Harry Potter was a happy man. For one, his training in South America had helped St. Mungos improve a stupendous number of techniques, not only in the Janus Thickey ward, but also with the severe burns caused by Incendio and Fiendfyre – that's if the person was lucky enough to survive the curses.

The biggest reason for his smile, however, was strolling with him through the entrance of the arena where the horse race was scheduled to begin in less than twenty minutes.

Hermione Granger was a regular presence by his side whenever the Potters came to these kinds of events. This was the first time that they were officially a couple, though, and the raven-haired wizard couldn't be happier.

He wasn't the jealous type, but there was something about being able to say the words: 'my girlfriend, Hermione Granger' that brought the biggest and stupidest of grins to his face.

Harry had always considered himself a happy and lucky bloke – it ran in his blood, he supposed. The Halloween of 1981 being a prime example of this. But he had never felt like this before-just pure happiness rushing through his veins. He felt like no matter what happened, he'd still be the luckiest guy in the arena just to have his girl by his side. His girl. He liked that concept.

"... and I can't wait for the babies."

Harry choked on his own saliva and put his hands on his thighs, coughing frantically while Hermione patted him on the back.

"What?! Babies?!" he finally sputtered out, his voice going higher than he would have liked. He was sure he'd missed a vital piece of conversation.

Hermione was blushing furiously by his side, while his mother eyed him with a confused expression that turned into amusement when she realized what had occurred.

Comprehension morphed into laughter, forcing her to hide her face in the crook of James' neck to muffle it as her husband grinned at his daughter-in-law.

"I can't wait to buy my grandson his first broom."

Harry was sure he was beginning to look like Seamus Finnigan on the day of a quidditch match, when he'd cheer (and drink) like a mad-man for the Gryffindor team.

"H-Hermione a-are you?" He whispered, trying not to show any emotion that could possibly give her a reason to smack the back of his head with a book she always seemed to have handy.

"No! Merlin, Harry!" She whispered back, looking bewildered. "And if I was you'd be the first to know!"

"Oh… sorry." He said, ruffling his own hair. "What's all that baby talk about?"

"I was saying that the Head Girl and Head Boy from three years back are getting married. She's just finished her apprenticeship in potions with me, and I can't wait to have some babies to molly-coddle," his mother repeated, amused. The auburn witch then turned to her husband, playfully glaring at him with her arms crossed against her chest. "And your father decided to see if he could kill you of embarrassment."

"Thank you." Harry grunted and took Hermione's hand again, walking faster than the usual to get away from his meddling parents. "These two… it's their hobby to embarrass me in public, I swear to Merlin."

Hermione laughed, looking at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So I take that you're not ready to be a father yet?"

"Well… I mean, I-... now you're just being mean, aren't you?" He stopped and looked at her, scowling and making her laugh outright at his behavior. He chuckled with her before he turned serious as he stared ahead, suddenly lost in thought.

"No, but really… it's not something that I wish for at the moment, but if you get pregnant, we'll figure it out. I think we have a bit of growing up to do before parenthood, especially now with our careers, but… I definitely don't think it'd be the end of the world. I would like to be a father someday, but if it happened now… I mean, my parents worked their way out at twenty one. I'd say we would handle it pretty well."

Hermione felt as if her heart would explode. There she was, with her best friend and long time crush talking about how they would handle parenthood – while attending their first event as an official couple.

How on earth things had changed so quickly?

She had a wistful look on her face when she tugged his hand and turned to face him.

"Harry… we need to talk."

As much as he tried, the raven-haired wizard couldn't help look panicked at her pronouncement.

"Okay…"

"When I broke up with Oliver, I was over him. It hurt, yes, but I had no feelings towards him. I still don't have any feelings for him." They entered the VIP cabin of the Potters and sat on a bench near the mini-bar. "Lupin put me on assignment researching ancient Brazilian rituals and I was talking to Clarissa about it when she told me about a muggle custom from Brazil. Some people do it for fun, others for curiosity and some do it in desperation."

Harry had his eyebrows furrowed, but was waiting patiently as he looked into her cinnamon eyes.

