A/N: And now the fateful chapter arrives. For obvious reasons I have labored furiously over this chapter, and I'm not entirely sure that it's ready. But I hope you enjoy it, despite its flaws and style.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
"Jack? What are you doing still awake?"
He jumped. Hermione touched his arm reassuringly, smiling to let him know she wasn't upset, then sat down beside him on the bottom stair.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he said, "thinking, I guess. And Jacob snores," he added, quickly, as if not to appear too thoughtful.
"Mmm…" was all Hermione said, and Jack looked at her. It was funny, he thought, but she seemed… quieter than usual.
"What are you awake for?"
"The same reason you are, I suppose," she said, hugging herself and sighing, "thinking."
"About tomorrow?"
She paused. "Well, yes. And the tomorrows after that, too."
"Oh," he thought about that. He supposed that made sense; after all, marriage was supposed to last your whole life. That did give someone a lot to think about.
"Hey, Mum."
"Hmm?"
"Will you write us? From your-from your whatever-it's-called?"
"Honeymoon?"
"Yeah. From there."
"Of course we will."
"And then you'll come back."
"As soon as we can."
Jack put his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his hand.
"Mum?"
"Yes, Jack."
"Do you think Teddy will come live with us?"
She looked surprised.
"Yasmine wanted to know," he said quickly. She smiled knowingly.
"I see… well, Yasmine needn't have been afraid of coming to ask me."
"Well, she was, a little, because-because she wondered if it wasn't wrong, since, you know, Mrs. Tonks is his real grandmother."
"Ah," she said, scooting closer to him on the step and putting an arm about him, "well, Jack-what do you think?"
"I dunno," he said, slowly, "you like him, don't you?"
"Yes, very much."
"And we like him."
"That's good."
"But I suppose Mrs. Tonks likes him, too. Everyone likes him. I suppose it wouldn't be right to take him, really, but… well. I'm not sure, Mum, I just feel like he belongs with us, like the rest of us."
"Well, that's good of you."
"And I think I'd like… you know. Having another younger brother. I mean, Dusty and Adrian are fun. But a younger brother-one who's really younger than me, I mean-I'd like that, too."
He looked at her.
"D'you know what I mean?"
She smiled at him, her eyes warm and kind in the faint light coming from the kitchen. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
"Someday, I hope you will have a younger brother, Jack," she said, smiling, "but these things take time."
He stared at her.
"You mean you will have more kids? Even with all of us?"
She laughed, blushing a little.
"Well, we'll see."
He grinned at her smugly.
"You will, won't you?"
"We'll see, Jack," she said, laughing all the more, "now, come on. Up to bed."
She took him by the hand and tugged him up the stairs.
"We've got a big day ahead of us," she said, as they climbed the dark stairwell. "And I don't think we want you to be crabby."
"I'm never crabby!"
"Shhh…"
"No, Mum, really, I'm not."
"Jack," she said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. "It's late."
"I can't stay up?"
"No," she said, opening his bedroom door, "you'll be up late tomorrow."
He stopped in the doorway, looking up at her.
"Mum," he said, in a hesitant voice, "can we name one of them Gabriel?"
He was grateful to see her consider, with a soft smile on her face.
"I mean, we don't have to," he said, "but I was thinking that… you know. I like that name."
"I like it too," she said, smiling, "When the time comes-"
"When?"
"Oh, honestly, Jack."
"I just want to know!"
She laughed again.
"Sometimes we just have to wait. Enjoy the anticipation."
"Anti-ci-what?"
"Anticipation. It means-hoping. Closing your eyes and seeing it already, imagining everything in a moment."
He looked at her in an unusually pensive way.
"Have you got anticipation right now?"
He saw that Something cross her face. The thing that made Yasmine and Katy exchange looks and giggle; the thing that he'd grown actually curious about (not that he'd ever admit it to anyone).
"Yes, I would say so," she said, softly, "now you ought to go to bed."
"Okay," he said after a pause, reluctantly, "well, you've got to tell Dad about Gabriel, all right?"
