Chapter 24

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Alex, Dani, and Jacqueline are mine.

January 2001

"Danielle, when you have a minute I need your help with a patient."

"Be right there, Malcolm," she said, waving her wand over a young boy's broken arm. "There," she said, offering the boy a kind smile. "All better."

"What do you say, Henry?" his very tired looking mother prompted.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

"You're welcome. Try not to fall out of anymore trees, ok?"

"Ok."

"Thank you, Healer Blake," his mother said, gesturing for Henry to follow her. "I'm afraid I was never very good with the simplest of healing spells."

"It's no problem, really. It's why we're here," she said kindly. The mother smiled and nodded good-bye as she towed her son behind her. Dani turned and walked over to Healer Malcolm's station, which was three down from hers.

"What is it?" she asked when she was only a few feet from him. Lazily, he gestured to his patient, a man is mid-thirties who had a cut on his arm that was spewing green pus. She knew Malcolm could have fixed the wound in a second, but he was testing her. He took his job as her mentor very seriously. She studied the wound a second before measuring out a potion and handing it to him to drink. After he did and the green pus had stopped, she healed the cut with a quick flick of her wand. She conjured a cup of water and handed it to him.

"Drink all of this and then you can check out," she instructed.

"Very good," Malcolm said proudly. She could not help but smile. Frank Malcolm was one of the most accomplished Healers at St. Mungo's, and he was only in his thirties. To get a compliment from him was rare and meant you surprised him.

"Shall we go then? Our mandatory time spent in this hell hole is over."

"It's not that bad," she said, rolling her eyes. Today had been the Spell Damage department's turn for rounds in the new emergency clinic. Dani did not mind rounds; it was good practice and a nice break from her normal routine. Malcolm, on the other hand, thought it was demeaning.

She clocked out and bid good-bye to Malcolm before she apparated to the flat she shared with Hermione. To her surprise, she had beaten Hermione home. Hermione, now two years out of school, was working in the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where she was expanding S.P.E.W. Harry and Ron were still working with the Auror Department, though Ron was also working with George at the joke shop. Neville had begun training to be a professor of Herbology. Ginny and Alex were part of professional Quidditch teams. Ginny was a seeker for the Holyhead Harpies, and Alex was a chaser for Puddlemere United. They were also married. Luna was now traveling the world with Rolf Scamander looking for undiscovered magical creatures and plants.

Dani plopped onto the couch and began reading her most recent letter from Luna. She got a kick out of reading Luna's letters. They were pretty much her stream of consciousness: whatever she was thinking at the time she wrote. She was a bit jealous of Luna. She was seeing so many things and places. Sometimes Dani wished she had not started working right away, that she had taken some time for herself instead. However, she knew that work was what she had needed at the time. She sighed and pushed herself off the couch, deciding she should change out of her work clothes.

"Hey baby," she said to Rascal, who was lounging on her bed. He lifted his head and meowed at her. She shrugged out of her light green clothes and slipped on some jeans and a white t-shirt. She walked over to Rascal and scratched his belly. "You wanna eat dinner?"

The cat shot off the bed and ran to the kitchen. Dani laughed softly to herself before following him. She was shaking her hair out of the ponytail when she rounded the corner and did not see the man leaning against the back of the couch.

"Please do that again."

Dani jumped at the voice before she spun and saw Harry standing in her living room.

"Are you ever going to stop doing that?" she demanded. Every time he came back he managed to greet her by scaring her to death.

"You would think you'd just be prepared for it by now," he teased, walking across the room to her. He stopped a few inches in front of her, put his hands on her waist and pulled her to him. She sighed and relented, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"So how long are you home for this time?" she asked. Harry had been gone off and on over the last few years tracking the remaining Death Eaters. He rarely stayed longer than a month or two.

"Home for good," he said. "And promoted."

"To what?"

"Head of the Auror Department."

"Really? Harry, that's great!"

"Mmhm."

"Are you not happy about this?" she asked, confused by his less than enthused mood.

"Yeah, but I've known for a couple days. Right now, I'm just focused on making up for lost time with you," he said right before he crashed his lips to hers. Her fingers knotted in his hair to keep him close as his hands went to her lower back and did the same.

"Ah-hem."

Dani and Harry pulled apart to see a scandalized-looking Hermione standing in the doorway.

"Hi Hermione. Miss me?" Harry said cheekily.

"Up until very recently," she said, setting her briefcase down.

"Sorry," Dani said, blushing furiously. Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes, but let it pass.

"Whatever, just no craziness tonight, ok? We have to be up extremely early for Ginny and Alex's game tomorrow."

"They're playing each other tomorrow, then?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and I am so grateful I no longer share a flat them," Dani said as she inwardly cringed at the memories of what all the build up of a match did to those two. She pulled away from Harry and went to help Hermione prepare dinner. "Don't worry," she called over her shoulder, "we have an extra ticket."

