Fight for Custody

Harry85

Rating: NC17
Genres: Angst, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 6
Published: 20/03/2008
Last Updated: 28/03/2008
Status: completed

Hermione vanished, when Harry wanted to let her know the happy news of him and Ginny having a baby. He later finds his redhead wife isn't so lovely as he thought, and after the split he's left to raise his little girl on his own, until Ginny files for custody. Will he ever find Hermione again? Will he manage to keep the child?

Chapters

1. A/N

2. Shocking News

3. Five Years Later

4. Long Time Friends Meet Again

5. Request for Help

6. New Beginnings

7. Planning the Next Step

8. The Wedding. Fake of course!

9. First Two Months

10. Third and Fourth Month

11. Last Stint of Probation

12. Probation Outcome and a Request

13. Honeymoon, for Real

14. She, Who Should Mother His Children

1. A/N

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N, really important!: I want you all to know that the challenge I'm responding to has been issued taking strong inspiration from the Draco/Hermione story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy, posted on fanfiction.net by AnasellaEmm. The original plot is hers, so it's her who should be praised for the originality of it all.

So, when I took the challenge, I didn't know of the existence of her story, it was pointed out to me later on the forums.

At that point I had already more than half story written, even if I didn't have all the chapters posted already. I read her story out of curiosity, and I truly liked it even if the pair is not my favourite one, so maybe you should take a look at that one too, but I digress.

When I read it, I didn't think about asking permission to her, and it was later pointed out to me on the forums that she wasn't pleased with the situation.

Adam, the mod for the fanfic section if I'm not mistaken, has been in contact with her, and she said she was glad to let me continue writing this story as long as I credit her in every chapter, which I have no problem whatsoever in doing, of course.

So here it is, the story is being reposted from the beginning for this reason. Hope you'll still enjoy it, and thanks for the support you all demonstrated me in the last few days. As a bonus, lol, I've decided to raise the rating from R to NC17.

P.S. I know many of you have already read the first chapters, but since I've had to take the story down and repost it from the beginning, if at least some of you were so kind as to leave me a review even for the chapters they have already read…but don't feel obliged to, ok?

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2. Shocking News

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…and please, remember that H/G makes me want to puke just like it does for you, ok? But this chap needed to be done.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Fight for Custody

Chapter One: Shocking News

It was a bright sunny day in England, and Harry Potter, eighteen years old, was happily zooming in the sky on his Firebolt, along with his seven years long best mate, Ron Weasley.

The two of them were playing a one on one Quidditch match behind the Burrow, enjoying the freedom of the few weeks of vacation from Auror training. Ginny was coming home today from school, finally graduated, and Harry couldn't wait for the moment he would see her again, which led to him being quite preoccupied while playing.

Ron was taking his only chance at beating him, and was currently leading the match 70-20. He didn't have a girlfriend to wait for, as he and Hermione had broken up six months before.

It had actually been a mutual decision, one of the few they managed to take without biting each other's head off in one of their famous arguments. The redhead was currently single, and happy about it, thank you. At least, he didn't have to worry if one night he got drunk at the pub and ended shagging a random girl, which he admitted had happened some times.

After all, he was still quite famous and sought after by lots of witches, being part of the Golden Trio. Speaking of which, the only member missing was Hermione. They expected her to come there in few days time though, after she finished the last session of exams at the Muggle university she was frequenting.

It was only few hours later that Arthur and Molly did come back from the station, Ginny in tow, and Harry was mesmerized by her. In the few months since Easter, when he had seen her last, she had become even more beautiful. Harry could swear she was actually glowing.

“Hi Gin” he said, landing in front of her.

“Harry!” she squealed, hugging him tight. She hold on him like her life depended on it, but Harry didn't mind.

He kissed her hard on the mouth, a proper greeting since he had been wanting to do that forever, while secluded in Auror training. Not seeing her was the hardest part of it, the studying, the duelling, the physical training he could handle, but he found himself missing Ginny quite a lot.

“I missed you” he breathed into her ear after breaking contact with her lips, leaving them swollen and her breathless.

“I missed you too, Harry” she said, a couple tears sliding down her cheeks, and he gently wiped them away. He felt his heart swell, he didn't expect her to miss him so much.

“Sorry, I've been a bit emotional lately” she sniffed. “I guess I should go inside and settle my things…”

“Ginny, dear, you stay here with Harry and catch up. You've got a whole summer to settle your things” Molly suggested, having unwillingly overheard them.

“Thanks, Mum” the redhead girl said, with a smile. Then she turned toward Harry again. “Actually, I think we should talk, Harry” Ginny said.

“Ok, Gin. Why don't we go near the pond? It's a bit fresher there, with the tree shadows and such” he suggested, taking her hand into his own. She nodded, and followed him there.

Once they settled under a tree, her back on his chest and his arms wrapped around her, Ginny sighed.

“Harry, do you remember Easter hols, when we met here?” she started.

“Yeah” He said with a goofy grin. It had been months since they had seen each other last, he had had to skip Christmas holidays because he was behind with his training and needed to study for some tests they would have to take at the beginning of the new year, so it was since the previous summer they hadn't seen each other. Easter holidays had made up for that, and they were almost joined at the hip. But more than anything, those days had brought them some pretty heated shags. Harry still got flustered when thinking about it.

“Well, I don't know exactly which day, but in the heat of the passion we must have forgotten about the spell” she said, turning in his embrace to look at him, and he was still dumbfounded about what she was getting at.

“Honestly, Harry!” she snapped, seeing he wasn't going to get it on his own. “I'm pregnant”

Harry looked at her in shock. Bloody Hell, she was pregnant! He was going to be a father!

A stupid grin spread on his lips at the thought. “I'm gonna be a father” he whispered, and Ginny could see he wasn't freaked out, just surprised, but deep down happy about it. That reaction both eased and raised her worries.

Eased, because he didn't hate her for getting pregnant with his child. She honestly didn't know when they had forgotten the charm, she had always made a point to cast it before they got too distracted, so it wasn't like she planned this.

Raised, because she was just out of school, it was damn bloody early to be a mother. If she started so early, she might even beat her own mum and get more than seven kids! It wouldn't do. Not when she had her twenties still to live with her figure at her best, partying and having fun.

She had thought she and Harry would have kids together, of course, but much later in life.

“How long have you known?” Harry asked then.

Ginny looked at him sheepishly. “Since the end of April. I was late, and so I went to see Madam Pomfrey, and she told me”

“Why didn't you tell me sooner, then?” he inquired, a bit hurt.

“I wanted to tell you in person, not by owl” she explained, and Harry seemed satisfied enough, because he pulled her close, kissing her quite thoroughly.

“What that for?” she asked, dazed, when they finally parted.

“For giving me my biggest dream, a family” he said, looking at her almost adoringly. The pregnancy had made her pretty emotional, and she hugged him tightly.

“Oh, Harry, what I'm going to tell my mother? She will hate me for getting knocked up so young! And out of marriage!”

Harry soothed her, rubbing her back gently. “That's not a problem, Gin. I'll marry you, that's out of question. I'm not going to be a bastard and leave you alone to deal with this, you can be sure of that”

“But what about your training?”

“I'll find a way. After all, I'm going through it just because I wanted to, they would have put me directly in the Auror ranks, so I'm sure they will allow me a bit more freedom” he said with a shrug. He hated using his name to obtain things, to be honest, but at times it was necessary, and this was one of such. “I just wish I could have proposed to you in that romantic way you usually see in romance books, with a sparkling ring, you know, lots of champagne, an expensive restaurant or a breathtaking view, but I guess what really matters is that we are going to be married” he said, then he realized she still hadn't told him she wanted to marry him. “If you want us to marry, that is” he added then a bit self-consciously.

“Oh, Harry, I've wanted to marry you since I was ten years old, how could you think I would say no?” she smiled at him, kissing him briefly on the lips. “As for the romantic proposal, you can always make an official one, maybe in front of the whole family so that you shock half of them to death” she giggled, and he chuckled, pulling her close.

He could see she was still a bit scared. “It's going to be ok” he reassured her, and she wanted to believe him, but deep down she felt it was too early. She didn't want a baby so soon. However, if that got her to marry Harry, it couldn't be completely bad, could it?

--

Later that day, Harry decided he wanted to share the good news with Hermione right away and not wait for her to come to the Burrow in few days time before telling her. So he Apparated to her flat, just to find it completely empty. Not even the furniture was there, nor a short note telling him when she had left, why, and where for.

Worried, he Apparated to her parents, guessing they might know something, but they told him they hadn't heard from her in a couple months, something he could relate to. His letters, as sparse as they were because he was pretty busy himself, always came back unopened in the last month or so. He guessed she didn't have time, with her studies and such, to reply, even if that hurt more than he let on.

The idea that she might leave all of them without even a word never crossed his mind, not after all the three of them had shared.

Frowning, Harry Apparated back to the Burrow.

“Ron, mate, I need to have a word with you” he said, and the redhead agreed to follow him outside, eager to stop helping his mother in the kitchen.

“What got your wand in a twist, Harry?” he joked, but Harry didn't chuckle.

“Hermione's gone”

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3. Five Years Later

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…I'm sure many of you will hate Ginny even more after this chap, if you don't already.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Two: Five Years Later

Harry Potter switched off the alarm, and slowly, sleepily, he got up. Today was a big day for his little girl, Beatrice Lily Potter, as she would start her pre-Hogwarts schooling.

For centuries, Wizarding families had taught their children at home before they were old enough to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but lately someone had had the brilliant idea to open a centre for the little witches and wizards in the making, so that they would get professional schooling and be better prepared for the real school.

Being five years old, Beatrice, Bea in short, would be able to join the centre for the first time this year, and in the previous days she had been downright excited about it.

Harry smiled at the thought, while shaving, then he moved silently to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. His little princess would be up soon, and she was known to have quite an appetite in the morning.

--

He had just finished putting her pancakes on the plate when the five years old girl trudged into the kitchen.

“Morning” she yawned, and Harry looked at her fondly, mussing her hair.

“Morning to you, princess” he said, placing her cup of milk I front of her. “Do you like what's for breakfast today?”

The raven haired little girl nodded. “Yummy!” she squealed, tucking in. Harry couldn't help an hearty laugh. As he sipped his coffee, he watched her, with those green eyes just like his own, and felt a sudden rush of pride. At times, he still found it difficult to believe that he was a father, and had such a wonderful daughter, but that was the truth.

Glancing at his watch, Harry realized they had to move if they wanted to be on time.

“Munchkin, we need to get you ready for school. I'll take care of everything here later, you go get dressed, okay? I'm sure you don't want to be late your first day, after all”

Bea shook her head, smiling at him, and ran back to her room to get dressed. Harry helped her tie her shoes when she was done, then checked her appearance.

“You look pretty, dear” he complimented her, and she giggled at him.

He grinned back, and took her hand. Stepping inside the fireplace, he clearly called “Wizarding Pre-schooling Centre” and they were engulfed by the green flames of the Floo, landing not so graciously inside the courtyard of the structure few moments later.

Harry brushed the soot away from his and little Bea's clothes, and sighed.

“This is it, munchkin. You be a good girl, listen to your teacher and do not cause too much mischief, ok?” he lectured his daughter, who nodded happily.

“I will be the best girl, Daddy” she seriously said, taking her small bag with the few things required of her to bring, some parchment, a quill, and such.

Harry watched her join the crowd of the other kids, and felt like someone was watching him from inside the building. He looked up, but all the windows were empty.

“Must have imagined it” he shrugged, and was ready to go when someone approached him.

“Her first day, uh?”

He turned, and was faced with anyone else than Neville Longbottom.

“Nev! It's so good to see you! What you up to lately?”

“Nothing serious. The term is going to start in a couple weeks at Hogwarts, as you know, so I'm enjoying the last days of freedom” the former Gryffindor replied. Harry nodded, clapping him on the back. “I must admit I never expected you to become a Professor, but Herbology has always been your best subject after all, so I can't really say it's a shock”

Neville blushed, and nodded.

Harry then inquired, “So, I guess you're here to see your little kid to his first day too?”

Neville nodded. “Susan is giving him the last recommendations” Neville chuckled, motioning with his head to a far corner in the courtyard where Harry could recognize the former Hufflepuff san Bones talking to a kid, which was a spitting image of Neville if not for his hair, clearly coming from his mother.

“Well, I guess I'll see you around, Nev” Harry excused himself after some minutes' chat with his old friend, Apparating back home.

--

As he was enjoying his day off he had expressly asked for so that he would be able to accompany Beatrice on her first day, and settling the kitchen after breakfast, Harry heard an owl tapping on the window.

Letting the bird in, he wondered who had been writing to him. Harry soon groaned as he recognized Ginny's handwriting.

Harry,

I just wanted to let you know I'm married now,

with a charming man called Gregory Hopkins;

which means, me and him are going to file for

Beatrice's custody, as we can give her a whole

family, something you can't. Expect to hear from

the Ministry soon.

Harry was fuming. How dare she? For two years she had been gone from their lives, not even bothering to write to know how Beatrice was, and now she wanted full custody?

“You can't take my child, Ginevra” he muttered angrily, as memories assaulted him. He let them come with a sigh.

“Harry, can we keep this quiet for some time?” Ginny asked him as they were walking back to the Burrow.

He looked strangely at her. He couldn't wait to shout to the world he was going to be a father, and she wanted to keep it hidden?

“Just till I get accustomed to the idea of being a mother” she explained, squeezing his hand with her own.

Harry sighed. He could more or less understand her point, although he didn't really agree with it.

“We will keep it secret as long as you want, Ginny” he said, a bit more snappishly than he meant.

However, considering she was already two months into the pregnancy, he didn't expect her to be able to keep it secret for long.

And yet, Ginny wasn't a stupid witch. She applied herself to Concealing Charms, and managed to keep the world in the dark for another four months. Then, her showing was too blatant to be able to cover it with charms, and she had to admit she was pregnant.

This, however, didn't improve her mood, which had become quite snappish. Harry had read it was normal while pregnant, so he didn't think much of it every time she lamented that she couldn't believe she was only eighteen and already looking as a whale.

He felt some anger rush through him when she would blame their child for her ruined looks, but managed to keep himself quiet.

The wedding had taken place when she was in her eighth month of pregnancy, and that was the moment Harry was nearer to lose his patience with her.

All the time after the ceremony she was muttering that she couldn't believe the most important day of her life had come, and she looked so ugly because of a child, and that she wasn't supposed to be a mother so young.

However, if Harry had been quiet, Molly couldn't restrain herself, and every time she heard her daughter mutter that nonsense, she would chastise her.

“Ginevra Molly Weasley” she would start, “how old do you think I was when I had Bill? And I don't think I'm unhappy, what do you say?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Mum, I'm not you nor I plan to have seven children” she retorted.

Harry clenched his fists as he recalled those moments. He had thought Ginny was the woman for him since they had hooked up in his sixth year at Hogwarts, even if the upcoming war had counselled him to break things off till the end of it.

