Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Harry Potter. Which is a shame, because it'd have gone Harmony if I did…
A/N: An idea I had just after reading DH to make right things after the crapilogue. Hope you'll like the story, and please if you read, review, thanks.
After The Night, Sun Shines
Chapter Eight: Adjusting
Harry sighed.
He had known it all along, since Ginny and Ron's death. The house, without his wife, would feel lonely. Especially now that Albus and James had gone back to Hogwarts.
He had taken some time off his work to care about Lily, and he honestly didn't know if he would go back to work at all.
The money he had in his vault, after all, granted him and his kids a good lifestyle, bordering on the rich side, even if he didn't work. And if he had to wait till his baby girl grew up enough to care about herself before being able to go back to work…it would be years, and he would probably be too badly fit to be an Auror again.
The kettle on the kitchen whistled, and Harry knew the water for Lily's morning tea was ready. He prepared it, and placed a warming charm on the cup so that it would not become cold before she came down to have breakfast.
Then he sat down, sipping his coffee, and his thoughts drifted to Hermione. He wondered how she was doing, alone in the house with Hugo. Molly had been great, trying to help them both with the kids, and Merlin knew if he needed that. As much as he had been somewhat always present in his children's lives, at times he had no bloody idea what to do with Lily, for example how to soothe her when she would cry in her sleep.
He could hear her from his room, hers was just across the hall, and he would get up, go in there and hug her close, whispering soothing words to her. Still, not always he managed to calm her down quickly, and it could take hours before she settled to sleep again.
He remembered how Hermione had calmed her easily when she had been there the first morning after Ginny's death.
Maybe he should go and get some tips from her. Or maybe it was just that females were more skilled in caring about children. He had to admit Lily had always had a particular liking for her Aunt, and he couldn't really blame her, he thought with a chuckle.
Yes, Hermione was really a lovely woman. She had always been, since their first year, caring about the others, strong, and more than once managed to keep him and Ron in line. As time passed, she mellowed a bit about their rule-breaking, but after all, he had wised up about the importance of doing his work too, and not slack off like he continuously did when he was with Ron. Especially since he joined the Auror Department.
In some way, they had rubbed off each other, learning from the other what they lacked in the first place. Now, hanging out with her was much more fun than it had been before, and he treasured every moment they would spend together, since their spouses' deaths.
As he was wrapped in his thoughts, he never heard his daughter approaching.
"Thinking about something good, Daddy?" she suddenly said, and Harry jumped, spilling his coffee all over his clothes.
Lily giggled, while Harry muttered angrily, then with a flick of his wand the whole mess was polished, his own clothes as new. He focused on his still giggling daughter, and his heart swelled with pride.
It had been two weeks now since the funerals, and he had witnessed constant progresses in how Lily was adjusting to the absence of her mother. She still missed her lots, of course, and he did too, if he had to be truthful, but she was getting over the hurt.
As for her mother figure, Molly and Hermione tried to fill the void whenever they could. Molly was more than happy to have her niece, and Hugo too, over for lunch, or dinner, and they had gone to the Burrow more often, lately.
Arthur had been great too, giving tips to both him and Hermione as to how handle the situation, and he had been right about them. Seemed that Mr. Weasley was far a wiser person than one would expect from his outer appearance and always joyful behaviour.
Once Lily was finished eating, he quickly washed the cups and dishes, then helped her get ready. Today was time for another family meeting at the Burrow, and they were already running a bit late.
Half an hour later, he and his daughter landed in front of the building after he had sidelong Apparated them there. Entering, Harry noticed Hermione and Hugo were already there.
"When is Lily coming?" the little Weasley whined, then he turned and his face broke in an huge grin seeing her there. The two kids ran to hug each other, and all the adults laughed softly.
Harry met Hermione's warm brown eyes, and his breath caught in his throat. It was such a different shade of brown from Ginny's, so he could not mistake them for the eyes of his deceased wife, and yet he felt happy when gazing into them, like he was safe again. He reasoned it was because she had been his friend so long, and shrugged the strange feeling starting to develop inside himself.
Arthur soon involved them all in conversation about the last Muggle objects he ahd come in contact with, one of them was a personal computer.
"You should have seen it, Molly, it was really amazing. You had this thing where you pushed letters around, and it came written in front of you on a shiny kind of page" he kept telling his wife, while she glared at him. She had never really warmed up to his obsession with Muggle objects.
Harry and Hermione could only smile shaking their heads at the description of a PC that Arthur had just given them.
As Molly busied herself in the kitchen to start preparing lunch, Hermione and Harry listened to Arthur's stories, grateful that the older man could keep their minds off their problems for the time being.
