Meet The Godparents
A/N – Everything recognizable in the Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling and various corporate interests. No infringement is intended.
According to my trio of advisers, I probably should offer a peace offering to keep the bad karma fallout to a minimum.
That being said, for everyone who feels misused by what happened in the last chapter, I'm very sorry you feel that way. This story picks up after the Final Battle in DH, and the relationship that must not be named is unfortunate, but it did exist before this story started. And as for how long it's taking for harmony to appear, apparently my definition of how long is not too long doesn't match with a lot of people's. As I pointed out, it's still Monday in the story. By midnight Friday in the story, it's all gone.
A week versus nineteen years.
And for those who are calling for my head on a pike, I posted Chapter Nine while I was out at lunch today (Monday). Immediately following uploading the chapter, the battery on my laptop died. Minor omen there. Three hours later, I was informed that my current employment will be ending on Friday. I hope everyone thinks I've been punished enough for allowing Chapter Nine to happen.
And now, back to our story …
Chapter 10 – Bedtime and Beyond
Night had descended upon the Burrow. The house was quiet, and a calm that had been missing most of the day had arrived. Standing in the doorway, Harry peered into the nursery smiling at the scene before him.
Hermione was rocking Teddy gently, singing a muggle lullaby as she gazed at him with a smile on her face. Not wanting to interrupt, Harry leaned against the doorframe and listened as she sang very softly.
"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye."
Without looking up, she motioned him in. "You can come in, you know, I'm not going to bite your head off."
"Your voice is remarkable. I don't think I've ever heard you sing, other than at Christmas." Quietly entering the room, Harry sank softly onto the divan and propped his feet up, relaxing back into the cushions.
"I can't remember ever hearing a lullaby before, but that one seems a bit out of the ordinary."
Blushing, Hermione placed a tender kiss on Teddy's head as he began to snore.
"My dad used to sing it to me when I was little, when Mum wasn't around. The other verses aren't really suitable for a child's bedtime, but that was my favorite. My grandfather was a Scot, when he didn't come back from the War, Grandmother moved the family south to England, but Dad remembered Grandfather Martin singing him that song. 'Over the Sea to Skye' is a staple for every Scottish bairn, Mum never quite understood."
Standing slowly, she carefully walked over to the waiting cot and gently lowered the sleeping baby to his blankets. Looking up, she blinked tears from her eyes.
"Harry, I'm sorry no one ever sang to you as a baby." Blushing, Harry patted the cushions beside him.
"I'm certain Mum sang to me while she had the chance. Aunt Petunia didn't see the need; I guess she was still too angry at Mum to realize that." Leaning back and closing his eyes, he took his glasses off and set them on the table beside the divan.
Settling in beside him, Hermione turned so she was looking at him with her feet tucked up under her.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Opening one eye, Harry peered at her. "Put my glasses on the table?" Smiling, he reached over and retrieved them.
"That's better, now I can see you."
"Why do you go out of your way to find a reason for how she treated you?"
Swinging around so he was facing her, he ducked his head a bit.
"Aunt Petunia and Dudley are family, and they are trying. I spent a very long time being very angry with them. I was very hurt. From what I've been able to gather from them, Petunia was angry with her sister and Vernon is just a nasty bigot who hates magic. She latched onto him and then went with everything up until the time I arrived. Things weren't too bad until "strange and freaky" things started happening around me. That's when I got banished to the cupboard."
Blinking back tears, Harry shook his head.
"After everyone's losses this last year, I'd be pretty hypocritical if I were to turn my back on the only family I had left. And it was her connection to Mum that kept me alive and safe, so that should be worth something. I just wish she hadn't gone back to Privet Drive, though I don't see it lasting, Vernon's too full of hate, and he'll disown Dudley when he doesn't give up that blonde witch he's so taken with. That'll be the straw that drives Petunia away."
Hermione smiled knowingly. "Harry, the witch's name is Chastity Smethwyck, you should really try to remember it since she'll most likely be part of the family before too much longer, I imagine. And from what I gathered talking to Petunia after Severus' funeral, Dudley might be the excuse, but you'll be the reason she finally leaves him."
Smiling to herself at some of the things that Petunia told her about Vernon, she shook her head.
"It'll take time, but I think that both of them see you in quite a different light than they did when you were growing up. It doesn't excuse what happened, but since you're willing to forgive them, I suppose I'll just have to settle for collecting my pound of flesh from your loathsome uncle."
