Am I wrong?" Harry whispered, hoping she would tell him if he was. He would rather find out now, than on his birthday.
"No," Hermione whispered, shaking her head and carefully placing the parchment on the ground. She leaned over and he met her hug halfway, drawing her to him, "Not at all." She buried her face in his shoulder and forced herself to bring her emotions under control.
Now she knew he thought they would be together in the future. He had thought about them having children and with that truth a great wave of relief washed over her. She felt his hands rubbing her back and she nestled closer, realizing now how much she had gone through to be with him, at this moment.
Now, she could stop wondering what she could get him for his birthday, because she had the one thing no one else had, or would ever have, to give him. And as she pulled back and saw the seriousness in his eyes she gently pushed him back onto the rug. And, right there on the floor, showed him how much she loved him.
-----
Harry stared at the ceiling of his living room, not quite believing that he and Hermione had just shagged each other's brains out. They hadn't even taken the time to remove their shirts and the Prophecy lay in the same spot where he had carefully set it down. It was her fault they ended up half naked. She had began the whole thing with a hug.
One of them had pulled the blanket off the sofa and it was now draped over their lower bodies. Hermione was lying next to him, their fingers loosely intertwined as their breathing slowed down to a somewhat normal pace.
"I think it might be time for a nap," Harry mumbled feeling very lazy and satiated.
"Men," was all Hermione said as she pulled herself up and looked down at him. His glasses had long been discarded and she searched his bright green eyes, briefly wondering if their baby would have the same ones. According to the Prophecy, they were to have "children" and it could be this one or the next with green eyes.
"I am man. Here me snore," Harry responded cheekily, feeling her fingers lift up his bangs as she gazed at his scar, laughing softly.
"Can you believe Neville and Luna will be married in two weeks?" Hermione asked as she shifted her gaze from his scar to his mouth. Harry shook his head slightly.
"I never really thought about Neville marrying anyone until he said he was dating Luna last year. Then it all kind of fell into place and made sense, for the two of them to be together."
"Do you think it was always meant for them to be together?" Hermione asked her fingers taking up a soothing rhythm as she brushed back his hair. Harry let his eyes close and shook his head.
"Luna told me when I first moved in that it had been meant for Ginny and Neville, me and you, then Ron and her to live happily ever after, to be cliché. It was in the stars, so to speak, and she chastised me for not paying full attention in Astronomy class. She said that the Death Eaters changed the way it was supposed to work out. I think she was also a bit pissed that she didn't foresee that one coming."
Harry then realized Hermione's fingers had stopped moving a gentle path through his hair and he squinted up at her to see the oddest expression on her face.
"What? I just now remembered it or I would've told you earlier," Harry began a bit defensively.
"No, it's not that. I'm just wondering if that was the way it was supposed to be, then why did you get together with Ginny and me with Ron? Why not just skip all that?"
"Dunno," Harry answered letting his eyes fall back closed. "Maybe so we could feel the different kinds of love that are out there."
Hermione was quiet for a moment, her hand falling to his shoulder. "Maybe you're right. My feelings for you are quite different than they were…are…for Ron."
"Same here," Harry agreed feeling the beginning stage of sleep creep up on him.
"You aren't going to fall asleep on me are you?"
"Maybe."
"Well, at least put your pants back on, Harry."
Harry felt around blindly for his pants and boxers and with a wave of his wand they were on in no time. He felt Hermione's lips press against his forehead as he turned onto his side, feeling a pillow being slipped under his head.
"I love you," she whispered in his ear, feeling his hand come up and cup her face.
"I love you," Harry whispered right back letting his hand trail down her arm to her hand where he squeezed it lightly. The last thing he remembered was the dull clinking sound of Hermione picking up the cylinder and placing it on the table.
---
Harry tugged at his tie in the mirror, pulled the knot out and began again. In about an hour they were to meet Hermione's parents in London for a quiet birthday dinner. She had told him that her gift to him would be given later that night and he let his mind run wild a bit wondering exactly what that would mean. He was just happy that she had no idea about the ring hidden in the back of his wardrobe underneath an old Quidditch shirt. The only other person who knew what he was planning, besides Ron, was Neville, and probably Luna too. She had come over with Neville, the twins, Lavender and Katie two nights before and they had read and pondered The Prophecy. Luna had dragged Hermione into the kitchen to show her something and Harry took that moment to tell Neville, as the twins and their respective partners had gone to the basement to check out where the cylinder had been hidden. Neville had given him a hard clap on the back and told him how happy he was, and volunteered any advice in the wedding department as theirs wasn't too far away.
