AN – Another one of my musings, it needed two chapters though…
Chapter 1 – Wandering in the Wilderness
He walked through the crowds thinking about how wonderful anonymity felt, he had been wondering through different towns since the war had ended. He had his hair in a pony tail with a few strands hanging over his famous scar and he finally had his eyes fixed so that he would never be recognised. Walking through the Swedish town he stopped at shop so he could buy water and a postcard for Hermione and Rosie, his guilt always lead him to sending them a postcard. His guilt and frustration is also what lead him away from England, and kept him away.
It had started while they were hunting Horcruxes; the night Ron decided to leave and Hermione stayed, she cried the whole night and looked dead on her feet the next day. The following evening she climb into bed with him and simply stayed there holding onto him tightly, mimicking every shift he made. It continued every night and eventually they had grew even closer than before, they danced to music and made plans every day. Then Ron returned and everyone went back to sleeping in their own beds and the bond Hermione and Harry shared had been broken. He returned to Hogwarts for his final year and even tried dating Ginny again but nothing made him feel loved like when he and Hermione were together.
Ron and Hermione on the other hand were constantly fighting and she would always run to him for comfort and advice. Then school ended and Harry sold everything but Grimmauld place and started his renovations on the place, eventually it looked like a beautiful home in which a normal person could live; so he lived there for a year while he worked through the Black library. Hermione had decided to live there with him when her parents went away and eventually the break up happened between Ron and Hermione.
That was when the sleeping arrangement resumed, one night he went to bed early and later she slipped in next to him in a pair of shorts and one of his t-shirts. She always came to bed later than him and woke earlier and she wouldn't speak about the sleeping arrangement and he never brought it up for fear that it might end again. She was studying to become a lawyer and he still spent time learning magic from the Black library; some days he would meet her for lunch at a muggle café and they would speak about various things but never eithers love life or the sleeping arrangement.
One day he prepared supper for the two of them when she arrived with Ron; Harry looked at them holding hands and knew immediately that they were back together.
"Hi mate, it's been awhile. Everyone in the department keeps wondering when you'll join us in training" Ron said in a matter of fact tone as Hermione went upstairs
"Yeah not going to happen, so are you two going out for the night?" Harry asked motioning to the sound upstairs
"Maybe, but she's packing. We decided to try again and she is moving into the burrow with us" Ron smiled at Harry
"That's nice" Harry said distractedly
"We can go, Harry thank you for letting me stay" she said from across the room not making any move toward him
"It was my pleasure Hermione, you're both welcome here anytime" he offered
But they never returned to Grimmauld place. He however would always call this place home (even though it now felt empty without Hermione). He had found a journal written by one of Sirius's ancestors about the different kinds of magic in the world so Harry packed a bag and started travelling; he followed the same journey, learning about magic in the different parts of the world. He sat on the dock of a run down sea side town somewhere in Africa when an owl landed next to him, he took the letter from the bird and it took off again. He ordered another beer and read the letter
Dear friend or family member,
You are cordially invited to the wedding of Ms. Hermione Granger and Mr Ronald Weasley on the 1st of August 2000. Please do come and enjoy this wonderful day with the loving couple.
Regards
The Weasley family
Harry stared at the letter for hours while his alcohol intake increased, he thought it would be a birthday wish but instead it was like a nightmare. Somewhere around midnight he stumbled upstairs to his rented room and passed out. The next morning he woke with a terrible headache and his heart was in no better condition. It had been almost a year since they had decided to try and work on their relationship again and now they were getting married.
It would still be several months before the wedding day arrived so Harry continued following the journal and two months before the wedding he reached the last destination that was documented in the journal. While sitting in the Himalayas Harry thought about the journey he just completed and decided to embark on his own journey and document it for future heartbroken almost 20 years olds.
