Chapter Five - A Night at the (Soap) Opera
"Oh my."
Helens' fork clattered to her plate as her eyes got wide. Looking up at her daughter, who was staring at Luna in disbelief, she shook her head. "I take it that wasn't one of the announcements you two had planned for tonight?"
Before Hermione could answer her mother, Luna looked down at Helen's plate and then at the house elf. "Walks, I thought we discussed this before you came over. We were going to let Harry and Hermione tell everyone in their own time. They took a dozen years to let everyone know they were a couple, the longest they could have waited for this was nine months."
"Mistress Luna, you discussed this." Shaking her head, Walks With Nargles smiled knowingly. "This child and the other, they will need all of the fortune the People can bestow upon them." Looking up at Hermione, Walks With Nargles dropped into a deep curtsey. "Mistress, as I discussed with Mistress Luna when we agreed on me coming to this land, I would be honored to serve your household until such time as a suitable one to help raise your son can be found."
The room was totally silent as Hermione stared, first at the house elf curtseying before her and then at Luna. Luna slowly nodded and smiled at her and then inclined her head towards the waiting elf. Suddenly, the room erupted into chaos.
Harry was standing beside his chair on the other side of the table, looking as if every bludger hit he had taken over the years had suddenly caught up with him. Ron was alternating between trying to get some sort of reaction out of Harry and staring at his wife who was standing beside Hermione. Molly Weasley had fainted dead away, Arthur was trying to support her in her chair as Chastity made her way to her side.
Angelina was vainly trying to stop George from standing up and applauding and cheering while Percy seemed helpless to stop his wife Audrey from joining George in their impromptu salute to the moment.
Petunia was staring at Helen in disbelief, while Helen was alternating between staring at their daughter and her husband. Fleur and Bill were grinning broadly and explaining to a gobsmacked Dudley why no one should be surprised.
The only elements of calm in the maelstrom of chaos that was swirling around the dining room were the three house elves, Luna, and Hermione's father Alex. Kreacher and Winky continued to remove dinner servings from the table and replace them with desserts, their only concession to the moment was the fact that several small hand casks of dwarven brandy had appeared on the sideboard with the coffee. Walks With Nargles had stood back up, but was still waiting patiently for an answer to her declaration.
Alex Granger and Luna Weasley both radiated an aura of calm. While Luna's was definitely tinged with humor at the predicament her friends now found themselves in, Alex was almost Zen-like in his focus. Taking several calming breaths, he looked from his daughter to Harry and allowed a ghost of a smile to touch his lips before standing up. Picking up a knife from the table in front of him, he rapped the wine glass in front of him sharply three times, allowing the crystalline chime to hang in the air.
As the room fell silent, he looked around and nodded. "Well, I think that there are a few things that need attended to before we can return to these excellent desserts that Kreacher, Winky, and Walks With Nargles have so graciously provided." Reaching down he picked up his wine glass and took a brief sip before continuing.
Looking over and seeing that Molly was recovering, Alex nodded to Chastity briefly. "I think that for the sake of everyone, a couple of things need to happen." Turning to his wife and daughter, he smiled. "Hermione, I think you, your mother, Petunia, and Chastity need to retire to one of the other rooms for a moment and allow Chastity to vette this announcement." Seeing his daughter turn a bright crimson red, he smiled. "Pumpkin, there's a horse in the corner, we might as well introduce ourselves, so we'll know his or her name."
Seeing his daughter nod and start to relax, Alex turned towards Arthur. "Arthur, could I impose upon you and Molly to take over and keep things moving along in here. While I can't imagine that there will be a want of conversation, if anything comes up that needs some sort of decision over the next few minutes or so, I know both Harry and Hermione have full faith in your abilities and judgment." Smiling faintly, he nodded, "And that's in addition to the fact that you're related to almost everyone that will be left in the room."
"Certainly Alex, but shouldn't that fall to Harry? It is his house, after all." Chuckling, Arthur nodded graciously as he cast a surreptitious glance towards the young man he had considered to be one of his sons for a very long time.
"Harry and I will `occupied' in the sitting room for a bit." Turning towards Harry, Alex inclined his head and motioned to the door. "Harry, if you would."
Stepping away from the table, Alex started walking towards the door, without looking to see if Harry was following him. After a split second of pause, during which Harry caught Hermione's eye and smiled at her reassuring look, he followed. As he was leaving the room, Alex smiled as he heard Chastity chivvy his wife, daughter, and Petunia out of the room while Arthur asked Kreacher if it would be too much trouble for him to have one of those cream horns that Luna was so fond of.
