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Part Three
Harry sat on his broom, searching for the snitch. Finding the tiny golden ball wasn't a simple game anymore, it was a matter of pride. He simply had to catch the snitch before his father or Cedric did in their three - way Quidditch game. Thus far, Harry was undefeated, and couldn't let anything distract him.
Despite his determination to concentrate, he couldn't help but think back to a short while before. Hermione had been very excited about something, but every time he asked her, she only grinned and said "you'll see." He loved her surprises, and couldn't wait to see what she had in store for him this time.
He was distracted from his thoughts when he saw a glimmer of gold. Harry took an immediate dive, keeping the snitch in sight. When his father and Cedric saw him dive, they followed suite, trying to see the gold ball and catch it before he did. Harry grinned. They fell for it every time.
Pulling up just in the knick of time, Harry flew along the ground while his father and Cedric crashed behind him. He had executed the perfect Wrongski Feint. Secure in the knowledge that his competitors were still dusting themselves off with only their pride injured, Harry flew after the golden snitch, catching it with practiced ease.
"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid beamed.
"Good, Har-Har!" Grawp bellowed beside him.
"And that is why Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, and has kept it for so long!" Minerva McGonagall said, raising her glass of scotch to him in a toast.
"I'm glad I decided to sit this one out," Charlie Weasley laughed. "Otherwise I would have landed face first in the dirt with the other two!"
"That's my boy!" James grinned.
"Hardly a boy," Arthur Weasley said from his place beside his son. "I mean, boys don't share their homes with a woman, now, do they?"
The others laughed as Harry turned red. Despite how easy it was to relax here, he was never very comfortable discussing his private life, especially his private life with Hermione. "So, Harry, how is Hermione?" Charlie asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"She's fine," Harry said, purposely ignoring Charlie's double entendre. "I'm sure Hermione would be glad to know that you care about how she is doing, considering she was the one who brought you home after you were mangled by that dragon."
"Rule one, Charlie boy," Mr. Weasley said mirthfully. "Never threaten Hermione in any way, whether you are threatening her physically, or you are questioning her honour-- she's off limits. Harry's rather protective." Everyone laughed and Charlie raised his hands in surrender.
"Where is Hermione, anyways?" Cedric asked, pulling a bit of grass out of his hair.
"Hermione is off Guiding, I guess. She seemed really excited about it this time. I wonder what's taking her so long." Harry said with a shrug
"We said the same thing she was off to collect you," Sirius chuckled. "She never tells us who she's off to Guide. I'd say it was annoying, but she's one of the best Guides I know of. Usually, a Guide teaches their Charge how to get along here, and then they move on, because they Charges in the Waking world. Hermione, however, goes above and beyond, as is her habit.
"No Guide worth their salt has less than a dozen Charges in the Waking world at any given moment, and even then it's rare for them to have that few. Our Hermione, even though she is only a fledgling Guide yet, has twenty two Charges, and the number just keeps growing.
"Instead of just teaching people how to get along here and moving on to work with her Charges still in the Waking world, Hermione continues to help us here." Sirius said.
"How do you know all this?" James asked, slightly puzzled.
Sirius sighed. "I asked Hermione how she liked Guiding people. She explained that it was wonderful, but very time consuming, and then proceeded to tell me why it was so time consuming."
"And she really does all of that?" Remus asked, astounded.
"Well," Dora said, "I hear she has a helping people thing." She winked at Harry, who grinned in reply.
Everyone began to laugh. "That is true," McGonagall chuckled. "I always thought she set impossible expectations for herself when it came to that sort of thing, and I think I may be right. She's trying to save everyone again, even when they're dead."
"Not everyone," Harry interjected. "Just the ones she loves. I mean, she brought several of you here. You, Mr. Weasley, and you, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Dean, me… the list goes on. And the only reason she has so many Charges, is because she's looking after all of the Weasleys. She was looking after Charlie when he was alive, she's still looking after Bill, the twins, Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and even Percy. From there, she's looking after all of their kids. So really, she's just doing for them what she would be doing if she were still alive." Harry defended.
