Vox Corporis: Rebirth

Chapter 79: “Out of Sorts”



Original story by -> MissAnnThropic

http://fanfiction.portkey.org/story/6586/1

Email: miss_annthropic@yahoo.com



Pursuant to the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 and the Digital Millennium Copywrite Act of 1998, this work is copywrited 2007 with all rights expressly reserved by its author unless explicitly granted. No portion may be reproduced in any fashion without the express written and notarized permission of the author.



Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted.



CONTENT Disclaimer: This story may contain sexually graphic and explicit material and it is not suitable for minors. If you are a minor, please leave now, as it is illegal for you to be here. If it is illegal for you to read or view sexually explicit material in the community you view such material, please leave now. This story and characters are purely fictional and any resemblance to events or persons (living or dead) is purely coincidental. If you are offended by sexually explicit stories, please read no further. These stories are just that, stories, and may or may not reflect the opinions of the author.



In Gratia: The original story was created so beautifully and so powerfully by MissAnnThropic. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to her for her kindness in letting me ‘play in her sandbox’.



IMPORTANT NOTE: I am making two changes to Ann’s storyline – by letting Madame Pomfrey and Draco Malfoy survive. She had a port key…and when she saw that her charges had perished, she used the key to get her and Draco to safety. She was badly hurt, but knew that she had to live in order to help others.



NOTE 1: I have received a complaint that the sexual contact that Harry and Hermione have engaged in has strayed a great deal from what Ann wrote and that I was no longer being true to Ann’s story. I wanted to address this point head-on and say that I make no apologies for their evolution as a couple. I believe that they have changed fundamentally because of what they have been through together and how the magic that each has experienced has changed them.



NOTE 2: I AM RE-POSTING THIS (07/25/2007) for the second time because of a significant OOC moment that I need to correct in the second scene. I have been advised that it just DOES NOT WORK if I don’t do it. Please, if you need to yell at me about it, my email is the_scribbler@shadowgard.com, thanks.



THANKS TO MY BETAS, Argentumangela. She helped with both grammatical errors and content/concept, and Kaftan Sindar, who helped me with other, detail edits. THANK YOU BOTH.

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From Chapter 78 – “A Train of Friends”



Following Harrys’ orders, the ten prefects, Ginny included, moved to secure the doors and watch as the almost one thousand students began disembarking. Minerva McGonagall could be seen approaching the train platform – which was something that Harry had anticipated, as he had sent her his Patronus with a message asking her to meet the train as it pulled in.



As the Slytherin students began disembarking the train, Harry became Knight and positioned himself near the door. Slowly, the students who had been responsible for attacking the younger Gryffindors were culled from others and held aside. Once the train was fully unloaded, Harry resumed his normal form and frog-marched the offenders over to the Deputy-Headmistress.



“I’m afraid that Mr. Potter had some thing to say about your behavior aboard the train today and there are going to be some difficult questions asked of you in a little while and since we don’t use legilimency here at the school, I have asked the new potions professor to being me Veritaserum.”



Several of the Slytherin students blanched. It was going to be a long night, many of them thought.

**********************************************************************************

There was a furious uproar from the six Slytherin students. “You can’t do that! You don’t have permission from the Ministry to use Veritaserum!”



“Oh, but we do, Mr. Rookwood. We made sure that we had blanket permission this year to use it as necessary.”



“You’re lying!”



“I assure you, Mr. Rookwood, I am most certainly not lying. I have the letter with the Ministers’ seal. Not that it’s going to matter to you. I don’t expect that you’re going to survive the sorting process. It will be interesting to see what secrets you may still be protecting.”



Harry chuckled to himself as the six Slytherins were magically bound and taken away. A part of him really, really wanted to be a fly on the wall when they were questioned. Another part of him just wanted to see them sent away from the school



As he was walking from the train towards the Thestral-drawn carriages, Harry started thinking about the students around him.



Hermione. Oh shit. Realizing that he hadn’t gone to wake her up, he pulled his private portkey from his pocket and activated it; disregarding the looks that he received from those around him.



A moment later, Harry was again standing in the common room of the Head Boy and Girl’s suite. He turned and almost ran to what had become their bedroom. He skidded to a halt in at the doorway, not wanting to just burst in and possibly scare Hermione.



Rather, he pushed the door open very quietly and slipped inside, so that if she were still sleeping, he would have a chance to wake her up gently.



Her hair was splayed out on her pillow in its usual cascade of ringlets. It was hard for him to imagine a more beautiful woman in the entire world and he was sure that there was no other one alive anywhere who could match her. I love you, Hermione.



Finally, it was time to wake her, before all of the things that had to be done so that the feast could begin. He touched her shoulder with his right hand as he leaned close to kiss her cheek.



At first, she didn’t stir, but when he kissed the magic spot on her cheek, just before her ear, she woke. “Harry?”



“I’m here, love. You’re safe.”



“Where am I?” She opened her eyes and looked around and recognition immediately set in. Her voice had more strength to it when she looked at him and said, “What happened?”



“You passed out on the train, love, after I made you cum. I didn’t want to wake you, so I used a portkey to bring you here and let you sleep.”



“What time is it?” Her voice had a bit of an edge to it.