"I will," she promised, "now please, Jack. It's time for bed."
"Good night, Mum."
"Good night, Jack. I love you."
She hugged him, and he sneaked his eyes closed for a moment, surreptitiously breathing a deep breath of her particular smell. She kissed his hair, shooed him into the bedroom, and just as she was about to close the door, she heard him whisper back, "I love you too, Mum!"
That made her pause at the doorway, standing in the dark hallway with her hand still on the doorknob.
It had struck her then, exactly how far they had all come. Only a year ago, she would have been glad to see Jack smile at her, even once. And now-now-
She breathed in deeply, and let it out, a smile creeping to her face again. Hermione turned, walking back down the hallway and down to the kitchen, where she turned out the lights and checked that the doors were locked. It was such a normal ritual, with the starlight twinkling through the kitchen window and the sound of crickets drifting into the silence of the old, sleeping house.
In a few more hours the sun would rise, and she would get up, Gulliver bounding along beside her and begging to be let out into the welcome morning, and Jackie would wake up and call for her, and then she'd start breakfast-and there would be spills and arguments and jokes and laughter, and then…
Then it would come, and she would see him waiting for her, in their little spot by the river. And they'd promise themselves to each other, and the anticipation would be over, and everyone-herself included--- would breathe great sighs of relief.
But for now, Hermione thought, heading back upstairs, all she could do was savor the anticipation.
****
"Make sure to walk in step with me, Katy," Yasmine said, tiptoeing barefoot on the carpet, "This tent is so big inside! It's like a house."
"Yasmine, you've lost a flower," Katy said, reaching down and picking up a stray piece of baby's breath. As she straightened up, she heard Yasmine gasp.
"Mama!"
"Oh, Yasmine, you look beautiful," Hermione bent down and kissed her forehead. Yasmine simply stared, wide-eyed, scarcely able to take Hermione in.
"Mama, you look like… like… like an angel!"
Hermione laughed, almost self-consciously touching her hair, which was swept just barely off her neck in a carefree bun. Flowers were tucked into her hair, and Yasmine reverently touched the folds of Hermione's dress; marveling at the pure white silk overlaid with simple embroidered lace. She looked up, gazing in awe at the rosy hue of her mother's cheeks and brightness of her eyes, and suddenly thought that the dress itself paled in comparison to Hermione herself.
"Katy," Hermione said, bending down and reaching out for her. Katy suddenly felt very shy and came forward tentatively. The moment Hermione's arms wrapped around her, however, Katy's shyness melted away, and without warning, Katy burst into tears. "Oh, dear-oh, Katy-"
"Oh, Mama, oh Mama," she sobbed, "I'm so happy I don't know what to do-"
Hermione kissed her hair and held her tightly.
Katy pulled back, sniffling and beaming through watery eyes.
"You do look beautiful, Mama," she said, scrubbing her face, "You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen."
"You look beautiful yourself, Katy-girl," Hermione said, using her thumb to brush away the last of Katy's tears. "Your hair looks lovely like that, just about your shoulders."
Katy tried to say thank you, but instead found herself crying again. Happiness had engulfed her heart to the point of overflow, and there was no stopping it now. She held to Hermione tightly and wept unashamedly; soon, Yasmine was crying, and Hermione opened her arms to her, too, and all three of them were holding to each other tightly, and saying nothing, for nothing could be said aloud, only whispered in the silent language of the heart.
******
"How are you, Dusty?" said Harry, as Dusty took his place at the back of the aisle. The answering smile was bright and expressive, an uncalculated, natural outpouring of perfect contentment. Harry put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Yeah, me too."
Dusty tilted his chin at him, and his eyes and face sobered slightly.
"What?" Harry asked. Dusty shrugged.
"Today is important," he said, and his tone hinted that there was something beyond the obvious hidden behind his words.
"Yeah." Harry smiled, but Dusty looked back at him without an answer. His eyes were grave and questioning, and suddenly his face was shadowed with a gentle anxiety.
