Author's Notes: Wow, I'm sorry for the delay, once more. Bio, Latin, dance, and so many other things have just made me so freaking exhausted. And then I have the worst insomnia during nights, and I can't type when I'm so tired-just can't concentrate.
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August 23rd, 2001 …
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Harry, reacting quickly, swiftly took Andrew into his arms and buried his son's face into the crook of his neck. Andrew hadn't done anything but comply to his father's silent wish, and silently listened to all of the strange noise being sound around him. The young boy wrapped his arms around his father's neck, yawning when the arms wrapped around him tightened slightly.
Hermione, startled tremendously, only stood there, her eyes wide. There were so many questions and accusations being thrown at her and her husband, that she couldn't even open her mouth. One hand automatically went to her stomach, the other holding onto Harry's sleeve. We have to get out of here, she thought, looking around frantically.
"Harry Potter, is that really you?" asked someone from the crowd.
Harry gulped, looking around. He wasn't going to answer.
"Oh Merlin!" exclaimed a woman who was in the crowd closest to the group. "Granger is pregnant!"
Hermione squeaked, her nails digging into Harry's hard biceps. "Harry, we must get out," she whispered anxiously.
He nodded. "Guys, just-just let me and my wi-Hermione get through!" he shouted, trying to make his way through without harming him or his son. They were slowly moving out of the way, probably because he had a small child in his arms, he suspected.
"Why return after so many years?" someone asked, following them to the back room.
Harry groaned and turned around, seeing many other people following them as well. He took Hermione's hand, making sure Andrew was still safe, and watched Hermione hurriedly take her wand out.
"Don't you think you've done enough damage?"
"What will the two youngest Weasleys say?"
"Have you kept in contact with anyone, over the years?"
The questions were coming in such rapid succession that Harry could barely comprehend them. The brinks to Diagon Alley began to separate, forming an entranceway for the Potters. They quickly went through, trying to avoid the people that were still following them. After walking for a few minutes, Harry and Hermione finally found an alley. They quickly turned and walked in the shadows, sighing a breath of relief when they saw the growing crowd of on-lookers pass by.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Hermione muttered, rubbing her stomach.
Harry looked at her, watching her rub her stomach. "We can turn around, if you want. If this is causing too much stress, then let's go. I don't want anything to happen to you." His eyes were sincere, looking into those of his wife's.
She smiled reassuringly, taking his hand. "Don't worry, I'm fine," she comforted, giving his neck a soft kiss.
"Do you still want to go to the Ministry?" he asked.
"Yes." She sighed. "Too bad we can't apparate," she muttered, looking from the alley, searching for anyone that would recognize them.
"Love, you're pregnant," he reminded her, though he knew no need to do so. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. "What if we transfigure something into a pair of robes?" he suggested, wondering how he'd overlooked the thought prior.
Hermione looked thoughtful. "That'd work, I guess," she acquiesced. "I've never actually considered the idea." She shrugged, taking her wand out and picking up two random pebbles. Muttering a spell, the pebbles turned into two black, standard size robes. Putting on her robe, she handed him his and said, "Put your hood up, and hold Andrew close. I don't want to put him in his stroller, since Muggles use them. I can't hold him for long periods of time, since I'm pregnant, and you have the strength to hold an eleven-month-old for however long it takes."
He nodded, giving their son to his mother for a moment so he could put on his robe, and took him back once he finished. Andrew had fallen asleep a short while before they entered Diagon Alley, and stirred slightly when he was transferred from one parent to the next, but went back to his slumbering state after he felt the hardness of his father's chest.
Harry covered Andrew with the front of the robe, rubbing the small of his back and kissing the top of his son's head, shifting him slightly so he was higher up his chest, and took his small hands and wrapped them around his neck so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. "Ready?" he asked his wife, who was currently putting the hood of the robe up, so it shadowed most of her face.
