Moving On
Chapter - 14
"Wow. Harry! You look so handsome without those glasses!" said Hermione.
"Thanks, 'Mione. Glad we got you checked too. Else, in few years, you too would have had to go through that potion." said Harry, happy that at least she did not have to go through the pain from whatever potion they used on his eyes.
"People too will have a much harder time identifying you, Harry, without the glasses or the scar... Or maybe not. With the Daily Prophet printing our photos every day. Anyone can identify us even in sleep... " she said, as she eyed the newspaper laying in front of them.
Disgust and anger crept into their faces as their eyes saw the red-head. Standing between them even in the picture too, with a smirk on his face, whose meaning clear to them only now.
"Leave it, love," said Hemione. "We should have been more careful, we trusted him blindly. That was our mistake... What he did was unforgivable. But he surely cannot have done it all alone..."
"Yeah. But I don't think any of his family might have done it. But, we cannot be sure... I think it might be better to keep a distance with them until we are sure."
"I too don't think it's them, Harry. But as you said, we can't trust them for now. Let's leave it at that. Now that we are there for each other, and that's all matters." she said as she further snuggled into him, "I am more worried about my parent's reaction, Harry. What if they hate me for what I did? What if..."
"Shh. 'Mione." he said, as he kissed her gently. "They will understand... As I said before, It might take some time, but I will stand by you. No matter what. They might get angry at first, but they would still love you. You are their daughter, they'll understand, 'Mione. We'll try to get there as soon as possible... Wait a minute! How are we going to trace them there?" he nearly shouted in panic.
"Don't worry, Harry. I did not say to you at that time. I did not want Voldemort to learn it through.. you know the connection. And thank Merlin! I did not say to that... too! I sent them to Sydney. Hoping that they will be much harder to find in that population. So, no problem there. We'll work on the plan later... We must also visit , Harry!"
"Do you think they'll be still at their place? Orgone into hiding somewhere? We can try their place first. If she's not there, we can try somewhere else."
"We don't have any other option too, Harry. We'll do it tomorrow. Now, Just go sleep. We need the rest, Harry." she said, as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"And, here I thought I might get lucky today..." said Harry with a mock pout, earning a slap on his arm. After a brief giggle from both, silence engulfed them, as they held each other, the feel of the love they had for each other showed without any words or actions.
Reluctantly they parted from the snuggle, both yearning for a recap of the day before, wondering if the other would be willing for it.
As they reached their rooms, it was uncomfortable first, but as time passed and they closed their eyes, their memories of the other played in their minds, as a smile crept upon both faces. It did not take long for them after that to sleep.
A man and a woman, clad completely in black. As if in mourning, stood in a corner. As another man entered, the woman linked her arms with her husband's protectively.
"Nott! When will our guests will be arriving?"
"I don't know, Lord Parkinson... I...", his reason never made out of his mouth, as they were cut off by the screams that echoed throughout the vast manor and onto the grounds too.
The arms linked tensed, a single tear escaped the woman's eye. As she could not help imagine her husband or son in the place of the now writhing man. Intent resolved in both of their eyes, as it was apparent that their new leader was no different from the previous.
Nott Sr. Slumped to the ground with a single trickle of blood flowing out of a corner of his mouth. His efforts to stand up failing as his limbs twitched involuntarily as pain coursed through his nerves.
"This behavior... was what that led to the Dark Lord's fall. We simply cannot lose another time. When I ask. I want answers... Not reasons. Now get out of here... Prepare for their arrival."
As the man scampered out of the room, the face of the man on the throne-like chair turned towards the couple in the corner.
"Ah. Lucius... Narcissa... What brings you here? At this time?"
"Lord Parkinson. As you asked of us. Myself and Narcissa plan to visit the traitor as friends. We'll invite him to our Manor, in lieu of a celebration. From there, it would be much easier to bring him to your hands."
"True, Lucius. You really do Slytherin proud. Now get going..." he said dismissively as he handed them a piece of parchment, "This will take you to your manner and back here, through this wards."
With a nod, as the Senior nearly snatched the parchment out of his hands, the Malfoy's turned, walking in haste, lest someone finds and report's it to Parkinson.
As they exited the room, Narcissa held out a hand to no one in particular. As a slight distortion in the air grasped it, she gave a stiff nod to her husband, who proceeded to crumple the paper, only to be whisked away in a familiar turn of a Portkey. No one the wiser of the invisible addition or the body soaking in blood in a nearby closet.
The blonde witch and her brown-haired boyfriend were walking through the wilderness, searching for a house he remembered very little of.