He would travel and try and make the world a better place because he had seen the utter devastation that people had caused so he helped build houses in the Himalayas first before leaving for Morocco where he helped a village with their water problem. From there each person would lead him to another who needed his skills. The morning of August the first rolled around and Harry arrived back in England and made his way straight to Madam Malkin's for new robes. He arrived 5 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start wearing midnight black robes; his hair in the pony tail; he took a seat at the back and then she walked in wearing the most beautiful dress he had ever seen and when she passed him and he saw that she was quite pregnant and it all made sense.
The ceremony was beautiful, even he had to admit that, and soon his two best friends were married and the reception was small so he found them through the small crowd
"Ron, Hermione" he called and they turned and his eyes fell to her belly once again
"Harry! We were so worried that you might not make it, where have you been?" She asked
"Here and there, nowhere significant really" he replied realising that he did not want to be here
"We wanted to ask you something important" Ron started
"Sure what's the matter?" He asked
"We'll we were wondering if you'd like to be Godfather?" Hermione asked rubbing her abdomen. He felt sick immediately; she should have known what she meant to him and now she was asking this.
"Uhm yeah sure" he replied
"Excellent" Hermione gave him a hug and the action felt so wrong to him
"You need to cut your hair and shave Harry" Ron started again "The head Auror is here as well and he wants to meet you" Ron smiled like he was doing Harry the biggest favour
"Let me go get cleaned up then" he walked towards the house and apparated right into Grimmauld place once he was out of sight. Casting the Fidelius charm and shutting the floo to everyone but himself, Harry Potter went incognito. For weeks he did not eat or sleep, Kreacher brought him drink after drink without question. He stumbled into the hallway and kicked the rucksack he had been using on his journey and the journal fell out of it, he looked at it and decided that he would continue his work instead of wallowing in self pity.
The following morning he took off again ending up in a village outside India that had been having attacks in the middle of the night. The atmosphere was cold and he felt the familiar feeling of being close to a dementor so he done some investigation into the problem; he ended up at a bar and started speaking to some of the locals and found out that since the attacks some people seemed miserable and the village was no longer the happy and relaxed place that it had been famous for. He made up his mind that there were dementors attacking the village and resolved their problem before moving on to the next place.
A few months later another letter found him at a bar in Mexico, drinking tequila with the locals and learning magic was an amazing time. He had been here nearly two months and had been learning a lot with the tribes in the area; he opened the letter and noticed Hermione's overly neat handwriting and closed the letter again, he would read it later in private. The rest of the day felt like it would never end but eventually he was back in his room and he opened the envelope properly and a picture fell out along with the letter. The little girl in the picture had dark eyes and was reaching out in the picture, he started reading the letter
Hi Harry,
Meet Rose, my daughter and your goddaughter. She is a handful already and Ron can't help but fuss over her. She was born on the 11th of October.
I tried to go to the place where you live, I can't remember the name, and I couldn't remember where it is. Ron tried as well and he thinks that you've finally gone mad and locked yourself away from the world. I hope you are okay Harry, I do miss you and I hope you get to meet Rose
Your friend
Hermione
He looked at the picture again and tucked it into his rucksack along with the letter. The next morning he went into town and found a coffee shop that sold postcards, he found one that was a picture of the valley close to where he was and sent it to Hermione. He left the town that day and continued south for the following months always stopping to buy a postcard and sometimes a gift for Rosie but never writing a letter or sending a note along with the postcard; he always signed it "Harry" but wrote nothing else.
Time moved on as was its nature and the months turned into years, the pictures of Rosie came once a year and sometimes there was a note but never a letter. Harry turned twenty five and celebrated his birthday with a few wizards in Sweden; it had been the closest he had been to home since Hermione's wedding. He sat outside enjoying the dark and the bite of the wind; he hadn't been in the cold for sometime, sitting there drinking his beer and watching the flames die down he felt sleep calling to him; he crawled into bed and fell asleep. Tomorrow he would pack up and go into town and find someplace to buy a postcard.