"The muggle fortune tellers claim that they have a ritual to bring back your missing love in seven days. It's rubbish and I was skeptical about it– still kinda am, but I'll get there. The point is, Clarissa convinced me to go with her to see how this played out. We decided that I would try the ritual, since I was the one who had recently had a breakup and Clarissa doesn't get attached too easily. Well… it turns out that when she asked me to think about the one I loved, my memories of you came to the front of my mind. I think it was a way of my mind trying to warn me, and it turns out the 'ritual' just made me think about you."

She paused and waited for his reaction, but he remained calm. She sighed and continued on with the confession she had avoided for the past two weeks.

"I thought nothing would happen, but after the seven days you came back all of a sudden, and everything started happening between us and I freaked out. I realized that the dates fit and tried desperately to use logic on why you would like me and whether it really was all because of a ritual and…" she sighed again, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes. "I guess I needed a reality check, and I ran after Mãe Marina – the muggle fortune teller – with Clarissa and it turns out she's a squib. We had a very… revealing moment in the bathroom of a restaurant. It's not like that, Harry!" She smacked his arm, seeing him waggle his eyebrows suggestively. Men, honestly. "Really, after all of this the only reaction I get is you poking fun at an unintentional innuendo?"

He laughed so hard at her expression and pulled her to sit on a nearby bench, trying to gain composure.

"I'm sorry, love. It's just the fact that you went to a muggle fortune teller after your history with divination is something that I can't wrap my head around without laughing."

She huffed and looked away, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Come on, Hermione. You have to admit it's funny," Harry chuckled, caressing her arms and soothing her until she couldn't hold her smile any longer.

"Fine. Perhaps a little."

"Ok, what revealing conversation did you have with this Mãe Marina?"

"She told me that magic was about intent, and that the ritual didn't force anything about our relationship, especially with such a long friendship like ours. And that magic may have recognized our feelings and just… made things easier for our relationship to happen."

"And you thought that our feelings were a product of a ritual?"

"No! I mean… no! Harry, you have to understand me. I'm a tough person to deal with. I find my solace in logic and books, and when something like that happened I freaked out. Not for a single moment did I doubt my feelings for you, but my mind started playing tricks on me and I hit a breaking point. I'm sorry. I really am. But you have to put yourself in my shoes."

"Hermione, breathe." He held her gaze and helped her do the breathing exercises that his mother had taught him as a child. "I'm not mad at you. Slightly hurt that you could ever doubt my feelings, yes. But I'm not mad at you. I love you, and I hope that you never for one moment doubt that again."

She nodded as tears started to prickle her eyes and he kissed the top of her head. After a moment holding onto each other, he asked.

"So… what moment do you think that magic used to recognize our feelings as true love?"

"Well," she sniffed and then shot her head up abruptly "I...wait a second."

— • —

14th of June, 1997

The sun was high up in the warm blue sky as the horses ran through the race track, making cheers erupt from the watching crowd. In the stands, several families watched without blinking an eye, hoping to win bets they had placed. One person, however, couldn't take his eyes off the person sitting right by his side in the VIP cabin.

She was wearing a periwinkle sun dress that hugged her waist and ended right below her knee, with the end of the skirt flowing a little with the wind. Her hair was braided to one side and she was wearing a hat, fanning her face frantically and blinking her eyelids repeatedly.

In his opinion, he had never seen something so beautiful.

"Dear lord, what is with this heat? It seems like the wind only reaches my leg. My face is literally melting." She murmured to him, while he sported a charming smile on his features. When the woman turned to him, she frowned. "You find this rather amusing, don't you?"

"Why, of course, milady. Your presence amuses me every single day, I must admit," the raven-haired boy cheekily responded, inclining his head in her direction as he whispered the words in her ear. She felt his lips brush her earlobe, making her tremble a bit.

"Stop! You're making me blush."

"Why should I stop? You rarely blush when I'm around, a fact that I find very insulting." His lips stayed dangerously close to her ear and the light hair behind her neck stood up with the shudder that his words caused in her body.

"People are looking at us."

"Don't they always?" His gaze met with her chocolate brown eyes and her brain stopped functioning, heart beating like a drum.