She nodded, but then commanded, "Put your hood up." Seeing as his hand was occupied, and the other was holding his back, making sure Andrew didn't move, she walked over to him and put her arms behind Harry, taking hold of the hood and flipping it over his head. He smiled, though he could barely see her face.
"Now," she said, looking from the alley, making sure no one was paying attention to them, "let's go. Remember, try to keep your face down, so no one will recognize you." As an afterthought, she added, "Though, I suppose, it'd be rather suspicious for two adults to saunter around the Magical Community with their hoods up."
He shrugged. "Oh well." He walked out of the alley, shifting his eyes to see if anyone was paying them attention. They weren't, and so he turned around, silently signalling to his wife that the coast was clear. Soon, the two were making their way to the Ministry.
On their way there, they heard many loud whispers. A few were about the Weasleys, and their new respective beaux. Others were about the supposed sighting of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, and the mysterious child in her arms.
"Merlin, you don't suppose Hermione Granger had Harry Potter's child?" wondered a random person that the Potters passed by.
Harry took in a small intake of breath, silently cursing the idiots that spread the word of seeing the two. He shook his head, manoeuvring his way to the Ministry. Hermione was by his side, holding the side of his robe, trying her best to keep her temper down.
Gossip spreads quicker here than it does Hogwarts, Hermione thought, scrunching her nose up in disgust.
"Merlin's beard," gasped a person, next to the Potters. Thank fully the person hadn't noticed the two mysterious hooded figures. The person turned to the Potters, and raised his eyebrows. "Did you hear about Harry Potter and Hermione Granger?" he asked, addressing Harry, who covered his son a bit more with his robe. Andrew simply snuggled more into the crook of his neck, unconsciously wrapping his short legs around his father's waist.
"No," muttered Harry, hoping the man would leave soon. If he kept this up, word would go around.
The man gasped, and went into full explanation, uncaring that he was talking to two complete strangers. "You haven't heard?" He shook his head. "That's a pity, really." He put his hands into his robe pockets, following the Potters towards the Ministry building. "Well, apparently, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had been sighted about half an hour ago. I honestly don't see the reason why they had to return; they did a great deal of damage after he defeated You-Know-Who. You think after a man would kill a Dark Lord, that he'd try to live a normal life. But no-" He was interrupted by Hermione.
"Oh look," she cut in, "but we've reached our destination. Nice talking to you," she said sarcastically, and was pleasantly surprised when she found the man's expression hadn't changed. "But it seems as though we have to go."
He nodded, smiling. "It was nice talking. But, I must say, having a hood up is doing nothing for your figure," he commented, giving them a wave and walking off, but not before saying, "Ciao!"
Harry had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. Who was this man, and why did he have no embarrassment while talking to two strangers? Oh whatever, he thought, giving the top of Andrew's head a kiss. We're here anyway. Let's just get this over with.
"C'mon," murmured Hermione, leading the way.
Harry nodded and followed his wife.
After entering through the Ministry doors, Harry giving a soft smile when he saw the fountain he gave ten galleons to back in Fifth-Year, the small family found themselves in a crowd. People were buzzing around in many directions, no one giving them much attention. They moved around people, trying their best not to wake up their slumbering son, or give their temporary hidden identity away. They stepped into the lift, and waited for the other magical workers to step in.
Within a few minutes time, Harry and Hermione were in front of a secretary. She smiled kindly, though her eyebrows furrowed when she saw they had their hoods up. Standing up, she took her wand out. "Put down your hoods, or I'll call the Aurors," she warned. Though in the past four years there hadn't been any serious Death Eater activity, she wasn't about to take any risks with these two strangers. One even seemed to be holding something.
"Not here," Harry told her. "I don't want-"
"It doesn't matter what you want," she cut in, her wand at ready. "I say remove your hoods now, or-"
"-Fine!" Hermione snapped, her emotions flaring. Removing her hood, she lifted her arm and quickly pulled Harry's down. She looked at the secretary, her anger still flaring. "Happy?" she asked sarcastically. "We're not Death Eaters or any of that rubbish. We're just here to get an address, and leave."
