At the Beginning With You

At the Beginning With You

Takes place after Deathly Hallows, but BEFORE the crappy 3-4 pages JK Rowling is passing off as the epilogue. *Blows a `Peeves-like' raspberry at the epilogue pages* Actually, the epilogue at the end of Book 7 is never going to happen in this story, seeing as this is a Harmony site, and well, the epilogue isn't really worth mentioning…you all know what happened. After reading the Deathly Hallows, and about halfway through the epilogue, I wondered, what happened to Teddy after Lupin and Tonks died. Obviously, seeing as Harry is his godfather, Harry raises him, but it never said anything confirming it, just implied it. So, I thought I'd use that as a central plot point in this little fic. It's not going to be very long, only a few chapters, how many for sure, I don't know yet. But it will follow Harry and the trio and little baby Teddy….oh and I suppose I'll have to put Ginny in there, seeing as she's this huge part of Harry's life all of a sudden starting in the sixth book. But anyways, here you all go…

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

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Chapter 1: Settling into a Normal Life

Harry looked around the no longer dark and foreboding looking entryway of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, taking in the new atmosphere of the house. After the celebrations and euphoria following the defeat of Voldemort, Harry decided with a happy leap in his heart that it was time to start living his life, really living it, not just going day to day with the anxiety in his heart of the destiny that lie ahead of him. One of the first things he did was find a way to renew and strengthen the wards placed on Grimmauld Place, fix it up even better than he, Hermione, and Ron had done in the time they spent hiding out at Number 12. Kreacher even helped Harry, he was still surprised at the change in heart of the old house elf, and found that Hermione had been right about him all along; he just needed to be treated better. The house elf felt truly that the house belonged to Harry now; the time of the Blacks had come to pass. Using his elf magic, he had removed most of the dark objects and artifacts that belonged to the Black family, all the portraits that hung on the walls, even the mounted elf heads had come down, though Kreacher had just moved them down to his little room beneath the boiler. He even had convinced, or rather tricked Mrs. Black's portrait to unstick herself from the wall, before levitating her up to the attic with the rest of the heirlooms and valuables that came from the house. Harry had not made Kreacher get rid of the things he took down, for even though Kreacher was now completely loyal to Harry, he still felt apprehensive and guilty about throwing away all the articles from the family that he had served all of his life. Harry had let the house elf store everything in the attic, where it could collect dust somewhere in the house that wasn't in use. After all the work that had been done removing the Black family heirlooms, the house felt quite empty. A person's footsteps would echo in every room because of its bareness. The moth-eaten furniture had to be disposed, as did the wizarding appliances in the kitchen. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron had gone with him to Diagon Alley to fill the house with homey touches, new furniture, and perhaps a few things he didn't really need in the house. Hermione and Ginny had gone to work, practically kicking Harry and Ron out while they decorated. Harry recalled that day remembering when Ginny had told him to leave. He had opened his mouth angrily in protest, probably the first time he had ever gotten irritated with her.

“Ginny, this is my house; you can't kick me out of my house.” Ginny rolled her eyes.

“Relax, Harry, you'll get it back. It's just that we can't depend on you and Kreacher to decorate it. It needs a woman's touch.”

“Better be careful, Harry,” Ron muttered as he watched his sister walk away to the sitting room, “By time they're done, they'll have it covered floor to ceiling in pink, with little flowers all over.” But the two witches hadn't turned it pink, or any other girly color. In fact, the house looked much like it probably would've when it was first built, if the owners hadn't been a long line of dark wizard supporters. The walls were painted in just the right colors to give it a warm and cozy feeling.

They had painted the living room burgundy with a cream color accent, put burgundy curtains on the windows, letting the sunlight stream in the now dust free windows, charmed so that no one could look into the house, it was a version of a muggle two-way mirror. The couch, loveseat, and chairs all formed three of the sides of a square, facing the fireplace with a large coffee table in the middle. They had brought some muggle things in too, like a television set (`You can actually see people in that box! How do they get into a felly-vision set? And you just push this button on this little wand?' Ron said, examining the TV and remote control), a telephone (`Oh one of those fellytone things!' Ron had said excitedly when they picked one out in the store), a laptop (which was Hermione's idea, she felt it was best that they had ways of communication other than magical means, just in case. `Amazing! It sends a message instantly?' Ron said in awe as Hermione had demonstrated to Ron how email worked as she sent a test email to herself from Harry's computer), and (though he didn't need it) a Playstation (`Dudley had one, but he threw it out the window one summer, but I always wanted one' Harry had said when Hermione gave him an odd look while Ginny and Ron inspected the device.

The kitchen had been painted a pale green, picked out by Kreacher. Harry couldn't really decide what color to paint the kitchen, so he had asked Kreacher. His jaw had dropped when Harry had asked his opinion, muttering about that his opinion should mean nothing to Master Harry. But Harry had insisted, and after a half hour convincing Kreacher to decide, Kreacher had picked pale green. The ancient table had been replaced with a newer one, and with newer chairs set around it. New appliances were placed in the kitchen, giving it a new feel.

Since there were so many bedrooms in Grimmauld Place, Harry decided that Ginny, Ron, and Hermione should each get their own room in his house, since he said they were welcome to come stay anytime they pleased. And since they each got their own bedrooms, each room was decorated to each person's liking (Ginny and Hermione had let Harry and Ron back into the house for that). Ron's room was decorated much like his room was back at the Burrow, decked out in Chudley Cannons orange, everything in it was orange, and he had plastered the walls with pictures of the Quidditch players.

Ginny's room was the only pink room in the house, painted just a light soft pink. With her wand, she had painted flowering vines around the walls, giving it a tad more color. She also had placed flowers that would never have to be watered in her room, giving it the flowery scent that Harry had always come to associate with Ginny.

Hermione's room was the second largest one after the master bedroom, owing to the fact that most of the space in her room was occupied by books. The ones kept in her room were her favorites, the rest down the stairs in the library. Since she had gotten a small apartment a few weeks ago, she didn't have anywhere to put her books, so Harry had let her keep them at Grimmauld Place. The walls of her room were plain blue, and the only other decoration she had in her room besides her books were pictures. There were pictures covering her dresser, and only one picture on her nightstand of the trio at the celebration party. Some of the pictures were of her parents, but most of them of the trio. A lot of them were taken at the enormous party that lasted for six days after Voldemort had been defeated. There were pictures of her and Ron, holding hands, or standing with Ron's arm around Hermione's shoulder, and hers around his waist, both waving and laughing. There was one of just Harry and Hermione, holding each other close in a hug, but were both facing the camera, their foreheads touching, both smiling soft smiles as if being there in each other's embrace summed up everything they felt about each other. Sibling love. That's all it was, but Harry couldn't help remembering that trip to Godric's Hollow they made posing as a muggle couple that was husband and wife. Even though it wasn't something that was brought to anyone's attention, just a mere minor detail, they had gone as a married couple. He couldn't help but think about what it was like that night, before the evening had turned dangerous, how calm he felt to be there at his parents' grave with Hermione. He appreciated it then and now, (though he'd never admit it to anyone) that he was glad it was just Hermione that had gone with him, it wouldn't have felt the same if Ron had gone along.

Harry's room, the master bedroom, was decorated in red. Like Hermione, he also had pictures of his friends and family. Ginny had stumbled across a box of pictures in Sirius's old room that were of the Marauders and of James, Lily and Harry. Some of them were already in frames, which made Harry wonder if Sirius had recovered them from the house the night Lily and James died and somehow got them to the house for safe keeping. So Harry had placed the pictures on the dresser, the walls, and like Hermione, had the same picture she had of the trio at the celebration party on his nightstand.

In the hallway going down the stairs, Hermione and Ginny had painted it a tan color, and replaced the portraits of the Black family with pictures of Harry's family and friends, some of them the same pictures that were in his and Hermione's rooms, some that were too big to put in the bedroom. Harry looked around the house and smiled. It really felt like home, it didn't feel like the place that Sirius had despised and had run away from at sixteen. It looked welcoming, and…

“So how are you liking the newly decorated Grimmauld Place, Harry?” Harry turned on the stairs and saw Hermione standing at the bottom of the stairs, having just apparated in. Harry smiled.

“I love it. It's the first place besides Hogwarts that really feels like home.” Hermione smiled too, glancing around at the entryway.

“Well, I hope you can keep it for many, many years then. Then you can hand it down to your sons and daughters, start a `House of Potter'. I just came over for my book I left here the other day, so don't worry; I won't make it a habit of just popping up all the time and bothering you.”

“I'm not worried, I've already told you and Ron and Ginny that you can come over anytime you wish.” Hermione gave him a gratified look.

“How's the flat working out for you?”

“Pretty well, miniscule compared to this place, but it works for me.”

“When are you leaving for Australia to bring back your parents?”

“I'm not sure; I think I want to get all settled first before making any trips yet.” Harry nodded.

“Listen, Kreacher reminded me today that we never got that steak and kidney pie that he had promised when we came back from the Ministry that day, so he promised me it tonight. Would you like to stay for supper?”

“Sure. I have to be back by eight o'clock,” Hermione said looking at her watch; Harry did too, noting that it was 6:45. “Ron's coming over tonight.” Harry led the way into the kitchen, where Kreacher was preparing dinner for his master.

“Kreacher, would you set another plate, please, Hermione staying for dinner tonight.” The elf bowed low and went to a cupboard to retrieve the extra plate. Harry and Hermione sat down at the table as Kreacher placed the meal on the table and disappeared with a `crack'. Harry and Hermione talked about little stuff, things that were of no real importance, Harry had to admit that it was nice to be able to just have small talk with someone, not having to worry about the looming danger ahead of them and how they were going to get to that point. Simple conversations were nice.

“Harry,” Hermione asked after a short silence, “did you ever think about the future before Voldemort was defeated?”

“Of course, I thought about how I had to be the one to kill…”

“No, Harry, I'm not talking about the future that involved killing Voldemort. I'm talking about a real future, you know, like family and a house in the country type thing.”

“Not really. I guess I had more important things that came first on my mind then.”

“But now?”

“Sure I do.”

“And where do you see yourself in twenty years?”

“Well, I guess married, with children, being able to watch them grow up; to be there for them and have the family that I never had growing up. What about you?”

“Married with children too, but I still wish I could continue my education. I'm tempted to go back to Hogwarts next year and finish my seventh year and become a healer. I heard McGonagall is going to be Headmistress, a witch named Marian Wessely is going to teach Transfiguration, she's a friend of McGonagall's, and a wizard named Phillip Eckley is going to teach Muggle Studies, he was a big name in the Muggle Relations Department at the Ministry, but being a Muggle Born, he was sacked from his position. And from what I hear they're still looking for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I want to go back and study to pass my N.E.W.T.s.”

“Hermione, I'm pretty sure you could take the N.E.W.T.s right now and pass with flying colors, you don't need to go back to school.”

“But I want to; I don't just want to stay here just to be a mother and a housewife, I…” Hermione stopped speaking and looked away from Harry.

“What is it? Hermione?” Hermione sighed.

“It's just that, most witches who marry Weasleys or even the Weasley witches become just housewives and mothers. I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to be a mother someday, it's just…I don't want to be just a housewife, a woman who hangs on her husband's arm to look pretty, and is there to make sure his dinner is ready when he gets home from a hard day's work. I mean, I love Mrs. Weasley like a second mother, but none of that is for me.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you and Ron are getting married?”

“No, no, no!” Hermione said in a rushed and panicky voice. “No, it's nothing like that.”

“You shouldn't be a stay at home mom or housewife if you don't want to; don't concede whatever happens. Talk to Ron; see what he thinks about it. He might be different and completely support your decision. If not, I can throttle him for you if you like.” Hermione smiled.

“Hopefully that won't be necessary but thank you just the same.”

“You said you wanted to be a mother some day,” Harry said, changing the subject slightly, “How many kids would you want?”

“Hmm, maybe three or four. Since I'm an only child I want a bigger family, but not more than five. I'm not sure I could handle any more than that. What about you?”

“I hadn't really thought about it, but three sounds good.”

“Hopefully you at least have a daughter, I could see you being the kind of dad that a little girl would look up too, but then so would a boy. You'd make a good father, Harry.” Harry felt his cheeks turn a little pink, and noticed that Hermione's had done the same, as though she felt she had said too much. Before they could say anything else, a brown barn owl flew into the kitchen and dropped a letter on the table in front of Harry and turned and soared back out into the night sky. Both Harry and Hermione looked at the envelope; it bore the Ministry seal on the back, addressed to Harry James Potter, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London. Harry glanced up at Hermione whose brow was furrowed in curiosity.

“I wonder what this is about.”

“Well, open it.” Harry flipped it over and slit the envelope open, and took out a piece of parchment. It read:

Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,

As you may know already, regarding the child, Theodore Remus Lupin, should an instance come up that both his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Remus John Lupin, were to pass away, you were appointed guardian of Theodore if his parents' deaths should come before his seventeenth birthday. As you also know, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin tragically lost their lives in the fight against You-Know-Who. The time has now come to discuss what is to become of the child. There will be a meeting tomorrow afternoon at five o'clock to converse this situation.

Good day to you, sir,

Amelia Rosemary Lynch
Department of Magical Social Services

Harry read the note again before handing it to Hermione. He had almost forgotten about Teddy and that he was the baby's godfather. He looked up at Hermione who had just put the letter down.

“I was wondering when they were going to get around to giving him to you, Harry. From what I understand he's been living with Tonks' mother Andromeda since Remus and Tonks died. Are you going to take him?”

“I have a choice?”

“Of course. If you choose not to raise him, then he'll go to the next of kin. If there's no more family left, then he'll go to an orphanage. Considering that I don't believe there's any next of kin, Harry, I would suggest you take him, because I don't think anyone should have to grow up in an orphanage.” Panic had settled in Harry, he didn't know anything about raising children, he didn't know what being a father figure was all about. It was one thing to be talking with Hermione about having kids someday, but he'd figured his wife would be there to help him, that he wouldn't be raising kids alone.

“Harry?”

“Hermione, I don't know the first thing about raising kids. Hell, I don't think I've ever even held a baby before in my life!”

“Harry, you were just saying a little bit ago…”

“Yeah, but when I have kids, I pictured myself older and married. I don't expect to be raising kids alone.”

“If you decide to take him, I assure you, you won't be alone. I promise I'll help you as much as I can, and I'm sure Ron and Ginny will say the same thing. Even the rest of the Weasley's will be willing to help if they can. You won't be alone.” Hermione looked at her watch. “I'd better get going; Ron will be over in a few minutes.” She headed for the door but stopped before pushing it open. “Think about this too, Harry, no wizarding orphanage or wizarding family is going to take little Teddy in. He's part werewolf, remember. As long as he's not a werewolf himself, he'll be sent to a muggle orphanage. There he'd grow up unloved or knowing anything about what he is, and he could become resentful towards everyone. We don't want another Tom Riddle in the world, Harry.” With that, she Disapparated, leaving Harry thinking deeply, staring into his dessert.

A/N: Ok, there's the first chapter. I'm kind of excited for this story, I have big ideas that are going to drive Harry and Ginny away from each other and Ron and Hermione away from each other. You can already start to see part of what could drive Ron and Hermione apart. The rest is yet to come!! Please review!!

P.S. I'm not entirely sure if Teddy's full name would be Theodore or not. I just put it as that because Ted is short for Theodore, so forgive me if in the book it says otherwise.

P.P.S. The inspiration for the title is from a song, obviously, the lyrics of the chorus part is in the beginning of the chapter. I heard this song as a YouTube video a long time ago, and it's a H/Hr video. It's really good if you want to watch it.

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Chapter 2: Harry Potter's Godson

A/N: Oh my gosh, I am so honored that you all like my story!! I was so shocked to see that many reviews just overnight!! Thank you all so, so much for your support!! Well, on to chapter 2!!

Oh, I should probably add this too, just in case…

Disclaimer: None of the Harry Potter characters belong to me. Trust me, if they did, I sure as hell wouldn't have written the final book like JK Rowling did. This goes for this chapter, the one before it, and all the ones after it.

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

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The next day at four o'clock, Harry sat in his living room, staring at the computer, trying to get his mind off of the meeting that would determine what would happen to Teddy. Of course, the sites he was looking at weren't helping him take his mind off his troubles. He was checking out parenting sites, advice on raising children. Even though they were places on the Internet by muggles, Harry felt he'd get the jist either way. He turned when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and saw Hermione stepping off the last step, tucking her wand back into her robes. She had been upstairs fixing up one of the bedrooms for the new arrival that would come back with them at five o'clock. Harry had apparated to Hermione's flat that morning and told her what he had decided.

“Harry! What are you doing here so early?” Hermione exclaimed in surprise. She had thrown her dressing gown on quickly and was tying the belt to hold it together. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know I decided to take Teddy.” Hermione smiled.

“That's wonderful, Harry.”

“And I wanted to ask you, will you go with me this afternoon?”

“Why do you want me to go with you, Harry? Shouldn't Ginny go with? Seeing as she is your girlfriend and everything?”

“I haven't told her about it yet, you're the only one who knows about it.” Hermione gave him an exasperated look.

“Harry, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by trying to keep this quiet. It won't stay that way for long, once the press gets a hold of this, they'll have a field day. It'd be the perfect little story, `Harry Potter Adopts Godchild After a Time of War' or some other nonsense like that.”

“It's a good thing you're not a reporter, Hermione, that title was terrible.”

“That's not the point!” Hermione said sternly. “The point is, you need to tell Ginny—the woman you could potentially spend the rest of your life with—about your decision! You can't expect me to be there all the time!”

“Wait, I thought you said last night that you'd be there if I needed you! Were you just telling me that so I'd make the right decision?”

“Of course not, Harry, but you have keep in mind that I might not always be here at your beckon call. I have my own life—“

“Wait, ok, seriously, Hermione, what the hell is going on with you that all of a sudden you think that you're being married off or something, that you don't have any choice in the matter—“

“I feel like I am being married off, Harry! Ron and I went to visit the Weasley's yesterday and they're practically planning our weddings already!”

“Wait, weddings? As in plural?” Hermione gave him a grim look.

“Yes, Harry, as in plural. They're planning yours too. You should hear Ginny and Molly talking about it.” Harry could feel the color leaving his face. This was one of those instances that he considered the typical bloke move and run far away and as fast as possible.

“Ginny's in on it?”

“'Fraid so.”

“W-W-Why? Why are they planning this already?”

“Because so we can be “one big happy Weasley family”,” Hermione said, saying the last five words of her sentence in a false, happy, singsong voice.

“What's wrong with being one big happy Weasley family?” Hermione looked him in the eye for a fraction of a second then quickly looked away. She was silent for a second before replying to Harry's question.

“N-nothing. It's just that it's…too fast. We're all, with the exception of Ginny, only seventeen, and Ginny's only sixteen. I don't like my life planned out for me, Harry. I want to be my own person, free to do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want.”

“Well, like I said, talk to Ron. He's a reasonable person, he'll hear you out.”

“But he's scared of his mother,” Hermione muttered bitterly.

“Anyway,” Harry said, trying to ignore Hermione's last comment, “Will you come with me? I don't have a place for him right at the moment; I need your help setting up a room for him.” Hermione sighed.

“Alright, but you have to promise me—“

“Don't worry, I promise.” Hermione sighed again.

“Well, let me get dressed, I'll meet you at Grimmauld Place.” Harry grinned.

“Thanks, Hermione, you're the absolute best. You know that right?” Hermione didn't respond to Harry's comment, she just waved her hand telling him to go away.

“Go on, I'll be there in a little bit.” Harry's grin widened, he was almost bouncy with excitement. Very un-Harry-like, in Hermione's opinion. He Disapparated away, only to have to wait ten minutes before Hermione joined him at Grimmauld Place.

When Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place, Harry showed her what room he was going to make Teddy's, the room right across the hall from Harry's. When Harry had offered to help, Hermione had given him an annoyed look that reminded him of the decorating incident. Remembering that he wasn't supposed to help, he grinned again.

“Thanks again, Hermione.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Walking away, he didn't feel Hermione's shocked gaze follow him down the stairs as he went. But it was definitely there.

“I'm all finished, Harry. Come see what you think.” Harry rolled back in the computer chair away from the desk and got up, following Hermione up the stairs to Teddy's room. She opened the door and went in, leaving it open for the wizard following her. Harry looked around the room in awe. It was perfect. The walls were blue, not a dark blue like Hermione's room was, and also not a baby blue like traditional baby boy's rooms were. It was somewhere in between. A crib sat in the corner, a dresser next to it, a changing area on top of it. A little empty cupboard stood open next to the dresser, as if waiting to be filled. As though sensing that Harry was going to ask about the cupboard she explained, “That's for diapers and things, when you go to get Teddy today, you'll have to stop and get all of that. Along with formula and everything.”

“It's great, Hermione.” The reality of what taking Teddy in was starting to sink in a little more; he turned a slightly panicked face to Hermione.

“You're not going to go back on your word saying you'll help me, right?” Harry said, not bothering to disguise the fear in his voice. Hermione smiled.

“No, I'm not going to go back on my word, Harry. But you have to keep in mind, I don't know much more than you do. I've never been a parent, either.”

“But your parents are still alive, and you must have been around small children in your life, right?”

“Not really, most of the people I know that have kids I don't know well enough to know their children.”

“H-how do new parents know how to do this?” Hermione laughed.

“Well, I'm sure there's this moment of panic, like you're doing, then I think you just know after that. It just comes to you. I don't know, you'll have to ask Molly and Arthur when it comes to that kind of stuff.” Just then, they heard Ginny's voice downstairs.

“Harry? Harry, where are you?”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry explained, “I did what you said I should do, I'm going to talk to Ginny about all this. Not that she's going to change my mind or anything, but you're right, I should let her know about it.” Hermione smiled and nodded and they went downstairs. Ginny was standing at the foot of the stairs her right foot on the bottom step, obviously she was about to go upstairs. She raised an eyebrow and her mouth opened slightly as she gave a skeptical look to the two at the top of the stairs.

“Hey Ginny. How are you?” Ginny ignored Hermione's question and answered it with one of her own.

“Not to be rude, or anything, Hermione, but why are you always here when I come over?”

“I'm not always here when you come over, but as to today,” she pointed at Harry, “he can explain why I'm here. I'll leave you to it then.” Without another word, or before Harry could say anything to her, Hermione Disapparated quickly with a `pop'. Harry came down the stairs and Ginny gave him a kiss.

“What did you want to talk to me about, Harry?” Harry motioned for her to follow him into the living room where the letter from Amelia Lynch was sitting on the desk that held his laptop. Seeing it was still on a webpage about raising a child, he closed the screen and handed Ginny the letter. After Ginny had finished the letter, she scoffed.

“But of course you're not going to take him, you're only seventeen. I can't believe that the Department of Magical Social Services would even think you'd consider it, right?” she said with a little laugh. Harry didn't reply. “Did you send a reply saying that the meeting wasn't necessary?”

“No. I'm going to it this afternoon at five o'clock. And I'm bringing Teddy home with me. I'm going to look after him, I'm his godfather.” Ginny laughed, thinking it was a joke. She stopped when she saw Harry wasn't laughing.

“You're-you're serious?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm his godfather, Ginny, Remus and Tonks would want me to look after their son if they died, otherwise they wouldn't have asked me.”

“But you have a choice, Harry, he can go to the next of kin or something—“

“I'm not sure there's any next of kin left, Ginny, except Tonks' mother, and there has to be some reason why she's giving him up all of a sudden now.”

“Harry, how are you going to raise a baby, you don't know how—“

“I know, but I'll learn.”

“Harry, it's not just raising a baby, think about what he is. He's part werewolf. How do you plan to handle that?”

“If he is a werewolf, the Wolfsbane potion will work; it can keep him from being dangerous. Just like it did for his dad.”

“But what if—what if something goes wrong? I don't think you should take that risk, Harry. You've been through enough as it is, why do you have to go looking for trouble?”

“I thought you'd be a little more understanding about this, Ginny, I honestly did. And I was kind of hoping you'd go with us this afternoon.”

“Us?”

“Hermione and me.” Ginny's features darkened.

“Of course. Hermione.”

“What?”

“Why is she going with you? She has her own boyfriend to worry about.”

“Because I asked her to,” Ginny rolled her eyes. “She's my best friend, Ginny. Just because I'm going out with you and she's going out with Ron doesn't mean we just drop each other.”

“It's not that, Harry. It's just that, she's over all the time—“

“No she's not—“ Ginny went on as though Harry hadn't interrupted her.

“And people are beginning to talk.”

“What?”

“Look, she probably didn't tell you this, but when she was at the Burrow yesterday, we were joking around about weddings and such—“

“Yeah, Hermione said you all were planning our weddings, what was that all about?” Again, Ginny went on as though Harry had interrupted.

“She overreacted, and took it all the wrong way. Rumor was she Apparated here. Did she?”

“She was here last night; she said she left a book here.”

“Did you see her leave with one?” Harry recalled the previous evening. No, Hermione didn't leave with a book. Ginny nodded.

“I figured. See, whenever she has problems, she comes here. I know you said we could come and go as we pleased, but don't you think she's been coming by a little too much?”

“Ginny, we've been through a lot. Hermione's the only one who's been there through everything. She hasn't left my side once, she'd be there for me no matter what…”

“But so has Ron—“

“No, he hasn't! Ron left! He left us just because things got too difficult and things weren't easy for him anymore.”

“But he came back—“

“He still left, Ginny. But my point is that through all this we've been through, Hermione understands what this has been like.”

“I understand—“

“No, you don't! You weren't there!”

“Because you wouldn't let me be there! Damnit, Harry, you pushed me away at the end of last year; you wouldn't let me come with you. But what I was saying, Harry, is that people are talking that she's panicking about marrying Ron—“

“Because it's being pushed on her! They've only been dating a few months—“

“But they've known each other for seven years! And she overreacted when Mum and I made the comment about when our weddings would be—“

“I thought you said it was a joke?”

“It-it was. She just took it wrong.” Harry gave his girlfriend a skeptical look. He shook his head.

“Anyways, I don't want to fight about this at the moment, I have to get going soon. Are you coming with me?”

“No, I'm not. Harry, why do you have to take him—“

“Because he doesn't have anyone else. Ginny, he's an orphan just like me, I don't want him to grow up unloved and alone like I was. He's got a right to grow up in the wizarding world, knowing who he is, how his parents risked their lives for peace, and he deserves to be happy. If you can't understand that, then you should probably go.”

“Harry, I—“

“Ginny, either you understand or you don't. Either you're with me or not. If you too scared, then leave. I can do this without you.” Ginny's jaw dropped.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“If you choose to interpret it that way, I suppose so.”

“Over a child?!”

“You know, for someone who's in such a hurry to marry me, you're sure not showing much enthusiasm for the responsibilities. Or were you thinking it's all going to be like a fairy tale, being married to the hero. That'd make for a big headline, your fifteen minutes of fame, marrying the Boy Who Lived.” Harry should've stopped, but he was angry, and she basically was saying that she was too scared of the responsibility. How did she ever expect to be married? Ginny was looking at him like she had just been slapped. But her expression softened, and she turned to the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, she threw it into the fire, causing the flames to turn a vivid green.

“I know you don't mean the things you're saying, Harry, I'll see you later.” Before Harry could answer, she stepped into the flames, shouted her destination, and was gone.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione apparated to Number 12, and Harry told her the details of his and Ginny's conversation, the break up, I guess you could call it, and how she didn't seem to believe that he was breaking up with her.

“She's just going to have to realize, if she wants to be with me, she's going to have to take Teddy into consideration too. She can't have one without the other.” Despite the situation, Hermione smiled.

“I'm glad you're looking at it this way, Harry. That shows you won't be resentful later about taking him in. As for Ginny, I'd just give it a little while, she'll come around, get used to the idea. It is rather sudden.”

“It's not just that, it's—“ But what it was, Harry couldn't describe. All of a sudden, he felt that life with Ginny wasn't necessarily what was right. It was what was easy. Normal. What everyone had expected. The conversation came to an end when Hermione looked at her watch.

“Oh, Harry, we should get going. It's ten minutes to five.” They both Apparated to the Ministry, took the lift down to the floor where the Magical Social Services was. They were shown to the office of Amelia Lynch, who sat behind a desk that looked as though it had been cleared off hastily in preparation for the meeting. She stood up when Harry and Hermione came in.

“Hello, Mr. Potter. I'm Amelia Lynch, welcome,” she said, shaking Harry's hand. “Miss Granger, a pleasure.” She shook Hermione's hand too. “Please, have a seat.” She motioned to the two chairs sitting in front of her desk.

“I'm glad you received my letter, Mr. Potter. I sent it with my assistant for her to send, and let's just say she's not really the brightest star in the sky. But I'm glad you're here. I suppose you're wondering why this meeting has come up all of a sudden now, after it's been a month since Mr. and Mrs. Lupin died. Well, as you may know, Mrs. Andromeda Tonks has been looking after young Theodore, or `Teddy', and we've found that she's no longer capable of raising the child. After the deaths of her husband and daughter, she has fallen into a deep depression, and we have to keep the best interests of the child in mind, and she has agreed to give him up. And there are no next of kin left, Mr. Potter, so it is up to you to make the decision on whether you would be willing to adopt Teddy.” Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Amelia Lynch held a hand up.

“Before you make your decision, I just want to point out…seeing as what his father was, and there is a fifty/fifty chance that he could be the same, we've tested the child and found out that he is indeed a werewolf. Also a part-Metamorphmagus. Right now only his hair and eyes can change. We'll have to wait and see if he is a full Metamorphmagus when he's older.”

“I've taken that into consideration, Ms. Lynch, that Teddy could be a werewolf, and decided that I'll take care of him regardless that he is one. Where else would he go if I didn't?”

“Well, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it. I'm glad you've decided to adopt him, Mr. Potter. After you sign the paperwork, you'll be able to take him home with you today. I'm afraid that there's quite a bit of paperwork too.” She slid a small stack of papers towards Harry and handed him a quill and ink. Harry skimmed through the paperwork, signed his name where he needed to and pushed the papers back to Lynch. She smoothed the pile out and set it aside, and pushed a button and spoke into the little box on her desk.

“Victoria, will you please bring Theodore in here for me?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Victoria answered. A few minutes later, a short black haired witch came in carrying a bundle of blue blankets. Peeking out of the blankets, hair of an electric blue color stuck out. Victoria smiled and handed Teddy to Harry. Harry felt awkward holding him, it was the first time he'd ever held a baby in his life. Teddy stared up at him with blue eyes that almost matched his hair with a curious expression, not sure who this new person was, but decided Harry was friendly because he snuggled closer to the man holding him. Hermione smiled and peered over the bundle of blankets at baby Teddy.

“He looks like Remus.” Harry nodded. Victoria also had a bag in her hand too, which she handed to Amelia and left.

“This bag was left with Mrs. Tonks with instructions that it be given to you when you adopted Teddy. It is password protected, and the password is `Moony', whatever that means.” She handed the bag to Hermione, as Harry had his hands full.

“Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you're officially the parent of Theodore Lupin. I wish you luck with him.”

“Thank you, Ms. Lynch.” He was going to shake her hand, but was afraid to not keep two hands on the baby in his arms. Hermione smiled and held her hand out.

“Here, this handshake is from him.” Amelia Lynch laughed and shook Hermione's hand.

“Good luck, Mr. Potter.” Harry nodded his goodbye and he and Hermione turned and left the office. At the Atrium of the Ministry, Harry stopped, wondering how they were going to get back to Grimmauld Place.

“Um, can you Apparate safely with a baby?” he said, looking down at Teddy, who had fallen asleep. Hermione smiled and nodded.

“Yes, you can, but hold him tightly.” She placed a hand on Harry's arm, and they Disapparated with a `pop'. When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Harry checked Teddy over to see if part of him got left behind. Though he figured if he had splinched they would've known about it right away. The baby was still sleeping.

“You go get Teddy settled in, Harry, I'll run to a store and get the essentials for you.” She walked out the door, and Harry carried his adoptive son upstairs to his new room. Laying the child down in the crib, Harry stood there watching as Teddy squirmed a little and stretched, getting more comfortable now that he was out of the confines of the bundle of blankets. Grabbing the baby monitor Hermione had bought and turning to leave, he glanced back at the sleeping baby before shutting the door. He hoped everything was going to turn out all right.

A/n: Well here's chapter 2! I was going to end it sooner, but then I forgot that I wanted to put the meeting/adoption in this chapter, so I had to keep going. Hopefully it's not too long. I hate to say it, but you shouldn't get too excited, Harry and Ginny aren't broken up quite yet, but it's getting pretty darn close. Let's just say that Teddy is going to have a lot to do with the break ups of our canon ships. Anyways, thanks for reading, please review!!

P.S. I hope this chapter turned out good, the little spat between Ginny and Harry got the point across that I was trying to get. I started losing myself a little when I wrote it, just let the characters fight, just like JK Rowling said she started to let her characters go one direction, but had to pull them back into another direction, which is probably why we ended up with H/G and R/Hr being canon instead of H/Hr. I'm also considering looking for a beta. I've never had one before, and I'm thinking I might want one for this story. So, if any of you are interested…I consider myself fair at grammar and stuff, I just forget a word or two in my sentences when I type sometimes. I basically need someone to check and make sure it's all flowing right!! My email is husker_fan_2006@yahoo.com if anyone's interested, or you can contact me on Portkey somehow. Thanks everyone!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

Oh, I suppose a preview to next chapter…Hermione and Ron spat! LOL ttyl!!

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Chapter 3: Dinner with the Weasleys

A/N: *blushes* Thank you all SO much for your reviews, I'm glad you all like this story!!! I'm having a lot of fun writing it!! I'm amazed that after only the second chapter, it already it has 90+ reviews; I've never had a story like that before!!! Thanks so much everyone!! Well, on to chapter 3!!

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------

Coming downstairs, Harry noticed the bag that was left for him that Hermione had set at the foot of the stairs. Knowing exactly what the password that Lynch had told him meant, he picked up the bag and spoke the password. The latch holding the bag shut opened at once and Harry poured the contents out onto the coffee table in the living room. Sitting down on the couch, he began to look through the things Remus meant for Harry to have when he adopted Teddy. There wasn't much in there, just a few photos, a bottle plugged tightly with a cork, and three envelopes, two were addressed to Teddy, and instructed for him not to open them until his seventeenth birthday. The third letter was addressed to him, and upon opening it, Harry found a note from the former Marauder on the parchment.

Harry,

If you're reading this, then that means the worst has happened and `Dora and I have died. But the bright side is, you're taking care of our son, and to tell you the truth, Harry, it makes me feel a hell of a lot better that you're taking care of him when we're gone. Yes, it saddens me that `Dora and I will never see Teddy grow up, but at least he's in good hands. I know you'll do a good job raising him.

I've put some things together in this bag for you and for Teddy. There's a few pictures, so he knows what we looked like, two letters from 'Dora and me, I want you to make sure and give them to Ted on his seventeenth birthday. Also, there's a bottle of my memories so he can know what I was like. Most of them are my years at school and whatnot, so there are some stories you can tell him while he grows up. I know this isn't much, but I feel it's all you need from us. Anything else, you can do on your own. I have every faith in you.

Thank you again for taking my son in, Harry. It means the world to me that you did, I know there are probably some that would try to talk you out of it. I know you'll give him a good home, and raise him as your own. Make me, your father, and Sirius proud, and good luck.

Remus

Harry folded the letter back up and placed it in the envelope. A wave of sadness for the baby sleeping upstairs came over him. Ted would never know his parents, and despite all the things Harry could tell him about Remus and Tonks, it wouldn't be the same, just as it was never quite the same for Harry to hear about his parents.

There was the `pop' of Apparation in the entryway two hours later; Hermione had come back with two plastic bags in her hands. Harry got up and followed her to the kitchen, where she set the bags on the table.

“I thought you said you were getting baby essentials?” Harry said, looking curiously at the lack of bags that Hermione brought back.

“I did.”

“And it only filled two bags?” Hermione gave him an annoyed look.

“Well, I had to shrink and lighten them so I could carry them. Once they were smaller, I was able fit them into a normal sized bag. See?” Hermione pulled tiny replicas of full grocery bags out of the bigger ones, and enlarged all of them. The bags filled the table.

“Ok, again, Hermione, I thought you said you went to get the essentials?”

“These are the essentials, Harry. You're going to need all of this.” Harry looked with surprise at all the baby stuff covering his kitchen table.

“Overwhelming, isn't it?” Hermione said, noticing his look.

“Just a tad,” Harry said weakly.

“I didn't know for sure what to get when I left, so I stopped by the Burrow and asked Mrs. Weasley. She told me to get all of this stuff, and I also got the ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion, you're going to need that, and also some wizarding parenting books. Thought those would help. Oh, and Mrs. Weasley also said she wanted you to bring Teddy to dinner tomorrow night at six o'clock, she wants to see him. And she said she won't take `no' for an answer.”

“Alright.”

“And I'll just help you put all of this away and then I'll leave. I'll be out of your hair in no time.”

“You're leaving?”

“Yeah.”

“Hermione, don't leave me alone here. Just stay at least for the first night. I need you.” Hermione sighed.

“Alright, I'll stay, but you can't just always depend on me, Harry.”

“I know, thank you.” He closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek again. Hermione tensed up in shock and when Harry let go, her mouth was slightly open in surprise.

“What was that for?”

“For everything you've done for me, Hermione. Not just with Teddy, for everything. You've always been there, and I love you for it.”

“You what?”

“Um, like a sister,” Harry said quickly, having just realized what he said. Hermione started rummaging through the bags, a pink blush rising in her cheeks. She didn't reply to Harry's comment. In fact, they were both quite silent as they put things away, only talking when they had to. They didn't really talk the rest of the evening, they spent most of it in the living room reading (both were engrossed in the wizarding parenting books), only getting up to check on Teddy, who they found was a very good sleeper, something Hermione said Harry should be thankful for. It was a very awkward evening; Harry kept wishing he hadn't said anything earlier that evening.

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The next afternoon, Harry was getting ready to go to the Burrow, having just taken a shower; he was going through his closet looking for something to wear. His closet seemed kind of bare. He sighed. He really needed to do laundry. His door was still open a crack, just far enough that he could hear Hermione's voice drift across the hall as she talked to Teddy.

“Hey there, little squirt. You wanna go on a little outing?” Teddy gurgled happily in response. Hermione chuckled.

“If I were you, I wouldn't be so excited. You're bound to be passed around so much it'll make wish you could talk so you could tell everyone to stop passing you around like a Quaffle. Knowing Molly Weasley, she'll simply fawn over you. You're going to be quite the ladies' man tonight, Teddy.” Hermione must've tickled him, because Teddy giggled and squealed a little, making Hermione laugh too. Harry stuck his head out the door and watched as Hermione picked Teddy up from the changing table all dressed for the evening, and took him in her arms, giving him her finger to hold onto. Moving her finger back and forth, Hermione laughed.

“Quite a little grip you've got there, your godfather might take that as a sign that he needs to be getting you up on a broom as soon as you're big enough to fly…but I might have to say something about it if he does.” Harry quickly stepped away from the door as Hermione turned to leave Teddy's room so she wouldn't see him. He began to get dressed, thinking back to how Hermione handled Teddy. She'd make a good mother someday, but he wasn't about to tell her that, he didn't want another awkward evening where they wouldn't talk to each other. This morning had been better; it was as if Hermione had forgotten last night. A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at the Burrow. Walking up the sidewalk, they stopped at the door and Hermione hesitated before knocking.

“What's the matter?” Harry said, noticing Hermione's hesitancy.

“Nothing, I just have a feeling some time tonight something bad is going to happen. This is the first time I've been here since I left that one night, or “overreacted” as Ginny put it.”

“I'm sure it'll be fine, Hermione. Everyone will probably be so busy fussing over Teddy they won't think about what happened the other night.” Hermione nodded and knocked on the door. It opened after a few seconds to reveal Molly Weasley.

“Oh, you're finally here! And good, you've brought the baby! Come on in, don't just stand there, come in, come in!” Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind Hermione and Harry and Harry set the little diaper bag down by the door.

“Oh can I see him?” Hermione handed Teddy to Mrs. Weasley, who with the experience of handling children, took him in her arms easily.

“He looks like Remus. With a little of Tonks too. I see he's inherited his mother's Metamorphmagus gift.” Teddy, whose hair was orange that day, gurgled and stuck a fist in his mouth, keeping wide blue eyes on this new person.

“Well, come in you two, dinner's almost ready. It's such a nice evening tonight I thought we'd all eat out in the garden. Ginny's setting the table now; Ron is at the Ministry with Arthur. There's an opening for a job in Arthur's department, so Ron went and applied, he had an interview this afternoon. Arthur sent a message by earlier saying they'd be home just in time for dinner.”

“He mentioned to me that he was going in for his interview today. When Arthur sent the message, did he say whether or not Ron got the job?” Hermione asked. Mrs. Weasley shook her head.

“No, Ron was still in the middle of his interview when the message came. I'm sure we'll find out this evening. I'm so glad that he's looking into getting a job; soon he'll be able to save up enough money and get a place of his own. Not that I'm pushing him out the door or anything. I would've really have liked for him to go back and finish his last year at Hogwarts, but he decided he wanted to be working, doing something other than studying for exams. Bill and Fleur are coming for dinner tonight, they say they have some news…I bet Fleur's expecting, that's what their news is going to be. Oh, I would love to have grandchildren!” Molly walked away from them, they assumed they were supposed to follow because she kept talking, not really pausing long enough for replies. She still held Teddy in her arms, and the child was looking up at her as though engrossed with what Molly was saying. Either that or he couldn't believe how one woman would keep talking like this one did.

“Ginny!” Molly called to her daughter out in the garden, “Harry and Hermione are here, and they've brought Teddy!” Ginny came in, smiled a hello to Harry and Hermione, and looked at the baby in her mother's arms.

“So this is Teddy. He's a cutie.” Hermione gave Harry a look that said, `See, I told you she just needed to get used to it!' Ginny turned to Hermione and said, “I'm surprised you've come back here, Hermione. Thought you wouldn't after you run out the other night.” Hermione's smile fell from her face. She took a deep breath as though willing herself to stay calm.

“Well, I was invited for dinner, wasn't I? Why shouldn't I be here?”

“I was assuming that you weren't coming, that Harry would just be bringing Teddy.”

“Well, you know what happens when you “assume”, Ginny. It makes an a—“

“Alright!” said Mrs. Weasley, sensing a fight coming on, “Ginny, would you please finish setting the table, dear?” Ginny nodded and went back outside. “And would you two help me please, too? Harry, you can take the dinner rolls and out and set them on the table, and fill the water glasses for me too, please. Hermione, I need some whipped cream made to go on top of the pie.” (A/N: Pumpkin pie anyone? ;-) Just kidding, that'd be too much! ) Mrs. Weasley conjured up a little baby carrier and put Teddy in so both hands would be free. On his way out the door, keeping his wand on the levitating glasses and plate of dinner rolls, Harry tickled Teddy's foot with his finger of his free hand, making the baby giggle. Harry laughed. It was amazing how contagious a baby's laughter was. Ginny looked up and smiled when Harry walked out the door and set the glasses and plate on the table.

“Hey,” she said sweetly.

“Hey.”

“So you did go through with it. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't surprise me that you'd adopt him,” Ginny said with a hint of seduction in her voice. She put her arms around Harry's neck. “You're always one to do the noble thing, always playing the hero. And I like that. And hey, the hero always gets the girl.” She kissed him, but Harry didn't kiss her back. Everything she was saying was not making him feel better about her. Ginny noticed that there was nothing on the other end of the kiss and pulled back and gave him a confused look.

“What's the matter?”

“Ginny, what are you trying to do?”

“I'm just kissing my boyfriend, it's perfectly normal, I never heard you complaining before.”

“No, it's not that. What are you trying to get from me? A marriage proposal? That I'll sweep you off your feet and into my arms and we'll ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after?”

“I—Harry, I—“

“So you aren't surprised that I adopted Teddy. What do you think about him? If I marry you, what would you do about Teddy? Would you take care of him like he was your own? Or would you neglect him because of what he is or that he takes away your fairy tale visions of marrying the `hero'?”

“Harry, it's not like that, it's just—“

“What would you do about him? If we got married?”

“I'd—love him as my own, if I have to.” Ginny said hesitantly, plastering on a fake smile. Harry's eyes narrowed in disbelief.

“Sure you would.”

“Harry, I can't believe you're picking a fight over this! Why are you making this out to be such a big deal?”

“Because it is a big deal!” Harry shouted, yanking Ginny's arms from around his neck. “It's something you have to take into consideration! Raising a baby isn't going to be easy, it takes—“

“And you know about all that? About raising a baby? Being married? You're such an expert on the subject?”

“I will admit that I don't know how to do this. But I'll learn, I'm willing to learn, and not just because I have to, because I want to.”

“How?”

“What?”

“How are you going to raise him? I'm not talking financially or any of that, how are you going to raise him? He'll need a mother figure.”

“A mother figure who is willing to care for him, not one who'll be there because she has to in order to win my affections.” There was a short silence between them, until Harry spoke the conclusion he'd come to, “You're too young.”

“What?”

“You're too young for this. For this responsibility.”

“Harry, I'm only a year younger than you.”

“Yes, you are, but you've got another year of school left, you've still got that mentality that everything is just dreams and starry stars. I see it now. Life is still a game, a competition, to get what you want, and throw a fit when you don't get your way. You can't handle what this takes, Ginny. And I can't stand by and wait around for you to get there. It's over, Ginny, please realize that.” With that, Harry turned and walked away, going back into the house, leaving a shocked Ginny standing behind him. The kitchen was empty save for Hermione standing at the counter charming a spoon to stir the whipped cream for her. Harry sat down at the kitchen table and sighed.

“Hey, I'm glad you're here,” Hermione said, smiling and sitting across from him, a bowl of whipped cream in front of her. She dipped a spoon into the bowl and held it out to him. “Here, taste this for me, will you? I've never done this by magic before. Personally, I'm not too sure I like cooking by magic, the muggle way seems more satisfying, then I know I did everything right—Harry what's wrong?” Harry shook his head. Hermione looked out the window and saw a tearful Ginny finishing setting the table.

“What happened?”

“It's over.”

“Oh, Harry…I'm sorry.”

“It needed to be done. She doesn't understand what it's going to take. She even said I was playing the hero by adopting Teddy, and then made a comment about that the hero always gets the girl.” Hermione didn't reply, just put a hand on Harry's shoulder. “But that's ok, though. Ginny was an attempt to make my life normal. It was what was easy, not what was right.” Hermione gave him a sympathetic look.

“I'm so sorry, Harry. I really thought you'd both work it out. Not necessarily get married now, but I thought she'd at least be there for you.”

“She's too young.” Hermione smiled.

“Well, when you think about it, Harry, we're not much older than she is.”

“I know, but we've been through so much more. Yeah, she was there at the end, but we were there at the beginning. We've been through it all. She doesn't understand that, because she wasn't there. I don't even really feel seventeen anymore; I feel like I'm ninety or something.”

“Oh, Harry…” Hermione got up and sat next to Harry, putting her arms around him in a comforting hug.

“Right, breaking up with me because I'm too young, when you're in here with Hermione,” a voice from behind them caused them to jump apart as though they had been burned. Ginny was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, a fierce look on her tear streaked face. “Right, Harry. I knew this had something to do with Hermione. You're breaking up with me for being too young or immature, well she's just as immature, maybe even more so, she can't even step up and accept the inevitable, what should happen, and stop grasping for things she can't have!” The two friends sat there gaping at Ginny, who stormed passed them and ran upstairs. As soon as she was gone, Hermione glared at the doorway that Ginny had just left.

“Ooh, if she makes one more comment about my supposed `flight' the other night, I'm going to hex her into next week. This has nothing to do with me! This is about you two, not about me!”

“Just forget it. C'mon, let's finish helping Mrs. Weasley get dinner ready.”

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Dinner was a friendly affair, considering the news of Harry and Ginny's break up had spread throughout the house like wildfire. Ginny, naturally of course was still sulking in her room, and didn't come down for dinner. Harry half expected Mrs. Weasley to be cold with him, having just ended the hopes of one big Weasley family, but she wasn't, she actually gave him and understanding look. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't so understanding. He was sitting across the table from Harry and Hermione, and kept stealing glances at them, as though half expecting them to grab each other and snog each other senseless. Harry had a feeling, that like his sister, Ron thought that Hermione had a hand in the break up too.

“So, Fleur, Bill, what's the big news? Is it what I think it could be?” Fleur smiled widely.

“I don't know, Molly, what do `ou zink it could be?”

“Oh I have hopes, but I've learned after today not to get them too high.” Bill put an arm around his wife and they smiled at each other.

“Well, tell them,” Bill said. Fleur's smile grew even more, and she practically beamed to the people around the table.

“Well, Bill and I…'re expeczing a baby.” The conversation around the table erupted into `congratulations' and `that's wonderful's. Molly burst into tears and embraced her daughter-in-law.

