Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Hullo guys! This is going to be a bit longer than the previous two chapters and I've included a scene here which I bet is included in every Harmonian's top Harmony moments. So without much further ado, here is the latest chapter (and I suppose everyone's been really looking forward to this part) and I hope you like it! Enjoy! :)

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When he heard the sounds of the locks on the door being removed, he unconsciously held his breath. What if it wasn't Hermione? What if it's just another one who looked like her? But what if it IS Hermione? His mind was racing as the door slowly opened. He wasn't sure if he wished it was really her or not. Then his world came to a halt when his eyes met those chocolate-colored eyes he knew so well, eyes that haunted his dreams in the past five years. He felt as if his knees were going to give out at the weight of his emotions as he set eyes on Hermione for the first time in years.

"Hermione…" He barely heard her say his name at the same time as he breathed her name.

They just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, days, months even, both not knowing what to say to one another. Neither made a move nor a sound, fearing that any will cause them to wake up and realize it was all a dream. He wanted to touch her, hold her, just to know if she really was real, if she was really in front of him. The trance was broken when a little voice was heard from behind Hermione.

"Mummy, why are you just standing at the door?"

Harry blinked, wondering where and whom did the voice come from. Then a little girl stood beside Hermione, clutching her leg as she looked out the door.

"Hello," she said in a quiet voice. He looked down and he met another set of green eyes, eyes that he only saw in his own reflection before now. He quickly did a once over on the little girl before realization dawned on him. He looked up at Hermione so fast he felt dizzy all of a sudden. He could feel his heart racing hard and fast in his chest, he thought it would burst out any minute. Hermione covered her mouth with one hand, trying to stifle a gasp. He noticed tears were forming in her eyes. He looked down at the little girl as she eyed Harry then her mother then back to Harry again.

Hermione took a second to compose herself, then looked down at her daughter and said, "Love, are you done with dinner? If you are, please go to your room. You can watch any Disney movie you like. This man and I need to talk for a while."

"Okay, Mummy." The little girl looked at Harry for another second then practically ran to her room. The two adults watched her until they heard her closed the door to her room. Hermione took a deep breath before turning back to Harry.

"Please come in, Harry," Hermione said, trying her best not to let her voice crack. She was not prepared for this confrontation. She'd been in London for two weeks and she still was not prepared to see, much less, talk to him. But then again, she should've known that Harry would just show up at her front door sooner or later once she's back.

Harry entered the flat silently, eyes roaming, taking in the appearance of her home. He realized they hadn't been staying here long as some of the things looked relatively new.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked, needing some space and little time to think of the things she has to say to Harry. His presence in her flat unnerved her. She needed to pull herself together before she talked to him.

"Just a glass of water, please," Harry answered, glancing back at her then continued walking towards the fireplace.

"Make yourself at home, please," she said before going to the kitchen.

Harry kept looking at the row of pictures in frames on the mantle. Some were magical, like photos of him, Hermione and Ron at Hogwarts after graduation, photos of just him and Hermione after he passed his entrance exams and his graduation from law school, and others were muggle photos of her and her daughter. His daughter. He might not have believed it if it wasn't obvious enough. There was no mistaking it. He could feel it in his gut, he knew. He knew that little girl was his daughter. Could that be the reason Hermione left years ago? He turned around as he heard Hermione's footsteps behind him and saw her carrying a tray with a teapot, cups and a glass of water. She set the tray down on the coffee table and straightened up, wiping her hands on her thighs and looked at Harry while chewing her bottom lip. He couldn't help but stare at her. Even after five years of not seeing her, she was still the most beautiful woman to him. Even after five years, he still loved her now as much as he did before.

They've just set up camp somewhere in the middle of a forest. The Forest of Dean, he recalled was what Hermione said when they apparated there earlier to escape some Death Eaters who were chasing them in Godric's Hollow. It's been a few days since Ron left and they weren't any closer to finding the next horcrux. He sat in front of the fire, taking a break from reading the books Hermione brought, hoping to find clues regarding Voldemort's other horcruxes. She sat by the steps that led to the bunkers, looking sad and tired. He felt as tired as she looked but he didn't like seeing that frown and that sad expression on her. They didn't belong on her beautiful face. He wanted to see her smile again, the smiles she usually gives him. The ones full of life and happiness despite of the uncertainty of their future. He turned on the Wireless while thinking of a way to make her smile, even for a while.

As he heard the strings of the beginning of a song, he stood up and slowly walked towards her.

Pass me that lovely little gun

My dear, my darling one

The cleaners are coming, one by one

You don't even want to let them start

She was looking away so she didn't notice him approach. He stopped in front of her then held out his hand. She looked up to him with a question in her eyes. Harry just gave her a smile and continued to hold out his hand.

