It's Harry and Ginny's 5th anniversary and everyone's come out to celebrate!
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"Mi….. Mi wake up." A gentle voice coaxed her from her warm, foggy mind as an equally gentle hand shook her shoulder. Letting out a soft groan she gradually opened her eyes and blinked a few times before the red haired man before her came into focus. The kind brown eyes of her husband of five years slowly registered in her mind.
"Ron…. What time is it?" She asked with a large yawn; pulling an arm out from the warmth under her blankets with reluctance.
"It's 8.30; we need to get going at nine." He said, a surprisingly calm smile adorning his face as he spoke. His words, however, caused his wife to suddenly flush with anger and sit up quickly in bed.
"Ron, you idiot! We're going to be late!" she snapped, scampering over to her dresser to begin to hurriedly hunt for something appropriate to wear.
"How you could let me sleep in on Harry and Ginny's anniversary is beyond me! It only comes around once a year and you allow me to sleep, honestly!" She continued to scold him.
"Relax love, I've already got Lily and Max up and eating breakfast downstairs and Mari's dressed and sleeping again in her crib." Ron said referring to their twins of almost 5 years and their little girl of 8 months.
Pausing in her frantic searching in the draws and her train of vengeful thoughts' directed at the other person in the bedroom, she turned to her husband with a thankful smile on her full lips.
"You are the best, Ron!" she exclaimed, giving him a quick kiss as she headed to the bathroom.
"Thus the reason you married me!" He chuckled as she closed the door.
It took thirty minuted for Hermione to dress and feed all three of her children. During this time she had to convince Max that Lily didn't in face like to have her pig tails pulled by him, despite all his protests that she secretly did; she had to hush Mari when she was rudely awoken by her older siblings rather loud conversation through two stories of the house and scold Ron for just laughing when Lily somehow managed to knock over her glass full of milk over the kitchen table by merely staring at it. It was thirty full minutes later that they arrived at their destination.
The family of 5 appeared with a pop in front of an old two-story house that was mostly covered in vines. An old picket fence with its paint mostly peeled away surrounded the property and a small shed had been built off to the far right of the backyard. However, it was the people in standing around in the grass area with an ancient looking tree right in the centre that caught their attention and prompted them to approach.
Many tables had been set up randomly. Plates, glasses and cutlery arranged neatly on them, awaiting the celebrations that where going to take place that day.
"Ron, Hermione!" A voice called out and without another seconds' notice both were swept up in the loving embrace of Molly Weasely.
"Hello mum, how have you been?" Hermione addressed her mother-in-law warmly.
"Hey mum; here Mari, say hi to gramma." Ron said, passing the now wide awake child into the waiting arms of her grandmother.
"Hello Mari dear. Lily, Max, come give gramma a hug." Mrs Weasely said, holding out her other arm. Obediently they greeted her before running off to play with the other children present. Molly turned her attention away from the running duo and back to Hermione.
"I've not been up to anything in particular Hermione dear, just digging out all the old pictures of you all at Hogwarts together. I thought it'd be a nice treat for Harry and Ginny today, us as well." Molly's smile was tinted with the sadness of memories past.
"Oh how wonderful! I'll have to go and have a look…." Hermione trailed off thoughtfully.
"Come on, mum look after Mari for a moment would you." Ron said grabbing his wife's hand and pulling her over to the picture stands that were propped up in the shade of the old tree in the centre of everything.
Stopping in front of the picture boards Ron smiled as each picture brought back a treasured memory of days gone by.
"Look Mi, it's us with Harry in our first year!" Ron laughed pointing the picture out. Smiling she saw their 11-year-old selves laughing and smiling back at her. They were wearing their Gryffindoor scarfs and has their cloaks pulled tightly around them as dead leaves swirled about the picture lazily, suggesting that the autumn breezes were only just beginning.
"We really should have gone to see Harry and Ginny first you know, this is their anniversary." Hermione said, glancing at her husband who just smiled and shrugged.
"Nah, they'll forgive us; besides Hagrid is talking to them at the moment with Manervia." Ron said, glancing around the side of the tree's trunk to where the massive man stood.
"I guess you're right." Hermione agreed, looking over herself before turning her attention back to the boards.
"Hey, here's one of Ginny's first day at Hogwarts, mum must have gotten Percey to take this." Ron snorted at the after-thought. Though there was a small amount of pride shinning in his eyes as he gazed at the shy 11-year-old girl who stood in the picture, the tips of her ears a slightly scarlet colour as she glanced up at him before returning her eyes to the ground with a shy smile.
"Here's one of our third year with Remus." Hermione laughed. The picture in question consisted of the trio laughing and Remus smiling with amusement. Hermione was seated at a desk while Ron and Harry had opted for sitting on the desk top. Remus was casually leaning at some more desks across from them.
"And our fifth year with Sirius." Ron pointed out, a slightly sad smile tinting his lips. In the picture Sirius was pouting at Hermione who was holding her box for S.P.E.W. in front of her. She was animatedly talking to him, trying to explain it while Harry and Ron silently laughed behind her, though she remained oblivious to it.