He pointed to a building in the distance, that stood alone yet different while still not looking completely out of place in the neighborhood.
"That might be it, 'Mione. Can we try it?"
"Well... Why not? I trusted you on that broom." she said a not little angrily, before continuing, "We have prepared for any surprises. Let's give it a try."
"I Am Sorry, Hermione. I should not have tried to do that stunt. On my defense, it was a long time since I rode the broom, and I could not help it." he replied quite sheepishly.
"Okay." she said, giving a pause, "Just don't do it again. At least not with me on the broom."
"Sure, 'Mione. Thank you."
Their conversation came to a quick end as they neared the door. None of the wards were still standing. He stepped forward and gave three distinct knocks.
The seconds appeared to be hours, as they stood, with a hand in their coats gripping their wands, ready to apparate to safety, as their eyes searched for possible trouble.
It appeared to be in a heartbeat, as the door opened and a wand was pointed at his face. All done in a swiftness and grace by the woman-who-looked-scarily-like-Bellatrix.
"What did you do when you first saw me?" asked the ice-cold voice, with a look from the woman which made sure of the recipient of the question.
"I mistook you for your sister and yelled at you."
With the answer accepted, as the wand lowered, a small smile crept upon the woman's face, as kindness slowly returned to her eyes.
"Come in.", she said before turning her back on them and going inside, leading them to a small room nearby and proceeded to conjure three chairs.
"Sit," she said still a little stiffly.
As they sat, silence surrounded them, as both teens did not know what to say or do. Gathering her Griffindor courage, Hermione started.
" -"
"None of that . Harry's my grandchild's godfather. Please call me Andromeda."
"Umm... Andromeda... We are sorry for your loss... Even though we won the war, we lost a lot... We know it's hard... Harry is Teddy's godfather. But..."
"We really don't know what I should do... Other than that I have to be there for him..."
"It's the thought that counts, Harry. I can take care of him when you be in school. But I believe you will want to visit him often?" Getting a stammered yes in reply, she continued, "We can work something for that. A godfather has an important role to play in a child's life. And, I think my daughter and Remus had done a good selection.", she said, her eyes slightly glistening at the thought of her daughter, which disappeared in seconds, making the teens wonder whether it was a trick of the light, "So, don't ruin that reputation." she added a little sternly.
"Even though I am old, I still can protect myself, so you don't need to worry about me."
"Can we see, Teddy?" asked Harry.
"Yeah. Sure. Come with me." said Andromeda before leading them out of the room, into another.
The room was decorated as a usual nursery, with muggle and wizarding toys lying in equal proportions on the floor, as a serene, ethereal voice flowed through the room, nearly putting everyone to sleep.
"It's the time for him to wake up. So, don't worry about disturbing him," she said slowly.
As they peered into the crib, Teddy peered back at them. Raising his hands towards them, asking them to pick him up.
"Go on, pick him up," said Andromeda as she motioned Harry to do so.
"But..." he started.
"Don't worry. You will do alright, Harry," said Hermione with a smile to Harry.
Giving back a smile of his own, he nervously reached his hands into the crib and awkwardly took the baby out of it, making the two witches to giggle at him.
His comment of, "Hey! It's the first time for me.", turned the giggles into full-out laughter.
Soon, Teddy too joined in the laughing, making them go full-out once again while earning a "You too!" from Harry.
As Teddy laughed, he peered at Harry and held a hand to his cheek. Before proceeding to turn his then tealish blue hair into the same black as Harry's, his face too changing to resemble him to some extent.
The laughter quickly subsided, as the older one's in the room could not gape in astonishment.
"He clearly likes you. He did not do it for anyone, except Dora, Remus, or me... " whispered Andromeda, her voice once again nearly breaking at the thought of her daughter.
"Hermione, do you want to hold Teddy?" asked Harry, once again nervous to not drop him.
"Sure, Harry," she said, before proceeding to take him from Harry with a grace.
As Teddy held his hands to Hermione, he started speaking to her in his own language of blabbing, making Hermione giggle as she nodded her head as if she understood everything said perfectly.
In front of their eyes, the black hair of Harry and his green eyes slowly shifted to Hermione's brown and her chocolatey eyes. Suddenly, the both teen's breath stopped for a second, as they kept looking at him intently.
Wanting to change the topic at the moment, Harry asked, "Can we move to the sitting room?" to the ladies.
"Come, Teddy. We'll go to the sitting room." cooed Hermione to the baby, making him laugh.
"You can move into Potter Manor..." started Harry as they walked to the next room.