“Oh, I'm so happy. My first grandbaby!” The proud grandfather-to-be, raised his glass and everyone followed suit.

“To Bill and Fleur, and little baby Weasley there. May he or she bring happiness to our lives, and joy to his or her parents!” They all drank.

“Oh and another toast!” Mrs. Weasley said, eyes still shining with joyful tears, “To little Teddy and his godfather, Harry. Harry, we wish you two all the luck in the world.” Again, they all drank. It was then that Hermione got up with her glass in hand, apparently intent on refilling it in the kitchen. After she disappeared into the house, Ron got up and followed her. Figuring that those two were going to talk in the kitchen, seeing as Hermione was going to fill her glass, Harry got up too, but to go check on Teddy. He reached the kitchen to find it empty, Hermione's glass sitting on the table. He was about to go into the living room where Teddy was sleeping, but the two voices of his best friends stopped him. He stood just outside the doorway, contemplating whether he should go back outside or not, and let them have a little privacy. But curiosity kept him rooted to the spot…he had a feeling things were about to get ugly.

A/N: Ok, don't get mad, hear me out first!!! I know I said a Ron and Hermione spat would be in this one, but I decided to put it off till the next chapter, it will definitely be there, I promise!!! But look on the bright side, Harry and Ginny are over, so that's one down!! Please don't hate me; I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP!!

Ok, and for sure a little preview for next chapter…it's a quote from the movie Elizabethtown that kinda sums up what's going to happen, for those of you who've seen it, the line is said by Phil…“And the sound you hear, is the sound of shit hitting the fan.” Oh, and it's gonna hit, so see you all a little later, as soon as possible!! Thanks again!!

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Chapter 4: The Not-So Hidden Relationship

A/N: Hey, I wanna thank my new beta, Sage05, for helping me with this chapter, with the editing and all that fun stuff!!

Here's chapter 4 everyone, it's starting to get interesting, with a few little twists thrown in! Hope you enjoy!!

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

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“And the sound you hear is the sound of shit hitting the fan.” - Phil from the movie `Elizabethtown'

---------------------------

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask, how'd the interview go today?” Hermione asked cheerily, asking out of politeness, though the tone in her voice said she had a feeling where the topic might lead to.

“Well, I was going to tell everyone at dinner, but it seems that Bill and Fleur have more important news. Which is ok, I wanted to tell you first anyway.” Harry could tell that Hermione's suspicions were probably confirmed right then.

“Well, how'd it go?”

“I got the job.”

“Ron, that's wonderful! I'm happy for you!”

“Yeah, and I wanted to talk to you about something then, Hermione. Pretty soon I'll be able to save up money, buy my own place, and—maybe you and I could settle down, if you like.” Hermione sighed.

“Ron—“

“Right now I don't have much to offer you, Hermione, I don't even have a ring or anything, but I will, eventually.”

“Ron, I—“

“And I promise I'll take care of you, you won't have to worry about a thing.”

“Ron, can I speak? Please?”

“Of course,” he said.

Hermione sighed again. “Ron, I do care for you. But…I don't love you like you think you love me. I don't think I could marry you right now. It's too soon. The Final Battle just ended a little over a month ago, and we've only been dating officially for that month. And—“

“But you could grow to love me. I know you would.”

“No you don't, Ron. And I couldn't go into a marriage unless I loved the man wholeheartedly, not on the basis that I'll grow to love him.”

“And as to not having dated long, we've known each other for seven years, that's got to amount to something.”

“Yes, but up until right after our sixth year you were a complete jerk to me. Then all of a sudden you had a change of attitude, and were nice to me. Nicer than you had ever been before to me in your life, save for the times when you were trying to get me to let you copy my notes for school. I'm getting to like this new Ron Weasley, but I can't marry you unless I love you. That's all there is to it. And besides, I don't think I'm ready to get married, there are still so many things I still want to do. I want to go back to school and become a healer. If I can't become a healer necessarily, then I want to try something else. I want a career.”

“But Hermione, if we get married, you won't have to go back to school and become a healer.” Hermione sighed again.

“Ron, the feminist in me says that I do, I can't just give up my dreams because I'm marrying you. I can't just be a housewife and a mother; I have to be doing something else.”

“You don't want to have children?”

“I didn't say that, Ron. It's just I don't want that to be my only job and purpose in life.” Ron angrily sighed.

“Is that it? Is that the only reason why you won't marry me now, because you need a job? Or is there something else, or rather someone else?”

“No there's no one else, Ronald, what kind of person do you take me for?” Hermione snapped. “Someone that just runs around bouncing from guy to guy running them all on a little string to keep them close?”

“I stopped by your flat last night, you weren't home. You were at Grimmauld Place, weren't you?” Harry rolled his eyes; he was hoping he wasn't going to get dragged into Ron and Hermione's row.

“So what if I was? I was helping Harry take care of Teddy for that first night. Harry asked me to stay for that first night till they got settled in, and I did. That's all it was.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that, about Teddy.”

“What about Teddy?”

“I don't think you should be spending time with those two.”

“Why?” Hermione's voice was starting to get an icy tone to it.

“Because, he's a werewolf, Hermione, he's going to be dangerous.” Harry heard the front door open and Ron ask, “Where are you going?”

“I'm going outside. We'll finish this out there. We've already woke Teddy, I don't want to upset him if I happen to start shouting.” The two left, and Harry went into the living room, wondering how he was going to hear the conversation, and feeling guilty for eavesdropping. Luckily enough, the window was open, so Harry sat down and listened to what he suspected could be a big fight. He leaned over and looked into the little playpen Mrs. Weasley had put Teddy in. The child was staring up at the ceiling, waiting for something or someone to come into his limited vision, sucking on his fist. His hair had turned baby blue, and when Harry came into view, it turned to orange again as the baby grinned and kicked his feet.

“Orange must be your happy color,” Harry mused. Teddy kept staring up at Harry, and reached his feet up and grabbed them with his hands and stuck them in his mouth. Harry laughed softly.

“How do you do that?” he whispered. “I've never seen anyone be flexible like that. It must be a baby thing.” Teddy let his feet go and went back to kicking them still smiling at Harry, sticking his fist in his mouth again. “I guess there's going to be a lot of things I'm going to learn about you, Teddy. About how to raise you. I know I don't know anything about this, but we'll learn together, right? Just you and me. We can't be depending on everyone to help us; we'll have to be on our own. But we'll be fine, won't we?” Harry tickled the baby and Teddy squealed and giggled, making Harry laugh too. “You know you're a very ticklish little squirt. You're going to have the girls all over you when you're older.” Harry was concentrating so much on his godson that he almost forgot about the fight between his two friends outside.

“Ron, I know it's going to be dangerous, but Harry's going to be taking care of him, we can't leave him to take care of Teddy by himself, especially since Teddy is a werewolf. It'd be safer to have more people to look after him on the full moon.”

“Well, Harry has thrill issues. I don't really think he should've adopted Teddy. But that's not the point. Hermione, I don't want you taking care of him, in fact—`' Ron's voice got a little shaky as he summed up the courage to say what he was about to say. “I forbid you to help raise him. And to see Harry.” Harry's jaw dropped, and he could tell Hermione's probably did too, and her face was probably red with fury.

“What? You forbid me to take care of Teddy and to see Harry? Did you honestly just say that to me?”

“Y-yes I did.”

“I am not just some person that you can command, Ronald! You can't forbid me to do anything! I can't believe you, Ron!”

“Hermione, I'm afraid for you, I'm afraid of what would happen if you spend too much time with Teddy, you could be bitten! And Harry needs to do this on his own, he can't be depending on you to make it all better and bail him out if he needs help.”

“Sure, it's alright for you to do it, but not him? I've been bailing your butt out ever since we've been friends, Ron!” Ron didn't answer, but Harry heard Hermione sigh. “I don't want to talk about this anymore, Ron. I feel if I do, we're both going to say something we'll regret. Tell your mother I'm leaving, and thank her for dinner for me. And I'll stop by to see her again soon.” Without another word, Hermione Disapparated, and knowing Ron was going to come into the house through the living room, Harry quickly apparated back to the garden, where he got curious looks from the Weasleys.

“Harry, dear, what's wrong?” Mrs. Weasley asked. Harry didn't answer her question, just shook his head.

“Um, I should probably get going, get Teddy home and all that. I'll see you all later. Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, for dinner. Again, Bill, Fleur, congratulations.” He met Ron on the way back into the house, who didn't speak to him, or really do anything to acknowledge he'd even noticed Harry. Which was fine, in Harry's opinion, he didn't want to let on that he heard the fight. Taking Teddy in his arms, the child woke up and tried to grab Harry's glasses. Harry leaned his head away, muttering `no'. They Apparated back to Grimmauld Place, and Harry had a feeling there was probably someone already there, a brown eyed, bushy haired someone. And sure enough, he found her lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Do you think I overreacted?” she said, still staring at the ceiling. Harry didn't know what to say, she knew he was listening to the conversation. He decided for the playing dumb approach.

“What do you mean?” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Don't play dumb, Harry, I saw you through the window and I heard you come in right after Ron.” Harry sighed. He was caught.

“No, you didn't overreact. I'm sorry, though.”

“For what?”

“That because I asked for your help with Teddy, it's put yours and Ron's relationship on the rocks.” Hermione sat up and looked at him.

“Harry, this has nothing to do with Teddy or you. Ron's just looking for someone to blame because he knows this has been a long time coming. It's not about that he's worried about my safety taking care of Teddy; he's just afraid it's going to take me away from him and it'll speed up the process of us drifting apart. That's why he wants to marry me, to solidify this relationship and make sure it doesn't end. And I suppose on some levels, he is afraid of losing me to you.”

“That's crazy.” Hermione didn't answer. Harry found that odd that she didn't reply, he expected her to agree with him. “But Hermione, in all seriousness, I think he's right.” Hermione gave him a defensive look and opened her mouth to speak, but Harry didn't let her get anything out. “Not about everything, but about Teddy. You shouldn't have to feel obligated to help me. I can do this on my own. I want you to go live your dreams, not have to worry about helping me. Teddy and I will be fine. If you stay, you might wish you hadn't later.” Hermione smiled and shook her head.

“Harry, I could never regret helping you. I care for Teddy so much already, and I've only known him a day. There won't be a moment when I'll wish I hadn't been there to watch him grow. Even with a career, I can still be there for you both. That I can guarantee.”

“What about Ron, though? If, hypothetically, he stops being a git about this and grows up a little more and you two get married and have your own family, how's he going to feel about you spending time with Teddy and me?”

“Well, he'll just have to understand that like you, Teddy comes with as part of the package. I know I have no official obligation to him, but I feel like I do,” Hermione smiled again. “You can try to get rid of me all you want, Harry, but I'm not going anywhere.” Harry smiled too.

“As much as I shouldn't admit this, I'm glad you're not going anywhere then, Hermione. I'm glad you're along for the ride.” Hermione laughed.

“Harry, I've been on this ride since I was eleven, I'm not about to get off now, it's been too much fun! Dangerous, yes, but fun. This ride as one of your best friends never been dull, that's for sure. You said yourself that I was at the beginning with you, and we haven't even come close to the end.” Harry smiled again, and bouncing Teddy a little in his arms, he turned and left Hermione's room, his spirits feeling high for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't going to be alone, or maybe it was Hermione's words that raised his spirits. He couldn't deny that what she said had touched him. And she was right, she had been along for the ride since the beginning, she'd been there on that first train ride to Hogwarts, even though at that time he had thought she was annoying and bossy. And she was also right about the ride not being boring, it was far from that. What with mountain trolls, freeing Azkaban prisoners, saving prophecies, and even saving each other from a snake attack, the last few years had been adventurous. There was no doubt about that. Harry was glad that she said nothing was going to drive her away, but little did he know that Hermione's words of not leaving were going to be tested to the limit in a few days.

--------------------------

A few days later, Harry was changing the again orange haired little baby Teddy in the morning, dressing him for the day. Or at least until he spit up or something where he'd need a new outfit. Harry was telling him a story while he changed him, and since he hadn't had a chance to acquire a pensieve to see Remus's memories, he told Teddy one about himself, about his first trip to Hogwarts. Teddy stared at Harry wide eyed, giving him all his attention, every once in a while sticking a fist in his mouth.

“See, Teddy, when you go to Hogwarts, you ride a train there, and to get to it, you have to go to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Muggles don't know it's there, and even wizards can't see it until they go through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Then when you get there, the Hogwarts Express is a scarlet train, and it always leaves at eleven o'clock. When I first went to Hogwarts, I was by myself, and didn't know how to get onto the platform. But the Weasleys helped me. Later I met Ron and we became friends right away. On the train mid-way through the trip, a witch comes by with a trolley full of every sweet imaginable. But you've got to be careful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans…they aren't joking when they say every flavor. Sometime on the trip, a boy named Neville came into Ron and my compartment asking about a toad. Neville's always been a little forgetful. He didn't find Trevor until we got off the train when Hagrid found him. After Neville left, Hermione came in, also looking for Neville's lost toad. She had a very bossy air about her, but don't tell her I said that. Ron was about to show me a spell his brother Fred gave him to try and turn his rat yellow. This naturally peaked Hermione's curiosity, anxious to see others her own age who could do magic. The spell was dud, of course, Fred or George were always giving Ron a hard time. Hermione then went into her whole know-it-all-ness, and went on and on about how she had performed spells already and they had worked. She was a bossy know-it-all back then, Teddy, mind you, she still is a little bit—“

“What are you telling him about me, Harry?” Harry jumped and whipped around to find Hermione standing in the doorway, hands on her hips a look of mock anger on her face. Teddy gurgled happily. “You're going to turn him against me before he can even talk. Thanks, Harry.”

“I was just telling him about our first trip to Hogwarts. How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to hear you tell him that I'm a bossy know-it-all.”

“I'm not going to turn him against you, Hermione. I'd never do that.”

“You'd better not, or I might have to hex you or something.” They both laughed, and Teddy joined in, though not knowing nor caring why they were laughing, he was just happy.

“Breakfast is ready if you're hungry.” Harry nodded and picked up Teddy.

“How does breakfast sound, squirt?” Teddy gurgled again in response. The three went downstairs into the kitchen where Kreacher was finishing the last minute preparations for breakfast. The two adults sat down, and Kreacher handed Harry Teddy's bottle to him, which Teddy took happily, staring at back and forth at Harry and Hermione who sat across from each other. The owl that came to deliver the Daily Prophet flew in the window. Hermione paid it, and took the paper from the delivery owl as it took flight again. She unfolded the paper and disappeared behind it. Harry didn't expect much conversation from her; this had been her routine for a few years now. What he hadn't expected was her to gasp right away and say, “Oh. My. God.” Harry looked up from Teddy to see what was wrong.

“What is it?” Hermione lowered the paper slowly and laid it on the table. On the front page of the Daily Prophet was his own picture, staring up at him, reluctantly smiling. It had been a photo taken of him years ago. There also was a picture of Hermione, though it looked rather old, like the one taken when they were fourteen. And beneath their pictures, was one of Harry and Hermione together, at the Burrow, walking up the sidewalk with Teddy in Hermione's arms. The headline read, `The Not So Hidden Relationship', The Detail of Harry Potter's Love Life that was so Well Hidden Until Now.'

“You've got to be kidding me,” Harry said, shocked. “How did they get a picture of us with Teddy? What do they say about us?” Hermione read,

“Ever since the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named a little over a month ago, the Boy Who Lived, or rather, Man Who Conquered, has been keeping a pretty low profile lately, writes Rita Skeeter. ` Oh, she wrote this article, well, she'll get what's coming to her.' No one but his closest friends know where he is or what he's up to. But luckily, after a tip off and a strategically placed photographer, we are finally able to give you avid readers a piece of information you so dearly crave. And the best bit is, it's about the recent witch who has stolen Harry Potter's heart. Last anyone heard, Ginny Weasley was the object of Harry's affections, but not anymore. This time, once again, it's Miss Hermione Granger that holds Harry's heart. And, it gets better, my dear readers. They've also adopted a child together. Little Ted Lupin, son of deceased werewolf Remus Lupin and deceased Auror Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, was legally adopted by Harry and Hermione, who they've vowed to raise as their own. It also has been rumored that the Harry/Hermione relationship has been going strong since before the final battle, that they've been seeing each other in secret, behind the backs of their significant others, both being Weasleys. Our informer told us that a few nights ago, after a conversation about the future, Miss Granger overreacted and fled the Burrow, arriving at Mr. Potter's home, and we can only assume what happened there that night.' Oh, I can't read anymore, this is starting to get ridiculous. Well, I hope Rita enjoys Azkaban, because this just might be a good enough reason to expose her as an unregistered Animagus.”

“Who's this `informer' she was talking about?”

“Well, glancing through the rest of the article, I'd say it was an angry girl with red hair,” Hermione said, sliding the paper across the table to Harry.

“Do you really think Ginny would do this?”

“It's hard to say what anyone will do anymore, Harry. Things are starting to get shook up. They're getting thrown out of whack, not turning out like they apparently were supposed to, like everything was all destined to end a certain way.”

“So what happens now?”

“I think—I'm going to go to Australia to bring my parents back. I think a week should be long enough, maybe this will die down a little. I'll leave this afternoon, and I'll be sure and be back before the full moon, so I can be here to help you with Teddy.”

“You're going to run? Hermione, it's what they want, they want us to run from this, to go into hiding so it looks as though they're right.”

“Harry, I need a break, everyone keeps throwing it in my face that I fled that one night, I don't know why it's such big news. That all of a sudden, the level headed Hermione Granger is suddenly afraid of commitment, and it should make the front page along with that she's sleeping with famous Harry Potter on the side. They're making me out to be a whore or something. It's ridiculous.”

“Yeah, it is, but—“

“Harry, I'm sorry, but I'm going. I'm not as used to this as you are. I need to get away.” They didn't speak for the rest of breakfast, and didn't really look at each other much. They pretty much ignored each other for the rest of the day until Hermione left. Teddy kept looking from one adult to the other, not understanding why the two people he was beginning to like and trust were not acting as they usually did toward each other. In fact, his hair turned a dark blue. Hermione was ready to leave by two o'clock, she had her bag packed and shrunk to fit in her pocket. Harry and Teddy came to say goodbye at the door. Hermione took Teddy in her arms and planted a kiss on his forehead. Teddy looked up at her wide eyed and sad, not understanding any of this.

“Bye, little squirt. I'll see you in a week. Don't cause Harry too much trouble, just enough to keep him on his toes.” She handed him back to Harry and gave him a small smile.

“Bye,” she whispered.

“Bye. Have a safe trip. Hope everything goes well with your parents.”

“Thanks. Don't forget, the full moon is a week from Wednesday, so you need to make sure and give Teddy the potion a week prior to the full moon. Make sure you don't forget.”

“I won't.”

“Bye, Harry.” With that, she Disapparated, leaving Harry and Teddy alone in the big empty house. It already felt like something was missing. Harry sighed. This was going to be a long week.

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Hey hey! Here's chapter 4, sorry it took longer to get out than I promised!! Hope you enjoyed it!!

Lol, I thought about ending the chapter after Ron and Hermione's fight, but figured enough shit hadn't hit the fan yet, so I had to keep going, hopefully it was good enough!! Thanks for your reviews!!

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Chapter 5: Missing You

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

--------------------

It was turning out to be one of the longest weeks of Harry's life. He hadn't realized how much he was beginning to depend on Hermione until she left. And he had no idea how much Teddy had become attached to her in the week that he had been living with them. Teddy cried more often, slept less, and his hair was never orange anymore. Harry was becoming more and more frustrated as the week went on, wishing Hermione was back to make Teddy happy. Hell, it would make Harry happy too; he was just realizing how much he missed having Hermione in the house. Not only for the help with the baby, but the companionship, the talks over dinner, putting Teddy down for the night, or even just spending time in the living room, reading or watching TV, even if they didn't talk. And now she was gone, and it was only Tuesday. She'd only been gone two days. Harry sighed as he changed Teddy's diaper. This was going to be a long week. He tickled Teddy's foot after the baby was clean and dry and in a fresh diaper. Teddy kicked his foot and squirmed, but didn't laugh. Harry really wished Hermione was back. Though the week was different, it was by no means uneventful. Luckily no one had noticed Hermione was gone, but the hate mail that came for both of them Harry threw away without reading them, tossing them into the fire. Thankfully it was nothing that would blow up when coming in contact with flames. Not much was said since the article, but Harry wasn't about to forget about it, especially when Ron came to visit him the day after Hermione had left for Australia. Ron apparated into the living room with a `pop', causing Harry, who was sitting in the chair reading about childhood diseases, to jump.

Ron offered no greeting or preamble, just asked rudely, “Where is she?”

“Well, hello to you too, Ron.”

“Don't give me lectures, Harry, where is Hermione?”

“She's not here.”

“Of course she's here, she's always here. She's not at her flat, so therefore she's here.” `So Hermione didn't inform the boyfriend about her trip then. That was thoughtful of her,' Harry thought with a little bitterness.

“Well, Hermione has a life outside her flat and this house, Ron. There's hundreds of places she could be besides here.”

“But she's not; I know she's here, Harry. Now where is she?”

“I told you, she's not here.”

“Then where is she?”

“She's in Australia with her parents. She's lifting the memory charm and bringing them back to England. Here, sit down, I'll get you a drink.” Harry set his book aside to get up.

“Don't give me that, Harry. Don't even try to pretend to be a good friend. Apparently you've been backstabbing me for months.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The article!”

“That's what this is all about? You want to see Hermione about the article?”

“Yes.”

“You honestly believe that Rita Skeeter rubbish?”

“It explains a hell of a lot that's been going on lately with Hermione. Why she's been so distant to me, why she doesn't want to marry me. It's all because of you.”

“Hermione doesn't want to marry you now because of Hermione. I have nothing to do with it. If you would just talk to her, actually listen to her, she'd be able to explain everything to you.” Ron scoffed. “Look, who are you going to believe, your friends of seven years or a reporter who specializes in ruining people's lives?” Ron glared at his friend.

“Considering how honest you've both been with all of us lately, I'll take the reporter,” Ron said scornfully.

“Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, Ron.”

“Let me know when she gets back.”

“So you can treat her like this or worse? Not bloody likely Ron.” With one last glare, Ron Disapparated.

“Hope he leaves a fingernail behind again,” Harry muttered bitterly. He glanced hopefully at the spot where Ron disappeared from, and was disappointed that there wasn't anything left behind. Then he mentally kicked himself for the wicked thought. But then, he shouldn't feel guilty, it was Ron that was being the jerk, not him. Ron who chose to believe Rita Skeeter of all people instead of his two best friends. Well, if that was the case, then vindictive thoughts about hoping Ron splinched didn't seem so bad.

-------------------

On Wednesday, Harry made sure he remembered to give Teddy his Wolfsbane potion. But remembering to give the child the potion was the easy part, getting him to take it was a different story. Harry recalled in his third year when he saw Remus take the potion he said sugar made it useless, and that it was horrible tasting. And it was a lot simpler for a grown man to take it, someone who was able to understand and make himself drink the potion, than for a small baby to drink it. For once Teddy drank a little, he refused to swallow and burst into tears, and hollered at the top of his lungs in protest. Harry tried to sooth him while trying to get him to drink, but the baby refused.

“Come on, Teddy, you have to drink this, if you hate this now, you're going to hate it a lot worse next week.” The baby cried more. Harry was beginning to get frustrated, willing himself not to lose his temper. Harry didn't know how he did it, but eventually after a good half hour or so, he finally got Teddy to finish the potion, though the child still wasn't happy.

“You'll thank me later,” Harry said laying Teddy down for a nap after he burped him. Teddy stopping hollering, but sniffled and hiccupped as his cries started to subside. Harry sat down in the rocking chair next to Teddy's crib to wait for him to fall asleep. Slowly, the baby started to doze off, and so did Harry. It wasn't long before he was dreaming.

“Answer me! Where did you get this sword?”

“We found it—we found it—PLEASE!” A terrible, drawn out scream filled Harry's ears and he knew it was Hermione. She was being tortured, and he couldn't get there to help. His hands were bound and he couldn't move. But Luna was there, she had a nail to cut the ropes, where was she? Where was Ron, he was shouting for Hermione when they were down in the cellar. But there was no one, Harry was all alone, alone, and unable to help his friend who was screaming in pain from the Cruciatus Curse.

“What else did you take from the vault? ANSWE R ME!” Hermione screamed again, and this time she fell silent, and Harry could hear Bellatrix's evil cackle above him. Harry jerked awake. He stared at the ceiling and put a hand to his forehead before running it through his hair. He had never had a dream about the time at Malfoy Manor before; his dreams of last year were of the last few minutes there in the forest, or some variation of it. Harry closed his eyes. He could still hear Hermione's screams in his head. He leaned his head back in the chair and before long was falling asleep again.

Harry and Hermione left the cemetery, arms still around each other. Instead of meeting with Bathilda, they Apparated back to the tent. A few minutes later, the Polyjuice Potion wore off, and Hermione had curled up on a couch, pulling out the book that Dumbledore gave her and began her routine of trying to figure what it all meant. Finally sighing in frustration, she slammed the book shut and set it on the floor. Harry smiled as he took a seat beside her.

“Something troubling you Hermione?”

“No, I'm tired of reading.”

“Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear escape your lips.” Hermione gave him a sarcastic `aren't you funny?' look. Harry's smile left his face and he said soberly, “You're getting frustrated too with this, aren't you?” Hermione sighed.

“I wish we had more leads as to where the rest of the Horcruxes could be, but I'm not going to give up. They're out there, and we'll find them. I'm sure of it.”

“You know you don't have to stay, you can go be with Ron if you like. I won't stop you, or beg you to stay.”

“I'm not going anywhere, Harry. I told you I'd help you as much as I could, and I'm not one to go back on my promises.” They were silent for a moment before Hermione spoke again. “I hate Ron for what he did. That he gave up. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for that,” she shrugged. “And if I ever see him again, he probably won't forgive me for staying with you, either, so it's all right.” Harry gave her a disbelieving look.

“You don't mean that.”

“Yeah, I do. But it's alright; I'd rather stay with you than be with him any day.” Harry's eyes widened and he looked at Hermione in surprise. She was looking back at him with a soft smile on her face. He swallowed nervously.

“R—Really?” She nodded.

“Really,” Hermione slid closer, and Harry swallowed nervously again. They were leaning closer; the rational part of Harry's brain that told him this was wrong shut off, all that he thought about was the witch in front of him. They were even closer, her eyes had fluttered shut. Even closer now, their lips were just millimeters apart…

Harry's eyes flew open and he practically vaulted from the chair. He was breathing fast as though he had just run a marathon. What the hell was that about? That was a dream that definitely never happened, that dream scared him more than the previous one. Why was he dreaming about kissing Hermione? Was it the fact that the entire wizarding world was now thinking that kisses happened between them all the time and more than kisses? That's what it was, Harry concluded, it was something to do with the article. He shook his head. That didn't make any sense, but he wanted it to, because if it wasn't the reason, then it meant that things were a lot more complicated than he'd like to think about. As his breathing slowed down, he ran his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath and glanced at the sleeping baby in his crib. He still looked like he was doing all right, so Harry took the baby monitor and went downstairs, almost deathly afraid to fall asleep again.

---------------------

The rest of the week passed by without much excitement, not much more followed up on the Rita Skeeter article, and Harry hadn't had any weird dreams since that one night. Sunday crept by at snail speed, twice Harry had to check the clocks to see if they were still working. Hermione had sent him an owl earlier in the week saying she'd be home Sunday around six. The memory charm was lifted without any complications, and both her parents were doing fine and remembered everything. She was going to get them settled in and would be by to see them around six. Harry glanced at the clock in the living room again. 5:56. Hermione would be there in less than five minutes. Harry began pacing, Teddy's eyes following him back and forth. The child had been very good that day; he seemed to have sensed the happiness in his adoptive father's attitude and was mostly all smiles. He brought his feet up and put one in his mouth, still keeping his eyes on Harry. All of a sudden, Teddy kicked his feet down and giggled. Harry stopped pacing and looked at his godson with curiosity.

“Are you laughing at me, Teddy? Huh?” Teddy just kicked his feet, still grinning. Harry reached into the playpen and tickled Teddy's side sending the baby into fits of giggles. Harry laughed in response. “I just can't get over how ticklish you are, kid.” He tickled him again. Just then, Harry heard a `pop' of apparation and saw Hermione standing in the living room door. She smiled and gave a cheerful `hi'.

Giving Harry a hug, Hermione said, “How're you?”

“Fine,” Harry replied, a little higher than usual as the memory of his dream came rushing back to him. A flicker of confusion crossed Hermione's face but disappeared as she leaned down and picked up Teddy.

“And how's this little guy? Did you behave for Harry this week?” Teddy grinned and his hair turned his happy color orange. Hermione laughed.

“Well, someone's in a good mood.” Harry stepped closer to the two and gave Teddy his finger to hold onto.

“That's the first time he's had orange hair all week. Almost like he hasn't been happy since you left.” Hermione shook her head.

“I'm sure he's been happy with you, Harry, it's not just with me.”

“Well, he definitely wasn't happy on Wednesday. That was a nightmare.”

“Oh, the potion?”

Harry nodded, “He does not like that one bit.”

“Well, I'm sure it must taste terrible. And you can't add sugar or anything to it.” She planted a kiss on Teddy's forehead. “But you'll be thanking him later, won't you?” Teddy squirmed, trying to kick his feet. Hermione set him back in his playpen where he went to kicking happily again, and she sat down on the couch. Harry about sat next to her but stopped himself, thinking of that dream again. He instead sat on the loveseat across the coffee table from her.

“So how was the trip?”

“It was good. It was good to get away for a little while. Once I had been there for a few days I realized it was stupid of me to run like that, that's exactly what everyone's been accusing me of doing, and here I go and do it. But, I found Mum and Dad the second day, they ended up setting up a dental branch there in Sydney, and are keeping it even though they're back in London. It took an hour to reverse the memory charm, and when they remembered me, I filled them in on all that happened, that the war was over, and they could move back home. We spent the rest of the week traveling all over the city; they showed me all the sights and everything. They were really glad to be back home, though.” A sudden thought hit Harry, and he didn't know why he never asked Hermione it before.

“Hermione, what are your parents' names? I don't think in the seven years I've known you, I've heard what their names are. I've never really thought about it until now.” Hermione thought about it, and then laughed.

“No, I guess you haven't. You've never really been introduced to them, have you?”

“No, I just saw them at Diagon Alley that one time and at King's Cross when they would pick you up from school.”

“Yeah, I suppose so. Well, my Dad's name is David, or Dave, and my Mum's name is Jane.”

“I see. I'll have to remember that.”

“Yeah, you'd better, because I told them all about Teddy and they want to see him. They'll be here in a few weeks; they want to get everything settled first before they do a lot of visiting.” Hermione looked over at Teddy, who was playing with his toes and smiled softly at him.

“I missed you two this week, though it was nice to be able to sleep through the night without having to wake up for three a.m. feedings, or something like that.”

“Yeah, we missed you too; it was kind of boring without you.”

“You know I was thinking this week, what are you going to have him call you when he starts talking? Because whatever you choose, we need to start referring to yourself as that, so when he does talk, he says it.”

“I don't know, I hadn't thought of it. What kind of name do you call a godfather? I just called Sirius by his first name.”

“Yeah, but Sirius wasn't your adoptive father. You're Teddy's.” The phrase `adoptive father' took Harry by surprise, he hadn't thought of himself as that, just as Teddy's godfather.

“So…should he call me Dad or something?”

“Only if you want him to.”

“That would be weird at first, having him call me Dad. I mean, I'm not his father.”

“I know. But a lot of parents that adopt children have the child call them Mum and Dad, but most keep the real parents in mind so that they're not forgotten. So the child knows where he or she came from.” Harry nodded but didn't say anything else. Hermione said, “Think about it,” and changing the subject she said, “So, anything exciting happen this week?”

“Ron stopped by. He was looking for you.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“What'd he want?”

“He seems to be under the impression that I've stabbed in the back, stole his girlfriend, and am the reason why you don't want to marry him. He believes every word of Rita's article.” Hermione angrily sighed.

“The prat. Did you tell him when I was coming back?”

“No. But he wanted me to let him know when you got here though.”

“I'll go see him tomorrow. I don't want to, but I have to.”

“You don't?”

“No, it's just…I'm tired of fighting with him. I've been fighting with him for almost seven years. For a while, like through all last year, he was nice—different. I thought he had grown up and we weren't going to fight as much anymore, but now his insecurity rubbish is coming back, and he's being paranoid again.”

“It was the book.”

“Book? What book?”

“The Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches, the twins gave it to him for his seventeenth birthday, and he gave me a copy of it for mine. That's why he was different; he was following the instructions in that book.”

“What kind of instructions were there? What did it say about how to charm witches?”

“I don't know, I haven't read it yet. I never had time.” Hermione sighed.

“Well, I guess you can't blame him for trying, even if it only lasted for so long.” Harry nodded, and the conversation ceased between the two friends, neither knowing what to say next.

“Oh!” Hermione said as a thought just came to her. “I got Teddy a gift.” She began digging through the little handbag that she toted all their belongings in while they were searching for Horcruxes.

“What'd you get him? It's not a book, is it?”

“What makes you think it's a book?”

“Because it probably is, and I know you, books make great gifts.” Hermione gave Harry an annoyed look, and pulled Teddy's present out of her purse. Harry was right, it was a book.

“I knew it. So which one is it? Hogwarts, A History? Or Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them? Standard Book of Spells Grade 1? Going to start him early on his magical training before he can talk?” Harry asked teasingly. Clearly it wasn't any of those; the book was only a few pages long and was very colorful. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, Harry, do you really think Hogwarts, A History would be this thin?”

“I don't know. It could be the child version, complete with pictures.” Hermione shook her head.

“No, for your information, Harry, it's a picture book of one my favorite stories when I was small. It's a muggle story, of course, but it's still a classic.” She held it up for Harry to see the title that read, Peter Pan. Harry heard of the story, though never hearing the whole thing firsthand, only bits and pieces after hearing Aunt Petunia read it to Dudley.

“Think he'll like it?” Hermione said, opening the cover and glancing through the pages.

“I'm sure he will.”

That evening, as Harry was heading up to bed, he heard Hermione's voice in Teddy's room across the hall from Harry's bedroom. She was putting him down for the night, and was going to read his new book to him.

“Hey there, little squirt. You want to read a story? I think you'll like this one; it's always been one of my favorites.” Harry glanced into the room and saw Hermione sitting in the rocking chair, Teddy in her lap, rapt at attention at the colorful book in front of him.

“You ready? Alright, let's turn the page here. `All children grow up, except one—`”

`That's too bad,' Harry thought. Because he would rather Teddy stay that size always, so there could be moments like those forever.

-------------------

A/N: Here's chapter 5 everyone! Hope you enjoyed it, a little H/Hr fluff I guess you could call it. The end to this chapter was kind of cheesy, but cheesy is good. I like cheesy. As to a preview for next chapter…I'll give you the title, it's called A New Career and Baby Werewolf Adventures. So you can probably guess what's going to happen in the next chapter!! TTYL! Thanks for reading!!

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Chapter 6: A New Career and Baby Werewolf Adventures

A/N: Remember when I said in the beginning of this that it was going to be short? Lol, well, that idea is pretty much out the window, this story is looking to be anything but short. Hopefully it's alright with all of you…you'll tell me if it's not, right? :-D *Winks* Well, here's chapter 6!!

*Just a note, I'm sorry about the little question marks or whatever is after the sentences, I can't figure out how to fix it…so just bear with me here!*

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

Wednesday rolled around, the day that Harry was not looking forward to at all. He could tell that Hermione was dreading it too. Not because of what could happen to them, but how much pain it would cause Teddy to change to his werewolf form. But Hermione constantly assured Harry that the potion had been made right, and he wouldn't be dangerous. The day after Hermione had gotten home, she went to go see Ron. She had come back two hours later very frustrated and wouldn't tell Harry anything of what happened. The topic hadn't come up again until Wednesday afternoon when a knock on the door of Grimmauld Place interrupted the daily routine. It was around lunchtime; Harry, Hermione, and Teddy were all in the kitchen finishing up lunch. Harry and Hermione looked at each other with confused looks. Who would be there that knew where they were? Harry got up and went to the door and opened it to find Mrs. Weasley standing on the doorstep, a warm smile on her face.

“Hello, Harry, dear,” Harry stood aside so she could come in. Harry wanted to ask her what she was doing there, but every possible way he could think of asking her sounded rude. She answered his question without him having to ask though.

“Is Hermione here? I want to talk to the both of you.” Harry got that nervous stomachache all of a sudden, worried about where a conversation including him and Hermione with Mrs. Weasley could possibly go.

“She's in the kitchen, we were eating lunch.”

“Sorry to interrupt it,” She said as she led the way to the kitchen. Hermione looked up in surprise seeing Mrs. Weasley enter the kitchen.

“Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said unsteadily. “How're you?”

“I'm fine, dear, thank you,” Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly. She sat down at the table, and said, “I need to talk with the both of you. Regarding my two youngest.” `Here it comes,' thought Harry. But Mrs. Weasley totally threw him for a loop when she said, “And I want to apologize for them and their behaviors lately.” That definitely hadn't been what Harry was expecting her to say, and judging by Hermione's reaction, she hadn't expected it either. Mrs. Weasley went on. “Lately, they haven't been acting as I would like, and I'm very disappointed in them. With Ginny telling Rita Skeeter the information for that article, and Ron being…for lack of a better word…a total prat, it goes without saying that I'm very frustrated with my two youngest. Ginny should not have gone to Rita Skeeter, whether the information she gave was true or false, she still shouldn't have gone to her and brought the entire wizarding world into this. It didn't solve anything, just made it worse.

“And as for Ron, he told me about your row with him, Hermione, and I refuse to believe it happened like that. I'm sure he twisted things around to make himself look better, it happens, we're all human, most people do that telling details of a fight. But he did tell me of how I got brought into the fight. And I apparently have given Ron and Ginny and possibly you two the wrong impression of my intentions. From the way it looks, Ron and Ginny believe that I want you two married into the family so we'd be one big happy Weasley family. I will admit, I mentioned once recently that it would be nice. But just because it'd be nice, doesn't mean it should happen and that I want it to happen. I want you to be happy. If you two are happy with Ron and Ginny, wonderful, if you're happy with each other, wonderful. Even you're happy with totally different people, that's wonderful too. I wouldn't want you to sacrifice your happiness to make me happy.” Mrs. Weasley left a stunned silence after she finished speaking. It was finally Hermione that spoke first.

“Mrs. Weasley, the things mentioned in that article, were over exaggerated and mostly untrue.”

“I figured as much. But, raising a child brings two people together, brings them closer. Even if nothing comes out of it other than a very close friendship. Ron and Ginny don't understand that. Ginny is still harboring the thought of life being like a fairy tale. But it's not like that at all. Life is full of responsibility, taking opportunities, because you never know what day is going to be your last. You're not guaranteed forever, or a happily ever after ending.” Mrs. Weasley took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. “Ever since Fred died, Ron has been taking the `seize the day' approach, but I think he's trying to seize the wrong thing. He's trying to seize what is easy and what's expected, not necessarily what is right. Don't hold this against them, though. Please try and forgive them. Here, now I've taken up enough of your lunch time here, so I should probably go.” She got up to leave, and Harry and Hermione protested, saying she should stay, but she wouldn't hear of it.

“I have to be getting back, there are things I need to do before the day is out. I will see you all later,” with a `pop' she Disapparated leaving a silence behind her.

“She's right,” Hermione said, still staring at the spot that Mrs. Weasley disappeared from. She turned to Harry, “We do need to forgive them.”

“What? Hermione, you can't be serious.”

“No, I am. They're our friends, Harry. Even if yours and Ginny's and Ron's and my relationships fall apart, they're still our friends.”

“Hermione, there are many things that are not forgivable; this is about as close as it gets to being one of them.”

“No, it's not. Yes, you're right; there are things that are unforgivable. Ron leaving us that night in the tent, that was unforgivable, this is not. This is a misunderstanding.”

“So the fact that Ginny went to talk to Rita Skeeter was a misunderstanding?”

“No, Ginny going to talk to Rita Skeeter was an act of anger and frustration on Ginny's part. We have to understand her position on this situation.”

“You can try to understand and forgive her, Hermione, but it'll be a long time before I forgive her, if ever.”

“You don't mean that.”

“Yes, I do. She had no right to do what she did, no matter how angry she is. I can't just ignore that, just like that.”

“Alright. Maybe in time—“

“No, not even with time will I forgive her.”

“Harry, you can't say that, you don't know how you're going to feel in a month or so. And besides, you have to talk to her sometime. You can't just ignore her.” The conversation sort of ended there, neither one really felt like talking to the other. After a few moments of silence, Hermione slid her chair back and got up, taking Teddy with her, going to put him down for a nap. They didn't know how long he was going to sleep that night, so they decided they should let him have as much sleep as he could that day. It was a few minutes before Hermione came back into the kitchen, baby monitor in hand. She sat back down in her chair, and continued eating. Harry looked at her, wondering what to say next. She was right, he didn't know how he'd feel in a month's time, but he still didn't feel that he could ever forgive Ginny. He was brought out of his thoughts of Ginny when an owl flew into the kitchen, depositing two letters in front of them before flying off. Harry and Hermione looked with surprise at the letters sitting in front of them. They both opened their letters, which had the same words written on both letters from their old Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. It read,

Would you be able to be at my office tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock? There is something I wish to speak with you about.

Sincerely,

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

“Wonder what she wants,” Harry said, folding the note back up and stuffing it back in the envelope. Hermione shrugged.

“We'll find out tomorrow.”

That evening, as the sun started to go down, the atmosphere in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place became very tense. Even though Teddy had the Wolfsbane potion, Harry and Hermione were still worried. The three of them were shut in Teddy's room, the baby playing on the floor, and they waited in silence for the moon to rise. When the moon came into view, the child's body seized up, and he let out a painful cry, screaming at the top of his lungs. It pained Harry to hear Teddy cry like that, with no way of being able to help him. Teddy's head and body began to lengthen, and his small shoulders became hunched. Hair grew on his face and arms and legs, the wails of pain still echoing in the room as the fingernails lengthened to claws and the final transformations of the baby wolf were complete. He was small, just like a baby cub, and he whimpered. He wandered on wobbly legs; the mind of the child still didn't know how to walk as a human so his walking as a wolf was hesitant. His cries and whimpers began to subside, and Teddy seemed to be at ease. Finally, it was Hermione that spoke.

“I think he's remembering this all from last month. He had to have the Wolfsbane potion last month and he remembers that once the pain is gone, he's a little different for a few hours and then he'll change back in the morning.” The wolf cub batted a toy on the floor and looked up at the adults in the room with him. The expression on the wolf's face brightened and his whole body turned orange. Surprised, both Harry and Hermione laughed.

“And apparently he's happy,” Harry said. “Once he has the potion, he'll be fine once he gets past the initial transformation.” For the rest of the night, they played with the little wolf, and eventually he went to sleep, curled up in a little corner of the room, prepared to sleep it out until the morning when the sun would rise.

----------------

At two forty-five, the sun was overhead casting its warmth upon the earth. Below, the village of Hogsmeade was busy bustling about, shoppers going in and out of stores making their purchases, while the villagers milled about the lawns in front of their houses, enjoying the perfect late summer day. Up on top of a hill at the end of the village, sat the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a memory of happiness and loss. No one about the streets noticed two people appear out of nowhere in front of the Hogwarts gates, a child in the arms of the witch. People appearing out of nowhere were a regular occurrence in Hogsmeade, especially this time of year when teachers were beginning to return to the castle before the start of term. The witch and wizard opened the gates with the password given, and began heading up the hill. Harry looked up the hill and stopped walking. All the memories from last spring came rushing back to him, memories of all the people who died fighting for the cause, and others who would never be the same again. The baby in Hermione's arms was a victim of loss; his parents had met their end at the castle. He felt a hand slip into his own, and looked down at it, and then to its owner. Hermione gave him an understanding look.

“You going to be ok?” Harry nodded and they took off walking up to the castle, still hand in hand, neither one finding much to say. Even Teddy was silent, staring up at Hogwarts in wide-eyed wonder. A few minutes later, the three of them were standing outside of the headmistress's office and gave the password to get in. The stepped onto the steps and let them carry them up to Professor McGonagall's office. McGonagall was sitting at her desk writing on a few papers, and when Harry, Hermione and Teddy came in, without looking up to see who it was, she spoke.

“Come in you two, have a seat please.” McGonagall smiled as they sat, noticing the baby in Hermione's arms.

“So this is little Teddy. He's gotten so big since I saw him last. Well, I know that it is the full moon again tonight, and so I'll try to be brief so you can get back before nightfall. I wanted you two to be here because I'm going to offer you each a job. Mind you, a temporary one, but a job nonetheless. As you may know, I haven't been able to get a teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. And now, something has come up and Marian Wessely isn't able to teach this year. So Miss Granger, would you be willing to teach Transfiguration and Mr. Potter would you be willing to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?” Harry and Hermione looked at each other, shocked looks on both their faces.

“Um, Professor,” Hermione said hesitantly. “Are you sure we are qualified to teach classes? We never finished our last year of Hogwarts, and we'd only be a year older than the oldest students in our classes.”

“Well, like I said, it would be temporary. The term starts in two weeks and I'm running out of time to find a teacher. I know you're young, but no one can deny that you aren't qualified. Miss Granger, you were the at top of all your classes, including Transfiguration, and Mr. Potter, I don't even have to explain how qualified you are to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.” Hermione still looked apprehensive. Harry however was thinking about what they were going to do with Teddy.

“Professor, what about Teddy? If we're teaching, we won't be able to take care of him.”

“We can set something up so he'll be taken care of. I've already spoken to a few of the house elves and they are more than willing to lend a hand.” Harry's features darkened, talk of house elves made him think of Dobby.

“So what do you say?”

“I'd be willing to do it, as long as it's temporary,” Harry said. “What about you, Hermione?”

“I don't know, there'd be so much I'd have to do, in two weeks?”

“I'm pretty sure you'll be able to handle it, Hermione. Think about it, you'll be doing something, you'll have a job; everyone always figured you'd be a teacher. And it's just temporary.”

“I suppose. Yes, I'll take the job, Professor.”

“Good. After all of Teddy's needs are taken care of with his transformations you can move in, and begin planning your classes. So, I'll let you two get back home, and I'll see you in a few days.”

As Harry and Hermione were leaving, they were busy talking about their new jobs. Hermione was going on and on about going over old notes to make lesson plans. Harry, who had taken Teddy from Hermione, was playing with the baby, giving him one of his toys.

“Harry, I just thought of something,”

“What's that?”

“What are you going to do about Ginny? You're going to be her teacher.”

A/n: Well, a little cliffhanger for you all, hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I just started up my second year of college, and it's been hard getting back into the swing of things. I'll try to post the next chapter sooner!! Oh, and we'll see what happened with the Ron and Hermione fight next chapter! Thanks you all, and please review!!

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Chapter 7: A Werewolf's Memories

A/N: Ok, so I lied, we're not going to see what happened with Hermione and Ron's fight this chapter, but I've already started the next chapter and I swear that it'll be there! It's being written as we speak. But in exchange for me misleading you like that, I've got an extra long chapter here for you, it's 13 pages on Microsoft Word! So hopefully that makes up for it!! Hope you enjoy!!

Hey I also wanna thank my beta, Sage05, she does an amazing job!!

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

When it came time to get ready to start the term, Harry was more than happy to move out of Grimmauld Place. Which had nothing to do with the house; he had actually come to like living there. It was his talking roommate. Hermione was beginning to drive him crazy with all her anxiety and plans about teaching that he was going to be glad to get back to Hogwarts so he had a way of avoiding her if he chose to. He had to laugh though; it was just like being back in school with her, back to where all there was really to worry about what classes and the homework that went with them.

“I have all these notes from Transfiguration for the last few years, I'm so glad I kept them all. But I don't know what I'll do for the seventh years; I don't have any notes from that class. Oh, I'm so worried I won't be able to get everything taught to them, what if I forget something? Do you want my notes from Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry? Do you know what you're going to teach your seventh year students? Are you worried? Excited? Are you listening to me, Harry?”

“Trying not to,” Harry muttered as he was changing an orange haired Teddy, who was giggling and pulling his feet up in his hands.

“What?”

“Yes. I'm listening.” Hermione gave him a look that said she didn't believe him but left it alone and went back to shrinking the items in Teddy's room and packing them into a suitcase. Teddy's things were the last to be packed, and once the suitcases were placed in Hermione's pocket, and Teddy was fed and dry, they Apparated outside of the Hogwarts grounds.

---------------

“So are you two ready for classes in a few days?” Professor McGonagall asked Harry and Hermione when they had gotten to her office.

