A.N. Hello everyone! Back again! This chapter is a little shorter but rather than shoving something else in to get a few hundred more words, I let it end where it may. Thank you all so much for your support through this time, its really been helping me get the motivation I've needed to make time to write.
Lily went into labor early in the morning on July 30th, 1980.
18 hours later, at 2:43 a.m. exactly on July the 31st, Harry James Potter was born. It was the first time Hermione had ever seen his face without the scar, without the burden of the world on his shoulders. As he slept next to an exhausted looking Lily and an ecstatic James in their hospital room at St. Mungo's, Hermione could not help but think that despite all the bad going on in the world around them, everything was right and perfect in their world just now.
Each time Lily managed to rouse from her sleep to look at her son, her eyes filled with such emotion that it looked as though she was going to cry. James had already said, "Can you believe how perfect he is? Just like his old man."
The joke made Lily laugh, despite all the tiredness and the pain. She'd insisted on giving birth the muggle way, which meant that her recovery was going to be quite a bit longer than most witches who walk out the same day, sometimes hours after giving birth.
Hermione was unsurprised when she showed up, a bouquet of lilies in her hand (a bit too on the nose, but one of her favorite flowers nonetheless), to find that Sirius and Remus were already there. Remus was a few days away from the full moon, so he kept his distance, looking sheepish and unsure when James insisted that he hold the small bundle the dark-haired wizard currently cradled in his arms. Lily was resting, her eyes intently watching the three men with her, so they were all speaking in whispers as not to wake her or the sleeping baby.
"Come on Moony, he's all wrapped up. You won't hurt him." Sirius and James spent some time convincing the werewolf before he finally yielded, gingerly allowing the baby to be placed in his carefully positioned and waiting arms. The moment Harry's sleeping face landed in Remus's care, it was like a switch flipped in the man. His posture straightened slightly and where there had been nothing but fear and worry before, now there was unconditional love and a fierce protectiveness as if no one and nothing in this world could tear this child away from him.
Hermione's smiled twisted into a grimace as she realized she'd never gotten to see Remus with his son. They'd been on the run for the whole of Tonk's pregnancy and then…She shook the thoughts out of her head. Not even bad memories could ruin this day. For the first time in the last 6 years of Hermione's life, Harry Potter was alive.
Sirius was next. Now it would be a lie to say that seeing Sirius with his dark curls bouncing around his shoulders with a baby in his arms didn't do something to Hermione that she wasn't certain she wanted to acknowledge. The man looked so…paternal. It really was true that Harry didn't have one father, he had three. Well…
Peter knocked on the door as Sirius started brushing his fingers against Harry's cheeks. He muttered some half-hearted apology about his mother's health but Hermione and Remus and Sirius all tensed as they figured out the real reason he was late. It was likely he'd reported Harry's birth to Him…to Voldemort. It wasn't until her palm began to bleed that Hermione realized how tight her fists had become. Unclenching her hand, she made some poor excuse about grabbing a cuppa and left the room, leaving a confused James behind.
The small cafeteria held within St. Mungo's was always stocked up with some generic tea that had a vaguely citrus taste to it. Summoning a mug from her purse, she made herself a decent cup of tea and sat on a bench near the far wall of the café. When the tea was drained, she returned the cup and began to observe. From her vantage point, she could see the entrance to the main emergency section of the hospital as well as the passage to where magical incidents were dealt with. There was some screaming coming from another corridor that she had to shift slightly to see was labeled the splinch ward. Everywhere the bustle and rush of London's wizarding hospital calmed her, as she closed her eyes, allowing the thrum of the people to slow her raging heart.
The fact that Peter Pettigrew had the audacity to show up here when she knew he bore that man's mark on his arm made her blood boil and her skin crawl. Even now he might be holding the baby whose parents he so readily betrayed. But then, Remus and Sirius knew the truth, they'd never let Peter near Harry, or at least never let him leave their sight with him.
Approaching footsteps alerted Hermione to a new presence coming her way, but she kept her eyes closed, hoping that if it was an attack, she'd be able to catch her opponent off guard. Slipping her wand from the hidden pocket inside her cardigan, she readied herself for whoever it was.
When she felt a hand touch her hair, she reflexively kicked out her leg, catching the figure in the knee. Pulling her wand up towards the unknown person's face, she was startled to find that it was Sirius. "Merlin Black, you nearly gave me a bloody heart attack." She chided, tucking her wand back in its hidden place and offering her hand to help the man up. Her kick had been well-placed, and it had buckled his stance. Letting out an irritated sigh, she motioned for him to sit next to her on the bench.
