And here we go, Chapter 4. Like I said at the beginning of the last chapter, updates will get farther between, because I have to start band camp. However, until school starts, look for between 1-3 updates per week, and after school begins, it could drop to once a week. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, anyone interested in betaing my chapters, or giving me their take on where this story should go should email me at sirena192005@yahoo.com. Thanks! And I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, but I almost wrecked today, and one of my puppies had an allergic reaction to its vaccinations and died, and the wreck I almost had was on the way to the vet where it turns out that almost every puppy had some sort of allergic reaction, so I'm a little stressed and tense at the moment, not to mention the fact that I'm majorly sad.
Hermione woke the second morning at Hogwarts, feeling very much like a student. She was in her old dormitory, she had to get up for classes, albeit she was teaching them, not learning in them, and she had to go to breakfast with Harry and Ron and try to avoid Professor Snape. The entire situation seemed uncannily reminiscent of her seven years spent at Hogwarts. The difference, however, was Lily, who was sound asleep in the bed beside her, her tiny head resting on her mother's chest. She had been lying there like that for a minute when the door creaked open and Harry stuck his head in the door.
"You awake 'Mione?" he called softly, not wanting to wake her if she were still asleep.
"Yeah. Come on in."
Harry walked in, leaving the door slightly ajar, and approached the bed, looking as handsome as ever in black slacks and an emerald green button down shirt. "Hey. I just figured you'd want to get ready, and I thought that I could get Lily ready for you."
"Sure." Hermione said, easing herself into a sitting position. "Let me wake her up. Or do you want to do it?"
"I will." Harry said, leaning over the bed, and gently lifting Lily. Lily wrapped her arms around Harry's neck, her small body warm from sleep, and burrowed into him, fighting waking up. After several seconds of gentle coaxing from her father, Lily opened her eyes and lifted her head.
"Morning Lily bug." Hermione said cheerfully, gathering her things for her shower.
"Hi Mommy. Hi Daddy." She said, kissing Harry resoundingly on the cheek. "You sleep in here tonight." She decided, "Cause I want to sleep with Aunt Ginny, and someone has to cuddle Mommy or else she'll get cold. Now Daddy, you can pick out my clothes."
Hermione chuckled as she disappeared into the bathroom. Harry was about to get his first taste of dressing a six-year-old. Harry got her out jeans and a T-shirt and helped her get dressed. Then she dodged the hairbrush for a good three minutes before he got her to sit still long enough for him to brush her hair. After her hair was brushed free of any tangles, Harry debated whether or not he should attempt to put it up or wait for Hermione to do it.
"Daddy, are you going to just sit there or are you going to fix my hair?" Lily demanded, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "I'll even settle for a ponytail."
"That I think I can do." Harry said, turning her back around. After several not so good tries, he had her hair up in a neat ponytail. By then Hermione had come out of the bathroom, to Harry's great dismay and joy, wrapped only in a towel. Lily ran past her mother to brush her teeth and make sure that her hair was acceptable, leaving Harry alone with Hermione.
"Sorry, but I was distracted and took another set of pyjamas in there with me." She explained.
"No problem." Harry said, swallowing convulsively as he saw her long legs, and her slime shoulders and the upper swell of her breasts. "Isn't nothing I haven't seen."
Hermione looked at him strangely, but didn't comment. "If you want you can turn around, but I don't care. When you're a mother to a six year old and share a bathroom with Braden, modesty flies out the window rather quickly."
Harry turned around while she got dressed, his blood boiling at the thought of Braden seeing her naked, and also at the thought that he could turn around and refresh the memories that had faded slightly over the past seven years. "So," Harry asked, saying the first thing that popped into his head, "Got a boyfriend back at home?"
Hermione turned around and looked at him. "Harry, has your brain cell count diminished since I saw you last? Do you really think I would have agreed to start seeing you if I had a boyfriend?"
"Sorry. That was stupid. Have you had many boyfriends?"
"Harry. Let me explain something to you. After I dated Ron, and then we had that night on graduation night, I was in no condition to date. And after she was born, I had to acclimate myself to living with a baby, and then I had to go back to work after my maternity leave was up, and then my Dad had a heart attack and died. So, no I have not had even one boyfriend, or been on one date. I never wanted to. Because, truth be told, if I couldn't have you, I didn't want anyone. I didn't want Lily calling someone else Daddy and I didn't want to wake up beside anyone else."
Harry walked over and slipped his arms around Hermione. "I'm glad. That night meant more to me that you'll ever know. I realized I liked you when we were about fifteen, and then when we were sixteen you started dating Ron and I thought I'd never have a chance with you. Then after graduation night and our fight, I thought that would be my only chance. But somehow I've got another chance to do things right."
"I loved Ron, but I was never in love with him."
"I know that now, but I didn't have any clue then."
Hermione looked up, and her warm, cinnamon eyes met his incredibly intense green ones and Harry began to lower his head. Hermione raised up and met him half way, pressing her mouth to his. Harry wrapped his arms around her tighter and let his tongue invade her mouth, kissing her deeply. Hermione, who hadn't been kissed in much too long, reacted timidly, kissing back with as much fervor and audacity as she dared. Their kiss began to become more passionate, and hands had just begun wandering from where they had originally been placed when a crash and cry broke them apart and sent both parents running into the bathroom where Lily had just fallen off of the sink. Hermione's quick evaluation told her that she had broken her wrist.
