Hi

Back with the next installment of AoE. Hope you enjoy it.

As usual all the characters belong to the wonderful J.

Sirius xoxo

Chapter 2

Harry couldn't believe it, did he have his own Mirror of Erised? He couldn't have, it wasn't a mirror for a start, so he decided to repair it and then look into it further. It took him only a few weeks to finish the arch and when it was done, it stood beautifully in his bedroom. Harry researched and researched. He found that there was only limited information on the Mirror of Erised and certainly nothing on it's brother.

Harry went to Hogwarts during the school break and Madame Pince let him go through the restricted section, since he wasn't a student any more, it was ok. He found some snippets of information but that led him to a library in France.

Harry packed a small bag and made his way to the library at Beauxbatons. Madame Maxine was happy to have such a celebrity at her school. They hosted a dinner for him and he had lots of photos snapped up. Before long it was plastered over the papers and Harry was being chased by lots of young, single French ladies.

After a month, Harry found what he wanted in a small wizarding village book shop. The information he needed to find out everything about his little project, 'The Archway of Erised'.

Harry bought the book and then returned to London.

He settled back into life in London and since he had been away for quite some time, his friends roped him into hosting dinner again.

Harry was busily cooking for his friends but his mind was elsewhere. He had started reading the book and as it was very complex and written in an ancient text, he found he had to re-read several chapters again and again. A knock at the door interrupted his train of thought and he quickly wiped his hands and went to open it. He pulled the door opened quickly and expected to see Ginny and Neville as they usually arrived early but to his surprise, it was Hermione.

"Hi Harry," she mumbled into his hair as she hugged him tightly.

"I've missed you so much."

After he got over the initial shock of her embrace, he melded into her body then after a few seconds he remembered they were still standing in the doorway, so he broke her hug and pulled her inside.

"Hermione, are you ok?" Hermione looked at him and he could tell she wanted to talk, her face was showing the lines of deep thought and Harry was worried. Unconsciously, he reached up and moved some hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. They stood in silence while Harry was tending to her and neither had noticed how close they were standing.

"Hey, you wanna talk about what's bothering you?" Harry's hand lowered down to rest on her shoulders, still holding her close but not as sensual as the previous actions.

"No Harry, but thank you, I know I can talk to you, it's just a bit hard..." she stopped and looked down. Harry waited and pulled her into his body.

She immediately hugged him and relaxed in his embrace. The only thing that could ruin this moment, happened- a knock at the door. Harry looked at her and saw an expression on her face that worried him, she looked frightened.

"Harry, I can't be found here with no-one else here, can I slip out the back and wait till you let the others in, please Harry, please?" The desperation in her voice and the sheer panic in her eyes didn't let Harry answer in any other way. He nodded and she ran to the back door, she got to the kitchen and turned back around, ran up to him and kissed his cheek then left. He waited a minute and then answered the front door.

Ginny, Neville and Ron were standing at his door but only two were sporting smiles. Harry let them in and took jackets from them and showed them into the lounge to sit. They chatted idly for a few minutes and Harry noticed Ginny and Neville were doing all the talking. Ron seemed irritated and on edge. Harry assumed it had something to do with Hermione's reaction earlier but he wasn't 100% sure. Harry took the opportunity to bring up Hermione and the silence that covered the room was intense.

Hey Ron, is Hermione coming tonight? that was all he said and he was greeted with the same feeling that a dementor would bring in to a room. Even Ginny and Neville stopped dead and then Ron realised that Harry was still waiting for a response.

"Not sure, I have no idea what she does these days, hardly ever see her." Ron looked down into his butterbeer that he had helped himself too, but his bright red ears gave him away. Harry considered pushing for more information but then there was a knock on the door.

"See Ron, that's probably her already, then we can eat, whatever you're cooking Harry, smells delicious." Ginny said, attempting to lighten the mood. Harry nodded and walked, rather quickly, to the door and pulled it open quite forcefully. There she was again and he smiled. She lent into him quickly and gave him a kiss that was probably a little closer to his mouth than his cheek this time. His hand touched her arm and even though it was quick and fleeting, he could still feel her trembling.

"Hey Mione, are you ok now?" she nodded quickly and stepped back away from his body.

With a voice that was a little louder than necessary, Harry said 'Hi Hermione' as he knew the others would be listening.

The dinner was nice but tense. Everyone asked about Harry's trip and he was deliberately vague. He wanted to talk to Hermione but not necessarily everyone else. During dinner there was one point when Neville asked Hermione how work had been and it seemed to open a can of worms.

