Day Fourteen
Harry wasn't able to fall back to sleep after his dad returned to his room upstairs, though not for lack of trying. He laid back on the couch and closed his eyes, but sleep never came. His mind replayed the conversation he'd had with his dad. Then, traitorously, it began playing the nightmare he'd been having before that conversation. Harry groaned and pulled himself to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes in an effort to wipe the dark thoughts away.
He grabbed a book from a nearby shelf and began to read, hoping it would help tire him out enough so he could fall asleep. But after learning more than he ever wanted to know about the magical creatures of Northern Ireland, he was still awake.
His mum came down the stairs about an hour later and wished Harry a good 'morning / afternoon / she didn't know what time it was anymore.' He helped her prepare a quick 'breakfast / lunch / whatever we're calling it' and as they worked, they discussed the Wonders from their trip and ranked them from best to worst.
Harry was glad for the easy conversation with his mum. He didn't think he could handle another heart-to-heart like the one he'd had with his dad, at least not without a few more hours of sleep. He also didn't want to talk about Hermione anymore. Hermione was right, there was nothing to be done until they returned to their world the following day.
After eating, Lily and Harry returned to the couch with mugs of tea. Harry moved the sheets and blankets to the side, folding them messily with his wand. As he laid his head back on the couch, his eyes fell closed. Oh, great. So now you sleep.
He felt a hand on his leg. "Hmm?"
"Why don't you go upstairs and sleep in the bed? It sounds like Hermione's awake. I can hear her moving around up there."
Harry nodded. "Hmm. That's a good idea." But he couldn't find the energy to move, and stayed in place.
"Would you like me to Levitate you up there?" his mum joked.
"Yes, please."
"Okay…" He felt her shift on the couch and cracked an eye open to see what she was doing. She had her wand out and was pointing it at him.
"I was kidding," Harry said, leaning away from her. "I can walk." He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled up the stairs, smiling at the sound of his mum's soft chuckles behind him.
"Enjoy your nap, Harry," Lily said from the couch. "You clearly need it."
He waved to her as he continued to climb the stairs. "Knock knock," he said, once he reached the closed tent flap of the room he used to share with Hermione.
"Come in."
Hermione was lying on the bed on her stomach with her ankles crossed in the air. Her hair was damp and she was wearing dark jeans with a light blue jumper. He spotted the silver necklace with the small otter pendant she'd been excited to find the other Hermione wearing and hadn't taken off since they'd arrived, explaining that it was a gift from her parents that they'd also given her back in their world, though the style of this one was slightly different.
"I'm finishing up the final accounts of the trip," she said without looking up, scribbling furiously in her notebook. "I just finished with Pacifica and once I cover last night, I'll be all caught—" She cut off once she finally looked up and spotted Harry in the doorway. "You look awful. Did you sleep?"
As if on cue, Harry yawned. "Not well," he said as he walked further into the room, letting the canvas flap on the door close behind him. "How are you going to get that back home?" he asked, pointing to her notebook.
"I know a spell," she said dismissively.
"Of course you do."
A smile tugged at her lips. "It's pretty common to have books turn on you in the Department of Mysteries," she explained. "Sometimes they explode, disappear, or even change all their words. There's a spell we Unspeakables know that can take the pensieve memories of a person reading a book and recreate the pages. Anyway, you should try to sleep. You really won't want to be knackered on our last night."
"Yeah. I actually came here to ask if I could use the bed for a nap."
"Of course!" she exclaimed, jumping up. She placed the notebook and pen on the bedside table, then went to Harry and dragged him to the side of the bed. "I'll work on improving the charms on the couch," she said, blushing slightly. "Again, I'm really sorry to kick you out of—"
"It's fine," he said quickly. "And it wasn't just the couch. I had a nightmare, then a long talk with my dad that drained me of the little energy I had left. It's not your fault." He forced out a small smile.
Her brown eyes started scanning his features and by the look of concern growing in them, she didn't like what she saw. "Are you okay?" she whispered. "Was it a good talk?"
"Yeah. It was good. Just… sad."
Hermione nodded. "Do you need anything?"
Harry gave her a shy smile. "I wouldn't say no to a hug." Before he could wonder if she was going to deny him, she was in his arms. Harry pulled her close and dropped his head into the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his middle and grabbed her wrist to lock them in place. She pressed her face into his shoulder and let herself enjoy the feeling of being completely engulfed by him. This was the sort of hug they wouldn't be able to bring back home with them. At least, not while they were engaged to other people.