Her eyes widened. "Harry Potter," she murmured. "Hermione Granger…" Her eyes then travelled to the thing Harry was holding. "What's that?" she asking, pointing to Harry's torso.
Sighing, Harry moved his robe so it exposed his son. Andrew shivered, and Harry immediately started rubbing his son's back, hoping to provide warmth to the young child. "It's our son," he answered softly, knowing it wasn't wise to lose his temper and wake his son up. Harry stepped in front of the woman, who seemed a few years older than his twenty-one year old age.
"What are you two doing here?" she asked, her tone hostile. "Aren't you two supposed to be trotting along somewhere, defeating someone else and claiming you did all the work?"
"What?" Harry wondered, clueless as to what was happening. What the hell is she talking about?
She rolled her eyes. "If this wasn't my job, I'd ask you to leave." She impatiently sat down, looking at the two expectantly. "Well? What do you want?"
Hermione snapped. Sometimes the emotional roller coasters were a benefit of pregnancy. "We need an address. Give it to us, and we'll be on our way out." She glared at the older woman, as if daring her to say something out of line.
"Who?" she asked, her gaze the duplicate of Hermione's.
"Teddy Lupin."
She nodded briskly, and started looking through the multiple choices of names, until she finally found it. She waved her hand over the piece of parchment, which magically duplicated itself. Handing it to the only woman Potter, she said sarcastically, "Have a good day."
She smiled, still glaring, and hissed at the woman. "Oh, I intend to." She turned around, her robe flaring behind her, much like Snape's had back in their Hogwarts years, and said, "Harry, let's go."
"Now I see who wears the pants," muttered the secretary, loud enough for Harry to hear.
Harry growled, following his wife. They had forgotten to put their hoods up again, and so the second people started crowding the lifts, the two were instantly recognized. A few people were silent, others staring at Harry's scar, wondering if it was really the famous, yet devious Harry Potter and Hermione Granger from their four year absence.
"Oh my," whispered a man, near Harry.
"Yes, I'm Harry Potter," he finally snapped, turning his attention to the man. "Though, I'm surprised you even remember my name, since I've seemingly disappeared."
"So dramatic," whispered a woman, next to the man.
Harry rolled his eyes, and he and his wife got off the busy lift, pushing their way out of the large building. They tried to ignore everyone around them, since slowly, the people stopped what they were doing, staring at the Potters, almost as if they were in awe. Before they could get out of Diagon Alley, however, a large group of reporters were surrounding the small family, throwing questions left and right.
"After so many years, why?"
"Is that your son, or have you another woman in your life?"
"How are the Weasleys taking this? Do they even know?"
"Have you taken the new style of clothing to feel unique, so no one will recognize you?"
"Please, stop," Harry hissed, glaring daggers at each reporter there. "And just let us leave."
"Miss Granger, who is this child in Mister Potter's arms? Is this your child?"
Hermione growled, lifting her hood up and over her head, and forcefully shoved her way through the reporters and throngs of cameras that were flashing madly. How could I have been so stupid as to think we wouldn't be recognized, she thought, making a beeline towards the exit. Its quite obvious Harry and I-mostly Harry, though-have been recognized, and are mad at us. She groaned, ignoring the looks of shock, anger, worry, and took her wand out and exited Diagon Alley, back into the backside of the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry was hot on her heels, glad that she'd taken care of the sudden publicity incident. He wasn't too sure how angry he could get with Andrew in his arms. Following his wife out of Diagon Alley, he too pulled his hood up, covering Andrew, who was slowly waking. "Please let them ignore us," he muttered to himself, catching up with his fuming wife.
"Oi!" shouted the man from before. He was the same man that insisted Harry and Hermione, the last time they were here, to have a pint. "Who are `ye?"