But as memory after memory came back to him, he knew he couldn't have been more wrong.

“Here” Harry said, handing the bundle that was his and Ginny's daughter to his wife. “Hold her”

Ginny looked at him sceptically, then sighed, and outstretched her arms, taking the baby. It was more than obvious, though, that she wished she was anywhere else, but not there.

Harry frowned. “I thought you'd be happy to hold our daughter, Gin”

She glared at him. “Happy? Harry, I'm still young, I should be partying, having fun, especially after the war, which robbed us all of some of our more carefree years. Instead, now I'll have to watch after a child, and have responsibilities, something I'm not ready for yet”

Harry hoped what she was saying was somehow an after-effect of the intense pain of delivering their baby. He couldn't believe his wife would speak this way of their daughter, an innocent creature that had done nothing wrong to her.

And, he couldn't fathom someone not being happy to be a parent. He was over the moon about it, in fact.

If only Hermione was there to help him understand Ginny's feelings…he missed her terribly, it had been more than an year since he had seen her last, and seven months since he had found out she had left without even a word to him or Ron.

Harry sighed. The situation between him and Hermione hadn't changed much till that day. It was now more or less six years since they had last spoken to each other, and his letters kept coming back unopened. He wondered what had he done to upset her, but the fact Ron wasn't having much more luck in contacting their former best friend somewhat calmed him. At least, she wasn't ignoring only him.

He was sure Hermione would have loved Beatrice. And, he had a feeling Beatrice would have loved Hermione as well, if she had known her.

It was ironic, really, how Ginny despised the idea of being a mother, and did nothing to hide it, so even when they were still married it was mostly him who cared about the little girl, and Beatrice seemed to despise Ginny just as much. Harry chuckled as he realized in the three years Ginny had lived with them, Beatrice hadn't called her Mum ever.

“Dad, when is Ginny coming home?”

“Munchkin, don't call her Ginny. She's your mother, you should call her Mum, Mummy, Mama, whatever, but not with her first name” Harry chided, while stirring the soup he was preparing for dinner.

“Well, she doesn't act as my mother, so I won't call her that” Beatrice stubbornly said. Harry turned, and picked the three years old toddler in his arms.

“I'm sorry you feel this way about her, Bea” he said, kissing the top of her head, his heart going out to the little girl in his arms, who had never experienced motherly love because Ginny was too wrapped up in her looks, her social status, her partying with her silly friends who might not have made a whole brain even if you summed all their ones.

That was the night he confronted Ginny, once Bea was in bed, and they agreed to get a divorce.

“She bloody got almost one quarter of the money my parents left me, and I agreed as long as I could still care for my little girl, money has never meant much to me anyhow, and now she wants to take her from me too? No. Bloody. Way!” he shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

His green eyes darkened with anger, Harry stood up and went to his study, where he wrote a letter to someone he knew in the Ministry who could dig up information about the procedures for getting full custody of a child for him.

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4. Long Time Friends Meet Again

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Three: Long Time Friends Meet Again

It was some hours later that Harry Apparated to the pre-schooling centre to get Bea after her lessons.

He found himself again in a courtyard full of parents and kids, and he had just a bit of trouble spotting his daughter, finding her engrossed in conversation with another kid, both sitting on the steps leading from the building to the courtyard.

As soon as she spotted him, Bea launched herself at him.

“Daddy!” she squealed, and he lifted her up, holding her close. His heart swelled at the huge grin on her lips. He had honestly been a bit anxious about how she would like being all day away from him, with people she didn't know, but it seemed she didn't really have problems with it.

“So, munchkin, you okay on your first day of lessons?” he asked, and she nodded vigorously.

“I met so many kids, Daddy, and me and Ethan have become friends” she said, pointing toward the boy she had been chatting with, who blushed.

“Bea, what have I told you? It's not polite to point with your finger at someone” he chastised her, and she nodded.

“Sorry, Dad” she sheepishly grinned, and he kissed the top of her head.

“Well, honey, say hello to your friend, and let's get home, okay?” he said, letting her go to that Ethan guy. A couple minutes later they were back to their home, Harry having sidelong Apparated his daughter there.

As he set to prepare dinner, he let Beatrice talk about her day.

“The teacher was so kind, Daddy. She told us things, and was very patient when some of us couldn't get it immediately. She made us read. Can I show you?” she asked, eager to show her father what she had learned.

“Later, darling. We might end staining the book if we read it here in the kitchen” he said with a smile. “So, tell me more about this teacher of yours” he prompted, and little Bea got easily over the sadness for not being able to read right there, and resumed telling him her day, and the friendships she made.

--

The whole week it was the same routine, Harry would accompany Bea at the school, then he would go to work as an Auror, although since the divorce he had obtained to be assigned to desk job as he didn't want to risk getting injured or worse, leaving Bea alone.

He had also received a reply from his Ministry contact, and he had told Harry he would do some research on the procedures the Ministry followed about giving custody of children and would inform him as soon as he had useful information.

At night, Harry would cook dinner while Beatrice told him about her day. He quickly gathered that his little girl was particularly fond of her teacher, and he was glad for that. He sincerely hoped she would never need to deal with someone like Snape in her school years from now on.

As Sunday arrived, he and his daughter made their way to the Burrow, where the usual family lunch was held.

They Apparated to the garden, and then walked the short distance to the main door, where Harry knocked.

Soon, the door swung open, and Ron greeted them.

“Harry, Beatrice! Come in, come in” the redhead said, following them to the living room.

Harry greeted Arthur and Molly, who were both delighted to see their granddaughter.

“Grandma Molly!” the little girl giggled as the elder woman picked her up. Harry couldn't help smiling at the sight.

Soon later, they were all reunited in the living room, George, Fred, Bill, Fleur, even Percy who had admitted his faults after the war and was welcomed back home, for the joy of Molly, and was currently married to his childhood love Penelope Clearwater, who was expecting their first child.

Bea was busy playing with her cousins Jonathan, George and Angelina's little boy, and Daphne, Bill and Fleur's daughter.

The Weasleys had sided with Harry in the divorce from Ginny, who had soon cut off her family, deeming they couldn't understand her anymore and were more preoccupied with a little girl's well being than their own daughter and sister's one.

Molly couldn't believe Ginny had turned out so egoistical, but Ron and the other brothers weren't so surprised. Sadly, neither was Arthur, who had always suspected Ginny would end that way, being used to be the centre of the attention.

The older man had once told Harry some months ago that it was his only regret, and that he would gladly go back in time and stop his own wife from pampering their little girl so much if he could. Being the first girl in the Weasley family in generations, however, it had been mostly unavoidable that she would end being spoiled, if you can call it that considering the Weasleys' not so ample finances.

So, after lunch, when everyone was chatting in the living room and the kids were happily playing together, Harry asked Ron for a quick word.

“I received an owl from Ginny some days ago” he started, sipping his Butterbeer.

Ron raised his eyebrows in surprise. His sister had stopped owling Harry once the papers for the divorce had been made official and she was a free woman again. Not that she owled her family much more, mind you.

“She told me she had gotten married again, to a guy called Hopkins if I'm not mistaken, and that she wants to file for full custody of Bea”

At this, Ron actually choked on his drink, sputtering it all around the garden where they had gone to chat.

Harry chuckled, albeit a bit bitterly. “Pretty funny, uh, considering how she couldn't be bothered caring for her daughter in the three years she lived with us” he remarked.

Ron nodded. “I bet she's doing it just to get paid. You know, food, and such”

Harry looked up at him, shocked that his friend would say such a thing about his own sister.

It was Ron's turn to chuckle now. “Harry, she might be my sister, but this doesn't cloud my judgement on her. It's the only reason why she might want full custody of little Beatrice when she couldn't care less before”

Harry had to admit his best mate was right, for once, and that steeled his resolve to not let her win. No matter what he would have to do to keep Beatrice with him, he would.

--

Harry was frustrated. In more than one month of Bea going to school he had never managed to meet her teacher. It was almost mechanical, she accompanied them to the steps separating the building from the courtyard, but she never fully showed herself.

That day, he was determined to find out who she was, so he had Apparated there a few minutes earlier than usual. After all, if a woman was able to captivate his daughter so much that Bea could hardly speak about someone else, then he was pretty intrigued himself with this woman, and wanted to meet her.

However, she must have sensed him, because she hastily moved back inside the building as the kids poured inside the courtyard, waiting for their parents to pick them up. Harry had only managed to get a glimpse of her swaying, curly brown hair, and his breath caught in his throat.

“It can't be…can it?” he wondered, but his musings were interrupted by his daughter wrapping herself around his leg.

“Daddy! You're early!” she squealed, and he smiled, ruffling her hair.

“Yeah, I couldn't wait to pick you up, munchkin. Tell me, how does hot marshmallow sound to you?”

“Yummy!” she squealed again, and Harry let out an hearty laugh.

“Let's go home and fix it then, shall we?” he suggested, and his little girl nodded enthusiastically. As they enjoyed their snack in the kitchen of their flat, Harry couldn't help thinking about that hair he had seen. It couldn't really be her…and yet, it somehow made sense, her not showing herself, because she knew he would be there to pick Bea up…

That night, once Beatrice was asleep, he owled Kingsley that he needed a day off the next day, claiming he had to do some stuff with Beatrice.

His boss had always been really understanding about his situation, and his colleagues too, so he knew it wouldn't be a problem, even on such short notice.

The next morning, he went through the usual routine, accompanying Bea to school, then he Flooed to Diagon Alley, where he went to see Ron at the twins' shop, where he now worked.

“So, what brings you around, Harry? You're not wearing the Auror robes, are you on a day off?” his friend asked, and Harry nodded. “Had some business to do” he evasively said. “Say, you free for lunch, mate?” he asked then, and Ron nodded.

As they were eating their fish and chips at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“Ron, could you pick Beatrice up this afternoon? I've got a suspicion I need to check” he said.

“Of course mate. Does she already know it?”

“No, but it won't be a problem, I'm sure.” Harry said, sipping his drink. “You're her favourite Uncle after all” he added, smirking, and Ron playfully punched him on the right arm.

“Well, can you tell me more about this suspicion of yours?” the redhead asked then.

“Sorry, Ron. I want to, but it is something I need to be sure about before telling you” Harry said.

--

Some hours later, once the kids were in the courtyard, a tired brown haired witch walked back to her office to gather her things before heading home. When she reached the corridor her office was in though, she was shocked to see someone leaning on her door. She was even more shocked when the man looked up, green eyes meeting brown ones after a long time.

“How longer were you going to avoid me, Hermione?”

-->

5. Request for Help

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…the confrontation all of you were waiting for takes place here, but be warned, it won't be exactly fluffy…

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Four: Request for Help

“How longer were you going to avoid me, Hermione?”

Hermione couldn't believe her eyes. There in front of her stood one of her best friends, one of the many people she had left behind when she had decided to vanish almost six years before.

“Harry…” she whispered.

“Oh, you remember my name? I wouldn't have bet on it, seeing how you never replied to my owls in these years” he sarcastically spat, never moving from her door.

Hermione glared at him. “I've my reasons for having left that way, Harry, and I don't need to justify myself with you. Now if you were so kind to move from my door, I want to get my things and go home”

Harry shook his head. “No, Granger. You've had it your way for over five years, making it impossible for any of us to find you, and you can't even imagine how anguished me and Ron have been in this time. I think it's time for you to explain your reasons, now” he said, glaring back.

“My reasons are not your fucking business, Potter” she snarled, and in a flash her wand was out. Harry's was out just as quickly.

“So is this where you want our friendship to go? A duel in a pre-schooling centre?” he sadly said, and hoped she wasn't serious. He was a skilled duellist, he had even defeated Voldemort for Merlin's sake, but the idea of duelling with Hermione frightened him.

“Just. Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here” she growled, not lowering her wand.

Harry finally sighed, lowering his own. “This is not finished, Hermione. You will have to tell me, soon or later” he said, before Apparating away.

As he was gone, Hermione let her wand fall to the floor, slumping against the wall, her shoulders rising and falling with her silent sobs.

--

“Daddy!” Beatrice squealed when he arrived home, and despite being sad for how the confrontation with Hermione had gone, he couldn't help smiling at his daughter, and picked her up.

“Sorry I couldn't get you from school today, munchkin. I hope you've been a good girl for Uncle Ron” he said, and the redhead nodded.

“A true angel, I tell you” he said, mussing the little girl's hair, while she blushed.

“Bea, why don't you go reading that book your teacher assigned you, while me and Ron exchange a couple words?” Harry suggested then, and let her scurry back to her room.

As the two adults settled in the living room, Butterbeers in their hands, Harry gave a long sigh.

“So, mate, can you tell me what you had to check today? Does it have something to do with Hermione?” Ron asked.

Harry nodded, tiredly, recalling her downright furious face during their confrontation.

“I've found her, Ron. She's little Bea's teacher” he blurted out after taking a sip of his drink.

Ron was speechless. “You've had her so near for more than a month now, and you never knew it?”

Harry nodded. “I had some suspicions, judging on what Bea told me of her, but I never asked her the teacher's name. I guess I was afraid to get my hopes destroyed if it wasn't her. Then the other day I managed to get a glimpse of her hair as she retreated into the building when I went to pick Bea up. I knew I wouldn't be able to spot her from the courtyard so today I snuck inside the building few minutes before lessons ended, and waited for her to go to her office and get her things”

He paused, and Ron patiently waited. When Harry didn't give signs of wanting to continue his story, Ron urged him on.

“So?”

“So, she's bloody mad at me for finding her and told me her reasons for leaving are not my business. I don't reckon she wants to get back to us anytime soon” he muttered darkly.

Ron was confused. Why wouldn't she want to go back to them? Why had she left in the first place?

“Do you reckon I should go see her?” Ron asked, and Harry shook his head.

“I think we should give her time to decide for herself if she still wants to be friends or not” he mused, finishing his Butterbeer.

Ron wasn't convinced, but agreed nonetheless. “If you say so”

Ten minutes later, the redhead said his hellos to both Harry and Bea, and then Disapparated away to the flat where he lived with Luna.

--

One month had gone by since Harry's meeting with Hermione, and the raven haired wizard hadn't made other attempts to contact her, for which the brunette witch was more than grateful. Seeing him again after so long had brought back feelings she thought she had buried forever by now. She still wasn't ready to face him and be in his constant company, she simply didn't trust herself to not do something stupid.

However, her hopes to not have to face him again for a long time would be squashed that afternoon.

--

Few minutes after he had accompanied Bea to school and had Apparated to the Ministry, Harry received an owl. It was from that person he had contacted about the custody of Bea.

Reading the parchment, Harry blanched. This couldn't be true.

Harry,

I've dug all what I could on the Ministry

procedures for giving custody of a child

to divorced parents. Both you and your

ex wife Ginny will have to go through a

six months time where you will be watched

and judged by Ministry officers of the

competent department. However, the Ministry

seems to rely on the idea that a parent who can

provide the child with a complete family, thus

being married, is going to be the best parent in

the end. Making a long story short, you may be

the best father in the world and Ginny the worst

mother, but because of Ginny's recent marriage,

she's going to get full custody anyhow, unless you

can find yourself a wife in three weeks time, when

the “probation” time will start.