"Look, it's Christmas Day at Black Manor, everyone's so happy." Hermione smiled wistfully. The long table in the kitchen was pilled high with food as the twins kept throwing fire works up into the air and laughing behind their mothers back as they did so. Ginny was laughing with Remus and Sirius about something as she petted Crookshanks at the table, oblivious to the fact that her mother had told her countless times before not to do so. Then there was Ron and Hermione who were joking around with Tonks, who'd occasionally change a random body part into an animal, causing the two to begin laughing. Arthur was talking animatedly with Harry, a smile on his face as he no doubt was talking about muggles to the boy who was always happy to answer any of his questions.
"That was Sirius' last Christmas." She said softly.
"But it was enjoyable. At least he had a good last Christmas." Ron comforted his wife. Smiling, she turned to another board.
"Here's us at the burrow, it's been awhile since we were there last." Hermione remarked thoughtfully. The burrow itself hadn't changed at all, but the people there had. No longer was Hermione a bushy haired teenager who relied solidly on books for all the answers. Now she was an attractive adult and mother of three who was confident in who she was. It was the same for Ron; he no longer looked like some of his body parts were too big for him (namely his hands and feet). Now he was a kind, tall man who almost always wore a smile, enjoyed life and adored his wife and three children.
"Come on, let's go talk to some people, then we'll go see Harry and Ginny." Ron suggested. Taking his wife's hand, they leisurely made their way around the yard, talking to the many people there. Fred and Angale were with George and Katie, laughing and joking around with two 2-year-olds sitting at their feet; Benny and Jimmy respectively. Charley was sitting with Remus and Tonks, who was glowing at 6 months pregnant, happily discussing the progress they had made with the dragon Harry and Hermione had helped Hagrid smuggle out of Hogwarts in their very first year. Apparently Norbert was part of a new program in communication between humans and dragons in Romania.
They bumped into Bill and Fleur along with their 3-year-old girl, Sophia, who looked like a mirror image of her mum already. Talking to them was Mad Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt, apparently discussing some of Harry and Ginnys' more famous Quiddich matches at school. The two older men occasionally tunning out the married couples love-dovy moments that seemed to happen on a fairly regular basis. Percy stood conversing with Flitwick about amusing spell mess-ups and back-fires that had occurred in classes, the occasional tale of Harry and Ginny's' spell miss-haps thrown into the mix. Moving on they found Luna and Neville talking with Arthur and Molly, a 3-year-old girl, Sarah, and a 1-year-old boy, James, sitting contentedly on the ground at their feet pulling up grass. Mari was still held gently in Molly's arms as she chatted happily with the couple, the little girl giggling contentedly in her arms.
When Hermione noticed Hagrid and Manervia walking past them she tugged on Ron's hand. Excusing themselves they turned and headed over to Harry and Ginny at the base of the tree.
"Hey guys, long time no see." Ron said softly, a smile lifting his lips.
"Can you believe it's already been five years… the worlds changed so much since then…" Hermione commented wistfully as both she and Ron sat down next to them, content with the silence that surrounded them. Forgotten memories slowly drifted to the surfaced.
After 10 minutes of smiles and laughs as they reminisced, Ron and Hermione got up and moved off, only to stop when Lily ran up to them. Glancing around they saw her counterpart – Max – racing around with his Uncles Fred and George.
"Mum! I've got some pretty lilies! Do you think Uncle Harry and Aunty Ginny would like them?" she asked glancing over at the said two eagerly.
"Lily, I think they would love them." Hermione smiled at her thoughtful daughter.
"Really! Good, 'cause they deserve a present, it's been five years, almost as long as I've been around, right Dad?" The small girl was remarkably smart for her age, just like her mother.
"Yep, you're right honey. Now go give them the flowers while I go find your sister. It'll be morning tea before you know it." Ron smiled before walking off in search of his missing child who was probably being affectionately passed around by now, knowing his family.
Taking her mothers' hand the young girl was led over to Harry and Ginny. Holding the out two lilies, she smiled.
"One for you, Uncle Harry, and one for you, Aunty Ginny. It's your 5 year anniversary so you deserve a present each." The child's smile grew slightly more mature. "I hope you enjoy today, and I wish you both happiness… wherever you go." With that she set down the flowers, side by side, before offering a smile to her mum and running off to her brother, all signs of maturity gone.
Hermione looked over at all the people here, celebrating what was, and had been, two of her best friends lives. The sound of chattering people, smiling faces, and carefree laughter – it was wonderful. They were free with no threat of Voldemort or any of his death eaters – Harry and Ginny had seen to that years' ago. It was everything and more that her two best friends had ever wanted. This was what they had considered the prefect life. Being here, with all their extended family, the laughter, the smiles, the sheer peace that filled the area was a sight to behold.
Taking a deep breath she went to move back towards everyone when a sudden gust of wind rustled the aging trees' leaves in Godrics Hollow, causing her to turn back and look at her two friends who, for a split moment while the wind blew, she could see sitting at the trunks base leaning against one another. Ginnys' vibrant red hair flew about in the breeze, her summer dress rippling about as Harry affectionately held her close to him, green eyes sparkling and his smile happy and content; mirroring Ginny's perfectly. They looked up and smiled at her. Blinking, the wind died down and they were both gone; only the two lilies remained in front of their gravestones. Watching, one lily slowly rolled over and gently leaned on the other.
'Yes, they're still here, even if we can't always see them. They're still here with us, just like they had always wanted.'
Turning from the pair of grave stones, she simply smiled.
The End
