A/N: Please forgive me. This is the first time I'm writing anything citrusy, so it might not be great. Also, as a Southerner who has lived as a Northerner for the last ten years, I wholeheartedly agree with what Hermione does later in the chapter (Spoilers!). FYI, I made up the Potter Family Motto and used Google Translate to translate it from French.

Update: I've seen that the formatting went wrong, so I've updated it now. Fingers crossed it's fixed

Chapter 10: The Letter

It took Hermione a moment to remember where she was when she woke up the next morning. She glanced around the room, taking note of the soft blue walls and felt the soft silk sheets encompassing her body. Then, she remembered what happened last night.

Harry had kissed her.

A soft smile slowly made its way across her face as she remembered the declarations of love the two of them had confessed to each other, the kisses they shared. Her fingers reached up to touch her lips gently, still being able to taste Harry's lips on her own. They had ended up talking all night, admitting more about their feelings towards each other, talking about how Hermione had never been interested in Ron and she and Viktor Krum shared a few kisses before he left in fourth year. They had also done plenty of snogging, moving from their shared sofa to Hermione's bedroom. They didn't do more than kiss, unfortunately, before they eventually fell asleep in each other's arms. They still had to teach the next day, after all.

Neither of them had nightmares that night.

They hadn't put a label on what they were to each other, but they didn't need to. They were Harry and Hermione. They just… were.

Hermione was made aware of a weight over her waist when she felt Harry stir from beside her. His arm flexed from across her middle and pulled her closer to him, so that her back was pressed tightly against his chest. She felt him press a soft kiss to her exposed shoulder and relaxed into his embrace.

She could stay there forever.

"Morning." Harry whispered, still pressing his lips against her exposed skin. She could feel something else pressed against her and felt her face heat up in a flush.

"Good morning, Harry," Hermione whispered back, unable to keep the smile from her face. She felt shivers going down her spine at Harry's touch and felt her magic come alive. She put her hand on the arm that was holding her close to him and began running her fingers across his skin gently, until she could see goosebumps on his skin. He was clearly just as affected by her touch as she was to his.

"I could lay here forever." Harry whispered, echoing her thought from a moment ago. She hummed in approval, completely agreeing with him.

If only they didn't have students to teach.

Or a Dark Lord to kill.

"We don't have to get up just yet. We don't have any class until 10, and even then we're still doing the introductions."

"What Years do we have today?"

"Third year Slytherin and Ravenclaw at 10, Fourth Year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw at 11. Two-hour lunch break, then Fifth Year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and then the Sixth Years, both double class."

Harry groaned against her shoulder and pressed his forehead to her neck. Just like him, Hermione was quite eager to get started in teaching the students rather than still make their introductions. They would be starting their 'proper' lessons on Thursday, once they finished their intro classes.

"I just want to get stuck in already. We've had one day of intro and I'm already bored."

"Me too, Harry, but there's one plus side to today." Harry hummed in askance, and Hermione continued, turning her head to look back at him. "We meet Regulus Black today."

"Regulus?" That seemed to perk Harry up. He lifted his head and caught Hermione's eye. "Of course, he's only a Sixth year. Do you think he's already …?"

Hermione shrugged lazily before she turned around in Harry's arms. She felt safe and secure with him. It was different when they were on the run and would often fall asleep together during the day if they were up all night on watch. Back then they couldn't relax and enjoy the close contact they had with the other. They were always on alert, ready to pack up and move when the time came. Here, she could lay with Harry and sleep without any worries of Snatchers or Death Eaters. It was refreshing.

"Its hard to tell. I know when he went to the Cave with Kreacher and swapped out the locket, but I'm not sure when he joined the cause." Hermione ran her hand down Harry's chest, trying to smooth out some creased she saw in the grey t-shirt he wore to bed. "He might be on his way to joining, there's no way for knowing for sure. But isn't that what we're here for? To stop them from joining in the first place?"

"Yeah, that is one reason why we're here." Harry said to her. He stroked her cheek with his thumb before he put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. It was soft and lasted for a few seconds, but it still left Hermione breathless. "It's too early for talk like this."

"Oh yeah? What else is it too early for?" Hermione smiled softly at him. She pressed herself closer to him and tilted her head back so that she could look into his green eyes. He looked down at her, his eyes shining in adoration for the witch in his arms.

"Well, it's definitely not to early for some more kissing." Harry waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh as he bent his head for another kiss. This one was more heated than the last as Harry poured very last bit of love that he had for her into the kiss. Hermione kissed back with equal fervour, her hand reaching up to play with his hair as they kissed. She let out a breathy sigh as Harry pulled her even closer to him. There wasn't any space between them, and Hermione could feel that hardness on her inner thigh when she draped her leg over his.

Harry groaned at the shift, his hand grazing her skin teasingly as he ran his fingers down her back to her arse. He gave the cheek a soft squeeze, hiking her leg higher up his thigh until it rested on his hip. Hermione moaned, rolling her hips against his. Her knickers were most definitely damp now, and Harry's erection had definitely gotten bigger. She nipped at his bottom lip, teasing him for access which he allowed with another groan. Their tongues soon battled for dominance as Hermione tugged on Harry's t-shirt, wanting to feel the heat of his skin under her fingers.