“I believe so,” Harry said. “Of course Hermione doesn't think she'll be ready, but we all know she is and her students will get all the information they need plus more this year.” Hermione beamed.

“I know, that's why I wanted her to teach Transfiguration. She's more qualified to teach than Marian Wessely was. You'll do fine, Miss Granger. Or rather, Professor Granger.” Hermione's smile, if possible, got bigger. “Well, I'll show you where you'll be staying. Each teacher's office has a flat off the room; there are three rooms, a bedroom, bathroom, and living/dining area. You can set it up however you like, and Harry, we can get something set up so Teddy can stay with you.” Harry nodded as he and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall down the familiar path to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The classroom and office were plain, as the new teacher hadn't added his touch to it yet. The flat was just as McGonagall had said, three rooms, not too big, not too small. Hermione pulled Harry's and Teddy's suitcases out of her pocket and placed them on the table.

“I'll go show Hermione her flat, and let you get settled in a little. The rest of the teachers who aren't already here are coming back tomorrow, so we'll have a teacher's meeting tomorrow evening at seven o'clock.” Hermione and McGonagall left, and Harry shifted Teddy to his other arm.

“Well, squirt, should we unpack? Hermione'll have our heads if she comes back here and find that we haven't started. Ok, let's see what we got here. Wow, it looks like Hermione packed your entire room here, Teddy,” Harry said after opening Teddy's suitcase. Teddy giggled and tried to grab Harry's glasses. Harry turned his head away to avoid the baby taking them. Harry turned back and Teddy giggled again and tried taking Harry's glasses once more.

“Hey now, none of that,” Harry said, grabbing Teddy's pudgy hand and giving it a little shake. Harry pulled Teddy's little bouncy chair out of the suitcase and pointed his wand at it to enlarge it. Once the chair was baby sized, Harry set the baby in it, and Teddy, who had long figured out the function of his chair, kicked his feet to make the chair bounce. He giggled and squealed at the fun he was having. Harry laughed and gave his godson one of his toys, which when in Teddy's hands, went right to his mouth. Harry began unpacking his suitcase, enlarging everything and finding spots for them. Looking around to where he wanted to put Teddy's things, Harry decided that it was going to be hard to fit two people's possessions in the flat, even if the second person was small.

“Well, Teddy, looks like you and I are going to be roommates while we're here at school.” Harry took the shrunken baby crib in his hand and put it in a corner of the bedroom and enlarged it. There was a knock at the door, and Harry called for the person to come in. He reached the doorway when Hermione came in, and saw her go to Teddy.

“Well, hi there, little squirt,” she said, planting a kiss on his forehead. “Are you helping Harry unpack?” Teddy grinned and kept kicking his feet, bouncing his chair. Hermione laughed. “I see you're in charge of energy, making sure there's enough of it in this room, aren't you?”

“Well, he's not short on energy, that's for sure. I don't know how I'm going to get him to go down for a nap.”

“Oh, he'll settle down. Won't you, Teddy?” Teddy giggled. Hermione smiled at the baby and then looked up at Harry. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I think I'm ok. What about you?”

“I'll be fine. But you've got stuff for two people here, you sure you don't need any help?” Harry flicked his wand at the pile of clothes in his suitcase and then flicked his wand at the closet and the clothes flew from his suitcase to the hangers, perfectly hung and organized. Harry grinned.

“Yes, I'm sure.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Showoff.”

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The next evening at seven o'clock, all the Hogwarts teachers were gathered in the teacher's lounge just beginning their meeting. McGonagall stood and all the other conversations ceased.

“Welcome back to another year here at Hogwarts. We all know that last year was a bad year with the school under Death Eater control. We don't need to talk about what happened within these walls last spring, you all know, as you all were there. But we must go on, for as long as there are students willing to learn, than we are going to teach them. Attendance is up this year, due to the fact that parents now feel that their children will be safe whilst they are at school. There are also some students who would've been in their seventh year last year that chose to come back to finish their last year. We also have three new teachers this year. We have Professor Philip Eckley, who comes to us from the Muggle Relations Department at the Ministry, he will be teaching Muggle Studies, we have Professor Hermione Granger, who will be teaching Transfiguration, and Professor Harry Potter, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Oh, and also, there's another new occupant, little Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson.” A blue haired Teddy looked wide eyed at all the faces smiling back at him, and he snuggled closer to Hermione. McGonagall went on, “Now I'll try and keep this meeting short. Your class lists and schedules are here,” she passed out pieces of parchment to each teacher, “also attached to your schedules are patrol times. This year the ghosts have agreed to help out with patrolling, so you won't have to put in so many hours. Does anyone have anything to add?” No one spoke. “Alright, then that's all that I have. Thank you very much, and we'll see you all tomorrow.” All the teachers stood, and their conversations started again. Hagrid pushed his way through the crowd to Harry and Hermione, which wasn't difficult, seeing as he was big enough that people saw him in time to stand aside.

“You two, so yer teachers now! Seem's on'y yest'rday you were goin' across the lake headin' in fer yer firs' year at Hogwarts. Now look at ya, teachin' school! Congra'ulations! So this is Teddy, eh? He shur looks like Remus. Can I hold `im?” Hermione nodded.

“Hey, Teddy, want to go to uncle Hagrid?” She gave the baby to the half giant, who could almost cradle the baby in his hand alone. Teddy's eyes, if possible, grew wider. This was a much bigger person than he was used to, or had ever seen before. He slowly began to relax as he realized the man meant him no harm.

“So, are ya ready fer the firs' day o' classes day af'er tomarra?” Hermione nodded but Harry shrugged.

“Yer not, Harry?”

“I'm not really looking forward to teaching the seventh years.” Hagrid nodded in understanding.

“I see. Don' wanna have ter teach Ginny's class, eh? Well, Harry, jus' don' let it worry ya too much. Yer gonna be fine, yer gonna make a grea' teacher. Otherwise McGonagall wouldn'a hired ya. Shur Ginny's class migh' be hard ter deal with at firs', but it'll all work ou'. You'll see.”

“It's going to be very awkward being her teacher. I wish I would've thought about this before I told McGonagall I'd teach.”

“It'll be awkward at firs', but if ya deal wit' it righ', you won' have any problems in the long run.” The conversation ended there. “Hey, this little feller's fallin' asleep here.” Hermione laughed.

“I suppose he should be, he didn't sleep much today during his nap.” Hermione took Teddy back in her arms and the child continued to doze off.

“Well, I serppose, I pro'aly should head on back to me house. Gotta tend ter the creatures fer my classes. Got some real int'restin' ones for my N.E.W.T. class. I'll see you two later.”

“Bye Hagrid,” Harry and Hermione said at the same time. They were about to leave too, but were stopped by Professor Slughorn.

“Harry m'boy! So you're teaching here now, well, I always thought you'd be good for a job at the ministry, but you never can tell with some people. And Miss Granger, it comes as no surprise that you're teaching! You two come by for a drink sometime!” With that, Slughorn left.

“Well, he hasn't changed much, has he?” Hermione said. After talking to a few more teachers, Harry and Hermione and Teddy finally made it out of the teacher's lounge. They headed back towards Harry and Teddy's flat so they could put Teddy down for the night.

“Well, so which one of us has her first?” Harry didn't even need to ask who Hermione was talking about. He checked his schedule and saw that he didn't have seventh year Defense Against the Darks class until the second day of class. Hermione had seventh year Transfiguration the first day.

“Damn, I have her first. Should be interesting, shouldn't it?”

“Quite. If interesting is the word you want to use. Fiasco would be the one I would use.”

“Oh, it'll be fine. Hagrid's right, yeah it'll be awkward at first, but it'll get better.”

“You're probably right, but I'm still worried about it.” They reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and Harry's flat. Though it wasn't empty when they got there. A house elf was standing in the front room, waiting for them. It was Winky. She bowed low when Harry and Hermione entered and spoke in her squeaky voice.

“Mr. Harry Potter, sir, Winky is here to takes care of Harry Potter's baby. Headmistress sent Winky to look after Baby Teddy while Harry Potter is teaching.”

“Oh thanks, Winky, I really appreciate it.”

“Anything for Dobby's friend. The house elves down in the kitchens all thinks that Harry Potter is a great wizard for giving Dobby a good funeral like an equal. And we's all respects Harry Potter for he truly made He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named disappear for good!” Harry blushed a little.

“Well, Dobby was special.”

“And now Winky is happy to aid Harry Potter however he wishes. I's be glad to help Harry Potter with his baby.”

“Well, Winky, I really appreciate it. When do you want to start?”

“I's can start right now, I's can put Teddy to bed.” Hermione handed the baby over and Winky took him to bed. After Hermione's hands were free she sat down at the table in the living room. Harry sat down too, but not before putting a small bag on the table and once he sat down he began going through its contents.

“I just thought of those memories that Remus game me. We can use Dumbledore's pensieve to watch them.”

“I forgot about those. Do you want to go now?”

“Yeah. Come on.” Harry held a hand out for Hermione to take, and he pulled her to her feet, and they set off for McGonagall's office.

--------------------

Harry and Hermione stood around the pensieve, looking down into its silvery contents. Harry took the cork out of the bottle and poured the memories into the basin. Hermione looked up at Harry after watching him go through the whole process.

“So how do we watch them?”

“Just stick your hands in.” They did so, and Hermione gasped as they were pulled into Remus's memories. It was foggy at first, and then the first memory materialized. They were on the Hogwarts Express, and there was a eleven-year-old Remus Lupin sitting alone in a compartment reading the Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. His lips were mouthing the words on the page, and then he closed his eyes, mouthing the words again, trying to memorize what he had just read. The compartment door opened, and Remus's eyes flew open. A red haired girl and a greasy black haired boy walked in. The girl smiled.

“Hi, how're you?”

“Fine.”

“I'm Lily Evans, this is Severus Snape. What's your name?”

“Remus Lupin.” Lily nodded at the book in Remus's hands.

“Have you tried any spells yet?”

“Not really. I've just read my books, trying to remember as much as I can for class. I want to get ahead as much as possible.”

“Me too,” Lily said, sitting down in the seat across from Remus. “I've read through all of my books and have practiced a few spells. I'm really nervous about starting school though, I'm not from a wizarding family, so I'm really far behind and I don't want to be. But Severus told me that it's not that big of a deal if you come from a muggle family.” Lily looked up at Snape, who was still standing by the door.

“Are you going to sit, Severus?” Snape shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked uneasily at the door.

“Um, no, I think I'm going to go see some more people.” Lily shrugged.

“Ok, see you later.” Snape walked out the door, and looked back and forth as though looking to check if anyone had seen him come from that compartment before he slinked away down to another compartment. Remus watched Snape leave and laughed as soon as the door was shut.

“Where'd you find him?”

“He lives near me back home. He's a little…strange, but he's nice enough. He keeps telling me that he hopes I'm in Slytherin with him.” Remus's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Lily beat him to it. “I don't want to be, though. I've read a lot about the houses at Hogwarts, and the Slytherins don't…you know, seem very good. They seem to come from Hogwarts—“

“Evil?” Remus put in. Lily nodded. “That's because most of them do.”

“Yeah, I want to do things right, I want to be off to a good start here, so I definitely do not want to get placed in a house that turns all its students evil.”

“I don't think you have to worry about being in Slytherin, Lily. Trust me.”

“Good, do you know what house you'll be in, Remus?”

“No. I'm just glad I could come to school.” Lily was about to say something else, but was interrupted by two boys opening the compartment door and coming in. They both had black hair, but the shorter boy's hair was extremely messy. Both of them grinned.

“Hi,” the taller boy said, with a sort of cocky smile. “I'm Sirius Black, this is James Potter,” Sirius said, motioning at the boy next to him. “Who're you?”

“Remus Lupin,” Lily didn't answer, just narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

“I know you two; you were the ones that pulled that prank on that poor boy when he was trying to get his trunk onto the train.” Sirius and James looked at each other and grinned.

“It's alright, he knows we mean well,” James said.

“How could he possibly know that?”

“He knows.”

“But that's just mean, you don't even know him—“

“Yeah we do know him,” Sirius said, interrupting Lily, “his name is Peter Pettigrew. He's a first year too, and he lives a few streets over from James.”

“And how would he know that you mean well?”

“Because we've been doing it for years, we're friends.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“Whatever.”

“Hey, don't feel so bad for Peter…hey, you never said what your name was,” James said in an almost accusing tone.

“Lily Evans,” Lily said coldly, tossing her red hair out of her face with her hand.

“Well, Lily Evans, you should be careful, that little snotty attitude of yours is going to get you into trouble. Not many people like putting up with a snob,” Sirius said. Lily's jaw dropped. She stood up and stood face to face with Sirius, though she had to look up to look him in the eye.

“Well, you'll never have to worry about being around me, Sirius Black, because I certainly would not want to be around a boy who pranks people just for the fun of it, and walks around acting like no one is better than him. You and your friend are just plain pathetic.” With that, she stepped around Sirius and walked out the door, leaving a sniggering Sirius, a shocked but impressed James, and a stunned Remus behind her. The memory began to change as Sirius and James sat down with Remus. Harry grinned at Hermione.

“My mother seemed a lot like you when you were that age, already ahead of her class before even reaching school.”

“I was not like that.”

“Yes you were.” Hermione didn't have time to retort, for the next memory was forming. It was in the Great Hall, at the welcoming feast, where Remus and his classmates were about to be sorted into their houses. A younger McGonagall stood up front next to the Sorting Hat with a scroll of parchment in her hand.

“When I call your name, you will come forward, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and after you have been sorted, you will join your housemates. Patricia Adams!”

“RAVENCLAW!” the hat shouted, and Patricia Adams went to join her house, who was cheering their new member. The list went on, a few foggy places here and there in the memory, as only a few names Remus remembered.

“Sirius Black!” Sirius stepped forward, a little jaunt in his step. The hat took a while to place him, debating whether to put him in Gryffindor or Slytherin, like the rest of his family had been. Finally it shouted its decision.

“GRYFFINDOR!” A foggy spot later…

“Lily Evans!” Lily nervously stepped forward, and sat on the stool. It took only a second before the hat shouted—

“GRYFFINDOR!” The Gryffindors all cheered as Lily stepped off the stool and joined her table. A few more foggy moments went by before McGonagall said the next name that Remus remembered.

“Remus Lupin!” Remus went forward, nervousness obvious on his face. When the hat was placed on his head, Harry and Hermione heard the Sorting Hat's voice as though it was speaking from behind them.

“Hmm, a good mind here holds a dark secret though, one that would best be kept under one's hat,” the hat chuckled at its pun. “Hmm, there's the ability for bravery here, it's just a matter of bringing it out, so better be…GRYFFINDOR!” Remus sighed a sigh of relief, probably the same type of sigh that Harry had when he was sorted, and he went to go join his table, taking a seat next to Lily. More fog, and then,

“Peter Pettigrew!” Peter tripped over the hem of his robes as he stepped forward to be sorted. James and Sirius snickered, and Peter smiled back at them, a little pink in the cheeks. The Sorting Hat took a while to place Peter too.

“Probably wanting to put him in Slytherin,” Harry said bitterly.

“GRYFFINDOR!” Peter got up, tripped again, and went to join his table.

“James Potter!” James stepped forward, a little jaunt in his step too, similar to his best friend's. He grinned as the hat went on his head and almost instantly shouted…

“GRYFFINDOR!” Lily rolled her eyes as James took a seat next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

“Do you get the feeling that Remus made it a point to set these memories aside more for me than for Teddy?” Harry asked Hermione. She smiled.

“Probably, but he'd still want you to tell Teddy all about his dad as he grows up.” They looked back as the memory changed to one four years later. At first glance, there was no one there, but out of thin air, a male voice whispered.

“How long is this going to take?” Remus whispered. “It's freezing.”

“Stop whining, Remus, we've got to show you this,” Sirius whispered back. The Marauders were walking under James's invisibility cloak, walking slowly so they stayed together and avoided making their feet visible.

“Why can't you tell me what you want to show me?”

“Because we want to surprise you.”

“But this is ridiculous, it's two-thirty in the morning-“

“Will you both shut up?” James whispered fiercely. “We'll be caught by Filch because of you two!” All of a sudden, a door materialized out of nowhere; apparently they had gone back and forth three times in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy so that the door to the Room of Requirement appeared. The door opened and the Marauders took off the cloak as soon as the door was shut.

“Ok, what's this surprise?” Remus said, taking a seat in a chair. The other three grinned at each other and pulled out their wands and tapped themselves with them at the same time. Remus's jaw dropped as his three best friends turned to animals. Sirius to a black dog, Peter to a rat, and James to a stag. James transformed back to a human and grinned again.

“See, now at the full moons we can go down to the Shrieking Shack with you since you're not a danger to us as animals.” The memory faded again, and Harry and Hermione watched more memories pass by, one showed Remus, James, Sirius and Peter all sitting around a table in the corner of the common room pouring over a piece of parchment.

“We need to sign it,” Remus whispered low so only the three sitting around him could hear. “Yeah, it says it's written by the Marauders, but it needs more.”

“Yeah so if one day the next generation of rule breakers finds this, they'll have four people to relate to,” Peter said.

“So what do we call ourselves?” They looked at each other, thinking intently.

“Padfoot.” The other three looked at James, who was looking at Sirius.

“Sirius, you turn into a dog, what about Padfoot?”

“Padfoot. Hmm, I like it.” They all looked at Remus, thinking again.

“Hmm, a werewolf,” Peter said. “ what kind of nickname would you give a werewolf?”

“Something to do with the moon, I would think,” Sirius said. “What about Moony or something?”

“I like Moony,” Remus said, nodding.

“How about Wormtail for Peter since he has a wormy looking tail,” Sirius said, laughing. Remus joined in, and Peter protested defensively.

“Wormtail is good,” Sirius said with a grin.

“So what about you, James?” James didn't answer, his mind was somewhere else, probably on the red haired girl he was staring at across the common room.

“James? James?” Sirius snapped his fingers in front of James's face, bringing his attention back to his friends.

“What?”

“Have you been listening?”

“Yeah, I'm listening.”

“Ok, then what were we talking about?”

“Nicknames. Remus is Moony, Peter is Wormtail, and you're Padfoot.”

“So what are we going to call you?” James shrugged.

“How about Prongs?” Remus put in. James nodded.

“I like it.” James then picked up his quill and wrote on the piece of parchment,

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present the Marauder's Map.

The next memory was around the Marauder's seventh year. Remus was sitting at a table, reading and taking notes on his Potions homework. Lily joined him at the table, setting her books down and opening them up. When Remus looked up, he saw that she was smiling and shaking her head. He smiled back.

“So I hear you've lost your mind.”

“I guess so. After all these years I've finally given in.”

“But you've got to make sure and keep an upper hand on him; otherwise he'll get a big head and think he can win all the time. He was already talking about how you've finally caved.” Lily laughed.

“Well the rest of the Marauders can't let him get a big head either. Since it's finally deflated a little, you can't let it get back to where it was.”

“Don't worry, we've got it covered. Sirius told him that the only reason why you agreed to go out with him was so he would stop pestering you about it. That you'd have to be mad to really want to go out with him.” Lily laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Trust Sirius to come up with something like that.”

“That's what he's there for. Someone's gotta give James a hard time.”

“You know, if anyone would've told me after that first train ride to Hogwarts that six years later I'd be dating James Potter, I'd have thought they were crazy. Even now I still can't believe it.”

“I can.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why, because of that whole we're always bickering and fighting, so that meant that we were going to end up together because it was unresolved sexual tension reason that everyone keeps using?”

“No, not for that. I always thought that was a stupid justification to a relationship. Sexual tension does not come from fighting, at least not in a real relationship.”

“Then why doesn't it surprise you that James and I are together?”

“It just fits. Anyone with eyes can see it. And you're probably going to end up an old married couple with twelve kids.” Lily laughed, and shook her head.

“I'm not so sure about that. But what about you? Any girl around here that you fit with?” Remus snorted, which turned into a laugh

“I don't have time for any of that.”

“Oh don't give me that. That's a poor excuse.”

“No one would want to date me. I've got too many problems in my life,” Remus said, jotting down a few more notes.

“Furry little problems?” Lily said, dropping her voice to just about a whisper. Remus's head jerked up and there was fear in his eyes.

“Relax, Remus, your secret's safe with me. Even if it's not so safe with James.”

“He never could keep secrets, especially as far as you were concerned. I might have to go beat on him later.” Lily smiled. “So now what?”

“What do you mean?”

“So is this the last time I'll talk to you because you'll avoid me?” Remus asked bluntly.

“No. I'd never consciously avoid you. You're one of my friends; you're one of my boyfriend's best friends. I couldn't avoid you. I don't look at you differently because of your “furry little problem”, you're still the same Remus Lupin to me.”

“Thanks, Lily.”

“And just wait,” Lily said wagging a finger at Remus and giving him a knowing look. “There's a girl out there for you. One that will love you no matter what. Just make sure you don't push her away.”

The next memory jumped ahead a few years to when the Marauders were out of school. Remus was at home, looking over some job ads. Sighing, he ran a hand through his brown hair that was beginning to grey. Remus looked up when James all of a sudden Apparated into his kitchen with a huge grin on his face. Remus gave him a questioning look.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I just did it.”

“Did what?”

“I asked Lily to marry me.”

“So I take it she said yes.”

“Damn right. I can't believe she wants to marry me!”

“Join the club; I don't think any of us could believe that she even decided to go out with you.”

“You have to be there, Moony, I know I asked Sirius to be my best man, but you have to stand up there with me too.”

“I'll be there. I'll stand up there with you. You can be sure of that.”

“Lily and I were thinking of getting married sometime in June. Last night we spent most of the night talking about the future and everything, from where we want to live to how many kids we want to have.”

“So where are you going to live and how many kids are you going to have?”

“We want to live in Godric's Hallow and have at least three or four kids.”

“Well, I hope that it all works out that way for you.” The memory stopped there, Remus apparently couldn't remember much more about that memory. The next one that came up was about a year or so later, they were at a wedding. James and Lily's wedding to be exact. It was at the reception and Remus was standing holding his glass of champagne, giving a toast.

“I guess I don't need to go into James and Lily's relationship as teenagers. We all know what happened during those years at Hogwarts. They love each other now, and that's what matters. And I can't imagine two people more perfect for each other. They balance each other out entirely. James keeps Lily from being so tightly wound, and Lily keeps James from being a jackass.” The crowd chuckled. “To Lily and James, may your life be full of happiness. Keep each other balanced, take care of each other.”

“To Lily and James,” the crowd said lifting their glasses and taking a drink. Soon after the toasts were finished, Lily and James had their first dance as husband and wife. Harry lost track of where Remus was for he was too busy watching his parents. As they danced, their eyes never left one another's; Lily's green ones were filled with happy tears. She said something, but they were too far away for Harry to hear what it was. James responded, and they kissed. Harry smiled; it was something to see his parent's wedding, not many kids got to experience that as though they were really there. He looked over at Hermione and saw her quickly wipe a tear from her cheek and then step up to step out of the memory. She disappeared from her spot next to him on the bench. Confused, Harry followed her. He came back through the pensieve and landed on his feet back in McGonagall's office.

---------------------

A/N: Well, here's chapter 7! Hope you enjoyed it!! Ok, I realized after I wrote this chapter that these memories don't really fit well with Snape's memories in Deathly Hallows, but I figured, people remember things differently, especially if they're recalling memories from twenty years ago. So yeah, that's why the memories are different, if any of you noticed that. So chapter 8 is in the making, I'm not sure how fast I'll get it out there, but I'll try!!

P.S. I just wanted to muse a little here at the end of my chapter, you don' t have to read it if you don't want to. I was in the forums the other day, something I haven't really done since Deathly Hallows came out, but the topic was something about it being possible that Rose was actually Harry and Hermione's daughter, because naming her Rose would in a way be naming her after Lily. Later down the topic, someone bashed us fanfic writers for still believing that Harmony can sail. And I figure, well, yeah the book is final, yeah it didn't turn out how we wanted it to, but in my opinion, JK Rowling left things out of that epilogue for us Harmony shippers. Kinda like she's saying, here you go, go nuts. Have fun writing! So if Rose is Harry and Hermione's daughter, well it makes one heck of an idea for fanfiction, and actually it's been done too, an amazing fic called `Someday'. I highly recommend it. But yeah, I think it's ridiculous that people are getting so bent out of shape because our ship refuses to die. Long live Harmony, even though the books are final, we'll always have portkey!

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Chapter 8: Professors Granger and Potter

A/n: Instead of keeping at the steady pace in the progression of this story, I've decided to take a giant leap, and you'll see why soon! Happy reading, please review when you're done!!

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

Harry found Hermione standing by the window behind McGonagall's desk, looking out over the grounds. She wiped away another tear.

“What's the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah right, Hermione, people don't just cry over nothing.”

“It's just that - seeing your parents and everyone in the past, they were so happy. It's just sad that - they're all gone. They all died much too young.” Harry didn't know what made him do it, but instinct just took him over to Hermione and to wrap his arms around her. It wasn't until after he was giving Hermione a hug that he really realized what he was doing. He never initiated hugs in the past, it was always Hermione. This must not have come to Hermione's mind, for she didn't indicate anything about it. She just leaned her head on Harry's shoulder, and wiped another tear away.

“That's what war does. People die too young when it comes to wars. But they believed in the cause they were fighting for and were willing to die for it. They were all willing to die to make the world a happier life for all of us. Remus told me that.”

“He did? When?” Hermione said, lifting her head from Harry's shoulder and looking him in the eyes.

“In the forest, right before I went to meet Voldemort. The Snitch had the Resurrection Stone inside it. When it opened, my parents and Sirius and Remus came out. We talked about Teddy, how I was sorry that he would never know Remus. And he told me that he hoped Teddy would one day understand why he died, and that he died to make the world a better place.”

“You never told me that.” Harry shrugged.

“It was a minor detail in the whole big picture of the situation.” Hermione smiled through her tears.

“Well you were the same as your parents and Sirius and Remus then. You were willing to die for all of us to make the world a better place. They'd be proud of you.” Harry smiled back but didn't say anything.

“I wish I could be happy. Like your parents in that memory.”

“You can. Maybe after Ron stops being a prat, you can forgive him and move on from all of this.” Hermione shook her head.

“I wouldn't be happy with Ron, I know I wouldn't. It's not because of him, but because of the both of us. We don't belong together. He deserves better. Someone who he knows he loves, not who he thinks he loves. Here, I want to show you something. It'll prove why Ron and I are not meant to be together.” Hermione led the way back to the pensieve and put her wand to her temple and slowly extracted a silver strand that was her memory and placed it in the basin. The colors of the memory swirled around forming the shapes of Hermione and Ron. Hermione nodded at the basin.

“Go ahead.” Both she and Harry stuck their hands in and were again pulled into the pensieve. In Hermione's memory, there were Ron and herself standing in the garden of the Burrow.

“So you're staying there? For good?” Ron asked Memory Hermione.

“It's not like that.”

“But you're over there all the time.”

“I'm helping—“

“Is that really why you're there? Because of Teddy? Or is it because of Teddy's godfather?” Hermione glared at him but didn't answer.

“You know, Hermione, I never thought you'd be like this.”

“Like what?”

“Toying with people's emotions.”

“What? I'm not toying with people's emotions!”

“Yes you are!”

“Even if I was, which I'm not, you have no right to lecture me for it, you did it all sixth year!”

“Ok, I will admit that in sixth year, I did the same thing, trying to make you jealous by going out with Lavender, but now you're doing the same thing to me by spending more time with Harry. But this is lower, he's my best friend!”

“I cannot believe that you think I'm doing this to make you jealous! I am trying to be a good friend by being there for my friend when he needs help. The fact that I'm spending time with Harry has nothing to do with you!”

“Yes it does, because the more time you're spending with him, the less you're spending with me. We're supposed to be going out, remember?”

“Well, if you don't like this situation, then why don't you end it?”

“That's your solution? To just end it? Why don't we work on this?”

“I'm not sure if I want to work on it, Ron. Do you honestly think this could work?”

“It can work. It has to work, it's us. We're supposed to be together.”

“And where did that idea come from? Who set that rule that we have to be together?” Ron didn't answer right away, and shifted his weight back and forth from foot to foot uncomfortably. Hermione said impatiently, “Well?”

“Well, it's just that for years people have been saying that we'd end up together.”

“Like who?”

“Like… people.”

“If I believed what people thought, Ronald, I'd either exile myself from the wizarding world or be with Harry right now. I've heard plenty more about the two of us than I have about you and me.”

“Well, my mum is one who always said that we should get married, and that Harry and Ginny should get married too so it'll be—“

“Be one big happy Weasley family, I know, I've heard that before. Just because your mother wants it that way doesn't mean it should be. And I refuse to believe that she would want us all to be together if we weren't happy.” Ron mouthed wordlessly, not being able to come back with anything. Hermione took a deep breath and said more calmly, “Can you honestly say you love me?”

“Of course,” Ron said right away.

“Really, Ron? You're not just saying that?” This time Ron hesitated.

“No, I'm not just saying that. Don't you love me?”

“Honestly?” Hermione sighed. “No.” Hermione almost cringed after she said it. The word sounded cruel, no matter how she could say it.

“That sounded harsh, Hermione,” Harry said to present day Hermione.

“I know, but I was being honest, I don't love him.” Ron looked hurt.

“I'm sorry, Ron, but that's why this can't go anywhere anymore. You deserve someone so much better, someone who loves you with all her heart. And she's out there, Ron, I just know it.” Ron nodded. “I really am sorry, Ron.” Hermione put her hand on Ron's arm and he pulled it out of her reach.

“You know, I hope he breaks your heart,” Ron said bitterly.

“What?” Ron didn't answer, just Disapparated away. The memory ended there, and Harry and Hermione were pulled out of the pensieve. Harry was curious as to who Ron said he hopes breaks Hermione's heart, but didn't want to ask. He had a feeling he knew who it was. He looked at Hermione, waiting for her to say something, but she didn't. At least not about the memory they had seen, but she did say something.

“We should probably go, we've got to finish getting things ready for tomorrow,” she said, looking at her watch. Harry nodded in agreement and they both left McGonagall's office.

--------------------------

The students were due to come from the train in five minutes. Harry, Hermione and Teddy had joined the teachers in the Great Hall, seated at the front table, waiting for their students to arrive. That nervous stomachache had settled in Harry's stomach, and it looked as though it had settled in Hermione's too. She was looking out at the empty tables, deep in thought.

“You know, it's strange to see all this from a teacher's point of view.”

“Yeah, isn't it weird that this time two years ago, we were out there as students, and now we're teachers?” Hermione smiled and nodded. There wasn't time to really say anything more, as the students were on their way into the Great Hall, chattering excitedly and milling around before taking their seats. Once they were seated, little Professor Flitwick came forward carrying the Sorting Hat, the group of first years following him, looking around the Great Hall and up at the enchanted ceiling with awe. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and smiled. Both were remembering their experience as first years, and it seemed so long ago. Professor Flitwick began calling names, and each student nervously made their way up to the Sorting Hat and sat down on the stool as it was placed on their heads. The amount of time it took to get the first years sorted would've had Ron complaining about hunger pains, even Harry was beginning to get a little hungry, and he knew McGonagall still had a few words to say before the feast started. Once the last student was sorted, McGonagall stood, each pair of eyes on each student in the Great Hall were fixed on her.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I am glad to see that so many of you have chosen to continue or begin your magical education regardless of the events that happened here last year. Hopefully we will have a good year, now that the era of darkness has passed. There are a few things I would like to say about this year. First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, hence the name `Forbidden'. Our caretaker from previous years, Argus Filch, is no longer with us, and his successor is Mr. Bickle. He's posted a list of forbidden items on his door, though it's not as extensive as Mr. Filch's list.” Harry glanced back at the caretaker in the back of the hall. He looked almost as mean as Filch was. McGonagall went on, “And along with adding Mr. Bickle to our staff, we also have three new teachers. First, is Professor Eckley, who will take over our Muggle Studies classes. Second, is Professor Granger, who will be teaching Transfiguration, and last but not least, Professor Potter, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Let's give them a welcoming round of applause.” There was applause, along with muttering among the students, talking about their new teachers, particularly the two youngest ones. “And well, that's all I have for now, so let the feast begin.” The gold plates and dishes filled with food, a murmur of awe coming from the first years. Everyone began eating, talking amongst themselves, chattering about anything and everything.

------------------

The first day of classes dawned bright and sunny. Not being able to sleep any longer, Harry ended up waking at 5:30. Rolling over in his bed, he looked over at Teddy's crib and noticed the baby sitting up in his bed, playing with his feet. Putting on his glasses and throwing back the covers, Harry got out of bed and went to Teddy's crib.

“Hey there, little squirt, what are you doing up so early?” Teddy grinned and stuck his arms out to be picked up. Harry lifted him out of his crib and they sat back down on Harry's bed. Harry set Teddy down and handed him a couple toys to play with. There was a knock at the door and Harry called to whoever it was to come in. Hermione entered, still in her pajamas and dressing gown. She smiled at the two when she came in.

“Good morning, early morning pajama party?”

“Yep, care to join us?”

“I'd love to.” Hermione sat down next to Harry and tickled Teddy's toes, who giggled and kicked his foot out of her reach. Harry then tickled Teddy's other foot, and the baby squealed with laughter, kicking his feet. The baby giggled and laughed as his godfather tickled him, causing both adults to laugh along with him.

“You know, Harry, I don't think it's fair that Teddy's the victim here. You should pick on someone your own size.”

“Who, like you?” A horrified look crossed Hermione's face.

“No, no, that's not what I meant.” Harry grinned mischievously.

“That's what it sounded like.” Hermione put her hands up, the scared look still on her face.

“No, Harry, don't please.”

“Well, you were the one saying I should pick on someone my own size…” Harry said as he tickled Hermione's side, making her shriek.

“Harry, no! Stop!” Harry kept tickling her, and Hermione dived out of the way, but Harry grabbed her arm and she ended up pulling him with her, and when she fell over on the bed, he fell with her, partially on top of her. Both were laughing hard, trying to catch their breath. Hermione sighed and let out a little laugh.

“Don't you think we're getting too old for these games?”

“Probably, but you're only as old as you feel, I suppose.”

“Yes, I suppose.” Hermione smiled and noticed that neither one of them was moving from their currant position. It certainly should've been an awkward moment, but it wasn't. Harry looked into Hermione's brown eyes, and the soft look on her face. He again did something that he had never done with Hermione before. He leaned down and kissed her. And the strange thing of it was, there was nothing in his mind telling him not to do it, it was as if the rational side of his brain shut off, and the part of his brain that easily got caught up in the moment took control. It wasn't a real passionate kiss that you read about in fairy tales, but just a soft, feather light kiss. Hermione slowly opened her eyes and for a moment Harry could see that she had gotten caught up in the moment too, but in a heartbeat that look had gone from her face and the look that replaced it showed that she had realized the awkwardness of the situation they were in. Placing a hand on Harry's chest and gently pushing him away so he'd take the hint and get off of her, she pulled herself up and slid off the bed. Running a hand gently over Teddy's blue hair, she kissed the top of his head and then left, without a single word to Harry. After the door had shut, and Hermione had left, Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mentally kicking himself for what had happened. He looked at Teddy who was smiling back at him.

“I made a mess of that, didn't I?” Teddy just giggled and his hair turned orange.

--------------------

Hermione went back to her flat and when she shut the door, she sighed and leaned against it, staring at the ceiling, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She kept replaying what had happened over and over in her head trying to figure out how she ended up kissing Harry. Or that he kissed her. She also kept replaying every detail of the kiss, making sure to remember everything about it. It wasn't one of those fiery kisses you read about, but the fireworks were still there, regardless that it was just a light kiss. Hermione was sure that had she been standing, she would've gone weak in the knees and fallen over. Hermione took a few deep breaths and bit her lip in thought. She needed to not think about it right now, she had classes to get ready for.

Hermione's first two classes had gone by without a hitch. She had had first years and fourth years. Right before lunch was the class she had been dreading all day long: seventh years. And her anxiety had grown even more since the events of that morning. She was sitting at her desk in front of the classroom when the bell rang signaling that her next class was about to arrive. Hermione glanced up from her notes every time a student came in, and she could feel the bottom of her stomach begin to drop when Luna Lovegood and Ginny walked into the classroom. Ginny had a sour look on her face, clearly she didn't want to be there, but Luna had her typical dreamy look, and when she placed her books on the desk, she came up to Hermione's desk.

“Hermione it's good to see you again, oh, wait, Professor Granger.”

“It's good to see you again too, Luna. Glad to see you're taking my class.”

“Ooh, I'm excited for it, Professor Potter's class too. It'll be nice to have familiar faces as teachers this year.”

“Well, thanks, Luna.”

“Are you nervous?”

“No,” Hermione replied in what she hoped was a convincing tone. Luna smiled encouragingly and went to take her seat next to Ginny, who scowled at Hermione. The last student was seated just as the tardy bell rang, and Hermione stood up to address her class.

“Welcome to seventh year Transfiguration. As you all probably know, I am Professor Granger, and I look forward to working with all of you this year. Now, I am not Professor McGonagall, so the things we do in this class may not necessarily be the same way she would've taught it, but I hope you'll give me a chance anyway. And I'm sure we'll have a good year this year. I have a syllabus for all of you,” Hermione began handing them out. “And it's tentative; it can change as the year goes on, depending on how quickly we go through things.” Hermione continued handing out the syllabi, and stopped short when she heard a cold voice.

“Well, hello there, Granger.” Hermione's jaw dropped when she saw who spoke.

“Malfoy? You're- you're in this class?” Malfoy smirked.

“Obviously you haven't checked your class list close enough. That's surprising though, I thought you were so anal about everything that you wouldn't have missed that.” Hermione closed her mouth and her eyes narrowed. Not paying any attention to the class that was staring at them, watching everything that was going on. Hermione placed her hands on Malfoy's desk and leaned forward a little, dropping the volume of her voice to a dangerous tone.

“You may have been in the same year as me since we were eleven, maybe you're even older than me, but I am your teacher, and while you're in my classroom, you will show me the proper respect or you'll find yourself in detention.” Malfoy smirked again.

“Well, then I'll just have to watch my step, won't I, Professor.” Hermione stepped away, and finished handing out the syllabi and went back to the front of the class. She stopped again when another voice, a female one this time, spoke.

“I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure wouldn't respect a teacher like this one.” The class, if possible, got quieter.

“Ginny!” Luna hissed at her friend. “What are you doing?” But Ginny ignored her.

“I mean, seriously, who would respect a thief…traitor…and two timing backstabber.” Everyone's jaw dropped. Hermione bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath, willing herself not to let her anger out.

“Ginny, if you have a problem with me, I'll ask you not to bring it into this classroom. Discuss it after class.”

“Whatever you say, Professor,” Ginny said sarcastically. Hermione flicked her wand at the chalkboard and the chalk magically began writing. There was a rustle of paper as people went for their parchment and quills. Hermione went on with her lesson, but the shakiness in her voice would not go away.

“Alright, so seventh year Transfiguration…”

-------------------

“Hey! Weasley!” Ginny stopped when she heard her name, and turned to see Draco Malfoy following her.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Ginny said coldly.

“Easy there, Red, I'm on your side.” Ginny laughed.

“Yeah right, why should I believe you? Why should I believe a wizard that for years has done everything to become a Death Eater?” Draco lifted his left sleeve and showed Ginny his forearm. But there was no Dark Mark like Ginny suspected.

“Do you see the Dark Mark here? I never was a Death Eater.”

“Either way, why should I believe you're on my side?”

“Because I think it's ridiculous that Granger and Potter are teachers too. And I believe that they are—what was it you said? Two timing backstabbers?”

“No, Hermione is the two timing backstabber and traitor and thief, Harry is just caught up in her lies and is doing what she wants.” Draco laughed.

“I'm sorry, I may be on your side, but I refuse to believe that Potter has nothing to do with this. But I will help you; help you do whatever it is you feel you need to do to get them back for their betrayal.”

“Really? You? Would help me? That's the last thing I'd ever here you say.”

“Well, I'm still saying it.”

“I might take you up on that then, Malfoy.”

---------------------

“So how did the first day go?”

“Fine, yours?”

“Fine, until my third class of the day,” Hermione said, pulling Teddy's hands away from her hair. She was lying on the couch; her legs propped up, Teddy sitting on her stomach. She handed him a toy to keep his hands occupied so they wouldn't attach themselves to her hair.

“What did Ginny do?” Harry said, taking a drink of the water in his hand.

“Well, said she couldn't see why any of them would respect me, and called me a thief, traitor, and a two timing backstabber.” Harry's jaw dropped. He then closed it and rolled his eyes.

“Well, that was mature of her.” Hermione rolled her eyes too.

“Tell me about it.” All of a sudden, Teddy burst out laughing and fell back; Hermione's bent legs catching him. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and then at Teddy and laughed.

“Well, that was random,” Harry said, still laughing. Hermione stopped laughing and gave Harry a look that said she had something serious to tell him.

“Harry, how closely have you looked over your class lists for your classes?”

“I don't know, I haven't memorized it or anything, just glanced of them, I suppose. Why?”

“Because Ginny's not the only one who will cause problems in the seventh year class.”

“Why, who else is in that class?”

“Remember when McGonagall said that there are some students returning for their seventh year because they weren't able to last year? Well, Malfoy is one of those who've come back.” Harry dropped his glass, and it clunked to the floor, spilling water all over.

“Malfoy is back?”

“Yeah, and even though we saved his skin twice last spring, he's still the same conceited prat that he was when we were in school together.”

“What did he say?”

“He called me anal, and couldn't believe that I missed the fact that he was in my class. Nothing real bad, he mostly was just trying to look down from his high and mighty throne that he still thinks he's sitting on.” Harry got up and went to his desk in the corner of the living room. Digging around in one of the drawers he pulled out a piece of parchment and looked it over. He sighed.

“Damn, I have Malfoy in my class too.”

“When do you have seventh years?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

-----------------------

A/N: Hmm, I suppose there's a good spot to stop. Sorry I've been taking so long to update, life is hectic, I'm so busy at times. Hopefully during breaks I can get a lot of writing done!! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!!

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Chapter 9: First Class and More Werewolf Memories

A/n: Hey, all you Grey's Anatomy fans, see if you can spot the “quote” from Grey's even though it was a little manipulated to fit the characters in the story! Actually it's more of a “moment” than a “quote”. An online chocolate chip cookie to the winner who can spot it first!!

P.S. And I just wanted to thank my beta, Sage05, she does an awesome job!!

------------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

Harry rushed down the corridor, his black robes billowing behind him. He glanced at his watch, and picked up the pace of his walking. The bell signaling the beginning of class rang, causing Harry to swear under his breath. He was not off to a good start that morning, first class of the day and he was already running late. He reached his classroom, and stopped a minute to catch his breath before entering the classroom. With his hand grasping the door handle, he took another deep breath and opened the door, and stepped inside. His seventh years were all congregated around each other's desks talking with each other. When their teacher entered the classroom, however, they stopped talking immediately. Harry moved to the front of the classroom, not looking back at the students that he could feel staring at him.

“Alright everyone, take your seats, let's get started,” Harry said when he got to the front of the classroom. “Welcome to seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts. As you know, I'm Professor Potter, and I look forward to working with you all this year.” Harry began handing out the syllabus, continuing to talk as he did so. “I hope we'll have a good year this year, and I know that you and I are only a year apart, but I want you to remember that I am your teacher, and I am not going to put up with any nonsense this year. Any distractions will result in detentions and/or points being docked from your house. Even though I'm not a traditional teacher, that doesn't mean that you don't show me the same respect you would any other teacher,” Harry looked from face to face, making sure his point was getting across, his gaze lingering a little on Malfoy and Ginny. Ginny was giving him a smug look, almost as though she thought she was above such rules since she used to date the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

“Oh we'd better tread carefully class, this one's a tough one,” Draco said sarcastically. Harry ignored his comment and addressed the class.

“Are there any questions?” About eight hands rose. “Any questions about this class?” Seven of the eight hands went down. “Yes, Miss Davis?”

“Professor, sir, since You-Know-Who is gone, why do we have to take Defense Against the Dark Arts still?”

“Well, first of all, in this class, there'll be none of this You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rubbish. And in answer to your question, since this is an advanced Defense class, you're all here because the professions you're looking into are still requiring this class for their applicants. And even though Voldemort is dead and gone, doesn't mean that another won't try and take his place,” Harry glanced over at Malfoy, whose smug look was replaced by an angry one. “So you'll want to be prepared.” The rest of the class went by smoothly, and Harry was feeling confident about how the class was going to be for the year by time the bell rang to signal the change of classes. Harry began getting things ready for his next class when he saw someone standing in front of him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Malfoy standing there, the same angry look he had worn all throughout class.

“What the hell are you trying to say here, Potter?”

“What do you mean Malfoy?”

“I mean you're implying that if another Dark Lord were to rise, that it'd be me.”

“Where would you get an idea like that? I never said anything of the sort.”

“Imply, Potter, imply!” Malfoy said, raising his voice.

“Well, old habits die hard, Malfoy, you can't deny that.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Malfoy said, raising his voice even more.

“That means, that once a person treats you a certain way and continues to do so; it's hard to change what you think of them. You have given me every reason to believe that you haven't changed, even though the war is over. You want respect, to be seen as who you are, rather than what you were, give me a reason to do so.” Malfoy didn't have an answer. “And remember Malfoy, during the battle last year, Ron, Hermione and I saved your hide twice, so don't you think you owe us something in return?” Again Malfoy didn't reply, just turned and left. Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was about to get up and head to his office, when he saw a red head turn the corner and come into the classroom. It took all Harry's willpower to not roll his eyes and groan in frustration. He did not want to deal with Ginny at the moment. She walked in with a sly smile on her face, and stood blocking the door to Harry's office.

“Hi, Harry. Oops, sorry, Professor.”

“What do you want, Ginny?”

“I just wanted to chat, you know, talk.”

“Well it better pertain to classes, because I am your teacher.”

“Well, I suppose it does pertain to classes, just not this one.”

“What then?”

“Hermione didn't seem her usual bossy self yesterday. She seemed a little flustered. Particularly around me. What happened yesterday?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“I know something happened yesterday between you two, Harry, otherwise she wouldn't have been so anxious.”

“I don't know what you're talking about Ginny, and if I did, it wouldn't be any of your business. Things have changed.”

“Things don't have to change, Harry. Professor.” Ginny said smoothly, stepping a little closer to Harry.

“They have Ginny, even if I wasn't your teacher, I wouldn't be stupid enough to get involved with you again.” Ginny's smile and sexy demeanor disappeared and she looked as though she'd been slapped.

“So that's how it's going to be, Harry? After all we've been through, you're just going to throw it all away like that? Over something silly as a baby and a bushy haired friend?”

“For the last time, this has nothing to do with Hermione, Ginny!”

“Stop trying to deny it, Harry, I'm getting sick of you lying to me, telling me that it has nothing to do with her.”

“I'm not trying to deny it, Ginny, I'm telling the truth. And either way, it shouldn't matter to you anymore.”

“But it does, Harry. I don't want to see you get hurt when she uses you like she used my brother.”

“Get out, Ginny. I'm tired of arguing with you about this. It's none of your business; I am your teacher, not your ex-boyfriend. Please leave now.” Ginny rolled her eyes and turned and left.

---------------------------

After Harry's classes that day, he had some time to kill before Hermione got done teaching so he could tell her about his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the seventh years. So giving Winky the rest of the afternoon off, he took Teddy to McGonagall's office with Remus's memories in hand to watch with the baby. After getting permission, they poured the memories into the pensieve and stuck their hands in. The first memory they came to was when the Marauders were seventh years. Remus was sitting out on the grounds with Sirius, James and Lily under the tree that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would sit so many times in their days at school. Both Lily and Remus were studying, James was pretending to study, but wasn't really reading anything on the page, and Sirius was scoping out dates.

“Look, Teddy, there's your dad,” Harry said, pointing at Remus. Teddy smiled and reached a hand out to the memory of his father as a seventeen year old.

“Prongs, Moony, I need a date for this weekend, it's a Hogsmeade weekend and I don't want to go alone,” Sirius said, looking around at the student body congregated outside, enjoying the nice spring day.

“Why do you need their help? Has the list of girls you haven't dated in this school run out of names?” Lily said, looking up from her book.

“No, there'll always be at least one girl on that list, unless you want to fix that, Lily, and go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend,” Sirius said, winking.

“Nope, sorry, Sirius, I've already got a date for this weekend.”

“Yeah, I know, and your date would kill me if I tried to take you away from him.” James grinned.

“I refuse to believe that you've run out of girls to date that you have to ask my girlfriend, Padfoot.”

“I know, which is why I am not asking your girlfriend, Prongs, and which is also why I need your help.” Just then, two girls were walking by, one blonde, one brunette. Sirius said, “Wait, never mind, I might not need your help, hey, Hailey, Renee, come here!” The girls looked at each other and scowled, but came over anyway. Sirius grinned.

