The Life He Never Knew
Ch 6- Water Under the Bridge
A/N - I'd like to thank everyone for there reviews and for reading my story. I'll try to keep up with it and post regularly, probably every week sometimes twice if the muse hits me.
Sadly I don't own Harry Potter, it's a good thing for Hermione's figure that I do not because if I had control she'd be rivaling Mrs. Weasley in the number of kids she would have. We all know Harry wouldn't complain.
This chapter is set in late July
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Better ring the doorbell, I know that bloody portrait of Sirius' batty mom is gonna start wailing the minute I do but still I should ring it for safety's sake. The row we had last time I saw them they'd likely hex me if I just walked in unannounced.
Ron Weasley stood nervously on the step of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, delaying the inevitable by arguing with himself. He was trying to decide whether it was wiser to walk in and spare the occupants the wails of the portrait of Mrs. Black or to ring the doorbell and take his chances that Harry and Hermione would be lenient on him. Reality was he was simply afraid the pair would reject him and send him on his way. Summoning the remainder of his Gryffindor courage he rang the doorbell.
Harry and Hermione had just finished lunch and were lounging lazily on a sofa in the den. Hermione was laying between Harry's legs, her head leaned back into his chest. She was laying slightly to her side as she read a book on magical interference with muggle technology. It was nearly a month since Harry had clumsily fell to his knee after dinner and asked Hermione to marry him. She thought it was very cute of him and appreciated the fact that he tried to be somewhat romantic with it, even though she was waiting all weekend for him to finally do it. Harry meanwhile was idly fingering the ring on her finger with a smile on his face. His chin atop her head as he inhaled the aroma of vanilla from her shampoo. They had talked for a while about rebuilding his families home, and came to the decision that both would prefer to have a home with electricity and muggle appliances that they were used to from there childhood. Harry couldn't imagine living life without television, sure at school they were constantly busy so he didn't miss it, but he felt he'd need a way to keep himself entertained during the day now that he was finished. He was about to offer the idea to Hermione that they just live in a muggle neighborhood when the doorbell rang. Harry cringed at the sound anticipating the wails of Mrs. Black, and even Hermione had stiffened in his lap. The wails never came, and after a moment of confusion the two looked at one another and gave a slight shrug as if to inform the other they didn't know who would be calling for them. Harry slid out from under Hermione and headed for the door, Kreacher however beat him to it. The door swung open to reveal a frazzled Ron Weasley.
"Ron!" Harry said in surprise, he hadn't expected to see the red head for quite sometime after the row the pair had over Hermione. "What are you doing here?"
"Harry whose at the door?" Hermione inquired as she approached the two men. "Oh Ron, we hadn't been expecting you, did you come over alone or is the family here too?" She noticed Harry glaring at Ron not exactly smiling, and while he did have right to be angry with there estranged friend Harry should have been making an effort to bury the hatchet and not stare a hole through his skull. She walked up to Harry sliding under his arm and wrapping her own arm around his waist. She smiled and greeted Ron while at the same time giving a strong pinch to Harry's side to get him to settle down.
Ron noticed Harry give a slight jump and wince a little, "You alright Harry?"
"Yea Ron, I'm fine. So what brought you over today?" He sounded much more polite now to Hermione's satisfaction. She smiled to herself and thought, men are just like dogs when they get out of line just tug on there leash a little.
"I wanted to talk, I was an ass the last time I saw you guys and wanted to come set things right again." His eyes didn't look at either of them, they were staring intently at the floor. Ron was like a little kid, he knew he did wrong and didn't want to look into the eyes of his friends and face the truth. He suddenly felt Hermione wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Come on in, we'll have some tea and talk things over." Hermione said. She turned to Harry who was smiling. She knew as angry as he was with her he needed Ron. He was his best male friend, who would Harry turn to in order to escape her and act like fool. She let out a giggled when she thought of Harry and Ron stumbling in drunk after a night out drinking.
"Boys" She sighed.
"What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
"Huh, oh I'm sorry I was thinking to myself about something." Hermione was blushing slightly, she didn't realize she had said that out loud. "Kreacher, would it be asking too much of you to make some tea?"
"Certainly Miss." Kreacher replied with a low bow, his ears touching the floor along with his nose.
"Thank you very much Kreacher, I appreciate the help." Hermione said with a smile before turning to lead the boys to the kitchen.
"Ok Harry what the hell did you do to Hermione? Did you cast some memory charm on her or something?" Ron asked stunned at Hermione's interaction with the house elf. He thought with all the S.P.E.W. nonsense during school that she would never tolerate using an elf as a servant.
"I didn't do anything to her, that was her idea. She wanted to treat him better but not put him off by trying to free him." Harry replied.
