A True Hero

A/N: Tissue box warning. The more emotional of you readers may want to read this one with a box of tissues handy.

I don't know where this idea came from, and I'm sure it's been done a million times, but I had to get it out. I don't know why, but when I was finished I had an odd sense of happiness and completion, as if to reassure myself that such love actually existed in the world.

Leave me any feedback you'd like. This is a one-shot, so don't expect to hear any more about and of the characters. And I am working dilligently on the next chapter of my HBP fic. :)

A True Hero

Hermione bustled around the house hopelessly, trying to rein in the natural disaster that was her son and his best friend. Riley was absolutely impossible, she thought. Even at the age of ten, nearly eleven, he was an absolute handful to keep track of, and she shuddered to think of the time that the Hogwarts teachers would have teaching two Potters, both as intelligent and cunning as their parents had ever been.

Riley and his twin sister Zhoe both got into trouble all of the time, but Hermione smiled fondly thinking about it. Their rule bending was never spiteful or malicious, it was simply... mischievous. She often gave careful consideration to the idea that she might be raising the prodigies of Fred and George.

Riley, the older of the twins by a few minutes, had thick, straight brown hair and soft green eyes. He stood slightly taller than most of his peers, a bit on the lanky side, but that could always change with age and sports, particularly if he took up his father's passion for Quidditch. Hermione always thought to herself with a smile that Riley's eyes seemed to be the perfect blend of his fathers shockingly green eyes and her warm brown.

Zhoe was a pretty, bright young girl with long straight black hair and light amber eyes that hovered somewhere in between brown and yellow. She had always been the more cunning and bright of the two, though not by much. A point that filled Hermione with a certain sense of pride.

"Riley, Rowan, put that down this instant or so help me I'll give you so many chores you won't be finished in time to catch the Hogwarts Express this fall." She gave the pair a withering glare. "And don't think that I can't convince Luna to give you the same treatment Rowan."

That certainly put a damper on their mischief, Hermione thought to herself pleased. She watched the two boys carefully and apologetically place the wand on its stand in the living room. They gave her what could only be described as pleading glances while making their way out of the room.

"Where's your sister, Riley? We need to leave in a short while." Riley turned to face his mother.

"Last time I saw her she was in her room, writing something." Riley paused for a moment to see if his mother would ask anything else, before sliding out the back door right behind Rowan.

Hermione sighed softly. The house would be a lot more quiet when the went to school, that was certain. She walked over to the mantle and adjusted the wand properly.

"There," she said smiling. "Just where it's supposed to be." She turned to finish her tasks around the house. They really did need to be leaving soon.

"Zhoe, put the quill down and get out here!" Hermione said fervently. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry. You don't want to make dad wait!" She heard a loud shuffling from withing the room, and moments later, Zhoe emerged, ready to leave.

"Why do we have to take a car?" Riley whined. Rowan had left for home minutes before, and Riley was already getting restless. "A car is so slow!"

"You know why," Hermione replied evenly. "Besides, I rather like driving from time to time. It can be quite soothing. It also does good to teach you some patience." Hermione smiled at her son fondly. "Sweetie, I know that you're never in a good mood when we go to see dad, but please be good for me?" She placed her hand comfortingly on her son's shoulder as she bent over to look directly in his eyes.

Riley seemed flustered for a moment before he nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face. He reached up and pulled his mother into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Mum." Hermione smiled and patted him on the head lightly.

"It's alright Riley, just please keep control of yourself a little while longer." Making sure to grab the wand off of its stand, Hermione and her two children walked out to their car and left the house on time, and Hermione always ensured they did.

The drive was one that they were all familiar with. It wasn't overly long, but was certainly no simple outing, and took them through what Zhoe always felt was the most beautiful country around. Zhoe, unlike her brother, looked forward to the days they went to see their father. She didn't quite know why, it was just something that pulled at her heart.

They drove in silence, as had become the custom, and before too long they pulled up to a pair of oddly dressed individuals that put a smile on all their faces.

"Aunt Tonks! Uncle Remus!" Zhoe exclaimed happily. True, they were usually there when the family went to see father, but still it was always a pleasant thing to see Remus and Tonks waiting. They all three exited the car, exchanging salutations with the happy couple.

"So how are you feeling?" Hermione asked Tonks pointedly.

"Well my hair isn't a neon color, right?" She smiled warmly. "I'm feeling fine." She turned to Remus, scoffing. "It's amazing how often you hear that question when you're pregnant!" Lupin only nodded, knowing better than to add anything.

"We'll watch the pair," Lupin said, turning back to Hermione. "You go on first." Hermione nodded. That was what they usually did. It just felt right.

Riley and Zhoe launched into animated discussions with the couple as Hermione walked off through the garden path, passing the flower beds which she had carefully cultivated and grown. She turned the corner as the path winded behind a patch of trees, revealing a calm little meadow with a large stone in the center. She traced her hands over the words and began to recite them out loud. She always did.

"Here lies a man, a hero, a husband, a father. Harry James Potter." It never failed... even after over 10 years, she would cry as she traced her fingers over the grave.

"Zhoe and Riley are excited about heading to school. Zhoe seems like she'll get good marks, I just hope that she's able to make sure her brother does the same." She sniffed. "They're quite the pair, you know that? Just the other day they were running around the house, replacing items with some of Fred and George's creations." She chuckled, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"Nearly had a heart attack when I picked up your wand to find it was a fake. Burst into a rubber chicken and everything." She looked down at the grave, her mind going back to that time so long ago when her husband had been alive.

They'd nearly gone through everything without a word of their feelings to each other, but only months before the final battle, Harry pulled her aside professing himself. It was still one of her fondest memories. They married each other two months later, just days before that fateful showdown. Harry had insisted that he needed a reason to pull through, to know what he was fighting for. Well, she'd given it to him.

Those two months between discovery and consummation had been the most amazing thing in Hermione's life, and she was certain that in their short time together, her and Harry had shared more love than some married couples do their entire lives. They'd only had sex that once, the night they got married. Hermione always thought it was a miracle, Harry's way of staying with her, that she'd been blessed with their children.

The final battle had consumed Harry and Voldemort. He'd truly given himself to protect the world, but Hermione was perhaps the only person that knew he hadn't been protecting the world. As much as some people would think poorly of him for it, Hermione knew that in the end Harry hadn't cared one way or the other about the fate of the world. He'd given himself to protect her. To protect their family.

Perhaps other people thought it less noble and altruistic, but to tell the truth, Hermione thought it was the most brilliant thing in the world, even if she'd never told anyone about it. Anyone can save the world, it takes a true hero to save their family. Some things just are too personal for anyone else to know.

Hermione withdrew the wand that she'd collected off the mantle from her pocket, bringing it up to her face.

"Eleven inches, supple, Holly." She paused. "Harry." She tapped the grave twice with the wand, and it glowed a brilliant gold for a moment, the sound of a phoenix singing faintly in the background, and the ground suddenly sprouted dozens and dozens of fresh, vibrant flowers. Hermione bent over and picked one of her favorites, taking in a slow breath of its scent.

"I miss you, Harry." She began to cry again, not bothering to wipe them aside. "I miss you so much."

Riley looked on in the direction he knew the grave site to be and saw the familiar golden glow rise up from within the trees for a moment.

"What was dad like?" Riley asked Remus. He'd asked many times before, but it never stopped him from asking again.

"He was a grown man at the age of twelve. A true friend, beyond anyone I've ever known, including your grandfather." Riley stared on at the trees intently.

"Mum and dad really loved each other, didn't they?" Tonks smiled, feeling her eyes begin to water. Remus nodded.

"More than you will ever know, Riley."