Chapter 3
Telling Ron

One second later
Less than an hour after Voldemort's death
Still in an empty classroom, Hogwarts SOW&W

Hermione saw Harry's shoulders slump, but then his face set itself into grim determination. Hermione was reminded of Harry walking out of the tent to face the Hungarian Horntail.

Mechanically, Harry took Hermione's hand. He sighed, then said, "Hermione Granger, will you marry me, even though you're in love with Ron? I promise as your husband to make up for the disappointment you always will feel."

Hermione wanted to weep unashamedly. She had dreamt of this moment since she had ridden Buckbeak with Harry in third year—but she did not want a proposal like this. Never like this! Damn that witch Narcissa.

Hermione stammered, "But Harry, I'm not in love with Ron. Merlin, sometimes I don't even like Ron. Whereas I..."

Whereas I love you, Harry James Potter, but you can do so much better than a bushy-haired know-it-all. Especially now, when you're the Man-Who-Conquered.

But Hermione's Gryffindor courage failed her; she did not speak those thoughts. Or speak any words at all.

"I get it," Harry said. He released Hermione's hand and pulled back his own hand. "I think you need to leave now, Hermione. I'm sure Ron is wondering why you disappeared. Tell him whatever you choose."

Hermione stared at Harry in shock—How could he so misunderstand her?—but she still did not speak. She was silent because she had no idea how to fix this.

Into this awkward silence, Narcissa walked up. She grabbed Harry's wrist, Hermione's wrist, and pulled them towards each other so that the teenagers' hands again were touching. "This won't work, people. All of Wizarding Britain knows that you two love each other—"

"It's disgusting to watch," Draco muttered.

"—but oddly, you two can't see it. I'm fixing this."

"Hermione loves me?" Harry said hopefully. "More than she does Ron?"

"Erm...," Hermione stammered.

Then Hermione thought, Gryffindors charge ahead. Aloud, she said, "You're a hero, Harry. You're brave, you're kind and you do what's right instead of what's easy. You're modest. And mercy sakes, your green eyes looking at me give me shivers. I love you, Harry Potter, and bloody yes, I'll marry you."

Narcissa smiled. "That's beautiful, Miss Granger. Now Heir Potter, tell us: Do you love Miss Granger?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. I don't know what love is. Isn't love when you drool whenever you see the other person, and you write love poems every hour?"

Narcissa replied, "In badly written books, yes. But love, deep down, means you're happy whenever the other person is near and you want to do nice things for him or her. There was a boy I loved at Hogwarts, and I regularly asked the Hogwarts kitchen elves to bake apple turnovers for me to give to him."

Draco asked, "Was it Father whom you loved enough to give pies to?"

Narcissa answered, "No, Draco. Don't ask me his name, because it doesn't matter. He was killed whilst I was pregnant with you."

Hermione stared openmouthed at Narcissa.

Harry rubbed his neck again, then he looked at Hermione. "If this is what love is, then I love you, Hermione. I'm pants at love poems, but I'm skilled in a kitchen. I can make you apple turnovers any time you want, once things calm down."

Hermione lunged forward, and snogged Harry mightily.

Harry was not as good a kisser as Ron—because of less experience, Hermione was sure—but Hermione intended to give Harry many opportunities to practise kissing in the future.

After Harry broke the kiss, he said, "It's time you and I go back to the Great Hall and I do what's right instead of what's easy."

Puzzled Hermione shook her head. "What do you mean?"

Harry said, "I need to tell Ron that you're marrying me, not him—a conversation I'm not looking forward to."

Hermione stated, "I'm coming with you."

Draco said, "If you need someone to curse the Weasel in the back, let me know."

A minute later, in the Great Hall

When Harry and Hermione approached the ginger-haired family, Molly was telling the tale of her duelling Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry and Hermione, as they walked up, were not holding hands. But the two of them again walked only inches apart, just as they had done for most of their years together.

Ginny turned and ran up to Harry, a smile on her face. "Harry, my hero!" she yelled. Harry saw Hermione stiffen.