"Actually if I can explain for myself Harry, its quite simple. All house elves know is how to serve. I guess Dobby was an extreme case but at the time I realized treatment of the poor elves was rather horrid. Look at Mr. Crouch and Winky. Anyway, I decided instead of just demanding and giving orders if we could promote kindness to what the snobbish wizarding community would call inferiors, even though they aren't inferior at all in fact there magic is likely much stronger then ours, but it unfortunately bond so that they can only use it to the extent that there owners allow…"
"Hermione, get to the point." Ron said. To which Harry gave a loud bark of laughter.
"Ok, sorry I got carried away and went into S.P.E.W. mode." Hermione blushed. "I felt that if we treated elves better, asking them to do things for us and being friendly that eventually they would feel more open to the idea of having freedom or being compensated for the work that they put in."
"Of all your nutty S.P.E.W. ideas that one actually makes the most sense. Elves want to serve, so it lets them feel comfortable serving but treats them more like, well like a member of the house or family rather then just something you'd own." Ron said.
Hermione beamed, "Exactly."
"I think you could be on to something, but do yourself a favor, no one is gonna support an idea when its name makes them think of vomit." Ron said with a laugh. Harry too was laughing until Hermione frowned at him.
"Sorry sweetie, he is right this time." Harry told her.
"Yes well I guess I can't take this victory away from him, he is only right once every thousand or so arguments." The trio all found that funny and laughed about it until Kreacher returned with the tray of tea, as well as some sandwiches. "Thank you Kreacher, would you like to join us for tea?"
"No Miss Kreacher needs to be dusting the furniture upstairs. If you not be needing Kreacher?" The elf asked.
"No Kreacher you've done quite enough, anything else we need we can handle ourselves. Feel free to do whatever you want around the house the rest of the day, Harry and I will handle dinner." Hermione told him with a smile.
"Yes Miss." The elf said and then popped of to do the dusting.
"I feel awful that all he does is house work, I know how to dust and vacuum." Hermione sighed. "At least he's a lot happier now."
"Here's to small victories." Harry said giving her a smile. "So Ron, you wanted to talk to us?"
"Yeah, almost forgot about that. I came to apologize for my actions after the battle." He said his face tinged red in shame. He had completely forgotten to apologize for his actions, although no one could truly blame him. The trio simply fell back into its normal comfortable routine.
"Its alright Ron. If it were the other way around I probably would have thrown a temper tantrum too." Harry said with a smile.
"Ron we know how you are, fiercely loyal and have a temper that could rival a horntail. We assumed with some time things would cool down and you'd come around." Hermione told him patting his hand. "And we both missed you very much."
"Yeah, so what have you been getting up to mate, we heard you were helping George out with the shop?" Harry asked before taking a drink from his cup of tea.
"Yeah, mom thought it would be nice if me and Gin were around to help him, maybe keep his spirits up. Dunno what he's doing anymore though, all he does is lock himself into the lab. I only hope it isn't a prank item, the amount of time he's spent on it this thing could be catastrophic." Ron replied. "Other then that I helped Luna and her dad rebuild there home when I could. Even using magic it took a while to get everything set straight. They stayed with us for about two weeks."
"That's nice of you Ron. How has Luna been?" Hermione asked. She was fond of the younger girl, even if she thought her a little off. It wasn't that Luna wasn't intelligent, far from actually she was brilliant, she was just a bit, eccentric.
"She's doing pretty good, it was actually her idea that I should come patch things up. I mean I wanted to but I just didn't think you guys would want me back around."
Harry felt somewhat hurt, "Never think that Ron, you're my best friend, and same goes for Hermione. Might as well be family to us, will have our rows, but when its all said and done we know we care about each other."
"Absolutely" Hermione agreed, there was nothing to add Harry said it so plainly that trying to say anything else would be pointless.
"Thank you guys. So I take it the couple thing is working well for the two of you." Ron said, "The way you talk to Kreacher and he answers you it sounds like you live here Hermione."
She smiled, "Well I do live here."
"Really?"
"For now at least, we're having a new house built then moving out. Hermione may be able to sit and read books all day but I need something to keep me occupied." Harry told him.
"Like what? Quidditch pitch in the backyard?" Ron asked.
"Now that you mention it that would be really nice, but I was thinking a place with electricity so we could watch TV and have a computer." Harry replied.
"Do we really need a Quidditch pitch?" Hermione asked.
"Where else am I gonna teach the kids to fly?"
"You know how I feel about flying Harry."
"I know but there gonna be Potter kids, its only natural that they'll be flying first chance they get. Wouldn't you prefer me to teach them myself then Madam Hooch who'll be teaching 20 kids at once?" Harry asked with a smile.
"I guess." Hermione replied somewhat defeated.
"Well not to interrupt the married couple here, but a few questions. You guys are actually gonna get a house together? What exactly is a TV and computer again? And please tell me Hermione isn't pregnant, they way you were talking about kids made it seem like you've got a few sleeping upstairs as we speak." Ron said.
"Oh you didn't here the news, I gave birth to a baby boy last week." Hermione said with a smile. Ron's face went absolutely pale, Harry burst out laughing.