The way they were clinging to each other, pressing their hips together, breathing in time, as if they were one, wasn't the way two friends were supposed to hug. When Hermione felt Harry sway on his feet, she pulled back, just as a warm blush was creeping up her neck.
Harry grabbed her chin and without a hint of shame, placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
She shook her head as she pushed him down onto the bed. "I'm going to let that slide since you're clearly delirious from lack of sleep." He gave her a roguish grin as he settled under the covers and her heart skipped a beat. She still wasn't used to these admiring looks from Harry.
Hermione pulled down on her jumper to straighten it and turned to the door, waving her wand to turn off the lights. "Have a good nap, Harry. And if you can't sleep, let me know and I'll make a Potion for you." That didn't look like it was going to be a problem, though. His eyes had already fallen closed.
"Hermione," he murmured when she was almost out of the room.
"Yeah?"
His eyes were cracked open and there was a hint of a smile on his lips. "I'll wait for you. Five years if you want. Longer, even. Though I hope it's not five decades, since we both want kids and will probably be too old by then."
"What?" Hermione smiled in spite of herself. He was slurring his words, like he was drunk, and she wondered if he was already half-asleep. "You're not making any sense."
"I know—not supposed to press." He closed his eyes and turned onto his side. "Just… want you to know."
She waited for a few moments and when he didn't say anything else, she closed the tent flap and went downstairs.
After sitting at the dining table for tea with Lily, who was reading the local paper with the aid of a translation spell and, mercifully, didn't seem in the mood to pester Hermione about Harry, Hermione returned to the bedroom to fetch the notebook and pen she'd left on the bedside table.
She tip-toed into the room and when she reached the table, paused to look down at Harry. His breathing was slow and deep and she took that as a sign that he was sleeping soundly. He'd even forgotten to remove his glasses. She crouched down and slipped them off, then folded the frames and placed them on the table. When she looked back at him, her heart thudded.
Okay, Hermione. It's time to leave. But she couldn't. She was frozen in place. She reached out and pushed back a lock of black hair that had fallen into his face. He was so handsome. Especially like this, without his glasses distracting from his features. Before she could question the urge, or talk herself out of it, Hermione leaned forward and brushed her lips against his cheek. When she pulled away, she saw his lips turning up slightly. Her heart thudded again.
"I love you because you smile in your sleep, hum while you read, and get tears in your eyes when you watch my parents. I love all of you, Hermione."
Tears stung Hermione's eyes at the memory of that night. She pressed her forehead against the edge of the bed and let out a shaky breath, trying to work through the tightness in her chest. When she looked back up at Harry, there was still a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"You smile in your sleep too," she whispered. "And it's also on the long list of reasons I love you, Harry Potter."
And she did—love him, that is. Which she'd known as far back as Venezuela. She'd tried to hide from the truth but last night, under the stars, listening to the desires of her heart made into a song, she couldn't hide from it anymore.
She loved Harry.
More than she'd ever loved anyone and more than she would ever love anyone else. She was just terrified he didn't love her back. He said he did, but would that still be the case when they returned home? Would he really wait five years for her? Where had that come from? This extreme focus and blind determination to be with her didn't match any of his previous interactions from before the trip. She let out a long sigh.
"I love you, Harry," she repeated. "I'm just worried you don't love me back."
She remembered another conversation from that night at Pacifica, after she'd told Harry about what she'd seen in the mist.
"Is this your way of telling me you're in love with me, too?" he'd asked.
"I don't know."
"Okay. That's fair. Will you tell me when you figure it out?"
"You'll be the first to know."
Well, she'd figured it out and she'd told him. She was pretty sure he'd meant to be awake for it but for now, this was all she could manage. Hermione brushed her fingers against the spot on his cheek where her lips had been. She got to her feet, grabbed the notebook and pen, and left the room.
An hour later, Hermione was lying on the couch with her head propped up on Harry's pillow. It smelled like him, which felt comforting and wrong all at once. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about Harry. She was supposed to be focusing on the results of the diagnostic spell emitting from her wand. Hermione took a deep breath, let herself enjoy Harry's familiar scent for two more seconds, then forced her mind to focus on the task at hand. She was running out of time and if she was serious about this, she had to get to work.
Hermione had her jumper pulled up to just below her bra and was casting a spell to show the composition of the Everlasting Curse Dolohov had cast at the other Hermione, just as she'd done countless times on the trip. But today was different. Ever since she learned that James and Lily would not be losing their memories after this trip, an idea had been forming in her mind. She bit her lip as she studied the wound, then called to Lily, who was sitting at the table, chatting with James.