"For such a little thing, you sure can do some damage." The man whinged, rubbing his knee with his thumb as he took the seat Hermione had offered him. His long curly hair had been pulled back into a messy bun at some point since she'd last seen him a few minutes ago, leaving his handsome features open for viewing. Aware that she'd been staring at him for arguably too long, Hermione fixed her gaze on a potted plant near the entrance to the splinch ward, safely the opposite direction of the man next to her.
"I can't watch him coo and ahh over Harry. It makes me sick." Hermione spoke shortly, the venom in her voice more severe than even she expected. Harry's birth, even though she'd known it was coming since she'd arrived in 1979, had changed everything.
"I know. It wasn't exactly subtle pet." Sirius's wolfish grin forced the corners of Hermione's lips up and she hated him for it for a moment.
"How can you be so calm? It has never been a trait I've expected from you." It was perhaps a little too harsh, but the man looked unbothered by it. After all it was true.
"I feel a strange peace. Looking at Harry and James and Lily with Harry, I know that I would die before anything bad could happen to them. I will strangle Peter with my own hands if needed to protect my Godson."
'I know you will.' Hermione thought, her mind flashing to the version of this man she first met when she was young. The broken, bruised, emaciated and hateful man she'd seen at 13 hold a stolen wand up to the throat of Peter Pettigrew. Pangs of pain moved through her chest as the thoughts of what Sirius's life had been burned itself into her brain. Furious anger rose up in her again only minutes after he'd managed to get her calm.
"He ruins everything. I won't let him. I won't let him take Lily or James or you away from me. He'll never hurt the people I love again." The bitterness in her voice surprised even herself, but after a few seconds of stunned silence, she realized that Sirius wasn't shocked at her bitterness. No there was something else she'd just said.
A bright red blush creeped up Hermione's cheeks and she rose so quickly she nearly tripped forward.
"Oh no you don't." Sirius tsked, holding her wrist and pulling her back into the seat she'd just abandoned. "You can't admit you love me and then just run-away love."
Hermione twisted the ends of her hair nervously. "Its not like you don't know. You've…we've…you are infuriating. Do you know that?" His only response to her agitated nervousness was to laugh, but it was such a hearty and genuine laugh that she couldn't help but begin to smile herself.
"I've been told yes." Sirius responded, pushing the piece of hair she was fiddling with aside and brushing his roughened and calloused fingers against her face.
"Sirius I…" Hermione began, straightening her back and swallowing her emotions to remind herself…remind both of them that they couldn't do this. Not until Lily, James, and Harry were safe and Tom Riddle was dead.
"I know Hermione. You've explained your reasons and I've accepted them but even if its just this once I have to tell you. Let me tell you." There was a light pleading in his voice, and those large, warm hands wrapped themselves around hers. Hermione's heartrate quickened but she nodded her head.
"You have been in the past for 455 days, and I have loved you for 413 of them. Every moment you are in my life has been better than the last. When I was young, I didn't know what it was to be loved. James showed me. His parents, Lily, Remus. But it was never like this. You make me want to be better. You make me feel for the first time like there is a future for me. A future I want to make with you." Sirius's grey eyes pooled with sincerity, and Hermione knew he was being the most (forgive the pun) serious she'd ever seen him.
"I love you." Hermione burst out, tears brimming her eyes as she brushed them away with her palms. It was hard enough to ignore her feelings when he was just around her but that had put her over the edge.
Hermione leaned in towards him, closing her eyes. When their lips met, his were slightly chapped but warm. She gently placed a hand on his face, as he placed a hand on the small of her back and the other hand on the back of her head. It was soft, the gentleness of their connection seeming so precarious as they both ignored the inevitability of reality.
The sounds and sights of the hospital melted around them as they fell into their bliss. It had only been probably a minute or so, but they both moved apart reluctantly. "I love you Sirius but…" Hermione tensed but Sirius simply grabbed her hands and pulled them to his lips.
"I know. This changes nothing love. I said I'd wait 100 years for you and I wasn't lying. There will be plenty of time to love you when our work is done. And I mean to spend the rest of my life making up for lost time." They sat there together in contented silence for several minutes before Hermione finally stood. She offered Sirius her hand, which he gladly took as they walked together the short path back to the birth ward.
Maybe it was Remus or maybe James she had to thank, but when they arrived back in the hospital room, Peter was gone.