“Good morning ladies.”

“No, don't do that. Don't smile at me,” Renee said, pointing a finger at Sirius.

“Don't smile at her, don't smile at me either,” Hailey said.

“We're on to you.”

“Yeah, we've compared notes.”

“Compared notes? Really?” Sirius said, slightly confused.

“Compared notes, pick up lines, techniques.”

“Techniques,” Sirius said, a saucy grin replacing his confused look.

“Identical,” Hailey and Renee said at the same time. “And we've formed a club. Seventh Years Against Sirius Black.” Sirius looked thoughtful, trying to make it look like the club didn't worry him.

“Are there any club activities?” Both girls scoffed and turned and left. Sirius looked at his friends, who were trying their best not to laugh.

“Darn, too bad they left so soon, I wanted to know if I could join,” Lily said, unable to keep from laughing any longer. Sirius threw her a dirty look.

“Seventh Years Against Sirius Black. Sounds interesting, I wonder how fast that'll spread around school,” James said, beginning to laugh too, joined in by Remus. Sirius looked dejected.

“Maybe you do need our help after all, Padfoot,” Remus said, elbowing Sirius's arm.

The memory changed, Lily, Sirius and Remus were sitting at a small coffee shop in Diagon Alley. They were older than they were in the last memory, but there was only a couple years difference.

“I want to ask you two something. I couldn't decide which one to ask so I'm asking both of you. Since my parents are dead, there's no one to give me away. And I know you're already doing something in the wedding, but I was wondering—“

“Say no more, Lils, we'd be honored to give you away,” Remus said. Lily smiled, and tears started to form in her eyes.

“Thank you so much, you have no idea what that means to me.”

The next memory was another from seventh year, the Marauders minus Peter were sitting in the common room with Lily and her friend, Holly. They were just sitting around talking, about anything and everything, whatever came to mind.

“Ok, Lils, James, if you two ever have kids, what would you name them?” Holly asked. Lily and James looked at each other and shrugged.

“We hadn't really talked too much about it,” James said.

“Knowing James he'll want a James Jr. for a boy or Jamie for a girl,” Holly said, smiling at James.

“You say it like that's a bad thing.”

“Well, just so you know,” Lily said, pointing at James. “I am not naming my son James Jr.”

“Why, what's wrong with James Jr.?”

“Everything.”

“Why would she name her son James Jr. when the father's name is Sirius? Now Sirius Jr. would be much better,” Sirius said, stretching in his chair smugly and then leaning away to dodge a blow to the arm from James.

“Oh yeah,” Lily said sarcastically. “That's exactly what I want.”

“See Prongs, you gotta give her options she'll like, I mean, who would name their kid James? I mean, come on.” James was going to say his comeback, but Lily spoke first.

“Actually, I have thought about this, if we were to get married and have kids I was thinking that if it's a boy, we'd maybe name him Harry James, and if it's a girl, Faith Gabrielle.”

“Harry James Potter,” James said, trying the name out, “I like it.”

“Wait, wait, who said his last name would be Potter?” Lily said with a teasing grin at James. James shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, James, what if his last name was Black or Lupin or something?” Holly said.

“Yeah, what if it is?” Both Sirius and Remus grinned and put their arms around Lily, and stopped quickly when they realized that they both were going to do the same thing. They stared at each other, as if saying, `We can't both have her.'

“Rock paper scissors,” Sirius said. Holly laughed.

“Ah, rock paper scissors, the solution to all the Marauder's decisions.”

“Damn straight,” Sirius said, nodding.

“Yeah, works about thirty percent of the time,” Remus said. “Alright, Black, ready?” He and Remus put their fists into their palms.

“One, two, three.” Sirius had rock, Remus had paper.

“How do you always win?”

“You always pick rock.”

“Ok, best two outta three.”

“Nope, I won,” Remus said smugly, putting his arm around Lily.

“Fine, then I get Holly.”

“No thanks, Sirius,” Holly said, and grinned as a thought came to mind and she went and sat on Remus' other side.

Sirius and James looked at each other and Sirius said, “This isn't right.”

Teddy squealed and clapped his hands as the memory changed making Harry laugh.

“I take it you're having fun.” Teddy clapped his hands and kicked his feet and his hair turned orange. The new memory was another one from after the Marauders plus Lily were out of school. James, Sirius and Remus were seated around a table, empty plates in front of them, apparently waiting for dinner. Lily came from the kitchen carrying a big bowl full of pasta. She set it down in the middle of the table and took a seat between James and Remus. She then dished up the Chicken Fettuccini for everyone and looked around expectantly, waiting for someone to take the first bite.

“Well? Aren't you guys going to eat?” Sirius looked down at the pasta on his plate.

“I can't, I'm scared. This is a Lily Evans cooking concoction. It might be fatal.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“Just give it a chance, Sirius, you might like it.” James looked at the pasta warily, and picked at it with his fork.

“Hmm, it looks like food,” He leaned down and took in the scent. “Smells like food…”

“And if you taste it, you'll find it tastes like food,” Lily said as though talking to a two year old.

“I'm going to have to agree with Sirius,” James said, setting his fork down. “I'm too scared to try it.”

“I thought the Marauders were fearless.”

“We may be fearless, Lils, but we do stay away from potential death.”

“Yeah right,” Lily scoffed.

“We do, seriously,” Sirius said.

“Hmm, and what would you call wandering around the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade every full moon?” The three Marauders grinned.

“An adventure.” Lily rolled her eyes. Remus decided to be the brave one and take the first bite. He spun the pasta on his fork and looked at it cautiously.

He looked at his friends and said, “I want a nice funeral.” Lily smacked him on the arm and rolled her eyes again. Remus took a bite, and when he swallowed, Sirius reached over for Remus's wrist and took his pulse.

“I think he's going to be ok. Surprisingly.”

“Wow, you guys' confidence in me is overwhelming,” Lily said sarcastically. Soon after, James and Sirius began eating too.

“Wow, Lils, this is really good. Where did you learn to cook?”

“My mother has been teaching my sister and me how to cook over the last few summers. She said that since we're going to be on our own soon that we needed to know how to cook. One of my specialties became Chicken Fettuccini.”

Sirius took another bite and said with his mouth full, “James, marry her.” James laughed.

“I might do that.”

“Seriously, if you don't, I will.”

“Yeah, like that'll happen, Sirius,” Lily said with a laugh.

“Why not, with me you'd be ten times more satisfied than with Prongs here.”

“Eh, I don't know about that.”

“Have you ever talked to a girl I've dated where she hasn't been satisfied?”

“No, but then, I try to make it a point not to converse with your old girlfriends, because I don't want my I.Q. to drop a few points, because they'd have to have pretty low intelligence to want to date you—“ Lily had a hard time finishing what she was saying for her laughter was beginning to be too much to hold in, and so was Remus and James'. Sirius threw Lily a dirty look.

“You just don't know what you're missing, Lily.”

“Well, I just have to take your word for it, Sirius.”

Harry looked down at Teddy as the next memory was changing. The child would blink slowly, a sign that he was getting sleepy. Harry held tight to Teddy as they rose up out of the pensieve, and by the time that they reached Harry's apartment, Teddy was fast asleep. Hermione was sitting in the living room when Harry and Teddy came in, and she smiled when she saw them.

“Someone's worn out. What were you two up to?”

“We were watching more of Remus's memories,” Harry said as he put Teddy down in his crib. “There were some good ones. Did you know that my grandparents on Mum's side died before she and Dad got married, and so Remus and Sirius gave her away?”

“Really? That's sweet.”

“Yeah, and Sirius used to catch a lot of hell from the rest of the Marauders and my mum. And in their seventh year, all the girls formed a club called Seventh Years Against Sirius Black.”

“Ouch,” Hermione said, laughing. “Poor Sirius. So how'd today go?”

“It went alright. I had a couple conversations with two students that I could've done without.”

“Let me guess, Malfoy and Ginny.”

“Yep. Malfoy accused me of implying that he'll become the next Dark Lord, and Ginny was trying to pour on the charm for me. She also wanted to know why her Transfiguration teacher seemed so flustered yesterday.” Hermione shifted uneasily in her chair.

“What did you tell her?”

“I avoided the question, telling her that it shouldn't matter to her, it wasn't any of her business. Which it isn't.” Hermione nodded. Harry went on saying, “I think we need to talk about yesterday morning.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

A/n: And…end chapter. :D Don't you just love me for leaving it there? *Ducks behind chair* Don't worry, chapter 10 is in the making, I finally figured out what else I'm going to put into the chapter after Harry and Hermione have their conversation. So hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you thought!

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 10: Everything is Going to Change Now, Isn't It?

A/N: I'm not sure who got the answer first about the Grey's Anatomy moment, so online chocolate chip cookies for all!! Yay! By the way, for those of you who didn't know, it was the scene with Sirius and the two girls, the lines were taken almost exactly from Grey's, during a conversation between Sloan and two of the nurses. Loved that moment, “Nurses United Against Mark Sloan.” :-D So yeah, props to Grey's Anatomy! Hopefully everyone over in Hollywood can negotiate and we can get some more new episodes!!!

Oh and in this chapter, we'll see a return of our third trio member!

And another thing I forgot to mention last chapter, Happy 2008 everyone!!

------------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

“I don't know why, but I just felt—guilty—for what happened. I know you're not dating each other anymore, but Ginny was my friend before—I guess it was sixth year when we started to fall apart as friends. And for years I listened to her talk about how much she liked you, and it was just like one of those things: you don't date/kiss the guy that your friend likes.”

“But she didn't know that the kiss had happened.”

“I know that, but I knew.”

“And it wasn't your fault, it was mine. Call it a “caught up in the moment” thing.” Hermione smiled halfheartedly.

“Well, we'll just have to make sure and not get “caught up in the moment” again,” she said in an unconvincing tone, like she didn't really like what she was saying.

“Right,” Harry said, in that same unconvincing tone.

“Well, I should probably go back to my flat; I should go over my lesson plans for tomorrow.” Harry nodded, sort of staring into space. He didn't even notice that Hermione had gotten up to leave until he heard the door click shut. He was completely lost in his thoughts. He could understand why Hermione felt guilty about the kiss; he had felt guilty about it too, only he felt it was almost like a betrayal of Ron. He made a face as the thought crossed his mind about the unspoken rule that some people abide by that you don't date/kiss your best friend's ex-girlfriend. The more he thought about it, the more he found that rule absolutely ridiculous. Not that he wanted to date Hermione, but he shouldn't feel guilty about that kiss, it was purely innocent and was what he had said, a “caught up in the moment” thing. But then, he wasn't sure he totally agreed with what Hermione had said about not letting themselves get “caught up the moment” again. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stay away from those situations, because even though Hermione was one of his best friends, and most likely always stay that way, a small feather light kiss with her was about ten times more passionate than any kind of kiss he had ever shared with Ginny. He could lie to himself and anybody else till he was blue in the face, but in the end, the fireworks were there, and he couldn't deny it. He looked over at Teddy's crib when he heard the baby moving around after waking up from his “power nap”, as Hermione called it. Harry shook his head at his godson, who smiled when he saw his godfather.

“I'm in trouble, Teddy. You know? I'm heading in a direction I'm not sure I wanna go.” Teddy laughed and clapped his hands, as though applauding the fact that Harry had just admitted that. Harry smiled at the baby.

“You're a silly little guy, you know that?” Teddy clapped again.

-------------------------

Hermione took a seat at her desk and put her elbows on the desk and massaged her temples. Why was this bothering so much? She put a stop to it, things like the kiss wouldn't happen anymore. It was the right thing to do. Or was it? Harry was her best friend, but, a kiss with Harry was better than any kiss with Ron. She sighed. She did not want to be thinking about things like that again. She had spent six years burying those thoughts and feelings, and was not ready for them to surface again. She already knew they were starting to emerge again, especially after she broke up with Ron. Folding her arms on the desk, she put her head down on them and sighed again. Why were things so complicated?

------------------------

Hermione was walking through the halls, her destination intently on her mind, and what was going to meet her when she got there. She arrived at the door, and hesitated a little before knocking. She took a deep breath while she waited, and exhaled as the door opened. Harry gave her a questioning look, wondering why she was there.

“Hermione, what is it?”

“Remember how I said I wanted to make sure we don't get “caught up in the moment” again? And you agreed?”

“Yeah?”

“Well…I was lying.”

“Me too.” They both reached for each other and wrapped their arms around the other, kissing fiercely. It was nothing like that light innocent kiss they had shared, it was heated, passionate, and full of potential guilt later. The guilt that would follow lay with the dreamer as she shot up from her desk after waking up. Hermione's breaths were short and fast, and she felt like she had just run a mile. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

“Oh no,” she groaned. She did not want to deal with those feelings again. But they'd just have to be pushed aside like she had been doing for years.

----------------------

“Ok, Malfoy, what are your plans that you were talking to me about?” Ginny asked Draco as they sat in the Room of Requirement. But he didn't answer right away.

“Malfoy? Draco?” Finally he answered her.

“I think I want to withdraw my offer to help you break them up and humiliate them or whatever you had planned.”

“What? Why?”

“I've been thinking of what Potter said to me, Red. And I do want to start over, and do it right. I've been given a second chance, and I don't want to screw it up. Because let's face it, I may not like it, but Potter is a big thing in the wizarding world. If I mess with him, there goes my second chance, and I probably won't get another one.”

“Oh my gosh, you've got to be kidding me! You're having a change in heart now?! Where the hell was this when you could've stopped from ruining your first chance?”

“My thoughts had been manipulated to believe that I was doing the right thing.”

“And now?”

“I don't want to be manipulated anymore. I want to do what I want to do, and I don't want to always be known as this horrible evil clone of his father. And you'd better be careful too, Red, otherwise you'll end up on the outs with Potter and the wizarding world.”

“I don't mean to do anything to Harry,” Ginny began, but Draco cut her off.

“Ok, but keep in mind, the wizarding world holds Granger in almost as high esteem as they do Potter. And he will defend her to the death. I think you need to face the facts that it's over between you and Potter.”

“I refuse to take a defeatist attitude in this, Malfoy.”

“You should, because regardless of the fact that you've broken up, he's your teacher. And he's got too good of a good streak of morality in him to get involved with a student. It's over, and it's time to move on, Red.”

“You know, I don't need your help, Malfoy. I can come up with something myself.”

“Oh what are you going to do? Go to the Daily Prophet again and give an anonymous account of what's going on? Face it, Red, your ideas are shite.”

“Whatever, Malfoy, I'll come up with something.” With a flip of her hair, she got up and left the room. Malfoy left soon afterwards, instead of going down to the Slytherin common room, he went up to the Transfiguration classroom. He stuck his head in to check and see if the light was on the teacher's office. Finding Hermione there, bent over her desk, writing down notes from a book, he came into the classroom and knocked on her office door. Hermione looked up and her expression turned to one of surprise when she saw who it was.

“Malfoy? What are you—I mean, can I help you with something?”

Taking a deep breath, Draco said, “I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other day in class.” If Hermione was surprised by Draco stopping by she was even more surprised at what had just come out of his mouth.

“An apology? Really?” Draco nodded. “Is there a catch or something?”

“No, just an apology, I decided I want to start over. Right some wrongs. Oh, and while I'm apologizing, I'm sorry for all the cruel things I've said over the years, including calling you a Mudblood. And if, in the future I happen to slip up, feel free to slap me across the face again.” Hermione smiled and laughed a little.

“Hopefully it won't come to that. But thank you, Draco.” Draco nodded and began to leave, but stopped.

“Oh, and I should probably warn you, Ginny's planning something.”

“Planning what?”

“Some sort of sabotage. She's out for revenge. And you're her target.” Hermione sighed. Draco said, “And, I don't know the whole truth about what went on, only her side and I know it's none of my business, but for what it's worth, I think she's being unreasonable, and she's not thinking about what she's doing.” Hermione nodded.

“Well, thank you, Draco.” Draco nodded and left.

---------------

“You're kidding.” Hermione shook her head.

“Nope, I swear on my copy of Hogwarts, a History that I am telling the truth, Draco Malfoy apologized to me.”

“Wow, that's…really out of character for him, isn't it?” Harry said. Hermione shrugged.

“He said he wanted to start over. Right a few wrongs. He even apologized for calling me a Mudblood all those times and said that if he ever slipped up again in the future I could feel free to slap him again.”

“Wow, I wonder what made him change and decided to start over.”

“Didn't you say you said something to him after class? Maybe he's taking it to heart.”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, and I should warn you, Ginny's planning something.”

-------------------

A few weeks later, Ron was walking down the hallway of Hogwarts, heading for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He found it empty, but called for the teacher. He didn't receive an answer, just heard a gurgling noise coming from the little play pen next to the desk. Teddy was sitting up half playing with his toy and half playing with his toes. He squealed and threw his hands up as if he'd just discovered something exciting. Ron laughed. Walking over to the play pen he stuck his hand down to Teddy for him to grab his finger.

“Well hey there, Teddy. How're you doing?” Teddy giggled and fell backward. Ron grabbed his arm to keep him from falling over. “Whoa there, little fella, be careful.” Ron reached down and picked the baby up; Teddy looked curiously at Ron's red hair before reaching up to grab it. Ron pulled his head out of the way to keep from getting his hair caught in Teddy's grasp. “Well, little fella, since you're in here, I suppose your godfather isn't far. Where is he?” Just then, Harry came out from his office carrying a couple books. He was surprised to see Ron there, and even more surprised that he'd picked up Teddy.

“Oh, hi, Ron,” he said uneasily, wondering what Ron was doing there.

“Hey, Harry. How're you doing?”

“Fine, you?”

“Fine.” Teddy grinned again and clapped his hands, blowing spit bubbles again. Harry smiled.

“I see Teddy's taken a liking to you.”

“He's a friendly little guy.” Changing the subject, Ron said, “I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here.”

“Yeah, that's the first thought that came to mind.”

“I just figured I hadn't seen you and Hermione for a while, and heard you were teaching so I decided to come and see how you both were, how you like teaching and all that.” Harry gave Ron a skeptic look.

“Really?”

“Really, I'm not here to yell, fight, or argue, just here as a friend. The way we used to be.”

“What made you decide to do that?” Ron smiled shyly.

“I had a talk with some family. And they reminded me that you two are family too, even if you're not blood related, or related by marriage. And my mother reminded me too that our family has lost enough that it shouldn't lose any more.” Harry smiled and nodded. Ron added, “And no matter what happens, whether you and Hermione get together or not, I'll still be there for you. I'm moving on and stepping aside.” Harry laughed.

“Thanks Ron, but like I've said before, I doubt that's ever going to happen.”

“Ah well, you're throwing `doubt' into those sentences, it used to be just a definite, “never going to happen” sentence. Something must be changing.” Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Ron looked at the baby in his arms and bounced him on his hip. He said, “You know, this little guy needs parents, two of them. He's lost so much already and he's not even a year old. Hermione's one that won't leave him.” Teddy reached for the ceiling and squealed and brought his tiny fists down on Ron's chest. Both wizards laughed at the little baby.

“Well, I will say this,” Harry said, “There's never really a dull moment when Teddy's around. He's always there to make you laugh and feel better.” Ron nodded, and Harry motioned for the chair in front of his desk. “Here, have a seat.” Ron set Teddy back in his playpen and handed him his toy again. The baby was totally engrossed in the toy while Harry and Ron sat to talk.

“So what were you doing before I came in that you needed the books?”

“Research.”

“Research? Are you starting to turn into Hermione, here? You're becoming a tough teacher who gives notes all class long and ten foot essays?” Harry laughed.

“I'm not that bad. The longest essay I've assigned as been three feet. Hermione's longest I think has been six. I think she has too high of standards set for her students sometimes. I think she forgets that not everyone puts as much effort into their school work as she did. So how's the new job going?”

“It's alright, I suppose. I've been put in charge of inspecting artifacts to check for dark spells in them. I take them apart and put them through all sorts of tests to see if they are trustworthy. It's slow work, and since the war is over, there aren't a whole lot of things coming in. I suppose that's a good thing. But on my days off I help George with the joke shop, he's had to hire a few more employees to pick up sales, and some of them aren't working the best, so I've been helping him as much as possible. It's actually more enjoyable than taking apart objects and putting them back together. I'm considering working full time with him. So how about you, Harry? How do you like teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?”

“I'm enjoying it a lot. I think I've found my calling in the professional world. It's fun to see a student get something that you've been trying to teach them for a week. It's pretty self gratifying work.”

“I'm surprised you're teaching, I thought you would've gone into Auror training. I'm sure they would've taken you.”

“I thought about it, but I decided that to get into the Auror training I'd have to throw the “Harry Potter” name in there. I'm not qualified, I haven't even finished school. So the only reason the Aurors would take me would be because I'm the Boy Who Lived or Chosen One or whatever they're calling me these days.” Ron nodded in understanding and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both wizards looked to see who it was to find Luna Lovegood standing in the doorway.

“Hi, Luna, come on in,” Harry said. Luna came in, and stopped in front of Harry's desk. Instead of addressing her teacher, her attention was brought first to the man sitting across from Harry.

“Well hello, Ronald.”

“Hi Luna, how're you?”

“Fine, thank you.”

“What can I do for you, Luna?” Harry said.

“Well, I have a question on the assignment for tomorrow. When you're performing a non-verbal spell, what happens when a Swedish Norfwaddler penetrates your thoughts?” Ron looked from Luna to Harry, wondering how Harry would answer Luna's question, and trying not to laugh. Harry didn't answer right away, for he had no idea how to answer that question.

“Uh, I have no idea what to do in that situation, Luna, I've never heard of a Swedish Norfwaddler.”

“Oh, it's a creature that surrounds you and keeps you from thinking straight. It can cause mixing up of words and stuttering. I would think that it would affect the thoughts for nonverbal spells.”

“I see. Well, I suppose you just do your best to ward it off and think through its control.”

“I see. Thanks, Professor. Oh and I also have something for you. Actually, it's for little Teddy.” Luna pulled out of her bag a string of blue and orange radishes. She said, “It's for the Western Blue Bellied Beneezels. They are attracted to young children under the age of two. If you string this around his crib or playpen it will ward them off.”

“Well thank you, Luna, I appreciate it.”

“No problem and thank you for answering my question.” With one last look and smile at Ron, Luna left. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ron started laughing.

“I see Luna hasn't changed a bit. I've missed her in a way. It's always fun to hear what new creature she's come up with.” Harry laughed.

“You miss her? I thought you always thought she was loony?”

“Well she still is, but more wonderfully weird.” Harry gave Ron a surprised look. He wasn't expecting Ron to say what he did. He laughed, and Ron, realizing how his last comment sounded, said, “No, no, no, not like that. I don't like Luna like that.”

“Hey, I'm not judging, just laughing.”

“I'd better get going, I have to get over to George's shop,” Ron said, looking at his watch.

“You sure you can't stay longer, say hi to Hermione?”

“No, I can't. Next time I will. Tell her hi for me though,” Ron said, getting up. Harry stood too.

“I will.” There was a slight awkward pause until Ron stuck his hand out.

“Take care of yourself, mate.” Harry shook his hand.

“You too, don't be a stranger.” Ron nodded and left.

A little later, Hermione came into Harry's office. She pointed over her shoulder and said, “You'll never guess who I just met in the hallway on my way here.”

“I bet I could guess. Was it Ron?”

“Yeah, it was. He came to see you?” Harry nodded.

“Yep. We kind of forgave each other. Then we talked about work and stuff.” Harry told her all about Ron and his conversations. Hermione looked impressed when Harry finished.

“Well someone's grown up, haven't they?”

“Yeah, I suppose so. What did he say to you?”

“Just said hi, and that he couldn't stay long, but he wanted to talk to me sometime, he'd come see me soon. But I was on my over here to tell you something.”

“What's that?”

“I just got a letter from my parents. And they are free this weekend and were wondering if we could meet them in London for the weekend. What do you think? They really want to meet Teddy. I figured I go even if you didn't want to, but if you don't want to go, I'll take Teddy this weekend to meet Mum and Dad.”

“I suppose I could go. I've never met your parents before.”

“Oh that's right you haven't. So you want to go?”

“Sure, sounds good.”

A/n: Well, here's chapter 10 for you all, hope you enjoyed. Kind of a lot going on in this chapter, but that's good I suppose, at least I'm not at a loss for ideas at the moment! Thanks for reading everyone! Look for meeting Hermione's parents next chapter and also another meeting with Ron!

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 11: Meeting the Parents

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

“Welcome back, Master Harry,” Kreacher said as he took Harry and Hermione's coats when they came in the door to Grimmauld Place. Harry looked around and was glad to see nothing had changed since he left, and was glad to be home.

“There's no way we could commute to school, is there? And live here still?” Hermione smiled.

“Probably not.”

“That's too bad, because I sort of missed this place. It actually feels a little more like home.”

“I'm glad you have a place that feels like home, Harry.” Hermione looked at her watch. “We're meeting Mum and Dad in thirty minutes; we should get ready to go meet them.” Harry made a face that showed he was regretting agreeing to come along to meet Hermione's parents.

“Remind me again why I agreed to come along?”

“Because you're a good friend.”

“That's the best reason you've got?”

“Because it's your godson they want to see.” Harry sighed.

“I suppose.”

“It won't be that bad, Harry. They're nice people, you'll like them. Just be glad we're not dating. Then you'd really be worried.”

“Would I have to be worried if we were dating? Are your parents that intimidating to your choice of men?” Hermione gave a little laugh.

“I'm their only child. Their only daughter. I'm my father's little girl. So it's a good thing you're meeting them as my friend.”

“I guess I lucked out then,” Harry said, giving her a weak smile. The word `dating' made him think of the other day and the talk they had had. Though he didn't get a chance to think much on it, for the little comic relief that was his godson threw his hands up, squealed, and laughed arbitrarily. Both Harry and Hermione laughed at the little guy.

“Talk about random,” Harry said, setting Teddy in his bouncy chair. Teddy squealed with delight again as he bounced up and down in his little chair. With one last smile at Teddy, Harry said, “Here, I'll take the bags upstairs to our rooms, you watch him.”

“Ok.” Harry grabbed his, Hermione's, and Teddy's bags and took them upstairs, putting each in their respective rooms. He had just dropped his bag down on his bed when he heard Hermione calling for him.

“Harry, come here, you've got to see this! Quick!” Harry rushed out of his room and back downstairs to find that Hermione had taken Teddy out of his chair and placed him on his stomach on the floor. She was on her hands and knees next to him.

“What is it?”

“Look at what he's doing!” Teddy was on his hands and knees, and was rocking back and forth, trying to crawl. He had the right idea, but couldn't quite figure out how to get anywhere yet. Hermione looked at Harry and smiled brightly and said, “He's trying to crawl!” Harry smiled and sat down on the floor next to Hermione.

“I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Of course it's a good thing! It means he's growing.”

“Yeah, but once he starts crawling, he'll never stop.” Hermione leaned back on her knees and looked around the room.

“You're right. We'll have to start thinking of baby proofing everything. While we're here in London we should get some things to baby proof your flat at school before we worry about the house. We can go look after dinner with Mum and Dad.”

“Speaking of which,” Harry said, looking at his watch. “We should probably get going.” Hermione nodded and stood. Harry stood too, and reached down to pick up Teddy. He said, “Well, let's go, squirt.” Harry swung him up and tossed him in the air a little, making the little guy squeal and giggle with happiness as his hair turned from its natural brown to happy orange. Hermione smiled and laughed as Teddy giggled.

“Do you remember before you adopted him how you were so worried about being a parent to him? How you wouldn't know how? Now you're just a natural at parenting, Harry. You couldn't be any better if he was your own son.” Harry grinned as he moved Teddy to his right arm.

“Surprising for an eighteen year old, isn't it?”

“No, I'm not surprised. I knew you could do it.”

“I think I've got this stage of his life down, but the rest…has me scared to death. I've been reading up, and I'm not looking forward to the terrible twos and potty training.” Hermione laughed.

“You'll be fine.”

“Yeah, as long as I have you there with me.” Hermione smiled again and picked up Teddy's jacket and helped Harry put it on the baby.

“Yep, we're just a little thrown together family, aren't we?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” They both looked at each other, an awkward silence settling between them. Neither knew what to really say next after Hermione's comment, nor after Harry's reply. After a moment, Harry cleared his throat and said, “Well, shall we?” Hermione nodded and put her jacket on, then took Teddy from Harry so he could put his own jacket on. Since they were headed for muggle London, they figured Apparating wouldn't be the best idea, nor would floo powder, so they were left with muggle transportation. They arrived at the restaurant a tad later than they had planned, they hadn't taken into account the fact that they couldn't just appear at their destination quicker than you could snap your fingers. Dave and Jane Granger were already waiting for them. Both parents hugged their daughter hello.

“I'm so glad we could all get together, Hermione, I know you've both been busy,” Jane said as she enveloped her daughter in a hug. “I know we've been busy too, what with keeping up with the office here and making sure our people in Australia aren't having any problems.”

“I'm glad too, Mum. Oh, Mum, Dad, this is Harry. And this is Teddy too.”

“Harry, it's nice to finally meet you. Hermione has told us so much about you,” Dave said, shaking Harry's hand.

“Yes, even though this is the first time we've met, we feel like we almost know you already,” Jane said, also shaking Harry's hand and then giving him a hug.

It's great to finally meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Granger.”

“So this is Teddy.. He is absolutely adorable. I see what you mean, Hermione about his different color hair. What did you call it? Meta-something?”

“Metamorphmagus. As far as we know, he's not a full one, we think all he'll ever be able to change would be his hair and eye color. But he's still young.” Harry handed Teddy to Jane for her to hold, and Teddy, whose hair had been orange, turned back to his natural brown as he looked quizzically at the new face.

“Well, he's a cutie. How old is he?”

“About…” Hermione looked at Harry for help. “Six months, I believe. Almost seven..”

“He should be getting ready to crawl soon then.”

“Yeah, he's already trying,” Harry said. “He was on the floor today and was up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth, trying to get somewhere, but not quite understanding how to put it all together.”

“Well, once he crawls, there'll be no stopping him, he'll be everywhere,” Dave said. “I know Hermione was like that when she was this age, once she started moving, it was hard to catch her.” Teddy had finally decided that Jane was a good person and was smiling at her.

“Oh goodness, you've got a big smile. You're a happy little guy, aren't you?”

“Yeah, he's generally happy, except lately he's been beginning to cut teeth, so he has those moments.” Both Dave and Jane nodded in understanding; they had been through it all before and knew it well.

“Do you still like your flat, Hermione?” Dave asked, changing the subject. “I know you were really excited about it when you first moved in. Is it still working out pretty well for you?”

“Well, I don't really live there much anymore, I'm living at Hogwarts at the moment, and before that I pretty much had moved into Harry's house.” Dave and Jane shared a quick look that communicated how they felt about their daughter living with a man. Hermione caught it and almost rolled her eyes. She went on saying, “Of course, I haven't technically moved in.” She glanced at Harry, and almost laughed at the look on his face. He had started to get a little nervous at where the conversation was going. He was glancing back and forth between Dave and Jane, as though waiting for one of them to address him about the subject.

“So, you're sure it's just a `friends' thing right?” Jane said. “You two living together?”

“Yes, Mum,” Hermione said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. “It's just as friends! What is the big damn deal about this?”

“Hermione, relax. It's just that, you've always liked Harry, and—“

“Yeah, he's my best friend!”

“I'm not talking just as a fri—“

“Mum!” Hermione said fiercely, and shook her head. Jane stopped talking and dropped the subject.

Dave awkwardly cleared his throat and said, “So, Harry, Hermione has told us about how teaching has gone for her, how do you like teaching?”

“It's great,” Harry said, pushing past the awkward moment that had been left by Hermione and her mother's conversation. “It's funny, I never even considered being a teacher when I was younger, and hadn't given it a thought at all until Professor McGonagall offered me the job, and now it just feels like this is what I should've been wanting to do all my life. It's pretty self gratifying work.” Dave smiled.

“Well, from what Hermione has told us about you, it doesn't surprise me that you've become a teacher. You seem like you could be a good one.”

“Well, thank you, Mr. Granger.” The dinner with Hermione's parents lasted about another hour, and for that hour, Harry noticed that Hermione hadn't said a whole lot since her argument with her mother. He had a feeling he knew what Jane was going to say before Hermione cut her off, but Harry didn't know how he wanted to handle that. A part of him wanted to just ignore it, but then another part of him wanted to ask her about it, to see what was going on. To find out if everyone was right all along about the possibility of Hermione and him. But the only problem was how to bring it up, and when he did, what would she say?

-----------------------

“Something the matter, Harry? You haven't said much since we left dinner,” Hermione asked when she and Harry and Teddy were coming out of a shop with items to baby proof Harry's apartment when Teddy started crawling. Harry shook his head.

“No, nothing's wrong.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I was just…thinking.”

“Oh. What about?”

Harry paused before answering, “Things.” Hermione let the subject drop. Not wanting to give Hermione another opportunity to ask what was bothering him, he changed the subject saying, “Since we're in London, do you want to go see if Ron is free so we could see him?”

“Sure.”

“We'll check at George's shop first to see if he's there.” The three of them went into Diagon Alley and down the street to the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. The store wasn't as packed as it had been the last time Harry had been there, since a good portion of the customers were in school.

“Harry! Hermione! It's good to see you two again!” George came into the store from the back room and shook both Harry and Hermione's hands.

“It's good to see you too, George. How's business been?” George shrugged.

“Ah, well, it's going, but during the school year we don't sell as much as we do during the summer and winter holidays. But it's keeping me busy. I've had to hire a few people to help pick up the sales, and Ron helps me when he can.”

“That's actually why we're here. We wanted to see him if he's here and not too busy.”

“Yeah, he's here, but he ran to Gringotts for me a little while ago, he should be back soon. Oh, there he is right now.” The little bell above the door jingled as Ron came into the store, a bag in his hand.

“Harry, Hermione, what are you two doing here?” Ron said, handing George the bag of money. George then proceeded to place it in the cash register.

“We were in town having dinner with my parents, so we decided that we'd come see you.”

“Oh,” Ron said with a laugh and a teasing grin, “Meeting your parents? Wow, Harry, I didn't even get that far.” His grin fell when neither one of his friends cracked a smile. “Wow you two, I was just joking.” Still neither Harry nor Hermione said anything. Ron awkwardly cleared his throat and turned to his brother and said, “George, would you mind if I went with these two?” George shook his head and waved him off.

“Go for it, I can handle things until you get back.” Ron motioned for Hermione to lead the way out. Once she walked outside, Ron grabbed Harry's arm to stop him before he went outside too.

“What happened at dinner?”

“Nothing, why?”

“Because it just seems like there's something awkward between you two.”

“Nothing's wrong, Ron.”

“C'mon Harry, something has to be wrong. I'm not a very perceptive person, so if I am noticing it, then there's got to be something wrong.”

“It's nothing.”

“Ok, suit yourself.” The four of them went to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. Well, a drink for the adults, a juice for the little guy. While Harry went to go get the drinks after they had sat down, Ron said to Hermione, “Listen, Hermione, I just want to say I'm sorry for being such a jackass lately, I—“

“It's alright, Ron. I've thought about it, and decided life's too short to hold a grudge.”

“I agree.”

“I want to ask you something though, Ron. Forgive me, but what made you change your mind?”

“Well, I talked with a lot of people, Mum, Dad, George, they all made me see that, like you said, life's too short to be fighting all the time. And that the three of us were too good of friends to let something like a little jealousy split us up.. And to tell you the truth, I was getting tired of fighting with you.” Hermione smiled.

“Well, I'm glad, because I'm tired of fighting with you too.”

“So, friends again?” Ron said smiling, sticking his hand out for Hermione to shake.

Hermione laughed and said, “Friends.” And she shook his hand.

-------------------

Hey everyone, here's the next chapter!! Hope you enjoyed it! I wanna shout out to my new beta, Donna, she does a great job!

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 12: Secret's Out

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

“Ok, seriously, Harry, what the hell is the matter? And don't you dare say `nothing' because if you do I might have to smack you.” Hermione said once the door was shut on Teddy's room after they put him to bed for the night. Harry had again been quiet when they had left the Leaky Cauldron after spending the afternoon with Ron. The whole situation had made Hermione mad because she knew something was wrong, but Harry wouldn't talk to her about it. This time, instead of replying with `nothing', Harry just didn't say anything. He just ignored her and went downstairs. Hermione exasperatedly sighed and muttered, “Fine.” Instead of following Harry, she gave up and went to her room.

Harry glanced up the stairs when he heard the door slam shut as Hermione went to her room. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know if he wanted to bring up dinner earlier or not. It might have been nothing; he might have just been blowing it out of proportion. Glancing up at the stairs again, he sighed again. There was only one way to find out.

Hermione was grading papers when she heard Harry knock on the door. Without looking up from her work, she said tersely, “What?” Harry opened the door and stuck his head in.

“Can I come in?”

“I guess so. Does this mean you're going to talk instead of avoiding conversation as much as necessary with me?”

“Yes, it means I want to talk.” Harry came in and sat down at the foot of the bed but didn't say anything right away.

“Well?” Hermione said, prompting him to speak.

“Well, something has been sort of bothering me. I've been wondering about today at dinner. When you were arguing with your mother about you living with me—what?” Harry stopped when he saw Hermione pale a little and bite her bottom lip nervously.

“Are you talking about what was she going to say before I interrupted her?”

“Yeah, what was she going to say?” Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“My mum and dad don't really like the idea of you and me living together. Even though we're just friends, they're old fashioned when it comes to issues of coed habitation. Especially since they've known that…” Hermione took another deep breath. “That I've fancied you since we were eleven.” Harry's jaw about dropped but he caught himself before it did.

“You did? But—why?”

“Why? Think about it Harry. You've been my best friend for years, you're good looking, you're one of the sweetest guys I've ever met, you're brave and just all around a good man.”

“But, if you fancied me, then why didn't you say anything?”

“Because, I loved you too much to say anything, I wanted you to be happy, even if it wasn't with me. So that's why I didn't want to tell anyone. And why I encouraged Ginny to go for it with you, and why I helped you out with starting the relationship with Cho. There was so much going on in your life that you needed to be happy.”

“What made you think that being with you wouldn't have made me happy?”

“It just wouldn't.”

“How do you know what would or wouldn't make me happy, Hermione?”

“Look at me, Harry, I'm not exactly what you would call drop dead gorgeous. How could you have wanted me?”

“So what, do you honestly think I'm that shallow? I thought you knew me better than that, Hermione.”

“Yes, I do, Harry, because teenage boys are shallow. I remember seeing the way you looked at Cho and Ginny, never once did you look at me like that. I was just your friend, that girl that bailed you out when you another five inches on your essay. Or that girl that got in your way by trying to make you see reason or look at things from all angles before diving in head first.”

“I have never thought of you like that, Hermione, not once! You're so much more to me than that!”

“Ok then, Harry, tell me this, what would you have said if I told you that I loved you while we were in school? What would you have done?” Harry opened his mouth, but stopped. He didn't know the answer to that question. But Hermione seemed to know that.

“Exactly.” Hermione got up and went to the door, standing there, hinting to Harry that he should leave. Harry stared at the floor for a little bit, then looked up at Hermione and smiled half-heartedly.

“Everything's going to change now, isn't it?” Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and her gaze, which was on the floor too, moved up to Harry.

“Not unless we let it change,” she said flatly. Harry solemnly nodded and stood up to leave. Hermione intently stared at a space on the floor as Harry walked past her out the door. Harry retreated to his bedroom down the hall, shutting the door behind him. He sat down on his bed, his mind still running wild with all the information that had hit him like a sack of bludgers. He wasn't sure how he felt about what Hermione had told him. He mentally cursed his conscience, that little voice in his head that always sounded like Hermione, tell him, `No, you know what you think about it, you know you've been thinking about it, first since that night at Godric's Hallow, then after that kiss, remember how part of you wished you hadn't agreed to stay away from the “caught up in the moment” type of situations? Admit it, my friend; you've even been thinking about it since that night Ron came back, when he stabbed the locket. Because you have to admit it, that kiss in the locket looked hot. She's like a sister, yeah right. And Voldemort was like a cuddly teddy bear.' Harry shook his head to get rid of that little voice of reason. One of the pictures on his dresser caught his eye. It was the one of him and Hermione at the celebration party. He picked it up and looked at the two of them staring back at him. The Harry and Hermione in the picture looked so calm and peaceful, as if being there with each other was all that mattered at the time, none of the horrific things they had witnessed or experienced were important right then. She had wanted him to be happy, that was why she never told him how she felt. And she did raise a good point, what would he have done if she had told him? He honestly didn't know what he would've said, and that would've hurt her, if he just didn't say anything. There were so many life or death situations they knew they were going into, no one knew if they'd survive or not, why didn't she say anything then? `Again, she was probably afraid of being hurt. You've never been the best at handling girls.' That little nagging voice answered back. Why did she go out with Ron then, if she didn't fancy him? He seriously misread how he thought Hermione felt about Ron then, if she loved Harry. Then why did she kiss Ron before the final battle? `Maybe it was a caught up in the moment thing? You seem to be using that excuse a lot lately.' What a big sacrifice though, Harry thought, to stand by and watch the person you love go out with someone else just so he would be happy. `Or what she thought would make you happy.' Harry set the picture down and left the room, going back down the hall. He knocked on Hermione's door and waited patiently while she came to open it. She just opened it a crack, enough for him to see her face. She had already dressed for bed, dressed in a tank top and pajama bottoms. She didn't say anything, so Harry just launched in to what he wanted to ask her.

“If you loved me, why did you go out with Ron?”

“He asked me,” she said simply.

“But—“

“And you were dating Ginny; she was expecting you to come home to her. And Ron asked me, so I decided that maybe if I went out with him, then I could get over you. But…” she sighed. “It didn't work.”

“But why didn't you tell me? Think of all those times where we were going into situations where we might've died, why didn't you say anything then? What would've happened if I had died?”

“Then I would've tried to deal with it. Though I'm sure I wouldn't be able to.”

“So then—“

“Harry, all those situations were times when you needed to concentrate on one thing and one thing only: surviving. I didn't want to add any more burdens to your life; you had enough as it was.” Harry sighed. Hermione leaned her head against the door and said to him, “You know, we're going to have a hard time keeping things from changing between us if you don't let this go, Harry.”

“If you were me, could you let it go easily?”

“I don't know, it depends.”

“What do you mean it depends?”

“It would depend on what was bothering me about this whole thing. It would depend on how I really felt if I were you.” There was that sack of bludgers again, that brought new thoughts to Harry's mind. He could just imagine that little voice of reason giggling uncontrollably. Hermione straightened up from leaning against the door and began to close it. “Goodnight, Harry.” She shut the door, leaving Harry standing there, trying to figure out all the new thoughts that were bombarding his brain.

-----------------------------

A/n: Hmmmm…even if it's a seriously cruel place to stop, I think I'm going to leave the chapter here, I know it's like extremely short, but this is what happens when writer's block happens and you don't know how to get from where you are to where you want to go. All you PK authors, you know what I mean ;-) So, well, I'll try as best I can to get the next chapter up, hopefully this block won't last for long.

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Chapter 13: Professor Potter's Secret Tryst

--------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

“Harry, you know what I've been thinking?” Harry closed his book and looked up at Hermione. He was surprised to hear her say something to him, the past couple of days they hadn't hardly said a word to each other, ever since their conversation a few days prior.

“What's that?”

“Well, I think we should take Teddy to see Andromeda. I think she'd really like to see him, it's been a while.”

“Yeah, you're right. We should take him to see her.”

“Would next weekend work? We can stay at Grimmauld Place again, that way Teddy can get used to his real home, not this home away from home that we spend the most time at.” Harry nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we can do that next weekend.” Then the awkward silence fell between them again, and Harry went back to reading, Hermione went back to lesson planning. Every time they were together since last week, awkward silences seemed to follow. Harry tried not to let it get awkward, but it really couldn't be helped. The awkward silence only lasted for a little while, for Teddy was on the move and crawled over to Harry and pulled himself up to stand next to him, holding onto the couch. Harry didn't really pay attention to him, he just kept reading, his mind on other things. But his mind instantly forgot all about his issues and the book he was trying to read when he heard something he hadn't heard before.

“Dad,” a little voice said.

Harry's jaw dropped and he looked in shock at Teddy. It had caught Hermione's attention too for Harry heard her close her books.

“Oh my gosh, he said it.” Harry looked up at Hermione, still a little in shock.

“You knew that'd be his first word?”

“Well, I've been trying to get him to say it for a while. You never decided what you wanted him to call you, so I've been trying to get him to say dad. I know you're not his real father, but, you're going to be the closest thing to a father that he'll ever have. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, we can get him to call you Harry.”

Harry set his book aside and pulled the child up onto his lap. Teddy smiled and grabbed at his glasses. Harry leaned his head back and grabbed Teddy's hand and told him `no'. He smiled wryly.

“I suppose he could call me dad. But who knows, when he's older he might not want to call me that.”

“Well, that's when he's older. He can make that decision when the time comes. I hope you aren't angry with me for teaching him this.”

“No, I'm not,” Harry said, smiling at Hermione, the first real smile he'd smiled at her since dinner the last week.

“Dad,” Teddy said again and clapped his hands as his hair turned orange.

----------------

The next week passed by will little excitement. Now that Teddy had learned his first word, he wouldn't stop saying it. On Saturday, when Harry, Hermione and Teddy were going to Andromeda's and Teddy was just babbling away, saying `dad' over and over again, Hermione smiled at Harry and said, “I suppose now you're probably angry with me for teaching him that word, since he hasn't been quiet since.”

Harry shrugged and said, “I've gotten used to it. It's kind of become just like listening to his babbling all the time.” They walked up the sidewalk to Andromeda's house and rang the doorbell. The woman who answered the door was not the same woman who they had seen a few months ago. Andromeda really did not look well, she looked as though she hadn't been sleeping much, or eating either. But her smile was still just as genuine as it had always been.

“Harry! Hermione! It's so good to see you again! Oh and little Teddy, oh my goodness, you've gotten big!” Teddy looked warily at his grandmother, not really remembering her as he was being passed over into her arms. His hair turned his natural brown as he studied his grandma's face.

Andromeda said, “Come on in you two, have a seat!” Harry and Hermione looked around the room with unease. The sitting room looked as though it needed tidying up, clutter was just everywhere.

“So how're you doing, Andromeda?” Hermione said once they had all sat down. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes, I believe so. I think that whole matter with the depression was just a week long thing. I feel better. But I don't know if I'd be able to take care of Teddy, though. I'd almost be afraid to. I'd be worried I'd forget something, or do something that would be dangerous for him, so I'm so glad that you've taken him in, Harry.”

“I'm glad to do it.”

“Do you have someone that comes to check in on you every once in a while?” Hermione asked with concern.

“Yes, my neighbor does. She spends time with me about three or four times a week. She makes sure I eat, and keeps me company sometimes.”

“Good, I'm glad there's someone to help,” Hermione said, relief evident in her voice.

“Yes, but like I said, I'm getting better. There's no need to worry about me.” She smiled down at Teddy and said, “Oh, it is good to see this little man again. I can see so much of Nymphadora in him. But I think he looks more like Remus.”

There was silence between all of them, while Andromeda still looked at Teddy. Then she said, in a tone almost equal to Luna Lovegood's dreamy one,

“Harry, Hermione, do you believe in heaven?” Both Harry and Hermione nodded. “I'm not sure if I do or not. I'd like to think it exists, but I don't know. I don't know if the ones we love are watching over us or not.” Harry and Hermione looked at each other uneasily. Andromeda had picked a really random topic. Andromeda seemed to come out of a daze and then smiled.

“Well, I probably shouldn't keep you. You've probably got things to get back to.” Andromeda rose to let them out, and Harry and Hermione headed for the door. She handed Teddy back to Harry and the three of them left.

As Harry and Hermione were walking down the sidewalk, Harry said, “That was odd.” Hermione nodded in agreement, and was about to reply but stopped when they saw a woman walking towards them. The woman saw them and stopped.

“Oh, hello. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Oh, no, we just came from visiting Andromeda Tonks.”

“I see. Oh,” she looked at Teddy and said, “Let me guess, this is Teddy, and you're Harry and Hermione, right?” Both of them nodded. The woman smiled and nodded. “I'm Bernice the neighbor that looks in on Andromeda. How is she today?”

“She's… a lot different than the last time we saw her.” Bernice nodded.

“Yes, she'll try to convince you she's getting better, but she's not. I've actually started checking on her every day, I'm afraid of what she could do if I don't. I'm sure seeing her grandson helps, so if you have time soon, it'd be good for you to bring him out here.” Harry nodded.

“Yeah, we'll try and get out here more often. Hopefully it helps.”

“I'm sure it will. I'll try and send you an owl if anything else develops. It was nice meeting you two.”