“It’s six-fifteen.”



She bolted upright out of bed. “WHAT! HARRY JAMES POTTER. GOD DAMN, SON OF A BITCH!” Harry looked at her, shocked by her profanity. She went on “HOW COULD YOU LET ME SLEEP THAT LONG!!”



Harry started to back away. He knew that Hermione was extraordinarily dangerous when she was mad. She knew spells and curses that no one else had learned in a thousand years and he started to fear that if she really got up a head of steam, he’d be hard pressed just to defend himself.



“Hermione! I was trying to let you sleep. You really seemed to need it and there were no problems, at least none that I couldn’t handle, on the train.”



She left the bed and moved on him, looking furious, if not slightly murderous, so Harry steeled himself against what he figured was probably coming next. She yelled at him; her voice almost magically amplified by the echo in the room. “DON’T YOU KNOW THAT WE’RE EXPECTED TO BE THERE WHEN THE GREAT HALL DOORS ARE OPENED IN AND THE NEW STUDENTS ARE BROUGHT IN FOR THE FIRST TIME? DID YOU FORGET THAT DUMBLEDORE SPECIFICICALLY ASKED US TO LEAD THEM IN?”



She was ripped and it was going to be a very long night, if not a long week, if he couldn’t pacify her.



“We can still make it, Hermione, if we hurry. I know that the Headmaster will understand.”



“UNDERSTAND WHAT, EXACTLY? THAT YOU AND I HAD A SEXUAL ENCOUNTER ON THE TRAIN AND THEN I HAD TO SLEEP IT OFF? IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE PLANNING ON TELLING HIM?”



His own temper started to rise. He didn’t feel like being blamed for something that he had done when his heart had been in the right place. “No! I was going to tell him that we were both feeling stressed and at some point, you fell asleep on the train, and I brought you here and that it’s my fault that we’re late, not yours.”



Her eyes went large, and Harry felt her magic start to peak. Her wand came off the nightstand and shot to her hand. Almost out of nowhere, a swarm of toothy, evil looking birds shot forth at him. His reaction was equally fast. Protego! He thought, and a golden, shimmering shield formed around him.



Frustrated in her attack, Hermione threw a bludgeoning hex at him, which also rebounded. She tried again, this time using a leg-locker curse and then the much nastier, bursting boils hex. Harry’s shield deflected both of them.



When she saw that all of her attacks had failed, she looked at him, panting and angry. Almost as quickly as her anger had flared, it seemed to dissipate. She brought her hand down and put her wand away.



Harry was confused. He didn’t know what to expect from her, as she closed the gap between them. What happened next caught him completely off-guard. Her hand came back and she slapped him, hard.



He looked at her and swallowed hard. He couldn’t fight the enormous tears beginning to well in his eyes. His voice thick with pain, he said with as much control as he could muster, “You done now? We’re going to be late.”



She looked at him and suddenly, her eyes swam with tears. She threw her arms around him. Her heart was crushed with sadness as she realized what she had done. He could almost feel her heart pounding as she cried.



In between the racking tears, she started to take off her ring. “I’m can’t do this anymore. I’m not…..not worthy….not worthy to be your wife, Harry.”



Harry’s seeker-trained hands shot out like lightning to capture both of her hand in between his. He drew her up, so that he could look her in the eye. “Stop it, Hermione.” He pushed the ring back down her finger, and held it there. “I love you. No less than I did before you started hurling hexes at me. No power in the whole world will ever be able to change that. You mean more to me than my own life. Don’t ever think that you are not worthy. If anything, I’m not worthy of you.”



She could barely look at him; her body shaking and her eyes still full of tears. “But…Harry?! I hit you. I struck the only person who’s ever loved me.”



“Hermione. I trust you because I can feel, just by holding you, that you love me and that you didn’t mean to hurt me. At least, not really.”



Her insides were twisting hard. “How can you be so calm, Harry?”



“I don’t know.” He sat down and then pulled her to him; her hands in his. “All couples fight sometimes. You were mad that I didn’t wake you up when you thought you should be up. I understand that. I started to get mad because I felt like I was being blamed for something that I had done which I thought was for a good purpose.”



She understood. She had felt that way sometimes with Ron. He’d blame her for something that she had done, even though her heart had always been in the right place. She thought back to Harry’s Firebolt and when he had received it from Sirius.



Harry had even blamed her for that somewhat, even though it was his life that she was trying to protect. It didn’t matter anymore, though. She had been right that the broom had been sent to Harry by Sirius, but she had been entirely wrong about it being jinxed. Sirius had grown to love Harry and to treasure his role as godfather. It was the thing that had made all of the pain from his time in Azkaban fade away and what had brought out the real Sirius Black.



The anger had gone out of her. She didn’t feel, and couldn’t imagine why she had felt, anger towards her husband-to-be.



Click. “Harry? What’s happening on the Nineteenth?”



In retrospect, Hermione thought, it was at least a mildly sneaky thing to do. He looked at her, his mind clearly distracted by her earlier actions and not on the moment. “Wedding” he said, completely absentmindedly.



It didn’t take any kind of a monster intellect to know that he really meant their wedding. But where? Where was Mr. “sneaky-boy” Potter planning their nuptials?