Arriving at the open doorway to the sitting room, Alex waited for several seconds for Harry to join him. Allowing the younger man to precede him into the room, Alex wandered over to the mantle over the fireplace and gazed at the collection of mementos that graced the place of honor.
Studying the younger man, a very powerful wizard he reminded himself, Alex saw a young man that was very conflicted. A joy and contentment was evident in his eyes, but there was also a host of doubts and concerns flashing across his face. Having come a long way from the guarded and withdrawn boy he had been, Alex was happy to see that Harry was experiencing and expressing his emotions much more freely these days.
Just as Harry was beginning to speak, Alex held up his hand to stop him. "Harry, I think that it would be better for all concerned if I were to be allowed to say a few things before you begin."
Seeing the wary look that Harry was flashing him, Alex refrained from smiling at the young man. "Harry, some of what I'm about to say might seem frivolous and unconnected to the situation that you and my daughter find yourselves in, but I'm asking that you do me the courtesy of hearing me out." Seeing Harry's wary nod, Alex smiled briefly.
"It was Christmas Eve of 1978, and Helen and I were at her parent's house for the Christmas holidays. The two of us had only recently started dating each other exclusively, though we had known each other through six years of university during our undergraduate studies and dental surgery training, and I was desperately eager to make a good impression on her parents." Seeing a nod of understanding in Harry's eyes, Alex continued.
"Unfortunately, when we walked into the house, Jane took one look at her daughter and loudly proclaimed. `Good Lord, you're expecting!' in front of the assembled family members." Shaking his head, Alex actually smiled at the shocked look on Harry's face.
"Jane MacDonald was a nurse and also an American. She had met Helen's father during the war as she was serving in a hospital for the RAF while he was recovering from injuries sustained during the early days of the war. Jane's family was from an area of America where the gifts of `sight' and healing ran in families, and apparently Jane had inherited both knacks in full measure. However, even though she had lived in England for almost forty years, she had never lost her American sense of directness."
Smiling in spite of the situation he found himself in, Harry chuckled and shook his head. "I think I'm beginning to understand why the two of you weren't all that surprised when Minerva showed up at your front door the year Hermione turned eleven."
"Very true. But that doesn't pertain to the fact I was left standing there with a room full of Helen's relatives, including her father, while Jane grabbed Helen by the hand and left the house to go to the hospital to have a test run to confirm her knowing." Smiling enigmatically at the younger man, Alex inclined his head to Harry.
"I can imagine that the next hour or so was very difficult, true?" Smiling nervously, Harry started to relax, just a bit.
"Very nervous, especially since, in those days it took two hours for the results to come back." Shaking his head at the memory of the conversation he'd had with Helen's grandmother during dinner that night, he laughed. "What with travel time and all, it was the longest four hours of my life." Looking Harry straight in the eye, he added. "Which is why Helen and I celebrated our 27th anniversary this past February and Hermione will celebrate her 27th birthday this September."
Slowly releasing a breath he hadn't remembered holding, Harry nodded. "I never really gave much thought to that." Looking up at Hermione's father, Harry smiled. "And I do intend to marry your daughter. If she'll have me, of course."
Throwing his head back, Alex laughed. When he finally stopped, he smiled apologetically at the look on the younger man's face. "Harry, there's no question that my daughter will marry you, and I never had any doubts that you would be willing and eager to ask her."
"Then why?" Gesturing around the room, Harry looked puzzled. "Why are we here instead of back in the dining room?"
"A couple of reasons actually. Harry, I needed to get you out of there so you'd have a couple of minutes to process what just occurred without your friends giving you the mickey over it." Shaking his head, Alex continued. "Both George and Ron are fine men, but neither of them would have stopped teasing you unmercifully at this announcement coming so quickly on the heels of your rather graphic pronouncement of your relationship with my daughter."
Blushing, Harry hung his head. "I am sorry about that. I was really running out of ways to try to find a way to explain the fact that the two of us had been royal idiots for the past decade or so, and since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I'd spare us all a couple of thousand and simply show everyone."
"Quite alright. I think you made your point very effectively." Nodding Alex waited for Harry to stop thinking and talk to him.