"Well I just hope she doesn't try to Guide the entire Weasley clan," Arthur said with a smile. "My family just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I don't think she'll be able to keep up, what with all of the kids being born."
"Actually, she told me she's just going to follow Ron and Ginny's descendants. For everyone else, she's just going to Guide their kids. She is letting the Guide's of their spouses take care of the grandkids," Harry said.
"So you mean that when Bill's little boy Charlie gets married, all of his kids will have a different Guide?" Arthur asked.
Harry nodded. "She wanted to watch over them all, but she realizes she has her limits. She didn't want to have too many Charges, because then she would end up neglecting them."
"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called, her head peaking around the corner of Harry's cottage.
Hagrid grinned. "The great thing 'bout being dead is you still get to eat!" The others chuckled as they began to walk towards the picnic area. "I jus' love these get t'gethers of ours!"
"So," James said, coming up beside Harry. "How do you like things here? Honestly speaking, of course."
Harry couldn't keep himself from grinning. "It's… it's indescribable, Dad. I mean, nothing I do here is important to anyone but me. There is no Dark Lord to face, there is no press to dodge. I can just be me here, and the best par," he grinned. "The best part is that I'm with just about everyone I love. Ron and a few others aren't here yet, but they will be, one day, and that's okay with me. I love it here, Dad, I really do, and I'm glad I'm dead.
"And then there's Hermione," he smiled to himself. "It's almost like the Fates were against us and we couldn't be together in the Waking world, but here, now, everything is perfect. We don't even fight!"
James laughed softly. "That, my boy, it what true love is like. No jealousy, no possessiveness. It's tenderness, and joy, and sharing. In the Waking world, you would probably fight, but here no one does anything like that. You can be shocked, you can even be sad, but you can never get angry here, never get jealous." He sighed contentedly. "It's bliss."
"I just wish Hermione would hurry back," Harry said, a touch of wistfulness in his voice.
James laughed. "Don't be in such a rush, Harry. You've only been here for a little over a century, and it's not like you will be leaving. You have plenty of time to catch up with Hermione." He chuckled lightly. "You know, she reminds me an awful lot of your mother. Both Muggleborn, both brilliant, both scary when they're mad."
"Both have the same squeak when they think I'm going to get hurt, too." Harry added with a wry grin. "Funny, considering I'm dead."
James shook his head with a wry grin to match Harry's. "That's true. Come on, let's eat. Just because you never get hungry here doesn't mean you can't eat, especially food this good." He grinned at Harry. "Don't' tell your mother, but I love Molly's cooking."
"I heard that, James Potter!" Lily called. James immediately looked repentant.
Harry smiled in reply and began to get a plate of his favourite foods. It was wonderful to simply relax with his friends and family. Sitting at the end of the table, Harry joined in the discussion of his Wrongski Feint and how he was able to pull it off. The Quidditch talk eventually evolved into playful banter, with the occasional comment about how wonderful the food was, thrown in.
"The first time I saw the Wrongski Feint, I was at the Quidditch World Cup after my third year. It was great right up until the Dea--"
"Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry!" A little red - headed boy came running up and climbed into Harry's lap, stopping him mid sentence. "Uncle Harry!"
"What is it, Phillip?" Harry asked the young Weasley. "What are you so excited about?"
"Guess Uncle Harry!" The boy bounced excitedly in his lap.
"Guess what?" Harry looked up at the others, but he could tell that they didn't know what had the young boy so wound up. "You're going to have to give me a hint, Phillip."
The boy froze and looked decidedly guilty. "I can't," he paused then began to squirm in Harry's lap. "But you can still guess!"
The wizard looked down at the young boy in amusement. Phillip had been here for nearly a century, and he was still the same, eager little boy he had met so long ago. "I can't guess, if you don't even tell me what I'm supposed to be guessing about," he said gently. The others at the table began to snicker.
Phillip gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh honestly!"
"He's been spending too much time with Hermione," Sirius chuckled.