Harry ignored him, and as expected, Hermione did too. They quickly made their way through the old pub, leaving with a slam of the door, courtesy of Hermione. Hastily making their way to the alley, Hermione rummaged through her purse for their shrunken car. Finding it, she took it out and placed it on the cold concrete floor, and muttered `Finite.' She got into the now full sized car, leaving the door open so Harry could her their son.
"Are you all right, love?" Harry asked, handing an almost awoken Andrew to Hermione.
She nodded. "Sort of," she answered, putting Andrew into his car seat. "I'm just… too hormonal right now." She smiled sheepishly, taking her husband's hand loosely.
Harry nodded, kneeling and giving her hand a soft kiss, her mouth next. They kissed for a few seconds, slow and sweet. Pulling apart, he murmured, "Okay." Closing the door, he went to the other side of the vehicle and sat, letting out a heavy sigh.
"You okay?" Hermione asked, putting her seatbelt on.
He nodded. "My arms hurt like hell, though." He smiled, taking out his keys from his back pocket, and putting it into the ignition. Putting the car into reverse, he pulled out of the alley, grinning as he made a few pedestrians angry. "Now, what's the address again?" he asked, shifting to drive.
She handed him the paper. "They live in Kensington," she said.
"Wow," he muttered. "Okay. So we'll be there in a while."
She nodded, giving Harry's shoulder a squeeze, and went back into her seat, looking out of the window, wondering if this encounter would be better than theirs with the Weasleys.
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"Interesting place they have here," commented Harry, parking the car outside of the modest sized home. The home was in a Muggle neighbourhood, and so Harry didn't feel the need to shrink their car, and wear their robes. He took it off, throwing it into the passenger side and pulling his jeans a bit farther down on his hips. While he was driving, they rode up so they were on his waist, and he wasn't comfortable with them at his waist. Usually they were on his hips, since he hadn't worn pants at his waist since he was in second year.
Hermione nodded, putting the baby bag into the small compartment in Andrew's stroller. It looked like the other homes on the street, all with trimmed hedges and beautiful rose bushes. Smiling, she pushed Andrew's stroller, entwining Harry's hand with her own, and went up to the front door.
Taking a deep breath, Harry knocked on the door. He squeezed Hermione's hand, and the two waited.
"One moment!" shouted a woman from inside the house.
A few seconds later, the door opened. An old woman, holding a four-year-old child, looked at the school. "Oh my…" She looked at the three, her eyes widened as she went to each person. Harry, Hermione, and then her eyes finally travelled to the small toddler staring at her, his tiny fist in his mouth. "H-Harry…?"
He nodded. "Misses Tonks?"
"Oh my," she muttered, letting Teddy down gently, and quickly enveloping Harry, and then Hermione. "Oh its been so long," she whispered. "Too long. Much too long." She smiled, and said, "Oh come in, please come in!"
They nodded, and quietly made their way inside the house. Young Teddy Lupin stood still, watching the Potters in curiosity. "Gamma," he whispered, running towards his grandmother and pulling on her long skirt. "Who are they?" he asked.
She smiled, picking Teddy up. "He's your Godfather, Ted," she told him, pointing at Harry, who smiled hesitantly at the young child. "Why don't you say hello?"
He got down from her arms and walked slowly towards Harry. "Hi," he said quietly, his bright yellow eyes, no doubt using his abilities of morphing, looking into Harry's bright emerald green.
He kneeled down to Teddy's height and said, "Hello, Teddy."
Hermione stood quietly, watching Godfather and Godson exchange a shy conversation. "Do you Teddy would mind if he had a friend to play with?" she asked, addressing the older woman.
"Oh I don't think he'd mind," Misses Tonks replied.
Hermione took Andrew out of his stroller, and set him down. Andrew giggled madly, finding his mother's jean holes hilarious. He trotted over to her jean-clad leg, and tried to stuff his fingers into the small, worn holes of Hermione's jeans. "Mumma!" he giggled, earning the attention of Teddy Lupin.