Frank

“Bloody Hell” he swore under his breath. What was he going to do now? He couldn't lose Bea, she meant too much to him! Damned Ministry and his bigotry, a single parent could be as good as two, even better in some cases and he was sure he would be way better as a parent to Bea than Ginny and her new husband!

But unless he found himself a wife on such short notice, he would lose her. His heart broke at the mere thought, and so he decided to take a day off, he wouldn't be able to concentrate anyhow, and reflect on what he was going to do while being at home.

It was several hours later, just before he had to pick Bea up from school that a desperate thought entered his mind.

“Hermione!” he thought. “She might be able to help me” he reasoned.

Finally, he headed to the school, asked Bea to wait for him a couple minutes in the courtyard, and made his way to Hermione's office, finding the door open and her inside, preparing herself to go home.

“Harry” she coldly acknowledged him, trying to not betray her true feelings on the matter. She had missed him all those years, it was impossible to deny, and she wanted nothing more than to hug him tightly like she used to do in school. Especially seeing his broken expression.

“Hermione, I'm not here to ask you again to explain things to me. You will when you're ready, if you will ever be. I'm here to ask for your help. Ginny wants full custody of Bea, I can't understand why, possibly for the money I'd have to pay her every months if she succeeds, and the Ministry is full of bigots that think a married parent is automatically the best one. She got married again a couple months ago, so I'm going to lose Bea if I can't find myself a wife in three weeks time, and the probation lasts six months” he said.

Hermione was speechless. She wondered how could someone be so greedy to want custody only for the money, and yet she knew from the information she had been able to gather through the years that Ginny had always despised Beatrice, and had finally left Harry because of the little girl which in Ginny's opinion “was a stop to their social life, something she wasn't ready to give up yet, after all she was too young to be a mother”. Inwardly rolling her eyes at the shallowness of her former friend, she waited for Harry to go on. He still hadn't told her how she could help him.

“Hermione, will you pose as my wife till the probation is finished?”

-->

6. New Beginnings

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…I have an hunch you will like this chap, lol

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Five: New Family?

“Hermione, will you pose as my wife till the probation is finished?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry regretted them. How could he ask it of her, they hadn't seen each other in years, and right now they weren't on the best of terms, that was for sure.

He had been foolish to go there and ask her that. Foolish, and desperate.

“Forget it” he hastily said, running out in the courtyard, taking Bea and Apparating home.

Hermione still hadn't moved from the spot she was in, shocked by his request.

--

As every Sunday, Harry and Bea went to have lunch with the Weasleys, at the Burrow. Now that his daughter was playing with the other kids, Harry and Ron had the time to chat. However, the redhead could easily see that his mate wasn't focusing on the conversation they were having.

“Harry, what's up?” he asked.

The raven haired wizard shook his head. “I don't know what to do, Ron” he said. “The probation is going to start soon, and I'm gonna lose her. I don't know how I'll be able to go on without her”

Ron nodded. He wanted to kick his own sister for hurting his best mate this way. Ginny was just a spoiled brat who wanted it all, and he didn't know how to help Harry out of this mess. If only Hermione was there with them, she could think of a solution, some old law to exploit to their advantage, anything to keep Ginny from getting full custody of Beatrice…

“I'm sorry, mate. I wish I knew something to suggest, but I don't” he meekly said, and Harry nodded.

“It's not your fault, Ron. If anything, it's mine, I didn't push for a final agreement about Bea in the divorce, I just wanted Ginny on her way so I could care for my daughter. If I had taken more time defining the agreements of the split…”

“You couldn't have known” a voice said from behind them. Both men looked in the direction it had come from, and spotted Luna, her usual serene expression on her face, walking toward them.

“You couldn't have known, Harry. Ginny never manifested an interest in wanting to have Bea's custody. If anything, she did everything to suggest she would never want anything to do with the little girl, actually” she reasoned, in a typically analytic Ravenclaw way.

The three of them speculated some more on the matter, trying to find a loophole Harry could use, but to no avail. When evening started to approach, he thanked his friends for the help, complimented Molly on the wonderful food, took something she had packed for him to bring home, and then he and Beatrice were on their way to their flat.

That night, as she slept with her head in his lap, having fallen asleep while watching a movie, Harry gently ran his hand through her locks.

“Munchkin, I want you to know I've always loved you and always will. I'd like to keep you with me forever, but sadly this won't be possible, unless a miracle happens” he said, before lifting her and bringing her to her room, tucking her in, and switching the light off.

Little did he know that the miracle was on its way.

--

A couple days had passed since Harry's desperate request for help, and Hermione had barely been able to stop thinking about him and Bea. She knew what would be the right thing to do, but she wondered if she had the strength to do it.

There was a clear reason for her leaving so long ago, without even a word. She knew Harry and Ron would have done anything to keep her with them, but the situation had become unbearable, and she simply needed to go away. Which she did, but she never expected to be in the situation she was now.

Sighing, she entered the classroom where the little kids were waiting for her, went through the usual routine of teaching them the basics of reading, writing, calculating, even explaining them the basics for magic, which they would start doing at Hogwarts in few years, but still she felt it was good to instruct them on the basics of it so early, so that they could grasp them beforehand and have less difficulties when in the actual Wizarding school and dealing with sudden outburst of magic, which should start happening soon considering their age, but her eyes kept going to a particular raven haired little girl she had taken a special liking for.

When the time to let the kids go home came, she wished all of them a good evening with their parents, escorted them to the courtyard then quickly walked to her office. Grabbing the little bag she had prepared, she took a long breath and Apparated away.

--

Harry had decided to take Bea for a bit of Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley after picking her up at school. If he had only six months left with her, then he would make them the best six months of her life, for her to remember them forever.

The two of them had lots of fun, window-shopping, picking up gifts for their relatives, and then making a well deserved stop at Florean Fortescue's parlour for ice-cream. Even if it was winter, Bea never seemed to want to stop eating ice-cream, and now and then Harry indulged her. Not too much, otherwise she might get sick or something, but once in a while a little treat wasn't bad.

When they finally arrived at home, Harry was surprised to feel it quite warm. He wondered who had got the fire in the fireplace going, because he was sure he didn't, when he had left for work in the morning.

His nostrils were also assaulted by a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. He exchanged a look with Bea, and whispered to his kid to go in her room and wait for him there. Grabbing his wand, he cautiously made his way to the kitchen.

It was unlikely that whoever was there would have bad intentions, otherwise they wouldn't be cooking dinner, and yet you can never be too careful. Constant vigilance, as Mad-eye Moody loved to say.

His jaw dropped, though, when he got a glimpse of who was in there.

“Hermione?” he cautiously asked, and she turned, smiling shyly at him.

“I see you and little Bea have gone for a bit of shopping” she commented, motioning for the bags still in his hand.

He looked down, noticed them and grinned sheepishly. He then set them on the counter, and walked toward her.

“What…why…” he stammered, still unable to think coherently. He did, however, notice quite clearly that the black trousers, white shirt and grey sweater she was wearing made her look very nice, and that the curls of her hair cascaded quite elegantly around her shoulders.

“I thought you needed to find a wife to go through the probation with some chances to gain full custody of Bea” she frowned, now a bit self-conscious.

Harry nodded, still speechless. After another minute, he managed to make his brain work again.

“So you're going to do it?” he asked, unable to keep the hopefulness out of his voice.

“Yes” she grinned, finally setting down the spoon she was still holding and walking toward him. “We've been the best of friends, Harry, and we've been in the front line against Voldemort. You didn't really think I'd leave you alone in this, did you?” she said, an hint of hurt permeating her voice. “I know we've got some differences to straighten, but…”

Harry couldn't believe his luck. This was really a miracle and he didn't know what he had done to deserve it but he prayed whatever God that this wasn't only a wonderful dream.

When he reached out to Hermione and engulfed her in a bear hug cutting her mid-sentence, however, he had the confirmation that it wasn't. It just felt too good for it to be a dream.

She hugged him back, inhaling his musky scent, and when he finally pulled back, she smiled warmly at him, albeit a bit uncertainly. She knew she had been very rude to him when he had gone to see her the first time, and regretted it. It had just happened, being under the pressure of facing him again. She sure enough didn't mean to threaten him with her wand, she had just acted on instinct, after her secret had been unveiled.

Harry grinned back at her, easing her worries.

“I missed you, Mione” he said, and she blushed.

“I missed you too, Harry. We will have to get used to be around each other again, I'm sure, but I think we can make this work” she said, and he nodded.

“Well, I guess we will need to tell Beatrice you're going to be around a lot more now” he joked. “But I'm sure she won't mind, she seems to be quite smitten with you” he added then, with a wink that made her blush again.

After they explained to the little kid that Hermione was going to live with them now, Bea was overjoyed and ran to hug her teacher, making Harry chuckle and muss her hair.

“Can I call you mummy?” she asked, and Hermione looked at Harry, who was beaming at her. The brunette looked down at the expectant kid.

“I'd be honoured if you do” she said, and Beatrice let a squeal of joy.

The three of them resumed preparing dinner, and then ate quietly. Well, if you don't count Bea's continuous chatter, that is. She was really excited to have Hermione live with them.

When after dinner Bea dragged Hermione away, Harry reassured her that he would mind the dishes and such. After he was done, he snuck upon the pair, who had gone to the living room and was currently watching one of Bea's favourite movies from Disney.

He leant on the doorframe, observing them, and he felt a sudden rush of affection for Hermione, seeing them interact.

“She's going to be a wonderful mother one day” he thought, and just few moments later she turned his way. He smiled fondly at her, and she blushed a bit but smiled back, the same warmth reflecting in her brown orbs.

Yes, with Hermione on his side he could make it, he thought while walking inside the room to join them. They might have difficult times ahead, he was sure some fights would happen when she would reveal him her reasons for leaving, something he knew she would feel compelled to do soon or later, but they would work it out.

He just knew they would.

--

Beatrice had already gone to sleep, not without a bit of a tantrum as she wanted to be up more with Hermione, and now the brown haired witch and Harry were sitting in the living room, a Butterbeer in their hands, chatting quietly.

“I can't even begin thanking you, Hermione. I may really have a chance at keeping her now” he said.

“Harry, I could never let Ginny get custody of Bea. Who knows why she wants it in the first place, but I've my sources and I know how she treated the kid before. I know you're a wonderful father to her, and how much you've always wanted a family to call your own. I won't let Ginny deprive you of that, whatever difficulties you and I might have to face to make this work” she determinedly said, and Harry nodded.

“One day I'll tell you why I left, Harry. Now it's still too soon though” she said then, guessing his curiosity about the matter, and he nodded, albeit he truly yearned to know why did she leave.

“Well, I guess we might call it a night then” she yawned. The emotional turmoil of the day had tired her lots. He agreed, and offered her his hand as she moved to stand up. She took it, and revelled in the sensation the contact brought her.

Harry banished the empty bottles to the waste bin with a flick of his other hand and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

“A bit of wandless magic can come handy” he grinned and she rolled her eyes.

“Show off” she nudged him and he chuckled. When they were in the hall, Hermione suddenly stopped in front of the guest room, and looked up at him.

“I guess this is goodnight then” she said, and he looked at her like she had sprouted a second head.

“Hermione, if you're going to pose as my wife, you don't actually think you can sleep in the guest room, do you? We will be expected to be sleeping together, so we better start getting used to it” he said, blushing when an image of him and Hermione doing that came to his mind.

She blushed crimson red, and he realized she had had the same thought.

“I mean, in the same bed” he hastily said.

“Of course” a quite flustered Hermione replied. “Well, then, if you'll lead the way…” she shyly added, and he nodded, instinctively taking her hand in his own once more.

He led her to his bedroom, where the bed he had shared with Ginny still was, and with his wand he quickly transfigured it in a different double bed. It just felt right to completely start over, beginning from the actual furniture of his, no, scratch that, their bedroom.

Hermione silently grabbed her things, got to the nearby bathroom to change, and was back in few minutes. Harry had already slipped into his pyjama bottom and into the bed, on his usual side. He looked up from the book he was reading, and his breath caught in his throat.

“She's beautiful” he thought, not for the first time that evening. She fidgeted under his gaze, and silently made her way to the other side of the bed, quietly slipping inside, as far from him as she could, trying to wipe the image of his naked torso from her mind. The attempt resulted completely useless.

“Goodnight, Hermione” he said, then with a quick “nox” the room was plunged into darkness, his book now on the bedside table.

“Goodnight, Harry” she softly said, before letting sleep and very pleasant dreams take her.

-->

7. Planning the Next Step

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…I guess many of you anticipated what will be happening here, lol.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Please go read the A/N on the first chapter if you want to know more, I reposted the whole story.

On a side note, I want to thank my newly found beta, Gingercat, for her help with this story. She made me aware of many little things to correct that I would have never spotted on my own.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Six: Planning the Next Step

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she tried to guess where she was. Her head was leaning on something hard, definitely not her cushion. Something was wrapped around her waist, too.

Blinking as the sunlight blinded her for a moment, she took in her surroundings and the previous night came back to her.

Which could mean only one thing. Harry's arm was wrapped around her waist, and her head was on his chest. Panicking, Hermione inwardly cursed, trying to move away from him before he woke up.

She felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter, and looked up to find green pools staring back at her.

“No sneaking away, Granger” he joked. “I'm already awake”

“I noticed” she dryly replied, pushing his arm away and moving back to the other side of the bed, wondering how they got entwined in that way.

“I don't know either” he said, almost reading her mind, as he moved out of the bed, grabbing a fresh shirt and entering the bathroom.

“You better not make a mess in there!” she called, and heard soft giggling from the doorway. Dreading what she was going to see, she slowly turned, and found another pair of green eyes looking at her with mirth.

“Good morning, mum” Bea said, trudging inside the room and joining Hermione on the bed. The brunette smiled warmly at the little girl, albeit being a bit embarrassed by having been caught entwined with Harry by his daughter.

“Good morning to you, honey” she replied. “What do you say, shall we go get Daddy some breakfast?” she suggested, and Bea nodded enthusiastically.

When Harry got in the kitchen, fresh coffee was already on the table, with a jug of orange juice, some toast, pancakes, milk for Bea, and eggs and bacon were being cooked in a pan.

“Are you going to spoil me and this little munchkin with your cooking, Mione?” he said, absent-mindedly calling her with the nickname he had developed for her in their seventh year.

She stiffened for a moment, as hearing it brought back memories of her past, but it was gone in a flash.

“Well, I thought you might like it, but if you don't…” she started, feeling a bit of a fool. Almost six years they have been apart, and she thought she might not know him anymore.

“Of course I like it” he reassured her, squeezing her hand.

She blushed at his gesture, and stammered something about having to get ready before leaving the kitchen.

“Daddy, what was wrong with Mummy?” Bea asked, frowning.