They'd looked at her curiously when she started examining her wound like this and after confirming she wasn't in any excessive pain and didn't need their assistance, they left her alone as she cast every diagnostic spell she knew, occasionally stopping to scribble in her notebook.
"Do you need something?" Lily asked, turning away from James to focus on Hermione.
"Yeah—um—I think I can fix this."
Lily rushed to her, nearly knocking her chair over on her way up. James caught it with his foot just in time. "The wound?" Lily asked, crouching next to Hermione. "You can heal this? But...how?"
"I can't get rid of it completely. But I've been examining it and I'm pretty sure I can reduce the power of the spell. At least by half, maybe more. I would have done it already, but it will take several hours and we haven't really had the time, at least—not since Giant's Gulch, which was where I finally figured out how I would go about it. Plus, I didn't think it was worth it, since we'd be jumping back in time anyway. But if I can do it now, and show you how, you can repeat it for the other Hermione."
"Yes. Of course. I can." Lily was beaming widely and already had her wand out. "What do I do?"
"Easy," Hermione laughed, gently pushing the tip of Lily's wand away. "I have a lot of formulas to work out first but—um—maybe we can work on them together?"
She hadn't meant for the question to come out in such a pathetic tone, but she was unsure where she stood with Lily. Ever since the truth about Hermione and Harry had come out, Lily had been frosty toward Hermione, taking it as a personal offense that Hermione had chosen Ron instead of her son.
"Of course I'll help," Lily said, taking a seat on the ground next to the coffee table and pulling her knees up. "Tell me what to do."
"Brilliant. Okay."
"Can I help?" James asked from the side of the room. She guessed he was keeping his distance to give her privacy, since she had her stomach exposed.
"Do you know any Arithmancy?" Hermione asked.
James shook his head.
"Runes?"
He shook his head again.
"Do you have any experience dismantling dark artifacts?"
"No."
"Okay. Maybe just some tea, then."
He rolled his eyes, but still plodded over to the kitchen and started boiling water. "Same as always? Extra-strong with a splash of milk?" he called after a few minutes.
"Uh huh," Hermione replied, barely listening as she used her wand to sort the hundreds of Runes floating in the air into four different groups, one for each element: earth, fire, air, and water. Her mind was racing and she could feel that familiar calm settle over her as she thought through the complicated problem in front of her.
"Lily. Count these, then figure out which planet's number matches best." Hermione floated the group of Runes associated with fire over to Lily.
"Is this going to work?" Lily asked as she ripped a blank page out of Hermione's notebook.
"There's only one way to find out."
An hour later, Lily was still on the floor, bent over Hermione's wound and comparing the Runes etched into Hermione's skin with the Runes hovering in the air. Hermione had been using a spell to create floating copies of each of the Runes on her skin, but considering the complexity of what she was about to accomplish, and the danger if she got even one part wrong, she wanted to be absolutely certain the floating Runes she'd based all her calculations on were the right ones.
As Lily went through the tedious task of checking each one, Hermione explained their next step. "Magic is elemental," she was saying. "Every spell is composed of different levels of fire, water, earth, and air. But for more complicated magic, like the Sacrificial Magic that protected Neville and Harry and most Dark spells, there is a fifth component, driven by either Love or Fear, that's harder to break down and understand. To undo the spell, you need to fully characterize it, which is what we've done so far—at least for the four primary elements. And we've identified the Runes wrapped up in the fifth element. So now, we're going to try to unravel it all."
"But you said we couldn't undo the spell, just reduce its power," Lily said, keeping her head down. She touched her wand to a few more Runes that were floating in the air and they disappeared.
"It's too dangerous for us to try to remove it completely. The fifth element of the spell has entwined itself with Hermione's magic. We can't touch that part but what we can do is shave away all the other parts: the fire, water, air, and earth elements, leaving behind just enough to keep the spell stable."
Lily frowned and looked up at Hermione. "How dangerous is this?"
"Very," Hermione said without hesitation. "But I'm good at this. 75% of my job is spell decomposition and creation. I wouldn't be attempting it if I weren't certain I could help. That's why I'm only trying to decrease its power. I probably could remove it completely, but it's too risky."
Lily considered her response, then nodded and went back to her task of checking the Runes, vanishing each one in the air once she'd checked it matched the Rune on Hermione's skin. "What's the other 25% of your job?"
"Thinking," Hermione said with a small laugh. "We're supposed to sit around and think of new ideas, read, explore the world, just...see where our mind takes us. That's what I was doing here in this world. Exploring."
"Do you like your job?" Lily asked.
"Yes, I love it." Hermione squeezed her eyes shut to avoid a few tears from falling.
