"You're a great wizard Harry."
"Six Years, Three Months, Twenty-Three days."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"
Harry Potter snapped up, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Soft beads of perspiration rolled down his forehead and stung his eyes. Harry hurriedly wiped them out of his eyes as he tried to calm himself, his chest expanding in an awkward manner as he fought to fill his lungs with air. He gritted his teeth as he attempted to summon the memories plaguing his dreams back into his mind. His attempts were futile as the dreams slipped away as quickly as it had harassed his otherwise pleasant dream.
"Harry? What's wrong?"
Hermione Potter had apparently been woke up by Harry's sudden movement and sat up with him, rubbing his back gently. When Harry didn't respond, she laid her head on her shoulder and continued to rub his back, awaiting an answer. Wrapping both of her arms around him, Hermione attempted to bring his tense body into a state of at least mild relaxation.
"It was just another one of those things," Harry finally said as he rubbed his temple in a feeble attempt to jostle his mind.
"Can't call the dreams really because I can't ever really remember what happens in them. They seem so real though, I wish I could remember something at least," Harry spoke softly, careful not to raise his voice too high.
"The doctor said that these things would occasionally happen. Repressed memories would be partially relived in your dreams. It's a common side effect of amnesia," she tried to rationalize.
"I know, I know, I just wish they'd stop already or at least I could find out what's happening. This has been going on for what feels like forever," Harry muttered. Hermione didn't respond but instead kept rubbing circles softly into his back, occasionally dropping a kiss on his shoulder as Harry attempted to regain his bearings.
Truth be told, Hermione knew that Harry's night spells had been particularly more active when they had finally married. Professor McGonagall had warned her that there were certain side effects of a magical marriage to a Muggle, but none of them explained Harry's seemingly constant dreams. It left Hermione befuddled that these dreams had went on for almost a decade now.
"What time is it?" Harry said as he rubbed his eyes, trying to make out the bewitched clock in their room.
"It's just past 3:23 and you'll be happy to know that all four of the hands are pointing at Home," she smiled at him as she referred to their clock. Harry finally smiled back and laid back into the comfort of his bed.
"That's always good to know," Harry's smile reached his eyes, the corners crinkling in a comfortable way and Hermione knew he was back to himself. She lay back with him and turned to her side, looking directly into his magical, green eyes. Softly caressing his cheek, Hermione could see the myriad of emotions flickering behind his eyes.
"I love you," Hermione said in a whisper that could be barely heard.
"I know," Harry smiled back and took her hand from his cheek, kissing her palm softly.
"What would I do without you?" Harry asked.
"Probably be stuck working in that antique gift shop, selling people photo albums for Mr. Barnes," Hermione said with an impish smile.
"Well thank goodness my savior came and rescued me from that dark, stormy prison," Harry playfully rolled his eyes.
"We both helped each other," she put simply.
"You can keep saying that, but you helped me. Before you came along I was just another amnesia case that went day by day trying to figure out who I was. I know who I am now," Harry spoke in a serious tone.
"And who are you?"
"Your husband, for now and forever."
Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes at his incredibly cheesy statement. She also couldn't help the elation that still soared in her heart every time he mentioned that he was her husband. It was a little bit over a decade when they had finally married after four years of steady dating. Somehow, deep inside her, Hermione already knew that he was the one as soon as she walked into the bookstore. She was effervescently drawn to him. He brought out a myriad of emotions that no man had even come close to replicating. After a few dinners and dates, he was constantly on her mind whether she was at work or at home.
It wasn't until almost a year into their relationship that Harry had finally revealed to her his secret. He had no recollection of any of his memories for the first two decades of his life. He had woken up in a hospital with just his name in his head and nothing else. Hermione remembered the surge of emotions she felt when she found out he had no semblance of a past. Instead of feeling sorry for him though, she had simply gathered him to her and held him while he let loose his frustrations over a history he did not have. Hermione could care less if he had been a thieving merchant or a bully on the block in the past. He was her Harry now and her Harry forever.
"You're so corny. I love it," she said as she kissed him softly on the lips.
"What can I say, I'm just a charmer," Harry said with a wink. Laughing, Hermione turned around and pulled one of Harry's arms over her, settling into a nice spooning position.
