Chapter Four - Memories of Harry
"Okay Beth, time for bed. What story to you want tonight?" Hermione pulled the covers up around her five-year-old daughter. Ginny's prediction at the hospital had been almost perfect; Beth was practically a miniature Hermione. Her long brown hair was stick straight, but her eyes were the same warm chocolate brown, and she read each and every book she could get her hands on. Most days, Hermione would discover her daughter engrossed in the library Harry had created for her.
"Tell me about Daddy," Beth asked. This was her favorite topic, her father.
Hermione sighed. Though Beth didn't know it, today was the sixth anniversary of Harry's death. Not that Hermione celebrated it, but her mind had definitely wandered toward Harry more often that day than normal. "What do you want to hear?" Hermione resigned herself to digging up good memories, ones that would help her remember the wonderful times she shared.
"Why did you two fall in love?" Even though she lived with her, Hermione was amazed at Beth's maturity and intuitive nature.
"Well, it all started at Hogwarts, of course. Harry and I were both sorted into Gryffindor, but we never really talked or anything. We were only eleven, so boys and girls didn't really "hang out" together at that age. Then Harry and Ron saved me from the troll that had been let loose in the castle." Hermione smiled, remembering the points that had been taken from her, and the points awarded to Harry and Ron, more for surviving than for actually fighting the troll.
"That's when you became friends," Beth stated with a smile. Uncle Ron was her favorite of her Weasley "Uncles."
"Do you want to tell the story or shall I?" Hermione asked, mock threatening to stop the tale. When Beth shook her head vigorously, Hermione continued. "Well, it was our third year when I first started having feelings for Harry. Even in the face of a man he thought wanted to murder him, he still stood strong. And when he found out Pettigrew did it, yet told Lupin and Sirius not to kill him, I could tell Harry was really growing up and caring more about life than revenge." Hermione let herself go in the memory of riding Buckbeak, her arms clutched tight around Harry.
"What about Krum and Uncle Ron?" Beth asked, knowing what her mother would say next.
"Yes, it took a while for Harry and I to admit our feelings. When he didn't ask me to the Yule Ball our fourth year, I figured I might as well go with Viktor, and hopefully get him a little jealous. But he was so smitten over Cho that he barely realized I was there. Viktor was great, for a while, but I knew I was just leading him on, so I ended the relationship before he got hurt too bad. During this time, I could also tell that Ron was developing some feelings for me, but I kept hoping that Harry would realize how much I cared for him."
"By our sixth year, I had pretty much given up hope that Harry would ever look to me as something more than a friend. So I decided to transfer my feelings over to Ron, thinking that if I was with somebody who liked me as more than a friend, I'd learn to like him more. I tried, but it never worked. My feelings for Harry were too deep, and I was just stringing Ron along again. We broke up after about six months of mostly snogging." Hermione blushed a little, admitting to her five-year-old daughter that she had been snogging.
"But then you and Dad got together, right?" Beth took the comment in stride, and wanted to hurry to her favorite part of the story.
"Yes, Harry and I got together. We were looking for the horcruxes that held Voldemort's spirit, and would aid us in defeating him. Ron wasn't with us at the time, because his mother had become very ill. So it was just Harry and I. By that time, Voldemort was on to what we were doing, and all the horcruxes were being heavily guarded by his faithful Death Eaters, as well as some of the other nasty creatures he was using to do his bidding. Harry and I tried to get past them under his invisibility cloak, but unfortunately, there were some Dementors guarding the entrance to the house we suspected held the horcrux. The Dementors were able to find us, ripped off the cloak, and were about to perform the Kiss. Harry held me close, and, just when I thought my soul would be ripped from me, and I'd never have the opportunity to do it again, I kissed him. He looked at me, then produced the biggest, brightest Patronus I have ever seen. The Dementors fled, and the remaining Death Eaters couldn't find us as we slipped under the cloak again. Once inside the house, we hid in a tiny broom closet and waited for hours until they stopped searching for us. During that time, we talked quietly about our feelings for one another, and the kiss. I told Harry that I had had feelings for him since our third year. He told me that he had felt something more than friendship for me since our second year, when I had been petrified. He had just been too scared it would ruin our friendship if he admitted it, and I didn't feel the same way.
"Well, we destroyed that horcrux, a goblet that had been owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and returned to the Burrow, our unofficial headquarters. Molly had made a full recovery from her illness, and Ron was overjoyed to begin the search for the next horcrux. When Harry and I told him about the new side of our relationship, he said, 'about time,' and moved on to the next topic of conversation. A few months later, Harry proposed." Hermione finished the story, hoping that Beth would now be asleep. She looked over at her, and she was wide-awake, full of more questions.
"What made you fall in love with Daddy?" Beth looked at her closely, as if searching for the answer in her face.
"Well, at first it was his kindness, the way he looked out for those around him. Then it was his strength, not physically, but mentally and emotionally. He faced dangers and horrors most people only have nightmares about. And you can never forget the physical side. Harry was quite attractive." Hermione smiled at her daughter, knowing she would have more questions.
"Do you still love Daddy?" Beth asked gravely.
"Of course I do. He was my first and only love. He gave me a wonderful daughter, and -" Hermione tried to choose her words carefully, "- a son I will never forget. And I love you too," she added, kissing the top of Beth's head.
"I love you too, Mummy," Beth whispered. "Mum, why can't we ever go out? Aunt Sibyll was talking today about Hogwarts, and how she missed the beautiful grounds. Why can't we go see it?"
Hermione pulled a small grimace at the term, "Aunt Sibyll." Since Beth had grown up with the woman, she had a certain fondness for her. Luckily, she didn't believe in the lugubrious predictions cast by the near fraud. Yet Trelawney insisted upon the young girl calling her "aunt," to make them feel more like a family.
"Beth, honey, you know why we can't go to Hogwarts. It's not the place it was when your father and I were there. Besides, the house is protected. If you were to leave, you'd be in grave danger."
"Yeah, I know. 'Death Eaters could be lurking around every corner,'" Beth recited the mantra she had heard since her earliest days.
"We are only trying to protect you," Hermione assured her. "Now go to sleep."
"Goodnight Mummy."
"Goodnight."