“Nothing, dear. She's just getting used to us living all together” he said with a smile, preparing a strawberry jam toast for her.

--

That day Hermione brought Bea to school herself. It was quite an ordinary school day, until suddenly Bea, who was playing with her friend Kate, vanished from sight. Hermione rushed out of the classroom wondering where she might be, till she heard the anguished cries of the little girl.

“Mummy!” she cried, and Hermione looked up, paling. The five year old had Apparated herself onto the roof.

“Stay still, dear. I'm going to get you” she said, and Apparated herself near the raven haired girl, hugged her and Apparated both of them back to the ground.

Bea was weeping freely by then, scared.

“Shh, honey. It's perfectly normal, didn't I explain to you that from now on all of you might end up doing some accidental magic?”

Bea nodded, while Hermione wiped away her tears. “I thought I was going to fall down” she cried, holding tightly onto Hermione's shirt.

“It's all ok now” Hermione cooed, and soon Bea calmed down. However, in the girl's mind, Hermione was now even more her mummy than before, and she was very glad she was living with them now.

--

That night, Harry was running late. His desk had been swamped with paperwork he had left behind as he had had to care for Bea. Thinking he might lose her soon made him delay his work to be with her as much as he could, and now that Hermione was helping him, he felt he needed to work harder.

However, when he left the Ministry, he was still in time for a visit to Diagon Alley, and a certain jewellery store. He spent half an hour going through the displayed goods, and finally picked one. Paying, he thanked the clerk and then rushed home to his daughter and “wife”.

--

After dinner, when Bea was sleeping, Hermione told Harry about her first burst of magic.

“She was so scared, Harry. My heart really went out to her. To have her first magical experience Apparating on a roof…”

Harry chuckled, and Hermione looked at him quizzically. “I did the same thing, Mione, when Dudley and his friends wanted to punch me in school. I somehow found myself on the roof, and believe me I was scared too, even if I'm not scared of heights, as I discovered later at Hogwarts”

She smiled then, relaxing as he pulled her close. She wondered briefly about it, he had never been a touchy-feely guy, it was usually her who initiated most of their hugs back in school, but now he seemed to crave physical contact.

“Of course, he misses the company” she reasoned. “He's been alone for two years”

She was partially right. However, he didn't only miss company. He missed her company. The fact that the years apart had done her wonders and made her a very attractive woman was also part of the equation.

Harry kept feeling something stir inside him every time he saw her.

--

Once the matter of Bea's first magical experience was exhausted, Harry cleared his throat, and gathered his courage. Finally, he voiced what he had been thinking since lunch hour that day.

“I think we should go for a fake wedding” he said, and she looked up at him, surprised.

“I mean, we can't just pop to the Burrow one day and tell everyone we are married and expect them to believe it. We need to go for the whole ordeal”

Hermione could see he was right. But…”Harry, we have just more or less a week before the probation starts!”

“Which is why we should get married next Sunday” he said. “Three days before the probation starts”

“This is mad! We can't have a wedding in so short time!” she cried, immediately entering her worry mode, going to take the notepad from her work bag.

Harry chuckled, and she glared at him. “It's not funny, Potter” she said, and he immediately straightened.

“You know, we won't fool anyone if you call me Potter at the slightest disagreement” he sighed, and she softened.

“I know, Harry. I'm sorry, I still have some issues to work out” she apologized and he waved her off as to say not to worry about it.

“Now, we're gonna go for a small ceremony. Your parents, the Weasleys, Remus and Tonks, maybe McGonagall…were you thinking of someone else?”

“What about Neville and Susan?”

“Of course, them too” he agreed.

They ended being up most of the night planning their fake wedding.

--

The next day, after school, Harry left Bea with the Weasleys, telling them he would be back for dinner and that he had big news, but leaving before Molly could “persuade” him into telling her immediately. Then, he picked Hermione up at their flat, and the both of them Apparated to the Grangers.

Hermione nervously rang the bell, and her mother opened the door in a minute or so.

“Hermione! It's so good to see you!” she said, hugging her daughter. Diane Granger then noticed Harry standing there too. “And you too, Harry! Please, come in, come in”

Soon the four of them, including Hermione's father Stephen, were sitting in the living room.

She was too nervous to speak, so it was Harry doing the most of the talking.

“…and so, we realized we love each other” he ended telling her parents how they supposedly started dating. “We kept it secret till now because we wanted to be sure it was going to work” he added then, anticipating her mother's question.

“Well, what can I say, Harry. You've always been a fine young man, and we know you mustn't have had it easy, raising your child on your own. I can tell you make Hermione very happy” Stephen said, motioning for his daughter, who was looking at Harry quite adoringly at the moment, and who had the decency to blush realizing everyone was looking at her.

“Oh, she makes me very happy too, Mr. Granger” Harry said, giving her an affectionate smile, and she noticed his eyes were almost glowing with emotion. She didn't have much time to think about it, though, because the next moment Harry was on one knee, a sparkling diamond ring in his hand, and he looked up at her.

“Will you marry me, Hermione?” he asked, and for the briefest moment she had the impression he wasn't faking it. But she guessed it was just wishful thinking on her part.

“Yes” she breathlessly said, and he slipped the ring on her finger, while her mother was bawling with joy and Stephen was clapping Harry on the back.

“I guess you can officially call me Stephen now, son” he laughed, and Harry grinned back. Hermione was still staring at the ring, speechless.

--

When the Weasleys heard the news, everyone congratulated the happy couple, or supposedly happy couple. Ron was staring at Harry strangely, so the raven haired wizard went to confront his best mate, an huge grin on his face.

“So, you and Hermione, uh?” Ron said, raising his eyebrow. “I thought you were desperate because you couldn't find a wife soon enough”

Harry cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, we haven't been dating for long, Ron, and I didn't want to ask her so soon. But I realized if I couldn't ask her, then who could I ask? Now we got to hurry though” he said, diverting the focus on the engagement, and shifting it on the actual ceremony.

“Aye mate, you definitely have to get the fastest wedding of Wizarding history if you want to be ready for the probation” his friend clapped him on the back. “Don't hesitate to ask me for anything”

“Yeah, well, I'm glad you mentioned it because I'll be needing a best man” Harry nervously said, scratching his neck.

“You don't even have to ask” Ron said with a broad smile. “I'll be honoured to”

Harry thanked him profusely, then turned, and spotted Hermione chatting quietly with Luna on the other side of the room.

He wondered when had she become so beautiful, and she must have felt his stare on her because she turned and blushed. He raised his glass, smiling at her, before taking a sip, and she smiled back, the diamond ring sparkling on her hand.

Maybe they would really manage to make it work, Harry thought, as he got engulfed in the crowd of Weasley males congratulating him.

-->

8. The Wedding. Fake of course!

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Again, I'd like to thank my great beta Gingercat, she's helping me lots. I'd also like to tell you that I'm going to be out of two for the next few days, so I won't probably be able to update the fic before Monday afternoon, if not later. Sorry about that, and happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Seven: The Wedding. Fake, of course!

Organizing a wedding in such short time was hectic, to say the least. Molly had volunteered to take care of the reception, although she kept muttering that having it so soon was crazy. She didn't know the real reason for it being so sudden, only Ron knew and Harry had sworn him to secrecy.

Harry had spent a whole day finding some good enough robes for himself and his best man, and Hermione had spent the same amount of time for her bridesmaids, which were going to be Luna, Fleur and Tonks.

Her mother insisted on helping her find a dress and she knew the perfect person for that, so she almost kidnapped her daughter for a whole day, and when Hermione Apparated home, she was downright exhausted by all the dresses her mother had her trying on that day. However, they managed to find one which was perfect, she told Harry, and he chuckled at the sparkle in her eyes as she told him.

“Prat” she said, playfully swatting his arm. Even if not everything was ok between them yet, they had fallen back into a comfortable relationship with each other. She would now and then catch him staring at her like he was searching the answers to some life-altering question, but apart for that, they were just like they had been in school. Which from Hermione's point of view wasn't really good.

Sighing, even if she was really tired, she decided that would be the night she would explain him everything to him, once Bea was in bed. Fake or not, she would not step into marriage withholding such a big secret, thank you.

Through dinner, Harry had prepared a wonderful lasagne and roasted chicken, they chatted, including Bea who told them what Hermione's assistant had had them do in her absence.

It was evident that the little girl liked Natalie lots, but nowhere near as much as she liked Hermione, her new mummy as she kept calling her.

Harry was more and more amazed at how good the relationship between the two women in his life was, and he surprised himself thinking that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. Bea wouldn't really like Hermione leaving their flat after the six months of probation were done. And if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't like it either.

But, he couldn't force his best friend to live a lie for the rest of her life. She had the right to find someone she truly loved and start a family with that person, he thought while he washed the dishes the Muggle way.

“You're quiet” Hermione said, looking at him, and he nodded. “Sorry, got lost in thought” he grinned sheepishly. There was no way he would tell her what he was thinking about though.

“Harry, I think we should talk” she said then, growing serious. They had finished there in the kitchen, so he nodded and the two of them went to the living room. Bea was watching a movie there, and Harry picked her up and settled her in his lap. It wasn't long before the little witch fell asleep on him.

“I'll put her in bed and then I'll be back” he whispered to Hermione, who nodded and lovingly ran her hand through Bea's black locks and kissed her on the forehead before letting Harry go.

The raven haired wizard tucked his daughter in, and since she had woken up during the trip to her room, he stood there reading her a story. A few minutes later he heard footsteps in the hallway, and turned to see Hermione peeking into the room. She went to sit on the bed near him, and Bea grinned at her, her eyelids falling down as sleep engulfed the little girl.

--

“So, Harry” Hermione started, taking a long breath. “Even if it is a fake marriage, I think I owe you an explanation before we step into it”

Harry said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

“There was a reason why I left, six years ago. You see, Ginny had just written me saying she was pregnant with your child…”

Hermione quickly opened the letter. She had recognized Ginny's handwriting, and was curious to see what her female friend would write her about.

When she was finished reading, she was shocked. But maybe not even so much. This was just happening sooner than she had expected, but she had known it would happen sooner or later.

Ginny was pregnant with Harry's child. And Hermione knew what she would have to do.

She wrote Ginny back, with her advice to tell him as soon as possible, but in person, not by letter. She had reasoned that Harry was a good man and would never leave Ginny alone with a baby, so he would surely marry her and they would live happily together. She knew Ginny's dream was to marry Harry, so she wrote her that she should be overjoyed because her dream was coming true. She also told her that feeling confused about having a baby at that age was normal, but she would soon get over it and love her and Harry's child with all her heart.

Then, once the owl had flown away, Hermione let the tears come. Rationally, she had known such a moment would come, eventually. But knowing that it was the end of her feeble, well hidden hopes that Harry might love her back and end marrying her and not Ginny was too much, so she cried herself to sleep.

Harry looked at her transfixed. He suddenly understood.

“You were in love with me and left because you couldn't stand seeing me marry Ginny, isn't it?” he said, his voice strangely calm.

Hermione looked at him, tears filling her eyes even now when thinking back to that fateful night, and nodded.

The next morning, Hermione woke up with a new determination. She knew Harry would ask her to be part of the wedding. She was one of his best friends after all, and it was just normal for him to do so.

But she couldn't bring herself to do that. She loved him too much, and seeing him actually marry someone else would hurt her enormously. For once in her life, Hermione Granger chose to be an egoist, and spending half the day packing her things, she left without a word. She went to stay for a month with her parents, till she found a new flat and made it unplottable. Owls wouldn't find her there.

The day she left her parents' house, she asked them to never tell anyone she had been there, and if anyone searched for her there, to tell them she hadn't been in contact in months.

Harry chuckled bitterly. “I should have known you'd guess our moves one by one” he said, almost spitefully. “For two whole years Ron and I along with the Weasleys searched for you. Being an Auror can be handy in cases like this one, but we never managed to find you. But after all, you're Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of our age, we couldn't compete with you” he said, coldly.

Hermione cringed. She knew she deserved it.

“Harry, I'm sorry to have worried you all so much…” she started, but he cut her off.

“No, Hermione. Don't. I may understand your reasons, but it will take some time for me to forgive you. Can't you see it? We thought something horrible had happened to you, that some remaining Death Eater had kidnapped you and tortured you for God knows how long before finally killing you, or even making you his/her slave” he said, now pacing the room.

Suddenly, he stopped and looked at her. “Do you still love me?” he bluntly asked.

Hermione was taken aback, but that was something she still didn't want to admit. “No” she said, hoping beyond hope that he would believe her. It seemed the six years apart had hindered his ability to spot her lies, because he nodded.

Then he left the room, and locked himself into the guest room. Whatever unlocking charm she tried wouldn't get her in, so she finally gave up, and resigned herself to a night of loneliness. She would never confess it to him, but she had gotten quite used to waking up in his arms, as far away from each other as they started the night it seemed they would always find their way to each other through their sleep and wake up cuddling the next morning.

That night it would be different, and Hermione could already feel the chill wrapping itself around her.

--

The day of the wedding was finally upon them, and their spat was still going on. Harry had barely talked to her since that night, which was almost two days ago, and Hermione was extremely nervous while getting ready for the ceremony.

“Pumpkin, you're going to be gorgeous” her mother reassured her and she gave a weak smile. Fleur was working on her hair, and Luna on her make up, both already in their pale pink gowns. Tonks was preparing her dress for her to wear it.

They wanted the ceremony to take place at Hogwarts, but Professor McGonagall had sadly told them it would probably cause too much of a ruckus between the students, and it would also get them much more publicity, which was something both had wanted to avoid the most.

So they had settled for the Burrow, just like Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Harry was nervously pacing in front of the altar. He had already gotten ready with Ron and Neville's help, and Remus' too.

“Wotcher, Harry” the Metamorphmagus said, entering the marquee and seeing him so tense. “You're even more nervous than on your first one!”

Harry chuckled, realizing it was true, and he guessed it might be because he was afraid someone would realize it was all fake, the love between him and Hermione, them getting married, everything.

But deep down he knew it was because they still hadn't made up after that fight, and it was mostly his fault. He'd been a jerk to her since then, and he regretted it.

“Don't worry, mate. She's going to be here, and look gorgeous, and she will be your wife in no time” Ron said, clapping him on the back, and Harry nodded.

Finally, the wedding march was heard, and from the entrance of the marquee Fleur, then Luna and finally Tonks, who had left moments before to go join the bride party again, arrived. Then, there she was, on her father's arm.

Harry thought he had never seen someone more beautiful. She truly seemed an angel, with the pearl white simple dress hugging her form perfectly, not in a vulgar way but letting everyone know she had truly developed into a woman. Harry was also mesmerized by her chocolate curls, partially hid under the veil and still catching the light of the room, giving her face an almost halo-like glow.

His gaze fell on her pink, soft-looking lips, and he thought he would gladly die just to kiss them once. Which he would soon do, mind you, if everything in the ceremony went like it should.

She felt his gaze on her and looked up, meeting his green eyes, a blush spreading on her cheeks, and she smiled at him.