She decided, after a moment of trying to contain the urge to jump up and down with excitement, that it didn’t matter where the wedding was going to be held. She had a suspicion that her mother was somehow involved, but she had no concrete basis in fact for such a conjecture.



Her eyes were wide and she grinned from ear to ear. ”Oh Harry! Finally!” She grabbed him and pulled him back on the bed, falling with him so that they were laying side-by-side.



“I love you, Harry. I can’t wait to marry you!”



It was his turn to be wide-eyed, as he put together the pieces of what he had said with what she had said. “Tell me I didn’t just give it away, did I?”



In-between kisses and grinding her pelvis lewdly against his, she said “Uh huh.”



Can I kick myself hard enough to make sure that she never talks me out of another secret or do I have to get someone else to do it for me?

*********************************

The Great Hall, ten minutes later.



The doors to the Great Hall were already open and the noise was almost deafening. A great shout had gone up and neither Harry nor Hermione knew why. It was must certainly not for them, though. They entered the Great Hall as quietly as they could, hand in hand. Fortunately, they were hardly noticed as they went by, as most of the faces looking at them were new and everyone’s attention was on whatever the Headmaster was announcing. Harry was fairly certain that it was the Animagus course. He had expected it to be greeted with excitement and was glad to see that he wasn’t wrong.



They had to stop only twice. The first time came when Ron and Ginny Weasley practically launched themselves from their seats to hug the two. As Ginny held Harry, she whispered in his ear. “I love you, Harry. Congratulations with Hermione. You’ve done her proud. You’ll be a great husband for her.”



Harry held her tight for a moment, so that he could reply in her ear “I love you too, sis. Thank you. I’m so glad to see you again. I’ve missed playing Quidditch with you.”



As they separated, Ginny nodded. Harry then grabbed Ron and gave him a hug. “It’s good to be back, Ron. I’ve missed you a lot.”



When they stepped back, Harry saw something that almost floored him. There were tears rolling down Ron’s cheeks. Hermione saw them and threw herself into Ron’s arms. Harry never found out what they said to each other, but when they let go of each other, Ron smiled weekly at her. Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him to her and Ron smiled at both of them.



“What was that about, Hermione?” Harry asked as they started walking again.



Without looking at him, she said, “I’ll tell you tonight. I think it’s something we need to talk about.” The tone in her voice was thoughtful, but not angry.



“Ok. I guess. Should I be worried?”



Before she could answer him, Rebecca Bones, the older girl whom they had met in Diagon Alley, climbed out of her seat and threw herself at them. It was not Harry who was the recipient of Rebecca’s first hug, but rather Hermione, to her surprise.



Once the two had broken their hug, Rebecca grabbed Harry in a huge hug. “I just discovered something earlier tonight, Harry. Come find me later and we can talk...”



There was something fishy with that, Harry thought, but he stored it away mentally, to be contemplated when he had time.



Once they resumed walking the Hall, Hermione noticed that the Hall had never seemed this long before. Normally, it took only two hundred steps from the doors to the head table. She had already counted three hundred fifty steps and they were not yet three-quarters of the length of the Hall. What had happened?



BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!



She looked up and at the same time, felt Harry’s hand squeeze hers. The Headmaster had risen from his seat, walked around the head table, and stood before the assembled students. He banged the ceremonial staff of office, a staff that was said to have belonged to Merlin, on the floor three times, to get everyone’s attention.



He looked down at them as they approached. “Ah, Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter. How good of you both to finally show up. We were beginning to wonder if we were going to have to send out patrols. I expect that this will not be a habit?”



Harry felt his anger starting to rise. Hermione felt it and looked at him with concern and so did the Headmaster.



Harry summoned as much control as he could. “Professor, please forgive me. It was entirely my fault. I was trying to let Hermione sleep a little longer and I, myself, lost track of time. She would never been late like this or disappointed you.”



Hermione felt herself blush and she tried to get the Headmaster’s attention, to tell him that it just wasn’t so – that it was her fault for making them late, because she had reacted



so badly in the first place, but Dumbledore simply didn’t turn in her direction.



“Mr. Potter, you always have been very willing to fall on your own sword for Mr. Granger, but in this case, your chivalry is unnecessary. There is not much that escapes my notice around here and I think that perhaps, that in this case, a simple, general admonishment about awareness of time would be in order.”



Harry blinked. He could not believe what had just happened. If he was correct, neither one of them was going to be reprimanded for being so tardy. Something, Harry thought, was not adding up.



“Now, if you and the Head Girl would please roll up your sleeves, I will cast the dark mark detection charm. When I do, hold out your arm and wait a moment.”



Dumbledore magnified his voice and turned to the assembled throng.



“Ladies and gentlemen, as you are no doubt countless aware, there have been a number of changes made for this school year. The most significant of them is the closure, perhaps forever, of Slytherin House. While our charter requires that there be four houses, there is a proviso for circumstances involving war and insurrection. The Board of Governors and I have agreed that this step, while regrettable, is necessary, until such time as we can be sure that the dark forces have been completely eliminated.