Ginny immediately kicked him under the table but it was too late, Ron had already slipped out a smart remark and then Hermione snapped and it was ten minutes before the conversation calmed down to a low rumble. From what Harry could make out, Ron complained that she was always working and now she got a promotion it meant more hours and she came back with the argument that it was her job paying the rent and of course, once the money thing came up, Ron went ballistic. Ginny took Ron into the lounge room and managed to get him to settle down and Neville, Harry and Hermione sat at the table in an awkward silence.

After they left that night Harry didn't let himself think on the argument, rather he thought about the first meeting he had with her tonight. Harry knew he couldn't allow himself to get excited or let his hopes get too high, Hermione and Ron were together and even if they did break up it's not like he could just go up and say, Hi do you wanna go out with me now? No that wouldn't work at all.

Harry made himself a drink and went to sit in his library, he loved this room since he made it for her. He was looking at a particularly empty space on the wall and decided his arch would fit there perfectly when he heard a slight knock to his front door. Harry stood up and walked over to answer it, he opened it to see a very nervous Hermione standing there waiting patiently to be let in. Harry said nothing but just moved aside. She walked in and waited for him to close the door. Harry waved his hand over the door and Hermione realised he was placing a complicated locking spell on the door and she felt instantly safer. He turned around and they stood staring at each other for what seemed like an hour, which was really only a minute. Harry stepped closer to her and reached his hand out for her to take and she didn't hesitate, Harry pulled her in for a hug and then he walked with her to the lounge room. She didn't speak for a while, Harry let her sit and relax.

"Harry, I don't know what to do any more, I hate being so undecided."

"What are you undecided about Mione?"

She stood up and walked around the room, she seemed frustrated.

"I don't know Harry, on one hand I worked so hard to get that promotion and I was so happy and I couldn't wait to share my news with him and he ruins it all by saying such mean things." she sat down next to Harry again and mumbled something that he didn't quite catch.

"What was that Mione?" she looked at him and shook her head.

"Thanks for everything Harry, I am sorry to barge in here so late." Hermione stood up to get her bag and Harry stood too, he grabbed her wrist before she walked out and turned her around to face him.

He lifted his hand to brush away some strands of hair that were straggling down. He brushed the side of her face with his thumb and then held her face. He leant in and just as he was about to kiss her lips, he moved slightly over to get the side of her mouth and her cheek. She had her eyes closed and when he pulled back she sighed.

"You deserve so much more Mione," Harry kissed her forehead and he could feel her shaking.

It took a few restless nights for Harry to get over that night but when he did it was back to his arch.

He moved it down to his library as it was too big for his bedroom and it didn't take too long for him to repair the arch to its former glory. The timber was perfectly restored and it stood proudly against the wall. The months had passed by and Harry felt that he had read every possible piece of information and practised the spell over and over again.

Once a person enters the archway, they enter a world where their life is the way they wanted it to be, their deepest desires have come true. Any wish or dream that the person has, will be granted to them if they whisper the incantation as they pass through the arch. As always, with something so important, there were risks. The person entering the alternate world was still quite aware of both worlds and could leave the alternate world any time, all they had to do was raise there wand and say Vox populi which translates to the voice of the person or their command. The alternate world would not have a different Harry, for example, so there would be no chance of Harry running into his other self because it would be 'his' fantasy world. One thing that wasn't mentioned in the book was what happened to Harry's life here when he was in his fantasy world. Harry decided he would need to check into that.

So Harry seemed all set, he sat in his chair and stared at the archway, wondering what to do.

What if something went wrong?

What if he couldn't get back?

What if he didn't want to come back?

Harry was thinking over all the different scenarios that could happen but as excited as he was, he was still nervous. He decided it was probably best not to rush into it, even though he was prepared, he felt he needed to leave a note of some sort, just in case.

He remembered buying a leather bound book in France that he was planning on giving to Hermione for Christmas, but it seemed like this would be more appropriate. He sat down and wrote details into the book, everything from finding it to repairing it, to actually using it. After all the important information was in, he wrote a letter to Hermione telling her of his deep love for her and he hoped she would find happiness in her life if anything should ever happen to him.

After another week went by, he was ready.

He stood at the doorway and raised his wand high and yelled out Penetro dimension. The archway began to shine, starting from the outer edges travelling up to the centre. Once it reached the middle a huge glow surrounded Harry's body and then a silky blue film covered the centre of the arch. Harry nervously reached forward to touch it to see if it felt like silk but he was rapidly pulled forward into it's depths. The feeling reminded him of a portkey tug but it was over in a few seconds.