He smiled back, and felt his heart strangely soar. He couldn't understand why, since it was just a fake wedding, no real feelings involved, right? But he didn't dwell too much on it at the moment. When she finally was on his side, he delicately took her hand, and the officer started the ceremony.

Harry, however, was barely aware of what was going on around him, about what the officer was saying, unable to tear his gaze from her, and she seemed in the same trance.

They were truly aware of the officer saying one thing though.

“Harry James Potter, do you take Hermione Jane Granger as your wife, in health and illness, till death will part you?”

“I do” Harry said, smiling at her, and she felt her own heart melt under his gaze. It was her dream coming true, even if only for six months, and she felt joy overwhelming her.

“Hermione Jane Granger, do you take Harry James Potter as your husband, in health and illness, till death will part you?”

“I do” she said, and Harry thought her smile couldn't have been more beautiful.

“I thus declare you husband and wife” the officer said after they had exchanged their rings. “Harry, you may kiss the bride”

The raven haired wizard didn't need being told twice. He lifted the veil, and slowly leaned in, briefly wondering why he was so eager to kiss her. Hermione, on her part, closed her eyes and tried focusing on the sensations going through her, wanting to treasure them in her heart for the rest of her life, knowing this would only last half an year.

When their lips finally made contact, Harry was amazed at the softness of her own, and something primal almost drove him to snog her right there. But there were kids in the audience, plus it wouldn't have been appropriate. With a huge amount of willpower, he managed to part himself from her, sighing.

Hermione finally opened her eyes, her lips still tingling from the contact. She heard him sigh and assumed he had been happy to finally end what he surely saw as nothing more than a duty.

As the reception began, the newlyweds obviously sat near each other and Diane Granger couldn't stop bawling.

“My little princes got married” she sniffed inside the handkerchief, and Molly patted her on the back. “And she looks so happy” Diane added then, looking at the young couple.

“They both do” her husband said, beaming. He couldn't have asked for a better young man for his darling.

As for the two of them, Harry and Hermione were whispering to each other, oblivious to anything going on around them.

“We will need to dance soon, you know” she told him, in a business-like tone.

“Which you know I hate” he retorted playfully, and she swatted his hand lightly, with a radiant smile.

“But if it's with such a lovely lady that I'll have to dance, then it might even be enjoyable” he continued, and chuckled softly as she looked at him in surprise for having said such a sweet thing.

Ron and Luna noticed the exchange. “They are right for each other, you know” the former Ravenclaw said.

“That they are” Ron agreed, sipping his glass of champagne. “I wish they had realized it sooner though. It would have created much less angst in their lives”

“They have lots of happy years ahead of them, Ronald. It's not too late yet” his wife said, with her usual aerial tone, smiling at Harry who had just turned their way.

--

When the moment of dancing finally arrived, Harry was amazed at how well Hermione fit against him. They were following the slow rhythm of the music, the Symphony n.9 by Mozart, which Harry had decided to surprise her with, knowing it was her favourite composer.

She looked at him, warmth in her brown orbs.

“You remembered” she said, recalling a long chat in front of the fireplace in their last year at Hogwarts, where the two of them had shared many things they still didn't know about each other, and she had revealed to him her love for classical music and Mozart above anyone else.

“I've to spoil my wife a bit, right?” he joked, and even if she knew he was kidding, she felt a thrill going through her at the way he said it.

“Right” she breathlessly said, before standing on her toes and kissing him lightly on the lips. She told herself it was just for show, but she knew it was a lie.

He was surprised, but pleasantly so, when she kissed him. He reckoned it might just be for the audience, and he did notice some flashes at the exact moment their lips were joined, but he found himself hoping it wasn't.

“Now, Potter, where has that come from?” he asked himself, but couldn't, wouldn't find an answer.

Because the only one he could find was downright scary, if that was to be true.

-->

9. First Two Months

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

As usual, thanks to my great beta Gingercat, and I hope all of you had a good Easter!

Fight for Custody

Chapter Eight: First Two Months

Harry and Hermione had spent their first night as a married couple in their usual bedroom in the flat. The two of them had claimed they didn't really have time for a honeymoon, with both their jobs and Bea to care for, so they would settle for a very nice vacation in the summer to make up for it.

There had been some protesting, especially from Molly who had suggested they leave Beatrice with her and Arthur for at least a few days of relaxation, only the two of them, but the newlyweds had decided not to impose on her.

The truth was that in the honeymoon they would be expected to do whatever it is that newlyweds do, and while Hermione would have been more than happy to comply, she knew to Harry this was only a fake marriage.

As for Harry himself, he knew Hermione had loved him in the past but she had told him she didn't love him anymore, so even if he had happened to have blossoming feelings for his best female friend, he wouldn't risk the stability of their six months marriage expressing them.

“And anyhow, I don't have any blossoming romantic feeling for Hermione” he stubbornly repeated himself as a mantra.

The fact he definitely wanted to shag her silly like true newlyweds do seemed to not count, in his line of reasoning.

So, that night they went through their usual routine of putting Bea to bed, although the little girl had been so excited that her Daddy and Mummy had got married that she didn't seem so keen to go to sleep. Of course, being her age, she had scrunched up her nose in disgust every time they had kissed, not understanding how a girl could kiss a boy. “Boys are yucky” was the last thought floating through her mind before sleep finally took her.

Then, Harry and Hermione had undressed, worn their nightclothes and slipped into bed themselves.

However, a significant breakthrough was made that night, one that might seem little to some and yet held lots of meaning.

That night, Hermione and Harry didn't start the night on opposite sides of the bed, but comfortably cuddled together even before falling asleep, both with contented smiles on their faces, unbeknownst to the other.

--

It had been two weeks since the wedding, and Hermione was home with Bea, having just come back from school, while Harry was still at work.

Suddenly the bell rang, and Hermione went to open the door.

She expected it to be Harry, so she was mildly surprised to face a young blonde witch with a notepad in her hand.

“Hi, are you Mrs. Potter?” the other woman politely asked. Hermione nodded.

“Pleased to meet you. I'm from the Ministry for the probation regarding the custody of Beatrice Julie Potter, my name is Elisha Cutgrass” she said, extending her hand, that Hermione politely shook, then the brunette invited the other witch inside.

“I have some questions for you, Mrs. Potter, and for the little girl too” she said, following Hermione to the living room.

“Of course” Hermione nodded, smiling, but being incredibly nervous inside. This was it, they needed to make a good impression on the woman. A good start was always profitable in this kind of thing.

Hermione unconsciously wiped her hands on her trousers, as they were sweating profusely.

The blonde seemed to notice. “Nervous, Mrs. Potter?” she asked with a smile. Hermione gave an half smile, and the other witch actually chuckled.

“It's perfectly normal” she explained. “So, you got married with Mr. Potter just recently, am I mistaken?”

“No, you're not mistaken. Two weeks ago, to be more precise”

The woman scribbled something on her notepad, and Hermione held her breath. Had she said something wrong?

“But we have known each other for a long time before that” she blurted out, trying to rectify the situation, in case she had messed it up.

“I'm aware of that, Mrs. Potter. Few don't know your maiden name, and fewer ignore the role you played in You-Know-Who's demise” the blonde replied.

“So, would you mind telling me something about how your married life is going? It's not easy to step into a marriage when the other already has a child, am I right?”

“Oh, well, actually it hasn't been so hard. See, I'm the teacher at Beatrice's school, and she seemed to warm up to me since the very first day, and I can definitely say I immediately got a special liking for her. Not that I am unfair and give her special treatment…” Hermione babbled, and the other witch motioned for her to go on.

“I know what you mean, Mrs. Potter” she interjected, and Hermione nodded.

“Right. So, when Harry told Bea that I would live with them, she was very happy, and this has made stepping into the role of her step-mum more easy. She's really an adorable little girl” Hermione said, and her eyes warmed as she started talking about the raven haired girl who was right now in her room.

Miss Cutgrass wrote down something more during this time, and finally asked Hermione if she could meet the girl.

After a few more questions to which Bea replied a bit shyly, not completely liking this stranger, the inspector from the Ministry was about to leave when the fireplace sprung to life, and Harry stepped out of it.

He smoothed the soot away from his clothes, and finally looked up. As he did, Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a welcome kiss.

“You're here, Harry” she said, and then whispered, only for him to hear, “She's the inspector from the Ministry”

Harry suddenly understood why she had kissed him, and felt somewhat dejected. Every day his attraction for Hermione was growing more, and he felt a rush of strong affection for her every time he saw her with Bea. He had started asking himself if maybe he hadn't made an huge mistake years ago when he was still in school.

However, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. He kissed her back, before addressing the other woman.

“So, whom do I have the pleasure to meet?” he charmingly asked, and the blonde blushed the tiniest bit.

“I'm Elisha Cutgrass from the Ministry Department for Families” she replied, and Harry chivalrously kissed the back of her hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Cutgrass” he said. She took the occasion to ask him a couple of questions too, and didn't miss the way Harry's arm went instinctively to seek Hermione's waist, pulling her at him.

She inwardly smiled. They seemed to be a very well matched couple, even if not everyone in her Department thought it so.

“Mr and Mrs. Potter, I will leave you to care for your daughter. I've already imposed enough on your hospitality for today. You will receive visits once a week, and from different personnel of the department. Now, take this as a friendly advice, but be aware than not everyone will be open minded toward the two of you” she said, before nodding to the couple, smiling at little Bea who had by now been picked up by her father, and she then left.

Hermione had the distinct feeling they would be in for tougher times soon, regarding the Ministry visits.

--

Another month had gone by, and Hermione was starting to go crazy. Living with Harry, sharing a bed with him and having to pose as the loving wife every time they were in public or when a visit from the Ministry occurred was eating her inside.

It was not that she didn't want to do it, or that she didn't love Harry. She did, which was exactly why this was killing her inside. This was her dream, to be married to Harry and be loved by him, and she knew in four and a half months this would be over.

He had never expressed more than friendly and thankful feelings to her when they were alone. She didn't know why, but some little part of her had hoped being forced to live with her as a wife, albeit a fake one, Harry would start noticing her in other ways. It seemed he wouldn't, though.

Being frustrated, Hermione wasn't in her best of moods when she woke up that morning.

She trudged into the kitchen, where Harry was fixing breakfast for all the three of them.

“Slept well, Hermione?” he asked with a smile. She grunted.

He frowned, and turned toward her.

“Something wrong?” he asked, concerned.

“I'm fine” she said, sitting at the table and pouring herself some coffee.

“You aren't fine, Mione. Something is bothering you”

Yeah, I want you to shag me silly and tell me you are in love with me, but apart for that I'm fine, Harry! she thought, rolling her eyes.

“I'm fine” she repeated, and he sighed.

“I wish you'd tell me, Hermione” he said. That was the last straw.

“It's not your fu---ng business!” she shouted, before hurrying out of the kitchen. She didn't even notice Bea looking at her with wide eyes, which were soon filling with tears.

Harry noticed, though, and went to pick her up, his own heart breaking for the little girl who had to witness their spat.

“Daddy, why was Mummy angry?” she asked, as he wiped away her tears. “Will she go away now?”

“Honey, no, she won't go away. She won't leave us, you can be sure of that” he soothingly said. “People argue, but then they make up, darling. It's just the way life is” he said, and the little girl nodded.

“Now, what do you say we have a very nice breakfast before Mummy takes you to school?” he suggested with a smile, and the little girl nodded.

--

In the bathroom, where she was making herself ready, Hermione banged her head on the wall. She hadn't meant to snap at Harry that way, it just had been too much. She wanted so much to tell him she still loved him more than herself, and yet he seemed so happy with how the things were between them, she didn't have the heart to tell him and maybe make things awkward for the following months. They needed to give the impression of a strong married couple if they wanted to secure Bea's custody to him.

When she was finally dressed for the day, she went to the kitchen to apologize, but she found Harry had already left.

“Daddy was called for an emergency” Bea explained to her, and Hermione groaned. Now they would have to go through their day without having made up from that row.

--

To make things worse, that afternoon a visit from the Ministry occurred.

When Hermione opened the door, she found herself facing an old hag, and she had the instant feeling that the visit wasn't going to go too well.

And she was right. From the first moment the older witch did everything in her power to make Hermione uncomfortable, and the brunette was more nervous than ever, because Harry could come any minute and they still hadn't settled their argument from the morning.

The worst, however, came when the hag asked Bea some questions.

“So, deary, how do you reckon your parents get along?”

“This is not something you should ask her” Hermione angrily interjected.

“Why not, Mrs. Potter? Afraid that she might reveal some secret?” the hag almost smirked.

Hermione was speechless.

“So, Beatrice, tell me what you think of your parents' life together” the older witch insisted.

The little girl looked at her mother, then finally spoke in a tiny voice.

“This morning they fought, and Mummy shouted at Daddy, then she left the room”

Hermione paled. She wasn't even aware that Bea had witnessed that. This old spiteful witch was already set to report the worst possible about them, what would happen now?

Almost dreading it, she looked at the witch's face and sure enough she found an expression of triumph there.

“Tell me more, deary” she cajoled Beatrice, who told her exactly what she had witnessed.

“So you curse in front of the child?” the old hag accused Hermione. “And fight in front of her?”

The brunette was panicking, she didn't know what to say. Luckily, someone else spoke.

“I'd daresay anyone can make a mistake” the angry voice of Harry Potter boomed into the living room from the doorway. Hermione looked up and saw him glaring at the old hag.

She had never been more happy to see him.

“Oh, Mr. Potter. Your daughter here just finished telling me about your lovely morning exchange of opinions with you wife” the witch said with a false smile. “I'd not say that fighting in front of a child, swearing and leaving the fight unresolved is a little mistake” she added then.

“Then you can blame me for that. It was me who left before we could straight our differences, because I was called into the Ministry, for an emergency. Since you work there too, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about” he said.

“Well, then I'd advise being more careful in the future, Mr. Potter, if you really want to keep custody of your daughter” she haughtily said, before leaving.

Once the front door of the flat had slammed shut, Hermione let the tears fall.

“I'm so sorry, Harry” she sobbed, and he hugged her tightly. “Shh. It's nothing” he soothed her, and Bea was crying now too, having the distinct impression that she hadn't done the right thing telling that ugly lady what she had seen.

The two adults spoke comforting words to the girl together, and she clung to Hermione's neck.

“Mummy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble” she sniffled, and Hermione kissed her on the forehead.

“It's not your fault, pumpkin” she said, and Harry reassured his daughter that she had done nothing wrong.

That evening, dinner wasn't as cheerful as usual, all of the three of them wrapped in their own thoughts.

-->

10. Third and Fourth Month

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…and please, remember that H/G makes me want to puke just like it does for you, ok? But this chap needed to be done.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Thanks to my great beta Gingercat, she's helping me lots!

Fight for Custody

Chapter Nine: Third and Fourth Month

Harry was satisfied. Till now, the probation had gone quite well, apart for that only incident of the visit happening when he and Hermione were still angry at each other.