Harry put both his hands up, palms out, in the Back off gesture. "Ginny, stop. Things have changed."

Harry walked up to Ron and said lowly: "Hermione and I need to talk to you."

Harry's voice had been quiet, but Ron proved himself to be truly the son of Howler Molly: "Oi, mate: I saw you two leave with those slimy-snake Malfoys. You need to stay away from them!"

Ron's voice was loud enough to be heard in Hogsmeade, London and Bulgaria. The entire Great Hall went silent (except for Molly, who still was loudly telling her story).

Harry said, "Staying away from the Malfoys won't be happening, since Narcissa Black will be a part of my life for the rest of my life."

"What?" yelled Ron.

So Harry told the throng of Weasleys (Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, Percy, George, Ron and Ginny) an amazing story, as boringly as Harry could tell it—

"...So after I regained consciousness—"

"After," Hermione interjected, "Harry had survived the Killing Curse for the second time—"

Nearby, people gasped. Ginny stared in shock. George exclaimed, "Bloody hell!" Ron looked jealous.

Harry continued, "Voldemort ordered Narcissa Malfoy to examine me to find out whether I was dead. She did—and she felt my heart beating. But instead of telling Voldemort the truth, she leant in close to me and asked lowly, 'Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?' Just as quietly, I said 'Yes.' Then Narcissa looked Voldemort in the eyes and lied to him: 'He is dead!' Bang, I incurred a Life Debt."

"Shit," said Ginny, whose face now was white. "Bollocks. Bugger-all."

Harry added, "Anyway, one of the reasons I could vanquish Voldemort just now was that he thought I was dead till I let him know otherwise. And he believed I was dead because of Narcissa Malfoy's lie."

One second later

"So what did you come over here to tell me?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Narcissa claimed my Life Debt," Harry said.

"Oh no," said Ginny.

George walked up to stand by his younger siblings. Molly did not step closer, but she was listening. George asked Harry, "What were Narcissa's terms?"

Harry answered, "I'm to claim the lordship of House Potter, House Black and whatever other Houses I'm Lord of."

Ron scowled.

Harry continued, "Narcissa won't be Narcissa Malfoy anymore, she'll be Narcissa Black. As Narcissa Black, she'll be my concubine—"

"Cougars can be fun in bed," said George, grinning.

"—bearing children for House Black; but meanwhile I'm to take a wife who'll become Lady Potter." Harry mentally braced himself for the upcoming tantrum. "Namely Hermione."

"No!" yelled Ginny.

"What?" yelled Ron. "You can't marry Hermione, she's mine!"

Hermione snapped, "I'm yours? What am I, a Chudley Cannons poster?"

Molly said, "Harry, dear, you're too young to get married." Harry did not reply to Molly's words.

George asked Harry, "Was anything else in Narcissa's Life Debt claim?"

Harry shrugged. "After I marry Hermione and take Narcissa as concubine, both witches give me advice, and I'm supposed to listen to that advice before making up my mind."

Ginny asked, "Who will Lady Black be? Narcissa? Hermione? Or someone else?"

Harry said, "It won't be Narcissa; beyond that, I have no idea. Look, Ginny, do you realise that less than an hour ago, I was getting AK'd by Voldemort? I've had things on my mind during the last hour that were much more important than who Lady Black will be."

Ron said, "Can we get back to the part where Harry is marrying my girlfriend?"

George smacked the back of Ron's head. "Did you miss the part where Harry loses his magic if he doesn't marry her? Or do you just not care?"

Ginny begged Hermione, "But the only reason you two are getting married is because Narcissa is making Harry do it, right? You two don't love each other, right?"

Harry and Hermione shared a look. Harry said, "I didn't know what love is, till today. Today, I figured out I love Hermione."

Hermione said, "I've loved Harry since third year."

Harry and Hermione sent loving looks to each other—which made the volcano blow. Ron yelled, "You knew I wanted Hermione and you're still marrying her? Some 'best mate' you are! If you won't give her up, I demand you apologise to me!"