"Let's go to bed you."
Hermione felt Harry's arms stiffen for a moment and his chest hitch, immediately knowing that he had a question for her. She knew from her experiences with him that he was sometimes hesitant when he thought his question was foolish. She squeezed his hand and spoke.
"What is it love?"
"I was wondering if Luna could come by tomorrow. She said she could try to help me in her own way. I know you don't totally agree with Divination or whatever, but just once maybe…" Harry trailed off and Hermione could imagine biting his lip in anticipation. Although she did not quite understand Luna's odd branch of magic, she knew at this point nothing could hurt.
"I'll talk to her in the morning; they should be able to come over after lunch."
She felt Harry relax and the tension leave his arms. Snuggling into the pillow and Harry, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, the plans of tomorrow flickering oddly in her always active mind.
"Goodnight Hermione."
"Goodnight Harry."
---______________________________________---
---______________________________________---
Harry sipped his coffee as he watched two little darts in the sky fly around three oddly shaped poles with hoops attached to the ends. The two dots zigzagged back and forth in the sky. Their exact figures were hard to see in the blinding light of the sun, but Harry knew that the two figures in the sky were his children.
"Mr. Harry, sir, do you mind if I?" said a voice from behind Harry. Harry turned around and greeted his butler with a head nod while he sipped his coffee.
"Go right ahead Marve," he said with a smile. Marve smiled back at him and started collecting the lunch plates and utensils.
"And how many times do I have to remind you Marve? Don't call me Mr. Harry, it makes me feel old. I'm still in my mid-thirties you know," Harry joked.
"My humble apologies Mr. Potter, I'll be sure to call you by your proper name," Marve said with a smirk.
"You're beyond ridiculous."
"Who's beyond ridiculous?" said a voice from the foyer.
"Marve here is making me feel old again!" Harry said as he went out to greet Hermione.
"Well considering you're about the youngest one of us bunch, I do find that quite ironic," said another deeper voice.
Harry turned the corner and smiled as he spotted his tall, redheaded friend. Greeting him with a grin and a handshake, Harry immediately turned the conservation to something he knew Ron Weasley would like: Quidditch.
"I got James the Firebolt 2K," Harry said without any pretense. Ron's jaw dropped as he raced to the window and peered out into the sun to see two little dots flying in the air.
"How did you manage that? Even I don't have the Firebolt 2K!" Ron exclaimed as he shielded his eyes from the sun and tried to spot the top of the line broom.
"Well when Hermione came home with the Director of Athletics to discuss some creature fairness in sports. Long shot that is," Hermione gave him the evil eye, "I'm just being honest dear," Harry winked at her which caused Hermione to roll her eyes in mock frustration, clearly telling him that this conversation was not done.
"Anyways, I let it slip to him that James was going to try and hassle a tryout as a First Year. The Director was so brought aback that a mere Muggle such as me was quality at this whole Quidditch thing that he offered to let James get his hands on the 2K. Needless to say, I charmed my way into that," Harry finished with a smile as he watched his son zoom around in the sky.
"He's going to light up Hogwarts at that rate," Ron said in awe.
"Now Ronald, where are your matters, Hermione bought us lunch today and all you can do is ogle little kiddies," said an airy voice from the foyer.
"Oi, Luna! Those are my little kiddies!" Harry said in a mock offense as he laughed at the wife of Ron, Luna Lovegood-Weasley.
"And if Ron ever looked at them that way, he'd lose his little jewels wouldn't you Ronald," Luna cooed as she pinched her husband's cheek.
"I only look at you that way Luna," Ron smiled cheekily.
"And Lavender."
Ron's smile dropped.
"Don't worry though, its okay with me," Luna said with a wink.
Ron's smile grew very wide.
"Too much information you two…or three," Harry said with a chuckle as he went over to Hermione and gave her a kiss.
"Not to mention that Lavender recently came out," Hermione said with a raised eyebrow.
"I know," Luna said deadpanned. Ron nodded his head with a stupidly beaming grin.
"Oh come on you two! My kitchen, leave those kinds of things out of my house," Harry laughed.
After the four of them had settled down and Marve had prepared the lunch that Hermione had brought with her (Chinese), Harry finally took the time to ask Luna what she was doing to try to do to him.