"Sir?" Seeing the look on Alex's face, Harry smiled apologetically and tried again. "Alex? I hope you and Helen aren't too terribly disappointed in me regarding this. We thought we were being responsible, even though it was our first night together…"
Holding up his hand, Alex shook his head. "Harry, we raised our daughter to be her own woman. And I'll be the first to admit, while both Helen and I took the two of you at your word over the past eight years about the state of your relationship, we both were quite accepting of the fact that two young adults who very obviously loved each other very much were living in one house for several years." Seeing the blush on Harry's face, Alex grinned. "It seems that we incorrectly reasoned that there might be more to your relationship than you were willing to admit until very recently, but we aren't and weren't dismayed at the thought of the two of you in a physical relationship. I know that this is going to sound a bit strange, but Helen and I have both been proud to consider you a part of the family since we came back from Australia and we've been waiting for the day you moved yourself from son to son-in-law"
Just as he was about to speak, Harry stopped and looked down at the golden medallion that appeared on the back of the watchband he wore. Smiling at the medallion, he looked up at the older man and nodded. "It seems Luna joined the ladies, and our presence has been requested back at dinner."
As the two of them moved towards the door, to head back down the hall to the dining room, Harry looked at Alex and smiled. "You said there were two reasons?"
"Actually yes. The first one was to get you out of there, so you could collect your thoughts without your friends teasing you too unmercifully." As they stepped out into the hall, Alex nodded as the two of them set off, side by side.
"And the second?" Harry asked as they paused outside the door.
Nodding, Alex smiled conspiratorially. "If you've been dragged out of the room by the father of the witch you just learned is pregnant, even Ron is going to realize you've probably been through quite enough and give you some peace while you propose to my daughter and finish your dessert."
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As Harry and Hermione's father were heading for the hallway, Chastity looked over at Luna and nodded to her former housemate. "Well ladies? I think we've need a quick trip to the powder room, as they say." Smiling at the chuckles this elicited from the people sitting around the table, Chastity nodded to her mother-in-law and started heading over to collect Hermione, who was still standing in the same spot she had been in when Walks With Nargles had made her pronouncement.
Taking Hermione by the elbow, Chastity turned her towards the door that led to the upstairs pantry and the steps to the downstairs kitchen. Seeing that Luna was gently guiding a still shell-shocked Helen Granger, Chastity kept her attention on Hermione and Petunia. As they passed through the door, she rolled her eyes as she heard her husband talking with Percy, explaining that he was fairly certain that Alex wasn't going to kill Harry, and any damage he did do, Chastity would be able to put to rights with no problems.
Steering Hermione into the pantry, she quickly conjured a comfortable chair and settled her friend into it. Shaking her head at the expression on Hermione's face, she chuckled. "You two don't do anything by halves, do you?"
Shaking her head, Hermione finally was able to focus. "Chastity, this is ridiculous. Harry and I were very careful last night and this afternoon. And it's much too soon for anyone to be able to know anything." Blushing at her memories of the past twenty-four hours, she shook her head.
"Hermione, you're muggleborn, so you're just going to have to trust me on this. Even most witches outside the healers and mediwitches forget, but elves always know when there's going to be a birth in the family they're attached to. I daresay that both Kreacher and Winky knew at breakfast this morning, but they were waiting for you two to discover the happy news yourself." Looking thoughtful, she smiled. "Didn't you think it a bit strange that everyone had a glass of wine with their dinner, but you kept finding sparkling juice and water by your plate?"
"I'm not really much of a drinker, and I thought that Kreacher was just looking out for me with everything that was going on." Looking a bit alarmed, Hermione looked up at Luna. "How did you know?"
"Honestly Hermione, it's as plain as the love you and Harry have for each other. I could see this coming since our DA days. I was always confused by the fact that it looked as if your second son would be your eldest, but the two of you being godparents to Teddy explains that nicely." Turning to Petunia, Luna smiled. "I explained to Walks that you'll be filling in for Lily, so she'll have the grandmother's pastry for you when we get back."
Whatever Petunia was going to say or not say in response was forgotten when Hermione abruptly stood up and began to rant. "Why isn't anyone having a fit over this? I can't believe everyone is so bloody calm. Harry and I finally admit we've been sodding blind for the past decade and we go from best friends to being in a relationship to apparently expectant bloody parents in less than a day and all anyone can prattle on about is pastry?" Looking a bit hysterical, Hermione glanced around the room to find every eye focused on her. She immediately closed her mouth, blushed and fell back into the chair behind her.