"Lookie!" he muttered, seeing the smaller child play with his mother's pants.
"Do you want to play with him?" Harry quietly asked Teddy.
"Can I?" he asked.
He nodded.
"Yes!!" he grinned, jumping up and down. "I show toys `n games `n movies `n lots `n lots a fun!!"
Harry grinned, gently prying his giggling son's hands away and picked him up. "Andrew, this is Teddy, your… cousin," he said, looking at Teddy, giving him a smile.
"Eby!" exclaimed Andrew, unable to say Teddy's name. He started babbling some more nonsense, trying his best to pronounce his name.
Harry chuckled, knowing his son couldn't say much more than `Papa,' `Mumma,' and `pay.'
"Kin we go?" Teddy asked, taking Andrew's hand.
He nodded, letting his son stand. "Go ahead. But, do me a favour and stay where we can see you, okay?" he requested the young child.
Slowly, he nodded. "Kay." He pulled on Andrew's hand and the two went into the dining room, which was adjacent to the living room, and started playing with the various toys.
Standing up, he saw that Hermione and Misses Tonks were already immersed in a conversation. His wife sat on the couch, one hand on her stomach, the other resting on the armrest. Misses Tonks was sitting on the armchair across from her, hands folded neatly on her lap.
"I don't believe it," murmured Hermione, shaking her head. "It's horrid," she muttered. "Ginny didn't even know what horcruxes were!"
She nodded. "I'm sorry, dear, but it's true." Her attention finally went to Harry, who sat down next to his wife. "Oh, I forgot my manners. Would you like tea?"
Hermione smiled politely. "Thank you, I'll have a bit. Harry doesn't drink much tea," she answered for the both of them.
She nodded. "All right. I'll be back in a moment." She got up, smiling slightly when she saw the two children happily emerged in playing with magical trucks and airplanes.
"What was she talking to you about?" asked Harry.
"You'll see," she murmured, patting his thigh. "You'll see…"
He nodded, though a bit sceptical.
A few minutes later, she came back with a tray. Setting it down, she poured tea into two china cups. She handed one to Hermione, who took a small sip, and set it on the table. They were in silence for a few minutes, Harry staring at the two children having a fun time, Hermione staring at her steaming tea, and Andromeda looking at the wedded couple.
Harry was the first to break the silence. "So, uhh, Misses Tonks-"
"Oh, Harry, please, call me Andromeda," she cut in, smiling.
He nodded. "So, where… where is your husband?" he asked.
"Oh he's out shopping for the groceries," she answered with a wave of her hand.
He nodded. "So… uh… I kind of wanted to know… What-what happened with us?" He shook his head. "I mean, what happened with us? We… we aren't in anything. I mean…" He shrugged. "You know what I mean…" He shook his head slightly, thinking, I never was good with this.
"I've already explained a bit of it with Hermione here," said she, gesturing towards his wife. "And I'll have to explain it to you, too."
They nodded.
"And after that," she said sternly, "I want to know what happened with you two during your `absence.'"
Harry and Hermione nodded, silently promising.
Taking a deep breath, she started. "You see, it all started a few weeks after the two of you left…"
Author's Notes: Okay, I know this chapter isn't even good, but cut me some slack. I'm about to fall asleep here. (I actually did, when I was writing the part of the secretary and Hermione. :P) I couldn't write any more, because if I did, the chapter would end up being around 12 pages long, and not my usual 6-7. So forgive me for yet another cliffhanger.
Ahh… and the dude at Diagon Alley… haha, I love him. He's so awesome. And I don't even know why I made him sound gay. :P But he's awesome, and if you flame my guy, I flame your arse. :P jk
Thanks for putting up with this rant. *grin* Hopefully my update will be quicker, but I can make no promises.
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