The following day was taken up with trying to find Phinneas, who managed to avoid them probably guessing that they were going to come ask him how he managed to get the Potter Prophecy. In the end, they found Ron and explained what they had found. He had promised to see if he could corner Phinneas and question him, to which Harry was grateful. He was getting tired, and a bit pissed off, that this dead person was avoiding him and Hermione by hiding between portraits.
"Harry?"
"Come in," Harry answered as he tugged his tie into place and tucked his shirt into his pants. She opened the door and he could see her reverse image in his mirror. For a moment, he forgot what he was doing. She was standing in his doorway in a dark red dress. Spaghetti straps divided her smooth neck and her slender shoulders and it hugged her curves in a way that Harry had never seen before. He had seen her naked, had run his hands along her many times in the past few weeks, but knowing what was under there and seeing how lovely she looked in the simple red dress, and the fact that she had on matching dress shoes had rendered him speechless for the moment.
"Harry? Say something," Hermione walked in and touched his arm, seeing how his eyes followed her form in the mirror. He turned around and looked down at her, gently touching her hair which barely went past her shoulders in waves of curls.
"You're beautiful," he whispered, smiling as she flushed. Placing her hands on his chest she ran a finger down his tie.
"Thanks. Lavender helped me pick it out."
"Lavender is one of my favorite people right now," Harry murmured resting his hands on her hips and feeling a pull to run to his wardrobe and grab the ring.
`Why the hell not?' a little voice questioned in his head, sounding very much like Ron Weasley.
`Shouldn't I wait until after dinner or something? I need to think about-,' Harry's thoughts were cut off as she stood up and placed her lips on his in what was supposed to be a quick kiss. But it didn't take more than a second for Hermione to be pulled closer to Harry and to be kissed harder than she had ever been kissed before. Hermione had the fleeting thought she was glad she chose not to wear lipstick or they'd be a mess.
"How much longer," Harry gasped as he came up for breath. His voice was so quiet Hermione had to push past the blood pulsing in her ears to hear what he said.
"Until what?"
"We meet your parents?" Harry brushed his lips across her forehead and carefully hugged her, willing his voice to not shake as he realized he was only a few feet away from the rest of his life.
"An hour. But if you're thinking about getting in that bed-," Hermione began, letting her hands rub his back.
"Well, I'm always thinking that but I know now is not the time to shag you into oblivion." He heard her gasp then laugh at his boldness. "I just…I have something for you and wanted to make sure I had time to give it to you and all," he finished in a rush closing his eyes for a moment and pulling away slightly. He didn't want her to feel how fast his heart was beating.
"It's your birthday, Harry. Why would you have something for me?" Hermione pulled away and felt Harry steer her to his bed, indicating she should sit.
"Why not? It's not my birthday, technically, yet. Just sit there, close your eyes or something so you can't see," Harry touched her cheek and she sighed but complied and shut her eyes. Harry quietly accio'd the ring from his wardrobe, caught it and flipped open the round box. He took a deep, quiet breath and pulled it out letting it hang on his finger for a moment. He had purchased the ring with the automatic sizing spell placed on it because he truly didn't know what ring size her fingers were. He sat down next to Hermione and took her hand softly. She laced her fingers through his and asked if she could open her eyes yet.
"Not yet…," Harry said quietly, gently removing his hand from hers since it was her left he was holding. He had no speech prepared. She knew he loved her and Harry knew she loved him. He could see it in the way she was always touching him, the way she listened when he just needed to vent about something, the defiant way she promised him nothing was going to take him from her. So, taking a deep breath he pulled her hand onto his lap, slid the ring on her finger and asked that four worded question.
"Will you marry me?"
He was watching her face, his heart beating wildly. She managed a strangled gasp at the same time her eyes flew open. Slowly, she pulled her hand off his lap. For a brief second her shocked brown eyes met his then swung down to her hand.
"What?" she asked dumbly and Harry bit back a laugh, taking in this moment. She was shocked speechless and she just stared at the ring on her hand. Harry knew he didn't need to repeat the question; that she was just now processing what he had asked. The fingers on her right hand touched the ring and traced the edges, then paused on the rubies that were placed on either side.