"What?" Lily asked, picking up on her distress.
"I'm going to lose my job when I return home. For—uh—bringing Harry into the Department of Mysteries and through the portal. Including non-Unspeakables in our work is strictly forbidden."
A tear finally fell down Hermione's cheek and she wiped it away quickly, before it hit the pillow.
"So you gave up a job you love for him," Lily said gently, stopping her review of the Runes to fix Hermione with an intense stare.
"I know, Lily," Hermione whispered. "Okay? I'm not that dense."
Lily's expression immediately brightened. "What do you know? That you're in love with him?"
Hermione nodded.
"Brilliant! Then why are you—?"
"It's not my feelings I'm unsure of," Hermione cut in. "It's his."
Lily's brow furrowed. "He's sincere. I know it."
Hermione shrugged and laid her head back on her pillow, focusing up at the canvas ceiling. "We'll see. When we're back, we'll see." Lily hummed. "And I haven't told him so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't," Hermione added.
"Okay. And Ron…?"
"I love him too," Hermione sighed.
"But not as much."
Hermione closed her eyes again. "I don't know, Lily. I don't know who I love more and what I should do and I—I imagine it'll come to me when I see Ron again. Or, that's what I'm hoping for, at least."
Lily hummed again and Hermione was grateful she didn't say more. This admission had already been a lot but Hermione needed to tell someone. It should have been Harry (when he was awake) but she wasn't ready for that. And now that she was saying it out loud, it felt right. But Ron… She took a deep breath.
She had a very complicated spell to pick apart and weave back together. She needed to put all her focus on that. She could worry about her love triangle with Harry and Ron later.
Another hour passed. James had gone outside to meet their neighbors after Lily and Hermione told him his nervous pacing was putting them on edge and that he was free to leave. He'd huffed, but seemed relieved and told them to send a Patronus if they needed him for anything. They were finally finished with their calculations and ready to begin decomposing the spell.
"I'm going to have you do it, Lily. Partly because I can't reach but mostly so you can repeat it for the other Hermione."
"Okay," Lily said, raising her wand. "What do I do?"
"Repeat after me." Lily nodded. "Partem ac parcellam revelio."
Lily repeated the words and a tiny glowing orb that looked like a silver ball of yarn appeared on her wand tip. "Is this what's supposed to happen?" Lily asked.
Hermione nodded. "Now touch your wand to—"
"No!" a voice shouted from behind them.
Lily flinched and pulled her wand away from Hermione. The movement caused the orb to disappear.
"Harry," Hermione said gently, "we're just—"
"I know exactly what you're doing and I refuse to let you continue!" He had his wand out now and looked ready to duel.
"Harry, we've been extremely cautious and I'm not going to try to remove it—just weaken it."
"No," he said simply, coming into the room and taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table.
"Harry—"
"No," he repeated, fixing her with a stern glare. "We were just talking the other day about how dangerous dismantling Dark Artifacts is, then you go and attempt the spell on your bloody body?! Absolutely not. Thank Merlin I woke in time to stop you."
"Is it really that dangerous?" Lily asked. "You said you have it in hand."
"It is extremely dangerous," Harry said, speaking over Hermione. He opened his mouth to say more, but Hermione silenced him.
"Let me speak." He glared at her, but left the Silencing Charm in place. "That accident with the cursed vase was caused by an Auror in Training. I'm a lot better at this than new Aurors. I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't sure. And this will help her, Harry. I can help her."
Harry swallowed hard at the pleading look in her eyes. Fucking Hermione. Why did she always have to help? Usually, he loved this about her, but when it threatened her own wellbeing… He cringed as he recalled that day the vase had exploded in the Auror Offices. He grabbed his throat and lifted his eyebrow, asking silently if it was his turn to talk.
When Hermione nodded, Harry touched his wand and wordlessly removed the Silencing Charm. "I know you want to help, but this is too much," he said, struggling to keep a level tone. "The other Hermione is fine. My mum said she has ways to manage the pain." He looked at Lily, who nodded in confirmation.
Harry let out a long breath, then took Hermione's hand in both of his. "I can't lose you. Please don't do this."
Hermione squeezed his hand. "I know what I'm doing, Harry, and I'm going to do this spell. You need to trust me."
Harry scowled. He was warring between his inclination to trust her and his strong desire to protect her from danger. Ultimately, he decided to trust her, since it was clear from her tone she wasn't asking for permission and he would prefer she did this in front of him, so he could check her work.
Lily recast the spell from earlier and began touching the Runes on Hermione's skin in the order Hermione directed. As her wand moved from one Rune to another, the silver ball of yarn on the tip unraveled, connecting the points she'd touched with a glowing string.