"She's joking Ron, it takes nine months for a baby to be born. And no she's not pregnant. Your face was priceless, you look like Voldemort came knocking at your door asking for a cup of sugar." Harry laughed.
"Sorry Ron, I couldn't help it. Anyway yes we're moving into a house together, we already live together here so the only difference is that will have our own home. Second a TV and computer are muggle devices. TV's or televisions are kind of like pictures. Like magical ones the people in them move and you can even hear them talking but they can't interact with you, cause they aren't really there. And computers are devices muggles use for communicating, playing games, researching. They can do a lot of different things." Hermione told him.
"Well I guess that sounds a little more entertaining then just listening to the wireless." Ron replied
"It is. Although I prefer actually going out to the theatre to see a show." Hermione said while reaching across the table. Ron followed her hand and finally noticed the ring on her finger.
"I never noticed that ring before Hermione, when did you get it." Ron asked.
"Harry bought it for me a few weeks ago."
"Its her engagement ring." Harry added before realizing what he was saying. Ron looked back and forth between the two for a moment before falling out of his chair.
"Oh, Harry, help me get him up he's out cold."
"I've got him, can you transfigure that chair into a sofa or a bed for me?" Harry asked while trying to get his unconscious friend into a sitting position on the floor. Hermione did as asked and the two heaved him onto the sofa that a moment ago was a kitchen chair.
"Maybe we should have mentioned that before, I think we shocked him." Hermione said. She was clearly worried about Ron's reaction, he had just finally come around to accepting the two of them as a couple, now they dropped this bombshell on him.
"Oh wow, what happened to me?" Ron asked in a groggy voice.
"You passed out, I think we shocked you there for a second." Hermione told him.
"That would be an understatement if I ever heard one. You two are really engaged?" Ron inquired, a note of disbelief in his voice.
"Yeah mate we really are." Harry answered.
"Well I'm 10 galleons richer I guess, Ginny said you two would end up eloping, I said you'd get engaged first, just didn't think it be that soon." Ron smiled. "Mom's gonna be thrilled. Anyone else know yet?"
"George and Ginny we're the only ones that knew we were even a couple." Harry replied. "We wanted to get everyone together and tell them then."
"Your birthday party would be a good time for that, it is next week. I think two months of hiding from the paper has been long enough." Hermione said.
"Two months? Did you guys even wait a week?" Ron asked shocked.
"Nine days." Harry told him with a smile. "I guess we could have a party here and tell everyone. Did you have a guest list in mind?"
"I took care of it already, although Ron I'll have to give you your invitation now, I didn't think to send you one while we weren't talking." Hermione stated.
"You had this planned already?" Harry was surprised.
"It was one of my birthday presents to you. I felt like it would be nice. I was going to tell you about it eventually." Hermione told him.
"When was eventually gonna be?"
"Um, a few minutes after everyone jumped out and said surprise."
The day carried on like that for a few more hours. Ron had stayed for dinner and had a little while alone with Harry while Hermione was preparing the meal.
"Sounded like you and Luna have been talking a lot lately if she can get through that think skull and talk you into coming to see us." Harry said.
"She's amazing mate."
"No!"
"What?" Ron asked.
"You fancy her don't you? The way you just said that made you sound like a love sick puppy."
"Yeah I do, she's around the house a lot when I'm not working. My mom's taking a liking to her too. I guess this party Hermione's throwing might be a good excuse to ask her to come as my date." Ron said.
"Go for it mate."
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The Lab at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes
"We did it, we're alive!" Fred exclaimed excitedly.
"It would seem Mr. Weasley that your idea has worked like a charm, well done."
"It certainly has headmaster, and you thought all Fred and I did at school was goof off."
"Not at all, I knew you were both rather brilliant, but I also could see you were bored with the standard education."
"Yeah, classes had a tendency to be somewhat dull. So headmaster what do we do with everything now?" George asked.
"Well I feel there are a few more guests I think we should invite to see your work. After that I'd like to have it destroyed so it doesn't fall in the wrong hands or do any damage."
"Can we keep the philosopher's stone."
"If you wish, although I dare say you don't need the stone from the financial standpoint. Just keep it safe and keep the fact that you have it secret. If you give me a piece of parchment and a quill I will make a list of the guests I'd like for you to invite. I'd like to be the only one here with you when you bring the last one here, for the sake of his safety. Now if you don't mind I'd like to pay a visit to an old friend."
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Hogwarts
Minerva McGonagall was having a discussion with the portrait of former headmaster Albus Dumbledore, her back turned to the door she didn't notice the appearance of a sold gold stand with a pile of ashes in it, how ever when the portrait on the wall vanished she realized something wasn't right. As she spun to leave the room to consult with another professor about the portraits disappearance the door to the office opened. The sight of the man standing in front of her had completely shocked her.
"Minerva how good to see you again."
"Albus?"
"Yes, its really me."