"I can't tell you everything, it's a surprise! But you can still guess, Uncle Harry, come on, guess! I bet you'll never guess what the surprise is!"
"Um," Harry thought for a moment. "You're going to be an uncle again?"
"No, guess again." Phillip said cheerfully.
"Okay, uh, Buckbeak let you fly on him?"
"Nope!" The little boy giggled. "I was right, you're not going to guess the surprise!"
Harry laughed. "Yep, you're right, I'm never going to guess."
"Bloody Hell!" As one, everyone turned towards the new voice. "This has got to be the craziest dream I've ever had. I mean, I'm dreaming about dead people!" Everyone was quiet. "Hey, I smell food. I didn't know you could eat in dreams. That's great!"
Everyone began laughing all over again. "Ron, mate," Harry chuckled. "Only you. Only you would think you're dreaming about dead people and be distracted by food!" Harry stood and walked to his friend. "It's good to see you, Ron. Been a long time."
Ron looked momentarily torn between Harry and the food on the table before he, too, began to laugh and pulled Harry into a tight embrace. "I don't care anymore. This is the best dream I've ever had," he said quietly. "I missed you, mate. You've been gone for one hundred and seven years."
Harry pulled away and grinned. "Well, I would have visited, but I was doing other things. I did check up on you, though."
"Honestly, you two," Hermione said softly beside them, tears glittering in her eyes. "You're so silly."
Ron chuckled. "Says the girl who used to be more concerned about getting expelled than getting killed." Hermione grinned and pulled both of her boys into a hug. "And you know, you can't say much. You've been gone even longer than Harry."
"Yes," she said softly, "But I've been around."
Ron pulled her to him so that he could hug both of his friends at once. "Well, I never saw you, but I missed you both terribly." Ron pulled away and looked around. "So, what is this place? I mean, I haven't looked like this for over a century and… Mum? Dad? Charlie?" Ron walked as if in a trance towards his family.
Harry sighed and wrapped his arms around Hermione, who leaned back into his embrace. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't be so selfish. I could tell when I watched him in the Viewing Pond that he missed his parents."
Hermione nodded then turned in his arms, resting her head on his chest. "He still thinks it's a dream. He's going to have to realize soon that he's not going to wake up."
"I bet Luna misses him something fierce," Harry said quietly. "I know that when I was in the Waking world, and you were gone, I felt like it would never stop raining."
"That's because your magic was making it rain constantly. It did stop raining once you died, if you recall. Grief can make your magic do strange things, like make the weather reflect your mood," Hermione said, softly kissing his neck. "I missed you."
"You weren't gone that long," he teased. "I missed you too," he said softly. "How long will Luna be in the Waking world?"
"Not long," she replied. "Without Ron, she doesn't really have much will to live, especially since all of her children are grown and have children of their own. "She'll be home soon."
"Ginny? Neville? What of them?" Harry asked, idly twirling a curl around his finger. "Oh, are you ever going to let me know who Ginny's mystery man is?"
Ignoring his last question, Hermione answered, "Neville won't be here for a several more years yet, and even then he may very well hang on after that. You may not believe it, but he is a rather stubborn soul, now that he's found his courage. I guess facing down a group of Death Eaters will do that." She sighed. "Ginny will likely be joining sooner rather than later. Her time in the Chamber of Secrets has cost her time--stress and all that. But she's never been one to give up without a fight-- look at how long she held out hope for you."
Harry glanced up, checking on Ron. His old friend was meeting Phillip, the boy who would have been his nephew if he had chosen the left path. Harry looked back at Hermione. "It was a lost cause, I think. My time with Ginny was wonderful, but," he looked deep into her eyes. "But there was something missing. After a great deal of thinking," he touched her cheek, "and a great deal of pain, I realized what I was missing. You," he said, then kissed her lightly on the lips. "I only regret that it took losing you to realize it."
Hermione looked at him, a small smile on her face. "That may very well be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, Harry," she kissed the tip of his nose. "Cliché, but sweet none the less. I never really felt as if I quite measured up to her. She was so beautiful and I was nothing more than a plain old bookworm. I was so worried that you would never look at me like you looked at her."