She couldn't believe this was happening. She had hoped it would, some day, probably further down the road, possibly after the baby was born. But the timing had completely surprised her.
"Do you know-," Hermione choked out, almost asking if he knew that she was pregnant. But he had interrupted before she could finish.
"Know what?" he asked quickly, wondering if giving into the little voice in his head had been a good idea.
He didn't know…how could he? Luna was the only one who knew and she promised Hermione that she wouldn't say anything to Harry. Not even to Neville---at least until after the party. If Neville got drunk, he would surely let it slip.
Quickly, Hermione changed her thoughts and looked at him, tears shining in her eyes. She laid a hand against his cheek and bringing his head down to hers, pressed her forehead against his.
"Do you know how much I love you?"
Harry gave a shaky smile. "I think so…that's why I asked and…because I know how much I love you."
Hermione swiped a tear away from her cheek and nodded slightly.
"Yes, I will," she whispered and felt his lips touch hers, the salt from her tears getting trapped between their lips.
"Good, I was hoping you'd say that," Harry said against her lips, pulling her down onto the bed with him, kissing her softly. For the next half hour they laid next to each other, kissing softly and looking at each other with new eyes…trying to wrap their minds around the terms "fiancée". Both laughed as the words "husband" and "wife" were mentioned; it felt so strange for those words to be coming off their tongues.
Before they left Harry's room however, Hermione tugged his arm, making him turn around in the doorway and look down at her.
"Many girls would've been ecstatic to become Missus Harry Potter…I'm just happy and a bit surprised, still, that it's me." Hermione looked at him a bit shyly which was an emotion he had never seen before. He never really thought of all the females out there who wanted his attention. He never really knew how jealous some where when he dated Ginny. He could see some of the looks they would get when they'd be out walking or eating together, but he never thought about anything beyond that moment of jealousy.
But since the death of two dear friends, he had been truly focused on Hermione the past year. First as his anchor and pretty much he thought, his savior, then as someone who settled deeper into his life than anyone had ever been. And now this woman was his future wife. He was going to get married; five years ago he never thought he'd live to see twenty, let alone twenty-one and being engaged.
"It's you…it's always been you," Harry replied simply, feeling his heart constrict as she smiled and then hugged him. They clung to each other for a moment, each trying to get their footing on this new ground, then headed outside. Now, it was time for Hermione to give Harry a surprise, or two, of his own.
----
Only a few minutes had passed from the time Harry and Hermione stepped out of Harry's bedroom until Ginny saw them walking hand and hand down the walkway. She didn't know what made her glance down at their hands, but she did and there she saw it. There was no hiding Hermione's engagement ring, and from the slightly stunned look on Hermione's face and the way Harry kept looking down at her, Ginny knew it had just happened.
She was happy for them, she really was and as they turned the corner, getting ready to disapparate to where ever they were going Harry turned and asked Hermione the name of the restaurant again. He happened to look up at the tree where Ginny was "perched" and for a moment their eyes met. Ginny swore he could see her, and if she had been human she would've fallen off the branch. Just for a second their eyes locked and she believed he saw her. His eyes widened a bit then a small smile touched his mouth as Hermione touched Harry's arm and with a small "pop" they vanished. For a moment, Ginny sat stunned in the tree. He had seen her, somehow…hadn't he? She felt a sense of relief fall over her and she realized that she saw how happy they were, they were moving on and now, it was time she moved on too.
A moment later, Ginny found herself in the dungeons searching for Draco. She needed to find him and talk to him about her feeling of peacefulness and that her issues were laid to rest. She also had to find Nick and see what kind of ceremony they had to do, if any, for her to move on to Echo. She wanted to go and see who else was there; she was curious about that world and how it worked. Nick had said it was populated by witches and wizards whose lives were cut short by a tragedy. As she had these thoughts swirling in her head she found Draco in the dining hall talking to Nearly Headless Nick. The Bloody Baron was sulking in the corner for some reason, but she ignored him and moved towards the head table where she saw Draco.
"Hello, Ginny," Nick said nodding in her direction.
"I'm ready," she said breathlessly, feeling the first stirs of excitement.
"You are?" Draco and Nick asked at the same time with an element of surprise in their voices.