"For all of us?"
Then, in a moment, Harry understood, as if a gleam of sunshine had passed over a hidden corner of the world and he had seen it-just a glimpse, but a glimpse enough.
He put his arm around Dusty's shoulders, and Dusty turned his head, just slightly, so that his eyes were hidden in Harry's jacket.
"For all of us, Dusty, and that's for always, too," Harry said softly.
By now the chairs were beginning to fill, and the clearing rang with laughter and chatter of familiar voices-the river was singing its bubbly song, and the birds were chirping like wind chimes in the trees.
But the only sound that Harry heard, and at that moment, the only one that mattered, was the soft sound of Dusty's sobs in his ear.
****
"Get up there, mate," Ron said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "We're getting ready to start."
He could have laughed at the look on Harry's face.
"Don't start crying yet, or I swear I'll never let you hear the end of it," he joked through a mysteriously tight throat. Harry laughed sheepishly.
"Easy for you to say, mate. You're not getting married."
"Thank Merlin for that," Ron said lightly. They grinned at each other as the preludes began to play. Then Harry's grin faded slightly, and Ron cleared his throat, vaguely aware that what he was about to say was more important than it seemed.
"Take care of her," was all he could think to say, "and… er… I'll-you know. I'll always be around. If you need anything."
Harry cleared his throat, too.
"Thanks, Ron."
They stood there in silence for another moment, and Ron stuck out his hand.
"Good luck."
They shook, still awkwardly, and then, unexpectedly, Ron pulled Harry into a rough, one-armed hug. Harry grinned and, as he pulled back, noticed Ron's eyes were rather wet.
"Better get up there," Ron said, hastily. "See you, Harry."
"See you," said Harry, and Ron noticed Harry's eyes grow misty, and faraway. He considered saying something more, but decided against it.
Ron knew Harry's thoughts were with someone else, and to interrupt them would be unfair. He backed up a little, waving his friend on cheerfully.
He'd miss the idiot, somehow. He knew they'd always be best friends-always-but things would be different from now on. Things would change. He'd always be a part of their lives. Ron knew that. But there were some things-as there always had been, really-that were only Harry and Hermione's, things that bound them together at the core.
There was no learning those things. They always had been there, at the deepest part of both Harry and Hermione.
Ron didn't mind anymore.
In fact, he thought as he straightened his jacket and left to join the rest of the wedding party, those secrets were things to celebrate.
******
Everyone would say it had been an absolutely enchanted beginning, with the gentle piano and cello filling the sunlit clearing as naturally and as simply as the sweetest birdsong. With the delicate fragrance of roses and wildflowers on its breath, a summer breeze teased the hair of the three small girls who made their way down the aisle first-and the girlish giggles inspired the deeper, warmer chuckles of the nervous groom at the front. The four boys escorted the girls dutifully down the aisle, looking straight ahead and concentrating on smiling and walking straight.
Yes, the opening of the wedding had been "simply sweet", as Parvati would describe in a letter later that month. The music was just right, and everyone was smiling-some of them were already crying, though Ron would deny his tears for years to come. Luna and Ginny were flushed and smiling throughout their slow walk down the aisle-both in blue, and dressed almost identically, though Luna had made the last minute addition of a string of daisies round her neck.
Neville and Ron looked properly dashing in their tuxedoes and blue ties, and Mrs. Weasley's tears were said to have increased tenfold when she saw her youngest son striding so confidently down the aisle.
Everyone watching was smiling, Yasmine would note several times, and everyone "looked as though they had sunshine in their hearts and in their eyes."
"Everything seemed as though it had reached the highest point of perfection," Hannah Abbot-Boot would tell her mother, "but then… well… then she walked in."
"When Mama walked in," Katy would say, "it seemed as though heaven held its breath, and the whole earth stopped spinning, and my heart just flew."
The moment Harry saw her, he suddenly found that he couldn't breathe, not properly, for-and Harry would be unashamed of this for the rest of his life-he was weeping. But he gazed unwaveringly at her through his tears, a tremulous and brilliant smile lighting his face and eyes.