"Hermione, I think the `fit' requirement just got filled, so we can now move on to other things." Luna observed dryly as Hermione buried her face in her hands. Looking over at Helen, who was now shaking her head at her daughter, Luna nodded. "Does she do this often?"
"Only when things are out of her control, which is why she works so hard at controlling everything." Kneeling down, Helen patted her daughter on the shoulder. "Come on Mi. It's hardly the end of the world."
Looking over at her mother, Hermione shook her head. "Harry's going to think I did this on purpose to trap him. He's going to feel like I tricked him."
Blinking in surprise when the four women in the room with her burst into laughter, Hermione shook her head. "It isn't funny. This is going to ruin everything. We didn't plan or even discuss this."
Kneeling down on the other side, Petunia took Hermione's hand and patted it gently. When the younger woman was focused on her, she smiled reassuringly. "Hermione, my nephew loves you with all his heart, and he has for a very long time. I've been blessed in the fact that my son and the young man that I care for as a son have both found extraordinary women for their lives. That's not to say that the two of you haven't caused me a bit of distress thinking you'd never figure things out, but I can honestly tell you that the look that Harry has on his face when he looks at you is the exact same look that his father had on his face the night he came to my parent's house to ask for permission to marry my sister. And Harry's had that look for a very long time." Seeing the hopeful look on Hermione's face, Petunia nodded gently.
Quietly clearing her throat, Luna waited until everyone was looking at her before speaking. "Hermione, you've been living in the same house as Harry for eight years now and the two of you have practically living in each other's head for longer than that. Find the connection that the two of you have and find out for yourself what he's thinking, what he's feeling."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione concentrated on the sense of connection that had existed between the two of them since their fourth year, since that tournament. Closing her eyes, she sat back and relaxed, feeling the presence that was `Harry' in her mind and, now that she could admit it to herself, her soul.
Joy and wonder permeated the link between the two of them. She could feel the apprehension he had regarding her father, but the joy he was feeling matched anything she had ever felt from him. And over and over in his thoughts, almost like a mantra, was one question that kept swirling around. `Will you marry me?' was the thought that occupied his mind.
Opening her eyes, Hermione blinked back a couple of tears and then nodded her head. "Sorry about that, everyone. I was just being a silly goose." Shaking her head at her own reaction, she smiled apologetically. "Chastity, I think your expertise is required so I can go rescue my husband to be from my father."
"Hermione, don't you think you should allow the poor boy to propose before you start planning the wedding?" Arching her eyebrow, Helen smiled at her daughter's sudden change in demeanor.
"He's asked, he simply hasn't asked aloud yet." Hermione replied mysteriously as Luna rolled her eyes and Petunia nodded in agreement.
"Chastity, go ahead and do your witchy thing, so we can get back in there." Shaking her head, Helen stood up and perched herself on the arm of the chair Hermione was sitting in. Hugging her daughter briefly, she smiled. "Mi, don't worry, your father isn't going to kill him."
"He doesn't know that, Mum. Whatever Daddy's saying to him is starting to relax him, but he's still very nervous." Shaking her head, Hermione looked up at Chastity. "What do we need to do?"
"Would you mind calling Winky? I need her to retrieve my bag from the other room and I'd rather not go back through there until we're done." Looking at Hermione, Chastity waited for the inevitable argument about elves that always occurred when Hermione was within earshot.
Before she could get rolling on another soapbox, Luna shook her head. "Let me." Smiling sweetly at Hermione, Luna nodded. "Walks? If you have a second."
A faint `pop' heralded the arrival of the elf. Looking expectantly at Luna, she smiled and nodded. "Are you ladies taking dessert in the pantry?"
"No, even though I imagine we're all a bit peckish, we're going to be going back into the dining room soon." Smiling broadly, Luna nodded towards Chastity. "Healer Dursely has a bag with the cloak she wore, could you retrieve that for her?"
Muttering about how one could just look at Hermione and see she was pregnant, Walks With Nargles disappeared with a faint `pop', only to reappear less than a minute later with a large black bag with the initials, `CMD' on it. Gravely handing the bag to an amused Chastity, she nodded to Luna, "Will there be anything else?"
Seeing Luna's amused shake of her head, she sighed. Turning to Hermione she nodded. "Eventually, you'll get around to answering my question, but we need to get you on a schedule as soon as possible."
Before Hermione could answer, the diminutive elf disappeared once again, leaving all five women looking at each other in disbelief. Looking at Luna, Hermione shook her head. "I really don't want to know exactly how long you've known about this, but eventually we're going to talk about this." Looking over at Chastity, she repeated. "What do I need to do?"