Smiling sweetly to mask her real thoughts, Hermione made light of her desire to avenge her Harry on his uncle but her mind was already laying the seeds of a plan.
"Leave it to you to know my family's business better than I do." Raising his hand to his forehead, Harry winced.
"Harry?" Hermione looked worried as she looked around to see if anything untoward was happening in the room.
"Just a headache, they usually come around bedtime." Shaking his head, he smiled ruefully.
"And then the nightmares?" Looking concerned, she started frowning. "We didn't get a chance to talk about this, what with all the excitement between Ron and me." Looking abashed, she lowered her head. "I'm so sorry Harry."
"Mi, there's nothing to worry about. I doubt we would have solved all of my problems in one evening, and getting you two squared away was a big priority." Looking at her as she blushed again, he asked, "You two are good now, aren't you?"
"We're all right, for the moment. You and Ginny kept Teddy out in the yard long enough; we were able to work through this latest flap."
"Do you mind me asking why you got so upset with him over that? Seems like a pretty silly thing for you to be mad at just him over. We were all going on about Aunt Muriel's letter."
"Harry, I suppose that it seems a bit silly now, but when he said that I became very angry because of what he implied about you." Blushing, she looked away. Looking towards the window, she kept staring away from him.
"Me?" Blinking in surprise, he reached out and gently took hold of her shoulder. Guiding her around, she was forced to either look at him or allow her head to turn in a complete circle. As his eyes met hers, he tilted his head.
"Harry, I was infuriated that Ron would even suggest that you would do something that I wasn't ready for or that you'd push me without regards for the consequences." Blinking back tears, Hermione felt a twinge of her earlier anger return as she thought about it again.
Trying not to smile, Harry looked at her as seriously as he could. Seeing that she was getting upset again, he decided to try to lighten the mood.
"Did it ever occur to you that he was suggesting that you held me down and shagged me senseless until you got what you wanted from me?" Biting his lip, he watched as the horrified look on her face give way to disbelief and then to mirth.
Giggling uncontrollably, she put her hand over her mouth to keep from waking Teddy.
"Harry Potter, you are an evil, wicked person. What made you think of something like that?"
"Hermione Granger, you did a ten meter leap to snog Ron senseless that night. I've seen what you're capable of in the heat of the moment. I have no doubt that you can have your wicked way with poor defenseless me anytime you choose."
As she finally lost control and her giggles gave way to peals of laughter, Harry cast a quick muffliato between them and the sleeping Teddy. Shaking his head at her as she slid off the divan, he joined her by laughing. Just then Ron stuck his head in the room and looked at both of them.
"I see that everything is all right between you two now." Looking at Harry, Ron's eyes narrowed a bit before he shrugged.
"What's so funny?"
Harry, feeling discretion was the better part of valor right at the moment decided not to comment. Hermione struggled to her feet, ruffled Harry's hair as she passed him and kissed Ron on the cheek. Gasping for breath, she managed to stop laughing long enough to speak coherently.
"I'm going to run down to the room and change for bed. You two watch Teddy and I'll be back shortly." Walking out into the hall, she began chuckling again. As she started down the steps, she snickered, "Shagged him senseless" before she broke out in another full-fledged laugh as she headed into the room she shared with Ginny.
"Bloody hell," Ron whispered as he looked at Harry.
"Don't look at me, she's your girlfriend. Maybe George told her one of his travelling cauldron salesmen jokes." Harry shook his head and tried to look innocent.
"You must be doing something right; she's in an awfully good mood."
Moonlight streamed into the nursery. Hermione was sitting in the rocking chair, nursing Teddy when Harry's nightmare started. Looking over, she could see him tossing and thrashing on the divan, his face contorted in panic.
"Hold tight Harry, I'll be there in a tic," she whispered as Teddy continued his nursing.
Reaching over to the table beside her, she took up her wand in her free hand, "Expecto Patronum!" she whispered and the silvery whisps coalesced into her familiar otter. Smiling, she nodded toward Harry. "Go on; keep him safe until I finish here." Sitting up, the chittering mustilid stared intently at her while she nursed Teddy. "Go on, you. Harry has the decency not to stare, the least you could do is be as polite."