"Well Harry, if my assumptions are correct, these dreams of yours might be memories of your past life trying to break the mental dam in your mind. In order to do that, I'm going to try to put you in a state of hypnosis and then Hermione and I are going to perform something known as Legilimency. Are you familiar with that term?" Luna asked.
Harry nodded his head, remembering the strange spell that could invade your mind. Hermione had told him about it after she revealed herself as a witch. Harry could still remember the mind-numbing shock when Hermione took out a small stick and lifted him straight into the air. While he was at first confused, he soon became deeply obsessed with magic once Hermione had sat him down and informed him of all the different facets of her life. Harry learned about the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. Harry found out that the small stick in Hermione's hand was actually a wand and she could perform a number of useful spells.
"They are not to be used on Muggles," Hermione said as she explained both the statute of secrecy and the term Muggle.
While still in awe that there even exited a world of magic, Harry was sorely disappointed that he was not a part of it. It wasn't for a lack of trying as Hermione often said that she could almost feel the magic radiating from Harry. Nonetheless, no results were produced when they went to Diagon Alley and tried to find Harry a wand that could work. Ollivander, the wand maker, confirmed that there were no traces of any magical residue in Harry's body.
Nevertheless, it did not stop Harry from learning and becoming quick friends with all of Hermione's magical friends. He and Ron had quickly grown to like each other with each of them teaching one another of the different facets of their respective lives. It was through Ron that Harry had discovered the wonderful sport of Quidditch. Now, he tracked all the teams in the British League just as animatedly as Ron. Harry had embraced the magical world with open words which only further cemented Harry and Hermione's relationship and led to their future marriage.
"Harry? Zone out a bit mate?" Ron snapped his fingers in Harry's face.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Had to search my memory deep to remember when the Cannons last won," Harry grinned cheekily.
"Watch it!" Ron grumbled light heartedly. Although he was the Keeper of Puddlemere United, his heart always belonged to the Chudley Cannons.
"Speaking of which, how's Villa doing?" Ron asked about Harry's stake in his Muggle sport.
"Pretty good, lost to United this weekend but who doesn't?" Harry said with a self-deprecating shake of his head. Ron nodded his head sympathetically.
With no knowledge of whom he was and not a record of him in England, Harry had trouble finding himself a decent job that did not involve working in Mr. Barnes antique gift shop. He had finally settled on coaching kids at football ever since he watched a small pick-up game at a park one day. Realizing he had a good eye for talent and a penchant for leading a team, Harry quickly drew recognition from clubs in England until he was finally offered a job as an assistant coach for the club Aston Villa. Harry loved the job and it paid handsomely enough with Hermione's income to support their two children so Harry had no qualms about his occupation.
"As nice as it is to here you boys talk about your fancy sports, I do have to get back to the Quibbler later this afternoon Harry, so if you would?" Luna asked as she finished her food, mentioning her father's publication as she spoke to Harry.
"Of course! Marve can you prepare the study room?" Harry asked the butler.
Hermione, Harry learned, was vehemently opposed against these creatures called House Elves. Harry agreed with her notion that they were unfairly slaved so they certainly would take one on. Nevertheless, with Hermione working tirelessly at the Ministry and Harry often away coaching for the team, they needed a butler to take care of the kids. After careful consideration and research, they had settled on Marve as Harry liked to call him. Given good reviews by other people close to Hermione in the Ministry, Harry and Hermione interviewed Marve and immediately gave him the job once they saw that the children took well to him. For six years now, Marve had served them diligently and never paid them any trouble.
As the quartet entered the study room and Marve left it, Harry settled back onto the couch while Luna and Hermione took seating positions in juxtaposing chairs. After a few minutes where Luna wrote down some notes, she turned and spoke to Ron.
"Ronald, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. The test will be fairer only if those who are involved participate in the room," she said in her same airy voice but with a slight tint of authority.
"Fine, fine, I know when the adults need their space. I'll go with Marve and get the kids," Ron said with a playful eye roll. With a kiss on the top of Luna's and a good luck to Harry, Ron left the study. Once Ron had left, Luna became unnaturally serious and turned to face Harry and Hermione.