Harry made them stop after every new touch of Lily's wand, so Hermione could go over the calculation she'd done for picking the next Rune in the sequence with him. Harry only had a basic understanding of the Arithmancy behind the computations—enough to repeat the work on much simpler Dark Spells—but he made Hermione go through them anyway, more to get her to check her own work, than anything.
Their pace was painstakingly slow, but Hermione bit her tongue and refrained from informing Harry that she'd already checked her computations twice and that she didn't need his "help," thank you very much. She knew if their positions were reversed, she would be doing the same thing.
When they finally reached the end of the sequence, both Harry and Hermione looked down at the crisscrossing patterns of strings Lily had created. "What now?" Lily asked.
Hermione nodded for Harry to help his mum. He rolled his eyes. Not only was he going along with this, but now he was helping? He needed to learn how to say no to this witch. He turned to his mum and instructed her to touch her wand tip to the first Rune she'd touched. Once Lily had done that, effectively creating a loop in the mess of strings, the orb disappeared from the tip of her wand.
"Okay," Harry said, "now you say—" He cut off. He couldn't make the word come out of his mouth.
Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand. She gave him a comforting smile, then said to Lily. "Say, Secessus."
Harry couldn't watch. He pulled Hermione's hand up to his face and leaned his forehead against it as he closed his eyes. He heard his mum say the incantation and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a sound of air releasing, then...silence. Harry cracked an eye open. Hermione was fine. She was still lying there in one piece.
He opened his eyes fully and watched her mouth fall open as she let out a soft moan. All his blood rushed south. The way she was lying there, with her eyes closed and an expression of bliss on her face, and that sound she'd made—
What is your problem?! Your mum is just inches away from you! Focus!
Harry gently returned Hermione's hand. "Are you—er—did it—um—work?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a breathtaking smile. She looked more relaxed than she had in ages. Her hair was spread out over the pillow, his pillow, he realized, and it was very sexy, even though Harry knew it shouldn't be. It was all he could do to keep from climbing on top of her and pressing her into the couch as he snogged her senseless. His cock twitched at the thought. He took a deep, calming breath. Get a hold of yourself.
"It worked," Hermione breathed. She looked down at her wound and Harry followed her gaze.
The scar still spanned over the same amount of skin, but about half of the raised Runes were gone, making the whole thing look considerably fainter. Lily was running her fingers over the remaining Runes. "They're still cold," she murmured, then looked up at Hermione. "But the pain—it's better?"
Hermione nodded. She conjured a mirror and placed it on her hip, below the wound, tilting it up so she could see the altered scar. "It's so much better. I think we reduced the pain by half...maybe less."
"I can't believe it worked…" Harry murmured
Hermione turned her head and smiled at him. "No faith in my abilities?"
He released a small laugh. "You know that wasn't it."
Hermione gave him a knowing smile and focused back on Lily. "You'll be able to do it just like that for the other Hermione. Trace the same pattern with your wand, use the same incantations, and it will work for her, too."
Lily smiled, her eyes shining with tears. "Thank you, Hermione."
Hermione vanished the mirror and was about to sit up, but Harry placed a hand on her arm to keep her down. "Wait. I want to check something."
Hermione simply nodded.
Harry took up Lily's position and lifted his wand. He rested his free hand on her waist and cast the same Dark Magic detection spell his dad had used on Hermione after she'd woken up from the mist. A spiral emerged from his wand tip with several dots illuminating the spaces between the lines. It looked the same as Harry remembered. "This is a good sign, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. It means the curse is just as stable now as it was. Let me try a few spells."
Harry shifted, but left his hand on her waist. Hermione didn't seem to mind. She was focused on the output of a complicated spell she had cast on the injury, which made a mess of Runes explode into the air. Harry had no idea how Hermione was making any sense of the Runes, but they seemed to mean something to her and whatever they were telling her was good, because she was wearing a half-smile and nodding.
"All good," she declared after a few minutes, waving her wand to make the Runes disappear.
"What did that spell tell you?" Lily asked as Harry finally took his hand away from Hermione's waist and helped her pull her jumper down.
"I was checking the stability of the reduced version of the curse," Hermione explained as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Harry resumed his seat on the coffee table across from her. "Very stable," Hermione concluded.
"You're brilliant," Lily said, still beaming. "Hermione is going to be so relieved. Though not as much as Harry. I can't wait to tell them."
"This Harry is relieved too," Harry said. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. But I should have known you're never wrong."
"Rarely wrong," Hermione corrected, smiling shyly at him.