One of the things that must be done is the complete elimination of the Dark Mark from wizarding society. It begins with us. Therefore, each of you is going to be tested today, just like our Head Boy and Girl.”



Even before the Headmaster could mutter the detection charm, there was a skirmish at the back of the hall. A number of black-robed students tried to make a break for the exit. They would never be fast enough. In an instant, Harry and Hermione both ‘touched’ their inner animal and became them in mid-leap. In no more than six seconds, they had gone the length of the hall, to cut off the escape of the eleven students who were desperately trying to get out.



“Thank you, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger. That will be all,” a familiar voice said.



Harry and Hermione transformed back into their normal selves, to the applause of those sitting nearest.



“Did you get them all, Professor McGonagall?”



“Yes, Hermione, we did. Thank you for helping.”



The deputy Headmistress had her wand out and had conjured bindings for the eleven students. When it was clear to Harry and Hermione that they were no longer needed as ‘enforcement’, they nodded to her, transformed once again into their animagus shapes, and ran back up the length of the hall. Once they were at the head table, they resumed their human forms once again.



After Dumbledore cast the detection charm on both of them, Harry and Hermione moved off to the side, so that they could be nearby and help, if the Headmaster needed anything further.



A voice to Hermiones’ left spoke up. “I don’t believe that I will ever get used to seeing how fast you make the change, Ms. Granger. It is amazing to see.”



Hermione turned to look at the woman who had addressed her, whom she judged to be in her late 30’s. “Excuse me, Professor, do I know you?”



The woman laughed. “I think so, Hermione. Only, I think you shouldn’t call me professor.”



Hermione was non-pulsed. “What should I call you, then, Ma’am?”



The woman reached up and let down her hair. It was wavy and bushy, just like hers. Hermione noted that the woman’s eyes were chocolate-brown, like hers, and Hermione noticed that she had a similar nose and mouth. “I think you can and should, call me ‘grandmother’“.



If it weren’t for the steadying hand of the Headmaster on her shoulder, she might surely have collapsed in shock.

*********************************

It took Hermione a full minute to organize her thoughts.



Grandmother? She can’t be.



Really? Why not? Your father didn’t say anything other than she up and disappeared one day.



Oh my god. What if she really is? What does that mean?



Hermione looked at the woman. “Ma’am? I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but are you sure?”



“Hermione, I am very sure. My son Jake could not have produced a more beautiful daughter than you.”



At that, Hermione began crying for what seemed to her to be the umpteenth time that day and Harry moved in close to hold her. The woman knew who he was, but she watched in fascination while Harry held her and comforted her.



Hermiones’ hand came up to wipe away a tear. It was her left hand. The woman gasped.



“Granddaughter? Is that what I think it is?”



It was Harry’s turn to laugh. “Yes, Ma’am, it is. She’s going to be my wife”.



Before they could continue their conversation, the Headmaster and Professor Flitwick brought the sorting hat and its stool to the center of the raised dais. Dumbledore once again magnified his voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are going to do things a little differently. Since there are almost four hundred of you who must be sorted, we are going to start the sorting while enjoying dinner. Otherwise, all of us are going to be keeling over with hunger by the time the sorting was finished. So, I have four words for you. NITWIT, BLUBBER, ODDMENT, TWEAK. Thank you.”



Magically, and to the delight of everyone, mounds of food appeared on every table. It was a carnivores’ delight, with roasted legs of lamb; whole-roasted chickens; Cornish game hens, amazing links of Italian sausage, rolled and stuffed Dover Sole, and most incredibly, dragon steaks.



There were mounds of mashed potatoes, roasted and ginger-glazed carrots, pickled beets, mixed curried vegetables, and a variety of other things to rival even Molly Weasleys’ cooking.



Harry was determined to have fun, so he changed into Knight and walked over to the Gryffindor table. Students saw him coming and made way for him as he put his paws up onto one of the tables and, careful not to slobber on anything else, grabbed two thick, juicy dragon steaks. Once he clambered down, he walked over to where Sagehunter was waiting for him on the dais. As Knight, Harry offered her the first choice and she took, to his surprise, the larger of the two steaks and the two of them ate their steaks, crouched on the floor, just like the cats they were.



Dumbledore looked down at his Head Boy and Girl and thought, as his affection for them rose up in him, Hagrid would have been very pleased.

*********************************

The sorting began soon after, and in order to accommodate the students who were coming up to the dais to be placed under the sorting hat, Harry and Hermione changed back into their human forms and found seats across from each other at the Gryffindor table. Soon enough, cheers were going up for Gryffindor, and then Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor again. Back and forth between the three houses it went, until the first of the displaced Slytherins came forward to be re-sorted.



It was Daphne Greengrass and she looked very, very nervous. She sat, as Professor McGonagall lifted the hat and then placed it on her head. She looked like she was trying to talk to the hat. Harry watched, no unsympathetically, as she struggled with what she was being told. Eventually though, the brim of the hat broke and they all heard, to their amazement: “Gryffindor!” A great cheer went up from the Gryffindor table. Contrary to her perception, Daphne had been tolerated by some Gryffindors and genuinely liked by many others. She was ambitious, but courageous, and she smiled broadly when she heard the cheering.