He was walking through the Swedish town after sending his latest postcard when an owl started circling overheard, stopping so that it could deliver its message he sat down outside a cinema. He took the envelope from the owl and noticed it seemed heavier than usual. Opening it he pulled out the picture of Rosie, she had long straight brown hair. Fortunately she wasn't plagued with the same bushy hair that Hermione was as a child. Next was a card from Rosie wishing him Happy Birthday and thanking him for everything he had sent her over the years. Hermione also sent him a short note saying Happy Birthday and hoping that he was well. Gathering everything up her decided that it was time for him to meet his Goddaughter and face Hermione and Ron.
He arrived at Grimmauld place and took a long shower and then cut his beard so that it was less than a centimetre long but still a full beard. Cutting his hair was an experience since it hadn't been cut since Hermione moved out, He cut it as short as Moony's had been when Harry first met him. He got dressed in black jeans, black sneakers and a green shirt. He threw on a black coat and made his way to the address he saw on Hermione's last note. He knocked on the door and Rosie answered
"Hello" she smiled
"Hi there Rosie" he smiled back at her
"Only mommy, daddy and Uncle Harry call me Rosie" she said raising her eyebrow
"So who do you think I am?" he bent down so that they were looking at each other eye to eye. She pushed some hair out of his face and saw the scar
"Uncle Harry!" she shouted and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. All the noise finally drew a few adults to the door
"Who is that Rose?" Hermione's mother asked
"It's me Mrs Granger, Harry Potter" he said shifting Rosie onto his hip
"My word, the last time I saw you was at the wedding and you wore glasses then" Dan granger said
"Yeah, I've been travelling and I got my eyes fixed" he said rubbing the back of his head
"Come in, Hermione is gone to pick up somethings for dinner" Mrs Granger invited him in.
"Thanks Mrs Granger"
"Call me Mary" he closed the door behind him. He looked around the house and saw bookshelves setup against almost every wall and toys laying on the floor but what he didn't see was any trace of Ron.
"Uhm where is…" he never finished the question when he saw Dan shake his head
"So tell us about where you have been? We saw all the postcards in Rose's room" Mary asked
"We'll my favourite so far has been Mexico" he said sitting down on the couch and Rosie hopped into his lap.
"It's where I found out about this little one" he continued "the people there are fantastic and the magical ones are even more so. It wasn't all fun though, they had a Manticore attacking people and it gave me this" he rolled up his sleeve and showed them the long scar starting at his left ring finger and ran up his arm till his elbow. He continued telling them about Mexico when she walked into the house carrying two bags just saying "I'm back" before walking into the kitchen not noticing him.
"We'll take Rose to the park for an hour or so, you two get caught up" Dan whispered and the three of them left. He walked into the kitchen and Hermione was packing stuff into the cupboard and not bothering to look at who entered the kitchen. She looked great, she had on a sexy dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt, her hair was straighter than he remembered and it was pulled into a pony tail
"So I ran into one of the Professors from Hogwarts and he said that they were looking for new teachers because Professor Flitwick is retiring and they still haven't been able to fill the defence against the dark arts post with a permanent teacher. I think that they are waiting for Harry to show up and take the job" she said. She finally turned around and saw that he was standing and watching the whole time, she crossed the room quickly and hugged him.
"How long have you been here?" she asked still holding him
"About an hour, been telling your parents about Mexico" he replied
"Where are they?" she finally let go of him and looked around the house
"Took Rosie to the park so that we could talk" he said and she turned to face him again
"How long are you staying?" she asked while pouring herself a glass of wine
"I don't know actually, I just decided to come back to England for a while and meet Rosie"
"Oh. So what do you think?" She asked
"She is amazing Hermione"
"So ..." she said uncertain about what she should say
"Where is Ron?" he asked already fearing the answer. She drank the entire glass of wine and poured another one
"God Harry where to start? We got divorced about two years ago when Rosie turned two. We had this massive fight" she started "Then he accused me of not loving him and holding him back, the divorce happened and yeah now you're caught up" she said
"I'm sorry about all that" he said
"It's okay. He is dating Lavender Brown and living in the flat above the twins shop" she said
"Mommy!" Rosie came speeding into the kitchen and hugged Hermione
"And now my life is split between work and raising this one" she poured Rosie a glass of water
"Uncle Harry, are you staying for supper?"