"Where's Peter?" Sirius asked, a sincere frown on his lips. It was well hidden though to the outside man, James or Lily would think he was upset his friend left rather than that he was mad be had been there at all.
"Some emergency with his mum, you know she's been getting worse lately." Hermione solemnly nodded her head, biting her lip to prevent herself from showing her true emotions. As much rage as she had for Voldemort and his mission, the anger she felt towards Peter was different. Tom Riddle had been unredeemable from youth, torturing and killing animals and terrorizing the other orphans at Wool's. Peter, he had everything. He had James, Remus, and Sirius and yet he threw all that away out of cowardice.
She hadn't realized that she and Sirius were still holding hands until his calloused fingertips squeezed against her knuckles. A blush creeped up from her chest and she watched as James shot them both a knowing look. Pulling her hand from his, she straightened the hem of her skirt and settled into a lounge chair next to Lily's bed. The redhead had fallen asleep at some point while Hermione had been throwing her tantrum and the curly-haired witch allowed herself to take in the peaceful exhaustion of the woman.
James shifted the sleeping baby Harry in his arms, pulling the blanket softly against his cheek and cooing. It was like this was what he had been born to do. The dark-haired wizard turned to Hermione with determination in his eyes and she knew that she couldn't put it off anymore.
The man crossed the room in a few steps, carefully stepping around the bed to lay Harry in Hermione's waiting arms. It wasn't the first time she'd held a baby; it wasn't even the first time she'd held one of her friends (thinking back to her wonderful night of babysitting for the Weasleys). Something though, was different this time.
This was the moment Hermione had been working towards since she'd arrived. Harry Potter lived again, but this time Hermione would make sure that he never had to become the boy who lived. It wouldn't be his destiny to suffer loss, death, and pain. He would be a happy child who grew up never once doubting if he was loved. As she stared at his tiny nose crinkle as he dreamed (and pooped likely according to James), her heart was overwhelmed. She understood now, how Lily's love had saved Harry even from death. The love she felt for this little bundle nearly consumed her.
Before she knew it, tears began streaming hotly down her face and she pulled Harry even closer to herself in a silent promise. He would never be alone, she would never leave him. Not anymore.
"He likes you." Lily's voice called weakly, her lips dry and cracked. Hermione startled from the trance she'd been in and smirked sheepishly.
"He's perfect Lily…" Hermione turned her eyes up to James and warned him not to say it. The man shut his already open mouth and whistled as if that hadn't been his plan at all.
"He is, isn't he. I'm just glad he's healthy. I got worried after hour 16 of labor that something might be wrong." Lily smiled, but there was a genuine exhaustion behind her eyes. Despite how tired the witch was, Hermione knew that Lily would not have changed anything.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Hermione. "Alice! Oh, she had her baby yesterday. Do you think she and Frank are still here if they delivered the magical way?"
"How'd you hear that? I haven't heard anything about them having the little sprog yet." James responded, grabbing the now fussing Harry from Hermione to hand off to Lily for a feeding. Hermione's cheeks grew hot and she panicked trying to come up with how she would've learned this information. As the silence grew more suspicious, Sirius stepped in, his smooth tone betraying nothing.
"We overheard some nurses talking about it when we were downstairs. Your two children are big news around here." It was so certain, there was no room or reason for suspicion, so James and Lily immediately turned their attention back to their feeding baby.
Thank you. Hermione mouthed to Sirius, who simply winked flirtatiously at her in response. She rolled her eyes, but it was more for show than it was genuine.
Hermione, Sirius, and Remus stayed with Lily and James until they were ushered out by a medi-witch who informed them visiting hours had ended. They each held Harry one last time, congratulating the new parents again before exiting the room and eventually the hospital. Hermione debated finding Frank and Alice to congratulate them about Neville but rightly assumed that by the time she found their room she'd have to leave anyway.
"Looks just like James he does." Sirius spoke as the trio exited St. Mungo's.
Remus nodded his head in agreement, a disconcerted frown plaguing his face. Hermione debated whether to bother him, but she had enough mixed emotion of her own to guess what was causing this response.
It was one thing to be told something would happen, to know a person will come to be, but another thing entirely to hold that fragile life in your hands. Every vow he'd made to protect the Potters expanded in those wee hours of the morning when Harry James Potter ceased being an idea of something to come and became another person to protect.
Hermione did the only thing she could do and grabbed his hand in a show of support. That touch said so much with no words. I am here with you. We will do this. We can save him, save them all.