"Now, some clinical trials have shown significant advances in the study of hypnosis. When I'm not at the Quibbler, I've overseen some of these trials and the results are magnificent for even those who have been Obliviated or have been under the Cruciatus curse. You are familiar with both of those spells Harry?"
Harry nodded his head with a slight shiver.
"While there have been no experimental cases in people dealing with amnesia, the procedure and methods should work just the same. Now, if you'll relax Harry," Luna motioned with her arm.
Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and willed his body to relax, the tension and stress leaving his neck and upper body, his mind becoming slightly hazy from the forced relaxation.
"Now concentrate on Hermione, Harry. She's going to be your anchor here. If for any reason you feel any discomfort while we are in your mind, she'll sense it and pull us out," Luna said in a strangely calming voice though Harry suspected that it was just the voice she always talked in.
Harry felt Hermione's hand slip into his own. Exhaling, Harry easily focused on Hermione and their memories together. Harry focused when he had first met her in the antique shop. He focused on when he had proposed to her in front of a large statue and fountain and how they had exuberantly took a swim in said fountain after she said yes. Harry finally focused on the memory of Hermione and their two children, growing blissfully happy. Vaguely, Harry could hear Luna chanting something softly but could not make it out as he fell further and further into a haze. After a few moments, Harry heard Luna say, "Legilimens."
Harry could felt as if he were falling and falling into a strange abyss. Although Harry did not know what was happening, he felt strangely safe as he fell and fell until he landed softly on the ground. Looking around, all Harry saw was a blank white haze that stretched on in every direction.
"Harry!"
Harry whirled around to see Hermione and Luna standing not a few feet away from him.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked as she stepped forward to give him a hug.
"I don't know. Is this my mind?" he addressed the question to Luna.
"Yes, I think so. Hypnosis usually gives the casters a better feel of traveling within the mind of the patient, but I don't think I've ever heard of a case where the patient accompanied the casters in their own mind," Luna frowned slightly.
"Is it okay?" Hermione asked with a curious look.
"It should be," Luna said slowly. After a moment's pause, Luna stepped forward and all of a sudden the three of them were on Hogwarts ground.
"What is this?" Harry asked in confusion.
"It's a representation of your mind Harry. For some reason your mind has brought us here. What we're looking for is some sort of blockade that's repressing your memories. Maybe since you're here you could help us in this?" Luna theorized.
"Alright what do I do?" Harry asked.
"Just try to think of those dreams you had. Try to recall them, as strange as this request sounds," Luna said.
Harry looked at Hermione skeptically. Hermione simply shrugged and gave Harry's hand an affectionate squeeze.
"It sounds logical enough. Just try to think of lying back in our bed. Those dreams might just come to you here," Hermione said.
Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and tried to wrack his brain for any sort of memory of his dreams. Feeling increasingly frustrated that he could not find even a small piece of his memories, Harry gave up and exhaled in frustration.
"I'm sorry Luna, nothing," Harry said dejectedly.
"Quite the contrary," Luna countered.
In Harry's frustration, he did not realize that their location had been changed once again and now the three of them found themselves on a beach.
"A beach?" Hermione said, bewildered.
"The mental manifestation of the repressed memories in Harry's mind could be anything. Keep searching Harry," Luna encouraged him. Slightly hopeful from this new revelation, Harry closed his eyes and wracked his head again. Again, there was no form or memory in his head.
"Look!" Hermione pointed.
The ocean had parted in two different directions, which left a simple path to what seemed to be another island in the distance. The three of them looked at awe at the cascading waves being held up by some invisible barrier.
"What do we do?" Hermione asked.
"We go through," Luna said in a matter of fact tone, leading the way through the mountainous waves. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged. With joined hands, they followed Luna through the waves and onto the other island. As soon as Harry and Hermione stepped foot on their island, however, the waves cascaded back down and covered the once open path.
"What now?" Harry asked in confusion.
"I don't know, your mind will lead us," Luna said as she observed her surroundings. After a few moments, Hermione exclaimed in disappointment.
"This is the same beach! Look, the rock placement, the bundle of ferns over there, and the trio of palm trees!" Hermione pointed at each physical landmark. Harry noted that Hermione was supremely diligent in details and that she was correct about their location. They had seemingly walked a circle to another beach which had the same appearance.