"If you're mom will have me" he said looking at Hermione
"Sure why not?" Hermione smiled. The evening was one of the best Harry had experienced. Dan and Mary left after 8 and then they put Rosie to bed, once she was sound asleep Harry and Hermione sat downstairs talking about his adventures and her job as an attorney at a private firm in Diagon Alley
"You were gone so long Harry" she stated
"I know, I needed to get away" he didn't look at her when he said it
"From Ron and me?" she asked waiting for him to look at her again
"Are we going to talk about this now?" he asked unsure if she wanted to have the discussion they had been putting off since Ron had returned to the tent that night after destroying the locket
"I think we have put it off long enough" she said simply
"I fell in love with you Hermione, those nights in the tent without Ron. Then he came back and you went back to him as if nothing happened and I figured you didn't feel anything for me" he was looking into her eyes now
"Then he left you again and you came to me, crawling into my bed every night. Though we didn't once kiss or sleep with each other it was so intimate. Then he came back and took you from me once again and you gladly went" her tears were flowing now, but he needed to tell her everything
"So I left, I went on my adventure and I thought that if I was gone you'd be able to make it work with him. Then you invited me to the wedding and I thought that it worked and that I was the problem so I came back the morning of your wedding for you. Then you asked me to be Godfather to your daughter and he asked me to go shave and cut my hair so I could meet his bloody boss. So this time I decided to return to my travels and I would return when I felt like it. I helped so many people by trying to keep you out of my mind and it worked for the most part." she wiped some tears away but they kept falling
"But now I am back in England and I see that it hasn't worked, here you are raising Rosie alone by the looks of it and Ron is back with Lavender. I loved you all these years and I hoped you were happy with Ron and Rosie" he finished. She cleared her throat
"I fell in love with you too you know" she said
"Really?" he smiled
"Yes really, but I'm not good enough for you Harry. I never was and that's why I kept going back to Ron, I thought eventually you'd realise that I wasn't pretty enough or sexy enough or brave enough to be at your side and you'd go find someone else"
"How could you think that Mione, I think you are the most beautiful, sexy, brave, and funny and caring woman I have ever met"
"But I'm not Harry. Back then I was a bushy haired know it all and you were the boy who defeated a basilisk and then won the tri wizard cup and then defeated Voldemort and now I'm a mom of a four year old and a lawyer, whereas you are a well travelled wizard who has helped people right across the world" he said sadly
"Stand up" he lead her to a big mirror in the hallway. Standing behind her while she looked at herself
"You are beautiful, my god how can you not see it. That bushy haired witch you speak about kept me from dying while looking for the philosopher's stone, then helped me free my godfather, then helped me win the tri wizard tournament, then helped me defeat Voldemort. I didn't do it alone, I had you and because I had you I could do it. Now you're a mother who sacrifices everything she has to support a beautiful and intelligent little girl, compared to that I look like a teenager who ran away from home because I was scared" he put his arms around her waist and she leaned into him
They stayed silent for a bit just enjoying being together again. She remembered how wonderful she felt when she would crawl into his bed even though she could never face him about it and now it was all out in the open
"You know I always slept the best when I slept in your bed" she asked
"I always waited for you to come to bed before I nodded off, I couldn't sleep without you being there" he replied
"So is there anyone in your life?" she asked
"No, I'm going home to an empty bed" he answered
"So will you stay with me tonight?" she asked hopefully
"I think I will" he said and she turned around in his arms
"Can I do something I wanted to since fourth year?" he asked this time and she only nodded
He kissed her gently on the lips; she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. He let his hands explore her back and they drifted down to her hips and then her bum, she pushed him against the wall and kissed him in earnest. They parted and he looked into her eyes and kept his hands on her bum
"Really like my bum don't you?" she teased
"You don't know the half of it" he kissed her forehead
"Let's go to bed" she took his hand and led him to her bedroom
The next morning Harry woke up alone in bed and heard the shower running. He got up wrote Hermione a note and left for home, last night had been amazing and they only shared a bed and held one another. When he arrived at Grimmauld place he reopened the floo and called for Kreacher. The house elf was ancient now and moved slowly
"I need you to find your replacement and I need you to show them around, then you may retire. You can live here if you have nowhere to go"
"Kreacher will do this" he replied and popped away
Harry showered and changed before making his way to Gringotts. His business there took him the rest of the morning to complete, on his way out he ran into Neville and Hannah who were surprised to see him. They had a little boy with them and he was excited because he was getting a new broom. Harry wished them luck and went back to Hermione's place.