Hermione, for her part, smiled as though the sun itself had made her heart its home. There was a melting, sweet tenderness in her eyes; there was a wonderful softness in her smile; she had very much the look of a woman who had surveyed the whole world, and found, in one glimpse of his face, that she lacked nothing. As she came closer to him, her dress rustling along the grass, she just slightly tilted her head, and her smile grew even more radiant as their eyes met.
Then, as she approached him, he stretched out his hand, in an unpracticed and unrehearsed gesture that, with the quiet click of Colin's camera, would be immortalized forever.
Tender merriment danced across her face, and, unexpectedly, without prodding, Mr. Granger gently disengaged his daughter's hand from his arm, kissing her softly on the forehead as he did so. Then, still a few feet away from her groom, Hermione extended her hand towards his, and the moment their fingertips touched, both instinctively moved together, their hands clasping and foreheads touching. Their noses brushed, and they both breathed shakily. At last, a breathless sob was heard from Hermione's trembling lips, and Harry was seen to smile, and heard to whisper her name in a shaky, tender way that somehow meant everything.
After that, Ginny would say later, the ceremony might have seemed redundant; but somehow everyone heard the old familiar words with new ears, new hearts. Harry and Hermione would laugh and cry and say all the things they were meant to say, but the real vows, as Luna would say later, were in their soft touches, their looks and their glances.
Arthur Weasley did a magnificent job officiating, everyone would agree, with just the right warmth and understanding, and the scene before them, this uncommonly glorious coming-together, was so breathtaking and so unparalleled in beauty that everyone nearly forgot what was coming near the end.
"And I now declare you bonded for life."
The whole clearing stood still and watched as Harry brushed his thumb across her moist cheek, pouring into one look all the love and all the gratitude and all the promise that anyone could feel in a lifetime. Then, cradling both sides of her face with a wondrous tenderness, he bent and kissed her.
"If that had been all," Yasmine would write, "it still would have been the most beautiful wedding that ever was or ever could be-"
"Then it happened," Parvati would write, "something that took our breath away, and in all honesty my heart still stops to think about it-"
No one knew exactly how to describe it-everyone tried and failed, and tried again, and sometimes even struggled to re-imagine it-but Yasmine, all the children agreed, described it best.
"It was as though a wind of light shimmered down from heaven and wrapped itself around them-Mama's hair danced in this glimmering, shimmering wind, yet they never parted. And when it left-for it didn't die, as normal winds do, but it swept through the whole clearing and brushed warm and soft against everyone-it seemed as though they were both shining-glowing-like angels."
Minerva McGonagall admitted herself to be as bewildered as everyone else, though she advised everyone not to try too hard to understand.
"Sometimes-in moments like these," she would write to a friend, "you wonder if there isn't something more to magic-as though magic itself had to recognize that the world had just witnessed something extraordinary."
******
They were about to leave.
Adrian knew, by the way they looked at him and the others. He could see Harry brushing his hand across her cheek and murmuring something softly; he could see the glow in Hermione's eyes.
And suddenly a great energy swept over him-terror and joy all jumbled together in his chest, and he pelted across the fairy-lit clearing to where they were standing. He threw his arms around Hermione's waist tightly and hid his face in her dress.
He felt her arms around him immediately and clung to her all the more tightly.
"You can't leave yet," he heard himself mumbling, entirely incoherently, "You can't leave yet, Mama, you can't-"
He felt Harry's hand descend firmly on his shoulder.
"Adrian, mate," Harry said, "we're coming back."
"You won't have to come back if you don't leave," Adrian knew he was babbling. He knew, in fact, that he was crying. "Can't you have your honeymoon here? Can't you stay?"
"It's only a week, Adrian," Hermione began soothingly, but he tightened his grip on her, words pouring from his mouth before he could stop them.
"But you'll still be gone, and I won't know you're coming back, Mama, because sometimes people say they'll come back and they-and they don't-"
He heard her gasp softly, as if something had struck at them, and she pulled him closer to her.