"Interesting," Luna murmured.
"What's interesting Luna?" Harry asked.
"We're getting somewhere. Let's try something. Harry clasp Hermione's hands in your own and focus on nothing but her. Feel nothing but her," Luna asked the pair of them.
With no other choice but to obey Harry's temporary mental therapist, Harry and Hermione joined hands and simply stared at each other. After a few moments in which Harry was lost in Hermione's beautiful brown eyes, Harry could feel the world literally slipping away at his feet. He was unperturbed, however, and simply kept focusing on Hermione and her beautiful hair and beautiful eyes. He dimly heard Luna whisper, "Legilimens."
Harry did not break eye contact with Hermione but watched as a giant whirlpool formed in the ocean, the water rippling and waving from the unintended side effects. Faster and faster it whirled until it had seemingly become an underwater tornado.
"Harry, Hermione you can let go! This way!" Luna yelled over the dim roar of the waves. Oddly enough, Luna was wading out into the ocean, unperturbed by what should have been deadly waves.
Sensing they were close to what Luna wanted to find, Harry and Hermione joined her as they paddled out into the edge of the whirlpool. While the waves were swirling strongly, the trio of people was not pulled with the sway and tide. They were seemingly unaffected by the whirlpool. As they reached the center of the whirlpool, Harry could make out a dark hole in the center.
"I think we have to go through!" Luna yelled over the waves.
"Alright! Me first! Luna you can come after and then you Hermione!" Harry yelled.
"Why am I going last?" Hermione said in classic Hermione fashion.
"Because I think we're nearing the end, it might be dangerous!" Harry yelled. He could sense Hermione was angry with him, but Harry could not wait. A potential resolution to a decade of disappearing dreams might be at the center of this vortex and Harry was not going to pass up the opportunity to meet it.
Diving headfirst into the hole, Harry did not notice Hermione jump immediately afterwards with Luna not far behind. As he fell and fell yet again, Harry noted that the sensations were completely different this time.
"Take my hand, Harry."
"You're a wizard, Harry."
"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person."
"You're a fool, Harry Potter. You will lose everything."
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
"I love you Harry."
The voices whirled in Harry's head as he tumbled down the hole. Flashes of confusing images rolled past his head faster than he could imagine. Various images of different people, different locales, and different languages rolled by in a blur as Harry yelled out in pain from the overload of information in his head. But as quickly as the flashes had come, they had retreated quietly into an unknown portion of his mind. Harry opened his eyes to see Hermione looking worriedly at him. He could barely make out her furrowed brow or her quivering lips as she was not a couple centimeters away from his face.
"Harry? Are you alright?" she said in a whisper, her breath dancing against his lips. Leaning up just an inch, Harry gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
"Just peachy," Harry groaned. She smacked him in the shoulder and simultaneously hugged him at the same time.
"You had me - us - worried there. It seemed like you blacked out for a second," Hermione said as she helped pull him to his feet.
"Yeah, I don't know, I felt like a bunch of memories were rushing by but I couldn't catch any of them. They felt much more real than in my dreams though," Harry explained as he squinted into the darkness.
"You mind turning on the light?" Luna's disembodied voice said. Harry looked up to see a switch dangling from a lone light bulb.
"Is this it?" he asked.
"Only you can find out," Luna's strangely disembodied voice said.
"Now or nothing," Harry muttered as he pulled the switch.
There was no grand reveal of memories, however. The three of them simply found themselves in what looked to be an empty store room. Looking around though, Harry spotted something in the corner.
"Look at that," Hermione said, noticing the stick on the bench.
"Is that what I think it is?" Harry asked.
Neither of them responded as Harry broke out of Hermione's hand and walked towards the corner of the bare room. The cold stone walls did not welcome visitors yet in the lone corner was a thin piece of wood placed upon a bench. Looking back unsurely at Hermione and Luna, Harry braced himself for the unknown as he picked up the wand. Instantly, he felt a rush as if his feet left the ground. Instead of falling as had been the usual, he was flying, flying in the air.
Harry had assumed that something groundbreaking was going to happen when he picked up the wand. He had hoped for the psychological dam to break and for his memories to spill onto the study floor. But instead, Harry simply woke up from his reverie, his hand still in Hermione's. He noticed their eyes were open as well; Hermione's facing looking curiously at his own while Luna seemed to have a blissful look on his face.