When he arrived saw her from outside, she looked as beautiful as ever. He knocked and Ron answered the door
"Harry, it's good to see you. Hermione and I were just talking about you" and then Ron punched him in the face "You're a lying cunt you know that, when I asked you how things went while Hermione and I were broken up you said 'As good as can be' and now I find out you were sleeping together the whole time" Ron fumed
"Ron you need to be reasonable. I only had everyone's best interests at heart"
"Yeah whatever Harry" then he apparated away
"Are you okay Hermione?" he found her standing in the kitchen
"I'm sorry I told him everything, he was bragging about how happy he was with Lavender and then suggested I find someone and then it all kind of slipped" she cried
"It's okay, where is Rosie?" he asked
"She is on holiday with my parents for a week, that's why they were here yesterday. They helped her pack the appropriate clothes" She said wiping tears away again
He stepped forward and pulled her into an embrace
"Where did you go?" she asked
"Gringotts, I had a few things to sort out. I should have stayed, it might have been better" he offered
"I don't think it could have been better, maybe a lot worse. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"Why didn't you ever ask me to stay and not go to Ron? At school when we were fighting so much you never once suggested I break up with him"
"Because in the moments when you weren't fighting the two of you looked so happy, what right did I have to destroy that?"
"Okay that's fair enough, may I ask one more question?"
"Go ahead, I think we should get it all out today to avoid me getting punched again" he chuckled
"Are you going to leave again?" she didn't meet his eyes this time
"I don't know. Are you going to go back to Ron again? Will Rosie be okay with you dating me and seeing me in your bed? I sucked at Divination Hermione so I can't tell you"
"I'm not going back to Ron" she replied firmly
"And the rest Hermione? I found that it was easier to help other people rather than sit and focus on my problems and heartache, so if needs be I will return to that"
"Why can't you be selfish for once?" She shot back
"Because that's not who I am, I died so that the world would be able to move on. I never planned to survive after I saw Snape's memories" he shrugged
"So where do we go from here?" she asked
"Tell me what you want to do?" he countered
"I don't know, I have to think about Rosie. But I want to be with you so badly Harry, I wish that we had this discussion the night after he came back and not now when life is so complicated"
"Don't say that, Rosie wouldn't be here if we were together" he said
"She'd be called something else and maybe have darker hair" Hermione offered
"No Mione, I can't have kids. The healer said it's probably the combined effects of being hit with the killing curse twice and being under the cruciatus so many times" he explained and tears fell from her eyes again
"Don't cry Mione, it's not all bad. It's not even the worst harm I've been forced to endure" he continued
"Why did I have to fall in love with you?" she asked and laughed
"Because I'm convinced that you're crazy" he closed the gap that had formed between them "and because I'm so prone to danger you can't help but try and get me out of it?" he kissed her cheek
"You know Mr Potter I have to agree with you" she said kissing the side of his mouth. She found his presence intoxicating and she struggled to pull herself away from him again
"Harry wait" she said taking deep breaths to calm her nerves "We have to talk about this; we can't just see where it goes. I have to think of Rosie first, she needs a stable home which she has now. She understands why Ron only sees her some days. Now I have to explain to her why you're always here and sharing my bed" she ran her hands through her hair
"So what do you want from me Hermione?" he asked
"I want you to stay and give me time to figure out everything" she begged
"That seems fair" he answered and checked his watch "I've got to go, I'm meeting with someone for a late lunch" he gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead and then turned to leave