Harry's eyes met hers and they got caught up in one of those trances, where neither of them could bring themselves to look away from the other. Lily broke the spell by placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm going to go find James."
"Oh, uh, yeah." Hermione looked down at her watch. "We have dinner reservations in an hour, so we should probably start getting ready."
"Sounds good," Lily said as she left the tent. "And Hermione," she called from the opening of the tent, "you should be proud of what you did here today."
A blush tinted Hermione's cheeks as she looked up through her eyelashes at Harry. "She's right," he said. "That was really nice, what you did, and you didn't have to. It also didn't help that you had me yelling at you to stop."
She let out a small laugh. "I probably would have been doing the same." She sighed and glanced back down at her watch. "I guess—um—we should get ready. Do you mind if I take my shower first, so I have time to dry my hair?"
"Go ahead."
Her eyes met his for several seconds, then she dropped her gaze to his knees, which were touching hers. "You're, um, in the way," she whispered.
"Right." Harry got up and moved to the other end of the couch. "Sorry."
"You're fine." Hermione stood and as she walked past him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "How are you doing? Okay?"
He forced a smile on his face. "Yeah."
She nodded sadly as she pulled her hand away. "Don't stop sharing your thoughts with me now, okay? I'm here for you, Harry."
"Yeah," he breathed, swallowing back a lump in his throat. "Thanks, Hermione."
A few hours later, Harry and Hermione were sitting across the table from each other, chatting about the weather and trying to ignore the awkwardness sitting at the table with them.
James and Lily had abandoned them a short while ago for the dance floor. Harry wanted to ask Hermione to dance, but didn't think it was the best idea. He'd already told her he loved her and been rejected. He'd also gaped at her back at the tent, when he'd first caught sight of her all dressed up, then made her uncomfortable by going on and on about how gorgeous she was.
But it wasn't his fault. She was gorgeous, especially now. She was wearing a simple, forest green dress that stopped just above her knees. It was cinched at the middle, showing off her tiny waist, and had capped sleeves and a modest neckline—though not so modest that he couldn't see the tops of her breasts, which he definitely wasn't looking at. He forced his eyes back up, following the line of her elegant neck to her eyes, which looked larger than normal because of the makeup she was wearing.
Harry knew he was coming on strong, but he'd just realized he was madly in love with his best friend and while it was terrifying and made him sick if he thought about it too much, it was also wonderful. The thought of being with Hermione, who he'd never have to hide from, who he'd always known liked him for being Harry, and not Harry Potter, and who would never leave, made him giddy. Then, add on the fact that she was smart and beautiful and wonderful in pretty much every way, it was no wonder he could barely contain himself around her.
But Hermione wasn't ready. She was still sorting through her feelings for Harry. She also loved Ron and felt loyal to him. So, Harry didn't ask her to dance, even though he really wanted to. He decided to leave it up to her, knowing she was the sort of witch who wouldn't hesitate to ask if she wanted to dance with him.
While they talked about the cool evening, and how lucky it was that they'd avoided rain for most of their trip, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering and imagining what it would be like if he were dancing with her right now. If he were allowed to place his hand on the curve of her waist, to hold her close, perhaps place a soft kiss on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Press his hips into her, lower his hand to grip her bum and—
Harry snapped back to the present. He gulped his water and readjusted his trousers, deciding to focus on the scene around them instead. On the off-chance Hermione decided she did want to dance with him, he didn't want to be sporting a giant erection.
The restaurant the other Hermione had found was lovely. It was at the other end of the island, wrapped around the base of a mountain. The sky was still darkening, but Harry could tell that soon, everyone at the restaurant would have a gorgeous view of the Northern Lights. All the tables were positioned along a long, winding boardwalk so that they'd have an unobstructed view of the sky.
At the end of the boardwalk was a large patio. That's where a small band was playing as several couples danced, including his parents. Dinner had been a lovely, five-course meal that had passed too quickly, despite the long break the waiter had given them between courses.
Every moment today had passed too quickly. Soon, the sky would be dark and the lights would appear. They would sit and watch them for a few hours, return to the tent just before dawn, sleep, and then... that would be it. The last day of the trip, done.
Harry rubbed his palms, which had suddenly become very sweaty, on his robes. Hermione moved her foot against his shin to get his attention. When his eyes snapped up to meet hers, she was frowning. "Are you okay?"
Someone gripped his shoulders and Harry jumped. "Sorry, Harry," his dad said, stepping into Harry's line of sight. "I should know better than to startle an Auror."
Harry gave him a dismissive wave. "It's fine."