"What was that?" Harry asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"If my interpretations are correct then that last room we were in represented your memories and that wand was your last obstacle. Seeing that the room was empty, I have no choice but to assume that there are simply no memories of your past. It's common to those who suffer severe brain damage in certain cortexes of the brain to simply just forget what's happened. I can say without a doubt though that you have no repressions or blocked memories," Luna explained.
"Simply put, you just have no past memories."
Harry felt his heart plummet and hung his head as Luna explained herself. Hermione recognized Harry closing himself from outside connections and simply looped her arm through his and brought him against her.
"What about the whole wand thing?" Harry asked hopefully.
"I suppose it might have been just the last obstacle that's been bothering you. Is there anything you can think it can represent?" Luna asked.
After a moment, Harry raised his head and said, "No."
Luna nodded while Hermione looked at him with sympathy etched in her face. Before any of them could say anything, the door burst open with a loud bang.
"Dad!"
"Daddy!!!"
Two little children raced in through the door and jumped onto the couch with their father and mother. Harry laughed as he felt his son, James, punch him on the shoulder as bounced on the edge of the coach. Harry remembered the day James was born, his heart fluttering when he had finally emerged from Hermione's womb. The pair of them decided he would be named James as Harry had felt a certain unquantifiable connection when they were trying to list names for him.
James Potter had taken after his father. With strikingly green eyes, messy black hair, and great athletic ability, James Potter would grow to be an almost carbon copy of his father. He had thankfully inherited his mother's smarts, with much pleasure to his mother.
"Dad the 2K is great! Thanks so much!" as he oddly kept punching his father.
"Okay, okay kiddo! I'm glad you enjoyed it!" Harry laughed despite the sad news that had been put on him just a few moments ago.
"But Dadddddy! He wouldn't let me get the 2K!" Harry's daughter, Emma, whined.
Emma Potter was born just a year later after her older brother. She, like her brother, had taken after her father's looks. With straight, black hair and equally striking green eyes, she could have easily been mistaken as a twin to her brother. While they were strikingly similar in appearance, they had quite different personalities. While her brother was a little on the shy side, Emma was boisterous and grew a reputation of being quite a little rebel in school, much to Hermione's dismay and Harry's elation.
"Don't worry munchkin, I promise I'll get you a 2K too!" Harry said with a smile and a pat on the head.
"See! Told you he'd get me one!" Emma stuck her tongue out at James who made an inappropriate gesture back at her.
"James!" Harry and Hermione said in unison while Ron snickered in the background.
"And you! I thought I told you to keep them out until we were done!" Hermione glowered over Ron with her hands on her hips.
"I'm sorry, your kids are very insistent!" Ron laughed.
"Marve? Can you explain yourself?" Hermione turned towards their butler.
"They outran me Madame," Marve bowed deeply before sweeping out of the room.
"Outran?" Hermione said in a shocked tone.
"Oh lay them off, Hermione, everything's done here anyways," Harry kissed her cheek and smiled at her, but Hermione could detect the faint hint of sadness behind his eyes.
"Ewwwww, they're making googly eyes!" Emma yelled and pointed her finger at them exaggeratedly.
"Ewwwww! Jimmy said that if you do that long enough, you can get Sugarplank cooties from them," Jimmy nodded at Ron.
"My Jimmy?" Ron asked.
"Yes, Uncle Ron, Jimmy told me that when he came back from Hogwarts!" James nodded eagerly.
"That son of ours speaks the truth," Luna said, completely dead panned. Ron looked at her with his mouth open. After a few moments he shut his mouth and spoke, "You're way too right wifey."
Laughing at his friends, Harry swept Emma up in his arms and spoke to everyone, "Who wants pizza?!?"
---________________________________________---
---________________________________________---
After the rumble had settled and the kids were tucked into bed, the adults were sipping wine in the kitchen and idly catching up on various issues. Harry had momentarily taken a leave and retired to the study in order to retrieve something according to him.