"Not now, Harry, not now. We all need time to heal... I think we", she indicated to Teddy," will accept your offer in the future, but I think I need some alone time... But thanks for asking." she replied calmly.
"Sure, Andromeda," replied Hermione. Leading to a brief period of silence once more, as Teddy played with Hermione's ringlets.
"Umm.. Andromeda, We." started Harry, indicating themselves with his hand, "plan to visit Hermione's parents. So, we might not be in Britain for some time. We have to go to Australia..."
"Thanks for informing, Harry. Any way that I can help?"
"Well, if you can share some different way of transport. We think Portkey's are out of choice for the moment, with all the death eater's still working in the ministry..." he trailed off.
"Yeah. I understand your concern. They can simply make the portkey drop you right into a trap, or follow you... I would recommend you to apparate, but it's quite a large distance... Why not try elf-travel?"
"Elf-travel?" she asked.
"Yes, dear. You might not have really read about them, nor be informed about it in the pamphlets. It's actually known only by the pureblood's, as they are the one's who usually own house-elves in the first place... Of course, as only they use it, naturally, it's not regulated."
"That explains why we never run into someone like Malfoy's in the Knight Bus or see them port keying..." said Hermione, slightly angrily, "I expected at least the good sort of them would have explained this to others..."
"They would have, Hermione. If we had thought to ask them." Surprisingly, or not much owing to his recent improvements, the answer was from Harry, "What is new to us is common to them. How can we expect them to say about it voluntarily without us asking in the first place? It applies to the teachers too, or I think probably some people in the school board may not want who they think as lower to them to know everything about them... There are many reasons."
"Oops. Sorry," she replied sheepishly, as she blushed slightly. A rumble arose from the depths of Harry's stomach, making him join the blushing game too as Teddy once again laughed.
"Maybe we should leave, Hermione?" asked Harry.
"You can have lunch here, Harry, Hermione." invited Andromeda.
"Maybe not today, we will surely on the next time," replied Hermione. "We already informed our house-elves that we will be home for lunch."
"Oh. That answer's a question of mine. I was thinking of lending my house-elf for your travel..."
"Thanks, Andromeda. But I think in four of our elves, one would surely be up to the job," said Harry as he stood up, followed by Hermione.
"Please do visit when you return, and please send me message's once in a while..."
"Goes without saying, Andromeda," said Harry, while Hermione nodded.
"Come here," she called out, with stretched hands. As they came in the distance, giving them a hug, that was not as overly motherly as Molly's but did the job of conveying the love in it.
"Be safe, you too. Even if Harry's only my grandson's godfather, we are a family, and I don't have much of that left." she said as a lone tear escaped her eye, "At least the one matter's."
"We will be. We will make sure of that." chorused the two, as they themselves were teary.
As Andromeda took Teddy back, he once again reverted to his own self and proceeded to change into Andromeda herself.
"We did not notice any wards here..." started Hermione.
"You would have not, dear. The wards here are completely unnoticeable so that the muggles will not notice anything too different," said Andromeda. "I have already keyed you and your friends, in case you might have wanted to visit. If I had not done it, the wards rather than stopping or attacking you, will simply force you to leave, believing that no one is here."
"Oh! That's actually better. Rather than those war wards..." said Hermione, before continuing, her face clearly showing anger, "But we have to ask you to remove a few name's from it."
And, that led to a brief narration of what happened, or rather what they believed happened.
"What! You poor dears... I have never heard of a Weasley that... evil... I personally know Molly and Arthur to be of not that sort. I think he must have used someone's help outside his family...
But, you are correct... It's better to keep distance unless we really know who did it. For now, I'll remove the Weasley's from the ward book. Merlin... I still can not believe that they did something this vile...
But what happened has happened, Harry, Hermione. You have a long future ahead. And you have each other and also me and little Teddy here." she said fondly waving his small hands.
"Thanks, Andromeda," said Harry. Happy to be a part of a family.
"I am happy that you have finally got together. I think the healer might have said it, your affection and love for each other must have been very strong!" she said making the two teen's blush with a soft smile.
"Sorry. I am holding you both back now. But be safe."
"Surely, Andromeda." said both Harry and Hermione, before saying their goodbye's to Teddy too before vanishing into the air once again with a crack.
Andromeda lowered her hands that were gesturing goodbye and said to Teddy with a fond smile, "At least he did not imitate his own godfather. They have got each other, to keep the other strong through this tough times..." she said as she looked into his eye's with a smile, "Come, let's go inside. Time for food!" she exclaimed comically to the now giggling baby, as she closed the door behind her.