Hermione watched with pride as a number of the Gryffindor girls met Daphne as she walked to the table and gave her a very welcoming hug and then led her to an open seat.



The next ex-Slytherin student, a student named Robarts whom Harry had never met before, had the sorting hat placed on him. It didn’t take long for the Hat to cry out “Slytherin”. That meant that Robarts would be going back on the train immediately after the ceremony was over. Neither Harry nor Hermione had been told what arrangements had been made to get the departing students home safely, but they both assumed that there would Aurors aboard the train to keep order.



It took almost an hour an a half to get through the first one hundred and fifty. At this rate, we’re going to be here all night, Harry thought glumly. The pace of it seemed to depress everyone. Even the teachers were looking thoroughly bored.



One interesting moment occurred when Pansy Parkinson was sorted. She was alright getting up onto the dais and she looked to be all right when the sorting hat was placed on her head, but it was quickly apparent that she was crying hard. It went on for almost two minutes before the Hat called out quietly “Gryffindor”.



Pansy didn’t get off the stool as much as she fell off it in relief. Harry leapt to his feet and made his way to her side, to help her up. When she felt his had on her shoulder and looked up to see whose it was, she did the most awkward thing anyone could think of: she hugged Harry Potter. There were a number of catcalls from the students at the tables, but they were immediately hushed when Dumbledore stood up and glared at the students who had dared say anything. Hermione caught his eye and nodded, approvingly.



Before Harry could take her by the hand and lead her to her new table, she did something unexpected and profound. She kissed the Hat and whispered “thank you”.



What she had thanked the Hat for was not immediately obvious to Harry. What was obvious was to everyone was the fact that she held Harry’s hand all the way over to the Gryffindor table. That one act ensured that no one would harass her or do anything that might engender bad feelings on Harry’s part. Gryffindors were brave as a rule, not stupid.



After the first hour of sorting, Hermione had left the Gryffindor table and walked to the head table. Harry knew immediately why. Hermione wanted to talk to her newly-revealed grandmother, Rowena.



She and Hermione cornered the far left corner of the table and began talking back and forth animatedly. Hermione seemed to be talking about Him a lot, Harry could see. She showed off her ring and then blushed intensely at something the older woman said.



Eventually, though, Hermione could no longer contain herself and jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around the woman. When Harry saw that, he knew that she was in good hands and that if he eventually had to go to bed without her, it was all right.



If the other teachers were scandalized by Hermione’s demonstration of affection for a professor, they didn’t show it. In fact, there were no eyes looking her direction at all. Harry scanned the teachers’ table. There were holes…spaces that would never be filled the way they had been. Hagrid. Harry felt an enormous lump in his throat as he thought about the wonderful half-giant whom he had come to love. Hagrid had been his first friend from Hogwarts and had been the one to rescue him from the Dursleys. Someone needs to take over for Hagrid.

He felt tears starting to well in his eyes. It’s not good to be morose. Hermione would say that Hagrid died protecting those he loved, so he died a valiant death. Why did it hurt so much then?



There were people looking at him. He could feel their eyes, but found that he didn’t care what they thought.



Dumbledore stood up and came around to the front of the dais again. His voice, magically amplified, filled the Great Hall. It was always deep and comforting. Harry thought out it the way he did about phoenix song. “Ladies and Gentlemen. We are going to take a break for a half-hour and enjoy desert and coffee or pumpkin juice. After that, we’ll finish up the sorting and dismiss for bed. It’s going to be a late night, but tomorrow there are no classes.”



This was not a surprise to any of the returning students. They all knew, because of announcements that had been placed in the increasingly popular Quibbler that the next day would bring a much more somber event. It was a commemoration of those who had fallen at Hogwarts. While Liberation day would always be celebrated on the 29th of December, this Memorial Day was a once-off event to give the students who had lost brothers and sisters a chance to mourn them and be with others who had also suffered. It was also a chance for all of the students to hear from Harry and Hermione and to get to know them, not as heroes, but as fellow students who had also lost friends and loved-ones. Harry already had his speech laid out. He would talk about Sirius and about Hagrid and what it meant to have the power to love.



The contents of Hermiones’ intended speech was unknown to him, but Hermione had assured him that it was done and had already been rehearsed. That had caused an awkward moment of silence between them, before Hermione clued in on why Harry was looking at her as if she had three heads. Patiently, she explained that he was one of her topics and that she wanted to be able to get through the speech without crying the entire time.



He understood. Both he and Hermione had been pretty volatile at times over the last eighteen months. Not angry-volatile, but rather sad-volatile. Her dreams were still plagued with nightmares, just as his were, and she was still trying to cope with the ‘what-ifs’ that haunted her.



It was going to cause some heartache, he thought, when they finally got up to speak, but it couldn’t be helped. Besides, that was tomorrow’s problem.



*********************************



He found himself wishing he could just go to bed, with Hermione next to him, but the night was not over and he had responsibilities that he had to fulfill before they were going to have a chance to retreat together for the night.



At just after 10 pm, the last of the four hundred new or former Slytherin students were sorted. Gryffindor House and Ravenclaw had each taken in close to one hundred twenty five new students, while Hufflepuff had garnered just over one hundred. It had been a bad night for former Slytherin students, with almost forty of them being sent home forever. Added to the eleven who had been discovered carrying the dark mark and Slytherins’ losses were over fifty for the evening.



