Hermione put the babies down for the night and then went up stairs to the attic, where Wyatt had fallen alseep holding the Book of Shadows. She smiled and walked over to him, she moved his legs to sit down and then put them back down on hers. She carefully tapped him, and he jumped awake.
"Huh?" he said, confused. "Oh, hi." He smiled when he noticed it was Hermione. "Whats up?"
"What are we supposed to do?" she said, she pulled her hair into a bun at the bottom of her neck. "I mean, I love Elena… but I don't know which one is her. What kind of mother am I? I don't even know my own daughter… how terrible must I be…"
"What is Elena's favourite toy?" Wyatt said, cutting her off, he had sat up and put his hands on Hermione's face so she looked at him.
"That Elephant you bought her, the one with the long trunk," she replied, a confused smile playing on her lips.
"What noise does Elena make, just before she starts to get tired?"
"Its kind of a wimpery cry."
"What's her favourite story?"
"Paddington Bear… why are you asking me these things?" she asked.
"Because you are a great mother! You know everything there is to know about her. You said it yourself, Voldemort is smart, and he's going to make it hard for us. He's going to make us think we're going to lose, because if we think that it'll be more likely to happen," he pressed his lips to hers. "We will figure out which one is Elena, we will defeat Voldemort."
"Ok," she said, allowing Wyatt to envelop her in his body and place a kiss on her forehead.
"Right, then," she whispered. "We need to make a plan…"
Wyatt agreed and the two went downstairs and called a family meeting.
"So.. what we have so far, Voldemort is smart, and there are two Elena's…" Harry said.
"If Voldemort created the second Elena… then maybe if Voldemort died… the fake Elena would also…" Melinda said, with a questioning air in her voice.
"That is acutally a pretty good plan, Mel," Wyatt smiled. "But the question then is, how do we find and take out Voldemort with out him expecting it?"
"I know," Harry said from the door way.
"Go on," Piper said, motioning for everyone to be silent.
"Well, when Voldemort tried to kill me, after murdering my parents," he started. "He put part of himself inside of me, accidentally. I don't even know if he knows he did it."
"How will that help us?" Mel asked.
"Because, technically, I'm part of Voldemort. You need something of Voldemorts to scry for him with. What about a part of his soul?"
"Harry, that's brilliant!" Mel grinned, slapping his shoulder.
"I do have my moments," he smiled.
"Okay," Leo had appeared in the doorway on the other side of the room. "I hate to be a buzz kill, but we have to explore the likelihood that Voldemort being killed won't destroy the 'wrong' Elena."
"What then?" Hermione asked, she hadn't even been thinking of this. She had just been thinking of destroying voldemort and being a family again.
"You're going to have to make a choice," he said, softly. He might as well have yelled it, Hermione's breath caught in her chest and she stumbled back, tripping over her feet. Wyatt caught her and her powerful strong arms held her upwards.
"I have the first doctors appointment tomorrow," Hermione said. "I think we should wait until after the appointment to tell the parents."
"I couldn't agree more," Wyatt said. He and Hermione were lying on his bed, they had been watching film, but when Hermione had fallen asleep in Wyatt's arms he had left the DVD in the machine and watched her.
Now he pressed his lips to the skin underneath her ear. She giggled at his tickly breath, but rolled over and put her hand on his neck and looked into his eyes. She smiled at him.
"What?" he grinned.
"I just want to remember this moment," she whispered. "For the rest of my life."
"I love you Hermione," he murmured. "I'm lying here with you and I wonder how I ever got through life without you."
"When you say things like that, you make my heart melt," she breathed. "The way you look at me sometimes, its just… I don't know how to describe it."
"I could lay like this with you forever," he whispered, he looked at her, his eyes full of love and conviction, she felt she might cry.
"Me too," she murmured back as she kissed him.
He was looking at her like that now. She looked at him and the way his eyes looked into hers made her heart flutter and her breath catch. She had a stir of emotion. Love. She was reminded that they would make the decision together, as a couple, as a family.
She could feel his arms around her, and reached for his hand. They stood together like this, making a show of their unity. Sometimes she could feel they were in perfect sync with one another, they could almost read each others mind. She looked up at his face and she knew he had just shared the same memory she had. The lump in her throat had softened and she could breath easier.
"I need to go lie down," she said quietly, to Wyatt more than anyone.