He began to incline his head in her direction and as they were about to kiss, a massive cheer erupted from the stands, pulling them apart.

"I-I'll go get some water. It's hot... in here."

She stood up abruptly and made her way through the cabin, reaching the mini bar on the end of it. As she walked, the boy groaned and rested his head on his hands.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

"Harry! Could you please behave yourself at least once in your life?" Lily Potter muttered through clenched teeth, trying to smile and wave for the curious eyes.

"Sorry, mum," he answered in a defeated tone. Lily noted how closely his eyes followed Hermione as she walked away. Interesting.

"James…" she whispered in her husband's ear, trying to get his attention. "James!"

"What happened, love?"

"Can you talk to Harry? Something happened between him and Hermione and he sounds miserable. Please?" The red-headed woman said, blinking her eyes and tightening the grip on her husband's arm.

"Fine. Just let me see if-" he started, but was soon admonished by his wife when she noticed where he was looking at.

"James! Your son is more important than a horse."

The Potter patriarch stood up with a put-upon sigh and walked past Lily until he reached his son. He sat in the vacant spot by his side. He knew the seat belonged to Amelia, who was probably off somewhere with Sirius, doing Merlin knows what. Sighing once more, James crossed his legs and stared at the race again, trying to decide how to approach the big question with his son. When he felt the glare that Lily was sending his way, he decided to act.

"Harry? What happened?"

"Umm.. what?" His son blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what was going on around him while he daydreamed. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

James eyed him curiously, trying to read his features. It was a common situation lately: they were all together at someplace and then Hermione and Harry would drift apart and keep their distance for the rest of the evening.

"You're thinking way too loud, aren't you? Come on, tell me what happened." He put his arm around Harry's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

"I did something reckless and now I'm afraid I messed up. Big time." The raven-haired wizard let out a breath, closing his eyes and rubbing the tip of his nose.

"Is this the reason Hermione is on the other side of the cabin?" At Harry's nod, James thought about his next sentence carefully. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

"Umm… no, no, I think I'm fine." James arched an eyebrow at his son's quick response and looked past his shoulder, a plan forming in his mind. It couldn't get more awkward than that.

"Well, I don't think you and Hermione could mess your friendship up in any way. You two are soulmates."

Harry started to cough frantically, choking.

"I'm sorry?"

James suppressed a smile, savoring Harry's reaction like a fine old whiskey. If the problem with his relationship with Lily was his constant nagging to convince her to go out with him, Harry's problem was completely the opposite.

When the subject of Hermione Granger was brought up, nothing would make the boy admit or act on his feelings towards his best friend.

"You know what I meant. And I think you should go there, she looks like she could use some help." He pointed to the back of the cabin, where Hermione looked rather uncomfortable while the Hughes kid whispered something in her ear.

"What?!"

Without another word Harry jumped to his feet, walking towards Hermione with a determined look on his face.

James smiled to himself and walked back to his seat next to Lily.

"So…?"

"They're going to be ok. Sit back and enjoy the race, love."

Hermione Granger rarely knew how to mask her feelings, and this was no different. The distaste was evident in her delicate features as Cillian Hughes, the youngest child of a British millionaire, whispered in her ear.

She moved her head to the left, away from him, hoping he got the message.

'Hey! I don't care about who you are or how many millions you have in your account, just let me drink my water alone.'

He smiled in a way that she could only categorize as predatory, sending chills to her bones.

"Umm, that's great, Mr. Hughes. But I'm not interested, thank you." She tried to say in a most polite way possible, trying to not make a scene in the cabin.

The Potters were VIPs at the horse races every year, as James was a big investor. Since the summer after third year, Harry had invited her to come with them – a fact that caused some awkward moments when his muggle girlfriend was invited. Everyone had thought Hermione was his girlfriend, not Alana.

During one of those occasions, when Amelia Bones squealed in delight and said that she knew Hermione and Harry would end up dating by the way they looked at each other, all hell had broken loose. The day had ended with a red-faced Harry huffing all the way back home after his girlfriend's tantrum, and a mortified Hermione.