He looked around and realised he was still in his own house.

What happened?

He looked around the library and everything was exactly as he left it. He felt such disappointment he wanted to scream but then he heard his name being called and it sounded like Hermione. He put his wand away as he didn't want to explain this just yet especially since it didn't work. He walked out into the lounge and saw Hermione standing near the window holding a drink in her hand. That was odd, she never helped herself even though he told her to so many times.

"Umm, hi Hermione, what's up?" He noticed she was shaking and probably crying too, so he rushed over to take her in his arms. She immediately turned into his embrace and hugged him tightly while she cried.

"Harry I found out some terrible news today," Hermione pulled back and Harry looked her over. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but when his eyes travelled down to her hands, the left one was holding a diamond wedding ring. Harry gasped and Hermione looked up quickly.

"Harry, I just found out Ginny and Neville can't have children, isn't that horrible, she is devastated." Hermione leant into Harry for comfort again but this time Harry took the chance to look around the lounge room. There, across the room, holding pride and place above the fireplace, was an enormous golden framed wedding photo of him and Hermione.

He couldn't believe it, it worked, this was his alternate life.

He took a few minutes to absorb the information and then decided he had better offer support to his 'wife'.

"Mione, she is strong, she will get through this sweetie, try not to cry ok?" Harry hugged her so tightly.

"I know Harry, it was just really hard trying to be strong for her when she was clearly losing it. I mean with Ron having six kids already and the twins with their twins, there are Weasley kids everywhere." Harry was trying REALLY hard not to react to that news but he needed answers.

"Do you want to go and see Ron or Ginny?" Hermione sniffled and shook her head no,

"I just left them at the Burrow, Luna has everything under control." Harry gasped and Hermione looked at him.

"Harry are you ok, you seem to be acting a bit strange today?"

"No Mione, I am fine, sorry, just surprised by the events of the day that's all." Harry smiled a reassuring smile and Hermione nodded and then lent up to give him a peck on the lips.

"I'm just going to have a shower, then we have to get ready for mum and dad tonight, we promised them dinner." Harry nodded and realised this would be a good chance to have a look around. Hermione walked upstairs and he realised he wouldn't have too much time to snoop. If he knew Hermione, she didn't seem the type to have long, drawn out showers. Once she was out of sight, he quickly looked around the lounge again.

Nothing there, just the wedding photo.

He walked into the library and saw the rows of books and a small area that was obviously a little office, he must have missed that as he walked out earlier. He walked over to a small desk in the corner and started rummaging through some old photos that were on top. He saw photos of Ron and Luna's wedding, he still laughed at that one. He also found photos of the two of them on holidays, actually heaps of photos of them on holidays, they must obviously travel a lot. He kept flicking through the photos and came across some of Ginny and Neville's Engagement first and then the wedding day. She looked so happy with Neville and it made him happy to see that. At that moment Hermione walked in and saw what he was looking at and she hugged him tightly.

"Harry, what if that happens to us, what if we can't have babies? What if we are alone?" for some reason this bothered Harry immensely.

"Hermione Granger.. you listen to me, …." Hermione interrupted him.

"Harry Potter, I have not been a Granger for two years now, and since when did you call me Hermione Granger anyway?" Hermione stood with her hand on her hip in a very typical stance for her and he laughed.

"OK, Mrs Potter, that won't happen to us ok, we will have heaps of babies and if for some reason we can't, we will adopt heaps of babies. You, my beautiful wife will never want for anything." Hermione smiled a huge smile and then said the strangest thing.

"Harry, you always say that!"

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly. Harry didn't slip up at all and was even contemplating leaving before her parents arrived. He was enjoying being with her and hugging her and kissing her so much that time escaped him and he found that someone was knocking at the door. Hermione quickly smoothed out her skirt and fixed her hair.

"Do I look ok honey?" what has her so nervous? Harry thought as he went to answer the door for the Granger's and he wondered if they had changed. He pulled open the door and the smile slipped off his face and the colour drained away from it as well.

"Hi Son, you look like you just saw a ghost?" James Potter was hugging his son but Harry's arms fell down his body. His mother came in next and fussed over his hair.

"Oh Harry, sweetie, has the cat got your tongue tonight, usually you're chatting non-stop." They walked in as if they had been there a million times before. Harry slowly turned around with his mouth still gaping open. He heard his 'parents' greeting his 'wife' and he suddenly had a panic attack.

He raised his wand and called out three times, Vox populi, Vox populi, Vox populi, .