"Merlin, Hermione," Harry moaned against her mouth as Hermione's fingers grazed against a ticklish spot against his ribs. "You're going to be the death of me."

"Oh shut up, Harry." Hermione muttered before she pushed herself up and captured Harry's lips again. Her tongue won the battle this time and she took her time exploring Harry's mouth. He let out a soft, playful growl as his hands found her arse once again and used his hips to flip them so that he was on top of her. Hermione gasped at the movement, then moaned when Harry started to leave a trail of kissed along her jawbone and down her neck. He had just reached the junction between her neck and shoulder blade when-

POP!

Hermione shrieked at the loud sound and tried to hide herself behind Harry. To his credit, Harry didn't make any sort of noise, but looked around wildly to try and see what made that noise. It was a bit difficult without his glasses, but soon realised that the distinctive pop came from only one creature.

"Professy's are going to be late! Pipsy tells Headmistress that Professy's had not arrived for breakfast and were not in their class. So Headmistress tells Pipsy to get the Professy's she does."

Harry stared at the House-elf that stood at the side of Hermione's bed. It was glaring at the both of them, its arms folded across its chest. It wore a flowery pillow case and had socks on its feet. Hermione peeked her head around Harry's arm to stare at the House-elf.

"Late?" Hermione squeaked. She had learned, very quickly, to curb her opinions of House-elves and their rights when in the presence of certain company. When she learned that Hogwarts' House-elves were free and were actually paid to work at the school, she soon stopped fighting. But that didn't mean that she wasn't happy about how other Pureblood families treated their House-elves. "But we're not due in class until 10!"

"Oh dear, Professy Hermie." The House-elf, Pipsy, shook her head condescendingly at her. "It is five minutes until 10."

Harry sighed and rested his head on Hermione's shoulder. He barely resisted the urge to kiss the skin, but knew that if he did, they would most definitely be late and they would upset Pipsy even more.

"Thank you, Pipsy. We'll get there as soon as we can." Harry said softly to the House-elf.

To her credit, Pipsy didn't look like she believed him, but when they both still wouldn't mov, she rolled her eyes and disappeared back to the kitchens.

"Since when were House-elves so bossy?" Hermione asked, trying to forget her embarrassment of being caught mid-snog by Pipsy.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think I want to get her angry." Harry smirked down at her. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Before he was tempted to continue what they were doing before being interrupted, Harry moved away. "Later?"

"Later." Hermione smiled at him before she sat up and began to get dressed as quickly as she could.

oOoOoOo

The day dragged.

It wasn't until the Fourth Year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws arrived when Hermione remembered that she hadn't taken her morning potions for the wound on her leg. One of the students made a concerned comment about the blood on her leg which prompted Hermione to make a quick get away to the Hospital Wing. It took three different pain relief potions and a blood thinning salve to stop the bleeding. Madame Pomfrey bandaged it for her and sent her on her way with a set of crutches. Hermione had to keep pressure off her leg until the potions began to work and stopped the bleeding altogether. If she didn't have to teach class, she would have stayed longer.

Harry and Hermione found that they didn't have much time together during their lunch break either. They ate in the Great Hall, catching up with the breakfast that they missed, but found themselves, more often than not, in conversation with their colleagues or students who wanted to ask more questions about their past.

Not once did anyone comment on Hermione's bandages or the crutches that she used, of which she was thankful. She didn't fancy admitting to anyone, let alone Harry, that she had opened the scars when they were snogging that morning. He'd feel guilty, and that just wouldn't do.

They did, however, manage to find time between classes to sneak some kisses. Once, on their way back to their classroom for their first double class of the afternoon, Harry pulled Hermione into an alcove near their classroom and snogged her until she was breathless. He wouldn't stop smirking when Hermione found herself too flustered to say hello to the students when they entered the room.

The day didn't pick up until dinnertime.

While the duo still didn't know what to do about Regulus, the one thing they agreed to do was observe him. He wasn't as outspoken as Sirius, instead keeping most of his comments and observations to himself. He had some friends in Slytherin but wasn't one for gossiping along with them. He would only speak when spoken to, and even then it would be the bare minimum. Hermione couldn't quite work him out.

"I'm not sure what to do about it either." Harry whispered to her as he served himself a piece of chicken. He was in the mood for a good roast, despite it being a Tuesday. He'd missed the gravy they made at Hogwarts.

"I think we definitely need to get him to open up to us. Strike up a friendship or some such." Hermione muttered back, her eyes seeking out the Sixth Year Slytherin they were talking about. He was sat with his small group of friends, staring at the plate of food in front of him.

She had just passed Harry the gravy boat after pouring as much gravy over her roasted vegetables as she could. There was no such thing as too much gravy on a roast dinner. She picked up a small Yorkshire pudding from a tray in front of her and eyed it, before deciding that she wanted two more and put them on her plate. Really, she should have put them on the plate before she drowned her food in gravy, but it was done now. She could always add more gravy later.