"Broken wrist." She said, hurriedly picking Lily up. "It's okay sweetie. It'll feel better in a minute." She said reassuringly, as Harry took Lily and began hurrying in the direction of the hospital wing. Not more than two minutes later, they were telling Madame Pomfrey what had happened. Madame Pomfrey shooed them both out and went about repairing the broken bone while Harry and Hermione waited anxiously.
"She'll be fine." Harry assured the worried mother as she paced back and forth in front of the curtain the blocked her from Lily.
"Oh God, Harry, I should have been in there with her. I know how much she likes to climb on things."
"It's all right. Madame Pomfrey can fix broken bones in an instant. It shouldn't be very much longer."
"I hope so. I feel so bad about this!"
"So do I, sweetie, so do I, but everything is going to be fine."
Hermione looked near tears. Harry wondered briefly how she was going to handle it when Lily began falling off of bikes, or jumping off of things. Then he wondered how he was going to handle it. He sent up a quick prayer to whoever was listening that they would both learn to deal with things that were a natural part of raising a child.
"And here we are." Madame Pomfrey announced, "Good as new." She announced, holding Lily by the hand as she led the small girl back to her parents. "I imagine you gave your Mom and Dad a scare." She commented as Hermione bent down to fuss over Lily. Harry thanked Madame Pomfrey and they three left. They had missed breakfast and barely had time to make it to their first class after handing Lily over to Dumbledore.
"What are we teaching today?" Hermione asked as she entered the classroom to see thirty bright-eyed seventh years looking at them.
"I don't really know. Why don't we work on Apparating with these guys?"
"We can do that."
After another day of hectic classes, Hermione took Lily back to the Common room right after dinner so they could have some time by themselves, and Harry wandered out to the Quidditch pitch, where he met someone he hadn't seen in ten years. "Oliver Wood." He said in surprise, shaking the older man's hand. "What brings you back to Hogwarts, and how did you get away from practice to do it?"
"Harry Potter. It's been a while. Dumbledore asked me to come back for that battle thing that's going to take place. Apparently he's been contacting a lot of the Gryffindor's from when we were in school. And we're on a break right now. No matches for nearly a month, and Coach gave us a couple weeks off of practice since we're undefeated so far."
"That's good. So what have you been up to lately?"
"A lot. Couple years after I joined Puddlemere we were in Africa doing some recruiting at a small private academy, and I met a girl, dated for about a year and got married. She's one of our Chasers now. Great girl, you should meet her. I think she's about your age. We've got one little girl, she's three and one on the way."
"Congratulations. Are they here?"
"Yup. She's actually a very talented witch, whether or not she's pregnant and jumped at the chance to help defeat Lord Voldemort. She's in one of the guestrooms, trying to get Alex into the bathtub. So what's been goin' on with you? I looked for you on the Quidditch circuit, but you never came to play."
"I actually became an Auror. Been doin' that for four years now. Hermione and I have a daughter together. Lily. She's six. Just found out about her actually. We went our separate ways after we graduated, and by the time our paths crossed again, Lily was six, and Hermione hadn't been able to get in touch with me to tell me about her."
"Man that sucks. Well it's good that you're all together now. How're Ron and the rest of the Weasley's?"
"All of them except for Percy and Ron are married with kids. Fred and George married Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet."
"Really? Well it doesn't surprise me. I always thought there was something between them. I'm happy for them."
"Yeah. They all got here yesterday afternoon, so if you want to stop in by the Common Room, I'm sure they're all hanging out there somewhere, or off teaching their kids practical jokes."
"Knowing those two, it could be either. Best Beaters I ever played with or against, though. It's a shame they didn't pursue Quidditch. You too, Harry. You could've made a killing as a Seeker for one of the big teams."
"I thought about Quidditch, but then I didn't go anywhere with the thought. Becoming an Auror seemed to be the right choice for me, and I do love it."
"Yeah. I know that's what Marie thought about being before we stole her away. Took me a whole Hell of a lot of talking to lure her away from the training program she was involved in. They'd actually sent an Auror there to her school to start her training a year early so they could get her through faster, but right before she got certified she called me and agreed to at least try out for the team. Landed a Chaser position and she's been there ever since."
"She sounds like quite a girl."
"You'd like her. So would Hermione. Those two would get along very well. They are both very, very smart. She rattles off facts from I don't know where and every free minute she has, which aren't many, mind you, with Alex and Quidditch practice, and doing everything that she thinks a good mother should be doing, she's reading some big, think book that would take me a month to read."
"That would be Hermione. If she's anything close to being the bookworm she was in school, then she's got the same thing going. I don't think the girl ever went an entire day without reading something. She started to go through withdrawal after six hours."