This year, however, was the first time that Cillian Hughes was invited. And as his mother was a colleague of Amelia Bones in the golf club, Hermione was trying to be as polite as possible to avoid any confrontations.

"And why is that, babe? You know, I could buy you a very sexy dress for you to wear for me, seeing-"

"May I ask you why you would be willing to spend your father's money buying a dress for my girlfriend, Mr. Hughes?"

Hermione heard Harry before she saw him. In the next moment, he circled his arms around her waist from behind, and as his scent surrounded her, tension immediately left her shoulders.

"What?! Look mate, I'm sorry. She didn't tell me that she had a boyfriend. Girls these days, right…" Cillian let out a nervous laugh, taking two steps back.

"If I were you, I'd apologize to Ms. Granger here and then I'd shut my mouth before I earned a punch in the face," Harry spoke calmly while glaring at Cillian, before lowering his tone. "Because if I start beating the shit out of you, I don't think I'll be able to stop."

"I already apologized, mate, I'm sorry! I didn't know she was yours." Hermione felt Harry's muscles tense and became alarmed.

"Don't come to me with that 'mate' shit, Hughes. It's not to me that you should apologize. It's to her. And even if she didn't have a boyfriend, you should leave her alone. I think I've seen her profusely refuse all of your stupid attempts to hit on her."

"I-I'm sorry, Ms. Granger. This won't happen ever again."

"Move!" Harry spoke in a harder tone, making the excuse of a boy tremble and run away from them.

As soon as he was out of their sight, Harry turned her to him and put his hands on her shoulders. "Alright there, Hermione?"

She felt her heartbeat increase under his strong gaze, shivering a little with the intensity of those green piercing eyes. After what felt like an eternity, she snapped out of her daze.

"Never better." Her smile faltered when she voiced her thoughts on the confrontation. "You didn't need to say that, Harry. I could handle it myself."

"Oh, I know that. But I needed to have some words with that git. I wouldn't forgive myself if I let him walk away like that. And, to be fair, I behaved myself quite well, don't you think?"

"And I thank you for that, I do. But you have to stop acting like…" Hermione trailed off, blushing and stopping in the middle of the sentence. "It's just that I'm not some damsel in distress, Harry. I can handle it."

Her words echoed in his head 'you have to stop acting like…'. Like what?

"You keep doing this and you won't find a single girl to snog in these events." Hermione tried to break the ice with an attempt of a joke after seeing the thoughtfulness in his features when she said that. Why did she say that, anyway?

Her brain was a mess. She liked Harry and the thought of him snogging someone behind the stands was almost unbearable for her. But she was too afraid of making a move and having their friendship ending up a pile of dust. Then he'd do something like today, acting like an overprotective boyfriend, and her heart skipped a beat.

On the other side, her rational self was telling her that it was better to warn him off his little flirtations because her heart wouldn't take these little crumbs instead of a relationship. She knew he did it unconsciously, but it didn't make things any easier later when he was off with another girl that wasn't her. .

It was a dilemma.

"Oh, but that's never stopped them. In their eyes, it makes me even more irresistible-they're taking a bite of the forbidden fruit."

"Prat. You are incorrigible." She slapped his arm playfully, trying to hold a laugh at his childish antics.

"There's no need to worry, Hermione. You know you'll always be my girl."

"Huhum.."

"What did you say?" He asked with a lopsided grin.

"Yes, you're right."

"Good. Because I am yours too."

She melted in his embrace, forgetting just for a moment the war that was currently playing in her head.

"Kids? Let's go!" The voice of Sirius echoed in the cabin, making Mr. Hughes snigger. He started to walk in their direction and took down a semitone. "Enough fun for today. If your father spends a single minute alone with the Hughes kid I think he will take the matters into his own hand. Wait. Did I interrupt a moment here? Please tell me I didn't, because I would never forgive myself."

"N-no! Of course not, Sirius."

"Stop teasing, Sirius." Hermione reprimanded him, attempting to lighten up the awkward mood and put that little bit of her heart back in a box.