“You too.” Harry and Hermione apparated back to Grimmauld Place, and spent the afternoon talking about Andromeda. The rest of the day went by without a single awkward silence. It seemed that things were starting to get back to normal. But they had no idea how much things were about to get turned upside down.

-------------------------

“Way to go, Red,” Malfoy said, tossing the newspaper down in front of Ginny while she was eating breakfast.

“What?”

“That's the best you could come up with? I thought you wanted to get back at Granger, not at Potter.” Ginny shrugged.

“They're pretty much inseparable anymore, you hit one, you hit the other. But you never know what'll come of it. They'll probably break up.”

“You really don't see what you've done, do you? Do you not know what could come of this? What you've done is going to have much bigger repercussions than just having two people break up. You're a fool, Ginny.”

-------------------

Sunday morning at Grimmauld Place dawned bright and sunny; the leaves continued their color change before eventually getting caught up in the wind and tossed to the ground. Harry and Teddy were the first ones up; Harry had come downstairs and made coffee and given Teddy a few Cheerios to eat, while Kreacher happily busied himself around the kitchen making a breakfast of pancakes and eggs. Harry absently tapped his fingers on the table, glancing through the muggle newspaper, waiting for the Daily Prophet to arrive. The muggle newspaper was ok, but nothing really interested him, it was the wizarding world about which he cared about reading. While he was waiting, Hermione entered the kitchen, sleepily running both hands through her hair and yawning.

“Good morning, Harry.” She kissed Teddy on the top of the head and said, “Good morning to you, little guy.”

“'Morning.” Hermione glanced up at the clock and frowned.

“Prophet's a little late this morning, isn't it? It's usually here when we get up.”

“Maybe there was a huge story in it that came in late and they had to “stop the presses” and all that,” Harry joked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“I'm not sure that happens much in the wizarding world, if it does, it's something that can be magically inserted into the paper, I think.” Neither one realized the irony of Harry's statement, for when the paper finally did arrive, there was in fact a huge story waiting for them on the front page. Hermione grabbed the paper first when the owl dropped it off, and froze when she read the front page.

“What in the world is this?”

“What?”

“Professor Potter's Secret Tryst?”

“What?” Hermione laid the paper down and in big bold letters across the front page were the words, PROFESSOR POTTER'S SECRET TRYST. Underneath the title was the same picture of Harry that they'd been using for years whenever there would be something that the Prophet found remotely interesting.

“I'm afraid to ask, but what does it say?” Harry said, staring fearfully at the article that Hermione was glancing through. “Read it.” Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

“You're going to want to kill Ginny for this one,” Hermione said before she started reading.

“Things at Hogwarts are getting friendlier this year, and this time it's not between students or even between teachers. It's between a teacher and a student. That's right, parents; your children are exposed to scandal at school, things are happening behind closed doors and offices, writes Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet correspondent.”

“Of course. Naturally Rita Skeeter wrote it.” Hermione didn't answer, just went on reading.

“This reporter got news of such relationship that is going on at Hogwarts that has shocked us all to the core. Sources confirmed that newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry Potter, has been secretly trying to carry on a relationship with former girlfriend, and now current student, Ginny Weasley. The main source, readers, is none other than Miss Weasley herself. “I never wanted to get involved with him since he's my teacher, but for a while now he's been trying to pressure me into beginning something. I just thought the public should know what kind of a teacher he is. I told him when he first began teaching here that it was over, nothing will ever happen, but he hasn't left the notion alone since.” This information leaves us wondering how things have been going with the relationship we read about a few months ago, between Professor Potter and also newly appointed Transfiguration teacher, Professor Hermione Granger. You all recall that they adopted a child together, even though they're not “officially” together…or so they say. Another source, a fourth year who wishes to remain anonymous states, “Professors Granger and Potter may not be together, but they continue to flirt like they're together. You never see one without the other, and along with little baby Teddy, they look like a family, and don't seem to care who notices it.” After this new information, this makes us wonder if Professor Granger will stand by her lover's side. If she does, it shows a true side to her character, which would wonder if she's the best choice for her job too. This information also brings question as to what should become of little Teddy Lupin. If his adoptive father is preying on Hogwarts students, what makes us so sure he'd be a good choice to be the boy's parent? This reporter feels that for the best interest of little Teddy, and for the safety of Hogwarts students, Harry Potter should be removed from his teaching post and be removed as Teddy Lupin's legal guardian.” Hermione slowly slid the paper away from her, keeping her eyes on it. Shock was etched into both Harry's and Hermione's faces.

“How could she do this? Why would she do this?” Hermione shook her head.

“I don't know. I mean, this is bigger than just trying to break us up. You could lose your job for this. Not to mention Teddy. And this will follow you around forever.”

“But none of this is true. You know it's not.”

“I know, but even accusations are a big deal. Everyone will take her word over yours, since you're in a position of authority. This happens all the time in the muggle world.”

“I can't believe she did this. Of all the ways to seek revenge—“

“I don't think she knew how big of a deal this could turn out to be. People go nuts when they hear things like this. I'm sure tomorrow morning there's going to be floods of letters from parents to McGonagall demanding your termination from teaching.”

“But people can't seriously believe this. I mean, it's Rita Skeeter!”

“Yes, but look at who her main source was, Ginny. Ginny is a Weasley, the Weasley's are for the most part a respected family now that the war is over. They're going to believe her.” Harry stood up fast and started pacing, his hands balled into fists.

“I can't believe this,” he said furiously. “I suppose she believes that everything will just be ok after this, I'll lose my job, lose Teddy, and she can have me all to herself.” He stopped pacing and said desperately, “What do I do now?”

“We'll probably have to go talk to McGonagall.” Just then, as though summoned, an owl carrying a letter from McGonagall came through the window. Hermione opened it and read,

Professor Potter,

Please be at my office at five o'clock sharp this evening. We need to discuss this. Please make sure Professor Granger comes with.

Sincerely,

Headmistress McGonagall

It was at that moment that that gut feeling Harry had before he was about to head to trial his fifth year returned full force and about ten times stronger.

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A/N: Hey hey! Hope you all had good Easters!! Hey, just wanted to say, a HUGE shout out to my beta, Donna, she deserves a lot of credit for this chapter, she helped put in a lot of ideas!! Give her a shout out if you want!! She's moon_scar89 on portkey! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!! Thanks a bunch, love you all!

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Chapter 14: Repercussions

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

Harry, Hermione and Teddy stood waiting outside door of Ron's flat later that afternoon after they had knocked. Ron came to the door, a little surprised to see who was standing on his doorstep.

“Harry, Hermione, come on in.” They came in and Ron shut the door behind them.

“Have you read the Prophet this morning?” Harry asked. Ron nodded.

“Yeah, and I think Ginny's gone too far, she's bang out of order. I don't believe you've been pressuring her into a relationship, I'd bet anything that it's been the other way around.”

“I'm glad you're on my side, Ron.”

“Well, aside from perhaps George, I'm probably the only one in our family that's going to take your side.”

“That doesn't surprise me. You and Hermione are probably going to be the only ones in the wizarding world that believe me.”

“I'll help you as much as I can to help clear this up. Just let me know what I can do.”

“Well, there is something you can do,” Harry said. “We have to meet with McGonagall this afternoon to straighten this out, would you mind watching Teddy for a few hours?”

“Sure. I'd be happy to.” Ron reached out to take Teddy from Hermione and she handed him over along with his little diaper bag. Ron said, “Sure, we can have fun, right Teddy?” Teddy grinned.

“Thanks Ron, this helps a lot,” Hermione said. “We should probably get going, Harry.” Harry nodded and he and Hermione headed for the door. Harry held the door open for Hermione and when she walked out and Harry was about to follow, he stopped when he heard Teddy call for him. Harry and Hermione turned back, and saw Teddy frowning, a hand reached out to Harry.

“Dad,” Teddy tearfully said. Harry went back and took Teddy's hand.

“Hey, I'll be back in a little while, you'll have fun with Ron this afternoon. I'll be back.”

After a little more emotion from Teddy, Harry and Hermione were on their way, Apparating to just outside the Hogwarts grounds. That nervous gut feeling settled in the pit of Harry's stomach as they made the long climb up the hill to the castle. That feeling got stronger as they climbed the stairs to McGonagall's office. They both stopped outside McGonagall's office door, giving Harry time to take a deep breath and exhale nervously. Hermione wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze.

“Everything'll be fine, Harry. Hopefully there'll be a way to smooth this over.”

Harry opened the door and held it open for Hermione to go through before following. They entered the office to find fourteen other people besides Professor McGonagall in her office. Twelve of them were wizards all dressed in black, the other two were witches dressed in navy blue. The two witches were arguing with McGonagall, the wizards were all arguing amongst themselves. McGonagall noticed Harry and Hermione standing in the doorway, and put her hands out to stop the flow of disagreements that were flying around her.

“Stop, stop!!” The conversation ceased instantly.

“Mr. Potter is here now, so we can get on with this. Harry, Hermione, come in, have a seat.”

Harry and Hermione came in and sat down in the chairs across the desk from McGonagall. All the portraits of the former headmasters and headmistresses were wide awake and rapt with attention.

McGonagall said, “Harry, Hermione, these wizards are the board of governors here at Hogwarts, and you may already know Miss Amelia Lynch, and this is her associate, Rose Shamblin. They are here to discuss the issue that has come up in the Daily Prophet this morning, and to decide what action is to be taken regarding Teddy. The governors are here to discuss your future here as an educator. I believe we should start with the governors.”

“The accusations made against me aren't true.”

One of the governors, a short round fellow, cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Potter, even if they are or aren't true, it still leaves us with a problem. Parents want something done about this. I vote for termination.”

Another wizard, a tall, skinny man with a friendly face, argued, “Now, Wickham, we need to get both sides of the story before we go making rash decisions.”

“We have to do something, Davis, you saw all the letters from parents this morning, and they demand action. Something has to be done.” About half of the governors murmured in agreement.

“I think we need to hear all sides of this story before reaching a decision,” a different wizard said. “We're talking about a man's career here.”

“What career, last I had heard; he hasn't been made a permanent teacher. This is Harry bloody Potter; he can get any job he wants!”

“But if his reputation is tainted by an issue as this, who's going to hire him?”

“Ok, say we conduct this investigation, what do we tell the papers? They're going to want some answers!”

“We tell them the truth. We're investigating the issue.”

“That won't be good enough for some people.”

“Well, you just can't please everyone, Wickham. If you spend your life trying to do that, you'll never succeed.” A loud chorus of `hear, hear!' was heard from the portraits.

Another wizard, one of the ones who had agreed with Wickham, said, “I think we should put it to a vote, whoever thinks termination should take place now, raise their hand.” Six raised their hands. “All oppose to termination?” Six raised their hands. “Alright, in the case of a tie, Headmistress, you give your vote.”

“I vote with the opposed. I think an investigation needs to be made before reaching a decision. And I think we start by questioning students, namely Miss Ginny Weasley.”

“Excuse me, Professor, but considering this is the second time Ginny has gone to the press in a fit of rage, and has already lied to the press, who's to say she'll tell the truth now?” Hermione said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Is it against school policy to using Veritarserum?” One of the governors suggested. Another one shook his head.

“There is nothing that says you cannot use it on a student just as long as the case is severe enough that it requires it. I would say this classifies as severe. Tomorrow, bring Miss Weasley here, and question her. I think for now, we'll leave it at that, and discuss this later once we get all the facts. Headmistress, we'll leave it to you to conduct the interrogation, but make sure you have plenty of credible witnesses to there's no doubt to the answers. I think it also might be best to suspend Mr. Potter from teaching until then, until we get this sorted out.”

“And now, gentlemen, I think we need to be getting back. Good day, all.” The governors left the office, leaving the two child services people.

McGonagall sighed and said to the two witches, “Alright, ladies, now you may speak.” Amelia Lynch stepped forward.

“Mr. Potter, the reason I'm here is that Mrs. Andromeda Tonks, after reading the article is demanding that custody be removed from you and that Theodore be placed in her care. As her physicians don't advise that, the child won't be given to her. But, we're going to conduct an investigation, and it will depend on the questioning of Miss Weasley. But until then, I'm afraid we're going to need to take Theodore.” Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione stopped him by putting her hand on his.

“Where will you send him?” Hermione asked.

“We'll place him with a temporary wizarding foster family. And when we get results and come to our conclusion, then we'll make a more permanent decision.”

Harry was stunned. Here he was, suspended from teaching, and was about to lose Teddy. How could it have come to this? How could Ginny have been so cruel and selfish? Harry recalled when he was a few years younger, he would've given anything to be faced with a problem that didn't involve Voldemort, now he'd almost rather be in that situation. Then he had an idea of how to fix his problem, now he was completely lost. And then there was Hermione, sitting there as if it this all was no big deal. He was feeling a lot of anger, all of which was directed towards Ginny and the whole situation, but at that moment, a little bit of his anger turned to Hermione, and her seeming lack of concern about the situation.

Harry may have thought Hermione seemed a little indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, she was as nervous as she had ever been. It seemed so surreal that things could change so fast. That Harry could lose Teddy forever; he could lose his job as a teacher, just when he had come to the realization that he was destined to become a teacher. Indifference was not an emotion in Hermione's being at that moment. No, she still loved him too much to not be worried.

“So where is Theodore?” Amelia asked.

“One of our friends is babysitting him,” Hermione said.

“Well, we'll be over this evening to take him to a family. Make sure he's ready to go at seven.” Hermione and Harry nodded, and Hermione just about let out a small sob. Amelia said, “Well, we should get going, we need to get a family arranged. Thank you all for your time.” The two witches left, leaving Harry, Hermione, and McGonagall in the office. McGonagall sighed and folded her hands on her desk.

“Well, Harry, just for the record, I don't believe any of this rubbish. We'll bring Miss Weasley in as soon as possible for questioning. I think it goes without saying that it'd be best if you weren't present for that. It would also be best if you stayed at Grimmauld Place while you're on suspension.” Harry nodded solemnly. McGonagall said, “I know this is rough, Harry. But we'll do all we can to get it all cleared up. I promise.”

“Thanks, Professor. We should probably go get Teddy ready to leave.” He stood and headed for the door, Hermione close behind.

-------------------

Harry was silent for the rest of the day as he and Hermione packed up a little suitcase with Teddy's things in it. He balled up a pair of overalls and threw them into the suitcase causing Hermione to sigh.

“Harry, you have to fold them. His clothes will fit better in the suitcase if you fold them.”

“Well, I'm sorry, I'm a little preoccupied right now,” Harry snapped. “I don't give a damn right now whether or not Teddy's clothes are folded just right, or what you think I need to do to make things easier for the people who are taking him away from me.” Hermione sighed again.

“Look, Harry, I know you're angry—“

Harry snorted and gave her a look that said, `well there's an understatement.'

“Ok, very angry, pissed off even. But there's no need to take it out on me. I'm on your side, remember?”

“Are you really? You were sure pretty quiet in McGonagall's office, and you made damn sure that I didn't say anything to even defend myself!”

“The reason I didn't say anything was because I knew if I did, I'd let my emotions get the best of me, and I'd say something that might've made things worse! And I know you'd have done the same thing. I don't want you to lose Teddy, and I don't want you to lose your job. This whole thing just frustrates me so much that I'm not even sure I should be there either when they question Ginny because I might do her bodily harm!”

Hermione started to get so flustered that she started throwing clothes in the suit case. This time, it was Harry's turn to sigh. He grabbed her hands to make her stop and held them in his.

“Hey, I'm sorry. You're right; I shouldn't take it out on you. It's just…I don't know what to do. Everything just got so screwed up so fast. I mean, I could lose him forever, where will he end up? I mean, forget about the job, I can get a new one, or I don't even have to have a job. But he's not even a year old, and he's been through so much, he shouldn't be shifted around so much. And he just started to speak, he's recognizing me, what is he going to do when he can't find me?” Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry and held him close.

“You don't know that he's going to be taken away from you permanently. Everything will get straightened out. You're not going to lose him, there's no way they can believe that what Ginny's said is true. You've got the truth on your side, and everyone is going to see that.”

Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and they stood there holding each other until the doorbell rang. They let go and Harry went to answer the door, while Hermione finished packing Teddy's things and brought him downstairs. Amelia Lynch and her assistant, Victoria, were standing at the door. Harry stood aside for them to come in, and gave Hermione a sad look when she came down the stairs with Teddy on her hip, a look which she returned.

“Well, Mr. Potter, we've arranged for a family to take Theodore. They're Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Fischer. They're both a witch and a wizard, and they're prepared to take him in temporarily. They're a good family; we've worked with them before, lots of success stories from children we've placed there.”

Harry solemnly nodded. He almost felt like crying, and feared if he said anything, he just might. Amelia said, “Well, I told the Fischer's we would be there in an hour, so we'd better get going.” Victoria went to take Teddy from Hermione, but she handed him over to Harry first.

“Let him say goodbye first.”

Harry looked at the little guy in his arms and said,

“Now, you be good, Teddy. And you'll be back soon, I promise. We'll get this all sorted out, and you'll be back to live with me very soon. I promise.” The tears were really threatening to fall. He sniffled. “I love you, squirt,” he said, and kissed the child on top of his head and handed him over to Victoria.

So far, Harry and Hermione were able to blink back their tears as the witches left with Teddy, but the heart-wrenching moment was when Teddy realized what was going on and got scared. He reached an arm out over Victoria's shoulder and cried out, “Dad!” and began to cry. The witches just kept walking out the door, and it took all of Harry's resolve to not go and just take Teddy back from them. Teddy's hair turned dark blue as he cried and cried. The tears really began to fall from Harry's and Hermione's eyes, listening to Teddy's cries. They hugged again as the door was shut, muffling Teddy's voice.

We'll get him back, Harry,” Hermione tearfully said, and she kissed him on the cheek. “I promise.”

-------------------------

Hey, hey! Aren't you guys so proud of me? This is probably my fastest update on this story yet!! My beta keeps me motivated; she's got the whip ready and beats me till I get the next chapter done. JUST KIDDING!! Lol . Anyways, hope you enjoyed this next chapter!! Ginny interrogation to come next!! I can't guarantee it'll come out this fast, but who knows, I might surprise myself! Talk to y'all later!

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 15: The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

That Monday, Harry was bored to death all day long. With Hermione at school teaching, and no Teddy, he didn't really know what to do during the day. He read a few books, watched TV, and just lounged around, trying to keep his mind off of his problems. All he had for company was Kreacher, and even though the house elf was nicer and loyal to Harry, he wasn't the same as having someone like Hermione to talk to. The one thing he wished he hadn't read was the update in the Daily Prophet about the story that appeared the day before. The article (again written by Rita Skeeter), basically was telling the public that Harry had been sacked, and Teddy had been taken away from him permanently. Which was true, just not the permanent talk. He ended up throwing the paper away without reading much else in it.

Along with the paper that morning, an enormous pile of mail had been delivered to him, most of it hate mail. Kreacher helped Harry sort through it, sorting the hate mail from the support mail. Because for every stack of hate mail there was, a stack of support mail almost as big was next to it. His hate mail varied, some were full of guilt and implied shame, others were worse. Harry didn't read a lot of them, but one did catch his eye that he really thought he needed to read, and that was a letter from Mrs. Weasley. Harry was worried about what would be written on the page inside the envelope; Ron had told him that most likely all of the Weasleys besides himself and George believed that Ginny was telling the truth. So honestly, he was dreading opening the letter. When he finally got up the courage to read it, he found that it wasn't full of disappointment or malice. Actually, her letter belonged in his support pile. It read,

Dear Harry,

I read the article in the Prophet about what has been going on between you and my daughter at school. And I have to say, I believe that you had nothing to do with this. I never thought Ginny was capable of telling such horrible lies just to get back at someone for something petty as a relationship. This is her way of throwing a fit just because she didn't get her way, and I'm sorry to say that Arthur and I are part of the reason she's like this. She's our only daughter. For years, we wanted a girl, don't get me wrong, I love all my boys, but we wanted a girl too. And since Ginny was our only daughter, I'm afraid she got a little spoiled. And so she's always used to getting things her way. We never meant for her to grow up like that, but when you've hoped and prayed so much for a daughter after having six boys, we did it without thinking.

Believe me, Harry; I'll be talking to her about all this. And I won't be gentle about it either. I know right now it seems like things are very bleak, and that there's no light at the end of the tunnel, but I know everything will turn out alright. This mess will get all sorted out, I'm sure of it. It has to. And I'll try to do everything I can to help, I promise.

Molly

I promise. That sentence was one that Harry had heard the most in the last two days. I promise. He just hoped that all the people that were promising him things would pull through. He was glad to have Mrs. Weasley on his side, and he supposed that Mr. Weasley too was on his side.

He decided to stop reading his letters; he was getting tired of being reminded of the situation he was in. For the rest of the day, he lazed around the house, watching TV, reading, and towards the end of the afternoon, since he really did nothing of consequence all day, he got tired and ended up taking a nap. He was brought out his nap by someone shaking his shoulder.

“Harry,” the voice said softly. “Hey, Harry.” Harry woke up to find Hermione kneeling next to him, her hand still on his shoulder.

“Hermione? What are you doing here; don't you have classes to teach?”

Hermione smiled. “It's six o'clock in the evening. Classes are done for the day. I decided to come and check on you.” Harry rubbed his eyes and sat up. Once he had made room on the couch, Hermione sat next to him. She said teasingly, “I see your day amounted to a lot.”

“Yeah, I was really busy today,” Harry said sarcastically.

“I saw the pile of mail on the kitchen table. Anything worth reading in there?”

“Mrs. Weasley sent one.”

“What'd she have to say?”

“She believes me.”

“Really? I would've thought she would've sided with Ginny. But that's good.”

“Other than that, most of the letters are from people saying I should be burning in hell and all that other bull.”

“Well, I have some good news for you.”

“What is it?”

“Professor McGonagall said to tell you that they're going to bring Ginny in tomorrow evening to ask her about this whole situation. There will be an impartial person there, and maybe a couple more people. But they're going to get it straightened out.”

“Good. Are you going to be there?”

“No. I don't think I'd be much of a help. I'm far from an impartial party.”

“But I need you there, Hermione. I need you to by my eyes and ears for the whole thing; I have to know how it goes. Please.” Reluctantly, Hermione shook her head.

“Alright. I'll be there.”

“Thank you so much, Hermione,” Harry grinned. “You're the best friend a guy could ask for. What would I do without you?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Hermione said, waving the flattery off. “You owe me now, you know.” She tried to look serious, but couldn't keep herself from smiling.

“You're right. I'll grade all your classes' papers for a month.”

“Hermione snorted and laughed, “Yeah right.”

-----------------------------

Hermione arrived early to Professor McGonagall's office the next evening. She explained to the Headmistress that she was Harry's representation and he wanted her to be there. She fully agreed, and they sat chatting while waiting for the other people to show up.

“Well, one of the members of the Wizengamot is on her way here. Patricia Webber is one of the interrogators on the Wizengamot and is a very fair woman. She'll be impartial. Professor Slughorn has provided the Veritaserum, Madam Webber thought it best that the potion be placed in a cup of tea. A reporter from the Daily Prophet will be here, no it's not Rita Skeeter,” McGonagall said when Hermione made a face at the mention of reporters.

“No, this one is a male, so I'm told. Oh, and also, Molly Weasley contacted me this morning and has offered to be present. She said she'd help the interrogation along, try and make sure it all goes to plan” Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? Well, I suppose. She sent Harry a letter yesterday saying she believed him. So I guess that doesn't really surprise me.”

“So as far as I know, those are all the people who'll be here tonight, including you and me.

“Do you think he'll get cleared?”

“He's got the truth on his side. Hopefully everyone will be able to see that.”

“I hope so too.” Mrs. Weasley was the first one to arrive. When she came into the office, she greeted the two already there right away, and gave Hermione a hug.

“I haven't seen you in so long, Hermione. How've you been doing?”

“Well, alright until this whole thing came about.”

“I understand. I'm sure Harry's feeling the same way. He's probably been pretty lonely lately without little Teddy, hasn't he?”

“Yeah, he has,” Hermione said nodding.

“Well, I hope we can get this all straightened out so Teddy can live with him again. And he can get his job back.” They didn't get a chance to say anything more to each other at that moment, for the next member of the interrogation party arrived, the interrogator herself. Madam Webber was an older woman, with streaks of gray in her long auburn hair that she had pulled back into a loose bun. She was on the short side, and a little stout. But she looked friendly and fair. She smiled and shook Professor McGonagall's hand.

“Headmistress, good to see you.” She also shook hands with Mrs. Weasley and Hermione. “Molly, it's good to see you again. How's Arthur doing?”

“He's fine, how's Robert?”

“Pesky. He's downright ornery now that he's retired from Healing. Gets all these crazy ideas about things he wants to do. Just last week, he decided he wanted to swim the English Channel without using any magic. The man's crazy. So this must be Miss Granger. I've heard a lot about you. Robert had mentioned at one time that you were interested in becoming a Healer, right? St. Mungo's was really looking forward to having you on staff. But from what my granddaughter tells me about how good of a teacher you are, I think you've found your niche.”

“Who is your granddaughter?”

“Aldys Moore. She's a first year.”

“Oh, ok. Ravenclaw, I enjoy having her in class, she has a lot of good insights at times.”

“Yes, she's a deep thinker. We've all got high hopes for her.”

The reporter was the next one to arrive at McGonagall's office. He introduced himself as Barrett Smyth. He was quite handsome. He was tall with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. He wasn't all that much older than Hermione, probably in his early to mid twenties. He introduced himself to McGonagall, Mrs. Weasley, and Madam Webber, and when he got to Hermione, he smiled and said,

“So you're Hermione Granger. I've heard a lot about you.”

“None of it good, I suppose, since you work at the Prophet.”

“Well, you're right. Lately the talk about you hasn't been friendly. About you or Harry. But I'm glad to be able to meet you finally. I've wanted to for some time.”

“Really?”

“Yes, like I said, I've heard a lot about you. You're much prettier than the pictures.”

“Aww, that's sweet.”

“Well,” Barrett said to McGonagall, “Is Miss Weasley on her way?”

Looking at the clock, Professor McGonagall said, “Yes, I said I wanted to meet with her at seven, she should be here soon.” Ginny arrived a little after seven. She looked a little surprised to see her mother there, along with Hermione and another woman she didn't know. She didn't see Barrett, for he had placed himself in a corner in the back of the office where he could hear and see without being seen.

McGonagall smiled a forced smile, “Have a seat, please Ginny. Now, I think you know what this is about. And this is all part of procedure; we need for you to stat exactly what has been happening so an appropriate action can be taken. Madam Webber here will be asking you a few questions, and your mother is here for support.”

“Well, what about Hermione-sorry, Professor Granger? Why is she here?”

Madam Webber stepped forward, leaned against McGonagall's desk and folded her arms and said, “Since this is dealing with the law, the law requires there to be three witnesses plus the interrogator present. That's why we've asked Professor Granger to be here.” Ginny seemed to buy it, they all had to make sure she didn't start getting too curious, otherwise the Veritaserum wouldn't work if she knew what was coming.

Madam Webber said, “Professor McGonagall, would you maybe get us all some tea?” McGonagall nodded and busied herself getting the tea. Hermione glanced over just as she was pouring the crystal clear liquid that was the Veritaserum into Ginny's cup. The tea was served, and Madam Webber began her questioning, killing time until the Veritaserum kicked in.

“So, Miss Weasley, please explain to us everything that has been going on lately with you and Professor Potter.”

“Well, Harry and I used to date. And after some...” she looked at Hermione. “issues, we broke up. He used the excuse that I wasn't mature enough to be able to stay in a relationship with him. So I let it go,” Hermione about snorted at that comment, “and then nothing more was said about it until I got to school. After my first class with Harry, he asked to see me after class and talked about wanting to get back together. I told him I didn't want to since he was my teacher and all, but he wouldn't leave it alone.”

Hermione bit her tongue to prevent herself from speaking out. She was absolutely furious, and couldn't believe how Ginny could just sit there so calmly and tell an enormous bald faced lie. Even Mrs. Weasley looked as though she wanted to say something too. She knew for a fact that Ginny didn't “let it go” after Harry broke up with her. Just then, the Veritaserum started to kick in. Ginny's eyes became unfocused and her jaw slightly slackened.

“Alright, Miss Weasley, explain this all again, please.”

“Harry and I broke up this summer after he adopted Teddy. I didn't want him to adopt Teddy because I was afraid. Afraid for Harry, for Teddy is a werewolf, and afraid that if he adopted Teddy, along with Hermione's help, everything I've feared since I was in second year would happen.”

“What would that be?”

“That Harry and Hermione would see what everyone has seen as long as they've known each other. That they're meant to be. I've heard that a baby can bring people together, and I was afraid that it was bound to happen once he and she adopted Teddy.”

“So what was the reason for the first article? Why did you go to Rita Skeeter the first time?”

“I was angry.”

“And what's been going on since school began? Is what was in the article true?”

“It was semi-true. Only I was the one initiating the whole thing. Even if Harry wanted to, he wouldn't have gotten involved since I'm his student.”

“Then why did you tell the newspapers otherwise?”

“I wanted to get back at them. I hated this whole situation with them teaching, and then the fact that they were always inseparable. I wanted to get back at them.”

“Them?”

“Harry and Hermione. It's been so frustrating for years, even when Harry and I were dating; Hermione was still up on a pedestal that no girl could ever be measured up to. Even when they were having a little tiff over a book their sixth year, she still was up on that pedestal, and no matter what anyone would say about her, he'd never take her off of it.”

“So you fashioned a story to get back at Harry and Hermione for being close friends. What made you think to go this far as to make up a story that could ruin a man's career and life?”

“Because he wouldn't help me, I needed his help.”

“Whose help?”

“Malfoy's. He talked with me earlier this year and offered to help me get back at them. But then when I agreed and asked him what his ideas were, he chickened out and had this whole weird change of heart. Said it had something to do with something Harry said to him. So since I didn't have his help, this was the best I could come up with.” Madam Webber sighed and shook her head.

“Well, I think we've got all we need. Miss Granger, you can let Mr. Potter know how things went tonight. And tell him tomorrow I'll stop by to see him after I've discussed with the school governors about the action they plan to take on this. But, Headmistress,” she said, turning to McGonagall. “As far as I'm concerned, Professor Potter can have his job back. And we'll speak with the social services to see about getting Teddy Lupin back to Harry as soon as possible.”

Hermione could hardly contain her smile as Madam Webber was speaking. She couldn't wait to get back to Grimmauld Place to tell Harry.

“Alright, I told the governors I'd meet them after the interrogation to discuss what happened, so I should probably get going,” Madam Webber said. “Molly, the Veritarserum should wear off in about a half hour or so. She'll be a little disoriented right away, but she should be fine in a few minutes.”

“We'll keep her here till the potion wears off,” McGonagall said. “Just to be sure she'll be alright to return back to the Common Room.”

“Well, then I should get going then. Molly, it was good to see you again, say hello to Arthur for me.”

“I will, it was good to see you again too, Rachel, I just wish it had been on different circumstances.” Madam Webber and Mrs. Weasley spoke for a little while longer before Madam Webber politely said goodbye to everyone else and left the office. Barrett came out of his corner and came up to say goodbye and that the article would be in the morning Prophet the next day. With a charming smile and a wink to Hermione, he left the office too.

When Hermione got back to Grimmauld Place, she found Harry pacing the living room floor. He nervously ran a hand through his hair and stopped pacing when he heard her come in. He gave her a questioning look that was mixed with fear.

Hermione smiled and said, “Welcome back, Professor.”

A/N: Hey everyone, here's chapter 15 for you all! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, I've had a couple papers that were due these last two weeks and I would always feel so guilty for writing on this chapter when I should've been writing my papers. But I think I've got all my papers written, so hopefully I'll have more time to write. But then there's three weeks left of school, then after that I'm off to Europe, so between now and the first week of June, I'd be lucky if I get at least one more chapter out. Spring is so busy!! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the next chapter; things are looking up for our characters!!

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 16: The Little Green Monster

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

A/n: Well m'dears, here's chapter 16, sorry it took so long to get out. Life's been busy busy busy all the time. Had a BLAST in Europe, I so want to go back some day! And with getting back into the swing of things, it makes it hard to sit down to write, and then when I do write there's those pesky blocks which make it really hard to write!! But anyways, hope you enjoy it!!

--------------------------------

“Hermione, you know what we should do sometime? This weekend even?”

Hermione tiredly turned toward Harry and said, “What's that?”

“How about if I take you out for dinner or something on Saturday night?"We can go celebrate.”

“Shouldn't it be the other way around, you're the one with something to celebrate, and I should take you out.”

“Yeah, but I owe you, remember?” Harry said with a grin.

Hermione smiled and yawned.

“Sounds good, Harry. But as for right now, I think I'm going to go to bed, I need to get up and get going back to school in the morning, and I need to be there early enough to get things ready for classes,”

she said, standing up and stretching. “That is, if it's alright with you if I stay here tonight.”

“It's your house too, stay however long you like.”

“No, it's not my house, remember? I still have my flat.”

“Oh,” Harry said, slightly taken aback at Hermione's statement. “That's right.”

Hermione smiled and said, “Good night, Harry.” She headed for the stairs but was stopped by the ringing of the doorbell. Harry and Hermione gave each other confused looks, wondering who was there, and why they decided that 2 a.m. was the best time to come visit.

Hermione said, “Who in the world comes by this time of night?” She opened the door, and was surprised to find Barrett Smyth standing on the doorstep.

“Barrett. What are you doing here?”

“I'm sorry it's so late, but I wanted to give you something. I went back up to the school and they said you'd be here. I wanted to give you this.” He held a newspaper out to her. “It's tomorrow's newspaper, they just printed it, and I wanted to give it to you right away. Oh, hello, Mr. Potter,” Barrett said when Harry came to stand next to Hermione in the doorway, a look that could've been construed as anger on his face.

“Who're you?”

“My name's Barrett Smyth, Mr. Potter. I'm the one reporting the story about Miss Weasley's interrogation.” He held his hand out to shake, which Harry just glanced at and didn't take. He figured kindness and courtesy stopped at midnight, and him stopping by at two in the morning was enough to push Harry's temper a little bit, and give him a bad impression.

Harry's dislike for Barrett increased when he said next to Hermione, “I was also wondering if maybe you'd like to have dinner sometime. I know this isn't really the best time for it, but I wasn't for sure when I'd see you next.”

“Oh! Um, I don't know, when?”

“This weekend work?”

“Oh, well this weekend Harry and I are going out to celebrate. But that's Saturday, so I'd only be free Friday night.” Hermione kept looking out of the corner of her eye at Harry, who didn't seem too pleased at what was happening in front of him.

“Friday night's great. I can pick you up at the school.”

“No, how about here, it's easier. What time?”

“Is seven ok?”

“Seven is fine. I'll see you then.”

“Yeah, see you Friday.” Barrett was about to say goodnight, but Harry ended up shutting the door in his face. Hermione gave him a scolding look in response.

“That was rude, Harry.”

“It's two in the morning. Who the hell comes over at two in the morning to ask someone out on a date?”

“It was late because they just finished printing the paper for tomorrow morning. He just wanted to bring it over to us so we could see the article.”

“He's probably just as bad as Rita Skeeter, I wouldn't trust him if I were you.”

“How about you read his article first before you start judging him? And he isn't anything like Rita Skeeter.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I've talked with him and he just doesn't seem to have that same underhandedness that Rita does.”

“It could be an act.”

“Just stop it, Harry. I can take care of myself. I am able to assess peoples' characters. You don't have to look after me, Harry. You don't need to try to protect me anymore.” Harry didn't answer her, he just watched her turn from the door and walk up the stairs and go to her bedroom.

She was right, now Voldemort was gone, and the threat of Dark wizards was over, he didn't need to try to protect her anymore. Harry sighed and started climbing the stairs to head to bed. Once he got there and was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, all the thoughts running through his head kept him from getting to sleep right away. And what he should've been thinking about was the fact that he was going to be able to teach again, and soon he'd have Teddy back. But the only thing that was going through his mind was Hermione and that reporter she'd be going out with on Friday.

--------------

The next morning, Barrett's article came out in the Daily Prophet. And though Harry wouldn't admit it to Hermione, it wasn't as bad as he was thinking it would be. There was nothing in it about heralding Harry as the great Harry Potter famous Boy Who Lived or Man Who Conquered. All it mentioned was the outcome of the interrogation, and a little back story on the situation. All in all, it wasn't really that impressive of an article for going out in the middle of the night to bring it to someone so they could read it. Hermione didn't say much to him that morning. She was in a hurry though; she rushed through breakfast and sped out the door to apparate to the school. Harry wasn't concerned about it too much; his mind was on other things. He received a letter from McGonagall saying he could come back to work next Monday, and a letter from Amelia Lynch requesting that he come speak with her that afternoon concerning Teddy. The day showed promise, and he didn't want to ruin it with thoughts of that wanker that was trying to date Hermione.

That afternoon, Harry found himself in Ms. Lynch's office. He was so relieved to get Teddy back it was all he could think of.

“How are you this afternoon Mr. Potter?”

“Excited.” Amelia smiled.

“Well, the Fischer's are very glad that this situation turned out as well as it did, from what they've told me, they've had some problems with Teddy.”

“What kind of problems?”

“He's been crying constantly, angry all the time, and his hair has been consistently fire engine red the whole time. They believe it's because he missed you and didn't know where you were, and it made him angry and scared because he couldn't find you.”

“Well that's what happens when you take a child from its home and place him with complete strangers just like that,” Harry said somewhat coldly.

“Mr. Potter, you have to understand our position. We had to do something; people were demanding he be removed from your care until this whole mess was sorted out. It was all out of the best interest for Teddy.”

“I don't think he benefited much from it.”

“Well, either way, this is all over and you can have him back now.”

“Where is he?”

“My assistant is bringing him.” A few minutes later, Amelia's assistant came in with Teddy in her arms. His hair was gray and his expression was gloomy. But when he saw Harry, he perked up and grinned, his hair turning orange. He said, “Dad!” and squirmed to get away from the assistant and to Harry. The woman handed Teddy over to Harry, who held him close.

“I missed you, squirt. I'll never lose you again.”

-------------------

“She's dating?”

“Yeah, first date's this Friday.” Ron looked surprised, the news that Harry gave him wasn't really anything he expected. After picking up Teddy, Harry had gone to Diagon Alley to the Weasley shop to see Ron. Ron had asked about Hermione, and the topic of her date on Friday was the first thing that came up.

Ron gave a short laugh. “Wow. So who is he? Anybody we know?”

“You know the article this morning in the paper talking about the interrogation?”

“Yeah?”

“It's that guy. Barrett Smyth. He came over at two in the morning last night to give her the article and ask her out.”

Ron laughed again. “I'm surprised she didn't throw him out for coming over that late.”

“No, but I wanted to. The guy's a tool, I have no idea why she'd even consider going out with him.”

“Hmm,” Ron said, grinning. “Sounds like someone's been bitten by the little green monster of jealousy.”

“I'm not jealous.” Ron laughed and gave Harry a look that said he didn't believe him. Harry said defensively, “I'm not.”

“Hmm, I kind of want to meet this Smyth character. Friday you say is the date?”

“Yep. Seven o'clock.”

--------------------

There was a knock at the door at five minutes to seven Friday evening. Hermione rushed down the stairs to make sure and get the door before Harry did. Both she and Harry got there at the same time.

“Don't you have something you want to do tonight, Harry? Why don't you take Teddy somewhere tonight?”

Harry shook his head and said in what was supposed to be a nonchalant tone, “No, we're fine.” Hermione nervously sighed. Harry nodded toward the door and said, “Are you going to let him in?”

“Are you going to leave?”

“No. It's my house.” Hermione opened the door a crack and peeked through it. She sighed a frustrated sigh and opened it all the way when she saw who it was.

“What are you doing here?”

Ron grinned. “I heard you have a date tonight.”

Hermione glared at Harry and then said, “So what if I do?”

“Well, Harry was telling me about him, and I want to meet him.”

“No you don't.”

“Yeah I do. Have to make sure he's worthy enough for our best friend.”

“Yeah right. You're going to try and scare him away.”

“Well, if he scares easily then you know he's not the one for you.” Hermione rolled her eyes and was about to reply, but was stopped by a knock on the door.

“If that's another person you've invited to be here, I'll have to hurt you, Harry.”

“Don't worry, I only invited Ron. It's not that bad.”

“Ron's bad enough,” Hermione muttered as she went to go answer the door. Barrett was standing on the doorstep, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and he smiled and stopped moving when Hermione opened the door.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Barrett.”

“How're you tonight, Hermione?”

“I'm fine and you?”

“Good. Oh, here, these are for you,” Barrett said, handing Hermione the flowers.

“Thanks.”

Barrett smiled weakly, his glance flickering back and forth from Hermione to the two men standing behind her, watching his every move. “Um, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let's go.”

Ron cleared his throat pointedly and said, “Um, Hermione, aren't you going to introduce us?”

“No, I'm not.”

“Oh come on, Hermione, we want to meet this guy.” Hermione sighed.

“Alright, Barrett, these are my friends. You already met Harry, and this here is Ron Weasley. Ron, this is Barrett Smyth.” Ron reached forward and offered his hand to shake Barrett's. Barrett, still nervous, shook Ron's hand weakly. He was going to shake Harry's hand too, but after seeing the look Harry was giving him he was a little scared to.

“Well, Barrett, we should get going before it gets too late. `Night boys,” Hermione said over her shoulder as she and Barrett headed for the door. Barrett seemed all too glad to get out of that house.

Ron grinned and said, “Have fun you two, don't have her out too late, Smyth!” Hermione whipped around and glared at Ron. She mouthed, “Shut up!” to him, causing him to laugh. The door closed behind them and Ron said, “Nervous little bloke, isn't he? But I agree with you, he is a tool.”

“Yeah, I don't know what she sees in him. Why would she go out with a guy like that?”

“Probably because he asked, someone else didn't.” Ron looked at Harry pointedly.

“I don't like Hermione that way, Ron.”

“Whatever you say, Harry. But how's that muggle phrase go? Ah yes, `denial isn't just a river in Egypt.” Harry rolled his eyes in response. Ron changed the subject saying, “But anyways, I have to go, Mum invited me for dinner tonight, so I should get going. I told her I'd be by after stopping by here first. You and Teddy can join us if you like. It'll be a Ginny free evening since she's still at school. No one will probably bring up last week at all. It'd be better than sitting around here all night waiting for Hermione to come home.”

Harry nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a good idea. Let me just go get Teddy.”

A/n: I have a feeling if I don't say something about this I'm going to get some reviews mentioning this…I already received some regarding the situation with Harry getting accused of a relationship with a student. I just have to say to those people, this is fiction. And also, I might try something next chapter dealing with how all of what has happened gets blown over and forgotten. Some of that magic stuff that would make life so much easier. :) So yeah, not sure if that all made sense or not, but if you don't like how everyone bounced back from the situation, just bear with me, I'll do a little more explaining next chapter. Till then…

Husker_fan_2006

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Chapter 17: Dinners and Dancing

-------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

------------------------------

A/N: Ok, here it is, finally. The whole chapter 17. But before you read, you'll have to endure another author's note from me. It's probably not entirely important if you don't wanna hear it, so you could just go on to the chapter if you like. :) Anyways, I decided I'm tired of looking at this chapter and fretting about it, so after some additions and changes, I've decided to just put it up! I'm to the point where I don't really care if it's not perfect. Lol. It's still un-betaed, I'm thinking that if any of you are still interested in beta-ing, let me know, but if not, that's totally cool, I could just wing it I think. :) I've decided to keep going with the way the story is going, and great news! I think I'm working my way out of my writer's block! After I post this chapter tonight I'm going to finish writing the next chapter before I go to bed. I'm so excited that I finally am breaking through the walls that are halting any creativity! Lol, ok that was kinda cheesy, but like I said before, I like cheesy! Anyways, I'll let you read, hope you enjoy!

------------------------------

“So where are we going?” Hermione said to Barrett as she and he were walking down the streets of London.

“I thought we'd go to this new place I've wanted to try. It's Italian. Do you like Italian?” Hermione nodded that she did. She had been quiet ever since they left the house, feeling guilty about her date with Barrett, especially since it caused a little tension between her and Harry. After Barrett had left the night he stopped by, she had lain awake for a long time going over what had happened in her head, wondering what had caused her to say yes. Yes, he was a relatively good looking wizard, and kind, and from what she and he had talked about so far, very ambitious. But his timing wasn't the greatest. Two o'clock in the morning was by far not the best time to ask someone out on a date. But then, she still said yes. That night she had felt like such a fool, just days before then she was telling Harry that she loved him, and now she was going out on a date with another man. The excuse Hermione had eventually come up with was it was to start getting over Harry. For good this time. She had told herself that now that he knew, she knew now he didn't feel that way about her so she could stop wondering, and she could move on. And a date with someone else was a good step forward, even if his asking her out was unconventional.

“Hermione? Something wrong?” Barrett asked her, as he had stopped talking a little while ago, and Hermione hadn't responded in a few minutes. Long enough for him to be worried.

While Hermione was deep in thought, they had reached the restaurant and had been seated. Hermione was brought out of her thoughts by Barrett's question, and said, “What? No, nothing's wrong, I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

“This date.”

“Oh,” Barrett said with a smile. “Good or bad thoughts?”

“I don't know.” Barrett looked a little confused so Hermione went on, “I have to admit, this really isn't something I'd do.”

“What, date?”

“No, not just date. Accept a date from a guy I just met who asked me at two in the morning.” Barrett smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah, well, it was bad timing on my part. I could tell your roommate wasn't too happy about it either.”

“I'm not quite for sure what Harry's problem is about this, whether it was the fact that you came over so late at night or if it's just you.”

“Well that makes me feel better,” Barrett said a little sarcastically.

“No, no, it's just that he's a little leery about you, he and Ron are like big brothers in a sense. They're just looking out for me. Being cautious. It's something they started doing when we were in school, especially since we were living in uncertain times, and I guess they just haven't grown out of it yet. But I have to apologize for him though; I thought he'd maybe be a little nicer considering it was your article that explained the truth to everyone. Which I have to admit, I am very surprised how easily everyone believed the truth.”

“Well, I have a confession to make about that. I truly wanted to help him out, you know, anything for the wizard who saved our world, so there is this special spell we can put on the ink in our articles that makes people believe what is in the article. It's not exactly legal, but people have been using it for years. Most of the time it's used for writers who have to have a good response to their article, they can't stand negative feedback or accusations that they're telling lies. And then there's some that are looking for scandals and are out to shock the world, and they'll use it to make everyone believe what they write, even if it's so out of this world that no one in their right mind would believe it. Rita Skeeter had been known on occasion to use it. Especially a few years ago when she was writing about things going on at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament.”

“But how does it work? Because when we were in our fourth year we'd read that rubbish she would write and know it wasn't true.”

“Since you knew the truth, that might have had something to do with it. A lot of the times the people who know the whole story don't get affected by the ink. But it was probably because it doesn't always work one hundred percent of the time. The strong minded usually don't get affected. Since it's not legal, there's no opportunity to try and fine tune it without arousing suspicion.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is. I probably shouldn't have messed with it, but like I said, I wanted to help.” They fell silent while they looked over the menu, only to speak when the waiter came by and took their drink and food order. Once the waiter had gone, Barrett asked, “So why did you say yes?”

Hermione shrugged and said, “I guess it was because I wanted to do something…different. Out of the ordinary. Have you ever had people look at you and expect you to be a certain way, do a certain thing, and say all the right things?” Barrett shook his head.

“No, I guess I've never really had that experience.”

“Well, I have. All my life I've been this over studious, bossy bookworm. Everyone always expected me to have my nose buried in a book, have all the right answers, and always follow the rules. Granted, yes, I brought it upon myself, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not in school anymore. And people don't expect me to change.” Hermione laughed a little as she said, “Some people even freak out when I wear different clothes. The summer before my fifth year, a friend from down the street and I went shopping and she was so surprised to see that I wanted to buy a black strapless dress. She thought something was wrong with me.” Barrett laughed.

“Ok, yeah, that is a little ridiculous.”

“Tell me about it. I mean, I should be able to wear a strapless dress without having to answer a lot of questions.”

“Well, I wouldn't be opposed to you wearing one. So that's why you said yes, to shake things up in your life?”

“Well, that, and I also thought this would be a good step in the right direction of getting over someone.”

“Oh. Anyone I might know?”

“No,” Hermione said with finality, telling Barrett that that was the end of that topic. She definitely didn't want to tell him about her feelings for Harry. Not only did she not want to get into it, it just wasn't good date etiquette to talk about other men. As the evening went on, even though Hermione was enjoying herself, she still couldn't shake that guilty feeling from the back of her mind. The feeling began to come back full force when the night was over and they were standing just outside the door of Grimmauld Place. She knew she'd have to talk to Harry the next day, and she knew he'd ask her about the date. The thought left a small pit of dread in the bottom of her stomach.