Harry could tell she was nervous and gently brushed his lips over hers, wanting to soothe her fears. "Never say that about yourself again, Hermione. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say your soul is a thousand times more beautiful than Ginny's. That is actually saying a great deal, as I'm something of an expert on souls, considering I destroyed the bits and pieces of Riddle's."
She smiled weakly at him. "You would think that, being dead, I wouldn't be so insecure about things like this. I'm just glad to know that you're here for me, and that you'll always defend me, even against myself. You truly are the sweetest person I know."
"What do you mean I'm dead! But what about Luna? And Harry, Hermione, Diana, Nathaniel and Michael? What about the rest of my family?" Ron demanded, more out of fear than anything else.
"Ron, your children are all grown and with families of the own," Hermione soothed. "You've lived a full life. It's time for you to rest now."
Ron was quiet then lifted his eyes to his friends. "I don't want to be here without Luna," he said quietly.
Harry smiled softly. He had felt the same way in the Waking world when Hermione had died. "Ron, mate, Luna will come here." He reluctantly released Hermione, walked to his frien and clapped Ron on the shoulder. "There is a nice home waiting for you, Ron. Why don't you go fix it up so that you can surprise Luna with it when she gets here."
Ron suddenly seemed excited. "How long do you think until Luna gets here?"
"Not long, Ron. You and Luna will be together again soon," Hermione assured him. Everyone was watching the exchange raptly.
His face fell again. "I bet she's real lonely." Ron sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Luna doesn't like being alone. She said once that she spent so much time alone, then she found out what it was like to have a family around her all the time and what it was like to not be alone, that she never wanted to be alone again. I promised I'd never leave her."
"I know," Hermione said gently. "I was there when you made that promise Ron, and I swear to you, that Luna will be here, sooner than you think. Until then, you can always prepare things for when she gets here."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Ron. Hermione set you up a nice house, identical to the one you lived in in the Waking world. Luna likes flowers, so why don't you do something special with the garden? I bet she'd love that."
Ron looked thoughtful for a moment then grinned. "I don't suppose you have any Creilatin flowers I can plant? Luna's been trying to prove they exist for years."
Hermione smiled. "No, but later I'll show you how to create things, and you can create this Creilatin flower for her."
"So, are you two together or something?" He asked, taking in their position. "I mean, I didn't know dead people could, you know…" He trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
Harry smiled. "You don't fall out of love when you die, Ron. And dead people can do all sorts of things. Hermione will teach you what to do eventually. She'll even show you how to check up on Luna."
Ron grinned again and nodded, notably happier. "Say, you never did tell me where I am."
Harry looked between his two friends then smiled. "You're home, mate, and that's all that matters. Hey, I don't suppose you'll tell me who Ginny's been with all these years, will you? Somebody wouldn't let me see." Hermione gave them both an innocent look.
"Malfoy," Ron snorted. "He's not so bad. At least, he's not so bad when Ginny keeps him on a leash. Well, erm…" Ron glance between his family, friends, and his home.
Everyone shared knowing looks. "Ron, dear, you go on over and prepare your home for that lovely wife of yours. We have eternity to catch up," Mrs. Weasley said. Ron gave everyone a goofy grin and a wave before he trotted off to the house he knew must be his to prepare for Luna. "He grew up," she said with a sigh.
"He live to be one hundred and twenty five years old, mum, what do you expect?" Charlie asked.
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I suppose I expected for my little boy to come back to me. But you're right, of course. He's grown. He lived longer than I did."
"At least your son turned into a fine man," James said, reclining in his seat. "That's more than some mothers can say."
"I'm just glad our boy found someone to love," Mr. Weasley said. "Luna is truly a wonderful person. Odd, but wonderful."
From there the conversation changed, as it was wont to do. "So," Harry began. "Malfoy? Good idea, keeping it from me. I would have found a way to hex him from here, even if I don't have a wand."