Hermione left her conversation with her grandmother to join Harry and Professor Dumbledore on the dais. “Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for me to wish you all a good night and pleasant dreams. You are going to be led out of the Hall tonight by our Head Boy and Girl.



I have one more announcement though, that I neglected to make earlier. Would Isabella Denise and Celeste Adrianna de Bertrand please come forward? Would Adrianne Brand, Michelle Sullivan, Rebecca Bones, and Sean Doonan please come forward?



The named students rose and walked the length of their respective tables. Harry realized that he didn’t know any of them well and only the twins, Isabella and Celeste, by face.



“I have Prefect badges for you six. You’ve all show yourselves to be capable students and each of you has demonstrated leadership potential. Congratulations.”



The badges were handed out and affixed to their billowing robes. There was a long round of applause while the newly-minted prefects returned to their seats.



Final instructions were given to each house and then the Prefects rose to join Harry and Hermione as they walked the length of the Hall. All eighteen of them then turned to wait as the students rose from their seats and formed lines long lines. Without further fanfare, the doors to the Great Hall opened and the recessional march began, with Gryffindor house in the lead.

*********************************



11:30 pm. Ravenclaw Common Room



I don’t know how Hermione does it. She’s so very patient with this stuff.



They had just come from the third and final meeting with the (selected) sixth-year students, along with all of the seventh-year students, from Ravenclaw. Hermione had told them all, in her calm and organized way, what they had come up with to solve the temporary housing crunch and, after the cheering had died down, administered the oaths of secrecy that would protect the students from discussing the arrangements with anyone who was not a 7th year or who did not already know about them – which really meant the handful of 6th year students who had 7th year boy or girlfriends.



Harry was glad that they had taken the decision to allow the seventh year students to share sleeping quarters. There was tremendous excitement and happiness about it and he had seen many couples intertwining hands even as the announcement was being made. It was going to make for a much happier school year, he thought.



After the oaths of secrecy had been taken care of, Hermione taught everyone present the three basic contraception charms and then watched (at her insistence) that the couples cast at least one of them on each other immediately, so as to avoid any ‘first-night’ mistakes.



Once that was done, the students fled, hand in hand, to their respective bedrooms, silly grins plastered on almost every face.



“Ready for bed, love?”



“After that display? Yes!” She squealed and jumped into his arms, just as he activated their private port key.

*********************************

“I’m going to be married in eighteen days.”



It was Hermiones’ first thought as she woke the next morning and saw the sunlight streaming in through the high window in their bedroom.



Harry was lying next to her; his arm tucked protectively around her bare waist, their bodies spooned together under the warmth of the quilt. She could feel the Gringotts’ medallion that signified to the Goblins she was Harry’s wife lying between her breasts, where it had taken up permanent residence. She never removed it, not even when they were being intimate. Especially not then, she thought.



She wanted so desperately for the rest of the world not to matter.



But it did matter. As she lay next to him, she thought about what they had gone through and what they had sacrificed to be where they were. It had plagued her that there was nothing that they could do to undo the past and prevent the terrible losses they had all suffered. Hermione had gone over the problem again and again. Finally though, she realized that even with a time turner, there was no way to go back and change things so that those who had been taken from them would live again. All she was left was If only.



There was nothing to be done about things now. “If only” was a phase that she had learned from her parents never to include in her vocabulary. Instead, they taught her to plan and look forward. If you want to achieve, look forward. She could still hear her mother saying it each day after school.



In that moment, Hermione resolved to herself that the time for recriminations was long since passed. Time to move on with life, she thought. With Harry.

*********************************

It was just like being at the Hollow. The sun was streaming in and it was hard to get up. Neither Harry nor Hermione wanted to leave their sanctum sanctorum. They were going to have to speak to their classmates and to those assembled who would be coming to commemorate the sacrifices made by so many in defense of their collective freedom.



It was going to be somber and Harry really wished that Fred and George Weasley were around to lighten the mood. Ron was always one good for a laugh in private, but he wasn’t one for public speaking.



Harry was not in a good mood by the time that he and Hermione arrived in the Great Hall. Not only did he hate dressing up, but most of all, Harry hated the pressure that was being placed on him by peoples’ expectations of him. Hermione sensed it and was quiet.



It was that very quietness, perversely, that eventually started to pull Harry out of his funk. He knew that she was sensitive to his moods and that she would know that he was frustrated with the whole ‘forced performance’ thing. He couldn’t let himself do that to her. He had no right to impose his mood on her or make her be less than what she was naturally.



There were happy, appreciative looks by a number of sixth and seventh-year students as they passed by. There were also a number of ‘freshly-fucked’ looks that could not be suppressed. Seeing them helped Harry’s bad mood start to lift.



“ ‘Mione?” squeezing her hand and pulling her close as they walked to their seats. “It’s all right. I’m sorry I’ve been a git this morning. I didn’t mean to take my frustration out on you.”



Once they sat, the food around them was ignored as they held each others’ hands and talked. She looked at him. “S’ok, Harry. I’ve been feeling pretty frustrated too, lately, and so….forgiven, ok?”