Once they had eaten and the kids were down for their afternoon kip, Harry and Hermione took a walk around the woods behind the Burrow.
"So, how are you doing?" Harry finally asked.
She shrugged. "Going on" Hermione replied, then she stopped. "I miss him a lot, Harry" she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I miss him, but I have to stay strong for Hugo, and it's difficult"
He pulled her into an hug, and kissed the top of her head. "You know you have me if you ever need something, right?" he whispered.
She wiped her eyes angrily. She didn't mean to cry in front of him, and yes, he had been a wonderful friend to her since the…event. She was grateful to him for that, but she was also scared.
She wished for his company constantly, and it seemed wrong. Her husband was dead not long ago and here she already craved the presence of another man in her life, although it was their mutual best friend.
Hermione had never cheated on her husband in twenty years of marriage, but she felt like she was starting to do that now. That was why she had tried to keep herself away from Harry a bit, since the kids had gone back to school.
However, when he held like that, she felt content and safe, and it was a good feeling. Nothing wrong could feel so good, she reasoned.
So, she moved back a bit, and sent him a tentative smile. "Thanks for being here for me, Harry"
"You've always been on my side, Hermione" he said, grinning back. "It's time I do the same for you"
She nodded, although she had never asked for him to acknowledge her constant presence in their Hogwarts years, it felt good to know he appreciated that.
"So, how are things going with Lily?" she asked, to change the subject from herself. Harry sighed.
"Well, I guess she's making progresses. She barely cries at night anymore, and she's been more cheerful this last couple of days" he told her.
"That's good, isn't it?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. It was like Harry didn't like his daughter's progresses.
"Yes, it's good" he said with an half smile. "But I can tell she misses a mother figure, and I can't give that to her"
Hermione nodded. "I can tell Hugo misses his father too. More than that, he misses a father in general"
Harry looked at her, and suddenly he grinned. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier?
"Hermione, why don't you and Hugo move in with me and Lily? They will be ecstatic to be able to play together all time, that will take their minds off their losses, plus if Hugo needs a father figure, I can give it to him, you know how much I love him"
Hermione was taken aback. Moving in with him? That sounded appealing. Too appealing for her taste.
"I dunno. I think it's too soon to push another parent figure in their lives" she reasoned, although it was more of an excuse to refuse than a real worry. With that, she left him there, walking back to the house.
Harry stood in the wood, dumbfounded, and hoping he hadn't ruined their friendship because they more than ever needed each other now.
Hermione, in the meantime, was angry at herself. She didn't mean to leave like she had done. But if she stayed there she might have accepted his offer, and she didn't think it was right, not if she felt so drawn to him. But after all, was it so bad that two best friends leaned on each other for support in a time like that one?
That night, Harry was in the living room watching some telly, Lily was already in bed, when he heard the fireplace come to life.
Turning, he was surprised to see Hermione and Hugo stepping out of it with two big trunks. She nodded to him, then went upstairs to place Hugo in Lily's room and put him to bed.
Harry in the meantime got up from the couch and followed her. Silently he watched her tuck her son in, careful not to wake Lily, and in the moonlight reflecting on her face, he was once more struck by how angelic her features looked. She readjusted a tendril of hair behind her ear, and then looked up, feeling his gaze on her.
At her questioning look, he simply shook his head smiling, feeling butterflies in his belly when she smiled back, her own eyes twinkling.
They then walked back to the living room.
"I changed my mind" she simply stated answering the question in his eyes.
"And you barge into my house without checking if that's ok?" he playfully scolded her. "What if I was having my way with a young, sexy witch?"
"In that case, Mr. Potter, I would have hexed you into the next millennium for not being respectful of your dead wife" she retorted as playfully.
"And what if I had just exited the shower and was starkers?" he questioned again, teasingly. "What would have you done then, Mrs. Weasley?"
She flushed scarlet red at the image of a starkers Harry forming in her mind. She remembered how his body felt good when they had impersonated him all those years ago leaving Privet Drive, and now he was far more muscled, thanks to his Auror training.
"W-well…" she stammered, and Harry laughed.
"I win" he smirked, making an impromptu winning dance in front of her.
She started laughing and hit him softly on his head with her purse. "Prat"
"Well, it's not any day one makes Hermione Granger speechless" he said, not realizing his little slip. Hermione had to admit it was too much she didn't hear her maiden name, and it felt good.
"Shut up, Potter, and go fetch me a glass of pumpkin juice. I'm thirsty" she said. As he gave her a mock military salute, she sat on the couch smiling.
Things were looking up for them, and together they would find a way out of sorrow and to happiness, again.
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