“Well Hermione, I had a good time, did you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Should we do it again sometime?”

Hermione just nodded in response. Barrett looked like he might lean in to kiss her good night, but she must've had a look on her face that told him not to. So he just bade her goodnight and turned and left. Hermione went inside and when she closed the door, found the house completely dark, save for one lamp in the sitting room. Hermione rolled her eyes. Either Ron and Harry or just Harry was sitting up waiting for her. She didn't know which would be worse. Turning into the room, she found it was just Harry, though he had had trouble staying awake. If she hadn't been still a little frustrated with him from earlier that evening, she might have laughed at how he was sleeping. He was sitting in a chair, his feet up on the ottoman, his head leaned back in the chair, mouth hanging open slightly, his right hand hanging over the side of the couch, a book on the floor from where he dropped it.

Hermione walked over to him and bent down to whisper in his ear, “You know, I'm a little old for you to be waiting up for me.” Harry gave a snort and woke with a start. He blinked a few times to get focused on her, and rubbed his eyes a little to help him wake up.

“Hermione! What'd you say?”

“Why are you waiting up for me?”

“I wanted to talk to you before you went to bed tonight.” Hermione sat down on the couch, waiting for Harry to speak first. Harry began with, “So how was the date tonight?”

“It was fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Well it wasn't anything phenomenal. He just took me to dinner.”

“But you had a good time?”

“I suppose,” Hermione said with a shrug.

They fell silent, and Hermione was just about to ask Harry if that was all he wanted to talk to her about until he said, “I'm surprised you went out with him.”

“Why?”

“It just didn't seem like something you'd do. The guy came over at two in the morning; I was surprised you didn't hex him or at least slam the door in his face.” Hermione gave him a wry smile. This had been exactly what she'd meant that evening when she was talking to Barrett about people's expectations about her. She shrugged again.

“Well, I was up anyway, and he did say he had just come from the office. And I wanted to do something different. Everyone always expects me to be a certain way still, and there are times when I get so sick of it. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary for once. I didn't realize till later just how out of the ordinary this was.” Hermione gave a small laugh. “I've felt so guilty this evening.”

“Why?”

“Because of you. I know you don't like him. And at the time, when we left tonight, I didn't care. The only thing I was worried about was how bad you and Ron were going to embarrass me. But as the night went on, I felt so terrible.”

Harry shook his head and waved off what Hermione had just said. “Hermione, you shouldn't worry about what I think.”

“But I do worry. I've always worried about what you think. And now you must be thinking I was pretty desperate or trying to get back at you in some way. None of those were the case.”

“I wasn't thinking that. I was — actually a little jealous.”

“Jealous?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Harry said sheepishly.

“Why?”

“Because I was afraid he was taking you away from me. And I know I have no claim on you in any way, but still, you're a huge part of my life.”

“Thanks Harry. You're still a huge part of my life too, no matter what happens. No matter who I date.”

“Oh, and don't tell Ron I told you this. He'll never let me forget it. And I can't stand letting him know he's right,” Harry said jokingly.

Hermione laughed and agreed, “Right, he'll never let it go.”

“So are you going to go out with Smyth again?”

“I don't know. I'll think about that later. I mean, I did have a nice time, but I don't know.”

“Well, I know something you and I have to think about now. Where are we going tomorrow night? Remember we're going out to celebrate?”

“I remember. Where do you want to go?”

“I think I know a place. But it'll be a surprise.”

“Ok, but I still think I should be the one taking you out to celebrate, not the other way around. You're the one that has reason to celebrate.”

“No we both do. Now that this fiasco is over we can move on. Get on with our lives. We both can celebrate that.”

“You're right. So where are we going?”

“You'll find out tomorrow night,” Harry said with a mysterious smile.

---------------------

“Hermione, are you coming, or do I have to leave without you?” Harry hollered through Hermione's bedroom door the next night while she was taking her sweet time getting ready for their evening out. It had been the fourth time he'd come upstairs to ask her if she was ready, and after the third time she had been getting irritated too.

“I'm coming, just be patient!” she snapped through the door. Harry sighed and went back downstairs where the babysitter, Ron, was sitting on a chair in the sitting room playing with Teddy.

“You know, I've never understood why women do this to us men,” Ron said. “Why do they insist on taking forever to get ready?”

Harry shrugged, fiddling with the tie that was around his neck, loosing it a little. “To drive us mad.”

Ron nodded and shrugged too. “Though the best things in life are worth waiting for I guess.”

“I suppose. And anticipation is half the fun, right?”

“Exactly. But there must be something in their DNA that causes this.”

“Yeah, something we don't understand because of our Y chromosome.”

“Right.”

“It's terrible that they have such a hold over us…”

“Oh I don't know Ron; I think it's quite nice actually.” Both Harry and Ron turned when they heard Hermione's voice behind them. Neither male said anything as they looked at Hermione; both were sort of entranced by her when she came into the living room. She was wearing a black strapless dress that had a flowing skirt that was about knee length in the front and was longer in the back to about mid calf with strappy black heels on her feet. She had used that potion she had used for the Yule Ball their fourth year to make her hair straight and smooth. It now fell straight around her shoulders and was one side was held back by a rhinestone comb to reveal small dangling rhinestone earrings that matched the necklace that was around her neck. Her outfit wasn't anything that made her drop dead gorgeous but brought out what made her pretty in the first place.

She smiled and said to Harry, “Ready?” Harry swallowed nervously and nodded and grabbed his coat that he had draped over the arm of the chair he had been sitting in.

“Well Ron, make sure he's still in one piece when we get back,” Harry said, nodding at Teddy.

“Don't worry, he'll be fine. We'll have fun, right?” Ron said to Teddy who grinned.

Hermione picked Teddy up and gave him a hug. “'Night, little guy. We'll see you in the morning. And you be good for Ron tonight.” Teddy grinned again and his hair turned orange. Hermione handed him back to Ron, who tickled Teddy. The baby giggled and squealed. Harry and Hermione went to the door, Hermione grabbed her coat from the closet and started to put it on and at once Harry reached up to help her into it. She smiled a thank you, and asked him, “So where are we headed?”

“You'll see.” Once they stepped outside, Harry offered his arm to Hermione and when she took it, he said, “I'm going to Apparate us to the restaurant, so hold tight.” Hermione reached the hand up that wasn't linked with Harry's and clutched his upper arm. After making sure she was ready, Harry Apparated them to a park that was only lit by the few street lamps scattered here and there, and the moonlight. Luckily the place where they appeared was under the shade of a large tree so no one would notice two people just suddenly appear out of thin air. Hermione released her grip on Harry's upper arm, but kept her arm linked with his as he led them out of the park through the open gate.

“Where are we?”

“We're just outside of London. The place we're going is just down the street.” He pointed out the little building that stood on the corner a few blocks down. “See? It's not too far.” When they got to the restaurant, and Harry gave the name that the reservations were under and they were seated, Hermione looked around and smiled, taking in the room. It was a formal restaurant, there were tables scattered all over, and up at the front of the room was a dance floor and on the stage a band was playing soft mood music. There were already a few couples dancing. On their table was a small centerpiece with white roses that looked like they had water droplets on them, arranged among greenery and baby's breath. There were crystal water glasses, and perfectly polished forks, knives and spoons in the appropriate places. In the middle, where the plate would eventually go, a napkin was folded into a triangle that stood upright. The whole setting was placed on a ivory linen tablecloth.

“This place is really nice, Harry. What made you pick it?”

Harry shrugged. “Someone suggested it to me a while back, and I thought we deserved to go out to a nice place. I thought you might like it.”

“I do like it, but it looks like it's kind of expensive.” Harry shook his head and waved Hermione's comment aside.

“Don't worry about it.”

“Of course, I guess I should've expected this would be a nice place when I saw what you were wearing tonight. That's why I took so long; I was originally underdressed so I had to find something dressier. I don't think I've ever seen you in a muggle suit before. It looks good on you, I like it.” Harry smiled at the compliment.

“Well thank you. You look very nice tonight too. Though you normally do every day.” Hermione smiled and blushed, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Just then, a young man dressed in black pants and a white button down shirt came over to their table with a notepad and pen in his hand.

“Hello, how're we doing this evening?” he said with a friendly smile, handing Harry and Hermione each a menu.

“We're fine, thanks,” Hermione said pleasantly.

“Good, my name is Patrick and I'll be your waiter this evening. Our specials tonight are Veal Scallopini, Fussilli Chicken with the Creole cream sauce, and Seafood Linguini, and our soup tonight is the Cheese Onion soup.”

“Hmm, that Seafood Linguini sounds good, I think I'll have that,” Hermione said, and she handed Patrick her menu. Harry handed his menu to Patrick as well and said he'd have the same.

“Any appetizers?” Both declined.

“Ok, Patrick, I'm not going to pretend to have much knowledge on wines, but what would be a good one for tonight?” Harry asked. Patrick looked thoughtful.

“Hmm, well a white wine would go well with your meal, since you're having the seafood. We have an excellent selection of white wines—“

“Which one would you suggest?”

“Well, what is the occasion tonight?”

“We're out celebrating.”

“Oh? Anniversary? Or—some other occasion that requires a nice dinner?” Patrick smiled and nodded subtly towards Hermione, trying to ask if Harry was proposing without trying to give it away. Harry smiled and shook his head.

“No, we're just celebrating.”

“Well what kind of price range are we looking at, sir?”

“Well, price isn't really an issue,” Harry said, putting a hand up to stop Hermione from protesting as she was about to, “But I don't want anything too out of control. So bring whatever nice, moderately priced wine you have.” Patrick nodded.

“Very well sir. I shall be back soon with that.”

Once Patrick had gone Hermione said, “Harry, are you insane? Did you see the prices on some of the bottles of wine on that menu? They're outrageous.” Harry shrugged.

“Oh well, it doesn't matter. It's nice to spend money on someone other than myself for a change. So I'm happy to do it.”

“Well, don't spend it on me, spend it on Teddy.”

“That's different. He's my godson, and I'm happy to spend anything on him that he needs, but—this is different.” Hermione finally let the subject go, and soon Patrick was back with their wine.

When he left again, Hermione said, “I take it this place is the type of restaurant for people who are like how we were raised. Am I right?” Harry nodded. “Who suggested it to you?”

“Ron did, actually. Someone at work had told him about it, said it was a good restaurant to just get away from…our every day routine. And so when I was looking for a place for us to go tonight Ron suggested this one.” Hermione looked around and chuckled.

“We're probably the youngest ones here. And people are staring at us.” Harry, who was used to people staring at him wherever he went, hadn't noticed this. He looked around at the people who were glancing over, and whispering among themselves. They quickly averted their gaze when they caught Harry and Hermione staring back. Both of them laughed.

“Yeah, we must look a little suspicious, being so young and going to a restaurant like this,” Harry said. Hermione shrugged.

“Well, who cares? Why should this be any different than any other time, right?”

“Exactly.” Hermione lifted her glass and motioned for Harry to do the same.

“Well, I want to make a toast to this occasion, Mr. Potter,” Hermione said when Harry picked up his glass too. “To putting things behind you. And moving on, and to a normal life.” Harry laughed.

“I'm not sure my name and normal belong in the same sentence.”

“Well, whether it does right now or not, you're definitely entitled to normal, so now's the time to start living it. Everything's behind you with this Ginny situation, and if Barrett was telling the truth about that special ink, then it will soon be a forgotten misunderstanding.”

“To a normal life.” Harry clinked his glass with Hermione's and they each drank a sip of their wine. Hermione nodded in approval.

“Patrick picked a good wine. Granted, I don't really have very much to compare it with since I'm not a big drinker.”

“True, he did well.” After Patrick brought their meal, and later after they'd finished up dessert, Harry asked, “Care to dance?” Hermione gave him an impressed look.

“Wow, Harry, you're offering to dance? I seem to remember you hated dancing, and it was almost painful to try and get you to do it.” Harry laughed and shrugged.

“I know, but I was fourteen and completely nervous about having to dance in front of hundreds of people staring at me. I think it'd be better this time,” he said, standing up and offering her his hand to take. Hermione smiled and placed her hand in his, and Harry led her out to the dance floor. A man and a woman came forward on the stage and stood in front of the microphones, beginning to sing.

We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start

“Can I ask you something, Harry?” Hermione asked when Harry hand spun her around and back into his arms.

“Sure.”

“When did you become so charming?” Harry shrugged, spinning Hermione away from him, keeping a hold of her hand, and then spinning her back to him where they resumed dancing like before.

“I didn't know I was.”

“Ever the modest one,” Hermione teased, rolling her eyes.

“Well, if I am, I have no idea why. Everything this evening just seems natural. Maybe you're bringing it out in me,” he said, spinning her around again.

“See? There you go again.”

Harry laughed and said, “I'm sorry, would you rather I was mean and surly?”

“No,” Hermione said with a laugh. “I like you this way. I don't want to discourage anything that feels natural.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do.”

Harry didn't say anything back for a few seconds, as though contemplating saying what he really wanted to say. Whatever it was, he decided against it and just said, “That's good to hear.”

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

----------------------

A/n: Ok, what do you think? Don't worry; I'm not going to bore you with another long A/n, just a short one! I just wanted to say, I really want to thank all of you for your support and suggestions, it meant a lot to me to know that people are still reading and are interested in what happens next! I have to tell you, the H/Hr fluff is short lived, there's some angst in the next chapter. :( But it'll come back eventually! And for all of you Barrett haters, sorry, he's gonna be around for a little longer. There's a silver lining though, Harry's slowly starting to come to his senses! Lol, thanks so much again, from the bottom of my heart! TTYL!!

Husker_fan_2006

(husker_fan_2006@yahoo.com)

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Chapter 18: Times are Changing

------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

----------------------------

A/n: Hey, here's a new chapter. Before you read it, make sure you go back and read the rest of Chapter 17 that I added. Nothing is going to make sense if you don't read it. It's all Harmony fluff in the last half of the chapter that you didn't read, so you know it's worth it!

----------------------------

Harry and Hermione didn't return till late that evening. After they had left the restaurant, they spent the rest of the evening walking along the streets of London. They walked arm in arm down the street just talking, mostly about Teddy and school, but sometimes other subjects worked their way into their conversation.

“Can I ask you a question, Hermione?”

“What's that?” She and Harry had been talking about Hermione's flat. How they got onto the subject, they weren't really sure, but regardless, that's what they were talking about.

“Why do you still pay rent on a flat that you don't live in anymore?”

“I still live there.”

“When are you there?”

“Ok, maybe during school I'm not there a whole lot, but once school's done for the year—“

“But you weren't there a whole lot even before we got the teaching jobs.”

“That's because I was helping you with Teddy. Now that you have things under control I don't have to spend as much time at Grimmauld Place.”

Harry didn't reply right away, but feeling he had to say something, he said, “Teddy would miss you if you weren't there every day.”

“I'm not his mother, Harry. It's not essential for me to be there every day.”

“I'm not his father, but I'm staying.”

“Yes you are, Harry. You are his father. Maybe not biologically, but legally, emotionally, and for all intents and purposes you are his father. I'm not his mother biologically, legally or emotionally so I'm not always needed.”

“But you are, Hermione. Who else does he have? There is no other mother figure in his life.” Hermione exhaled slowly.

“What are you trying to get at with this conversation, Harry?”

“What I'm getting at is that you should stop wasting your money on rent for a flat that you hardly use anymore, when you could live with us for free.” Hermione laughed in disbelief and let her arm fall from Harry's, stepping away from him slightly.

“I don't want any handouts, Harry. And I don't live with you and Teddy. And I told you from the beginning that I didn't want you to get to dependent on my being there to help. I know I said I'd help as much as I could, and I have. But you're going to have to start standing on your own feet with this, Harry.” Harry opened his mouth to speak but Hermione sensed what was going to come out of his mouth and beat him to it. “I'm not saying I'm completely bowing out. I'll still help you; you know I'll always be there for you and Teddy. But I need to start distancing myself. Because like you said, he'll miss me, he's attached. So all the more reason for me to not hang around as much. It has to be the two of you, not the three of us.” To tell the truth, the direction their conversation had turned scared Hermione. Here she was doing her best at working towards getting over Harry and he goes and asks her to move in with him and Teddy for no reason other than Teddy would miss her if she didn't. She needed to start getting out before she found herself in a position where she was falling deeper in love than she had been before.

Harry's face was hard to read. Hermione could tell he was thinking hard, but exactly what was going through his head at that moment was impossible for her to tell. Behind his excellent mask that hid his emotion, Harry was slightly hurt at Hermione's response and frustrated with himself for doing exactly what he had told himself not to do when Hermione had began helping with his godson. No, she was right, not just godson, his son. But even though he was frustrated, he was still hurt.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested this. You're right; I've gotten too used to you being here with us that it just seemed natural that you'd still be there. You're right; I need to start standing on my two feet.” As soon as she heard Harry's reply, she started to feel bad about what she'd said. As she thought through what she had said, the words sounded more and more harsh the more she repeated them in her head. Also after Harry had spoke, Hermione saw that unreadable mask slip and a flicker of hurt came through.

“I'm really sorry, Harry. I didn't mean for it to come out quite like this. I'm not saying I don't enjoy spending time with you and Teddy. I love that kid. But—“

“No, I understand, Hermione,” Harry interrupted. A silence fell between them where they just stood still, not making eye contact with each other. Finally Harry looked up and smiled halfheartedly. “Anyways,” he offered her his arm again, and said, “Shall we?” She smiled as well, a smile just like Harry's where it never reached her eyes, and linked her arm through his again and they took off walking again. They tried to hold up conversations with each other again, but after a while both felt that the evening had lost its luster and eventually Apparated back to Grimmauld Place.

When they appeared in the entranceway of Harry's house, Harry helped Hermione out of her coat and taking his own off, put both of them in the hall closet. Hermione went into the living room where Teddy's babysitter was sprawled out all over the couch, snoring loudly with his mouth hanging open. She walked over to Ron and leaned down and gently patted his chest once with her hand.

“Ron, wake up, we're back.” Ron didn't wake up, he didn't even stir. Harry came into the living room and smirked at Hermione's attempt to wake Ron up.

“It's going to take a lot more than that, Hermione.” Hermione smacked her hand a little harder on his chest, and when that didn't work, she reached up and smacked his face. Not a hard slap, but enough of one to make a smack noise on his cheek.

“Ronald, get up!” Hermione said sternly and loudly. Ron's snoring altered for just a second and then returned to its normal loud sound like ten chainsaws cutting down trees. Harry silently and calmly walked over and standing above Ron's head, reached down and plugged his nose. It wasn't long before the snoring stopped and Ron squirmed and jumped off the couch from lack of oxygen.

“What the hell are you two trying to do, suffocate me?”

“Well all of our other gentle methods weren't sufficient enough, so we had to resort to cutting off air supply,” Hermione said sweetly. Ron glared at her for a second before letting it go and changing the subject.

“So how was the evening?”

“It was fun,” Hermione said simply but sincerely. Harry just nodded in agreement. Ron looked from one friend to the other skeptically like he wanted to get more of the story, but was trying to figure out which one was the better one to get it from. Ron decided Harry was the best choice when he spoke first, changing the subject.

“So how was Teddy tonight?”

“He was fine, been in bed for hours.” Hermione looked at the clock that read quarter after twelve and laughed.

“Well I hope so, it's after midnight.”

“Yeah, he went to sleep around eight-thirty. He was calling for you all night, Harry. He kept going, `Dad? Dad?'” Both Harry and Hermione smiled.

“Well,” Hermione said with a sigh. “I suppose. I should probably head home.” Harry reluctantly nodded while Ron's eyebrows rose in surprise. Before he could speak, Harry and Hermione were headed for the door. Hermione grabbed her coat out of the closet and put it on. They stood by the door awkwardly, Hermione didn't seem to be in a huge hurry to leave; it felt like leaving meant she was walking out forever. She sighed again and stepped forward to wrap her arms around Harry's neck in a hug.

“You're my best friend, Harry,” she said softly into his shoulder, “and I love you. You know that, right?” She stepped away from him to look for his answer. He nodded to show he understood.

“Yes. I know that. I've always known that.” Hermione smiled that halfhearted smile again that never reached her eyes.

“Good night, Harry.”

“Good night, Hermione.” Hermione was out the door and when it was shut, Harry heard the `pop' of her Disapparating. He went back into the living room where Ron was still standing in the same spot he'd been before. Harry didn't look at him until Ron impatiently cleared his throat. When Harry looked up, Ron gave him a `WTF?' look.

“What?” Harry asked stupidly, like he didn't know what Ron was asking.

“What was up with that?”

“With what?”

“You know what I'm talking about Harry.” Harry just shrugged.

“She just went home.”

“So what, the night didn't go well?”

“No, it did.”

“Then what the hell is with the tension? I thought this was going to be a good night, you were celebrating. I thought by the end of it you two would be a step closer to getting together, not taking a step in the opposite direction.”

“See, now that really pisses me off, Ron,” Harry said getting defensive and snappy. “How you and the whole world now assumes that since I'm no longer with Ginny and you're no longer with Hermione that she and I are supposed to be together! That the reason for both of those relationships ending was because we're a better fit for each other! When are you and everyone else going to get it, it's not going to happen!”

“When are you and Hermione going to open your damn eyes and see what I and the rest of the world have been seeing for seven years?” Ron said, raising his voice to the same level as Harry's. “All that speculation from the press and your friends and peers haven't just been out of the blue. There had to have been something to spark the thought. It's called chemistry, you prat!” Harry gave him a sarcastic laugh.

“How the hell do you know what chemistry is?”

“I know that I didn't have it with Hermione. I know that you didn't have it with Ginny. Or at least enough of it. But you have it with Hermione.” Harry didn't reply, he just stared at the ground with a furious glare on his face. Ron said a little quieter, “How do you two not see it, Harry? I mean, I know I'm not the most perceptive man in the world, but I can see it. So can everyone else. It's the way you act around each other, the way you understand each other. The way you raise Teddy together.”

“Wait, no, there is no together in raising Teddy between Hermione and me,” Harry said, as if clarifying the point.

“Bull shit.”

“No. She made it clear in the beginning that there was no together. She made it clear tonight that there can be no together.” Understanding swept over Ron, and he gave Harry a knowing look.

“Ohhhh, I get it now. That's what went wrong tonight.”

“You don't get anything, Ron. Don't pretend that you do.”

“Ok then, explain it to me. Because I apparently am confused as hell. Enlighten me, then.” Harry sighed and glared again at Ron's waiting look.

“There is no together because I happen to be the world's biggest prat.” Ron snorted and it turned into a laugh.

“Well I already knew that. What did you do that caused you to figure that out tonight?” Harry sighed again.

“I've become attached. And I assumed…that she would want to be there.” Harry looked up at Ron, who was still waiting for more.

“And?”

“And I asked her to move in with me and Teddy.” Ron's mouth slowly curved into a smile, which turned into a laugh, which caused Harry to glare at him again.

“I'm sorry, Harry. I don't see what was wrong with that. To tell you the truth, I honestly thought she got rid of her flat a long time ago. I thought she had already moved in. I actually was surprised when she said she was going home tonight.”

“The only point I was making was since she's hardly living in her flat anymore that she should give it up and just move in and save herself some money. Because you've seen her place, the rent can't be cheap. And throughout the school year she's at school, so she's not living there during the week. So I asked her why spend money unnecessarily when she could live with us for free. Then she said she didn't want any handouts, and that I needed to stop depending on her. And I agree with her on that, I do need to stop depending on her always being there. Even if she's still there for me, I need to not rely on that she's there.” Ron was still smiling throughout Harry's explanation.

“It actually sounds like she's having some other issue with living here. See? Chemistry,” Ron said with a grin, and Harry scowled.

“I knew you were going to say some crap like that.”

“Only until you believe it for yourself, mate. But, everything will blow over, trust me, it's Hermione. And it's late. Do you mind if I crash here tonight?” Harry shook his head.

“No, go ahead.”

“Everything will look better in the morning, Harry. Trust me.” Ron clapped him on the shoulder and went upstairs to his room. Harry sighed, ran a hand through his messy hair and went upstairs to bed as well.

----------------------------

Back at her flat, Hermione was nowhere close to settling down for the night. She was moving around her apartment arranging things that suddenly felt like they were in the wrong spot, and tidying up already clean areas. Maybe she'd developed a certain level of obsessive compulsive disorder. Actually, even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, her flat didn't feel like home anymore. Sad to say, she admitted only to herself, Grimmauld Place had begun to feel more and more like home every day, even on the days when she wasn't there. But that wasn't even the biggest problem that was going through her head while she flitted about her flat doing pointless tasks. It was how she left things with Harry. She tried to smooth it over with the hug, but after she left she could tell that hadn't done the job. Why was she so stubborn? She didn't really want to leave, she could tell that as soon as she entered her small, boring, Teddy-less flat. It was also best friendless as well. Already she missed Teddy, even though if she was still at Grimmauld Place he'd be asleep. And even though she still wanted to get over him, she had to admit that helping take care of Teddy had brought her and Harry closer together as friends.

`Just friends, though', she told herself. `I actually had been doing just fine getting over him while I was there.'

`Psh, yeah right.' The rational part of her brain told her. `You were struggling.'

`Struggling implies working, though. I may have been struggling, but I was still doing it.'

`Yeah, but you said fine. Struggling does not mean fine.'

`But I was doing it. I even went out on a date.'

`Yeah but you thought about Harry most of the time.' Hermione sighed. Why was she having an argument with her brain? Was she going nuts?

`You probably are going nuts. Love does that to a person. All the more reason to avoid it as much as possible.'

`That's not true.'

`You should listen to me; I'm the rational part of your brain, the part you've been using for nineteen years.'

`But I know I was doing fine at Grimmauld Place, I don't know why I got scared and ran off. I guess a momentary lapse in judgment. If I stay away, I am really going to miss seeing Teddy every day.'

`And his godfather.'

`Well why shouldn't I miss Harry, he's my best friend.' The rational side snorted.

`Whatever. Do what you want, but I'm telling you it's a bad idea. You were right to leave.'

`This is exactly what I did before. When things started leaning towards new things, changes in the future that I may or may not have wanted, I ran. Maybe Ginny was right, maybe I am scared.'

`Ok, now you've really gone nuts.'

`Well, nuts or not, I'm not going to be a coward.'

`Bad idea. But of course you'll never listen to me. You've never listened to me when the situation had anything to do with Harry. You're definitely in love.'

---------------------------

Harry went to bed that night with both Hermione and what Ron had said on his mind. As a result, his dreams were like watching a pensieve of every one of his memories concerning Hermione. It was as though his subconscious was trying to show him what everyone else was seeing. Certain ones, in particular stood out the most.

The two of them were in a dark stone room. Black flames blocked one door, purple blocked the other.
“But Harry - what if You-Know-Who's with him?”
“Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?” Harry said, pointing at his scar. “I might get lucky again.” Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.
“Hermione!”
“Harry - you're a great wizard, you know.”
“I'm not as good as you,” Harry said, embarrassed as she let go of him.
“Me! Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be careful!” Harry never knew what she was going to say after bravery, at the time it didn't matter, nor did he really notice it. But now, even in his dream, he was wondering what she was going to say.

The sight of Hermione lying in the hospital wing, still as death, her eyes open and glassy, having just been petrified by the basilisk that inhabited the Chamber of Secrets and was ridding the school of all muggle borns. In his sleep, Harry shivered remembering Hermione's seemingly lifeless body.

Harry and Hermione crouched low and traveling through the tunnel below the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack. Hermione was gripping Harry's arm painfully hard, but it wasn't until it became too tight that he gave her a look.

They had gone back in time and were trying to save Sirius. They had been watching the events that occurred once all of their past selves got outside the Whomping Willow and the moon came out from behind the clouds.
“Hermione, we've got to move!”
“No, Harry, I told you…”
“Not to interfere! But Lupin's transforming, and he's heading right for us!” Hermione's eyes grew wide with fear, and they took each other's hand and ran into the forest, the werewolf's howls echoing behind them. They saw him wandering around the forest, and they hid behind a tree. They heard the werewolf moving, and went around the tree, hopefully in the opposite direction of the werewolf. But they were wrong, and he howled behind them. Harry held Hermione close, protecting her. The werewolf was about to attack, but Buckbeak flew over them and reared on his hind legs, making the werewolf run off. Hermione buried her face in Harry's shoulder, muttering about being so scared.
“Poor Professor Lupin's having a really tough night,” Harry said. Just then, the wind picked up, and the leaves blew across their shoes. Harry and Hermione both looked up and saw the dementors going to the lake.

It was the morning after his name had appeared from the Goblet of Fire. He was on his way out of the portrait hole, but almost ran headlong into Hermione.
“Hello. I brought you this,” she said, holding up a stack of toast in a napkin. “Want to go for a walk?” They had gone on their walk, where for the first and not the last time Harry witnessed Hermione's loyalty as his best friend when Ron was not. She never turned him down when he needed help throughout the Triwizard Tournament, she was there by his side pulling all nighters practicing, even volunteered to be the subject of hexes when he was practicing for the third task.

She had looked very pretty at the Yule Ball. He remembered his jaw dropping when he recognized Hermione as Viktor Krum's date. In her periwinkle blue robes and her hair sleek and smooth and pulled into an elegant knot, she looked different, yes, but a good different. Not that she wasn't pretty on an every day basis, but she was really pretty that night.

He remembered the very first article that appeared in the Daily Prophet stating that he and Hermione were dating. It was what started the whole issue of some people believing that he and Hermione were meant to be together, and why others were paranoid when dating one or the other.

When she kissed him on the cheek before they parted after fourth year, it took him by surprise.

In his sleep Harry smiled at the memory of Hermione's hug that had nearly knocked him flat when he arrived at Grimmauld Place that time before their fifth year. Leave it to Hermione to almost maul someone in the process of giving them a hug.

He remembered his first and last date with Cho Chang vividly, how she flipped out about Harry's mentioning Hermione. He had to admit later though, Hermione had been right, he was a little tactless. And his subconscious brought attention to a comment that Hermione had made to him.
“And it would've helped if you were to mention how ugly you think I am too.”
“But I don't think you're ugly.” Why had she said that? She had to have known that he'd reply in the way that he did, why did she say it?

The memory of the Department of Mysteries replayed in slow motion. Dolohov slowly made the slashing motion with his wand and the purple flame gradually hit Hermione's chest and she fell to the ground motionless.
“HERMIONE!” Harry fell to his knees beside her, pleading that she wasn't dead. In his sleep, Harry flinched and agitatedly rolled onto his other side.

His memories started to become shorter, more like flashes.

“Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry.”

Hermione turned and beamed at Harry; her eyes too were full of tears. “…then I declare you bonded for life.”

He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate.

“Who wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him,” crooned Riddle-Hermione and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping in a close embrace: Their lips met.

“Do you trust me, Harry?”

And one of his last flashes was not of anything to do with Hermione, it was from his talk with Dumbledore when he was in the limbo between life and death.
“Is this real? Or has it been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Harry woke up after that. He stared at the ceiling contemplating his dreams, trying to put them all together. The last flash of memory, the one with Dumbledore made no sense in comparison to all the rest. And why was he even dreaming about all of his memories with Hermione anyway? He heaved a frustrated sigh and rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes. He fell asleep soon after.

Both Harry and Hermione were lying in Harry's bed. They both lay on their back, their heads turned toward one another.

“Do you think everyone else is seeing something we don't?” he whispered.

“I see it,” Hermione whispered back. “I've seen it for years, remember Harry? I told you I loved you. You're the only one who isn't getting it.”

“Then why have you been denying it as well?”

“I haven't, Harry. That's all been you. I know how I feel. I know I love you, do you know how you feel?”

“No, I guess I don't.”

“Well, you'll find out when you answer the door.” Harry gave her a confused look.

“What?”

“Get the door, Harry.” It was then that Harry heard the doorbell. He woke up and looked at the empty space on the bed next to him where in his dream Hermione just was. He rolled over and looked at the time when he heard the doorbell again. It was after two in the morning. He scowled at the ring sound of the bell and threw his blankets back and got out of bed, pulled a t-shirt on, and grabbed his wand from the bedside table. He walked down the stairs, glad that Hermione had put a type of silencing charm around Teddy's room that would keep outside noises out, but made sure he was able to hear any noise that came from his room. So Teddy wouldn't wake up, and since Ron could sleep through cannon fire in the room, he wouldn't wake up either.

“Alright, I'm coming!” he shouted when the bell rang again. He threw the door open and was surprised to see Hermione standing on his doorstep, a bag in each hand.

“Hermione, what are you doing here?” Hermione shrugged and gave him a small smile.

“What the hell.”

-----------------------

A/n: Ooh yay, I'm on a roll finally!! Ok, yeah this chapter isn't betaed either, so if some things are confusing or the grammar isn't right, I apologize. If Hermione's mind battle and Harry's dreams are a little confusing, I kind of want it to be that way because your internal battles sometimes don't always make sense, especially if you're fighting with the rational side of your brain, and of course, dreams definitely don't make sense sometimes. So, yeah. Anyways, I'm getting excited for this story, and right at this point I definitely feel like I'm going to finish it! I still don't know exactly how I'm going to get to my vision of how this will end, but I'm getting ideas! Hope you enjoyed Chapter 18, hopefully 19 won't be too far behind!

P.S. Oh, probably should give the credit. Harry's dream flashes all came from Harry Potter books 1-7 and the POA moment was a mixture of the book and the movie. I don't own any of those moments.

P.S. Ok, so feel like doing a little musing again. When I was writing this chapter, I pulled all my Harry Potter books out and was searching for the Harmony moments. Yes, I know I missed a ton of them, but a lot of them wouldn't have fit well I don't think. But I was also on the Portkey forums reading the threads discussing the H/Hr moments in books 1-7, and that part at Bill and Fleur's wedding where Hermione looks at Harry at the line, “I declare you bonded for life,” a person named, thewall28304, said, “I guess when soul mates are already married to each other as is the case of H/Hr, marrying into the Weasley family becomes irrelevant.” I had never thought of this before, and after I read it, I TOTALLY agreed with it. We all know Harry and Hermione were better off with each other, because they're soul mates. Even though legally they're not married to each other, soul-wise they're “bonded for life”. :) Anyways, just wanted to point that out! And another thing too, I thought it was really interesting how Deathly Hallows was supposed to be this huge Harmony killer, and it seems that in that book that's where most of the deepest Harmony moments are throughout the series. Interesting huh?

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Chapter 19: Or Maybe Not

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

-- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

“I'm sorry to come over so late,” Hermione said quietly when she and Harry went to sit in the living room.

“Don't worry about it, you know you're always welcome here, no matter how ridiculously late it is,” Harry said with a smile and Hermione returned it. But the smile fell from his face and he asked seriously, “So, I'm confused, are you moving in, or are you going to do like before where you're here but still keep your flat?” Hermione sighed.

“If the offer's still there, I think I'll take it.”

“Of course it's still there. But what made you change your mind?”

“The minute I walked out the door, it just felt like I had left forever. That I never was going to come back, even if I said I would. And with that thought I missed Teddy horribly. I know what I said, and I think I overreacted a little bit. So then I figured what the hell? You've got the space so why not move in permanently?” Harry smiled and shrugged.

“Yeah why not? But if you're worried about handouts, Hermione, I can charge you rent if you like,” he teased causing Hermione to laugh.

“Only if you want to, Harry.”

“No, I'm not going to charge you rent. That'd be ridiculous.”

“So what did Ron say when I left?”

“He just asked how the evening went.”

“That's it?”

“Yep.” Harry said, purposefully omitting a majority of his conversation with Ron. With what Ron had said to him plus his strange dream that he had, the topic of his and Ron's conversation was not a talk he wanted to have with Hermione just yet. He needed to figure things out first. And on that thought, he needed to find a way to kick Ron out in the morning before he could get to Hermione.

Hermione gave him a suspicious look noticing that there was something he wasn't telling her, but she let it go and said, “Well, I suppose. It's late, and it's been an eventful evening. I think we should go to bed.” Harry nodded in agreement and they both bid each other good night and went to their respective rooms.

-----------------------

“Is this real? Or has it been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Harry woke again for the fourth time since he went back to bed after Hermione had come back that night. He kept having that same memory run through his head. Why did he keep dreaming about that part of his conversation with Dumbledore? In context, Harry had been talking about what Dumbledore had told him about the Horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows, and how he, Harry had been carrying around a seventh of Voldemort's soul all his life, and he had been at that moment sitting in some form of limbo between life and death. At the end of their conversation Harry had asked Dumbledore if all of it was real or just his imagination. But now he was dreaming about just that question and Dumbledore's reply, and out of context it was very confusing. He heaved an aggravated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair and tugged lightly, completely wide awake after his fourth dream. Giving the blurry ceiling a frustrated glare, he rolled onto his side and punched his pillow beneath his head to fluff it a little. He squinted at the red letters on the digital alarm clock that pierced the darkness. 5:37. He scowled at the time and threw his blankets back, grabbed his glasses and put them on, and left his room going downstairs. He laid down on the couch and turned on the TV. He stared at the TV but never really saw what was on the screen. He was too deep in thought to notice the infomercial selling a knife set and the salesman demonstrating that the knives could cut glass. Because apparently every kitchen needs glass cutting knives.

He thought about everything that had happened tonight. Hermione had been right, it'd been an eventful evening, and she didn't even know the half of it. It started with the dinner. She had said he was charming, and until she had brought attention to it, he hadn't even noticed that he was being any different. Everything just seemed natural when he was around Hermione. Dinner had been the high point of the evening, after that came their walk before Apparating back to Grimmauld Place. And what seemed like the total low point actually didn't seem so bad. Apparently he hadn't made a complete ass of himself because she was there now; she was moving in. And then there was the maddeningly frustrating conversation with Ron after Hermione had left earlier. He had said that Harry and Hermione had chemistry. It was the way he and Hermione acted around each other, the way they took care of Teddy together. Thinking back, Harry could see why people could see that. Sometimes it did feel like the three of them were a thrown together family. And raising Teddy together was just another thing that felt natural with Hermione. And then there were the dreams. The memories of moments with her over the years. As he looked back, he realized that those moments seemed to become more frequent within the last couple years. At the time they seemed so subtle and meaningless, but now… Maybe he was just over thinking it, over analyzing every detail and blowing it out of proportion. Another memory came back to him, one that he had almost forgot about. It was that morning before their first day of teaching. He had been tickling Teddy, and Hermione made the comment that he should pick on someone his own size, and so he tried tickling her. They had fallen on his bed and ended up kissing. `But then that had been just a caught up on the moment thing', he told himself. Or had it?

Was he being blind? Was all of this happening or was it just all happening in his head? As soon as he thought that, another thought came back to him.

“Of course it's happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” Harry groaned and put his head back on the couch, closing his eyes. Well, whatever this was with Hermione, he had a feeling that it just wasn't just happening in his head anymore.

-----------------

“You have to leave.”

“Why?” A couple hours after Harry had gotten up; he'd gone to Ron's room and woke him, using the same technique of plugging Ron's nose that he'd used the night before after he and Hermione had gotten back from dinner. Ron was now glaring at him, the glare combined with a confused expression at Harry's words.

“You just do, come on,” Harry said hurriedly, motioning for him to go out the door.

“Wha—? Harry, what the hell is the matter with you? Why do I have to leave now?”

“Because I want you to, now come on, let's go.” Harry turned and left the room, but as he was closing the door behind him, he about ran headlong into Hermione.

“Oh, good morning, Harry.”

“Morning, Hermione.” Hermione gave him a puzzled look as she realized what room Harry had just come from.

“What are you doing coming out of Ron's room?” Harry was about to answer her, but the door swung open revealing Ron. Harry was saved from coming up with answer, but he didn't look at it as being saved. More like cursed. Ron took a look at what was going on outside his bedroom door and grinned. He gave Harry an amused look as he finally understood why Harry was in such a rush for him to leave.

“Good morning, Hermione,” he said brightly.

“Good morning. What are you doing here?”

“I just crashed here for the night.”

“Well what are you doing up so early? I didn't know you knew there was a 7 a.m. anymore. Especially on a Sunday.” Ron shrugged and nodded towards Harry.

“I dunno why either, ask him.” Hermione looked questioningly at Harry, who shrugged too.

“I just thought we should get an early start on getting things together to get back to Hogwarts. There are some things I want to do before tomorrow's classes.” Hermione seemed to buy it, Ron definitely did not.

“Yes, I suppose you're right. I want to go over my lesson plans for tomorrow too. We can leave after breakfast.” She walked away, heading down the stairs. Harry tried to quickly follow her but Ron was quicker with his comment as soon Hermione was out of earshot.

“So I see why I had to get up early and leave so quickly. And it has nothing to do with you wanting to get back to Hogwarts and review lesson plans.” Harry sighed and turned back.

“Ron, please, just don't say anything to her.”

“So she came back. I told you things would be better in the morning.”

“Yes, you're very wise,” Harry said sarcastically. Ron chuckled.

“Wiser than you, my friend. At least I can things that are clear as day in front of my face.” Harry didn't answer him as he turned away from him, going down the hall to Teddy's room. The baby was already away and was sitting up in his crib. He grinned and his hair turned orange when he saw Harry. Harry smiled back at him.

“Good morning Teddy.”

“Dad.” Teddy put up his arms to signify that he wanted to be picked up. Harry reached down and picked Teddy up, tossing him into the air a little before holding him in his arms. He gave him a kiss on the forehead, laughing at the baby's contagious grin.

“Shall we go get some breakfast?” Teddy happily responded with his own baby gibberish.

“Oh yeah?” Harry said laughing as they both went downstairs.

A few hours later, breakfast had been eaten and Ron had left. Before he'd gone, Harry made sure to not leave any moments where it was just Ron and Hermione, just in case Ron decided to talk to Hermione about what he said to Harry the night before. But he hadn't made any attempt to do so, and left soon after breakfast. After Harry had gotten his and Teddy's things packed up, he was playing with an orange haired Teddy in the living room, waiting for Hermione to finish gathering her things. While they were waiting, an owl flew in with a letter attached to its leg. Harry took it from the bird and it stood staring at him, clearly waiting for a reply. Hermione's name was on the envelope and he brought it up to her. He didn't stay to find out if it was anything that might concern him, going back downstairs to Teddy. Harry was sitting on the floor with Teddy and Teddy gripped Harry's index fingers in each of his hands and Harry helped him stand up on his feet. Teddy took a tentative step forward, only moving it an inch or two.

“Oh, we're trying to walk, are we?” Harry stood up so he could move as well. He bent over him, holding his arms up while Teddy kept a tight grip on his fingers. Teddy stared at the floor, contemplating how to get his feet to work so he could move. He took a small step with his left foot, stamping it lightly on the floor.

“Ok, now the other one,” Harry coaxed. Teddy wobbled on his two feet, but slowly took a step with his right foot, but only stepped far enough to be next to his left.

“There you go! That's the idea. Try again.” Still concentrating hard, Teddy took another small step with his left foot, before meeting it with the other one. While he was doing this, Hermione came downstairs and she smiled brightly at Teddy standing up holding onto his godfather's fingers attempting to walk. It was an adorable moment to see.

“Well look at you!” she said cheerily. “Aren't you a big boy!” Teddy grinned at his distraction and wobbled, his knees bending slightly as they almost gave out from his weight, but Harry pulled him back up. Hermione quickly handed her response to the letter on the owl and it flew off, distracting Teddy again. As it was flying by him, Harry was able to glimpse the word `Yes' among others on the note. But his attention went back to Hermione when she sat down on the floor a little ways from him and held her arms out.

“Are you going to walk to me, Teddy?” Teddy took a few more small steps and then when he had a solid stance, Harry slowly slid his fingers from Teddy's grasp. The child stood for about two seconds before he fell on his butt. He looked up and gave Harry a wide eyed look as though wondering what happened.

Harry laughed and said, “You're alright.” Teddy then got onto his hands and knees and quickly crawled over to Hermione. She laughed too and swung him up into the air a couple times making him squeal before holding him in her arms.

“You'll get it, Teddy.” She then said to Harry, “You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he learns how to walk faster than most babies since he already knows how to walk as a werewolf.”

“Yeah probably.”

“You want to try it again?” Hermione asked Teddy. “Here, let's walk to Daddy.” She set him on his feet and he took hold of her index fingers like he had Harry's and she stood and they slowly made their way to Harry's arms.

“Dad!” Teddy shouted as though saying, `watch this!' When Teddy got within arm's reach of Harry, he picked him up and hugged him tightly.

“Oh, you're growing too dang fast, kid. Pretty soon we'll be learning how to fly!” He gave Hermione a overdramatic excited look, and she gave him a stern one in return.

“I think you should wait quite a few years to start doing that, Harry.” Harry shrugged.

“We'll see. But he is growing way too fast.” Hermione smirked.

“How very parent-ish of you, Harry.”

“Well, it's true.”

“Well, I need to go finish gathering things. I'm almost done; we can leave in a few minutes.”

“Ok, take your time,” Harry said, setting Teddy down and handing him one of his toys. Hermione left the room and went back upstairs. He smiled at her as she left, thinking perhaps things were becoming different between the two of them. Maybe things were starting to change, and it was just so slow and gradual that he hadn't noticed it. He was just thinking that things were going to be different between them when he spotted the letter that she'd just received. She'd left it on the desk by the doorway. Curiosity getting the better of him, he walked over to read at least who it was from. His heart sank slightly when he read the note, realizing what that `Yes' was for that he saw on her response.

Dear Hermione,

I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the Daily Prophet's annual Fall Ball. It's in two weeks, on the 24th, and I would love it if you'd be able come with me. Please let me know as soon as possible if you can go so I can get the tickets. If you can go, I'll write back later with more details.

Till then,

Barrett

So much for things being different.

--------------------------

A/n: Well there's Chapter 19. Harry's almost pretty much got it, took him nineteen chapters to get there, but he's getting there! So there's some Harry and Teddy bonding going on in this chapter, I realized a while ago that it'd been a while since there was any of that, so this seemed like a good place for it. In the next chapter I'm planning on skipping ahead a few months, how many I'm not for sure yet. Thinking about the future of this story, I'd like to say it'll be done in a few more chapters, but then there's a couple other things I'd like to add into the story, but then they're not totally necessary. One of the things was Ginny and Malfoy getting together, but then I think I'll just leave that alone. Ginny will rectify her actions before the end of this story, but getting them together would take too much explaining that I originally planned on doing in the beginning, but forgot about it. *Shrugs* Oh well, it's alright. So as to pinning a number on how many chapters are left, I still have no idea. I've still got a couple months before heading back to school, so as long as this flow of ideas keeps up I'm going to shoot for finishing it before the end of August. Keep your fingers crossed! So, till next chapter!

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Chapter 20: Subtle Love

---------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

-- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

A/n: I know I said we'd be skipping ahead a few months here, but I'm leaving that for next chapter!

-----------------------------

A blue-haired Teddy stared at his godfather with a curious expression as the two of them walked down the halls of Hogwarts to Hermione's room. It was as though Teddy was trying to figure out why his godfather hadn't been in a good mood in the past two weeks, or why he hadn't spent as much time with Hermione in the past two weeks as he usually did. Harry's bad mood had been infectious; Teddy's hair hadn't been orange since that day they left Grimmauld Place. When the two of them reached Hermione's door, Harry knocked, and Teddy also reached over and knocked, but not as hard as Harry or in any kind of rhythm.

“It's open!” Hermione called from the other side. Harry opened the door and came in.

“Do you normally just tell people to come right in when you're here?” he asked Hermione, who hadn't come into the living room yet. Hermione's bedroom door opened and she came out of her room. She smiled.

“No, but I heard Teddy's knock, so I knew who it was.” Harry froze as he took in Hermione's appearance. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a forest green ball gown, with cap sleeves made of green netting with a gold floral print on them, and the same gold print was along the hem of the full skirt. Hermione's hair was smooth and sleek again, but it was twisted up into a bunch of curls at the back of her head. On the right side of her head was a jeweled gold comb. She wore tiny dangling gold earrings with a matching necklace. Harry felt a slight pang of jealousy when he wished at that moment that he was the one who was taking her to the dance instead of Smyth. Hermione noticed Harry taking in her appearance and nervously smiled. She spun around for him and when she faced him again she gave him an apprehensive look.

“Well? What do you think? Too much? Not enough?”

“No, you're perfect. You look beautiful.” Hermione blushed.

“Oh, Harry—“ she said, embarrassingly trying to brush his compliment off.

“No, I'm serious, Hermione. And Smyth's a damn fool if he doesn't think so and realize how lucky he is to have you as his date for this ball thing.” Hermione's blush deepened on her cheeks.

“Thank you, Harry. That's sweet of you to say so.”

“Well, I mean it.” Hermione smiled and closed the distance between her and Harry. Placing a hand on his back, the other on Teddy's back, she leaned forward and kissed Harry's cheek.