"Okay," James began, clapping his hands together before turning toward Hermione. "I know things are weird here. Harry loves you, you love his best friend, he's engaged to said best friend's sister who is also your close friend. There are confusing feelings, denial, fear, etcetera, etcetera. But we're going to put that mess behind us for tonight." He held his hand out to her. "Dance with me."
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to settle further into her seat. "You're very blunt, James."
"You're not the first person to say so." He turned his head to Harry. "Your mum wants to dance with you. She just got caught up over there, talking to a couple two campsites down from us who live outside Bristol."
Harry turned and found his mum at the edge of the tables, speaking with a couple that looked close to his parents' age. She waved him over and he stood up, straightened his robes, and gave Hermione a quick shrug before going to join his mum.
James shook his hand, which was still outstretched. "Come on, Hermione. I want to dance with my future daughter-in-law, since I won't get to do so at the wedding." He winked.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but still placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.
When they reached the patio at the edge of the boardwalk, James grabbed her right hand and placed his other hand on her waist, then started guiding them around a small area in a simple waltz.
"What's the plan for tomorrow?" he asked.
Hermione let out a small sigh of relief. Discussing plans was easy territory. Much easier than talking about Harry or saying goodbye. He'd picked up on her relief and gave her a knowing smile, which she quickly returned.
"Um, tomorrow," she began, but even that word made her teary. She paused to take a breath and blink back the tears before continuing. "We'll be busy. I need Dumbledore's Deluminator, which I found in his old office at Hogwarts the last time I was here. I used the map and Harry's cloak to sneak in last time."
James smiled.
"Then I need to go to Knockturn Alley."
"What? No."
"We'll be fine. I was fine last time. There's a magical object I need at Borgin and Burkes. A large jade amulet that can serve as a vessel for a wizard's magic. We'll need that to get into the Department of Mysteries. I also need to stop by Gringotts and empty Hermione's vault. Last time, she had just enough money to purchase the amulet, thank goodness. I didn't need to add robbing Gringotts to my list of things to do to get back home—though, honestly, I probably would have come clean to the other Harry and asked for a loan."
"So, you didn't have any of the tools you needed to get back?"
"No. I only had what this Hermione had. She didn't have the Deluminator, which made sense. I was worried Neville would have it and that I'd have to try to track him down, but ended up being lucky and found it at the first place I looked, McGonagall's office. She still has Dumbledore's things on a shelf there. I also needed to break into the Department of Mysteries, since this Hermione isn't an Unspeakable, which was where the amulet came in."
"You jumped through that portal with no idea what you'd find, with no one going along with you, and knowing there was no guarantee you'd be able to make it back safely," he said, awed. "How scared were you?"
"I was terrified. But what's life without a little risk?"
James grinned. "Is that from Sirius?"
Hermione nodded and now it was James's turn to blink back tears.
They were quiet for the next few minutes and when James spoke again, his voice was full of emotion. "Thank you, Hermione. For going through all that to find this place, for bringing Harry along with you, and for letting him convince you to stay. For being our guide on this magnificent trip, for letting us bully you into going through that time portal, for— Merlin." He stopped to take a deep breath.
When James leaned back to look at her, his eyes were swimming with sorrow. "As much as I hate being around someone who is constantly besting me in literally every area of magic—"
"Besides human to animal transfiguration."
James let out a laugh. "Sure." He sighed. "I'm going to miss you. You are a remarkable witch, Hermione. And you deserve to be happy." He said the last part knowingly and Hermione knew he was referring to Harry.
She dropped her gaze to his shoulder. "Lily told you?"
"That you love him back? Yes. I'm not going to beat the point in anymore. Just know that he's sincere. He's changed considerably on this trip. He knows what he wants, finally. Try to forgive him for the past and let him show you the man he is now."
Hermione simply nodded. James pushed her out into a twirl and when she came back, she said, "I really enjoyed getting to know you, James. I'm going to miss you, too."
Several tears fell onto her cheeks. "Damn," she swore, "I'm already crying. If this is how I am saying goodbye to you—someone I barely like—I'm going to be a mess when it's time to say goodbye to Lily."
James laughed heartily and he turned them so she could see Harry over his shoulder, dancing with his mum a few feet away. Hermione couldn't keep her eyes from settling on him. Harry did seem different. Not just because he was dressed up, looking more handsome than usual, but because of the way he was holding himself.
He seemed more confident, more comfortable in his body, more sure that he was where he was supposed to be. He was still stumbling through the dance steps, but he looked more like Hermione imagined the other Harry did when he danced.