"Okay," he whispered. "I'll come with you."
They excused themselves from the room and went to Wyatt's bedroom. Hermione didn't even change clothes, she just lay on the bed. Wyatt climbed in behind her, wrapping her in his arm embrace.
"Do you remember the first time we lay like this?" he said, kissing her neck.
"Yes," she replied. "We were worrying about what to tell our parents. It was in this room, that time that I reliased how much you loved me. It was in your eyes. It still is now. When you look into my eyes, its like your soul is searching for mine. I can see it then."
"Do you believe in fate?"
"I believe our souls are connected some how. I guess I do believe in fate too. I must do. You're living proof of fate, arent you."
"Well, that's something of a discussion," he smiled. It was a soft smile, it didn't quite reach his eyes. He could feel by the way Hermione was lying that she felt safer now. She felt more content, she knew her daughter was in the house, and safe, but she didn't know which was her daughter.
She rolled over to face him. She rested her face on his chest and looked up.
"What are we going to do, Wyatt?" she asked. "How are we going to decide which one to vanquish?"
"I don't know," he said. "I really want to tell you I know what to do, but I've never faced anything like this before and I don't know what to do."
"I hate feeling so lost," she whispered, Wyatt's hands were stroking the top of her arm. She sighed, her eyelids felt heavy and before she knew it, she was dreaming.
"Are you ready for this?" Mel asked her.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hermione replied, looking to Mel to help her out of the car. Her stomach was now a slight bump, not too much to look fat, but noticable if you knew.
"Okay then," Mel said, offering her hand to the girl. She helped her out of the car and they made their way down the pavement to large doors. They were open, waiting for her. She looked to Mel one last time who winked, grinned and nodded before scuttling off ahead of Hermione.
"Okay, Hermione," she whispered to herself. "You can do this. Just put one foot in front of the other and walk."
And she did just that. She walked through the large double doors, the large archway and down the pavement stones. She could hear and feel the music resonating from all around her. Her heart was hammering in her chest, she felt like she was going to be sick. She looked from the floor and caught sight of his sapphire blue eyes, and all of a sudden she didn't feel so nervous. She met him halfway and he walked the rest of the way with her, her arm linked in his.
"We are gathered here today, to witness the union between these two blessed people. Many would say that these two people are too young to get married, but I ask you, how old do you have to be to know if your love is real?"
Hermione smiled and her eyes shifted to Wyatt's. He smiled back.
"Please recited your vows."
"I, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, take you, Hermione Jean Granger,as my lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse. I promise to love and cherish you and deny all those that come between us. Until death us do part," he said, smiling.
"And Hermione."
"I, Hermione Jean Granger, take you, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, as my law wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, I vow to love and cherish you, and forsaken others that come between us, until death us do part," she murmured, smiling broadly, tears escaping her eyes.
"And now for the rings. The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity. It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. And now as a token of your love and of your deep desire to be forever united in heart and soul, Wyatt, you may place the ring on the finger of your bride."
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you," Wyatt said as he slipped the delicate white gold ring onto Hermione's finger.
"Wyatt, I give you this ring as a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honour you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. With this ring, I thee wed," Hermione said, sliding the ring down Wyatt's finger.
"And by the power vested in me by God and by the state of California, I know pronounce you, Man and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."
"Finally!" Wyatt sighed as he pulled Hermione close and wound his fingers around her neck to pull her closer. Their lips finally met in a soft kiss that exuded passion. They pulled away and Hermione laughed with sheer happiness of being married.
"You were smiling," Wyatt murmured when her eyes fluttered open. "Were you dreaming?"
"I was dreaming a memory," she said rolling over to look at him.
"May I ask what it was?" he said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.
"I dreamed about our wedding," she replied, smiling. "It was a good day. One of the happiest of my life."
"Mine too," he said. The got up abruptly, and went over to the chest of drawers in the corner of the room.
"Where did you go?" Hermione asked, and Wyatt didn't answer, but came back to the bed, kneeled down beside it with two ring boxes. "Are those what I think they are?"
"Why don't you open this one and see?" he said, smiling suggestively.
Hermione took the box he offered and opened it. It was indeed the delicate white gold wedding band they had exchanged so many months ago, but had to take off when going to hogwarts. She smiled and slipped it on. There was no point in hiding it now, the most important people knew.