For one second, the urge to placate Ron burned in Harry's brain, because of terror that Harry would lose the friendship of his first friend. Then Harry felt anger, as he saw the sheer sodding unfairness of Ron's demand. Scowling Harry said, "You want an apology? Here it is: Oi, mate, it sounds like you're getting your heart broken right now."

Ron yelled, "What kind of apology is that? You didn't say I'm sorry or apology or apologise, or anything even close!"

Harry, if anything, got even louder than Ron: "What kind of apology is that? Why, it's a Ron Weasley non-apology apology! Remember after my name came out of the Goblet? For twenty-five days, you told the entire sodding school that I was a liar and a cheater, because—according to you—I'd sneaked my name into the Goblet somehow. And everyone believed those lies because my supposed best mate was saying those things, and he'd know, right? But after I survived a dragon chasing after me, so I was the school's hero"—Harry's voice dripped scorn—"again, what was your so-called apology? 'Harry, whoever put your name in that goblet, I reckon they're trying to do you in!' So, mate, if a non-apology is good enough for you, it's good enough for me."

George said, "You never actually apologised to Harry? Shame, shame, little brother."

Angry Hermione added her own words: "If we're going to talk about apologies being owed, Ronald Bilius, how about you apologise to Harry and to me for leaving the hunt after the food ran out, hm? I cried buckets after you left! Whilst you were getting your tummy filled and you slept in a warm bed, Harry and I were hungry and in danger and missing our friend. Who left!"

Ron's ears were red and his face was red; but before he spoke again, George grabbed Ron's shoulder and squeezed it hard. "Ickle Ronniekins, you're one sentence away from forever losing these two as your friends. For once in your life, think before you speak."

Ron glared at his older brother, but said nothing—not to George, and not to Harry and Hermione. Abruptly Ron turned on his heel and rushed over to stand next to Molly.

Ron looked at Harry and said, "Narcissa Malfoy—"

"Narcissa Black," Hermione corrected.

"Narcissa Malfoy is a slimy snake. She will lead you astray, Harry."

Hermione replied, "Not if she's smart. I made her take a vow to never betray Harry's trust."

George laughed. "Of course you did, Hermione. Harry, with this one by your side for the next hundred years, you can handle anything." But then George asked thoughtfully, "Why would Narcissa Black of all people insist that you two marry? Her son hates both of you."

Hermione replied, "She seems to think Harry will be a force for change in Wizarding Britain. I think she wants to advise Harry, and wants me to advise Harry, so he doesn't do something unwise."

"Stupid, you mean," Harry said with a laugh.

Molly said to Harry, "Ron is right, dear. No matter how cleverly worded Hermione's vow, Narcissa Malfoy will figure out a way round it. She'll bring you to ruin, mark my words. Don't listen to what she says."

In the meantime, Ginny had stepped up close to Harry. Tears were running down from both of Ginny's eyes. She put her hands on Harry's shoulders and kissed his cheek, saying, "You'll make Hermione a good husband, Harry. I'm sure of it."

That afternoon, in the Great Hall

After talking to the Weasleys, which was after talking to Narcissa, which was after battling Voldemort and his minions all night, Harry and Hermione suddenly had felt exhausted. Together they had walked to Harry's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, had crawled into Harry's bed and had fallen asleep in each other's arms—dirty, sooty, sweaty and fully clothed.

Hours later, after they had awakened and snogged, they had Scourgifyed each other clean, then had returned to the Great Hall.

The two teens discovered that, hours after the final battle, the corpses were gone from the Great Hall, the injured had been transported to Saint Mungo's, and the rubble had been removed from the room. Except for the ruined ceiling and scorch-marks on the walls, the Great Hall again looked like a place for hungry children to eat.

Harry and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating lunch (which had been served late). The surviving Weasleys were sitting at the Gryffindor table too, but sat well away from Harry and Hermione. George, however, made a point to walk over and to slap Harry on the shoulder, and to wish him and Hermione "Good afternoon."

Whilst George was speaking to Harry and Hermione, the Great Hall went quiet. George looked over his shoulder, then said to the couple, "Narcissa Black is..."