Smiling, Chastity opened her case and withdrew a potion vial. "Other than drink this, not a thing. If there were any doubt as to who the father was going to be, I'd ask that you get me a hair sample from the most likely candidate, but since we're reasonably certain who the culprit is, I think we can dispense with that."
Cheekily ignoring the glare Hermione was giving her, Chastity winked at Petunia as she was trying desperately not to laugh at Hermione. As Hermione broke the seal on the potion vial and raised the container to her lips, she quipped, "Bottoms up" as Hermione downed silvery contents in one gulp and silently conjured a small pail into her hand.
Seeing the look on Hermione's face, Chastity held the pail up so her friend could grab it. Hurriedly taking it, Hermione quickly emptied the contents of her stomach into the metal container, grimacing as the wave of nausea left her. Looking up and glaring at her friend balefully, Hermione closed her eyes. "You could have warned me it tastes that foul."
"It only tastes that way because you're pregnant. If you weren't, you'd be talking about cherry cordial or whatever your favorite dessert is." Smiling, she shrugged. "If I told you what was going to happen, you would have dreaded it and made it that much worse." Shaking her head, she peered into the pail, noticing its pale blue sheen, before banishing the whole lot into oblivion. "Congratulations, you two need to think about a name for a boy."
Handing Hermione another potion vial, Chastity chuckled at the look Hermione was giving her. "Relax, that one will take the taste out of your mouth and settle your stomach. I'm not a specialist in this, so I'll make you an appointment with Padma for later in the week. She'll have you setup with all the potions you'll need and schedule a series of appointments through the first of the year." Stopping in mid thought, both Hermione and Chastity began laughing as they remembered the conversation with the twins earlier in the day.
Seeing the looks on the other's faces, Hermione blushed as she recounted her encounter with the Dursley twins at the zoo earlier. All five women chuckled at the brutal frankness of the girls, and Chastity shook her head when Luna explained that she simply answered the questions the twins had regarding their favorite aunt and uncle in light of what she knew.
"Everyone settled?" Looking around the room, Luna snapped her fingers and her DA galleon appeared from wherever it was that she kept it. Deftly keying in a message, she smiled as she looked up at Hermione. "I let the groom know that he and Alex are needed back in the dining room, so we might was well head back and see what's going to happen next."
Laughing, Hermione put her hand on Chastity's arm. "Not that there was any question, but what would have happened if we would have included a bit of Harry's hair in the potion since he's definitely the father?"
Smiling impishly, Chastity tried to look innocent, "If he was the father, then he would have had the same reaction you had, regardless of where he was at the time." Shaking her head, Chastity nodded as Hermione looked scandalized and the others laughed. "One day during my last year of training, one of the instructors began to vomit up shining pink fluid during class." Seeing the look on everyone's faces, she nodded. "Three times in rapid succession. We later found out that this witch he had been sneaking around with in the class behind ours was expecting triplets."
As they reached the door back to the dining room, Helen shook her head. "I know it happens, but I can imagine that the administrators at St. Mungo's were less than happy about that."
Snickering, Chastity nodded. "Not as unhappy as his wife, though."
All five witches were laughing, with tears streaming down their faces as they returned to the dining room. As fate would have it, they entered the room, just as Harry and Alex walked in through the other door.
The room fell silent again, as Harry and Hermione locked gazes across the room. With the eye contact, Hermione could almost hear Harry's thoughts as they raced around. Harry was still a bit shocked, but he was also almost giddily happy. As the confused jumble of his thoughts washed over her, she could sort out two distinct threads. First and foremost, one question kept being repeated over and over. `Marry me?' was the first thing on his mind. The second was a mild bit of panic as he worried that she would feel trapped in this relationship
Putting aside everything, the shock and surprise, the wonder at how the contraception charms they had used failed, the chagrin at finding out she was expecting Harry's baby in front of most of their closest friends and family minutes after admitting they were together, Hermione focused on Harry's question and knew that there was only one possible answer. It was an answer she had been waiting to give since she was thirteen, but had never allowed herself to consider until today.
Nodding and smiling radiantly, Hermione gazed into Harry's eyes for a second longer before speaking. "Of course I'll marry you," she answered in a clear strong voice that sparked another explosion of startled questions, a raucous round of applause from Audrey, George, and Ron, and Molly Weasley fainting dead away once again.
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