Harry and Wood returned to the castle at about eight. When they got to the hallway where Wood was staying, as he wanted Harry to meet his wife and daughter. When he opened the door, Harry was met with the sight of a beautiful young woman standing in the main room with a blonde toddler on one hip, her stomach barely round from pregnancy. She was tall and thin, elegant was how he would have described her. Her hair was golden blonde, and her eyes the brightest blue he had ever seen. He could tell from looking at her that she was built like a Chaser.
"Marie, this is Harry Potter, my Seeker from here at Hogwarts. Harry, I'd like for you to meet my wife, Marie and Alex, our daughter."
"Hello, Harry." Marie said warmly, before turning her intense blue gaze to her husband. "Oliver, Alex's bedtime was twenty minutes ago. She's been asking for you to tuck her in. Why don't you go do that while I get Harry something to drink?" she suggested in a voice that made it clear it was not a suggestion. Oliver obligingly took his daughter, who had inherited his looks, and her mother's build and coloring into the bedroom. "What can I get you? Water, Pumpkin Juice, soda?"
"Water, thanks." Harry accepted, watching as Marie moved gracefully around the small quarters. Even in a strange place, she seemed comfortable. Harry took an instant liking to the woman who had stolen Wood's heart. She was the first person he's ever met who called Wood Oliver and got away with it.
"Here you are. So how long have you and Oliver known each other?"
"Since I was eleven. So about thirteen, almost fourteen years. We haven't seen each other in about ten years though."
"That's too bad. He tells me countless stories about Quidditch games from his school days. And to think, we play Quidditch professionally, have practices four days a week, and he still talks about Quidditch in his spare time. I'm lucky he didn't marry a Quaffle instead of me." She said lightly, sitting on the sofa. "Please, have a seat. Wood should be done with Alex soon. She only goes to sleep for Daddy anymore. Whenever he's out late, she's up late. It gets aggravating."
"I'd say so. Luckily my daughter doesn't seem to have that problem. Since we've been here she hasn't really wanted to sleep with her mother or I, and announces daily who she's going to sleep with. Tonight it's Ginny Weasley, or Aunt Ginny as Lily puts it. She also despises bedtime and refuses to go to bed before the adults, which means that, as long as we're here, we also have a nine o'clock bedtime."
Marie laughed and leaned back. "I wish I had the luxury. If it isn't Alex wanting to watch television at three in the morning, or Oliver getting up to suddenly write down a genius formation for our next practice at two, it's the newest addition kicking the hell out of me. And I'm lucky if Wood wants to even think about going to bed by midnight. I don't think he'll ever grow out of that."
"He was like that in school. Dragged me out of bed for some late night or early morning practices when he knew there were no 'Slytherin spies' watching to steal our formations. During Quidditch season, no one on the Gryffindor team ever slept a full night. He even enchanted the steps to the girls dormitory so he could go up there and wake up our Chasers, who were all female."
"That's Wood." Marie agreed, not seeming the least bit upset that her husband had spent six years going into girls' dormitories at all hours of the night. Harry knew for sure that he really liked the woman his school friend had chosen to marry. "The man eats, sleeps, breathes and lives Quidditch. He proposed in the middle of Quidditch practice, we were married on a Quidditch pitch, and Alex was born during a Quidditch game."
After spending close to an hour with Wood and Marie, Harry made his way back to the dormitory just as most of the students were heading up for bed. He didn't see any of the adults so he walked up to the Head Boy facilities and found Hermione and Ron talking. He joined the two on the bed and laid his head in Hermione's lap.
"And where have you been?" Ron asked as Hermione began absentmindedly playing with his hair.
"With Oliver Wood. Dumbledore contacted him and he came back. Did either of you know he's married?"
"No. Is his wife here with him?"
"Yeah. Name's Marie. She's nice. She plays Chaser for Puddlemere."
"Yup. Wood could've only married a Quidditch player. Where's she from?"
"Some private academy in Africa. I guess her parents were ambassadors and thought that they were sending her to some private girls school. When they found out that she was a witch, they divorced her. Wood recruited her for Puddlemere right out of school, married her a year later and they've got a three year old little girl and another on the way. You'd like her Hermione. She graduated as Head Girl from her school and got accepted into an Accelerated Auror program but turned it down to take the Puddlemere offer."
"I'll make it a point to meet her." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Lily is sleeping with Ginny tonight."
"All right. Will Ginny get her ready in the morning?"
"Yeah. She said that she's going to sleep with someone new every night. I imagine that she will."
"She's definitely adventureous."
"Just like someone else I know." Hermione said with a smile.
Ron laughed. "Just like three someone's I know. One of them's me and the other two're you. She seems like she's gonna be just like we were in school."
"Oh God." Hermione groaned. "Harry, we better start stocking up on Howlers."
Harry grinned. He liked hearing Hermione talk about their future in permanent terms. "Definitely. And nerves. We had better be stocking up on some extra nerves."
"I'm gonna need nerves of steel to get through the next twleve years with my brat."
"Our brat." Harry corrected gently.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Our brat."
Okay, Chapter 4. There you have it. And is anyone interested in me writing a story about Oliver Wood and his adventures with Puddlemere and the comic way that he and my original character got together? It sounds like something I would like writing, but if there isn't any interest, I don't know if I'll bother.