"Do you think they talk in this Universe?" Harry asked as he poured gravy onto his plate. He didn't go overboard like Hermione did, but he understood why she did so. Her paternal grandmother was from a small town in Yorkshire, and if there was one thing that Hermione kept a hold of as she grew up, it was how Northerners liked their Roast dinners. It amused him, but once he'd been forced to try a Roast dinner her way, there was no going back.

"Who, Sirius and Regulus?" Hermione hummed thoughtfully as she speared a piece of broccoli with her fork. "I'm not sure to be honest. We could always ask the next time we see Sirius. I feel like he'd be more willing to speak to us about their relationship than Regulus."

Harry nodded and opened his mouth to say something else when there was a sudden silence in the Great Hall. Everyone, student and teacher alike, stopped what they were doing to watch as a beautiful snowy owl flew into the Great Hall from the open doors. It flew towards the Head Table, to where Harry was sitting, and dropped a thick envelope in front of him before it flew out of the Great Hall. Harry managed to catch the envelope before it landed in the gravy. That was a mess that he wasn't eager to clean up.

"That's odd, post usually only comes in the morning unless it's an emergency," Hermione observed, placing her knife and fork down. The students were still staring their way, making Hermione rise to her feet. "Oi! Mind your business!"

All but four students went back to eating. Instead, The Marauders still watched as Harry opened the letter addressed to him, frowns on their faces.

"Who's it from, Harry?" Hermione asked. She picked up her goblet and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Harry merely shrugged at her as he read the letter. The further he read, the wider his eyes grew. Once he finished, he wordlessly passed it to Hermione so that she could read the letter too.

Dear Mr Harold James Potter,

Hello. You might not know us, which may not be all that surprising seeing as we had only recently learned of you ourselves. We would like to formally introduce ourselves to you; I am Fleamont Potter and my wife, Euphemia Potter, sits beside me while I write to you. My brother, Charlus, was your father. I believe that makes me your uncle, but I understand that our relationship is still too fledgling to be acknowledged as such. Monty is fine, however.

It is curious that I am only just learning about your existence now, but it isn't truly too shocking. I haven't spoken to my brother since before you were born. I would like to tell you the reason of our fallout, but fear that I do not know the true reason myself. Perhaps you could enlighten me one day? I'm sure your father has spoken about it before. Then again, if this is the first you are hearing about me too, then maybe not.

I digress.

I would like to welcome you to the House of Potter. I understand that my brother and his wife passed during the summer. I offer my deepest condolences and sincere regret at not reconciling with my brother before his passing. I am sure he had his reasons for keeping away, and hope that you do not share them. I would love to meet you and learn about the nephew I did not know I had.

It would also please me to learn about the situation you have found yourself in to be made the youngest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher alongside your friend Miss Hermione Wilkins.

Do not worry, we haven't been spying on you. James alerted us to the mysterious new DADA Professors, one of whom shared the family name. It was the reason that we began to dig into our family tree and see if you were an extension of our family or not. I was pleased to learn that you were.

I would be grateful if you could respond at your earliest convenience. I know I could never replace your father, but I would love the opportunity to get to know my brother's son better.

Euphemia is already inviting you to stay with us during the Christmas Holidays. We are family, after all. Your friend, Miss Wilkins, is more than welcome too if she has no where else to go. There is never to many people in this drafty old manor.

We look forward to your owl,

Monty and Euphie Potter

L'amour Vainc Tout

"L'amour Vainc Tout?" Hermione asked with a frown as she translated it in her head. She looked at Harry with a soft smile. "Your family motto is Love Conquers All."

"Well, it does, doesn't it?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin. His grin widened at the blush on her face.

He had a point. Without love, he wouldn't have survived the Killing Curse when he was a baby. Without love, he wouldn't have Hermione by his side for all these years. Love was everything.

"They seem very nice and welcoming." Hermione said, folding the parchment and tucking it back into the envelope. She passed it back to her… to Harry. He tucked it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket for safekeeping. "I was expecting a lot of accusations."

"Me too. Maybe they're luring me into a false sense of security while they gather as much information on me as they can." Harry shrugged. He then smiled sheepishly. "It's what I would do, to be honest. Then confront them with all the facts."

"Let's hope they don't sniff out anything untoward then." Hermione said, tucking back into her roast. She paused, looking over at Harry. "Unless you did want to admit the truth to them."

"Honestly, I'm not sure, Mione." Harry stared ahead of him. It took him a while to realised he was staring at James, who was staring back. Surely he recognise his parents' owl. "I suppose they deserve that. I'm just not sure if I should tell them the truth or wait until I've gained their trust more."

"We can always see how they react to your letters as you talk more." Hermione offered. She frowned at the skirt of her dress as a small drop of gravy fell onto it from her fork. She gently ran a finger over the gravy, wiping it up with her finger and magically removing the stain. She then licked the finger the gravy was on, very aware that Harry was watching every move with heated eyes. Hermione felt her face heat up as she remembered her promise to Harry before they went to class that morning.

It was the look in Harry's eye and the flush on Hermione's cheek that forced them to return to their meal. The quicker they ate, the quicker they could return to their living quarters and resume their activity from the morning.

It was a shame that there were others out there that needed their attention first.