H P Boy who livesYear 7- Summer
Chapter 22
Hermione tells all
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Daniel and Emma get their first taste of Hogwarts, Hermione continues to tell all about her and Harry's relationship...Harry discusses his plan with Wills.
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Daniel and Emma were given the grand tour by Ron and Luna, because Harry and Hermione were still miffed at each other so much so they skipped the prewedding feast in the Great hall.
"Are they always like this?" Emma asked Ron. "To be honest I thought that you and Hermione were going to end up with each other. What happened to Cho Chang?"
"Well, ya see since they became an item it's been a sort of off and on. Mostly they act like they've been married forever and eventually they kiss and make up." Ron shrugged. "Now as for the other, since we're being honest, so did I at first. I mean she was sending out all of these mixed signals, but then she told me that I was like a brother to her, and that it was Harry she really fancied. It opened my eyes to the fact that I was over the moon for my Luna. Cho is kind of crackers these days. She thinks that Harry was her boyfriend first, which is mental since they never really had a date. That and she was using Harry fifth year in order to connect with Cedric. After that Harry really didn't give her the time of day at all during sixth year."
"This whole relationship thing is new to the two of them and they're still trying to iron out the rough edges." Luna explained. "Ron has always been my king." She sighed dreamily.
Ron blushed.
"I'll wager the added pressure of being HBP doesn't help matters any." Emma sighed.
"No it doesn't. Now add that to the fact that they're both stressing over getting the Order of Merlin First-Class on Monday, and you can see why they're all wigged out." Ron was showing them the former Slytherin Common room. "This is where Slytherin use to be housed. It's being turned into a training area of some sort for Harry, Hermione, and Draco, but they don't know it yet."
"No more Slytherin? Are you saying that Slytherin House is dead?" Daniel found that hard to believe.
"No Dark Wizards ever again means, no more Slytherin." Luna answered. "So yes Daniel, Slytherin House is dead."
"Slytherin never belonged in this school to begin with and it will never raise its ugly fanged banner again." Harry emerged from the shadows startling Dan and Em. "So Emma you have the same mind-set that most muggles have, that Ron and Hermione would end up together?"
"It's just the way it seems to play out in the books and how they seem to lean towards it in the movies. Hermione is always hovering around you like a sort of mother figure, especially in Goblet. It was Ron who was jealous and realized that Hermione was actually a girl." Emma explained her view
"How did you do that?" Daniel stared at Harry in surprise. "I don't see the invisibility cloak on you." He tried to change the subject not really wishing to start up a row between Harry and Em.
"I'm finding that this ring allows me to do many things, one of which is blending into the shadows. I want to apologize for ditching you both, but I had to get away from my princess." Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Now as for Emma's comment, Hermione has always worried about me. It has nothing to do with her being a mother figure towards me in any way. I was floored when I saw her all dolled up for the Yule Ball, just as much if more so than Ron. It was then that it really hit me that she was a girl and not just one of the guys. I was nevertheless in the middle of the tournament and trying to survive at the time. I also figured that she fancied Ron at the time, plus I had that crush on Cho. There was no way that I was gonna risk Ron's and my friendship over feelings that I may or may not have had for Hermione. Fifth year I tried to go out with Cho. We know how that turned out. It was then if I hadn't been plagued by Voldemort, been called crazy by everyone, had to deal with Toad Lady, that I would have seen that Hermione was paying way more attention to me than she was at Ron. I would have realized that she was the one that I constantly had on my mind, which was obvious on my non-date with Cho Chang. I kept thinking about Hermione, wishing to meet me later, and didn't wish to be late for it. It didn't bother me in the least that Cho and I weren't meant to be." Harry had never really talked about Hermione to anyone so this was strange for him.
Ron, Luna, Daniel, and Emma all listened intently to him.
"Then it all got so badly bungled up. Hermione got hurt in the Department of Mysteries and that almost undid me more than everyone else getting hurt. Uncle Sirius died, and then Uncle Albus and I had that heart-to-heart. I had more on my mind than ever before. I had to kill Voldemort or he had to kill me. It was surreal, and I trained all sixth year for that finale battle."
He paced in front of them.
"I was also a Prefect that year, focused on my studies, was Captain of the Quidditch team. I decided that one way to keep Hermione occupied was to have her research the ring that I had inherited for my sixteenth birthday. I had a plan. It was simple. Keep my friends out of the final battle."
He fisted his hands at his sides. He hated talking about this.
"I trained in secret with Tonks, Kingsley, Moody, and Uncle Remus from 10pm to 4am in the Shrieking Shack during the week. My spare time I spent with Uncle Albus studying Legilemency, Occlumency, and pouring over anything that I could read that would help me during that final battle."
He stopped pacing, his tone bitter.