They were now in the third month, so more or less halfway through it, and the raven haired wizard was confident they could make it.

For the first time since he had received the letter explaining to him how the Ministry acted on the matters of children's custody, he let himself think he may be able to keep Bea with him, and he had no one else to thank for that than Hermione.

She had easily slipped into the role of the loving wife, of course they had their little spats now and then but it was just normal, and she was an excellent mother, just like he knew she would be. Bea simply adored her, and Harry could easily see why.

As he sat at his desk in the Ministry, he couldn't help a smile spreading on his face, remembering how just few nights ago they had cuddled together on the couch, once Bea was in bed, and watched the television that way. He missed her terribly now that she had had to go to the continent for a few days to attend a conference for teachers in Marseille. Luckily, she would be back the next day for dinner, or so she had told him in her owls.

He knew growing too attached to her was a risk, because in three months she would be gone from their flat, and yet he didn't think he was able to resist.

Taking a long breath, Harry shook his head as he admitted it to himself. He was falling for his best friend.

Around lunch time, he heard someone knocking on his door.

Looking up, he saw a fellow co-worker of his, Mandy Erntap, the one he had been paired with by the head of the Department to go through their archives and reorganize them. In his Hogwarts days, Harry would have despised such a job, but now he was happy for it, even if he found it boring, because he knew desk work kept him safe.

He had even been thinking about abandoning the Auror ranks altogether, but that was the only thing he could do, and even if money wasn't a problem for him and would never be, he still didn't feel like staying all day at home with nothing to do. He knew he would go crazy in two weeks time at the most.

“Hi, Mandy” he greeted her.

“Hi, Harry” she replied. “I got stuck on the files from 1950 to 1975, I'd like your opinion on how to reorganize them” she said, showing him a stack of parchment.

“Sure, take a seat and let's take a look at them” he said. For three hours they hardly worked on that, but finally they managed to have a perfectly archived stack of documents, mostly paperwork after arrests, relations on possible suspects, and such things. At the top of the stack was an index, so that finding the searched file would be easier.

“Wow, that was long” Harry breathed as he sent the files back to the archive with a flick of his wand. His stomach growled then, and he chuckled.

“I guess it is lunch time. What do you say we grab a bite at that place just across the street? I've found they make some godly pizza” he suggested, and Mandy grinned.

“Seems your stomach really needs it, Potter” she teased him, and he nodded. “It does”

So, they walked there, chose a table, and settled with their pizzas, and some Coke. It wasn't a long break, but a nice and deserved one nonetheless.

As they chatted and ate quietly like every pair of co-workers might do when they go to have lunch together, neither of them paid much attention to a flash going off.

Harry rolled his eyes, and warned her. “They might have a photo of the two of us on the front page of the Prophet tomorrow” he said. “Sorry, but it is the price for being in company of the blasted Boy-Who-Won” he added, rolling his eyes, and she nodded her understanding.

Later, they were back to work, going their separate ways as Harry had something to ask the Minister, while Mandy returned to her room, both soon forgetting about that photo of them that had been taken.

--

The next morning, Harry was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for Bea, when the owl bringing them the Daily Prophet arrived. Harry paid the bird, who swiftly flew away, leaving the paper on the table.

Since he had bacon and eggs to check, Harry left it there, without taking a glimpse at it.

He should have though, because he could have avoided Bea seeing its front page when she entered the room few minutes later.

Since she had by now learned to read, she was curious to see if she could understand a newspaper for adults, and grabbed it.

The photo on the front page shocked her. It showed her dad kissing a woman that wasn't her mum.

She froze, looking at the photo going on over and over, with Harry seemingly kissing this woman while they were at some restaurant.

Tears filled her eyes, and she ran away, knocking down the chair in the process. Harry was startled by the sound, and hastily went to check on her, but she wouldn't open her door, telling him he was a liar and didn't love her mummy.

Sighing, Harry took his wand and unlocked it, then stepped inside. Bea saw him, and glaring at her father, she Apparated away, letting the paper fall on the ground, where Harry saw it for the first time, feeling rage build inside him.

Only, her anger didn't make for a clean accidental Apparition like the other time, and she splinched herself, leaving back her right thumb.

He panicked not knowing where she had gone, but few moments later Arthur Weasley Apparated to the living room, a crying and bloody Bea in her arms.

Harry rushed there, and cradled his little girl in his arms, immediately Apparating to St. Mungo's, where he let a healer take care of her. “Thanks, Arthur, I can't tell you how grateful I am” he said as the redhead wizard had come to the hospital too.

“Do not worry, Harry. Only, from now on, don't let her see the paper before you've checked it. Oh, by the way, it's obvious it is a manipulated photo, so don't worry about Hermione believing it. She won't” the older wizard said with a smile, while they waited for little Bea to be healed.

Half an hour later, Harry was back in his flat, explaining to Bea what had really happened in that restaurant. He also explained to her that people at the newspaper tended to want a sensational story so that they would sell more, so they often invented stories on him.

“I'm sorry you will have to deal with this, even when you'll be at Hogwarts, but sadly it is how things are” he said, and wanted to add more, but was interrupted by the soft pop of Hermione Apparating in the living room.

“Harry, what's happened? I received an owl from Arthur that Bea had been hurt…” the brunette said, fear for the little girl's health clear in her voice.

Harry quickly told her the events of the day, but before he could finish the doorbell rang.

Opening the door, Harry stifled a groan. It was the weekly visit from the Ministry, and who else than the old hag who had already given them grief the first time she visited could be assigned to them that particular day?

As they went through the torture of the visit, with the old witch sneering and smirking at every little fault of theirs, and almost gleaming in triumph when she could steer the conversation on the supposed cheating Harry had done and the fact Bea had been hurt while in his care, Harry seriously wanted to murder her.

However, he reckoned it wouldn't help his case much if he was sent to Azkaban, so he barely managed to restrain himself. Hermione kept squeezing his hand for support, and he inwardly smiled. She had always been his rock in difficult times.

When the visit finally finished, Harry hugged her tightly.

“I dunno what I'd do without you, Hermione” he earnestly said, and she held him even tighter, moved by his words.

“You don't have to know, because I won't leave again” she reassured him. “By the way, I suspect the whole photo manipulation and Prophet article is Ginny's doing. She must have known of us being married, and that we were overall doing well as parents, and must have tried this stunt to discredit us, and mostly you, as a unfit parent”

Harry's green eyes flashed in anger at the prospect. It made sense and he wouldn't put it past the redhead witch to do it. Now he just needed to prove it, and maybe he could use it against her…

“I know what you're thinking, Harry, but no. You shan't fall to her level. You ought to fight with your parental skills, showing her and the Ministry you're the better choice for Bea, even if she tries tricks like this one” Hermione suggested, and he knew she was right.

Nodding, he went to check on his daughter, who was now sleeping to fully recover from her ordeal, and he pushed a bang of hair out of her forehead, kissing her there, and sitting on the bed, swearing to himself he would do anything in his power to keep her with him.

--

Waking up spooning with Hermione had become a habit for Harry, and after the period she had been away for that conference he had come to treasure those moments even more. There was no doubt in his mind he was falling in love with her, the problem now was what to do about it.

As she finally woke up, he smiled tenderly at her, and she did the same.

“Good morning” she whispered.

“Good morning” he greeted back.

“I don't really want to get up” she mumbled against his chest.

“Neither do I, Mione” he said, just a bit wistfully.

She sighed, and finally willed herself out of the bed. As she was walking to the bathroom, her night robe reaching just under her bum, Harry blurted out what was on his mind.

“You're beautiful” he said, and she blushed, turning towards him with a smile.

“Don't say things you don't mean, Harry” she chastised him with a smile before entering the bathroom, not giving him time to retort.

“Oh, but I do mean it, Mione” he muttered to himself, closing his eyes for a moment, before finally getting up himself.

--

Since it was a Sunday, the three of them headed to the Burrow, where they would spend the day with the Weasleys.

Bea was always overjoyed when she could play with her cousins, and Molly and Arthur had always made Harry and Hermione both feel like part of the family, so it was a pleasurable occurrence. Plus, it let the two of them see Ron, as their busy schedules rarely let the Golden Trio come together during the week, especially since Luna had gotten pregnant a month ago. Ron was pampering her like a queen, and Harry knew if he would ever get in the same situation with Hermione, he would do just the same.

“Ok, Potter, you're in love with her, this we know. But, already planning babies?” he scolded himself, before going to help Molly to keep himself occupied and away from other thoughts of the sort.

During lunch, Arthur announced that he had overheard some fellow Ministry officers talking about an upcoming Easter Ball, and asked Harry if he would be going.

“We can baby-sit Bea for the night” Molly offered, always eager to spend time with her grandchildren, and Hermione smiled warmly at the older witch.

“We will consider it, for sure” she said, and Harry was almost surprised at her, she usually hated mundane events.

“After all a bit of fun can't do us any harm” the brunette continued, and Harry had to admit she was right. They could use a night out for themselves, most married couples did, now and then.

--

When the night of the Ball came, the two of them left Bea in the care of the Weasleys.

Hermione had explained to Harry that it was a good occasion to show off in public how happy they were, countering with facts the malignity from the Prophet. He was amazed at her wits.

“How very Slytherin of you” he joked, and she beamed.

“So you think it's a good idea?” she asked.

“Yeah, it is” he said, pulling her close. “Plus, it allows me to see you in a very nice dress” he joked, earning himself a punch on the arm.

While getting herself ready in the bathroom, Hermione's heart raced.

“Was he flirting with me?” she asked herself, then snorted. “Probably not, but Merlin if I wish he was!” she thought with a smile, pulling the zipper of her dress up. Only, she couldn't pull it all the way, so, holding her hair up, she went back to their bedroom.

“Harry, can you help me with the zipper?” she asked.

Harry barely heard her, transfixed by how good she looked in that dark blue gown. It took him a good minute, and Hermione calling him twice, for him to snap out of it.

“You're gorgeous” he told her, admiring the silky material wrapped snugly around her curves, exalting them and making her look like a goddess, to him at least.

“You don't look bad yourself” she said, feeling giddy for his compliment, and casting him an appraising look. He was wearing dark green robes that matched his eyes.

Harry stepped behind her to pull the zipper all the way up, and he couldn't resist kissing her neck as he did so. Hermione trembled under his touch, and stammered her thanks once he stepped back.

“My pleasure” he said, with just an hint of huskiness in his voice, and slightly darkened green eyes. Hermione's breath caught in her throat once more.

Finally the two of them Apparated to the designed Ministry ballroom, where many couples had already arrived. Harry spotted many other Ministry employees, and the Minister himself, Shacklebolt, with his wife. As the young couple approached him to say their hellos, Harry spotted a mane of flaming red hair out of the corner of his eye.

“Merlin, let it not be her” he silently prayed. But after a few dances, his suspicions were confirmed. He and Ginny stared at each other, in surprise for a moment, then they glared back and forth.

Hermione interrupted the glaring contest, and defused a possible embarrassing situation, lacing her arms around Harry's neck and pulling him down for a searing kiss, her tongue almost forcefully gaining entrance in his mouth.

Harry was surprised at her boldness, but placing his hands on her waist, he pulled her even closer, battling her tongue with his own, exploring her mouth, while she did the same with his own, gently nibbling on her lower lip, earning a sweet little moan from her as a reward, which made his trousers definitely tighter as he felt his southern regions stir.

When they finally parted, Ginny was gone from their field of vision, but both couldn't care less, as they stared dazedly at the other, while a few bystanders wolf-whistled at them, or clapped their hands.

Hermione realized then that they had been kissing even after the song had ended and thus they were the only ones on the dance floor at the moment. She knew she should be embarrassed, and she was to an extent, but the feelings of that incredible kiss were still making her lips tingle, and she chose to focus on that.

--

Later that same night, Harry was at the bar ordering drinks for himself and Hermione, who had been sitting at a nearby table with Neville, Susan, Dean and Parvati, whom they had met amidst the crowd, when a voice called him.

“Harry!” Ginny said, false sweetness lacing her tone. “How have you been?”

He rolled his eyes, as he grabbed the two glasses, then he finally turned and addressed her.

“Cut your act, Ginny. We both know we despise each other at the moment, so there's no need to act holy” he growled, glaring at his ex wife.

Her stance changed in one second, becoming far more aggressive.

“Enjoy your last two months with the brat, Potter, because I'm going to get custody of her, and your money every month too” she sneered.

Harry was fuming, but managed to maintain his cool, spotting Hermione looking worriedly at him from the table she was at.

“Don't be too sure of yourself, Ginevra. You don't want to really upset me” he icily advised the redhead, before walking past her and toward his wife.

-->

11. Last Stint of Probation

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Thanks to my wonderful beta Gingercat for her help. I really need it.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Ten: The Last Stint of Probation

As the fifth month rolled by, Harry had more or less forgotten about Ginny's threat. He had downplayed it lots with Hermione, to not make her worry, although she sensed he was quite angry for some days, but soon his anger ebbed away, mostly because he had truly come to enjoy the married life with Hermione.

He had thought better to not let her know his changed feelings for her though, because he lived in the belief that she didn't love him anymore, so he needed to be careful not to unbalance their situation and maybe make things awkward. When the probation would be finished, and he seriously hoped for a positive ending of that, then he would test waters with Hermione.

For now, keeping Bea was the most important thing, and he focused on it.

Hermione, for her part, wasn't even slightly aware of Harry's change of heart towards her, so she kept the truth of her feelings to herself, kissing him in public or when a visit from the Ministry occurred, and snuggling with him in bed at night, but keeping the physical aspect of a relationship to the minimum.

Her assistant at the school couldn't be stopped inquiring about their sex life though, so Hermione found herself blushing more than once when answering those questions, and she used her many wet dreams about Harry she had developed over the years to do so, sure that he would not fall below those standards.

Not that she hoped to ever find out, mind you. However, she had to admit she had once or twice peeked while he was showering to see how he was in that department, and what she had seen hadn't disappointed her, she admitted to herself with a wry smile as she was readying herself for the lesson of that day.

Neither her or Harry were thus aware of the next manipulation in Ginny's agenda.

--

Next morning, Hermione was preparing breakfast, the newspaper already hid from the table so Bea wouldn't accidentally read it like she did that other morning a couple months before, and Harry had gone to wake up their little princess.

Yes, their, as Hermione had truly come to think of the little girl as her own. She loved the munchkin lots and would do anything to ensure her happiness, and her staying with Harry.

Since breakfast was now ready and Harry and Bea weren't back in the kitchen yet, she risked a peek at the newspaper, and froze as she read the title.

School Teachers and Students, Familiar Links are to be accepted?

An anonymous source has raised the question we are addressing in this article. Should familiar relationships be allowed between students and their teachers? The possibility of that student gaining a special treatment can be overlooked? Honestly, we don't think someone should be allowed to teach a child which is his/her own, or nephew/niece and so on. Why? Well, the temptation to give that minor higher marks, or punish him/her less than necessary would be hard to resist, and what would the child learn from such a treatment?