Harry had crossed the threshold into the study and purposely strode to Hermione's purse where she kept her wand. Harry picked the wand out of Hermione's purse and held it tightly in his hand. He could feel what seemed to be a fleeting wave pass through his body. He had memorized the spell ever since they had left to eat pizza and there was no time like the present. He waved the wand with a swish and a flick and spoke clearly.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Harry had waved the wand at a quill that lay on the table. He was disheartened and surprised to see that nothing happened. He tried again and again, waving the wand in a swish and flick motion, but each time nothing happened. Harry was so sure that this experiment would work. It was the only thing the wand in the room could possibly represent.
"I tried too, you know?" said a voice from behind him.
Harry dropped the wand and turned on point to see Marve smiling at him while he polished a plate. Marve strode towards him and placed the wand back onto the desk. Harry was frozen, embarrassed at being caught at attempting magic.
"When I found out about the magical world, I was so sure I could do it too. It didn't look that hard," Marve spoke as he continued cleaning the plate with a cloth, "But I eventually came to terms with it. Us Muggles just aren't meant to do it."
"I was just so sure," Harry said
"I know, Harry, I was too. But we just aren't meant to do those kinds of things. All of us are meant for different things. I was meant to meet you and your wonderful family, you were meant to raise your kids into great people. You just have to learn to accept it," Marve relayed his feelings towards Harry with an odd touch of sentimentality not usually seen from the reserved butler.
Harry realized that Marve was right. He was so sure he could do magic that it had quietly bothered him for this many years. But now, Harry accepted it. This magic was not meant for him. He was meant to do great things in his own right but in his own unique way. He chuckled as he looked up at Marve.
"Us amnesiacs gotta stick together right?" Harry joked.
"Too true, sir. But I suppose both of us just have a bad case of memory loss," Marve said with a wink.
"We're not so different, you and I," Harry said.
"No we're not, sir."
"There you are!" Hermione said from the entrance of the study.
"What are you two doing?" she asked as she came to Harry and looped her arm around his waist. Harry shot Hermione a half-smile but Marve beat him to an explanation.
"I was just helping Mr. Harry look for his cell phone, Madame," Marve explained.
"Oh Harry," she slapped him playfully on the chest, "You could have just asked me. It's up by the bedside table," Hermione said, no doubt using her photographic memory.
"Of course!" Harry said with a slap to his forehead and a thankful smile to Marve. Marve smiled back and left the pair of them. As Marve left the study, Hermione took the opportunity to hug Harry and look up at him, questioning him with her eyes.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly. Harry took a moment before looking directly into her eyes and genuinely smiling.
"I think I'm alright now. I doubt I'll be having any of those dreams anymore," Harry kissed the tip of her noise to punctuate his statement.
"I'm glad," Hermione said as she buried her head into his chest, relishing his warmth and feeling his strong, steady heartbeat.
"I love you, you know and those little rascals of ours," Harry murmured into her hair.
"I love you too Harry," Hermione said, kissing the spot where his heart would be.
"I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world," Harry whispered. Hermione looked up from Harry's chest and stared at him.
"I'm glad."
They wrapped their arms around each other and savored the comfort and love they brought to each other. Unfortunately, they were snapped out of their reverie by a snicker.
"So beautiful," Ron said as he pretended to wipe tears out of his eyes.
"Shut it you weasel!" Harry laughed at his friend as he and Hermione parted a little but did not leave each other's arms.
"Oh Ronald, don't be so immature," Luna swatted her husband's arm and approached Harry with a piece of paper in her hand.
"Harry, I'm going to classify your case as a clinical trial with the Department of Mysteries. I have to register everyone that's in this house as necessary for what the Unspeakables want. I have everyone's signatures but yours and I do need the full name of your butler," Luna explained as she handed Harry the paper and pen.
"You don't know Marve's real name?" Harry asked as he wrote down his butler's name on the paper.
"No, I can't say I've had the pleasure."
"Tom. Marvolo. Riddle," Harry wrote down, "My fellow amnesiac."
"Harry, don't joke!" Hermione giggled against his arm as she looked over his shoulder at the paper, "Now your name."
"Of course," Harry scribbled.
"Harry. James. Potter," Harry wrote as he smiled at the last two names on the list.
"Alright you two, get out of my house. Let me live on with my life."
---_________________________________---
---_________________________________---
:wink: