Empty Rooms
Chapter 17 – Invitation
It didn't take long for Hermione to move into Harry's room. That weekend, they spent a day moving her things out of her room and incorporating them into the house as a whole. When the room was clear, they moved Teddy's things into it so that he could have his own space the next time he came over. When they finished, Harry kissed Hermione. "I guess this means you're staying then?" he asked.
Hermione grinned. "Let's be honest, Harry. I wasn't ever going to move out."
Harry chuckled as he enveloped her a warm embrace. "Good," he said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but a knock on the door interrupted him. Harry and Hermione exchanged confused looks. Harry never had unexpected guests and no one had come to visit in the months that Hermione had lived with him.
Harry walked over to the front door and looked through the peephole. He saw Bill standing on the other side of the door. He opened it. "Bill?" Harry asked. "What brings you here?"
Bill smiled at Harry. "We haven't heard from you two in a while, so I thought I'd stop in and see if you were okay," he said. "Ron told us what happened at St. Mungo's."
"Which part?" Harry asked.
"The part where you punched him after he asked you to be his daughter's godfather," Bill confirmed. He smiled again. "Personally, I think you should have hit him a few more times."
Harry laughed as he stepped aside to let Bill into the house. "I would have, had security not pulled me away," he said.
Bill looked at Hermione standing at the mouth of the hallway. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened, Hermione," he said. "Fleur just lost a baby too…"
"Oh, Bill," Hermione said, sadness filling her voice. She walked up to the two men and wrapped an arm around Harry's waist. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Bill nodded. "Thanks," he said. He looked between the two of them. "Please tell me that the two of you are finally together?" he asked.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and smiled before looking back at Bill. "We are," Harry confirmed. He gestured to the sofa. "Have a seat," he said. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, I'm fine," Bill said. "Thanks."
The three of them sat down. "Was it Molly?" Harry asked. "Is she the reason you're here?"
"Indirectly, yes," Bill confirmed. "It's been a while since you two came for family dinner night, so she wanted to make sure you both knew you were still welcome. She was going to send a letter, but I offered to deliver the concerns in person. To be completely honest, while we all hate Lavender more than they tried to hate Fleur, we're actually all glad that Ron turned out to be a bit of a prick and that you two are able to be together because of it. We've all had a feeling it was going to happen sooner or later."
"It would have happened sooner had I not been pregnant," Hermione said. "I didn't want to give Ron any reason to think that Harry was the father."
"Oh, he firmly believes that the baby was Harry's," Bill said. "He adamantly refuses to acknowledge that it was his. Honestly, I think if Harry hadn't been covered in blood that day, he would have maintained that you were faking it all."
Hermione shook her head and muttered something under her breath that only Harry could hear. Harry kissed her hand. "It's okay," he said. "He's not worth our time, remember?"
Hermione nodded but excused herself anyway. She made her way to their bedroom and sat down on the bed, holding her head in her hands. A few minutes passed before she felt Harry kneel down in front of her.
"Hey," he said, gently pulling her hands away from her face.
Hermione blinked the tears away as his face came into focus. She sniffled and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Nothing to be sorry about," Harry replied. "I just want to make sure that you're okay."
Hermione shook her head. "No, not really," she confessed. "I've been locking my feelings about the miscarriage away in some dark corner of my mind, and Bill blew the doors open." She sighed and shook her head as Harry moved to sit on the bed next to her. She met his eyes and struggled to get the words out. "I…"
Harry reached for her hand and held it tightly. He waited patiently for her to find the words. He didn't push. He didn't assume.
Fear held her pounding heart. Her throat tightened. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before she met his eyes again and knew that she just had to get the words out. "Harry, I want a baby," she whispered. "I want your baby. I want us to have a family together."
Harry let out a shaking breath. "Are you sure?" he asked. Hermione nodded.
"Then let's do this properly," he said. "We get married first, yeah?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "When we're married, I'll take the spell off and we can work on a family."
Hermione grinned. "Yeah?" she asked.
Harry kissed her. "Yes," he promised.
That Friday, Harry and Hermione returned to the Burrow once more for Molly's family dinner, this time with Teddy in tow. When they walked in, they were greeted with smiles and hugs. Molly smiled at their joined hands and the way they kept gravitating toward each other. While Teddy and Victory ran off to play games, Molly pulled Hermione aside.
"How are you?" she asked. "Really?"
Hermione smiled. "I'm getting better," she said. She looked at Harry as he laughed with Bill and George before delving into some sort of story that involved a lot of arm movements. "Harry has honestly been so amazing through this whole thing that I can't believe I couldn't see how he felt a long time ago."
Molly smiled before she hugged Hermione tightly. "To tell you the truth, I always thought you two were better suited for each other than for Ron or Ginny," she confessed. Hermione stared at her with her eyebrows raised and eyes wide. "I'd never have admitted this while you were still with Ron," she said with a laugh. "You two are made for each other," she continued. They watched Harry as he caught Hermione's eyes and smiled.
Hermione smiled back at him. "Harry has shown me more care and affection than Ron ever did," she said. "And I'm sorry that you might not ever have us all in the same room again," she added, looking back at the family matriarch. "I wish we could go back to the friendship we all once shared, but Ron's actions have damaged the bond between us so severely that I don't believe it will ever happen."
Molly shook her head. "Don't apologize for that," she said. "Ron made his choices and now he's going to have to live with them. It's not your fault. Just promise me that you two won't ever feel unwelcome in this house," she said.
Hermione chuckled. "We'll do our best," she promised.
Molly nodded. "Good," she said with a grin. "Let's eat, shall we?" she asked.