George paused, as though waiting for someone else to speak, then finished his own sentence: "...headed to the Gryffindor table. I wonder whom she wants to talk to?" George's mischievous smile did not reach his sad eyes.

Seconds later, the blonde herself stood by Harry's shoulder. Narcissa's back was as straight as if she were addressing Queen Elizabeth. "Heir Potter, may I join you and Miss Granger for luncheon?"

Harry said, "Sure, grab a piece of bench. And please, Narcissa, at least during meals, she's 'Hermione' and I'm 'Harry.' Can you do this?"

George held out his hand, palm up. "Miss Black, may I help you sit down on our bench?" Harry saw Narcissa's eyes widen in surprise.

Each of the four House tables was bounded by a bench on either side of the table, a bench that was as wide as the table itself. If someone wanted to sit on the bench, pulling the bench away from the table was not an option; instead, the student had to hike up his or her robes, then step over the bench. Whilst stepping over the bench, there was always one second in which the student was off-balance and looked graceless. What George was offering was to help Narcissa sit down at the Gryffindor bench without looking momentarily clumsy.

Narcissa took George's hand, then sat down next to Harry. Narcissa's spoken thanks to George sounded sincere.

George said, "Welcome to the Gryffindor table, Miss Black." He gave Narcissa a quick bow, then he walked away.

Narcissa looked surprised; clearly she was not expecting a warm welcome from anyone at the Gryffindor table except Harry (and maybe Hermione).

At Gringotts
Still afternoon of 2nd May, the day after the break-in at Gringotts

After late lunch, Narcissa, along with Draco, Heir Potter and Miss Granger, Apparated to Diagon Alley, then walked towards the big white bank.

Oddly, the front of Gringotts had a hole in the wall that was a little bigger than the front doors (which were missing entirely). The edges of the wall round the hole were not bulging in, they were bulging out. To Narcissa, the situation was puzzling.

Goblin guards wearing armour and carrying swords, spears or axes stood where the doors had been. They looked angry.

For some reason that Narcissa could not guess, Heir Potter and Miss Granger seemed nervous as the foursome approached the goblin guards.

"When did this happen?" Narcissa asked, gesturing to mean the hole in the wall.

"Yesterday," Harry and Hermione said in unison, their voices strained.

"How do you know that?" Draco demanded. Heir Potter and Miss Granger did not answer.

Once the four magicals had entered the bank past the goblin guards, Draco got into a different teller queue than did the other three.

Narcissa had learnt, through a lifetime of experience, that goblins were not friendly. Still, she was shocked by what happened when their group moved to the head of the queue—

The teller spit "Harry Potter!" followed by angry words in Gobbledygook—then more goblin guards, with steel armour and sharp spears, ran up. Those sharp spears all were pointed at Heir Potter, till the teller snarled something else in Gobbledygook—then half the spears were pointed at Miss Granger. (Narcissa, thankfully, was ignored.)

"You come with us!" said the one goblin guard with a gold-plated axe strapped to his back. Heir Potter and Miss Granger were marched into a different part of the bank; Narcissa had no choice but to follow.

Narcissa asked, "Heir Potter, what is going on?"

He replied over his shoulder, "Yesterday we broke into your sister's vault and stole something. We escaped by stealing a dragon and by smashing up the bank a bit as we left."

WHAT did you say? Narcissa thought. Aloud, she asked, "Why did you break into Andromeda's vault?"

"Not Andromeda's, Bellatrix's. Tell you what—if I'm alive in an hour, I'll tell you the story when we have time."

Heir Potter and Miss Granger were marched into a room labelled "Director Ragnok." As soon as the two teenagers, their goblin captors and Narcissa all were in Director Ragnok's office, each of the teenagers was poked in the back with a spearpoint. "Kneel before our king!" they were ordered.

Heir Potter and Miss Granger, not being fools, knelt before the goblin who wore a white-pinstripe Muggle-cut black suit. Narcissa, being no fool either, also knelt.

Director Ragnok (King Ragnok?) said, "Widow Malfoy, you may rise. Mr Potter and Miss Granger, you have five minutes to convince me to let you live."