“Does this mean you’ll still marry me?”



“Harry!” she said tightly “Of course, you big dolt. How could I not?”



A look of pure relief went across his face.



“Do you honestly believe that I would say no suddenly, just because you’ve gone quiet on me for an hour or two? I’m really not that delicate, Harry. You should know that by now.”



Not hesitating, Harry returned her even gaze. “No, I don’t . I know you’re not delicate, Hermione. You survived something that would have killed any other, lesser witch, and you came back to me.”



She could not help but swell with a certain amount of pride in hearing Harry say that she was no lesser witch.



BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!



Harry’s next statement was lost with the banging of Merlins’ staff on the granite floor of the Great Hall. As Head Boy and Girl, they were obligated to sit as near as they could to the head table, and so the banging was particularly loud. Especially first thing in the morning, he thought.



As he looked towards the Headmaster, he saw another face that he hadn’t been expecting to see. Remus Lupin. Remus had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts Harry’s third year and Harry could not suppress the grin he felt spreading across his face.



Hermione caught Harry’s gaze and followed his line of sight to the head table. When she saw Remus waving at them both, she waved back and gave him her typical wide smile.



Dumbledore began with his usual call to attention, and then got right into the announcements.



“Good morning, all. Last night was busy for all of us, so this morning I am introducing several new staff members and one returning staff member to all of you. First, let us all welcome back Remus Lupin as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”



There was thunderous applause for Professor Lupin, as he stood to be recognized. Everyone from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and especially Gryffindor House remembered him with great affection. Werewolf or not, he was a great teacher and they all knew it.



“Let us now welcome to the post of Potions mistress – the author of Advanced Potion-Making – Baroness, Lady Libatius Borage.”



There was generally enthusiastic round of applause for the tall, elegantly dressed woman as she stood up to be recognized.



“Let me take a moment before I introduce our new Muggle Studies Professor. It is not often that I can accomplish so many things all at once and I am pleased to say that last night, I was delighted to be witness to a reunion of granddaughter and grandmother that was seventeen years overdue. I was also pleased to make possible a family reunion and the healing of a family. Additionally, we added a tremendously valuable new member of the Hogwarts teaching staff. So, let me now introduce our new Muggle Studies professor and grandmother our own Head Girl, Rowena Granger.”



Hermione and then Harry stood up to lead the applause, which was also enthusiastic.



Once everyone had resumed sitting, the Headmaster spoke up once again.



“On a much more solemn note, the memorial service will begin at 2 pm. today. I will ask those of you who lost relatives or friends to sit towards the front. It is a school function, I am asking all of you to be considerate of each other and dress your best.

We are going to be host to many, many families today. They are coming here to be with us because this is the best place for them to be today. Give them your attention and your love, as best you can. There will be a special meal served tonight and all family members will be welcome.”



Without saying more, the Headmaster turned and walked back to the head table. The mood in the hall had suddenly turned somber and reflective and when students got up to leave, they did it very quietly. There was none of the yelling and jeering that normally accompanied the movement of so many students on their way to their first class.



Hand in hand, Hermione and Harry walked out of the Great Hall and into courtyard beyond; down the long bridge; and out towards the road that led to train station and then beyond, to the Village.



She stopped abruptly, half-way along the dirt road. “Harry? Where are we going?”



Harry looked at her as they stopped. “Clothes shopping.”



“We really don’t have time for that, Harry. People are going to be here in less than three hours and we’ve got to be back to school and dressed well to greet them.”



Harry kept walking, which forced Hermione to keep up with him. He looked back over his shoulder as she moved to close the gap between them.



Finally, her fingers intertwined with his and she looked at him “What’s going on, Harry?”



“Hermione, we don’t have a lot of time. Please just trust me and come along. I know we have to be back soon. I’ve got it figured. Besides, there’s someone we have to meet in the next twenty minutes.”



Hermione Granger was not one to shy away from pursuing a mystery, but she since she knew that she was going to be a bride in seventeen days’ time, she figured she had a pretty good idea about where he was leading her.



She nodded her acquiescence and then leaned close in to kiss him. “I love you”.



There was no overwhelming need to put much more into words, Harry thought. She knew, probably, what he was up to, since she had been so sneaky and weaseled the secret out of him, but he found that it didn’t faze him, either.



They resumed walking, hand in hand, until they were outside the boundaries of the defensive wards that protected Hogwarts. Harry’s arms swept around her and they disapparated together.



An instant later, there was but the smallest, most muffled ‘pop’ as Harry and Hermione materialized together on a side street in the toniest part of the town of Dover, England.



Hermione gasped as she looked around and realized where he had brought them. She recognized this area. Dover! Her mother used to bring her shopping for Christmas dresses at a store not more than two blocks away. As she thought bout it, she marveled for a moment at Harry’s innate magical power. Normally, she knew, apparition was limited to just under one hundred fifty miles. Harry, with no noticeable extra exertion, had just apparated them over a distance of almost five hundred miles.



Grinning, he led her by the hand around the corner to a little shop called Jodi’s. Her mother was standing there, looking expectant.



Hermione went running to her just as soon as she saw her. “Mom!”