She sat at the bay window of her living room and watched the scenery, she thought about Harry and everything he said last night and this morning and what she couldn't forget was that he said not having kids wasn't the worst thing he had to endure. Then there was Ron, part of her still thought they should give it another try for Rosie's sake. She decided to head down to the Alley to get some documents from work so that she could distract herself from the issue at hand. Walking past a restaurant she saw Harry laughing and talking to a blonde woman, she was the most beautiful woman Hermione had ever seen. Then she recognised her, it was Fleur's little sister who was all grown up now. She forced herself forward and bumped into Ron who was locking the door that led to his apartment
"I'm sorry I was…." Hermione started
"Hermy, I'm so sorry about earlier" Ron cut her off before she saw that it was him
"I'm an idiot for everything I said; I love you and Rosie more than anything in the world. I broke up with Lavender as well" he continued. Hermione didn't know what to say about her ex-husband pleading with her in public
"I just want to be the best father and husband I can be, if you'll give me another chance?" he begged her now, he was on his knees holding her hands
"Ron, how will we fix this?" she gestured between the two of them
"There are healers who deal with these types of problems, or so Seamus says. We can go see one of them" he offered looking hopeful
"It won't be easy Ron and there is a lot we need to work through" she said in the hopes of dissuading him
"I know Hermione, but I was happiest with you and I want to give you everything you deserve" He stood and held her close and she couldn't help but compare the certainty Ron painted for her to the uncertainty that Harry did
"Ok' she said quietly
"You'll try and give this another shot?" he asked looking into her eyes
"Yes I will" she smiled
"Great, I'm working tonight but hopefully we can get together for lunch tomorrow?" he asked
"Sure, see you then" and then he kissed her and she leaned into it.
Harry and Gabrielle had finished paying for their meal and were making their way back into the Alley when he saw Hermione and Ron across the street.
"Thank you again for the lead Harry, we've been looking for months for the species and you solved it for us"
"Thank you for lunch, all I did was fall into a pit where Albino Blast end skrewts were" he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes
"Your bad luck never ceases to amaze me" she hugged him and made her way to the closest floo
When he looked over to where Hermione and Ron had been they were no longer there, he made his way to the apparition point and went back to Hermione's. Sitting on her porch he took some time to think about what he saw, Ron was kissing Hermione and she was leaning into him the same way she did with him the night before. This all happened about an hour after he left her and she had asked him to give her time and not to leave, he was still lost in thought when apparated in front of him resulting in both of them being shocked.
"Harry! You shouldn't scare me like that" she reprimanded
"I'm sorry" he grinned and then he remembered why he was here
"So what happened with Ron?" he asked stepping back from her
"What happened with Gabrielle?" she asked mimicking his accusatory tone
"We had lunch because she was instructed by her boss to thank me for helping them find a new species in the Amazon rainforests. We spent some time together there and then again in Africa because she is a Zoologist" he explained condescendingly
"Oh" she said
"Let me take a guess what happened then?" Harry asked
"You saw me having a good time with Gabrielle and thought that I had found someone more beautiful, brave and intelligent and you ran back to Ron?" he continued
"Harry, it's not like that. Ron and I have Rosie and she should have her parents and Ron is willing to try counselling" she tried to explain
"Ok so you are back together?" he asked stepping further away from her
"We are going to try for Rosie's sake" she tried explaining again
"Are you back together?"