They are knocking now upon your door

They measure the room, they know the score

They're mopping up the butcher's floor

Of your broken little heart

O children

She looked at his hand for a second before putting hers in it. Her hand was a little cold so he gave it a brief squeeze. As she stood up, Harry began walking backwards while pulling her with him. He wasn't sure what he was doing but he was glad she didn't reject him. He led her to the middle of the tent and began swaying, coaxing her to follow him.

Forgive us now for what we've done

It started out as a bit of fun

Here, take these before we run away

The keys to the gulag

As she started moving with him, he started doing a silly dance. He spun himself while holding her hand up high then he spun her, too. They started playing around the song and she began to smile.

O children

Lift up your voice, lift up your voice

Children

Rejoice, rejoice

Harry moved away from her without letting go of her hand then he pulled her to him. She spun around towards Harry and as she hit his body, she was laughing. He was such a bad dancer, he wasn't sure what he was doing, but Hermione seems to be having fun so he didn't mind at all if he looked like an idiot.

They kept dancing and moving around the space as the song went on. As the song started winding down, so did they. The weight of their mission and Ron's departure began to creep into their consciousness again. He laid his head against hers as they went back to simple swaying. Harry closed his eyes, savoring the moment. Who knew when he would be able to hold her like this again? IF he will be able to hold her like this again. He heard her sigh and felt her pull away. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. They could feel the tension between them but neither moved. He didn't know where the sudden urge to kiss her came from, but he felt it, wanted it. He was still deciding whether he should risk it when Hermione made the decision for him as she moved out of his arms.

"Thank you for the dance, Harry," she smiled briefly before walking towards the bunkers, to her cot. Harry just stared at her back as she walked away. He felt his chest tighten and his shoulders fell. That was when he realized he was in love with his female best friend. Not with his other best friend's younger sister, but his female best friend. And he didn't know what to do about it.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Harry," Hermione said. Harry snapped out of his reverie and stared at her. He could tell she was nervous. Even after five years, he still knew her, can still read her. He silently walked towards the couch and sat down. Hermione took a seat at the other end of the couch, leaving a bit of distance between them and Harry noticed this.

"How long have you been back in London?" he asked, looking intently at her.

Hermione, refused to be intimidated by his stare, answered, "Not too long. About two weeks. Iris started school a week ago. She loves it."

"Is that the little girl's name? Iris?" asked Harry, leaning a bit towards Hermione. Hermione shifted on her seat as she looked down on her hands.

"Yes," she whispered, "I named her after a flower-just like your mum and aunt."

"I don't think I need to ask if whose daughter she is because the moment I saw her eyes… I knew." Harry said quietly, looking back at the bedroom's closed door. "She looks so much like you except for the color of her hair and her eyes."

"I wanted to tell you about her, Harry, I-" Hermione looked up at Harry with tears in her eyes, "I wanted to tell you but I didn't, I couldn't."

"Why did you leave, Hermione?"

"Harry, I-"

"Why, Hermione?" There was an edge in his voice.

Hermione looked down at her hands again and sighed. "O-On the eve of the final battle, I ran into Professor Trelawney-" she started.

"What does that have to do with-" He interrupted, his eyebrow raised.

"This started it all, Harry, please. Just… listen," she pleaded with her eyes then began her story again.

"On the eve of the final battle, I ran into Professor Trelawney. We both fell and as a I helped her stand up, she took my hand and she looked like she was suddenly having a premonition-"

"I thought you didn't believe in Divination, much less Trelawney,' he interrupted her again.

"I didn't," she sighed, "I wouldn't say I'm a fan but when you told me about the prophecy that she made for you and Voldemort before you were born, I… I gave her a little credit."

"So what was her premonition about, then?" Harry prompted.

"She went into a trance and said 'When the moon is almost full, you will achieve your heart's greatest victory but you will also inflict the greatest sorrow.'" Her heart tightened as she remembered those words.

"Your greatest victory…?" He understood what that truly meant but he wanted to hear it from her.

"You, Harry. You were my greatest victory," she said in almost a whisper, looking anywhere but him. "Th-That night we made love, it was the day before the full moon. it was also the best moment of my life. But I woke up in the middle of the night then I remembered what Trelawney said. I thought that if we got together, I will only cause you great pain. I couldn't-can't bear to cause you pain," she paused, "Also we forgot to perform the contraceptive charm. There was a likely possibility I could've gotten pregnant after that, which I did anyway, because I wasn't on any birth control either."

"So you left because of a prediction? Why did you think you had to leave if that was the case?"

"I was going to inflict you the greatest sorrow, Harry! And at that time, your career was what you had going for you. I didn't want to be in the way of that. You just finished law school, started a new career. You still had your fame to deal with, too. I would've only burdened you and I can't do that to you." Her voice was so low Harry had to strain to hear her.