"We're coming back," she said almost fiercely, "I promise you, Adrian, there's nothing in the world that could keep us away."
"She's right, you know," said Harry, kneeling beside him. Adrian turned his tearstained face toward him and struggled to hold back his sobs. "But you know what else, Adrian?"
He shook his head, shuddering.
Harry ruffled Adrian's hair softly. "We're not really leaving you. People who love you never do."
Adrian gazed at his father with puzzled eyes.
"It's an old saying," Harry said, putting his hands on Adrian's shoulders, "but we'll always be here."
He put his hand on Adrian's chest, right where Adrian's heart was beating fast and fearful underneath.
"Dad?" Adrian said, so softly that Harry had to lean closer to hear him. "Dad, can I ask you a question?"
"Anything."
Adrian licked his lips and took a deep breath.
"Did you… did you really die? And did you really come back?"
Harry smiled.
"I'm not sure if I died, Adrian, but I definitely came back."
Adrian hesitated, fixing his eyes on Harry's face, as if searching for hints of truth in his eyes.
"Why?" he whispered. Harry drew closer to Adrian and pulled him into a tight hug. He waited a moment, looking up at Hermione over Adrian's shoulder. One glimpse of the look in her eyes and tears trickled down his cheeks.
"Because I loved them, Adrian," he said hoarsely in Adrian's ear, "Because I loved my friends-my family-because I loved her."
Adrian shuddered in Harry's arms, and then he wept into Harry's shoulder, sobbing softly.
"Sometimes we have to leave for a little while," Harry said, putting a hand to the back of Adrian's head, "But-if we love them-we'll find them again. We can't always see it, but-they come back in their own way."
Harry paused, using the back of his hand to swipe away his tears, and kissed the top of Adrian's head.
"And so will we."
They left only a few minutes later, aboard a sleek wooden vessel gliding gracefully along the river, bedecked with summer flowers and blessed with the love and good wishes of everyone present.
Ben, Katy, Jack, Yasmine, Dusty, Adrian, and Jackie stood by the river until the little boat disappeared beneath the surface of the moonlit waters. All of them, even Jack, were smiling.
"That's it, then," said Jack, breaking the river-filled silence. "I guess we're going home."
"They'll be back soon," said Yasmine softly, searching the waters as if looking for one last trace of them. "It's only a week."
"But it seems like so much longer." Katy sat in the grass, dipping her bare feet into the silver waters. "It seems like we have forever in front of us."
Dusty sat down beside her. He put his hand on Katy's arm, smiling his slow, contented smile.
"We do," he said simply. Katy looked at him curiously.
"I suppose we do," she said softly.
"It's almost a good thing, isn't it?" said Ben, "I'm not afraid of what's coming next. Not anymore."
"Now that Mama and Papa are married, will things be different? Will they?" Jackie questioned, grasping Jack by the hand.
"I reckon they will, a little," said Jack, "But in a good way."
"We'll see them again soon, Jack-Jack," said Adrian, putting an arm about her and smiling. "They'll come back."
"Well, I'll just stay up and wait for them." said Jackie matter-of-factly, plopping down on the grass and folding her hands in her lap.
They all smiled and laughed. Jack and Yasmine sat on either side of Jackie as Adrian joined Katy and Dusty by the riverside.
"We'll have to wait a little longer than you think," whispered Yasmine into Jackie's ear. Jackie snuggled up under Yasmine's arm, yawning and closing her eyes.
"Past bedtime?"
"Past bedtime."
"Past breakfast?"
"Yes, past breakfast."
"Well, what about lunch? Will we have to wait past lunch, too?"
"Yes, after that, too."
"Will we have to wait forever, Yasmine?"
Yasmine put her arms about Jackie and smiled at the others. Her heart was so full of love and hope for each of them that it nearly hurt.
"No, we won't have to wait forever," she said softly, hoping Jackie couldn't see her crying, "They made sure of that."
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