"Yes"
"Goodbye Hermione" he didn't give her a chance to respond as he apparated away
She apparated to Grimmauld place and found him inside staring out the window with a bottle of water in hand
"Harry?" she started softly
"Leave Hermione" he said simply, there was no anger or malice in his voice
"Listen to me, life with you would be uncertain and complicated. With Ron it will be easier and I'll have a measure of certainty" she started
"You know that's bullshit Hermione, you've never taken the easy path" he said, again without anger or malice
"I'm scared okay, you scare me!" She finally admitted what bothered her about Harry "You're always ready for whatever comes your way. Then you defeat Voldemort and you carry on as if it was just another day for you. You say you died as if it was the flu, Harry my daughter can't be exposed to that. You are great and if I was single I'd be with you in an instant but I need to keep Rosie as safe as possible" she was shaking now, she didn't understand why she felt so angry and scared
"Okay Hermione" he said without emotion
"Is that all?" she demanded
"Yes, I'm not going to try and convince you. I thought last night and this afternoon would have been enough but you seem determined to stay with Ron and make excuses to make the decision easier. You'll even go as far as calling me unsafe or dangerous. So leave Hermione, because clearly you have decided where you want to be" he answered
"Bye Harry" she left the room and then eventually the building. She barely made it into her own home before she broke down. Sometime around midnight she made it into bed and stayed there until Ron came over for lunch. He carried a bag of takeaways from a muggle place she liked in one hand and roses in the other.
"Hermione, are you okay?" he asked caringly
"Yeah just feeling under the weather today, could you get me a pepper up potion downstairs?" she asked
"Sure" he exited the room and she took the opportunity to get up and wash her face. She heard him coming back up the stairs so she kicked off her shoes and took off her jacket that she had been wearing
"Here you go, did you call in sick to work?" he enquired
"No I haven't I'll explain it tomorrow" she took the potion and drank it in one go
"So I brought us some lunch and this" he gave her the roses
"Thank you so much" she embraced him and kissed him
"I'll bring flowers often if that's the reward I get" he smirked
The day and the rest of the week continued like this for Ron and Hermione; she didn't have any problems about missing a day of work. Ron fetched her for lunch everyday and by Saturday he was moved back into the house. On Sunday evening Rosie returned with Hermione's parents who were shocked to see Ron there. Her mother pulled her to the kitchen at the first opportunity
"What is happening here?" she asked and Hermione could hear the judgement in her voice
"We are trying to make it work for Rosie's sake"
"Which is admirable Hermione but what about Harry, we saw how he looked at you at dinner last week" her mother's voice softened
"I want Rose to grow up with both her parents; I'm just trying to do what's best for her. Harry couldn't deal with that so he left again"
"Are you sure about trying again?" she asked one last time
"I have to" Hermione shrugged
"Then we'll do everything we can to support you" he mother gave her a hug and went back to the lounge
The weeks that followed were very tense for Ron, Hermione and Rosie. They attended sessions with a healer and spoke about everything. Hermione told them about everything Harry told her and everything she had told him, Ron took it upon himself to be even sweeter and caring towards her. Time moved on for the little family and a year later they remarried with only four guests present, both sets of parents. They received their first postcard from Harry the following day, he was somewhere in Australia. He also sent a stuffed Kangaroo for Rosie. So the years passed again and every year Rosie would send Harry a birthday card and he would send her postcards three or four times a year, Hermione never wrote him even though she thought of him often.
When she turned ten she received her letter from Hogwarts and on the 31st July 2012 they went to Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies. In the book store Hermione found Harry guiding a group of kids around while they got everything they needed for first year.
"Harry is that you?" she asked because she couldn't believe the sight in front of her
"Yeah, McGonagall asked me to bring these muggle born students to get their supplies" he explained
"Why would she ask you though?" Hermione pressed
"The new Defence teacher has to contribute somehow" he shrugged
"Congratulations. Oh and Happy Birthday. Rose should be around here somewhere" she looked around
"Uncle Harry?" she asked uncertainly
"It's me Rosie, so are you excited for your first day?" he asked
"I am, Happy Birthday Uncle Harry" she hugged him tightly
"Thank you Rosie, I'll see you at Hogwarts" he said and kissed her forehead then he was off
AN – There we go, Chapter 1 done and dusted