But how far did this change in Harry extend? Was James right? Was it possible Harry was telling the truth, really willing to give it all up...for her? Hermione's heart floated at the thought and she got an urge to pull out of James's arms and cut into Lily and Harry's dance. She wanted to be close to Harry, not on the other end of the patio, dancing with his dad.
Almost as soon as the thought formed in her mind, it disappeared, replaced by the look of rage Ron would be wearing tomorrow when he heard about what had happened in this world. Her expression darkened and she looked away from Harry and focused on James again. He was watching her with an almost disappointed expression.
"You help everyone around you," he said in a low voice, "never hesitating to sacrifice yourself so others can be happy—like what you did for the other Hermione today. But when it comes to your own happiness, you don't fight. Why is that?"
Hermione reached up and wiped away a few tears that had settled on her lower lashes. She decided to ignore James's question, since she didn't have an answer, and changed the subject instead. "What was your favorite Wonder, James?"
His brow furrowed and he looked even more disappointed than before. He shook his head and took up the new topic of conversation.
At the other end of the patio, Harry and Lily were dancing in silence. Harry was focusing on the steps, trying not to stomp on her feet, and also thinking of something worth saying. This was one of the last moments he'd be spending with his mum and he wanted to tell her how much these past few weeks had meant to him, but couldn't figure out how to put it into words.
Figuring it was better to say something stupid, than nothing, he decided to go with, "I created this idealized version of you in my head. I never knew you so I just knit together the stories people had told me and imagined what you were like. And that person was… perfect. But you—you're better."
Lily beamed at him.
"I'm glad I know you, even though it's going to make everything hurt a lot worse when I'm back."
Lily frowned. "What do you mean?"
Harry shrugged and searched around for an explanation. "I'm sort of comfortable with the grief I feel for my parents. I've worn it my whole life and I never really knew what I was missing. But now…" He paused to take a breath. "It's just going to be harder."
Lily nodded sadly. They were quiet for the next few moments, swaying in place, then she said, "My parents died during my last year at Hogwarts, in a car accident."
"Yeah. I've heard."
"Right. Anyway, I took it very hard. Dumbledore noticed and one day, he called me into his office for tea to talk about it. I didn't want to talk. I told him I'd rather forget the whole thing. That it was easier to just pretend that the life I'd had before being introduced to the magical world had never happened since remembering it— remembering them—was so painful."
"What did he say?" Harry asked. He could imagine Dumbledore had some sort of clever quote at the ready.
"He had a quote for me."
Harry smiled. "Of course he did."
"'It's not forgetting that heals, but remembering.' And he was right, of course. I have a lot of problems with the man, especially after hearing your story, but you can't deny he was very wise. So, even when it's hard, you have to face the past, the loss, the things your mind's trying to get you to forget. That's the only way to truly come to terms with it and move on."
Harry swallowed hard. "He, uh, put a similar sort of saying on my parents' grave. 'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.' Hermione said it meant that we can keep the dead alive by remembering them. That they live on, through us. And I told her—" His voice cracked. He paused, then started again. "I told her I didn't think I was doing a good job of keeping them alive, since I didn't even know them. It wasn't like Sirius, who I could imagine in almost every room. But now—now I'll be able to do it."
Lily reached up and wiped away a few tears that had fallen onto Harry's cheeks. She was wearing a sad smile as she said, "I'm glad James and I were able to help you keep them alive. They deserve that, for all they were forced to give up."
"Yeah," Harry breathed.
"Do you promise to remember them then? Even when it hurts? Remember us, remember the trip, the war, and everyone you lost. Don't try to shove it all to the side."
"Yeah," Harry repeated. "I promise."
"Good." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You can do it, Harry. You're going to get past this. And don't forget, you're not alone." She gestured toward where Hermione was dancing with his dad.
Harry simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
They danced in silence for a few minutes while Harry tried to compose himself. Once the next song started up, his dad cut in, saying he fancied a dance with his wife, and Harry found himself standing in front of a sad-looking Hermione. "We can go—er—sit," he suggested, cocking his head toward their table.
"You don't want to dance with me?"
Harry didn't waste any time. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her close while she linked her hands behind his neck.
"I'm sad," Hermione said.
"Me too."
They exchanged small smiles, then stayed quiet for the next few songs. They didn't need to say more. They both knew what the other was thinking. A few songs later, the band ceased playing and a man announced that the lights were out so it was time for everyone to enjoy a different type of song. Even then, Harry and Hermione didn't pull apart. She rested her head on his chest. He moved his hands to her back. And they stayed there, embracing, long after all the other couples had left the patio.