He/she would surely end being spoiled, thinking he/she can get away with everything, just because he had been taught so by his relative.

This is something our government should consider, and we at the Daily Prophet believe a law should be passed to stop this practice, even more so when the minor involved doesn't attend Hogwarts yet but attends some pre-schooling facility that ought to prepare them to the real schooling at the Hogwarts Castle.

The article continued, but she heard footsteps in the hall, so she quickly hid the paper again. Yet, Harry could notice through the whole breakfast that something was buggering her. He decided to address the matter later that day, once Bea was out of earshot, which meant he planned to address it after dinner that night.

Right now he had a meeting with Minister Shacklebolt, and he was already a bit late. He kissed Hermione's cheek to say goodbye to her, and she just nodded, which intensified his worry that something was not right with her. He told Bea to be a good girl for her mummy, then Disapparated away.

That whole day Hermione was distracted, her mind going back to that article in the Prophet, and unconsciously she assumed a more severe attitude toward Bea, punishing her hard even if she did something most teachers would have overlooked.

“Do not think you can do as you please here, miss” she sternly reprimanded the stunned student, after being treated in such a way by her mummy, who had never spoken that way toward her. And, the punishment was really unfair. Bea had been given detention, (Hermione had established the same type of punishment as Hogwarts to make the students more comfortable with it when they went to the castle) only because she had spoken out of turn, which is what most little children do.

As soon as they arrived home that night, Bea ran to her room and locked herself inside. Hermione sighed, finally realizing she might have overreacted, and went to apologize, but the little girl wouldn't let her in.

The brunette had to give up when the doorbell rang, and she swore under her breath, knowing it was the Ministry visit and realizing it couldn't have come at a worse time, with Bea extremely angry at her.

She let the blonde witch inside, and almost sighed with relief when she noticed it wasn't one of the most vicious officers they had had to deal with, which was what she expected given her luck that day.

However, the issue of Bea being angry at her came up, and the little kid told the officer why she was angry at her mummy.

“So you abused of your position of power over her?” the blonde young witch said, raising her eyebrow.

Hermione sighed, and sadly nodded.

Once Bea was excused, the blonde witch, Elisha was her name as Hermione remembered from the first visit of the probation, gave her a slight smile.

“Hermione, I understand that the article in the paper this morning might have forced your hand, putting you under extra pressure” she started, and the other witch nodded, thanking her for understanding.

Elisha however continued. “Sadly, I will try to downplay this the best I can, because I like your family, I truly do, but I'll still have to mention it in my report”

“I understand” Hermione said, sighing. “Do what you must, it was my mistake, not yours”

Elisha nodded, wishing her best to the family, and then left. It was an hour later that Harry finally arrived, and found his wife sitting in the living room, staring blankly at a wall, deep in thought as he could gather seeing how she was biting her lip.

“Care to tell me what happened?” he gently said, sitting near her.

“Have you read the Prophet?” she asked, and he shook his head. She gave him hers, and he read it. Saying he was angry when he finished that article was an understatement.

“This is Ginny's doing, I just know it” he muttered. “Not mentioning you and yet a direct enough attack to be understood by those in the Family Department at the Ministry” he said, and she agreed.

“But the worst is that I let it get to me today, and overreacted, landing Bea in detention when she didn't really deserve it, and now she hates me” she said, putting her head in her hands.

“Love” he said, surprising even himself as he let it slip, but he kept talking, “I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She's just angry, but she will let it go, I'm sure of it. You should see how many times she was angry at me before you came into the picture. She just needs to let some steam off for a bit” he explained.

Hermione felt better, as he wasn't angry at her, and instead pulled her in his arms. His comforting touch was exactly what she needed. She was also a bit giddy over him calling her “love”.

Together, they approached Bea's room.

“Bea, sweetheart, care to come out of there?” Harry asked, and they soon heard the door unlocking. As soon as the little girl spotted Hermione standing near Harry though, she tried to close the door again, but Harry prevented it. He also quickly cast an Anti-Apparition ward on the room, stopping her from trying to flee and splinching herself again.

“Pumpkin, I see that you're still angry at your mummy” Harry said.

“Daddy, she was mean to me today” she cried, wrapping herself around Harry's leg. The raven haired wizard picked her up.

“Honey, she didn't mean it. Something made her angry, and she did wrong taking it out on you but she didn't mean to”

“It's true, Bea. I love you so much, and I'm truly sorry for today. I wish I could have kept my cool better, but I didn't want to be mean to you”

Bea watched her warily, but even she could see Hermione was honest. She tentatively extended her arms toward the brunette witch, and let her pick her up from Harry's arms.

Hermione kissed the little girl's cheek, and asked again for forgiveness.

Harry watched the scene with a smile on his lips as he knew the worst was over now, and Bea would soon forgive Hermione. He was right, and few minutes later the three of them were in the kitchen happily preparing dinner together.

--

As the days passed, Harry found himself more and more in love with Hermione. He had placed a photo of the two of them on their wedding day on his desk at the Ministry, and found himself compelled to look at it often during the day, fondly smiling at the brunette in the picture.

He still thought she looked like a goddess come down to Earth that day, and was amazed to see the two people in the photo looking adoringly at each other, then waving at the camera, before turning toward their spouse again.

He wondered if maybe, just maybe, this was destined to happen no matter what, even if he had been too distracted with Ginny back in school and in his first years as an Auror.

That night, after dinner, the family reunited in the living room, and Bea picked a DVD from her collection. This time it was “The Little Mermaid” and they all snuggled together on the couch, an huge bowl of popcorn and some Cokes in front of them.

Harry had never understood his daughter's love for this kind of movies, but seeing Hermione not exactly engrossed but still pretty interested with it, he guessed it was a girl thing. He preferred ten folds an action movie with lots of explosions, blood and such, but since he knew his daughter and probably Hermione wouldn't accept his choice of movie and would retreat to their rooms reading, he was more than glad to watch Disney and its creations, as it allowed his family to spend time together.

When Bea gave a last yawn and then fell asleep on the couch, he exchanged a smile with Hermione.

“I'll tuck her in and then be back” she whispered, picking the little girl up. True to her word, she was back in the living room ten minutes later, and found Harry had switched the telly off, and was now reading a Quidditch book.

“You guys and sports” she teased him, and he grinned sheepishly.

“Come here” he said then, and she did, sitting on his lap. It was one of the little contacts they had become accustomed to, and felt comfortable with.

As she did, he nuzzled her neck, and she giggled.

“You're amazing, you know” he said, looking up at her and her breath caught in her throat as she looked in his pools, seeing the intensity of his gaze.

“Could it be…” she thought, but immediately caught herself. “Never, Granger. He'll never love you like you love him” she sadly reminded herself, and contemporarily stood up, leaving him a bit flabbergasted as she claimed she was tired and wanted to get some sleep.

She couldn't have been more far from the truth with her beliefs though.

--

Finally, the end of the sixth month of probation arrived.

Harry had been edgy for days, and Hermione understood him, although she couldn't guess the other reason he was edgy. The fact the final decision of the Ministry on Bea's custody would arrive soon was enough for him to be tense, but add to it the fact that once it had arrived he planned, whatever the decision was, to ask Hermione to really become his wife, and the nervousness going through him was at unheard of peaks.

The brunette was pretty anxious herself about the outcome of the probation, to tell the truth, and when the owl from the Ministry came that night informing them the ministry had now all the elements to judge and a decision would be made shortly, in two weeks time at the most, both sighed.

Two more weeks of anxious wait before knowing, they would go mad before then for sure, Hermione thought.

-->

12. Probation Outcome and a Request

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…here you all will know how the probation turned out!

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

As usual, thanks to my beta Gingercat for her much needed help.

Fight for Custody

Chapter Eleven: Probation Outcome and a Request

The days passed slowly, and often Hermione and Harry, both at home and when at work, would hastily turn to the slightest noise, hoping it was the owl bringing them the letter with the final decision of the Ministry on Bea's custody.

Barely four days had gone by since the letter that told them the decision could come any moment in the next two weeks, and Hermione was already overly stressed by the wait.

Harry noticed this, and while he wasn't much better, once Bea had gone to sleep, he offered to give her a massage to ease her tension.

She gladly accepted his offer, so when they were in their bedroom, Harry locked the door, just in case Bea came there for some reason, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea or see something that would be hard for her to understand at that age.

Then, he sat behind Hermione, who had in the meantime removed her shirt and whose top half was now covered only by her lacy black bra.

Harry gulped, trying to keep his hormones in check, and slowly started rubbing her shoulders in a soothing way.

It wasn't long before he felt the knots in her muscles ease under his touch, and her moan softly in relief. Harry felt his groin tighten, and wondered if that had been a good idea.

He would definitely need a massage himself, and not on the shoulders, if she kept moaning that way.

Finally, half an hour later, they were inside the bed, snuggling against each other, Harry's arms wrapped around her frame, and her head resting on his chest.

The raven haired wizard hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't notice his condition, and maybe snuggling that way wasn't the best way to prevent that, yet refusing her when it had become a habit for them would have made her suspicious and eventually he would have had to explain why he didn't want to spoon with her.

His prayers, though, went unheard, because soon enough he heard her giggling, and could feel the heat coming from her cheeks as she blushed.

“My, Mr. Potter” she slyly whispered into the darkness of the room. “did you forget your wand in your pocket, or were you just happy to give me a massage?” she teased him, and Harry hoped the Earth would open, swallow him, and then close again, so that he wouldn't have to reply to that question.

When he didn't reply, Hermione moved from her position, and moved so that her face was in front of his own. Even in the darkness, they could somehow spot the other's eyes, and she spoke softly.

“Harry, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a normal reaction, and if you want to know the truth, I'm quite flattered by it” she admitted, looking down as she finished her statement.

He pulled her chin up with his fingers, and slowly closed the distance between their lips. No more words were needed, and when they parted a couple minutes later, sleep engulfed both of them quickly, bringing pleasant dreams of the other to their minds.

--

It was ten days after the probation end, and Harry had decided to take Hermione and Bea out for dinner. He had booked a table for three at the most prestigious Wizarding restaurant in Britain, Founder's Magic.

Hermione had cast him a mildly annoyed glance because she didn't think it would do Bea good to see they could afford such places. Hermione was against spoiling the child, and Harry was too, mostly, but now and then he wanted his little princess to have a treat. He also wanted it to be a little anticipated thank you to Hermione, whatever the outcome of the probation might be.

He knew the owl could come any moment now, as they were near to the two weeks deadline.

Slowly through the night, Hermione's mood improved, and when they finally went back home, their bellies full of the most delicious foods to be found in Britain, magical or not, which included oysters and lobsters among other marvellous dishes, she was smiling up at Harry, who had his arm wrapped around her, and his other hand holding Bea's.

They had decided to Apparate to a nearby park and take a little walk to their flat, since the night was warm and completely clear. Harry noticed many stars could be seen, but not as much as they had been able to see when at Hogwarts, during their Astronomy lessons.

“It's because of the city lights” Hermione explained, guessing his line of thought. He grinned at her, nodding, still amazed at how well they could understand each other.

It was only one of the main things that had convinced him they were meant to be together, and that often had him reproach himself for not having guessed it sooner, and having lost years of happiness in the process.

When the three stepped inside the kitchen, though, Harry and Hermione's smiles froze. An envelope was there, and from the look of it, they both knew what it was.

Bea sensed the change of mood in the two adults, and asked what was wrong. Harry picked her up, and reassured her everything was alright, but now she needed to go to sleep.

“But I'm not sleepy, Daddy!” she protested.

Harry smiled at her, even if his heart was in turmoil at the moment.

“I know, sweetheart, but you do want to be really beautiful when you grow up, right?” She nodded, her eyes sparkling.

“Then you need to go to bed early at night, because you need your beauty sleep” he reasoned, and Bea pouted, but allowed him to change her clothes and tuck her in.

When he went back to the kitchen ten minutes later, more or less, Hermione was sitting in a chair, still staring at the envelope.

“Go on, open it” Harry told her. She looked up at him, nodded, and extended her hand toward the envelope, but pulled it back at the last minute. The same thing happened two more times, and she sighed.

“I'm too scared” she admitted, and he nodded. He decided since he was the father, he should be the one to open it, so he sat near her, took a long breath and extended his hand toward the envelope, but found out he too was to scared to open it.

“Together?” Hermione suggested with a weak smile, and he smiled back, just as weakly.

Contemporarily picking the envelope up, they tore it open, took out the parchment, and together read it, their hearts thumping madly in their chests.

Mr. Potter,

The six months evaluation time has given us

precise indications about how well you and

your wife can take care of Beatrice Julie

Potter. There are some issues pointed out by

our inspectors that do not qualify you as

a good parent for the little girl.

Hermione closed her eyes in defeat, dreading to keep reading. Harry felt his heart stopped beating, but forced himself to go on.

However, the positive remarks about your

conduct as a father, and Mrs. Potter as a

mother strongly outdo the negative aspects.

This is why the final decision of the Ministry

Department for Families is that you get full

Custody of Beatrice Julie Potter.

Congratulations, and do not make us regret this

decision, Mr. Potter.

Victoire McHarven,

Head of the Ministry Department for Families

“We did it!” he whispered, amazed. Hermione looked at him like he had gone mad, then forced herself to finish reading the letter, and an huge smile spread on her lips.

She instinctively wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him fiercely on the lips, as tears of joy rolled down both their cheeks.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her on his lap, and kissed her back just as enthusiastically, caressing her back as he did so.

As lack of air forced them to part, he grinned at her. “It's all thanks to you, Mione. I can't even begin expressing how grateful I am to you for this, I really owe you big time” he said, kissing her nose, forehead, cheeks, then pecking her again on the lips.

“It's all right, Harry” she said, a bit overwhelmed by the previous snogging and now by all the kisses Harry was showering her face with. She guessed it was all due to his bubbling joy for being able to keep the child. She didn't want to delude herself that there might be something more. “It was the least I could do, I sure enough didn't want to see Ginny get custody of our” she said, and then realized her mistake, “I mean, your daughter” she corrected herself with a blush.

He didn't even realize her slip of the tongue, because by now he had really come to think of Bea as their daughter, not his own only.

--

It was three days after the letter had arrived, and Hermione was still living with them. Harry knew she expected the faÃ§ade to end soon, but the fact was he didn't want her to leave. He had fallen in love with her hard during these months and couldn't see himself going on without her anymore.

He knew he had to gather his courage and ask her once and for all if she wanted to stay, and to do so, he needed a trip to Gringott's.

A goblin, called Gruntglacks, escorted him down to his vault, where he looked around, searching a certain jewellery box he had noticed the other times he had been there. Finally he found it, and clicked it open, as it responded to him, being the Potter heir.

He took an object, and clicked it closed again. In a matter of minutes, he was once more in the fresh air of Diagon Alley, a grin on his lips and he toyed with what he had taken, safely tucked in his pocket.

--

Bea was quietly sleeping in her room, Hermione had seen to that. Then, she had joined Harry again in the living room, and, sighing, she decided to take the bull by its horns and face the matter she had been thinking about for days now.