XXX

June 2001

Dani shot up in bed, her heart pounding frantically and her breathing was erratic. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and walked over to the open window. The cool air and the scenic view helped to calm her and regulate her breathing.

"It was just a dream," she told herself.

She hated the nightmares, the memories from the war. She rarely had them anymore, but they were awful when she did have them. Sometimes she thought they were worse than the actual experience. Dani hated what they did to her. However, what she hated more was how the dreams were plaguing her on what was supposed to be a nice vacation with Harry.

He had brought them to Marseille for a much needed vacation. It had taken him a few months to convince her, but she had finally agreed to take some time off from work. After all, if the new head of the Auror Department could take time off after only being there for six months, then she, a mid-level Healer, could too. When she reached a semi-state of relaxation, she gently crawled back into bed and pulled the thin sheet and blanket over.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked groggily, shifting to face her.

"Yeah, just a nightmare. I'm fine now," she reassured him.

"If it helps, I think we all have nightmares about that time," he said, tracing her cheekbone with his thumb. She took his hand in hers and kissed the back of it before snuggling into his chest.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she said. "I just want to enjoy the rest of this vacation."

"So the girl who thought this was a bad idea is enjoying herself, then?" he teased.

"Yes," she sighed, faking resentment.

"Good," Harry said, nuzzling her neck. "That was the plan."

"So there's a plan?"

He shifted them so he was hovering over her. He pushed some of her wavy, black hair out of her eyes before he kissed her forehead and then her lips. When he pulled away, his green bore intently into her blue ones.

"Danielle Blake," he started, smiling a bit at her new surname, "will you marry me?"

After a moment of surprised silence, she broke out into a grin. "Yes."

"Yeah?" Harry asked, beaming.

"Yes," she said, leaning up and closing the gap between them.

XXX

October 2001

"Oh Dani, you're beautiful," Hermione sighed.

Dani stared at her reflection. She was practically unrecognizable. Her fell nicely around her face in loose curls and she was wearing much more makeup than she was used to. The simple, white, Grecian gown was the more foreign to her than the rest of it. But it was all for Harry; she only hoped he would understand what it meant.

"I can't believe this really happening," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Believe it, baby girl," Alex said as he entered the room. He froze when he saw her. "Wow. You're sure that's my baby sister?" he asked Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Now, come on you two, we don't want to keep Harry waiting."

Alex offered Dani his arm and they followed Hermione, Ginny and Luna out of the room. Dani's stomach was full of butterflies. Her nerves must have been showing because Alex gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. But when she saw Harry standing down the aisle, all the butterflies were gone, leaving calm and confidence behind. Harry's smile became even wider when he saw her dress. She returned his smile, glad he understood. At that moment, there was just the two of them.

XXX

Three and a half years later

"Keep pushing, Dani. That's it," the healer coached.

Dani cursed under her breath and mentally swore that she would kill the next person who told her to push. That's what she was doing! She squeezed Harry's hand out of anger and pain. He kissed her head and whispered, "You're doing great." Like he knew. He was not the one who's body was being torn apart in a room full of people.

"One more push, dear."

Dani clenched her teeth and stomached through not one, but three more big pushes. Finally, after 14 hours of labor, there was the sound of crying new born.

"It's boy," the healer said as she waved her wand, which cleaned her and the baby and cut the umbilical cord. She hand Dani the small baby. Dani was speechless. He was so small and squishy and beautiful and hers. She could not believe the overwhelming feeling of love toward this small person she did not even know.

"Hey baby," she cooed. Harry placed his hands on her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

"You two are the most beautiful things I've ever seen," he muttered. His voice was full of love adoration.

Dani laughed, "I look like a wreck."

"Never," Harry said. "You still happy with the name?"

"Of course," she said. "James Sirius Potter, would you like to meet your father?"

James gurgled and squirmed in his mother's arms. She smiled at her son and gently handed him to Harry, who was now sitting next to her. He took their child and held him gently in his arms, staring at him in awe. When he looked up at her, his eyes were glistening a bit.

"I love you," he said, his voice thick.

"I love you too," she smiled. Harry handed James back to her, giving her a lingering kiss before he pulled away. Their baby squirmed and they both looked down at him, creating the picture of family they had both always wanted.

XXANXX

So…we've reached the end. I want to thank everyone who's stuck with me for so long. I really do appreciate it and I hope this is a satisfying ending.

Shameless self-promotion: I have another fanfic in the works. It will be titled "Sight's Journey" and should be up within the week. If you're bored or enjoyed this story, I'd love for you to read it and tell me what you think.

Again, thanks for the support : )