“I know. And thank you.” She then kissed Teddy's cheek, who, sensing things were getting better because this was the first time his caretakers had been in the same room in two weeks, turned his hair orange. Hermione laughed at the baby and grinned at Harry, who was still stony faced, the same mood he'd been in for two weeks. Hermione had noticed it, but then she hadn't had a good opportunity to talk with Harry about it, because it seemed like Harry had been avoiding her. Her smile fell from her face and she seized the opportunity then to say something.

“Harry, what's the matter?”

“Nothing,” he said in an unconvincing tone that didn't have Hermione fooled for a minute. She gave him an annoyed look in return.

“Don't lie, Harry. I can tell something's been bothering you these past few weeks. What's wrong?”

“I'm fine,” Harry lied again. Hermione sighed loudly and glared at Harry.

“Harry, you are not fine. You've been in a horrible mood for the past two weeks, now what is wrong?”

“It's nothing!” Hermione then gave him a concerned look.

“Is it something to do with school? Is Ginny causing problems again? Is it something to do with Teddy?”

“No, it's none of those things, Hermione.” Hermione's expression turned furious and she balled her hands into fists, and took a deep breath, trying to will herself not flip out. She lost the inner struggle though.

“Damnit, Harry, you did something like this to me the last time I went out, and I was worrying about it all evening, I—“

“Well don't worry about me, then,” Harry interrupted. Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, putting her fingers on her temples.

“Is it something to do with me?” she said slowly, waiting for an answer from Harry. He didn't give one so she asked, “Or is it to do with Barrett?” Again, Harry didn't answer, and Hermione took it as the answer to what was bothering him. “What's wrong with him?”

“Nothing.” Before Hermione could say anything more, Harry turned and opened the door. On his way out, he said quietly over his shoulder, “Have a good time, Hermione.” He shut the door behind him and began walking quickly down the hall back to his room in case Hermione was going to follow him. He was actually surprised that she didn't. But then, he thought, looking at his watch, it was almost time for her to go. Teddy frowned at his godfather and his hair turned blue again. He would never figure out these silly adults.

---------------------

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes as the door shut. Damn him. Damn him for coming over, the first time he'd done so in two weeks, just to cause her to try and figure out his moody demeanor. He had to know she'd try talking to him about it, so if he didn't want to tell her what exactly was wrong then why come right before she was about ready to walk out the door?

It had something to do with her. Or Barrett. Or both. She heaved a furious sigh once more. Why wasn't there a spell for performing memory charms on yourself so to forget the things that were plaguing your mind? Oh well, she thought as she put on her jacket and walked out the door, just push it from your mind. Worry about it later. But as she was walking down the hall she told herself furiously, No, I won't think about it later. I'm sick of thinking about it. I'm moving on, and moving on does not involve dwelling on the issues Harry's having. I won't think about it anymore.

----------------------

Harry was in desperate need of some space. The flat was driving him crazy. He needed a walk. So, leaving Teddy with Winky, he left the castle and took to wandering the grounds. It was a nice night; there was a light breeze that drifted through the branches of the trees making a calming sound. In the west, the sun had just sunk below the horizon, casting an orange glow onto everything. Hundreds of thoughts were going through Harry's mind as he went on his walk, most of them were memories. Memories of the days when he walked the grounds as a student, where he had less complicated things to worry about in his life. Granted, yes, the Voldemort thing was a huge issue that dominated his life, but at least with Voldemort he knew kind of what he could expect in the end. It was kill or be killed. Though at the end you could kind of say he did both. Now his life was so full of things where he had no idea what could happen next. It was feelings that made everything complicated. He had almost been afraid to feel anything when he was younger because he knew Voldemort could use those feelings against him. But now that the Dark Lord was dead, there was nothing to worry about. Except the feelings themselves. Especially when he didn't really know for sure what exactly his feelings were.

He was walking along the edge of the Forbidden Forest pondering his thoughts when a voice made him jump.

“Good evening, Professor Potter.” Harry looked around for the person who spoke, unsure if he'd really heard the girl or not. He knew for sure that he'd heard the voice when she giggled.

“Up here, Harry,” the girl said with an amused tone to her voice. Harry looked up and saw Luna Lovegood perched on a branch of a tree about ten feet up. She smiled at him.

“Hello,” she said brightly.

“Luna? What are you doing up there?”

“I'm waiting for a Panthered Poketi. I set a couple traps in the forest beneath a few trees. I'm hoping to catch one, because they're extremely useful for helping one focus when studying for exams. Professor Granger has an exam for us to take on Monday. I'm sure I'll do fine, but I would like the extra help in focusing on my studying.” Harry slowly nodded to make it look like he understood.

“I see. Any luck so far?”

“No,” Luna said disappointedly. “I haven't seen any yet. But I'm hopeful. What brings you out tonight?” Harry shrugged.

“Nothing, just out for a walk. I felt like I needed to clear my mind.” Luna nodded in understanding.

“We all need that from time to time.” The two of them were silent for a few minutes until Luna spoke again. “Are you ok, Professor? You look like you're under the influence of Feudal Frinkles.” Harry almost laughed at Luna's comment but stopped himself. He did, however, smile at it.

“What are Feudal Frinkles?”

“They invade the mind and cause a lot of conflict in the person's thoughts. You seem to have been under the influence for the last couple weeks.” This time, Harry did laugh.

“Well, if that's what they do, Luna, then you're probably right. I've been having issues with Feudal Frinkles. How does one get rid of them?” Luna gave him a small smile.

“You solve your conflicts,” she said simply.

“What if your conflicts are more complex than something like whether you should wear a blue or green jumper?”

“But choosing a blue or green jumper is a complex conflict. Dertle Dollies are unavoidably attracted to blue, so you wouldn't necessarily want a blue one, but then Captful Canaries are unavoidably attracted to green, so whichever you feel is the lesser of two evils, I suppose.” Harry laughed, shaking his head.

“Ok, I guess that was a bad example.”

“But I understand what you mean. And you know, sometimes solving conflicts helps if you talk to someone. Get another perspective on things. I know it's none of my business since you're my teacher and I am your student, but here—” She grabbed the branch she was sitting on and swung down till her feet found the one below it and she repeated the process till she was on the ground. “If it helps, pretend that I'm just Luna, and you're just Harry, and you and I are classmates again like we used to be.” Harry nodded and the two of them walked along the edge of the forest, Harry explaining everything that had gone on that was `conflicting' him, while Luna patiently listened, not speaking until Harry had finished.

“I see those Frinkles have done a good job on you. This is much more complex than avoiding Dertle Dollies or Captful Canaries. Well, my first question, do you think Ronald could be right?” Harry shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“I think Ronald is more perceptive than people give him credit for. And I think he's right. I think it's real chemistry. From what I see of you and Hermione, I think that's what it is.”

“But just when I was thinking things were going to change she goes out with that Smyth bloke.”

“Not to be rude or anything, Harry, but what did you expect? That she'd just sit around and wait for you forever? She was convinced that you didn't think of her that way, so why shouldn't she go out with him?” Luna was right, Harry had been pretty naïve to think that Hermione would sit and wait to see if he might or might not realize his feelings for her. He was just about to admit that to Luna when she asked him the loaded question.

“Exactly how do you feel about her, Harry? Is it just a passing fancy or do you love her?”

“I don't know.”

“I can see that. Most of us have a hard time seeing what love is when it's staring us right in the face. Because we're scared of it, or believe that we're in love when we're really in lust, or we're just plain not looking hard enough for it. But only you can answer that question. The rest of us could tell you what we assume, but not necessarily what you feel. And I think, Harry, that you're only going to get rid of this conflict when you figure out exactly how you feel about Hermione.”

“That is the problem though.”

“Then you know how to fix it.”

“But how? I'm one of those people, Luna, I don't think I'd know what love was if it was staring me in the face. I mean, I've seen it, and I've experienced some forms of it, but as to romantic love, I have no idea how to recognize it in my own life.”

“I don't know how to explain it to you, Harry. I think you'll just know when it happens. But in my experience, love isn't all about fireworks and whistles and flashing lights. It's more subtle, it can creep up on you when you least expect it. Who knows, years from now you won't be able to pinpoint exactly when it happened because it came so gradually. Or it might be fireworks, you never know.”

“What if it is love?”

“Then you tell her how you feel.”

“What if it's too late?”

“If it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be. But something tells me that's not the case. You'll never know until you find out.”

“Well, thanks, Luna,” Harry said when they had walked back to the tree Luna had climbed before. “You were right; it does help to get another person's perspective on things.”

“Glad to help, Harry. Oh, I was going to ask you, did the radishes help ward off the Western Blue Bellied Beneezels from Teddy?”

“Um, I don't know, what was I supposed to look for?”

“Does he speak yet?”

“Yeah. He says `Dad'.” Luna grinned.

“Good, then they helped. The Blue Bellied Beneezels affect a child's speech. If he hadn't spoken yet, it might've been a problem.”

“I see, well thanks again for those. Did you catch a Panthered Poketi yet?” Luna walked to her traps and looked at them hopefully. She sighed when her trap that resembled a bear trap with a single orange radish in the middle was empty.

“No, not yet. But if I don't I'll be fine without one, but it just would've helped me study.”

“Well, if you need any help this weekend, just let me know.”

“Thanks, Harry. Oh wait, we're professor and student now. Professor.” Harry waited till Luna climbed the tree again before he turned to leave.

“Happy hunting, Luna. Have a good night.”

“Thanks, Professor. You too.” Harry went back to the castle and back to his flat. He thanked Winky for watching Teddy and proceeded to start putting him down for the night. That evening was his night for the Wolfsbane Potion, and although it was easier to convince Teddy to take it, he still put up a fight. It took him till after 1:30 before he got Teddy to stop crying and was able to rock him to sleep. Teddy had just drifted off when Harry heard a light knock on the door.

“Who is it?” he called softly to his visitor.

“It's Hermione.”

“Come in.” Hermione slowly opened the door and poked her head in, knowing that she should be quiet because Teddy was asleep. Any anger she had towards Harry at the beginning of the evening melted away when she saw him sitting in the chair with Teddy in his arms. It was a sweet sight.

She smiled at him and whispered, “Did you just get him to sleep?”

“He had to take his potion tonight, and you know that's never an easy ordeal.” Hermione nodded in understanding.

“I see. Well, I just wanted to stop by and let you know I was back.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, I did,” Hermione said honestly. True to her word, she hadn't thought about Harry once while she was at the ball. The two of them didn't say anything, Hermione just smiled down at Teddy in Harry's arms.

“Well,” she said eventually. “Good night.”

“Good night, Hermione.” As she shut the door and left, Harry stared at the door long after she'd gone. Perhaps Luna was right, maybe love was subtle.

--------

A/n: Well, there's chapter 20. Wow, twenty chapters already, that's crazy, this is the longest fanfic I've written! Ok, and the next one is going to jump ahead a few months, it'll pick up the summer after this current school year. Hopefully I can make it work without things being too confusing. So, look for 21 soon, I've already got it started, and I've got an idea of how it'll all come together so hopefully it won't take too long to write.

P.S. BTW, the links below are the inspiration for the dress that I just created in my head for Hermione. The sleeves one is what I imagined them to look like, only green with gold embroidery. That same embroidery is on the hem as well. And the color swatch is kind of the shade of green I was thinking of. Since it's a fall ball, I tried to have her wear some fall colors, and it's REALLY hard to find something similar to the dress I was imagining especially this time of year. So hopefully I described it well enough for you to get the jist of it, the rest is your imagination!

Sleeves

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49997973&currentIdx=4&subCategory=-49998498%7c-49997973&catentryId=1000410&sort

Color

http://lsribbon.com/images/Forest%20Green%20df%20satin.jpg

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Chapter 21: December

---------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

-- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-----------------------------

December

Harry scowled at the owl that flew through his living room window. The bird itself wasn't offensive; it was the object it carried in its talons. They were flowers. Flowers for Hermione. Flowers from Barrett. Ever since the night they went to the fall ball, about once a week, Barrett would send Hermione some kind of flowers. It was irritatingly sweet. Throughout the semester, Harry hadn't noticed the flowers so much because they'd be delivered to her flat at school, but now that the semester was over and both he, Teddy and Hermione were back at Grimmauld Place, he was seeing the owl with the flowers about once a week. And really getting tired of it.

Barrett and Hermione had gone on a few dates over the past few months, Harry never knew how they went, because not only did he choose not to ask, Hermione never wanted to divulge the information. Barrett was a tense topic between the two of them, Hermione knew Harry didn't want to talk about him, and Hermione didn't feel like starting an argument over him. But whether she knew exactly why Harry didn't want to talk about Hermione's relationship with Barrett, Harry wasn't sure, but he doubted it. He took the white lilies from the owl and it took off. Begrudgingly Harry climbed the stairs to Hermione's room to deliver her weekly bouquet. He knocked on her bedroom door and waited for an answer. After a few seconds, she softly called for him to come in. She was lying on her bed with a book open across her stomach. Her eyes were closed as though she had just woken up from a nap.

“I'm sorry I woke you,” Harry said apologetically. “But your weekly delivery just arrived.” Hermione opened her eyes and put her bookmark in her book and sat up.

“No, I wasn't napping; I just dozed off for a couple minutes.” Harry handed her the lilies and she smiled halfheartedly.

“Thank you.” She looked at the flowers expressionlessly, and brought them to her nose to smell. Still looking at the flowers, she asked, “What time is it?”

Harry looked at his watch. “Almost half past noon.” Hermione put her flowers down and rubbed her face with her hands to wake herself up and then she slid out of bed.

“I have to get to Diagon Alley, I was going to do my Christmas shopping today and I haven't got to there yet.” She took her flowers and added them to the already full vase that sat on her dresser and headed for the door. Harry backed out so she could get past him and the two of them went downstairs. When she'd put her shoes and socks on and was pulling on her winter coat, she said to Harry, “Would you like me to wait till Teddy wakes up and you can go with me so you can get your Christmas shopping done?” Harry shook his head.

“No, I'll go either tomorrow or the next day. I'll go when you can watch Teddy so he's not along. That way he can't see what he's getting for Christmas,” Harry said with a grin. Hermione smiled as well.

“Yes, because I'm sure he would understand it. Do you know what you're going to get him?”

“Not a clue. I'm hoping something will pop out when I go. Do you know what you're getting him?”

“Sure do.”

“It's not a book, is it?”

“Why do you naturally assume that?” Hermione asked with a laugh.

“Well, is it?”

“Maybe.” Harry gave her an `I knew it' look. Hermione said, “It's important for children to have literary experiences when they're young. That way when they're older they'll be more likely to be readers.”

“Ok, Hermione, I believe you,” Harry said, making sure to just agree with her to avoid a long lecture about Hermione's views on the importance of reading, which he'd heard on plenty of other occasions. Hermione wrapped her scarf around her neck and grabbed her purse.

“I'll be back in a few hours. Definitely in time for supper.”

“Ok, see you later.” Hermione nodded and Apparated to Diagon Alley.

Once she was standing on the busy street, Hermione pulled out her list of people she needed to get gifts for. It wasn't very long, but she was fine with that. She went down the list one by one, going to each store for the person's gifts.

Mum and Dad

This would be easy. Her parents were always fascinated by the magic world ever since their daughter received her letter to Hogwarts when she was eleven. So all she had to get them was something to do with the wizarding world and they'd love it. It seemed sort of patronizing to think of them like that, but she knew that they didn't care if they got a present or not, so it didn't really matter what she got them, they'd love it anyway. Since her mother was very fond of gardening, she decided on a magical plant that Hermione had been telling her about recently that was similar to a rose bush, only the blossoms were the size of a fist and the stems were thorn-less. It would bloom year round and only take a month or two to fully mature. The one Hermione picked out was a very pale pink, almost white. Her mother would love it. For the one whom she inherited her love of reading from, she got a book. When his daughter first found out she was a witch, she and her father researched for weeks learning about the wizarding world before Hermione went to school. History was his favorite topic, so Hermione bought him a book on the history of the wizarding world's involvement in the Crusades. The shopping for her parents out of the way, she moved on to the next person on her list.

Teddy

That was simple. She'd been thinking for a couple weeks what she was going to get him, and just like Harry suspected, it was going to be a book. Or rather, books. Children's books had been on her mind since the Christmas season started, and she had an idea of what ones she was going to get him. But they weren't going to be in Diagon Alley, so she went back to muggle London to a children's bookstore she'd found long ago, where she'd gotten Teddy's Peter Pan book at. She went to a shelf right away when she walked in the store, and promptly picked up a book and started flipping through it.

Teddy was growing so fast. Magical children already grew faster than muggle children as far as brain development so he was already adding more words to his vocabulary, and had finally gotten the walking thing going, although he was still pretty wobbly at times. Most of the time he'd only walk once Harry or Hermione got him started, he usually didn't initiate the walking, he always thought it was faster to crawl. Thinking of Teddy's walking brought a funny memory to Hermione's mind.

“Ok, squirt, let's try this walking thing again,” Harry said to Teddy as he set him on his feet and knelt next to him ready to help if Teddy needed it. Hermione sat a few feet away to give Teddy a destination, she too was on her knees and smiled encouragingly as Teddy took a step forward. Harry let go of the baby's hands and Teddy stood there staring at Hermione for a second or two before he started falling forward. Harry quickly tried to grab him to keep him from falling on his face, but he stopped once Teddy's hands went out and he caught himself on his hands. He stared at the floor contemplating his next move, then he moved his right hand forward, then his right foot, then his left hand, then his left foot, his little baby butt sticking up in the air. He started walking in the bear crawl position to Hermione. She put her hand over her mouth as her body shook with laughter. The site of Teddy walking like that was just so comical she couldn't help but laugh. Harry grinned and stopped Teddy by putting his hands on the baby's waist. Harry then pulled Teddy up so he was only standing on his feet. Teddy made a noise of protest while this was happening.

“Here, we don't walk like werewolves. We've got to walk like people.” A couple times, Teddy tried walking on his hands and feet, but Harry wouldn't let him so as not to get into a habit he wouldn't be able to break for a while. After a few more tries, Teddy gave up trying to walk like a werewolf and took a few steps by himself, almost half the distance to between Harry and Hermione. Teddy beamed when Harry and Hermione applauded and cheered for him and he clapped his hands happily as well.

Hermione smiled as she recalled the site of Teddy's werewolf walk as a human. Books to help Teddy with his walking and talking would be a good gift for him. Not really finding anything on the shelves that was jumping out at her, Hermione kept looking until a saleslady came over to help her.

“Are you looking for anything in particular, miss?”

“Yes, my friend has a little boy, he's just learning to walk and talk, and I'm looking for a few books for him.” The saleslady nodded and started pulling down books.

“Have you ever heard of this one, called The Very Hungry Caterpillar? It's a good book for helping children learn to count, and it's a fun book too.” She handed Hermione the book and read a few pages.

`In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf. One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and-pop!-out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar. He started to look for some food. On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry. He started to look for some food. On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry. He started to look for some food.' And the story went on, the hungry caterpillar eating a real hole in the pages through more food until he got a stomachache after eating so much on Saturday. Eventually he made a cocoon and then became a butterfly at the end. Hermione smiled as she read the ending and nodded.

“I like this one. It's cute.”

“This one is one of our popular ones. We have other books that are by a man named Bill Martin Jr., and Eric Carle illustrated them. They're very popular as well, they're good learning books. We also have a wide variety of learning books; they'd be really good for a child who's learning to talk. I'll let you browse a little, and if you need any more help, just let me know.”

“Ok, thank you.” After doing some searching, Hermione had The Very Hungry Caterpillar in her hands to purchase as well as one of the books the saleslady mentioned by Bill Martin Jr. called Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, which she thought would be a good book to help Teddy with colors and animals since every page was a new animal that was a different color. Also, she had two books that she remembered reading as a child, Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy. She was about to call it quits on the books, thinking four was enough when she walked by a shelf that had books by Dr. Suess. She couldn't pass those up so she picked up The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Having Teddy's gift bought, she went back to Diagon Alley with only two people left on her list, and it was two people that she had no idea what to get them.

Barrett

Harry

While she was thinking of where to go next, a voice calling her name brought her out of her thoughts.

“Hermione!” She turned to look for the voice and saw Ron walking toward her through the crowd of bustling Christmas shoppers. She smiled when she saw him and waited till he was within earshot to speak.

“Well, hey stranger.”

“Hey yourself. How're you doing?”

“I'm good, how are you?”

“Good. I was just going to grab lunch; did you want to join me?”

“I've already eaten, but I'll join you anyway.” The two of them wound through the crowd to a small café that was just starting to empty from the first round of lunch customers as they started heading back to work. They sat down in a booth, and after the waitress had taken their orders, or rather Ron's order, and had brought them their drinks did they actually start their conversation.

“So what brings you to Diagon Alley today?”

“Christmas shopping.”

“Did you get me anything good?”

“I'm not going to tell you,” Hermione said with a sweet smile.

“Well then I won't tell you what I got you.”

“Did you even get me anything?”

“No, I haven't yet.”

“Well, that's perfect because I didn't get you anything. Yet. What do you want?”

“I don't know. You don't have to get me anything.” Hermione shrugged.

“Tell you what, if I see something that just screams `Ron Weasley' then I'll get it for you. And then you can do the same thing with me.”

“Fair enough. So who do you have to shop for?”

“I've gotten my parents' gifts and Teddy's gift. All I have left are Harry and Barrett.” Hermione overdramatically sighed and added teasingly, “And of course I have to be on the lookout for anything calling out to me for your gift.” Ron grinned.

“You don't have to get me anything,” Ron repeated with a smile. “What are you getting for Harry and Barrett?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I know what Teddy is giving Harry, but I have no idea what I'm giving him. And as for Barrett—” Hermione sighed. “I really don't know.”

“How're things going with Barrett, because I'm not going to lie, that relationship is lasting a lot longer than I thought it would. And I'm not saying this as a jealous ex boyfriend type guy, simply as your friend for eight years.”

“What made you think it wouldn't last very long?”

“Well, for starters, the guy seems like a complete thickhead, not your type at all.” Hermione gave an annoyed sigh.

“Ron, you've only met the man once. For like five minutes.”

“Those five minutes were long enough. And from what Harry's told me, he's a bigger prat than those five minutes let on.”

“Well, Harry's got his own issues with Barrett and my relationship.”

“Why do you think he does?”

“I don't know. I keep trying to tell myself that I don't care, because there are times where he drives me insane with his attitude when Barrett and I go out on a date. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was jealous. I mean, he's told me once before that he was, but it was only because he was afraid of losing me. But he's gotten over that.” Ron smiled a knowing smile, still trying to keep himself from blurting anything out.

“You really think he's over it?”

“Of course,” Hermione said simply. “Why wouldn't he be? He knows he's not going to lose me, and he even admitted that there was no reason for it, that it was foolish to be jealous.” Ron didn't reply, but had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. He didn't know that Hermione could be so clueless. He, however, changed the subject, or rather brought the subject back to Hermione and her boyfriend.

“But you never answered me, how are things going with Barrett?”

“Wait, do you know something I don't?”

“No,” Ron said a little nervously. Even if I did, it wouldn't be my place to say anything. Are you trying to avoid my question?”

“You're avoiding mine.”

“Ok, all I'm going to say is talk to Harry.” Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, and still didn't offer an answer to Ron's question. The waitress bringing Ron's meal gave her a little more time to avoid it, hoping that perhaps Ron would drop it. He didn't, however. After the waitress was gone again, he waited a few seconds before he prompted her to answer, letting her know that he wasn't going to give up on the question.

“Well?” Again, Hermione sighed.

“Things are…fine, I guess.”

“You guess? What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong, it's just…I don't know. He's a nice and sweet and everything, but lately it just seems like lately, that sweetness has started to be a little too much. He sends me flowers every week. I'm not much of a flower person in the first place, let alone getting at least a dozen every week. Whenever I'm with him, my mind is constantly on other things, I'm never thinking about him. I'm thinking about—He's just—” Hermione trailed off, unable to explain anymore.

“Let me guess, it's because he's not Harry.” Hermione sighed again and gave Ron a pained look as she realized that Ron was right.

“What the hell is the matter with me? Why can I not let go of something I know will never happen? No matter how much I tell myself to, I just can't let it go. It's pretty ridiculous, and now it's affecting my other relationships.” At this point, Ron really had to try hard to keep himself from grinning and laughing at his best friend.

“What makes you think you're wasting your time? What makes you think nothing will ever happen?”

“Ok, what do you know?” Hermione asked suddenly throwing Ron for a loop.

“Um, I don't know anything,” Ron said a little too quickly to pass as believable.

“Yeah right, Ron, I know you know something. Tell me.” Ron didn't answer her right away, he just countered the stare down that Hermione was giving him. Finally, after was seemed like hours, he gave a short laugh of disbelief and spoke.

“You know, both you and Harry are idiots. Do you honestly not see what the rest of the world sees? What we all see as two people in love with each other you two write it off as close friendship. Why do you keep denying this?”

“Just because we may look like we're a couple in love doesn't mean that we are.”

“But you are. You said so yourself.”

“Ok, but unrequited love is not the same as in love.” Ron sighed and leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. Talking to Hermione was beginning to be about as frustrating as talking to Harry.

“What is that for?” Hermione asked irritated.

“Again, Hermione, what makes you think it's unrequited?”

“I've told him how I felt. He doesn't love me back that same way.”

“How long ago was that?” Hermione shrugged.

“A few months ago.”

“A lot can happen in a few months, Hermione. My suggestion would be to just talk to Harry.”

“I doubt it's anything—“

“You know, Hermione,” Ron interrupted, “if you and Harry put half as much effort into a relationship that you put into denying your relationship, you could be together for a long time.” Hermione sighed.

“Do you think maybe we could change the subject, please?”

“Sure, if you like.”

“What are your plans for Christmas?”

“Well, on Christmas Day, all of us kids are going home for dinner and such. Other than that, I don't have a lot planned.”

“Would you like to come spend Christmas Eve with Harry, Teddy and I? We don't have a lot planned either, just dinner I think and presents. My parents decided to go back to Australia over the holidays, so I'm not doing anything special with them, and this is Teddy's first Christmas, so it should be fun, I think. Harry is going to try and see if Andromeda will come spend Christmas with us. So if you'd like to join us you're welcome to.”

“That sounds good. Do you mind if I bring a date?”

“A date, really?” Hermione asked, intrigued. “Anyone I know?”

“Yeah, you know her. She came into George's store the other day and we started talking and then went to lunch and I finally asked her out.”

“Well, are you going to tell me who she is, or are you going to keep me in suspense? Before you answer, I should have you know that my wand is handy for a quick spell to turn your hair green if you don't tell me.” Ron laughed.

“Ok, but don't judge me.”

“No judgment,” Hermione said honestly.

“It's Luna,” Ron said with an almost embarrassed shrug. Hermione smiled.

“Really? That's great Ron. Luna's great.”

“I know she's a little quirky, but it's kind of endearing.”

“Yes, you'll never be bored with her, that's for sure. But yeah, you can bring her to dinner, that'd be no problem. As long as she doesn't think it's too weird to be spending Christmas Eve with two of her professors.”

“I really don't think she'd have a problem with it. You're not doing anything for the holidays with Barrett?” Hermione shook her head, inwardly sighing for she was irritated that she and Ron had returned to that conversation.

“No, he's spending it with his family. I can't remember for sure what he said he was doing, but they were traveling, I know that.”

“You don't even know where he's going?”

“No, I don't, I don't remember,” Hermione snapped.

“Sorry. Alright, I'm dropping the subject.”

“Thank you.” As Ron finished up his meal, Hermione looked at her watch and said, “Well, I should probably get going. I still need to come up with two more presents and then make it back home. I told Harry I'd be home before supper, so if I'm going to get finished I should get going.”

“Alright. What time do you want Luna and me to come over on Christmas Eve?”

“Um, whenever you want to, I suppose. Dinner will probably be at six, so any time before then.”

“Alright, I'll see you then.”

“Ok, see you.” Hermione gathered her things and left the restaurant, almost glad to be getting out of there. She loved Ron, he was one of her best friends, but she wasn't sure how she liked his new perceptive attitude. Maybe since he and Hermione were no longer dating, he was determined to prove that the reason she broke up with him was because of Harry. Although when they had their big fight, he had been so spiteful when he accused her of breaking it off with him because she loved Harry, she expected that when he found out that Hermione did love Harry it would've caused another argument. But he'd just smiled, looking as though he was fighting very hard not to grin or burst out laughing. She was glad there hadn't been an argument, even glad that he hadn't laughed and said he'd told her so. But she didn't like how perceptive he'd gotten. It made her afraid of what he could or might be telling Harry.

But what difference did it make what Ron did tell Harry? Harry knew already, she told him a few months ago how she'd fallen in love with him and he'd done nothing. At first, she thought he would, but in the end it turned out he felt nothing of the same feelings for her. She was better off trying to work things out with Barrett.

But she didn't want to work things out with Barrett. She'd pretty much just admitted that to herself and to Ron a little bit ago. All through the last couple months she'd been dating him she'd been looking for some kind of sign that they were going somewhere. Something like a spark, some kind of chemistry of sorts. Something other than boredom. Barrett was a nice guy and everything, but it was like Ron had said: He wasn't Harry.

But what was the point of pining over someone who she knew was never going to return the feelings? She thought of how Harry had been the last few months, how he'd been charming, thoughtful, and…loving.

Hermione stopped in the middle of the street as some of the things Ron said came back to her. People around her were grumbling about the crazy lady that just stopped suddenly in the middle of the crowds as they went about their Christmas shopping.

“Why do you think it's unrequited love?”

What makes you think that you're wasting your time? What makes you think nothing will happen?”

“Ok, all I'll say is talk to Harry.”

It was impossible. There was no way he loved her. Right?

A/n: Lol, ok, nasty cliffhanger of sorts, but that's what makes good stories right? So I decided to only jump ahead a couple months, it seemed to be easier considering any longer of a jump and it'd get kind of confusing. Good news, this story is almost done! I'm thinking five more chapters, give or take. But I'm not gonna make any promises, I also planned on getting this thing done before I went back to school, and here I've already been back for almost three weeks.

I need some help from you all. I'm at a total loss for what Hermione should give Barrett and Harry for Christmas. I think I know a way to get out of her giving Barrett a gift, it won't be nice, but I don't think a lot of you will mind since you've told me many times how much you don't like Barrett, lol. So I could use your suggestions! Let me know what you think!

Also, here's a list of the books and the authors of the books Hermione gives Teddy in this chapter. I don't know if you can get them in England, but I'm going to assume that you can for the purposes of this story. I highly suggest all of them, they're really good children's books!

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Corduroy by Don Freeman

A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman

Did you all go see Half Blood Prince? Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie, shipping preferences aside. And as to the shipping in the movie, it went over about as well as it did in the books, sudden and totally random. It was like, where did Ginny come from all of a sudden? And the kiss, lol, it looked exactly like Cho and Harry's kiss in the last movie. True love, isn't it? I liked the little moments between Harry and Hermione in the movie, especially since there's a really pretty song on the soundtrack called `Harry and Hermione'. It's my favorite of all the songs btw, lol. It's a melancholy kind of song, since the scene where the song is played is the part where Harry and Hermione are together after Hermione just witnessed Ron kissing Lavender. There's a pretty good fanfic that I believe is still in the making called, “It Feels Like This”, that puts a different spin on that part and all the other H/Hr moments in the movie. It's by Hermione Potter, who's a pretty good writer in my opinion. But if you're a music freak like me, I suggest the soundtrack. Aside from the songs called `Ginny' and `When Ginny Kissed Harry', it's a pretty good album.

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Chapter 22: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

---------------------------

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

----------------------------

The last few weeks before Christmas passed quickly, what with preparations for Teddy's first Christmas keeping both Harry and Hermione and also Kreacher busy and all the other things that needed doing, the days just flew by. Soon it was Christmas Eve. So far the plan was that that evening, Ron and Luna were going to join Harry, Hermione and Teddy for dinner, and then on Christmas day it'd just be the three of them. Harry had hoped Andromeda was going to be able to join them for Christmas, but when he talked to her neighbor, she said Andromeda wasn't doing so well. So Harry and Hermione made sure to take Teddy over to her house to spend some time with her since she couldn't come to them.

In the weeks since Hermione and Ron had lunch that one day, Hermione still hadn't said anything to Harry like Ron had suggested. Every time she'd start to bring up the subject, she'd chicken out. She could tell she was starting to get on Harry's nerves with her cowardice, he could tell there was something she wanted to talk about or tell him, but every time he brought it up, she'd tell him it was nothing and change the subject. And every time she brought it up, she'd lose her nerve at the last minute. So much for Gryffindor courage.

She did, however, fix things with Barrett finally. That was the first conclusion she'd come to after talking to Ron that day; she needed to break things off with Barrett. It wasn't fair to lead him on, having him think that everything was going to work out. After she'd talked to him asking him to meet her so they could talk, she was dreading the conversation. What was she going to say? How was she going to say it? She thought about how her relationships had ended in the past. With Ron, it ended because they were angry with each other. With Viktor, that relationship just sort of died when they stopped writing to each other. With Cormac, (Hermione shuddered remembering that moment of stupidity) she'd ignored him because he was a prat who couldn't keep his hands to himself and she just wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible. To Hermione's surprise, the conversation with Barrett had gone better than she'd expected it to.

“So what did you want to talk about, Hermione?” Hermione took a deep breath and sighed, keeping her eyes on her coffee mug and drumming her fingernails on it, making nervous little clicking sounds. When she finally looked up and was about to speak, Barrett beat her to it.

“Wait, I have a feeling I know where this is headed.”

“You do?”

“Yes. It's not working out, is it?” Hermione gave him a sad and apologetic look and shook her head.

“No, it's not. I'm sorry.”

“I had a feeling that's what this was going to be about when I received your owl. And I'm not surprised, either. I hoped I was wrong, but I could kind of start to tell that things weren't working out between us.”

“I wish I could say that they were going to work out. You're a great man, Barrett, but it's not fair to either one of us to keep trying to make it work when we know it won't.”

“I agree.”

“I'm so sorry.”

“Don't be. We just weren't meant to be, that's just the way it goes. Our future significant others will be glad of this.” Hermione laughed.

“Yes, I suppose they will.”

“And I know this is completely cliché to say this, but I hope we can still be friends, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Well, I suppose I should go, I'll talk with you later, Hermione,” Barrett said as he stood up to leave.

“Goodbye, Barrett.”

After he'd gone, it was like an enormous weight had been lifted off of Hermione's shoulders. Now all she had to do was talk to Harry, and that thought made her ten times more nervous than she'd been prior to talking to Barrett.

--------------

If Harry had been surprised how Grimmauld Place had changed when he took up ownership, he was astounded at how it looked decked out in Christmas decorations. Kreacher had truly outdone himself. Garland was strung everywhere, over the doorways, around the banister on the staircase, and around the mantel of the fireplace. Strands of Christmas lights were all over, as well as candles that went on burning unless someone blew them out, and they wouldn't start a bigger fire should they get knocked over or bumped. In the living room next to the fireplace was an enormous Christmas tree that had been decorated with lights, ribbons, and ornaments and beneath it of course were the presents. Hanging on the mantel were three stockings, one for Harry, one for Hermione, and the biggest one for Teddy. All day long the house smelled of the cooking dinner and more than once both Harry and Hermione had to remind Kreacher that there were only going to be five people for dinner that evening and that the meal didn't have to feed a small army.

Later that day, Hermione was getting Teddy dressed for dinner. While she was doing this, Harry was sitting in the rocking chair in Teddy's room talking with her and handing her the various things she'd need to get the little guy ready.

“So what do you think of the fact that Ron's bringing Luna tonight?” Harry asked. Hermione shrugged.

“I think it's great. They'll be good for each other. He'll help her stay down to earth, and she'll help him look at things from a different perspective.” She took Teddy's old diaper off of him and wiped him clean, and before she could open her mouth to ask, Harry was handing her a fresh diaper.

“I suppose you're right. It's just not a couple I would've guessed would ever happen. I'm surprised Ron even gave her a chance.” Hermione shrugged again as she finished putting Teddy's diaper on and Harry handed her Teddy's long sleeved red one-zee. Teddy was smiling happily and trying to kick his feet and pull them up to his hands. He always liked it when Harry and Hermione both helped get him dressed because they were together. Teddy was always happiest when his two caretakers were together.

“Now that I think back, I think Luna always wanted it to happen. I think she's always had a thing for him. He was just caught up in too many other things and other people to notice.” She finished buttoning Teddy's one-zee and Harry handed her Teddy's little overalls. This was one of the first times Harry and Hermione had a good conversation since they came home for the holiday vacation. That's not to say that they didn't talk, they just usually talked about Teddy or school. And it's not like there weren't things to say, each one had something very important to say to the other one. The only problem was that neither one of them could work up the courage to broach the subject.

“Yeah probably so. I think she'll be good for him,” Harry said, handing Hermione Teddy's socks and sneakers. He liked Teddy's shoes; it was interesting to see the same kind of footwear adults would have only shrunk to the size of a few inches. The only problem with them was that they belonged to a little man who always liked to kick his feet when one was trying to put shoes on him. Teddy would rather go barefoot than wear shoes and socks, but since it was winter, he had to wear something on his feet. After coaxing Teddy to keep his feet still, Hermione finally got his shoes on and he was fully dressed.

“There we go, all set!” She picked Teddy up and set him on his feet on the changing table. Teddy happily clapped his hands and laughed. Hermione wrinkled her nose at him and smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She said to Teddy, “Here you go, little man, you go to Daddy so I can get dressed.” She handed Teddy to Harry and left to go change from her sweatshirt and sweatpants to nicer clothes.

“Should we get a book out to read while Hermione's changing clothes?” Teddy clapped his hands as Harry reached for the closest book to the chair, which was the Peter Pan book Hermione had gotten him a while ago. Part of the way through the book, the part where Peter Pan had just rescued Wendy from walking the plank off the Jolly Roger, Teddy stopped paying attention to the story and looked up at the door.

“Mine-e?” Harry looked at him and gave him a questioning look.

“What?”

“Mine-e? Mine-e?” He was speaking so softly and looking back and forth between Harry and the door. When he looked at Harry, he was giving him a wide eyed confused look. It was almost like he was unsure if what he was saying was the right word. Harry couldn't understand what he was saying or trying to say and had to repeat it to himself a couple times.

“Mine? Mine?” Harry whispered to himself. “Yours?” he said, tapping the book. “Your book? Teddy's book.”

Teddy pushed the book away a little and said again, “Mine-e?” This time the two syllables were a little more clear so Harry could pick out what he was saying, just not what he was meaning.

“My knee?” And then it hit him. Mione. Hermione. Mine-e was Teddy's way of saying Hermione.

“Hermione? Is that what you're saying?”

“Mine-e,” Teddy said with a little more confidence this time, but was still looking at the door.

“She'll be back. She's just getting dressed. Mine-e will be back.” Harry started to read again, and Teddy's attention was brought back to the brightly colored book in Harry's hands.

Having finished changing clothes, putting on a simple burgundy long sleeved button down shirt and dark blue jeans, Hermione headed back to Teddy's room. She had black flats on her feet and the only jewelry she wore was a pair of black tear drop earrings. She left her hair down but styled it a little so it was more curls instead of thick, bushy mess. She heard Harry reading to Teddy and she looked around the corner of the doorway to watch the two of them. She smiled as she saw them sitting in the rocking chair, rocking back and forth while Harry read. Teddy was absorbed in the story, even though he'd heard it hundreds of times. He would put his hand on the pictures every once in a while, and Harry would stop at the end of a sentence and tell him what it was that Teddy was pointing to.

“That's a crocodile. He's got a clock in his belly so he goes, tick tock, tick tock.” When Harry mimicked the clock he swayed Teddy left and right in time with the sound and Teddy giggled. Hermione smiled at the two of them. She always loved watching Harry with Teddy; it was another one of the things she loved about him. It surprised her how natural this parenting thing had come to him, especially since Teddy wasn't his biological son. She always knew Harry would be a good father, and he was proving her right. Right then he looked so handsome in his dark green turtleneck sweater and blue jeans, his black hair its usual mess, and his bright green eyes smiling as he happily read to the little godson he'd come to love. Son, she corrected herself. In almost every way, Teddy was Harry's son now. She finally came around the corner to let herself be seen and as soon as Harry saw her he told her the exciting news.

“Guess what Teddy said?”

“What?”

Harry didn't answer her; he just pointed to Hermione and asked Teddy, “Teddy, who's that?” Teddy smiled happily as he looked up at Hermione.

“Mine-e.” Hermione's jaw dropped a little as she heard clearly what he said.

“Hear it? Mine-e. That's about as close as he'll get to saying Hermione for a while.” Hermione smiled and nodded that she'd heard.

“That's great.”

“It took me a while to figure out what he was saying. I could understand that he was saying Mine-e, but I wasn't putting two and two together.”

“You'll get better at it; soon you'll be able to understand him better than anyone else will.”

“Mine-e, Mine-e, Mine-e, Mine-e,” Teddy said over and over again, swaying from side to side like Harry had done with him on the tick-tocks. Both Harry and Hermione laughed as he did this, and when they laughed, Teddy laughed. He held his hands up to Hermione for her to pick him up, and when she did so, she kissed him on the cheek.

“You're just too cute, kid.” Teddy laughed again and his hair turned orange. Harry put the book aside and stood up from the chair, standing next to Hermione and Teddy.

“Well, should we go downstairs? Ron and Luna will be here pretty soon.”

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Ron and Luna arrived by Floo around six. Right away Luna happily explained to Hermione the same thing she'd explained to Harry a while ago, that she was easily able to just be Luna, their eccentric friend from school, and it wouldn't be weird spending Christmas Eve with two of her teachers. And true to her word, it wasn't awkward at all as the four of them sat down to dinner. It was like four friends from school getting together and enjoying each other's company. It was another one of those moments of normalcy Harry enjoyed now that the war was over.

“So who cooked tonight? This was a really good dinner,” Ron commented as they were starting on the pumpkin pie.

“Kreacher did,” Hermione replied.

“Oh, I almost forgot about Kreacher. He's still a good cook.”

“And an enthusiastic one at that. Hermione and I had to keep reminding him that there were only going to be five people eating tonight, so he didn't need to prepare a feast for an entire army.”

“And the house looks amazing, Harry,” Luna said. “Granted, I've never been here before so I don't know what it looked like before you fixed it up and before there were Christmas decorations all over, but from what Ronald told me, it is definitely an improvement.”

“Yeah, not too bad for a house that used to belong to dark wizard supporters, is it?”

“Yep, it's nice you have a place like this to raise Teddy and any other family you may have some day,” Luna said. Harry fidgeted uncomfortably at Luna's comment and sat a little straighter in his chair as he picked up his fork again and took a bite of pie. He and Hermione just happened to glance at each other for just a fraction of a second before they both averted their gaze when they realized the other one was looking. Both Ron and Luna noticed the tension that seemed to fall around table especially between their host and hostess. Teddy just played happily with his spoon and the little slice of pumpkin pie in front of him, oblivious to the adults around him, smashing his spoon into the pie and then putting it into his mouth, but only half of the spoonful reached his mouth, the rest was on his face. Hermione nervously cleared her throat to break the silence that had somehow settled around the table, save for Teddy, and spoke.

“Well, should we take our pie into the sitting room and finish it there and then we can open presents.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Ron said when Harry didn't say anything. The four of them got up, and Ron and Luna headed for the living room leaving Harry and Hermione in the dining room.

Hermione handed Harry her plate and said to him, “You go on, I'll get Teddy cleaned up.” Harry didn't leave right away, though, he lingered in the dining room and watched as Hermione summoned a box of wipes from the kitchen and pulled one out to wipe Teddy's face. The baby made a face and turned his head as she approached him with the wipe, but after fighting him for a couple seconds, she was able to get his face wiped clean. She then unhooked his table to his highchair and pulled him out of the chair and into her arms.

“Should we go open presents, Teddy?” she asked him as she joined Harry and the three of them went into the living room. Teddy clapped his hands and said `Mine-e' a couple of times. In the living room, Ron and Luna were by the Christmas tree sorting presents. Harry and Hermione sat next to each other on the couch, Teddy was sitting on Hermione's lap and every once in a while as Hermione was eating the rest of her slice of pie, she would offer a bite to Teddy, and every time Teddy would open his mouth wide and Hermione would put the fork in his mouth and Teddy would smile happily when she pulled the fork back out and he was left with the sweet spicy taste of pie in his mouth. His attention was quickly diverted from the pie and to the brightly colored boxes that were being placed in front of him and he tried to grab each and every one of them so that Harry had to set them aside to keep them out of Teddy's reach. Once the presents had been sorted, Ron sat down in the chair while Luna remained on the floor sitting at his feet.

“Well, should we let the youngest go first? Especially since he's got the most presents,” Ron said. Harry took Hermione's empty plate from her and handed her one of Teddy's presents. It was from Mrs. Weasley that she sent over with Ron. With her arms around Teddy, Hermione started helping him unwrap the presents. Teddy, however, did most of the unwrapping. Once he understood how the process worked, he quickly tore at the paper. The present was a little navy blue Weasley sweater, made a few sizes too big so that Teddy could grow into it. Also, in the box was a thick nave blue fleece blanket. Teddy immediately held the blanket close up by his head and stuck his thumb in his mouth, causing all the adults to laugh.

“So I see the blanket was a hit,” Ron said. “I'll have to tell Mum about that.”

“Yeah, thank her on Teddy's behalf when you see her tomorrow,” Harry said, “I think he'll enjoy it a lot.”

“Should we all open our presents or should we let Linus here open some more since he has the most?” Hermione asked, to which Luna and Ron gave her confused looks.

“Linus?”

“From Peanuts. It's a muggle comic strip. The main character is a boy named Charlie Brown and one of his friends is named Linus and he always carries around a blanket and holds it almost exactly like this with his thumb in his mouth.” Both Ron and Luna nodded in understanding.

“Well, I think Teddy could open another present,” Luna said. “Open the one from us next.”

“Us? What, you two went together on this gift?” Harry teased. “Wow, I didn't know you were there yet. I thought you just started dating.” Ron blushed deeply at Harry's teasing, even Luna did a little, but she smiled and laughed it off.

“Well, we were together when we saw it and decided to split the cost between us and both give it to him.”

“Uh-huh,” Harry said with a grin in a tone that said he didn't believe her.

“Shut up, Harry, don't even get me started on you,” Ron said, and Harry was about to open his mouth to respond, but Hermione got there first.

“Boys,” she said calmly, “Let's let Teddy open his present.” Harry handed Teddy the gift from Ron and Luna. Teddy tore at the wrapping paper and then Hermione helped him open the box. Inside was a toy broomstick that looked almost exactly like the new Firebolts on the market, and a red stuffed Quaffle, two black stuffed Bludgers, and a little stuffed golden Snitch.

“Wow, they make stuffed Quidditch supplies for kids?” Harry said excitedly looking at Teddy's gift.

“Yeah, I always wanted a set of these, but they used to be kind of pricy when we were kids, so I didn't get it, but now they're not too bad. The toy Firebolt was the kicker,” Ron said and watched Teddy play with the stuffed Snitch. He was fascinated by it the most out of the other balls, as the wings were bewitched to actually move.

“Well, thank you, Ron, Luna,” Hermione said. “Should the rest of us open presents now?” There was agreement among everyone and they each began opening their presents. Teddy was busy pulling apart the wrapping paper on his gifts as well as Hermione's when she would try opening them. Once the presents had all been opened, Hermione suggested some hot chocolate and she went to the kitchen to bring the mugs into the living room. Ron took her by surprise when he offered to help her and the two of them went into the kitchen. They were silent until they reached the kitchen when Hermione spoke.

“Well, Ron, I'm kind of surprised that you offered to help,” she said, taking four mugs out of the cupboard.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?” she asked, though she had a feeling where the conversation was going.

“I take it you haven't talked to Harry yet.” There it was. Hermione sighed as she put the kettle filled with water on the stove and turned it on to heat.

“No I haven't.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can't seem to summon up my courage and tell him.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I don't know.” Ron sighed as he spooned scoopfuls of hot cocoa into the mugs so they were ready for the water when it got hot.

“I don't see why you're afraid, what could possibly change? I mean, already you two act like a married couple with a kid.”

“What?” Hermione said, turning quickly from the stove.

“I'm serious,” Ron said, laughing at Hermione's shocked look. “All evening long, the way you move around each other, anticipate what the other is going to need before the other one asks for it, the way you handle Teddy, it's like spending the evening with a married couple.”

“What are you talking about, we don't—“

“Yes, you do, don't try to deny it. And you know, now that I think about it, you've always been that way. Especially when we were Horcrux hunting and we were living in that tent. I guess now it just seems more obvious because Teddy's involved.”

“Ron, you're being ridiculous,” Hermione said, blushing a little bit.

“No I'm not, I'm being serious.”

“It's because we live together now, we are used to having to work around the other person.”

“Yeah, like a married couple.”