"You thought that by being together and by being pregnant, you would hurt my career and bring me sorrow so you left?" Harry said heatedly, "I'm sorry for being blunt here but who gave you the right to decide that for me? Did you think I wasn't capable enough to be successful in my career even if we were together and had to raise a child?!"

"No! No Harry, that's not-,"

"Then why, Hermione? Did you not think that leaving me wasn't the greatest sorrow you could possibly cause me?" Harry asked, his voice full of emotion.

"Harry, I-" she said, looking down again. She realized he was right. She initially thought that she was going to hurt him and his career if they end up together and she got pregnant but she never thought that leaving him would hurt him even more, making Trelawney's prediction come true. Maybe that was what she really saw: Hermione's departure thus causing Harry the greatest sorrow. She misinterpreted the premonition and she felt like the biggest fool.

Harry stared at his clenched fists as he spoke. "I searched for you for the past five years. I searched everywhere for you. I didn't stop looking for you. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, because I needed to find you. I needed to know why you just up and ran away. Bloody hell, even Ron was telling me to give up! You were the brightest witch of our age and if you didn't want to be found, you won't be. But I was too fucking stubborn to listen to him. I couldn't just let you go. I loved you too bloody much."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. He searched for her for five years? He wouldn't give up on her?

He stood up and began pacing in front of the fireplace. "The years after you left were hard. I didn't just lose the woman I loved, I also lost my best friend. The years when Voldemort was still after me were nothing compared to the years without you. I tried to think of reasons why you had to leave me like that. Why you even had to leave in the first place. And I kept coming up with nothing. I didn't know if it was something I did or didn't do. I didn't know and it was eating me up inside."

He paused from pacing and scrubbed his face with his hands, exhaustion evident in his posture. He took a deep breath before facing Hermione, "I know what it's like to have a prophecy looming over your head, not knowing when or how it will happen. But one thing I learned from my past, Hermione, is that I can't let a prophecy run my life. I can't live my life being scared of a prophecy and push everyone away to protect them and myself. You could have told me about it. We could have talked about it, done something about it. But you decided to run and hurt both of us in the process."

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she said quietly, tears streaming down her face.

Harry sighed and returned to sit on the couch. "Why did you decide to come back to London, Hermione?"

She looked at to him, "I-I came back because of you and Iris. And because there are things I need to do. I-I missed you terribly. I've thought about you every day."

Harry felt that there was something a little off in Herminone's reply. After all, Harry was an accomplished lawyer and a good judge of when someone was hiding the truth. But, he let it slide, hoping that whatever it was, Hermione would trust him enough to tell him in her own time.

"I missed you too, Hermione, so much that it hurt. I ought to be so fucking mad at you right now. I should hate you for leaving and breaking my heart like that but I couldn't," he said, voice cracking. He can't believe he's saying these things to her, he knew he shouldn't because he couldn't trust her not to break his heart again, yet he couldn't help himself, couldn't help his heart.

"I know, Harry, I hated myself for what I did to you, even more now that I've realized what a big fool I was," she took a deep breath before speaking again, " I just… I… I guess, what I wanted to ask… to know… is… is it… is it too late to ask for another chance? Is it too late for us?" she asked nervously.

Harry stared at her for a second before standing up again and went to the window, looking out at the city's skyline. She didn't know what he was thinking. She didn't know if he was already with someone and couldn't help but feel hurt but she supposed she should have expected that Harry would stop looking for her and move on. She deserved it if she didn't get another chance with him. She broke his heart in the worst way possible, she deserved nothing less.

After what seemed like forever, Harry turned around and faced her, his face giving nothing away. "A lot has happened to us, Hermione. We fought a war together, survived together, recovered and moved on together. Five years have gone by. You've changed, I've changed. I just… I can't trust you right now. I can't trust what you say. I can't trust you to be there when I need you. I can't trust you not to leave me hanging again," he paused as he ran his hand through his hair and exhaled, "Maybe… maybe we can try to get to know each other again as friends and see where that goes."

Hermione stared at Harry then nodded. It was better than she expected, "I guess that would be the right thing to do. I can't tell you how sorry I am, Harry. For what I did, for everything."

Harry just nodded, ran his hand through his hair, before asking, "Can I… can I meet our daughter?"

Hermione couldn't help but feel elated when Harry said "our daughter." "Of course, I'll go and get her," she said with a smile as she stood up from the couch then head for their daughter's room.

Harry suddenly felt nervous. What would his daughter think of him? Did she think that he abandoned her and her mother? Would she accept him? More importantly, he doesn't have a clue on how to be a father. He walked back to the couch because he didn't think his knees could hold him up much longer.