Miranda almost picked up her daughter and gave her a very unlady-like hug. “Sweetheart!”



The two seemed reluctant to let go of each other. Miranda finally broke the clinch and looked at her only child. “I take it you now know what’s going on? Is it what you wanted?” Hermione looked up at the sign above the entrance to the shop. She knew exactly what kind of clothing could be found at Jodi’s.



Hermione was did a little skip and was bouncing up and down in a most teenager-ish way. “Yes. And I can’t wait! Let’s go.”

*********************************

All too soon, Harry and Hermione were wending their way back on the road that led back to Hogwarts. Miranda and Jake were eleven hundred pounds sterling poorer for it, but Hermione was practically walking on air.



It was a good thing, Harry thought, that wizarding society placed no taboo on the wizard seeing his wife to be in her wedding gown before the wedding.



Harry thought back to the moment when Hermione found it. She had slipped into it behind a changing screen and then stepped out into the open and up onto the modeling platform. As Jodi began to pin her changes, to make it fit just right, Harry felt Hermiones’ magic rise, uncontrolled, as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. She looked so beautiful, so radiant, that there were no words for it. My wife. Mine, mine, mine, all mine.



Miranda watched as Harry took her into his arms and held her. She couldn’t sense Hermiones’ magic, but it didn’t matter. All she had to do was see the look on her daughters’ face and she knew that it was, in fact, the dress, and the two of them truly belonged together.



Once the dress was purchased, Harry knew that he had two more things on his list to do for the wedding. Three, if he counted sending invitations. For that, he planned on asking either the new, twin prefects from Gryffindor, Isabella and Celeste – both of whom were known to be artistic.



The one last touch would be the right flowers – a task that he was going to leave up to Neville. Ginny had a great eye for that kind of thing and Neville knew were all the best flowers were (at least the ones that wouldn’t try to eat or kill anyone) in the greenhouses. A quick work with Professor Sprout and Harry had obtained permission to get all the cut flowers that he needed for the 19th.



Making progress, Harry thought. It was not going to be, really, a conventional wedding. They hadn’t done, and were not going to have a chance to do, the typical muggle pre-wedding things. Doesn’t matter. It will be good the way we’ve planned it.



Harry had cornered Ginny and Ron the previous evening and told them what he was planning and both of them immediately volunteered to help. Ginny promised she would handle getting all of Harry and Hermiones’ friends together - which meant working with the twins to do the formal invitations - while Ron would work on food. The complication was that it meant that Ron would have to be in touch with Miranda and Jake; something that Harry hoped that Ron would be up to doing carefully and diplomatically.

*********************************



11 AM, Monday, September 2nd.



It was annoying to realize that since he had done the asking, he had to do the planning. If this is what Molly went through for a big gathering, Harry thought; then she can have it. Not a job I’m going to want more than once.



The world became a spinning whirlpool as Harry activated their portkey. They had just crossed through the only semi-permeable wards that defended Hogwarts from attacks, as well as from discovery.



“Ooof.”



Harry landed hard in their common room, while Hermione landed delicately.



“God, I hate that.” Harry started to pick himself up off the floor. Hermione laughed and reached out a hand to him. Her hand curled around his wrist, and the moment that it did, he saw an opportunity. Shifting his weight backwards, Hermione overbalanced as Harry pulled her to him. She fell forward, onto him, just as he hoped. Harry caught her and cushioned her fall with his own body.



“I’ve got you, Hermione.”



Her elbows rested on his chest as she looked down lovingly at him. “Yes, you do, Harry.”



Rolling her over onto her back, Harry kissed her. Softly at first, but then with increasing need, the two hearts intertwined.



“Harry” her voice carried need and desire and his body ached with the want that they were struggling to suppress.



“I know, ‘Mione“, he said, as he kissed his way along her jaw and then sucked her lower lip; capturing it with his mouth. “I want you, too.”



Grinding his jeans-clad erection into her sex, he rolled the two of them over, so that he could touch more of her. He wanted to touch her everywhere. The warmth of her skin, as he pushed one hand under her shirt and the other, down her back and into her pants, enflamed his desire for her all the more.



“Facereaperte” they whispered, almost at the same moment. Their clothes liquefied and slid away from their bodies, then pooled and reformed into carefully folded stacks on the common-room table. Harry felt a slight chill from the cold stone that formed the outer walls of the castle and realizing that Hermione might be cold as well, thought “Incendiare” as he pointed a finger at the fireplace. A warm fire sprang into existence, filling the room with heat and light.



The light danced in Hermiones’ eyes as she smiled at Harry. “You’re getting better all the time with the wandless magic. Will you even need the fake wand from Ollivander’s’ assistant?”



He thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. “Probably not, but it might be good to keep it for show, anyway. There is no point annoying everyone unnecessarily.”



“Bed?” she asked?



“Yes.” Harry wished that they could have both just apparated there, but even within the Head Boy and Girls’ room, apparition was prevented.



Harry picked her up, as he would have a small child, and carried her into their bedroom. They had forty-five minutes before they were going to have to get dressed and he intended to make use of every single one of them.



*********************************

A/N – Next chapter – “Remember Me”



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