"The two of us became very close last year and now I know why. He's my Great-Great Uncle. I saved Snape's life during one of my trips sneaking back into the castle at dawn. MacNair was going to kill him. The thing is that no matter how much I trained or planned, it all got bungled up in the end. Lucius and Bellatrix killed Luna. Hermione almost died. Ron did die, but I did vanquish Voldemort. The Deatheaters were crushed by a team effort of Hogwarts Staff, Senior DA members, Grawp, Centaurs, House Elves, Aurors, and the Order of the Phoenix."
He was so tired of going over this time and time again.
"I nearly died. I woke up in St. Mungo's on July 23rd with Hermione there at my bedside. Truthfully I have never been so happy in my life, seeing her alive was the best gift ever. I was still raw over the loss of Ron and Luna, so I fled to here to Hogwarts the one place I called home. I sat under the beech tree to brood and that's when Ron made his appearance. I felt extremely guilty about being in love with Hermione, but he set me straight about all of that and the rest is history. Hermione and I are gonna be together forever, there will be peace in our world for centuries to come, and I'm HBP."
"Thanks this puts everything into an entirely new light. I'm sorry if I brought up any bad feelings." Emma hadn't wished to upset him, it was clear that going down memory lane was arduous on him.
"I know that Emma, but it was good to get that off my chest. I love Hermione more than anything in this Universe, even when she acts totally mental as she has today." Harry smiled at her. "I'm finding that getting to know Hermione is like discovering one surprise after another."
"Harry is it true that you and Hermione were really discussing the cookie situation?" Ron wiggled his eyebrows at him and grinned.
Harry flushed crimson under his tan. "I don't think that my love life is any of your concern...best mate or not that's a little too personal of a question."
"So that means you were and it seems to me that Hermione won that battle." Ron smirked.
"If you weren't dead I would seriously hurt you right now."
"Enough, boys behave we have guests." Luna rolled her eyes at them.
"If you must know I have a plan to deal with that particular situation and that's all I'm gonna say about the matter." Harry sighed in defeat.
"I never thought that I would be standing here listening in on the actual Harry Potter and Ron Weasley talking about his love life." Daniel shook his head.
"I know what you mean, Dan. It's surreal enough to know that it's all real, but to listen to two people that look like older versions of us talking about a subject like that is well awkward to say the least." Emma agreed.
"Excuse me?! Did you mention my son and the word love life?" James appeared beside Harry.
"Son of a bitch!" Harry snarled in sheer frustration.
"Watch your mouth son there are ladies present." James growled.
"If I have a love life with Hermione then that is my business and mine alone! I'm not gonna get into this with my father!!" Harry stalked out of the former Common room.
"Sorry about that you two, he's on edge." James smiled at Daniel and Emma. "He usually is such a well-mannered boy."
Harry turned on his heel and stalked over to his father. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear! I am a man not a boy! I stopped being a boy at age 12! I'm on edge because my soul mate has gone mental on me! I was too busy fighting Voldemort and trying to stay alive to notice if that happened around me before, so this is new to me! One second she's all I love you and the next it's like her head is going to spin around and spit green slime on me or something! So if I'm a little on edge then that's why!"
"So she's suffering from what was that again? Oh yeah, PMS." Ron winced. "Ginny and mum are monsters during that time."
"Someone better warn Draco." Harry managed a smirk.
"Son, what you do in these cases is give them as much space as possible and if they seek you out for a cuddle then that's safe...otherwise touch them and you might end up in St. Mungo's." James gave him that talk.
"That's the best advice you've ever given me." Harry looked around at the huge space. "This looks like some sort of training area now."
"Harry, I know that you're around here somewhere!" Hermione's voice echoed from the corridor.
"You didn't see me and I was never here." He blended in with the shadows.
"It never did that for me." James sulked.
"Shut up Dad!" Harry snarled.
"So this is where you went off to." Hermione walked into the enormous room and smiled at them.
"We're giving them a tour of the castle and this was the last stop." Ron explained.
"I'm looking for my prince. Have any of you seen him." Hermione looked around at the shadows. "You see I can sense where he is most of the time and my search ended up here."
"Are you feeling better?" Daniel eyed her warily.
"Oh yes, I'm fine now. I just had to get something from Aunt Gene." Hermione smiled warmly.
"They even have a cure for PMS in this world?" Emma was impressed.
"It's something new that Aunt Gene came up with and it seems to work wonders." She nodded. "Now if I were a cowardly prince where would I hide?" She walked over to the shadows and grabbed hold of Harry's arm. "Gotcha," She pulled him out of the shadows and into the light.
"I'm not a coward. I'm intelligent therefore I stay out of your way." Harry looked like he was ready to run for it.
"Is the Great Harry James Potter afraid of little ole me?" She acted all innocent angel.