Nodding towards Harry, she looked expectantly. Teddy's eyes got big as the otter levitated up into the air and gently wafted over to land on Harry's chest. Snaking her head forward, she began chittering in his ear…
Running blindly across the blighted landscape, the light of the full moon streamed down as Harry tried to outrun his doom. Panting, he could hear the howls behind him as Voldemort's voice taunted him.
"Alone again, Potter? All of your little friends have deserted you, once they think the danger is gone. Why would they stick with a freak like you when they're safe now?"
Hearing the crashing in the woods behind him, Harry glanced over his shoulder at the lumbering werewolves that followed him. Loping on all fours, he could see the hideous visage of Fenrir Greyback in the lead. Turning to run again, He could see Voldemort flying through the trees, keeping pace with him as he fled for his life.
Running for what seemed like hours, he could smell the fetid breath of the foul creatures chasing him. Casting spells over his shoulder, he was able to keep them at bay, but he knew his strength was flagging. Worse than the burning sensation in his lungs, was the burning in his heart as Voldemort's insults hit home. "Abandoned" "Worthless" "Freak" all taunted him as he ran.
Up ahead a silvery gleam drew his attention. Breaking into a moonlit clearing, a silver otter glowed in the night as she awaited his arrival. Staring, he looked around, trying to find Hermione and warn her to start running. Bounding up to him, the otter leapt into his arms, nuzzled his face, and said with an astonishingly Hermione like tone, "Come on you goof, follow me." Leaping down she bounded into the brush.
No longer feeling as winded, Harry kept pace with the graceful mustilid, listening to the howling lycanthropes behind him. Smiling, he matched his friend's patronus as they wound their way through the dark forest.
"Hope you know where we're going," he called as they flashed past a boulder.
Flipping end over end, the otter turned back and laughed. "When have I ever not?" Racing off, Harry could hear the sound of breakers on a beach. Breaking through the scrub, Harry stumbled a bit as they raced down a set of dunes towards the water.
Reaching the water's edge, he looked around. Voldemort and his minions were gathered upon the ridge, waiting. The snarling of the werewolves carried over the sound of the surf.
"Betrayed again, Potter. She's led you here and abandoned you to your doom.
Peals of laughter broke the silence of the night as a bright light sundered the darkness. Looking up, he could see a winged woman wielding a sword streaking over his head. Glowing so bright it was difficult to look directly at her, she had the same appearance as a patronus did, but more intense.
A clear confident voice rang out though the night air. A voice that resonated through Harry, filling him with warmth.
"You've been defeated Tom. Your body was burnt and your ashes scattered in the wastes. Harry brought you down and you have no power here." Drawing an arc through the air with the broadsword, a glowing semi-circle of silver flame appeared between Harry and the Dark Lord's minions.
"Love led to your death, and Love bars your path even now."
Howling in frustration, Voldemort urged his minions forward. One by one, the werewolves braved the silver flames, only to be consumed and spat out, broken with their dark powers stripped from them. Laughing, Harry's rescuer smiled down at him and in a voice that sounded very Hermione-ish spoke to him.
"I know this is entertaining, but since there's a boat right behind you, you might want to consider taking it."
Looking over his shoulder, Harry could see an open wooden boat rocking in the surf, the silver otter chittering from the stern. Climbing over the side, Harry had barely set himself on the bottom of the boat when it began to back away from the shore. Watching his rescuer destroy the hoards of Voldemort, the boat gently turned around and headed out to sea. Looking back, he could see the otter looking quizzically at him.
"I feel if I should know something, something's just beyond my reach," Harry observed to the otter. Seeing that Hermione's patronus was looking at him quizzically, he decided that whatever it was, she didn't know it either.
Settling back against the side of the boat, Harry glanced at the receding shoreline before he looked back. "You're so smart, what should I do now?"
Bounding forward, the otter perched on the gunwale by his head and draped her tail around him,
"Silly, I'll keep watch, you sleep until we get there."
Feeling sleep claim him, he managed to ask, "Where are we going?"
"Sunrise and the morning. Hush and sleep."
As sleep claimed him, he could hear a lullaby in the distance
"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye."
Hermione softly sang as she cradled Harry's head in her lap. His nightmare gone, she settled back as she stroked his hair, smiling warmly as the moonlight illuminated his features. Feet propped up; she snuggled in as she waited for sleep to come to them both while she sang the shadows away.
"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean's a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Hermione will keep
Watch by your weary head.
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the bairn that's born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
A/N2 – the lullaby comes from "The Skye Boat Song"