Hermione POV
"H… Ha… Harry?"
"Uhm, fuck… PADS! Get in here," the high pitched roar comes from the blurry outline of familiar body crouching over me.
I blink rapidly trying to clear the fuzziness from my vision, but my initial reaction is still the same.
Messy black hair and the faintest outline of rounded specs encroach my poor vision as I reach up and gently brush the back of my hand over Harry's blurred cheek.
"Harry… Did it not work? How are you still here?" I croak out, my throat dry as the Sahara.
"Hermione, shit… I'm not…" Harry's voice, a little deeper than I remember, nervously stumbles out.
Hm… Something feels off… But…
"Should I be worried my wife is putting the moves on my best mate?" A sultry, gravely voice echos throughout the room from the doorway.
I drop my hand quickly from the person in front of me and furiously blink my eyes trying to clear my vision.
Wife? Best mate?
Slowly my vision returns like a long lost friend and I finally lock eyes on the wizard standing in the doorway. A man whom my soul instantly recognizes and floods me with warmth and love. A wizard, whom normally is the definition of every witches' fantasy, but instead fall upon a hallowed shell of the man I love.
"Sirius…" I gasp out with a sigh of relief as reality snaps back to me in the year 1980.
My husband, my love, my entire world.
Our eyes are piercing into each other, burning flames of longing and relief as our souls connect once more. I take a moment to scan his body, and my initial consensus is that he looks an absolute wreck.
"You look like shit, my love," I croak out playfully, the slightest hint of a smirk gracing my lips.
A chorus of barking, relieved laughter echos from both men in the room. I turn my gaze back to the man next to me, and I finally come back to my senses to realize that it's James… not Harry.
"Sorry about petting you, James. I thought you were your unborn son there for a minute," I chuckle out to him while watching the blush furiously creep up his neck.
"I… I don't even know how to respond to that…" James huffs out in embarrassment.
"Prongs? Get your arse out of here and give me a minute with my witch, ya? Might wanna let Lils know she's awake too," Sirius teasingly calls out from the door. James scurries away from my healer bed with a quick shout of, "Good to see ya awake!," as he runs out the door.
Sirius's gaze follows James as he exits and once he sees he's finally gone, he snaps back to look at me before taking off into a sprint to my bed. He reaches me in a flash and cups both of his hands to my cheeks as he sits to the left of my body.
His eyes are flickering over every centimeter of my face in a wide-eyed panic. Needing to see that I'm here and I'm whole. Tears are welling in his eyes as he takes a deep sigh of relief realizing I'm truly awake and it's not just a dream.
"Hi baby…" I coo out lovingly.
Before I can say another word, he slams his lips down onto mine in sheer desperation. His soft, plump lips move against mine making my entire world spin. Like a breeze blowing through the trees and the calm of rippling water, it feels like coming home.
My cheeks are wet with the tears that have escaped Sirius's eyes, and my heart breaks for him having to see me like this. He's never been shy of his all encompassing love for me, but I can feel the anguish and terror that has been pent up for so long finally leaving his body.
I work my arm up to his cheek and graze it over his cheekbone in comfort. The gentlest of touch to let him know that I'm here… that I'm real. He slowly pulls back from my lips, and for the first time I can study him closer.
"I swear to Merlin, Witch… You're going to be the death of me," Sirius sighs out and drops his forehead to mine, "You're never allowed to do that to me again… You hear? I've never been more scared… FUCK… Baby, I love you so much…" he mumbles into my temple with a haggard breath.
"I'm sorry, my love. I'm so sorry. The entire world could be trying to kill me and I'd still never let them take me from you, I swear it," I whisper out, running my hands through his matted hair while placing a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose.
"I've already sent one bitch through the veil for harming you and our daughter, I'd happily take down any person in our way, Love," his warm breath tickling my skin as he chuckles to me solemnly.
I gasp out at the mention of our daughter and frantically look down to my stomach, "Is she ok?! Oh my… Please, Sirius… Please tell me she's alright!"
Sirius scoots in to fully settle into the bed at my side and reaches down to my stomach to gently caress it, "She's perfect, my love. You saved her. You protected her."
In that moment I become inconsolable, tears pouring down my face while Sirius works to calm me down. "Shhh, Baby. Everything and everyone is just fine. Why don't you get some more rest before the calvary arrive, ok?," my husband whispers the suggestion to me lovingly while stroking my hair.
The tears eventually stop flowing, from calming down or exhaustion, I don't know, but I curl into Sirius and slowly shut my eyes, drifting off to the steady sound of Sirius's heart beating.
"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER-BLACK!"
Ah fuck… Lily.
"She was incomprehensible, for, in her, soul and spirit were one - the beauty of her body was the essence of her soul. She was that unity sought for by philosophers through many centuries. In this outdoor waiting room of winds and stars she had been sitting for a hundred years, at peace in the contemplation of herself." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sirius POV
Is it worth it?
A question I asked myself repeatedly during the lowest point of my life those months ago. Sitting in that hospital watching the love of my life in a healer bed, fighting for her life and our daughter's life.
As I lean against the doorway watching Hermione twirl around in awe, taking in the new conservatory Lolly and Cissa finished while she was unconscious, with our daughter, Mira, in her arms, I can say with absolute certainty that… it's so fucking worth it.
It's worth the every shred of pain, the tears, the agony just to be present in this moment. To watch her wild curls float through the air as she turns. To see her gleaming smile radiate throughout the endless plants and blooming flowers. To see her happy and healthy after so much tragedy and loss. To see Mira cradled in her arms. Our priceless work of art.
Day-by-day, my Before Hermione / After Hermione list continually grows. Once so small, so insignificant… has taken on a life of its own.
Meeting James, Remus, and Peter on the Hogwarts Express
Getting sorted into Gryffindor
Rebelling against my family
Drifting a part from Regulus
Hermione coming back in time
Hermione meeting my friends
Hermione telling Remus everything
Hermione joining the Order
Hermione frantically passing me the note
Hermione being here when Moony, Prongs, and the twins arrived back from their mission
Hermione telling James and Lilly
Hermione reuniting me with Regulus
Hermione reuniting the Black family
Hermione telling me she loves me
Hermione joining our perfect, crazy mismatched family
Hermione helping defeat Voldemort
Hermione agreeing to be my wife
Hermione and I building our home together
Hermione becoming my partner
Hermione becoming pregnant with our daughter
Hermione surviving and giving birth to our daughter
My life is hers, my soul is hers. From the day I first laid eyes on her, like a wave she quickly inserted herself into every pivotal moment of my life. From now until the end of time, the list will grow to include every milestone and she undoubtably will be a part of every single one.
Hermione captivates me in a way I never knew to be possible. I've never experienced such a pure, overwhelming love in all of my life. It's the kind of love one writes stories of. She's a song, a hauntingly beautiful ballad that gives you chills and listen to repeatedly. She's a poem of heartbreakingly enthralling words that leaves you aching for more. Of sacrifice, of trust, of loss, of pain, of love, of peace…
She is my story, song, and poem all in one. A combination of words and melody, where I can barely claim to be a main character of because she outshines me at every turn.
It seems unfair that she's only been in my life for what feels like so little time. I selfishly want her to be in every past memory and every moment, but in a way… she has. While not physically present, it feels as if my soul has been reaching out for her all my life and guiding me to the very moment she turned up in my flat.
Our souls reaching out and pulling her back in time just to give us the chance to be in this moment, right here, together.
"You know, you ever told me the story about you getting high, love…"
FIN