"Harry?" Hermione called out from the entry way of the sitting room, her hands on their daughter's shoulders. Iris was in front of her and was looking at Harry with an expression he couldn't place. He hoped it wasn't anything bad. Hermione and Iris moved into the sitting room and settled beside Harry while Iris remained standing in front of her mother.

"Harry, this is Iris Alexandra Granger. Iris, this is Harry James Potter," introduced Hermione, her eyes on her daughter's face, gauging her reaction. Harry stared at Iris, holding his breath while waiting for her to speak.

The girl stared at Harry for a second or two before speaking, "Mummy said that that I have the same eyes as my daddy and that his name was Harry. You're the first person I ever saw with the same eyes as mine and your name is Harry, then you must be my daddy," the little girl said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling. She is her mother's daughter all right, already too smart for her age.

"Yes, I am your father, Iris," Harry said slowly in a steady voice.

There was a loud squeal and he suddenly felt small arms wrap around his neck. He wrapped his own arms around his daughter's little body and smiled so wide, he felt his cheeks hurt. Hermione watched the two most important persons in her life get acquainted and felt her heart ready to burst with happiness. She was fearful of how the father and daughter would react to each other but seeing them now settled her doubts. Harry looked up at Hermione and she could see the same happiness she felt reflected in his eyes.

"I knew you would come one day! I knew you would come and find us!" Iris said excitedly as she jumped up and down in front of Harry, "I finally have a daddy! We're finally going to be a family!" she continued. Hermione's smile faltered a little at that but tried her best not to show Iris or Harry.

Harry was still staring at his daughter in wonder and awe. She truly does look like her mother aside from the hair color and eyes. He couldn't help the burst of love he suddenly felt for his daughter. He finally understood what drove his parents to give up their lives to protect him because he would do the same for his daughter.

"Are you going to stay with us, Daddy?" Iris asked, hoped was quite visible on her face.

Harry was slightly taken aback by the question, "I-I'm afraid I can't just yet, Iris. I have my own flat in London. I need to go home there," he answered.

"But-but families live together, don't they? Mummies and daddies live together with their children, don't they?" she asked with tears in her eyes, looking at her mother and father.

Hermione put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and turned Iris to face her. "That's true, love. Families live together but your daddy and I have some things to work out. We can't force Daddy to live with us because he also has a home of his own. He's been living there for a long time and he can't just give that up," she explained, hoping her daughter would understand.

"I could always come and visit you every day after work. I'll stay here until you go to sleep." Harry spoke up as Iris turned to him.

"Will you tuck me in bed and read me a story till I fall asleep?" Iris asked in a small voice.

"I promise," he answered with a smile.

"Okay," she said as she hugged her father.

"Now it's bedtime for you, little lady." Hermione said.

"But Daddy's here! Can't I stay up a little bit more?" Iris pleaded. Harry filled with joy in hearing his daughter call him "daddy" even though they have only just met.

"Sweetheart, you still have school tomorrow. You know you can't stay late during school days," Hermione reminded her.

"Come, I'll tuck you in," Harry said, taking his daughter's hand and letting her lead him to her room.

When Iris opened the door to her room, he was surprised to see that she didn't have an overly girly room. He expected pink walls and lots of frills and dolls around, but what met him were purple walls, huge windows with cushioned seats below them, one wall covered with a huge shelf filled with books and toys, cream colored carpet covered the whole floor and there was a medium sized bed in the middle of the room. He also noted the telly at the corner of the room with the collection of dvds of Disney cartoons. Iris led him to her bed and Harry helped her onto it and then tucked her in. As soon as the little girl's head hit the pillow, her eyes began drooping down but she was still fighting to stay awake.

"I love you, Daddy. I'm happy you're finally here." she said sleepily.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Goodnight." He replied.

"Goodnight, Daddy."

He kissed her forehead lightly and silently left the room, turning the lights off and leaving the door slightly ajar, in case she would wake.

Hermione watched everything from the doorway and could help but feel happiness and regret at the same time. She was happy that her daughter is finally reunited with her father and regret because she kept her away from Harry all those years.

As he left Iris' room, he found her looking at him.

"I'd better go. You probably need to rest, too," he said as he went to the sitting room to get his coat.

"Are you really going to be here again tomorrow?" she asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.

"Of course. I promised our daughter I'd be here every day. Besides, we still have some things to work out together so I'm thinking that could be a good way to do it." He gave her a small smile as he put on his coat.

"I think so, too," she said with a smile as Harry looked up to her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yes, tomorrow."

She accompanied him to the door and was surprised when he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm glad I finally found you," he said before turning around and apparated on the spot. She unconsciously put her fingers on the spot where he kissed her and smiled. Maybe things are going to be better after all.

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A/N: Did you like the "confrontation"? How about that little father-daughter moment? Lemme know, guys!

Please review! Thank you so much! :)

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