"I am. I just saw them. They're engaged now and looking happier than I have ever seen them. And, I swear Harry saw me," Ginny rushed on, ignoring the skeptical look on Draco's face. Ginny relayed what had happened to Nick and how Harry had seemed to look right up at her. How he had given her a small smile then disapparated (to some magical place so they could go from there to the Muggle restaurant she had heard of once or twice) with Hermione.
"Well," Nick said thoughtfully stroking his chin, "He might've sensed you there. Especially if you were so overcome with emotion you moved the branch or something."
Ginny hadn't thought about that possibility. She might have moved something or made some sound. The intense feeling that had rushed through her once she saw Hermione's ring had been almost too much for her to bear.
"So, then you feel you are ready for Echo?"
Ginny nodded moving up a bit further next to Draco. "Are you going for sure?" she asked him and him nodded wordlessly, turning and following Nick as he beckoned them out of the dining hall.
Quietly, the two followed him up the stairs and down the hall towards the Room of Requirement. Nick waited for them to catch up and when they did the three of them floated through the door into a small, plain room. There was something that looked like a crystal ball in the corner that emanated a faint bluish color. Ginny peered into it and noticed clouds swirling around a blue sky. It was larger than the crystal balls Trewlaney had; this was the double the size of a Muggle basketball.
"What is that?"
"Where you two are going," Nick came over and the three of them stood around it.
"You can see Echo through that?" Draco asked a bit hesitantly. All he and Ginny could see were clouds slowly moving across the sky within.
"Well, just the sky. All you need to do is place your hands on there, hold each other's free hands, I'll say some words and you'll be pulled in. Very similar to a portkey, but a bit rougher of a landing. There will be someone waiting for you on the other side as you will fall into an area where newcomers always go first. Then, that person will explain everything to you and I won't see you again until Halloween, if you so wish to come back and visit for a brief time."
Ginny felt Draco's hand brush hers and she reached for it, holding tight.
"That's all? Nothing more…complicated?" Draco asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Nope."
Draco turned to Ginny and addressed her. "I still need to find out how those babies are doing. Then I'm ready. Do you want to go now or do this together?"
Ginny smiled and squeezed his hand, then let it drop.
"Together. I want to hear how those babies are doing, too."
"And when will this be?" Nick asked politely, knowing what they were talking about, but also knowing it wasn't his business to advise Draco on it.
"August first…that evening we'll be ready," Draco answered quickly.
"Okay then. We'll meet at the door at six in the evening on the first. That's…what? Three and a half days from now?"
Ginny nodded and again followed Nick through the door. He stopped in the hallway outside the Room of Requirement and turned on his horse to address them.
"There's no turning back after this. So, you have three days to make sure you want to go to Echo. You can stay here as a ghost, like Ron, or just give all that up and see what lies beyond. Being limbo as Light isn't fun for very long."
"No," Ginny said quickly, "No, it's not. And, yes, Echo is what I want."
Draco nodded in agreement.
"Well then, it's a date. I'll get things set up on the other side, make sure someone is there to meet you. They only get new witches and wizards a few times a month, so I don't want you dropping in unannounced."
"Thanks….I think," Draco said as Nick turned and floated through an outside wall. They watched him leave then at the same time turned to each other.
"Well, we have three days…anything special you wanted to do? Not that we can do much anyway," Draco said sarcastically, shoving his pale hands into his shorts pockets.
"I have no idea…I'm still just…stunned at how quickly I gave up Harry."
"Well…you knew you needed just "one more thing" and I guess them getting married is it, for you."
"I guess so…and, I'll still get to hear how they're doing every year," Ginny justified, already making plans in her head to find out how to come visit over Halloween.
"Yes, you will. Well, I think I'm going to head to Malfoy Manor and visit my mother one last time."
"Do you want company or would you rather do it alone?" Ginny asked, hoping he'd say that he'd prefer the first thing she had asked. Instead, he did the typical Malfoy thing.
He shrugged.
"If you want to come, that's fine."
So, Ginny took that as a `yes' and followed him to visit his mother and Pansy. She wondered if Pansy would be able to see or notice his presence as Harry had with her.
She had never felt as complete over the past year as she did at this moment. Harry and Hermione were happy. Draco was going to Echo so she wouldn't be alone. Ron seemed to be doing alright. Her family was moving on and she would have a niece, thanks to Bill and Fleur, to add to her status as Aunt in a few more months.
She wasn't sure if she could be any happier.
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