That day, however, was the beginning of something new in the dynamic of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

They knew it was there, wanted to try, but were too afraid that something might happen and wreck their relationship. The two teenagers walked on a tightrope, flirting and joking around while masking the true feelings they felt for one another.

But on that fateful summer day, magic had recognized their feelings. The truest form of love and adoration that they felt to one another, the waves of magic pulling one to the another. It was all about intent.

It took only six years for Hermione Granger to realize it, but there was no better time than the present.

— • —

"I can remember it now." She said, looking up from the blank point she was staring at the wall and meeting those green eyes that she loved so much. "I can remember the first time that we confessed our love for each other."

"I thought we all remembered that, Hermione. What are you-"

"No, no! It's like you said that day, you have been loving me for years, and I've been doing the same. I must've had an epiphany that day during the ritual. We never spoke the three words before that day in the field, but here… I said I was yours and you told me you were mine."

Harry Potter smiled and she saw such a tenderness in his features that she wanted to kiss him right there, without a care in the world.

"That I am. I was yours six years ago, I am yours now, and I'll be yours forever."

"Glad to see we're on the same page, Potter." She gave in to the urge and kissed him gently, circling her arms around his neck. They ended the kiss with small pecks on the lips and smiled into each other. "Although this sounded very much like a proposal."

"What if it was?" He started to rub circles in her back, opening his eyes to meet with hers.

"In a year… definitely yes. If you want to by then, of course. We have to get more used to this couple thing."

"Good. I'll be waiting anxiously for that day."

Hermione rested her head on his chest and sighed. "Alright there, Harry?"

"Never better."

He kissed the top of her head as they melted into each other, oblivious to the smiling couple looking at them from the cabin seats.

— • —

The sky was dark as raindrops soaked the blonde curls in her hair. She didn't cast any spells to prevent the water from falling on top of her, not only to blend in the muggle background, but to also help hide her tears.

Her eyes were puffy and red and she had a distraught appearance, walking aimlessly through the London sidewalks. She entered an alley and rested her back on the brick wall, sighing deeply.

"Inhale...exhale," she repeated religiously while trying to catch her breath. The palms of her hands reached her face and she tried to put her thoughts in order before heading home. It wouldn't do for her to arrive disheveled like this at the flat to get her things. What would the neighbors say?

She might be a gossip, but she'd discovered very early on into her career that there were worse people than her in Diagon Alley, where she lived.

She suppressed a sob as her eyes met the flyer on the wall, protected from the rain by a little wooden shelf above. What? Could this possibly work?

She ran her fingers over the flyer and got the number, running to an alcove, and dialing it.

"Hello, can I talk to Mãe Marina?" She started, trying to mask that she'd been crying and putting a finger in her other ear to drown out the sound of the raindrops. "Yes, yes. I've seen your flyer and I'd like to know if I could make an appointment with you. As soon as you can."

She closed her eyes, catching her breath to speak. "I wish to bring my love back in seven days. Yes."

The young woman smiled, desperate and hoping against all odds that this would work.

"My name? Lavender. Lavender Brown."

Finite.

— • —

Aaaand we finished! This is the first time i write and finish something besides one-shots, so i am pretty overwhelmed and happy. I didn't think I could go with this story until the end, but I'm glad I did. It was a joy to show a little of my culture and fuse it with the Harry Potter world, and with the Harmony fanfiction world. All of that including one of my favorite tropes, the Jily Lives AU. There's something about a rascal Harry with his cheeky remarks and bossy Hermione that always gets me. I'd like to thank Samantha and Coffee Reveries for their help at the beginning, to my beta sonofahorcrux – my guardian angel –, and to everyone that gave me a chance and thought my story was worthy of their time. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

I have a lot of stories that I'd like to share with you, and I'll try to work on a little idea that I had to put out on Halloween. Until then, please check my other stories (Dreamlover, Drunk On Love and cardigan.)

To all my Harmony shippers out there – join us in the H.M.S. Harmony Discord Group! A wonderful place to us that love this couple.

PS: Besides Clarissa, Mãe Marina and the Brazilian aunts, all of the characters and elements from the Wizarding World belong to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for letting us play in your sandbox, Jo!