“No, not like a married couple!” Hermione said defensively and Ron laughed.

“Why are you getting so upset about this? I thought you liked Harry in that way, even love him.”

“I—I do, it's just…” Hermione took a deep breath and sighed. “I just don't like looking into this that much because if I start looking at all the details, every touch, every look, every sentence that is said, I'll start to over analyze it and get my hopes up. Even though I don't want to.” The kettle started whistling and Hermione turned to take it off of the stove. Ron stood up and walked over to stand next to her at the stove.

“All the more reason to talk to Harry. Tell him how you still feel. Get it over with, rip the band aid off.” Hermione sighed and glared at him.

“You know, Ronald, I think I liked you better when you weren't so insightful.” Ron grinned and picked up the tray with the mugs after Hermione poured the water into them.

“But you still love me,” he said, leaning over and planting a kiss on her cheek. Despite her trying to be mad at him, Hermione smiled.

“Unfortunately that's true.”

They headed back to the living room, and before they were out of the kitchen Ron asked, “Did you ever break it off with that Smyth wanker?” Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's choice of words.

“Yes. I did.”

“Good,” Ron said simply with a wide grin. The two of them didn't say anymore, for they had left the kitchen and were soon in within earshot of the living room.

-----------

Once Ron and Hermione had left the room, and Teddy was busy playing with his stuffed Quidditch supplies and the yellow truck that Hermione's parents had given him, Luna spoke to Harry.

“So, how are things going with Hermione? Did you ever get rid of your Feudal Frinkles?”

“I'm not really sure if I have or not.”

“Oh. I thought you'd have figured it out by now whether you're in love with her or not.”

“No, that I have figured out.”

“And?”

“I think I am in love with her. And I think you were right about it being subtle too. It's been a gradual process, something I think has been coming for years, I was just too distracted to notice.”

“Well, you have had a lot on your mind over the last eight years. And then when you throw the teenage boy factor in there, it's not surprising that you're just realizing this now when you're almost in your twenties.” Harry chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“I don't even think I could pinpoint when I started falling in love with her either.”

“Because you didn't realize you were. That doesn't really matter, anyway, it only matters that you know you're in love with her now. So why did you say you're still having problems with Feudal Frinkles?”

“Because I don't know what I'm going to do about it now that I've realized this.”

“Why?”

“Well, she's not exactly free to be with me if she felt the same way. She's still with that Smyth bloke.”

“She is? I thought Ronald said she was going to break it off with him.”

“She was? She hasn't said anything if she did.”

“Hmm. Well, even if she hasn't ended it with him, you should still tell her how you feel.”

“I know, I just don't know how to go about doing it. And it makes me nervous when I think about telling her.”

“Why?”

“Because there's a good chance she doesn't feel the same way, especially since she's been seeing Barrett.”

“So what? If she doesn't feel that way, so be it. You'll never know unless you talk to her about it.”

“I know. And speaking of people getting together, how about you and Ron?”

“What about me and Ron?” Luna asked coyly.

“How did this all happen?”

“Well, we ran into each other in Diagon Alley after the holidays started. We started talking, and the next thing you know we were going to have lunch together and ended up spending the afternoon and a good portion of the evening together.”

“I was very surprised to hear that you two are together. Surprised in a good way, mind you.”

“I'm not,” Luna said with a soft smile.

“You've wanted it to happen for a long time, haven't you?” Harry said, remembering what Hermione had said earlier that afternoon. Luna nodded.

“Yes, for quite a few years.”

“Why didn't you say anything to him?”

“Because it was just a crush, I'm not “in love” with him yet. And besides he was so stuck on and to Lavender Brown that he didn't notice me beyond that very strange Ravenclaw girl that was part of the D.A. the year before and went with you all to London to save Sirius Black. And then there was the whole issue with him and his feelings for Hermione that year. I just decided to bide my time, and if it was meant to happen it was meant to happen. And I guess it was meant to happen.” Harry grinned.

“Well, I'm glad that it did. And I'm glad Ron got over his stupidity and asked you out.”

“And now that you've gotten over yours, you can tell Hermione how you feel too.” They weren't able to say anymore because Hermione and Ron came back into the living room with the mugs of hot chocolate. The four of them drank their cocoa and chatted with each other, about anything and everything, and decided it was time to call it a night when they saw Teddy was passed out on the floor, curled on his side with his new blanket snuggled in his arms, and the stuffed Snitch clutched in his right hand. Ron and Luna bade their goodbyes and decided to leave by Apparition this time instead of by Floo. They left the house and as soon as they were out the door, Luna said, “I have a galleon that says those two will be together by the end of the school year.” Ron laughed at this.

“You're on, but my galleon says that it'll be by the end of the holidays.”

Back inside Grimmauld Place, Harry reached down to pick up Teddy while Hermione levitated the tray of hot chocolate mugs back into the kitchen. When Harry tried to take the Snitch out of Teddy's hand, the baby's little hand just tightened around it and wouldn't let it go.

Hermione smiled at this and whispered, “I think you may have a potential Seeker there.” Harry grinned.

“Perhaps. But you said I couldn't teach him to fly until he was older.”

“Right, and you should wait till he's older.”

“Yeah, but Ron and Luna already gave him a toy Firebolt to practice with. So all the more reason to start now.” Hermione laughed softly and rolled her eyes, feeling like she was going to lose the argument. So, blanket, Snitch and all, Harry carefully picked Teddy up and once he was in his godfather's arms, Teddy snuggled close against Harry's chest.

“Too much excitement today for this little one, I think,” Harry said.

“Yep. But he'll be able to recover tomorrow. He can sleep late and take a nice long nap.”

“Yeah, like that'll happen,” Harry said with a laugh. “Crack of dawn, he'll be awake.” Hermione laughed softly again.

“You're right.” Harry headed for the stairs to take Teddy to his room, Hermione close behind him. Once they got to Teddy's room, they carefully changed Teddy's diaper and clothes and put his pajamas on him and put him in his crib. Before leaving, Hermione bent down and kissed Teddy's forehead and whispered, “Happy Christmas, Teddy. Love you.” Harry smiled at this, loving being able to see another moment with Hermione and Teddy. He believed those moments were a lot of what made him start to realize that he was in love with her. He loved seeing the two of them together, and was amazed at how natural parenting came to Hermione as if she was Teddy's adoptive mother. He knew that someday she'd make a great mother with her own kids, and something inside of him wanted to be there when she had her own children, and for them to be his children as well. He thought about his talk with Luna that evening and decided to through caution the wind and rip the band aid off.

“Hermione?” he said, reaching a hand out to grab her arm and stop her once they left Teddy's room and shut the door. “Do you think we could talk? There's something I need to tell you.” Hermione nodded.

“Sure. I'll meet you downstairs in the living room, there's just something I need to grab from my room first.”

“Ok.” They parted ways, Harry going downstairs, Hermione going down the hall. Both people became extremely nervous as they thought of the impending conversation. They both knew their relationship was going to change following it, they just hoped it was for the better.

A/n: Ok, here's chapter 22. And now that you've reached the end of it, you're about to go on to the chapter you've all been waiting for since the beginning of this story. Lol, well, as soon as I get it written. But don't worry, it won't be a long wait, I promise you. I've already started writing it and it's almost finished. I'll have to let you know I've been extremely nervous about this chapter ever since I started chapter 1. This is the big one! Hopefully I don't disappoint. I'll tell you the chapter title, it's called, “Can't Take My Eyes Off You”. It's a song by Lady Antebellum, and it's my inspiration for the next chapter. So if you're a country or Lady A fan, I highly suggest it, it's an awesome song!! See you next chapter!!

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Chapter 23: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

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A/n: Wow, 800 reviews, that's awesome!! Thanks so much everyone!!

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Harry was waiting for Hermione on the couch when she came back downstairs with a wrapped present in her hand. Harry gave her a curious look when he saw the gift and right away she answered his look.

“I don't know if you noticed tonight when we were opening presents that there wasn't one for you from me under the tree.”

“I actually did notice, but I didn't think much of it. You've given me so much over the years and the past few months that you didn't need to get me anything.”

“Yes, I did,” Hermione said, sitting down next to Harry on the couch and tucking her legs underneath her, “especially since you gave me that set of Transfiguration books. I love them, by the way, and can't wait to read them.”

“Good, and I'm sure you'll have all eight of them read by time we go back to school. But you didn't have to get me anything just because I gave you a set of books, Hermione.”

“That's not why I had to get you something, because I already had this made up before I found out you bought me a set of fairly expensive books.” Harry shrugged.

“They weren't that bad, I got a good deal on them.” Hermione smiled and handed him her gift.

“Well, this isn't quite as pricey as those books, but I'm sure you'll love it just the same.” Harry looked over the present in his hands. It was a twelve inch square box that was narrow width-wise. It wasn't heavy, but was hard.

“It's a book, though, isn't it?” Harry said with a grin. Hermione grinned back and nodded.

“But you'll still love it. Trust me. Just open it.” Harry tore the paper off of his gift and found that it was a blue and green scrapbook. He opened it up and found pages full of pictures of Teddy, and of Teddy and him together. Each page had two or three pictures on them, and were themed. One page had pictures of Harry and Teddy outside after the first snowfall of the season, with Teddy all bundled up in his thick coat and pants, his hood up and hands gloved. Teddy was sitting in the snow, and putting his hands in it, looking at the prints his hand left in the snow. Harry was sitting next to him, doing the same thing and showing Teddy the prints. Another page was one of the times when Harry was helping Teddy walk. He was standing behind him, and Teddy was holding onto his hands, taking small steps. All of the pictures were still, so they had been taken with a muggle camera.

“Ever since you got Teddy I've been trying to take pictures of you and him together with my digital camera. It was difficult sometimes to take them when you're not looking because I had a hard time being sneaky about it. I thought you should have pictures of when he's little and as he grows up since he's pretty much your first child.” Harry didn't say anything, he just kept flipping through the book, looking at all the pictures. Hermione was watching him, looking for a sign that he liked the gift or hated it. Finally she asked him what he thought.

“I love it. You have no idea, Hermione, thank you so much. It's the best book you've ever given me.” Hermione laughed.

“Good. I'm glad you like it.” Harry reached the last page and saw that it had only one picture on it. It was in black and white and there was nothing else on the page save for that picture. It was a picture of Teddy and Harry, and Harry was lying on the couch, the same couch he and Hermione were sitting on at that moment, and Teddy was lying on his chest. Both of them were sound asleep. Harry smiled at the picture and gave Hermione a teasing look.

“Hmm, taking pictures of me while I'm sleeping; that's very stalker-ish of you, Hermione.”

“That's my favorite picture. It's the one that gave me the idea for the scrapbook. I came downstairs and I saw you two sleeping and it was so sweet that I had to run upstairs and grab my camera to capture it.” Harry smiled once more at the picture and shut the book.

“Thank you very much, Hermione,” Harry said softly and sincerely. “I love it.”

“I'm glad you do,” Hermione whispered. There was a short silence between the two of them, each one afraid to move on to the reason for their talk. Finally, Hermione broke the silence. She said, “So what was it you wanted to talk with me about?” Harry took a deep breath and hesitated before speaking.

“I don't really know how to start.” Hermione didn't reply, it wasn't necessary for her to do so, plus if Harry started the conversation, it gave her more time to work up her courage for her part. She just smiled encouragingly, waiting patiently for him to go on. After a few seconds of thinking it over, Harry finally decided where to start.

“Do you remember that morning a while ago when we kissed?” Hermione's eyes widened slightly and her cheeks went pink as she recalled that day vividly. Still not speaking, she just nodded her head. Harry went on, “Something changed that day, and I think that's where this started, where I started to become more…aware of you. As more than just a friend or a sister. And I've been trying to tell myself to go back to the way I felt before that day, but I can't. Because these feelings didn't just start that day, they've been going on for quite a few years, I was just too distracted to realize it. What I'm trying to say,” he said, taking one of her hands in his, “is that I think I've fallen in love with you, Hermione.” Hermione's jaw dropped, that was clearly not quite what she was expecting, but she was so happy to hear it, it was something she'd been hoping to hear for a long time.

“Oh my gosh,” she whispered in surprise.

“I'm sorry I took so long to realize this, but like I said, I've been too distracted and stupid to not see the wonderful woman sitting in front of me as more than just my best friend. And I know you're with Barrett and everything, and this is a terrible time to be telling you this, but I wanted to tell you, just to get it off of my chest.”

“Harry, I'm not with Barrett anymore. I broke up with him a few days ago.”

“You did? Why?”

“Because it wasn't fair to him to feel like there was a chance that we'd work out when there wasn't. Because I can't stay in a relationship with him when I'm in love with another man.” This time it was Harry's turn to be surprised. Hermione went on, “Oh Harry, I've been in love with you for a long time. That was why I couldn't stay and marry Ron, why I decided finally to move in here with you, and why I was hesitant about it in the first place. I've tried ignoring the feeling and telling myself that it's nothing, but it hasn't worked. I know I've told you this already, but I want you know, my feelings haven't changed since that night I first told you I loved you.” Harry smiled and leaned forward a little, pulling on Hermione's hand to pull her towards him. When she leaned forward also, he kissed her. This time it wasn't some light kiss that ended quickly leaving them both embarrassed like before, this kiss was full of passion and love, the kind of love they'd both been feeling for a long time, and now that they both were aware of it, there was nothing to stop it. Hermione broke the kiss for a few seconds as she shifted so that she was sitting on her knees and she could get closer to Harry. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, leaning into him as he leaned back into the pillows on the couch, wrapping his arms around her waist. They stopped kissing finally and smiled at each other.

“You know, I've finally seen what everyone has been seeing for years,” Harry said. “They were right all along.”

“We were just too stubborn to see what they were all seeing. Ron said tonight that we were acting like a married couple, and I told him he didn't know what he was talking about, but I was just too stubborn to believe him.”

“He said we were like a married couple?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at least we didn't go in together on presents,” Harry said with a laugh.

“There's nothing wrong with that, Harry. And who knows, someday they might be doing that all the time.”

“We might be too.”

“Yep, maybe so.”

“Yeah, we were both a couple of idiots to not realize this before now.” Hermione softly laughed and kissed him again, a short one this time, and then she shifted again so that she was off her knees and sitting next to Harry, still in his arms.

“You didn't realize it, I've known all along that I wanted this.”

“Yes, but you didn't know that I was feeling the same way.”

“True. But it doesn't matter how stupid we were. It's in the past. Right now all that matters is sitting here beside you in your arms and not having you let go.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and they were silent, staring at the crackling fire, just content to be in each other's arms after so long of not having moments like this. Every once in a while, they'd kiss each other, but other than that, they just sat in each other's arms, just enjoying the moment.

---------

The next morning, Harry woke up and for a second wasn't sure where he was when he didn't recognize the ceiling right away. But then he remembered that he was lying on the couch in the living room, and Hermione was lying next to him, or rather, still in his arms and partially on top of him. It was a narrow couch, after all. She was still sleeping, and Harry planted a light kiss in her hair. She stirred and took a deep breath as she started to wake up. She lifted her head off of Harry's chest and looked at him. He smiled at her and said, “Happy Christmas.”

“Mmm, happy Christmas.” He kissed her good morning and suddenly a thought came to Hermione. “Oh, we forgot to put Teddy's Santa gifts out and fill the stockings last night.”

“That's all right, it's early still, he won't be up for a couple hours.”

“Oh my gosh, it's 5:45 in the morning,” Hermione said, glancing at the clock on top of the fireplace and then burying her face in Harry's shirt.

“Yep, we've got a little longer to sleep. Which is good, because I don't really want to get up.” Hermione laughed softly.

“Me neither.” Both of them closed their eyes with every intention of going back to sleep but not even fifteen minutes later did they hear through the baby monitor the sounds of Teddy stirring and his repeating of, `Dad' and `Mine-e'. Harry groaned when he heard his godson talking to him through the monitor.

“Oh what I wouldn't give to have that kid sleep till eight.” Hermione laughed again and started to get up.

“Well, come on, Daddy, go get your boy,” she said, rolling off of him enough so he could get up. “Go on, you get him dressed, and I'll put the Santa gifts out.” Harry got up, but before he left, he leaned down and gave Hermione a quick kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered to her.

“I love you too,” she smiled and whispered back. Harry went upstairs to go get Teddy and Hermione grabbed the presents to place under the tree and the items to put into the stockings. She finished quickly, and sat back down on the couch, thinking about the last few hours. Harry loved her. She couldn't believe it. Harry loved her. And not just as a friend or a sister. It almost didn't seem real or possible that he loved her, but right before he left to go get Teddy, he told her so. She smiled to herself as she started putting things in the stockings, things were finally starting to turn around.

Harry opened the door a crack and poked his head in, almost hoping that Teddy had gone back to sleep before he'd gotten up the stairs. No such luck, though. The child was standing in his crib holding onto the railing and when he saw Harry he smiled and said, `Dad'.

“What are you doing up so early, squirt? I know it's Christmas morning and everything, but you don't get up at the crack of dawn for presents until you're old enough to come downstairs yourself.” Teddy grinned and stuck his hands out to be picked up. Harry grabbed a fresh diaper and Teddy's clothes and set them on the changing table before he went and picked Teddy up out of his crib. While he changed and dressed Teddy, his mind was on Hermione, as it had been quite a bit for the last few weeks. He couldn't believe that after he realized her loved her that he spent all that time fretting about how she felt in return when they could've spent that time together. Oh well, there was still plenty of time for togetherness, and that thought made Harry smile.

“Today is a great day, Teddy, you know that?” he said to Teddy and tickled his toes, making the baby laugh. “A great day.” He finished getting Teddy dressed and took him downstairs where the gifts were under the tree and the stockings were stuffed and Kreacher had already made breakfast and had it sitting on the coffee table. Hermione was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in her hands and she smiled brightly when she saw Harry and Teddy.

“Good morning, little guy, happy Christmas.” Teddy just replied with a `Mine-e' and when Harry set him on the floor, he crawled over to the brightly wrapped presents.

Harry laughed at this and said to Hermione, “Who says he doesn't understand the concept of Christmas and presents on Christmas morning? See, he goes right to them.”

“It's the colors.” Harry went over to the tree and picked Teddy up and set him next to Hermione on the couch and she started to get him to eat some breakfast. Teddy ate, but his attention kept going back to Harry and the brightly colored boxes he kept setting closer to him. There weren't as many gifts under the tree as there were the night before, so it didn't take very long for Harry to set them all on the couch. He sat down next to Hermione and Teddy so they could begin opening presents. Breakfast forgotten, Teddy reached for the gifts and with a laugh, Hermione set the food aside and helped Teddy with his present.

“Wait, wait, wait, sweetie, this isn't your present, this is Daddy's,” Hermione said, reading the tag and trying to stop Teddy from ripping the paper off the narrow box. Harry laughed.

“That's alright; he can help me open it.” Teddy finished getting the paper off and Harry looked at the gift in his hand. He could tell it was definitely from Hermione, and apparently pictures were her theme this year. It was a framed picture of Harry helping Teddy to walk, and at the bottom of the frame were two of Teddy's footprints, his left and his right. He smiled and gave Hermione a kiss.

“Thank you,” he whispered. The rest of the gifts were opened (Teddy opened them all), and after everything was cleaned up, Hermione started reading Teddy `the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar'. He sat rapt with attention at the new book he'd never seen and even chattered in his baby gibberish throughout the book. Harry sat silently watching Hermione and Teddy and listening to Hermione read the story. Every once in a while, Teddy would look up at Harry and point to something in the book. Hermione would stop reading and Harry would tell Teddy what it was that he was pointing to.

“That's a pear. See, the caterpillar ate a hole right through the pear.” Teddy giggled and Hermione went on reading with a smile and loving glance at Harry, who returned the smile and glance too. Teddy was too young to understand anything that was going on between his caretakers that day, but all he knew was that it made him happy. His hair turned orange.

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A/n: I know it's kinda short, but hey, at least Harry and Hermione are together finally! Took them 23 chapters to get there, but here they are! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I hope I didn't disappoint you. Well, here's my Christmas present to you all, I hope you had better Christmases than I did, I've been snowed in since Wednesday and wasn't able to go to Christmas Eve Mass or go to the family get together today. I even missed out on pumpkin pie today at my grandma's! But oh well!

P.S. Oh btw, the title song to this chapter, Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Lady Antebellum, was my inspiration for the chapter, especially the chorus. Here's the lyrics to it…

So lay here beside me and don't let go,

This feeling I'm feeling is something I've never known

And I just can't take my eyes off you.

And if you're interested in hearing the whole song, here's a YouTube link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXwWT2Chx64 Absolutely love this song and Lady A btw! Anyways, thank you for reading; I'm thinking there's only going to be one more chapter left after this. And again, it's gonna jump ahead in time, this time it's going to be years instead of months. Till next time!! And Merry Christmas!!

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Chapter 24: Epilogue (Lol, couldn't resist!)

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river

I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

-------------------------------

*Ten Years Later*

“I've got to go, I have to go on rounds,” A fifteen year old Remus said, standing up from the table he was sitting at with his three friends, James, Sirius, and Peter.

“With Lily?” James asked. Remus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, with Lily, she is the other Gryffindor prefect, James.” James sighed and muttered something that none of them could hear. He slid down in his chair and crossed his arms in a clear pout.

“I think what Prongs means to say since he can't use his words that others can hear, is `lucky you, Moony',” Sirius said with a grin and James glared at him. Again, Remus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, because going on rounds is the perfect opportunity for me to work my magic and try to get Lily to go for me instead of you, that's what I look forward to every night when I get to wander the halls with her,” Remus said sarcastically, making Sirius and Peter snigger and James turn his glare to Remus instead of Sirius. Remus went on, “Seriously, James, if you didn't act like such an idiot sometimes she might actually go out with you when you ask.”

“I do not act like an idiot.”

“Yes, you do. Like today, hexing someone like that just for kicks and giggles, not only that, but a friend of hers—“

“Snivellus? I'm supposed to feel bad hexing Snivellus?” James said incredulously.

“And why is Lily friends with him, anyway?” Peter asked, “I mean…most of Snape's friends are going to be…Death Eaters, Lily would be one of the last people they'd want on their side.”

“I don't know, but I have a feeling they aren't going to be friends much longer,” Sirius said. “Did you hear what he called her today? Lily's not going to take that lightly.”

“I don't know,” Remus said, “But I have to get going. I'll see you lot after rounds.” Remus left his three friends and met Lily as she was coming down the stairs to the girls' dormitory and the two of them took off for rounds. The memory kept going, but eleven year old Teddy couldn't watch all of it, for he heard his name being called outside of the pensieve. He pulled himself out of it and when he set foot on his bedroom floor, he about knocked over the little girl that was standing right next to him. She stumbled and Teddy reached out quickly to help her keep her balance. The girl had black hair and green eyes and was just two years younger than Teddy. His little sister, Addison.

“What do you want, Addi?” Teddy asked with a sigh.

“Mum says it's almost time to go, you need to finish loading your trunk into the car.”

“Alright, tell Mum I'm on my way.” Addison headed for the door and right before she left, Teddy called her back. He said, “Oh and Addison don't stand too close to the pensieve next time.” Addison's eyes narrowed into a glare and she stuck her tongue out at Teddy, who stuck his out back at her. She grinned and left the room. Teddy turned and emptied the contents from Remus's memory back into the vial it belonged in. He then put the pensieve his parents gave him for his eleventh birthday back into the trunk and in the basin he placed the box of memories that went with it that his real father had left for him before he died. It was one of his best presents he'd ever gotten from his parents; he knew they hoped that he could be able to become closer to his real mother and father. However, Remus's memories only had a few ones dealing with his wife, Nymphadora and their time together prior to their death. When Teddy asked his dad why this was, Harry had said he supposed it was because no matter what others told him, Remus never was entirely proud of the fact that he was married and had a child. Because of this, Teddy had grown to hate his biological father. But he still watched his father's memories, back when he was younger and more carefree. Because as Harry had told him, war changes a person, good or bad, it changes them. He closed the lid of the trunk and did a last minute check of his room to make sure he packed everything. Today he was going to start his first year at Hogwarts, and the closer it got to time for him to go, the more nervous he got. This had a lot to do with another reason why he disliked his biological father. Teddy was a werewolf, just as his father was, and even though werewolves were received in polite society after the war better than they were prior to the war, but still, it was something that he wished he didn't have to deal with. Even though the Wolfsbane potion helped keep him from becoming a full out werewolf, it was still painful. There were a lot of hoops that had to be jumped through to make sure Teddy was able to go to Hogwarts because of his being a werewolf.

After he did the last check around his room, he had another visitor, this time it was Addison's fraternal twin, Aurora. She had black hair and green eyes just like her sister, but her facial features favored her mother's, while her twin's facial features favored her father's. She bounced in with a smile and said brightly, “Are you ready to go, big brother?” Aurora was always so full of energy that Teddy couldn't resist smiling at his little sister.

“I think so. I think I have everything packed.”

“Are you excited?”

“Yeah, but I'm nervous too.”

“Why?” Aurora asked, sitting down on Teddy's trunk. “In two years when it's my turn to go to Hogwarts, I will be so excited to go, I won't have room for nerves. You get to go to school and learn all kinds of magic, and history, and spells, and…all kinds of stuff!” Teddy shrugged.

“I don't know, I just am.”

“You'll be great, I know it. And you have to tell me all about it, don't leave anything out.” Teddy laughed.

“Ok, I'll write you every week and tell you everything I learned that week.”

“Would you?” Aurora asked excitedly.

“No,” Teddy said with another laugh, and Aurora looked disappointed. “But I promise I will write to you. And I'll tell you everything else that I didn't write about during Christmas and summer holidays. Deal?”

“Deal,” Aurora said, her bright mood returning lightning quick. Teddy walked over and gave his sister a hug.

“I'm going to miss you, you know that?”

“Of course you will, I'm your favorite sister.” Teddy laughed again.

“What makes you think that?”

“Why wouldn't I be your favorite? Your favorite can't be Addi, she's so moody sometimes. Lizzie is loud and always in trouble, and Savannah is just annoying and spoiled.”

“True, but Addison is really into Quidditch, so she's fun to play with, and Elizabeth isn't always loud, and as to her being in trouble all the time, she's the middle child, and there's nothing wrong with a little mischief now and then. And as for Savannah, she's three and the youngest, so what do you expect? But she doesn't know how to mouth back yet so that's a plus.”

“But even with all that, I'm still your favorite sibling and you know it,” Aurora said smugly.

“No, actually I'm going to pick Landon as my favorite; I gotta go with the little brother.”

“You can't pick Landon as your favorite, he doesn't count, he hasn't been born yet!”

“I know, but I gotta stick with my only brother in a house full of little sisters,” Teddy teased. Aurora glared at him but still kept the smile on her face. The discussion of favorite siblings was halted when Aurora and Teddy were joined by their dad coming into the room.

“What's going on?” Harry asked.

“Nothing, just discussing favorite siblings,” Teddy said. “And Rory is mad because I picked Landon as my favorite since he's going to be my only brother.” Harry laughed and Aurora launched into questioning her dad about favorites.

“Dad, who's your favorite kid?”

“Oh, no, no, no, that question is a trap and I am not answering it.”

“It's probably best, Dad,” Teddy said.

“You can say it's me, Dad, I won't tell anybody,” Aurora said mischievously.

“Yeah right,” Harry said with a laugh and Aurora grinned. Harry added, “Parents aren't allowed to have favorites, Rory. It's a rule.”

“Where is that written?” Aurora scoffed.

“It's a rule you'll learn when you have your own kids. And even if it wasn't a rule, I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite, you're all my favorite.”

“Oh, very diplomatic answer, Dad,” Aurora said sarcastically.

“Yep, and that's all you're going to get out of me on the subject.” Aurora grinned and rolled her eyes. Harry changed the subject by saying, “Well, should we get everything loaded up? We need to be at the Hogwarts Express in an hour.” Aurora got up off of Teddy's trunk and Harry pulled out his wand and levitated Teddy's trunk and Aurora left the room first, leading the way down the hall and down the stairs. Harry said to his son, “Are you getting excited?” Teddy shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess, but I'm a little scared too,” he said. It was one thing to tell a white lie to his sister because she didn't always understand, but his dad did.

“Well, everything is going to be fine. You'll do great, I know you will.”

“Yeah, I'm not so much worried about that, I'm worried about now fitting in. Everyone is going to know what I am and what if no one wants to be around me because they're afraid of me?” Harry stopped walking and put the trunk down and Teddy stopped as well. Aurora looked back to see what was holding up her dad and brother. Harry waved her on, and she kept going down the stairs.

“Teddy, I'm not going to lie to you and say that the werewolf thing won't be an issue to some people, because some people have a hard time getting past initial judgments. Believe me, you're not going to get along with everyone, even if you were—“

“Normal?” Teddy said bitterly.

“Not a werewolf,” Harry said as though Teddy hadn't interrupted. “But you will meet all kinds of people who will want to meet you and want to be friends with you. You've already got a friend that's going to be there with you. You've got Victoire going to school with you, you already know her.” Teddy smiled and blushed. Harry chuckled at his son's blushing at the mention of Bill and Fleur Weasley's oldest daughter. He went on, “So see, you'll know someone, and I'm sure you'll make lots of friends at school.” Teddy nodded.

“Thanks Dad.”

“You're welcome. Now c'mon, or we're going to be late.” Harry levitated the trunk again and he and Teddy went downstairs. They parted at the bottom of the steps, Harry going out to put the trunk in the car, Teddy going into the living room where his mum and four sisters were. Addison and Aurora were both sitting on the couch next to each other reading books, Aurora reading some kind of history book, Addison, a Quidditch book. Elizabeth was across from the twins in the recliner watching TV. She was sitting sideways in the chair like she always did, her feet dangling over the arm of the chair. Hermione was kneeling on the floor helping the youngest, Savannah, get her shoes on and tied. Savannah was adamant about tying the laces herself, but she was still working on learning how to tie them. Every time Hermione would show her and tie the shoes for her, Savannah would untie them and try to tie them back up again, and every time she couldn't quite get it right.

Hermione glanced up at the clock while Savannah was working on her laces and said, “Ok, Savie, we're going to have to tie your laces now so we can get going, I promise we'll work on it again when we get home, ok?”

“Ok,” Savannah said unhappily and stuck her feet out so her mother could tie her shoes for her.

“You'll get it soon, I promise,” Hermione said brightly as she tied Savannah's sneakers and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Savannah scrambled up off of the floor and was about to run past Teddy but he stopped her.

“Hey, Savie,” he said to her, making her stop in her tracks. He bent down and said, “give kiss?” Savannah stood up on her tip toes and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. Teddy smiled and said, “Ah, thank you so much.” Savannah grinned and ran past him and up the stairs, no doubt to get the numerous dolls and toys she insisted she had to bring along with her on the car ride.

Hermione slowly got up off of the floor, the slow part due to the fact that she was six months pregnant. She said, “Lizzie, shut the TV off, we need to get going. Addi, Rory, c'mon, let's go.” Elizabeth shut the TV off and Addison and Aurora shut their books in sync. The girls all ran ahead and out to the car, and when Hermione left the living room she reached out for Teddy to give her a hug. Teddy hugged her tightly and held onto her for a while. All of a sudden he was starting to feel homesick and he hadn't even left home yet. This was the first time he'd been away from home for longer than a couple weeks.

“Do you have everything ready to go?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah, it's all in the car,” Teddy said, letting go of his mom.

“Good.” She smiled. “You're going to have a lot of fun, Teddy.”

“I know.”

“And don't worry,” Hermione said, sensing part of what was troubling her adoptive son. “Everything will be fine.”

“I know,” Teddy repeated. Hermione smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Should we go? We don't want you to be late for the train.” The two of them left the house and to the car and soon after Harry started the car and they drove off to King's Cross.

The Potter family arrived at King's Cross and made their way onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Once past the barrier, they were met by a crowd of students and their parents bidding them farewell before the students would board the train for their first day of classes for the new school year. Right away Savannah tugged on Harry's sleeve. Harry looked down at his daughter and noticed her give him a worried look. Savannah was never one for big crowds.

“Daddy, carry me? Pweez?” Harry nodded and picked her up and placed her on his shoulders where she always liked to sit. As soon as they all cleared the entrance way, a bright and excited female voice called out.

“Rory! Addi!” The twins turned and saw their best friend Celestine Weasley. Celestine was the twins' age and she looked so much like her mother, but with her father's fiery red hair. She ran toward her friends and was soon followed by her parents, Ron and Luna. Walking with them was their oldest niece, Victoire Weasley. Celestine gave both of her friends hugs and the three girls excitedly started talking and went to go sit down on one of the benches. Both Harry and Hermione gave their friends confused looks when they saw them.

“What are you two doing here?” Hermione asked Ron and Luna once they got within earshot.

“Bill had to go on assignment to Egypt for a couple weeks, and Fleur went with him. Since it was during the time Torie was starting Hogwarts, we offered to take her to the train. And of course, Celestine wanted to come too,” Ron said, nodding toward his daughter sitting on the bench with the two oldest Potter girls.

“Especially when she knew that Addi and Rory would be here when you came to see Teddy off,” Luna said. “How are you, Teddy?”

“I'm good. Excited,” Teddy said, before Luna could ask. He smiled shyly at Victoire, blushing slightly.

“Hi, Torie.” Victoire gave him a shy smile in return.

“Hi Teddy.” The four adults tried fighting smiles at the bashful exchanges between the two eleven year olds. Harry took hold of his daughter on his shoulders and lifted her off of them.

“Savie, Daddy needs to put Teddy's trunk on the train for him, do you want to go to Mum?” Savannah shook her head.

“Aunt Luna.” Luna smiled and reached out for Savannah as Harry transferred his daughter over to her. After his hands were free, he and Ron went over to load Teddy's and Victoire's trunks onto the train.

“You know, it's hard to believe that I'll be doing this again in two years with my own daughter,” Ron said as he and Harry put Victoire's trunk on the train.

“I know, it's hard to believe that I'm bringing Teddy here already. Ten years went by fast.”

“How the hell did we get so old, Harry?” Harry laughed.

“We're not that old, Ron. We're only twenty-eight.”

“True. But seems like we're older because I have three kids and you have five going on six. You two are like rabbits,” Ron said muttering the last sentence just loud enough for Harry to hear him. Harry grinned.

“Don't talk too soon, Ron, you're still young, you and Luna could end up with six too.”

“I don't plan on it, three is enough.” Harry laughed as they loaded Teddy's trunk onto the train and started back to where their wives were standing.

“Hermione and I didn't really plan on six, but hey, the unexpected happens. So, unless you plan on not ever having sex with your wife again, keep in mind that more kids could be a possibility.” It was a couple seconds before Ron spoke, as though he was contemplating what Harry said.

“I suppose one or two more kids wouldn't be that bad.” Harry laughed again and Ron joined him as they returned to their wives. But what Ron asked about where the last ten years went, he could completely understand. Time especially seemed to fly once his children were born. When he was a child, time seemed to pass at a snail's pace, it seemed like it took forever to grow up, especially when one does not enjoy one's childhood like most children do. When he was in school, time seemed to pass faster because he was dreading the end of the school year when he would have to go back to Privet Drive for the summer or because he dreaded what kind of danger lay in store for him dealing with Voldemort that year. And after he'd adopted Teddy, and married Hermione almost a year later, and less than a year after that when the twins were born, and the years following when Elizabeth and Savannah were born, time seemed to speed up and it seemed like his children grew like weeds. And now he was seeing his oldest off to his first year at Hogwarts. Looking at his son, who had his natural brown hair and brown eyes today, it seemed like yesterday that he was a little boy, saying his first word, or the first time his hair turned orange. It rarely turned orange when he was happy anymore, mostly because he was able to control the hair and eye changes now. But sometimes, when he would laugh really hard or was just so happy and excited, his hair would turn orange. He felt bad about Teddy's feelings toward his father, but no matter what Harry said or tried to explain, nothing could change the dislike that Teddy had for Remus. Harry hoped that some day when Teddy was older, he would understand everything one day, and maybe have a different opinion about his biological father.

Harry's oldest daughters, Aurora and Addison, were at times clones of their parents' personalities. Aurora was so much like Hermione, always excited to learn, nose in a book constantly, and at times a bossy know-it-all. Addison was a lot like Harry, at times moody and prone to act first and think later, and followed Quidditch as much as her twin sister read up on magic. For the most part the two of them got a long very well, you know, two halves of an embryo and all that, but there were times when they would be at each other's throats, just like their parents fought at times. Harry had been shocked when Hermione told him that instead of there being two children under the age of three in their house, there would be three, and wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle raising twins, but now he wouldn't give either one of them up for the world.

His and Hermione's middle child, Elizabeth, was exactly that, a middle child. And she worked hard to make herself stand out in the Potter family. At six years old, she was the troublemaker, the prankster, and like Hermione had often said, was somehow channeling her paternal grandfather's antics. Harry often wondered how many owls were going to be sent to them telling of Elizabeth's behavior in the seven years she would be at Hogwarts. She was the odd one out physically, having inherited her mother's hair color, while the rest of her sisters had black hair. It was part of the reason why Teddy most of the time would keep his natural brown hair color because it made Elizabeth feel like she fit in more when she didn't stand out when she was younger. As she got older, and found ways of standing out, her brown hair didn't bother her, she had actually come to like being different from her other sisters.

The youngest (for only three months more), was Savannah, and she was full of energy, and took after her oldest sister and mother and always wanted to learn something new. But she never wanted to just have it shown to her, she had to get in and do it herself, otherwise she wouldn't be satisfied. She, like all of her older sisters, had Harry's green eyes, and they would light up when she finally got the hang of something she'd been learning. Teddy may not have a favorite sister, but Savannah definitely had a favorite sibling and it was her big brother. It was probably because he had the most patience with her out of all her other siblings, and would always pay attention to her. She adored her big brother and would probably have the hardest time adjusting to not having him there at home every day.

And then there was his wife, Hermione, who he loved even more than he did ten years ago when he first realized how he felt about her. And he couldn't have all of this without her. Obviously, since it took two to tango, but not just that. Now that Harry looked back, he knew he would've never been able to bring Teddy up by himself. Well, he probably could've done it, but he wouldn't have liked it, not having Hermione in his life, by his side. The last ten years had been far from perfect, but he couldn't imagine any other person he'd want to spend the rest of his life with.

The two of them no longer taught at Hogwarts. After they'd gotten married and when Hermione was pregnant with the twins, they'd both decided that it would be difficult to try and bring up three children when they would be gone for over three quarters of the year, and Hermione didn't like the idea of depending on Winky to take care of their children, especially since the house elf refused payment. So they had quit their jobs at Hogwarts and applied and received jobs in the restored Ministry with Kingsley Shaklebolt as the Minister. With her high grades and talent for research, Hermione worked in the Department of Mysteries, doing just that, research. She dealt with everything from deciphering complex spells and runes to studying history. Harry, with his training to be an Auror and his experience of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was still able to teach, this time to future Aurors, training them in the Defense part of their instruction. He enjoyed it immensely, and even though it was not what he originally planned to do with his life when he had his career advice in his fifth year, he liked it better than field work. Plus it eliminated the danger aspect that being an Auror would bring, and danger was something that a father of five, soon to be six, didn't really need. And he'd had enough danger in his life to last two lifetimes, so he was perfectly fine with that.

It was five minutes to eleven, almost time for the students to all board the train for Hogwarts. It was time for goodbyes, and Teddy went down the line of siblings (all of whom had joined the group again), giving each one of them a hug. He started with Aurora and Addison.

When he got to Addison, she said, “Make sure you tell me all about the Quidditch games, and tryouts, and—“

“I will write to you about every Quidditch game, in precise detail, every goal scored, how the Seeker caught the Snitch and every formation and strategy each team performs,” Teddy teased.

“Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Teddy,” Addison said sarcastically. Teddy smiled and hugged his sister.

“I promise I'll tell you all about Quidditch.” Teddy then moved onto Aurora.

“I don't really care if you write to me about Quidditch, but I want to know what you're learning so I know what I need to know in two years when I go to Hogwarts. That way I'll be prepared.” Harry and Hermione both heard her say this, and Harry grinned at a laughing Hermione and mouthed, `Your daughter.'

“I will tell you all about it.”

“Every week?” Teddy laughed.

“No.” Aurora hugged her brother and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Bye, big brother,” she said, and she was the only one of the girls that called him that.

“See you at Christmas.” Teddy moved on to Elizabeth next. “Stay out of trouble, Lizzie.” Elizabeth grinned.

“You know I won't.”

“I know, but I thought I should tell you anyway,” he said hugging his little sister.

“Have fun, Teddy, love you,” Elizabeth said.

“Love you too, Lizzie.” He bent down and picked up his littlest sister, who wrapped her little arms around his neck and held on tightly.

“Don't go, Teddy,” she said sadly.

“I have to, Savie, I'm gonna go to school. I get to go learn all kinds of magic. It'll be fun. But I will be home in time for Christmas.”

“How many sleeps?”

“It's quite a few sleeps.”

“More than this many?” Savannah said, holding up five fingers.

“Yeah, more than that many, but I'll be home before you know it. I promise.” Savannah hugged him again.

“Love you.”

“I love you too. Hey,” he nudged her to get her to look at him. When she did, he said, “Give kiss?” Savannah kissed him on the cheek and he gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose and put her down, but not before giving her one last hug. He then came to say goodbye to his mom and dad. He said goodbye to Hermione first.

“Have fun,” she said, giving him a hug. “And if you need anything, let us know. And be good, and study hard.”

“I will Mum. I love you.”

“Love you too, squirt,” Hermione said, calling him what she used to call him when he was a little boy. Teddy smiled and blushed a little at being called `squirt' again.

“And don't have this little guy until I come back for Christmas,” Teddy said, motioning to Hermione's belly. Hermione laughed.

“Don't worry, I think he'll be on schedule.” Teddy gave Hermione one last hug and moved on and gave his dad a hug.

“Everything will be alright, you're going to have a great time,” Harry said.

“Thanks Dad. Love you.”

“I love you too, son.” Teddy even said goodbye and hugged Ron and Luna.

“If you need some help studying for your exams, let me know and I'll show you how to set a trap for a Panthered Poketi. I've yet to see one, so if you catch one you'll have to let me know,” Luna said, giving Teddy a hug. Teddy grinned.

“Thanks, Luna. I'll keep that in mind.” Teddy then turned to say goodbye to his uncle Ron.

“Beware of the bossy know-it-alls. They'll drive you crazy. Oh wait,” Ron said, trailing the last sentence off as though it was an afterthought. Both Teddy and Harry laughed, while Hermione rolled her eyes, though with a small smile on her face.

“Don't listen to him, those bossy know-it-alls could turn out to be your closest friends,” Harry said, putting an arm around his wife's waist.

“He's right,” Ron said. “Also, make sure you enunciate when you're learning spells.” This caused Hermione to burst out laughing.

“Oh my gosh, Ron, I can't believe you remember that.”

“I do. I've never forgotten the Levitation charm.” There wasn't time to say much more, for the train was whistling and it was time for it to leave the station. Teddy and Victoire said goodbye once more and quickly went to board the train. As the train slowly started to move, Aurora swung Savannah up on her shoulders and the four Potter girls and Celestine walked alongside the train waving goodbye. As they watched the train pull away, Harry took a deep breath and sighed.

“It seems like forever ago that we were all that age, going to Hogwarts for the first time.”

“Yep, this is where it all began. This is where the road started, where we first met,” Hermione said. “Even if I was the bossy know-it-all at first.”

“Any regrets?” Hermione shook her head.

“Nope. I don't think I'd change a thing. The road I began with you has been an adventure. There were times I never thought we'd get through it, but now...I couldn't imagine any other place I'd want to be than here at the beginning with you.” Harry smiled and gave Hermione a kiss.

“Me neither.”

“I know there's a few things that I'd be glad to go back and not have to experience,” Ron said.

“Like what?” Luna asked.

“Well, to not have to worry about getting beat up by enormous live chess pieces, or huge killer snakes, getting my leg almost chewed off by an Animagus. The Yule Ball.” The other three adults laughed.

“Wait, wait, you don't want to relive the Yule Ball?” Luna asked through her laughter.

“Right. Well, the ball itself wasn't entirely bad, if I could go back, I would've fought less with you, Hermione, but what I would undo would be the fact that I embarrassed myself and asked my future sister-in-law to the Ball. That way she couldn't keep bringing it up, fourteen years later.” They all laughed again.

“Well, while there were a lot of things that didn't go well over the years, and times where we were fearing for our lives, but I don't think I'd change any of it,” Hermione said. “We might not be where we are today if things had been different.”

“True,” Ron agreed, wrapping an arm around Luna's waist. The train finally left the station and started to round the corner and on its way out of sight, and the girls all made their way back to their parents. Aurora handed a crying Savannah to her mother when they reached them.

“People are staring,” Elizabeth said in disgust, glancing around at the adults around them that were staring and even the young children who were pointing. Out of all Harry and Hermione's children, Elizabeth was the one who was the most uncomfortable with the fact that people stared at her, her sisters, and her parents because of who they were.

“It's because of me,” Ron said, pulling Elizabeth into a one armed hug. “I'm extremely famous, you know. Kind of a big deal.” Harry, Hermione, Luna, and the kids all laughed. Except for Savannah who still had a few tears sliding down her cheeks as she clung to her mother.

“Well, should we go?” Harry said, still smiling, and ignoring the gawking eyes around him. Still with his arm around Hermione, they turned to leave back through the barrier into the muggle world.

Hermione was right; there wasn't a thing Harry would change about life either. It was because of all those things that he was able to appreciate what he had even more. Because of his growing up years, he was able to enjoy watching his children grow up happily and know this was how it was supposed to be. Because of his battles with Voldemort he was able to appreciate his life while he had it. Even the relationship he had with Ginny taught him to appreciate his marriage to Hermione even more. It was a good life. He had a wonderful wife, great children, a job he loved, a home to raise his sons and daughters, even an extended family. Even though he and Hermione had no blood ties to the Weasleys, they were still their extended family; all of Ron's brothers were considered uncles to Harry and Hermione's children. Even Ginny was considered an aunt after some time. No, he thought as he tightened his hold on Hermione's waist, he wouldn't change a thing.

The End

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A/N: Wow, finally finished!! Oh my gosh, this feels weird to finally be done with this thing!! I've been working on this thing for two years now, actually two and half because I started it in July of 2007, and it's January 2010 (lol, 2010 is weird to type). So it's finished finally!!! I want to thank all of you who've read this story and stuck with me throughout the two and a half years, I love you all! This has been my most reviewed story I've ever written anywhere, and I want to thank you so much for your opinion and feedback!

Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter; this was the chapter I was talking about when I said I was picturing it in my head since I started this story. And this was where the `at the beginning' came from. I know it's unoriginal, ending it the same way JK Rowling did, but I tried to fix the things that I thought were wrong with her epilogue, besides the fact that everyone was with the wrong people, and the children had names I wouldn't have picked out for them. Detail, was the biggest pet peeve I had with her epilogue, there was no indication of jobs, or anything that's happened over the last nineteen years, and so I made sure to try and put in some more detail. And in Rowling's epilogue, there was very little interaction between the characters except for the kids. Not even between the husbands and wives. Lol, which is probably why the Harry and Hermione affair fics work out so well! The only thing I did like about the epilogue besides the idea of sending the kids off to Hogwarts, was Ron's one line in the epilogue about being famous. When I was rereading the epilogue for reference, I saw that line and laughed and just had to use it in the chapter. Oh, and did you like the names I chose? Lol, I really love the names Landon, Addison, and Aurora, I really want to give those names to my children someday, so I just had to use them in this story!

And ok, this story may or may not be completely finished. I was back and forth about putting more chapters in between where we left Harry and Hermione off last chapter and this chapter, but I decided to just skip ahead and finish it off. But I still kinda want to write the in between chapters, so I may or may not put them up. We'll have to see.

And lastly, I want to bid farewell to writing chapter fanfiction. I plan to still write if the idea comes up, but I don't think I will write anymore chapter stories. It will probably be all oneshots from now on. I just don't have the time to write like I used to, especially since 2010 is the year I graduate from college, and I still have my student teaching to do, and I just won't have much time to write, and I don't want to have another story that takes two and a half years to write and post. But I'm not going to swear that I'll never write a long fanfic again. If I do, it's not getting posted until it's completely written. I do actually have one that I'm working on right now, but I don't know if I will finish it or not, I have no idea how the story is going to go. I have a couple ideas but I don't know what direction I want to go with it. Like I said, it won't get posted until it's finished.

Anyways, I've gone on long enough, so thank you all again, and I will maybe see you for the extra chapters! If not, then in the one shots! Happy 2010 everyone!!

Husker_fan_2006

Oh, P.S. I'm sure you all know that the title of this fic is from the song, At the Beginning by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis and it's on the movie Anastasia. If you haven't ever heard it and would like to, here's a YouTube link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wLvDXVP0O4

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