“Harry, whenever you feel like I should go back to my flat, just tell me, ok?” she started. “We will work it out”

Harry looked up at her, surprised at her saying that, and realized his moment had come.

He made sure it was in his pocket, then he walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Would you like never as a reply?” he softly asked, and she gasped. Before she could say anything else, he was on one knee in front of her.

“I know we already had a wedding, Hermione, but now I'm asking you again, and I mean it this time. Will you marry me? Better, will you keep being my wife for the rest of our lives?” he asked, pulling out the ring he had taken at Gringott's earlier that day.

She gasped again as she saw the wonderful, ancient ring he was offering her. It had a diamond in the middle, and two smaller rubies on the sides. The rest of the ring was lined with sparkling minute diamonds, all round it.

“It was the ring my father proposed to my mother with. I didn't give it to Ginny, I thought it too sacred to give it to her. But I'm now offering it to you, Hermione,” he continued, “because this six months have made me fall in love with you more than I could ever express with words” he finished, looking up at her.

As green met brown, she knew he was speaking the truth, and all those looks, those touches, those kisses he would randomly start made sense. She had been trying to not let her hopes soar too high, but it was true. He was in love with her, and was now asking her to live her dream. Because, being his wife had always been her dream, since fifth year at Hogwarts. How could he even think she wouldn't want to live it?

Flinging herself at him, she kissed him hard on the mouth, pouring all her love for him in it, her tongue fiercely chasing his own as he pulled her closer, almost melting her body into his own for how close he was holding her.

Finally, she let tears of joy fall, and smiled warmly at him.

“I've always dreamed you would ask, Harry” she said, before kissing him again, as he slipped the ring on her finger.

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13. Honeymoon, for Real

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…this chapter will fully earn the NC17 rating.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Thanks to my very helpful beta Gingercat!

Fight for Custody

Chapter Twelve: Honeymoon, For Real

The appointment of Beatrice's custody to Harry was reason for an huge party at the Burrow, involving all the Weasleys bar Ginny, for obvious reasons.

The little girl didn't really know why it was held, she had never been made aware of the possibility that she might have to leave Harry, as to not upset her, and Hermione found herself wondering if that had been the right course of action. If the custody had been given to Ginny, the little girl would have been in for a real shock.

However, it was all in the past now.

She looked up at Harry, who had an arm draped around her shoulders, and smiled lovingly at him. She couldn't believe their luck, this whole ordeal, as stressful as it had been had brought them to realize their love for each other. Well, she already knew she was in love with him, but she kept it hidden.

As the party slowly died down, with Percy and Penelope leaving first, then George and Angelina as the witch was pregnant again, and needed her rest, Harry took advantage of the smaller crowd to take his wife to a secluded corner of the house, and sweetly kissed her.

“I missed this” he murmured against her lips, and she giggled. “You speak like we haven't kissed in years” she replied, still barely an inch away from him.

“Minutes, hours, years…what does it matter?” he huskily replied before plunging down again, claiming her lips in a kiss full of love, and raw passion.

Ron, who happened to pass that way, saw them and couldn't pass the chance.

“Oi! Get a room, you two!” he called out with a smile on his lips, and both his best friends stuck their tongues out at him before involving them both in a battle within each other's mouths.

Ron shook his head and kept walking, truly happy for them. He had thought he was destined to end with Hermione, but their brief attempt at a relationship in school had been a disaster, and now he had a wife who made him more than happy, and he hoped he made her happy too.

--

Just before leaving for their flat, Harry, who had picked Bea up to side-long Apparate her, spoke.

“Molly, we were thinking about taking that vacation, actually our honeymoon, in a week time. Would it be ok with you if Bea stayed with you for the two weeks we plan to be away?”

“Of course, Harry. You don't even have to ask”.

“What do you say, honey? Will you be a good girl for Grandma Molly while we are away?” Hermione asked, and Bea nodded.

That settled, the Potters left for a good night's sleep in their flat. Even if now they knew they loved each other, Harry and Hermione still hadn't involved in certain activities, out of fear that Bea might sneak up on them, like she tended to do in the mornings, especially on weekends, and see them involved in something she was too young to know.

“If she will ever know” Harry had grunted, and Hermione had rolled her eyes. “You can't cage her, Harry. When the time will come, she will date, and you won't stop her. I won't allow you to” she said, putting her hands on her hips. He knew better than to argue with her, so he relented, albeit reluctantly.

--

Finally, Bea was dropped at the Burrow and Arthur and Molly reassured the couple that it wasn't a problem to watch the girl for a couple weeks.

“I've had my house full of kids for years, decades even, one more won't make a difference” Molly had said. “You two go and enjoy your vacation. Merlin knows you deserve it, after that probation”

Harry and Hermione nodded, and grabbing the old boot that was their Portkey, they landed in their suite in Anguilla, an island in the Caribbean Sea.

The resort was a magical one, which made things easier for them. There was no need to go to the reception to check in, they had already been assigned a suite when Harry had booked it and a Portkey to bring them directly into it was sent to the pair.

“Oh, Harry, this is just wonderful!” Hermione said, looking out of the window to the white sand beach, and the crystal water of the ocean.

He came behind her, and slipped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck.

“Not even close to you” he murmured against her skin. She shivered, and turned in his embrace.

“I love you” she said, pulling his head up for a kiss.

“I love you too” he said, pulling her up and bringing her into the bedroom. She yelped and then laughed at his antics.

“What? It is a tradition that the groom carries the bride over the threshold, right? It's a bit late, I admit, but I want to make things right” he proudly said, puffing our his chest. She smiled fondly at him as he lay her on the fluffy bed. Then, grabbing his shirt, she pulled him down for another kiss, this time needing, filled with lust, and it wans't long before their clothes started flying around the room, both now only in their underwear. It wasn't the first time they had seen each other in such way, but it still was amazing to him how beautiful she was.

Kissing his way down from her neck to the valley between her breasts, he cupped them both through the lacy bra she was wearing, and she hissed as he started tweaking her nipples, which were quickly hardening.

Sliding his hands to her back, Harry made a quick work of unclasping her bra, and she raised her eyebrow at him. She knew it was always a difficult task for men.

“Been practicing much?” she teased him, and he grinned as he shook his head. “Natural ability. Potter heirloom, I daresay”

“Cheeky…” she retorted, but as he took one stiff nipple in his mouth, she suddenly cried out in pleasure.

He was amazed at the reaction he could elicit from her, and it made his boxers grow tight, as his erection grew. It didn't help matters when Hermione started rubbing him through the fabric.

“Mione” he growled, and she nodded. With a bit of wandless magic, his undergarments were gone, added to the pile of clothes in a corner.

She grasped his shaft, and he hissed in pleasure. She felt a jolt of warmth travel down her belly to her very core, and her panties dampen. It was nothing compared to what happened when she took him into her mouth, though.

He buried his hands in her hair, grunting as she was evidently doing the right thing, circling her tongue around its head, then along its length, putting it all into her mouth. She briefly wondered that Ginny's bragging during their seventh year had been justified, because he really was well endowed. Not that she would ever tell any of her friends about it, mind you. It was just another of the many things she and the redhead differed for.

“Mione…I…won't…last…long…” he grunted, and she nodded her understanding. She felt a thrill knowing she, Hermione Granger, had brought him, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Won, desired by more than half the witches of magical Britain, to the brink of orgasm. A bit of feminine pride didn't harm anyone, right?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Harry sneaking between her legs, and hooking his fingers in the waistband of her knickers. He slowly, tantalizingly so, pulled them down, teasing her with kisses as he went down her legs, making her shiver and whimper because of his ministrations. When he finally got rid of the last piece of cloth hiding her from his sight, he took a long look at her luscious body sprawled in front of him, her cheeks graced by a rosy blush.

“You're so beautiful” he whispered, before kissing his way up from her right foot, along her leg, to her thigh, then switching to the other one, inching closer to her centre, and yet not giving her the pleasure to feel his touch there yet.

He was driving her mad.

“Harryyy” she cried out. “Please!”

He grinned at her and finally kissed her lower lips, lapping at the juice erupting from her folds. As his tongue made contact with her clit for the first time, she felt a wave of pleasure rock through her, making her toes curl. She hadn't completely gotten down from her peak that Harry resumed his ministrations, now substituting his tongue with a finger, and his thumb circling her bundle of nerves.

He kissed her hard on the mouth, their tongues clashing together, fighting for dominance, before he dipped down to suck on her nipples again, first one, gently nibbling on it, flicking it with his tongue, and then the other. He couldn't have it feeling neglected, could he?

Hermione felt his erection brush on her opening, and knew she needed to have him inside her right away. With her right hand, she guided him in place, and with a silent nod he pushed his way in, both groaning at the sudden pleasure the friction gave them. She was tight, even if not a virgin anymore, but he didn't expect her to be. He was curious to know who her first was though, and felt a tiny bit of hurt at not having been him. But it was immediately lost in the sensations her clenching muscles were giving him, squeezing his rod for all what it was worth.

He started thrusting in and out quicker, and deeper, her arms loosely laced around his neck as she matched his rhythm.

“Mione!” “Harry!” they contemporarily cried, as both felt their orgasm approach. A few more minutes of Harry's thrusting, with Hermione telling him to go faster, deeper, to fuck her harder, and both came at the same moment, Harry spilling his seed inside her, as her inner muscles milked him to the last drop.

Finally, he collapsed on her side, still buried inside her, and she looked up at him, sated, doodling on his chest with her finger.

“Wow” was all they both could say, and both erupted in laughter as they did so at the same time. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, and magicked the sheets to cover them, as they were soon asleep, resting for the physical activity they had just got involved in.

--

As the days passed, Harry and Hermione decided they couldn't spend their whole honeymoon locked in the bedroom, as much as they wanted to. Their shags had been amazing, really, and Harry couldn't stop remembering the one they had in the shower. It was one of the most heated ones of his own life, and he had come twice inside her. He lost count of her climaxes somewhere around five.

So, now, the two of them were strolling on the warm sand of the beach, hand in hand, enjoying the slight breeze easing the hotness of the day.

“You know, I kind of love this bikini of yours” he said, and she blushed. It had been a daring moment in which she had let herself buy something out of the ordinary, and the tiny white triangles of fabric barely covered her goods. When she was coming out of the water, it was almost transparent.

“You know, I've always dreamed of doing it on a beach” she mischievously whispered into his ear, before nibbling on it.

A wandless couple of charms later, silencing the area and protecting them from prying eyes, and the skimpy bikini was forgotten on the sand, just as his swimming trunks.

They were really barely able to keep their hands off each other.

--

At night, they often hit the town, with fancy restaurants, pubs and clubs. It was almost like they were just now living the youth Voldemort had robbed them of, although it was just for two weeks. But they were the two weeks Harry would never forge tin his life, and nor would she.

When the time for them to go back home finally came, Hermione sighed.

“You know, I think I'm glad we are going back” she said, and then realized it didn't come out the way she meant it.

Hurt flashed on his face before she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him fully on the lips. “What I meant is, these two weeks have been godly, but I think I miss Bea” she admitted, looking down as she didn't know how he would take it that she had grown so attached to his daughter.

“Well, I'd say it is just normal for you to miss our daughter” he retorted, trying once more to show her he didn't think of Bea as Ginny's daughter anymore. For him, his little girl was just his and Hermione's whatever biology may say on the matter.

She felt her heart warm at his words, and kissed him again, slowly and sweetly this time, as their love, not mere lust, was the driving force for it.

Harry rested his forehead on hers, and just before he Apparated them back to London, he whispered into her ear.

“I've always known you'd be a good mother, Hermione”

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14. She, Who Should Mother His Children

Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.

A/N: My reply to the “You can't take my child” challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…as this is an epilogue, it will be very short, sorry.

Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.

Again, thanks to my great beta Gingercat. Sadly this is the last chapter but you'll see more of me soon, you won't be able to get rid of me this easily, lol! ;)

Fight for Custody

Chapter Thirteen: She, Who Should Mother His Children

A couple months after their honeymoon in Anguilla, Harry came home from work, and found Hermione in the living room, a book in her hands, but she was obviously nervous.

When she spotted him, she smiled shakily, and he knew something was wrong.

“Luv, what's bothering you?” he asked, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in his own. She gazed into his emerald pools, and took a deep breath.

“I'm pregnant” she said, anxiously waiting for his reaction. He was stunned, but a bubbling feeling of happiness quickly started spreading through him, and he pulled her up with him, enveloping her in a bear hug.

No words were needed for her to guess he was overjoyed, and the wave of relief made her loose her grip on her own emotions. It was just few moments before she started sobbing, and Harry looked worriedly at her.

“Hermione…” he started cautiously, and she knew what was going through his mind. She shook her head to reassure him, as a brilliant smile spread on her lips.

“These are tears of joy, Harry” she said.

“So you're not upset that you're pregnant with my child?” he asked, warily.

“No way” she said, pulling him down for a long kiss. “Because it would been, my being upset at the realisation of my deepest desires finally coming true” she murmured then against his lips, before kissing him hard once more.

--

Harry was inside a room in the St. Mungo's Hospital. He was holding his wife's hand, and he never guessed she could have such a vicious grip.

“If you come anywhere near me again, Potter, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands” she growled through the pain of the delivery.

He smiled at her, knowing it was usual for women in labour to say such things to their husbands, or the fathers of their children, anyway.

“Another push, Mrs. Potter, and we should be done” the Healer advised, and Hermione closed her eyes in concentration, willing all the strength she still had into that push. A loud cry was heard as the baby was finally completely out, and soon cradled into a warm blanket by another Healer. Harry kept holding her hand.

It was not much later that the second twin was born, and Hermione exhausted, was brought back to her room to rest.

Harry went to tell the Weasleys, who were all waiting outside.

“They are here! Two little boys!” he said, with a proud smile.

“And here I thought twins ran only in the Weasley family” Ron joked clapping his best mate's back, as he and Luna had had twins too, and then there were Fred and George in the family of course.

--

Later, when Hermione had rested enough, Harry asked the Healers to bring their babies to her room so she could meet them. He was a bit anxious, as he had memories of Ginny not wanting to hold Bea when she was born, even if he rationally knew Hermione wouldn't act that way.

And in fact, the brunette was overjoyed to hold her sons in her arms, taking turns in cradling them.

“They are so beautiful” she said, as tears of joy ran down her cheeks.

“That they are. With your brown hair, and my green eyes, how could they not be?” he joked, and she playfully rolled her eyes at him.

He settled near her, as she smiled contentedly at him.

“I love you so much” she said.

“I love you too” he said, and in that moment he knew how it had always been meant to be, who should have been the mother of his children from the very beginning, who truly loved him for who he was and not for his fame.

Kissing her forehead as her eyes fluttered close, tiredness catching up with her again, he knew this time he had found his happy ending, for real.

He could already imagine himself and Hermione choosing names for the two little guys, and then raising them together, in a loving family.

Yes, now all was well.

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