If someone had asked Harry what his plans for the future were a year ago, when he and his friends had started off on their hunt for horcruxes, he would have simply said 'surviving the war'. Well, the war was done and gone, and though the remnants of it were still present, Harry had found himself in a reality that he had never thought possible.
When the battle was over, Harry kept his promise to Hermione and the two of them went off to try and live a peaceful life together, making a couple of stops along the way to make sure both Harry's Godson, Teddy, and Hermione's parents were okay before going off on their way, disappearing from the wizarding world all together.
They settled in a quaint cottage out in the country, just as they had dreamed, and placed an enchantment over it so that anyone who saw the house or tried to come near it, would see a run down abandoned shack and leave it alone. Having lived on their own for many months, Harry and Hermione had grown used to the isolation. The house itself was nicer and larger than their previous tent, and there was a village a few miles to the east that they could safely venture into when they needed anything.
It was a gray misty morning, rain still drizzling from the storm they had the night before, as Harry came down the stairs, dressed in his boxers and an open robe, tip-toeing across the wooden floor towards their small kitchen where he proceeded to brew a pot of coffee. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was only 6:30 AM.
Harry let out a small sigh as he brought his hand up to touch his scar. He had dreamt of the battle again, this time a different version of it where he had failed to defeat Voldemort, who had proceeded to kill everyone he cared about in front of him. Hermione was the first one he killed. Of course, it had just been a dream, and his scar hadn't hurt him upon waking as it used to, but still, the fear that he would one day feel his scar start to burn again was there, no matter how irrational it was.
As quietly as he could, so as not to wake the other inhabitant of the house, he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and started to fill it with the steaming hot dark brown liquid, taking it with him to sit down at the small two seat dining table.
There were still times when he found it hard to believe that so much had happened. Some mornings he would wake in a daze, expecting to find himself either back in the tent or back in his bedroom at the Dursleys. But then, once he gathered his bearings, he realized that he was in neither of those places, but rather, he was safe in the new life he had created for himself, with the girl he loved at his side.
Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the floor above, signaling that said girl also was awake. A little while later, he heard the stairs boards squeak. Seeing the entire downstairs was basically just one large room, save for the bathroom, he had no trouble seeing her from his seat at the table.
Dressed in her pajamas, consisting of little more than a long white t-shirt with one of his old button downs thrown over for a bit of warmth, she made her way over to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
"Bad dream again?" Hermione asked.
He nodded his head. "I'm sorry if I woke you," he apologized.
"It wasn't you that woke me up. It was this little mischief maker," she assured him, pointing to her rounded belly, which made the long t-shirt a bit shorter than it was meant to be.
Reaching out a hand, he pressed it to her belly, immediately feeling just how much the baby inside was moving. He chuckled. She had taken to calling the baby a little mischief maker, claiming that with a father like him, it was bound to happen. The thought brought him both joy and worry, as you can imagine.
Hermione was currently well into the second trimester, being six months along in her pregnancy. It had come as a bit of a shock when they found out, not long after they had settled, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome. Harry had always wanted a family to call his own, so to know that he was starting a family with Hermione was like a dream come true.
"If I had known that you were pregnant during the Battle of Hogwarts…" he trailed off.
Technically speaking, neither of them had known at that time, but from what they had heard from the midwife and her estimation as to when the child had been conceived, they realized that they had conceived a couple weeks before the battle, probably while they were staying at Shell Cottage after escaping from Malfoy Manor. After the torture they endured there, they neglected to take precautionary measures.
However, that also meant that the baby, though being nothing more than a fetus at the time, would have been present during the battle. The thought had been haunting him ever since.
Taking his face in her hands, Hermione forced him to meet her gaze. "If you had known, we might not be here now. You would have been distracted, worrying more about me and less about defeating Voldemort.
He nodded his head. "You're right."
"I usually am," she said with a smirk.
Heading into the kitchen herself, she started to prepare them both breakfast. It was nothing fancy, just some toast and oatmeal, but it was still nice to have someone willing to make it for him from time to time. Not that he minded cooking. In fact, he was more than happy to cook for Hermione, but she didn't let him very often, insisting that he had done more than his share of cooking as a child. He couldn't argue with her on that.
As with most days, they ate their breakfast, Hermione being the first to finish even though she had twice the amount of food, and cleaned their dishes before going up to their bedroom to get dressed for the day. For Harry, this was an easy enough task, as he just threw on whatever he found, but for Hermione, it was increasingly difficult.
So far she had gotten away with just magically altering the clothes she already had so that they accommodated her growing belly, borrowing some of his clothes when she needed, but he feared that her clothes were starting to reach their stretching limit. The two of them were just going to have to give in and make the trip to a clothing store in the city. He needed some new clothes as well.
Eventually, Hermione settled for a large maroon turtleneck that had once looked baggy on her but was now starting to get tight, overtop of a pair of jeans that she had altered and secured in place by use of an elastic band.
Once they were both dressed, they headed back downstairs, with Harry keeping one hand around her waist the whole time to make sure she didn't slip and fall. It wasn't that she was unstable on her feet, or even that he didn't trust the stairs. He had just become a bit protective of her. The thought of anything happening to her sent him into a panic.
The two of them then made themselves comfy on the couch, starting a fire in the fireplace to keep them warm. It had stopped raining for the most part, but it was still pretty chilly. They didn't have much for entertainment, but they had managed to get their hands on a television set, allowing them to keep up with the happenings of the rest of the world. The reception wasn't half bad, especially after Hermione had fixed it with a bit of magic. Hermione, not really interested in watching television, curled into his side with a book.
"As you know, school starts back up tomorrow, and it looks like it's going to be a great first day in terms of weather," announced the weather man.
That got Harry thinking. As strange as it was to think that they were about to have a child, not having been out of school for very long themselves, the fact remained that their child was sure to be magical, and would eventually reach the age where he or she would have to head off to Hogwarts.
"You know, I think I finally understand why Dumbledore did what he did."
Looking up from her book, Hermione raised a brow at him. "What do you mean?"
"I finally understand why he left me with the Dursleys all those years ago," he clarified. "He knew I would be famous, and wanted to give me a chance at a normal life."
Even if he had unknowingly submitted him to a miserable childhood, he still knew that their wise old headmaster had good intentions.
They were basically doing the same thing with their baby, though they had every intention of raising him or her in a loving household that accepted magic rather than one that rejected it. He wanted his son or daughter to live a happy normal life, free from the knowledge that they were famous, not because of anything they had done, but because of who their parents were and what they had done.
One day they would have to return and face everyone they had left behind. Ron and Ginny… They had met back up with them on the battlefield, but hadn't told them they were leaving. Knowing the two youngest Weasleys as well as he did, Harry knew that they would probably be sore at them for not telling them anything, but he hoped they, along with everyone else, would come to understand in time.