Hermione looked away, seeming unsure of herself. What did I say? Harry thought. Then it hit him-- Ginny. Hermione had always been insecure about her looks, about her charm, about herself. She felt she was coming in second place to Ginny.
"Of course," he added casually. "Whatever I would do to him would be nothing compared to what I would do if you were the one hanging on his arm. I think I'd have to, oh I don't know, flay him or something equally reminiscent of a caveman."
Hermione gave a heartfelt laugh. "I'm being silly again, aren't I? You would think I'd have more confidence, being a Guide and all."
Harry smiled softly, seeing the irony of the situation. Here was Hermione, so good at helping other people, and with the with next to no confidence. She was always out to prove herself, and she didn't always know how. "No, you're not being silly." Harry sighed. "Let's go home. I'd like to spend some time with you before you have to go off and be a Guide again." He leaned forward to give her another kiss, but stopped when he heard whistles and catcalls.
"Home it is," she said with a small smile.
"Oh, they're going home," Charlie laughed. "I wonder what they'll be doing?" Others began to snicker and looked to Harry to see what his reaction would be.
"Actually," Hermione said smoothly before Harry could speak. "We planned on cuddling up on the sofa with our favourite books. Why, do you wish to join us? I have a book on dragons that you may find interesting. You could always entertain yourself with that." The group began to laugh even harder as Charlie's jaw dropped.
"Thanks but no thanks, Hermione," Charlie replied. "I think I'll pass this time around."
"Suit yourself," Hermione replied. "Come on, Harry, let's go read." Harry grinned and waved goodbye to everyone as Hermione grabbed his hand and led him into their cottage.
"We're not really going to read, are we?" Harry asked, sitting in his favourite chair and pulling Hermione into his lap.
"No," she smiled and leaned against him. "I missed you today."
"Not half as much as I missed you, I bet," he said, resting his head on hers.
"We're together again," she said softly. "You, Ron and I. We're together. It feels good to be together again."
"Yes it does," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Shame we couldn't talk more with him though."
"We have eternity," Hermione said, tracing a random pattern on his shoulder. "It's often like that when people arrive. They have to have time to settle in and get used to where they are. It's funny, in a way, how people have to get used to being in a paradise, but they do. It's such a big switch."
"I know," Harry said, revelling in their closeness. "I still make plans to avoid being seen by people, and I think up plans for trapping Death Eaters. After doing it for so long in the Waking world, it's hard to stop. It's become a habit, now."
Hermione nodded against him. "I know. Sometimes I'll think of something and try to visit the library for one reason or another."
Harry chuckled. "So we'll give Ron some time to settle in a bit before we can revert to old habits."
"I don't think so. Ron has changed a great deal. I don't think will be spending much time with the Ron Weasley of old." Hermione sighed. "But I think I like this new Ron better. He seems to have finally realized that he shouldn't base his opinion of a girl on her looks alone."
The pair sat in silence, enjoying the feeling of simply being together. Harry sighed in contentment.
"I'm glad we're home."
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A/N: Due to popular demand, the third and final part of Home. I would have had this up sooner, but I've been doing research like mad as of late. I recently had a discussion with one of my uncles about the seventh book and we think we've discovered what and where the mystery Horcrux is. So I've been flipping through HBP so that I can find evidence for our theory.
And for anyone who's interested, I found a quote in HBP that leads me to believe Hermione likes Harry while I was hunting for my evidence. It's a bit lengthy, so if you what to read it, head on over to the HBP forums on Portkey, specifically the thread "OMG! Good news finally!" on the fourth page, at the top. You don't have to comment, but I thought my fellow Harmonians might be interested in what I found.
Back on topic, I regret to say that Time, Interrupted will not be updated for some time. Please don't be angry, but I'm really excited about this theory. I've collected my evidence, though I need to double check a few things, but I still have to organize it, write my essay, then post it before I can begin work on Time, Interrupted again.
Well, thank you for reading and tolerating my lengthy explanation. Special thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last time. Please review. Thanks again!
Cheers,
Madm_05