"During this time of the month hell yes I'm afraid of you." Harry wasn't afraid to admit that little factor.
"You see when I got like this before, I steered clear of the two of you. You have to get used to it eventually so why not start now." Hermione shrugged her shoulders as if this wasn't a big deal.
"Just wait until you're married and she's expecting your firstborn and then you'll see what real mood swings are like. This is nothing." James smirked.
"Gee dad, thanks for the insight..." Harry raked his fingers through his hair.
"Look he's scared enough as it is, no use giving him nightmares about something that isn't gonna happen for another year or so..." Hermione let that little bit of information slip out and Harry glared at her. "Sorry it's not like I said that we were going to have a boy and a girl...I mean Draco and Ginny have twin girls..." Harry put the silencing spell on her and she glared at him.
"That's much better." Harry turned to look at the seven sets of eyes staring at him. "Draco...Ginny...how much did you hear?"
"I know that we're going to end up with twin girls." Draco looked shell-shocked.
"What did she take Veritaserum?" Ginny didn't seem the least bit surprised at what she had heard.
"She took some Muggle Medicine in the limo, then Aunt Gene gave her something, and now she just reveals all. She wouldn't shut up in the limo. She said that I had an ego to match my, well, I don't have to draw you a picture now do I." Harry liked the silence even if she was glaring murderously at him. "Her mother took away her wand and gave it to Aunt Minerva until term starts, so she's at my mercy at the moment."
"She really did have one interesting vision." Draco smirked.
"More detailed than your own I bet, eh, Harry." Ginny giggled.
"Look I'm fine with getting to see my kids and let's leave it at that."
"You got to see your future?" Emma frowned.
Hermione winked at Ginny and Emma and grinned.
"One of us got to see more than the other, but yes." Harry gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Didn't Professor Trelawney say you had no talent?" Daniel frowned confused. "She seems to be the dud not you."
"Actually, she made another prediction that came out one hundred percent true." Draco grinned.
"Good or bad?" Emma and Daniel stared at them.
"Amazingly good actually," Ron grinned.
"No death, blood, or violence at all." Luna nodded.
"It's titled the Four Hearts Prophecy and the stars of it are Draco, Ginny, Hermione, and my son." James added.
"Well what does it say exactly?" Emma asked.
"Well it goes like this..." Harry was about to recite the prophecy when he looked at his angel's miserable face. "Oh very well you may speak again, but try not to divulge any our ears only information." He reversed the spell.
"I can't help it if something that I took makes me tell the truth and nothing that I said was...ok I'll just tell them her prediction." She sighed in defeat when Harry gave her the look and recited the prophecy.
"As you can see it's a wonderful prediction that has so far come to pass, except the second line has a while before that happens." Hermione eyed Harry warily. "Our family trees will thrive in the future...Harry even gets to play midwife when the twins are born."
"I give up." Harry groaned. "Yes James Alexander and Lilly Katherine are born during the worst storm in United Kingdom history. Help doesn't arrive until after the two of them are born...This all happens after Draco, Ginny, and I win the Quidditch World Cup against Krum's team...I don't really get to see any of that. I just talked about it with Hermione, who in the vision is very pregnant again, and that is all you need to know."
"It's nice to know that you have a happy future to look forward to." Daniel smiled.
"Yes, after all the turmoil that you two went through you actually get to have a happy life." Emma agreed.
"You know when you say it that way it's not that bad that Hermione keeps babbling away."
"Look I didn't even mention that we el..." Harry covered her mouth with his hand.
"No more of that angel... No need to fill my dad in on everything." Harry decided that a hasty retreat was in order.
"El…what the hell did he mean by that?" James frowned.
"Oh yeah, I think I know what's up with those two." Draco chuckled.
"They wouldn't." Ginny looked at a nodding Draco. "Oh my…"
"Now that would be one interesting chapter." Daniel chuckled.
"It is possible to do that and still you know..." Emma frowned.
"With those two anything is possible." Ron grinned.
"Absolutely anything," Luna agreed.
"Elope? He wouldn't dare Uncle would skin him alive." James frowned. "I mean Lil's and I were going to do that, but they found out and it wasn't pretty let me tell you. Aunt Minerva and Uncle Albus have nasty tempers. Not to mention my parents."
"You weren't the true HBP and Harry is. You'd be surprised at what your son can do now." Draco grinned evilly.
"Oh, hell this is not good." James vanished.
"I love doing that to his Dad." Draco chuckled. "He's so paranoid about Harry and Hermione that he panics when he thinks they aren't gonna follow through with their promise."
"They promised that they were going to wait to get married until after seventh year has ended. I just think they don't wish to go through with a huge royal circus. They barely survived the Celebration in our honor." Ginny sighed.
"They promised to wait until they're married and they'll keep that promise. Now if they secretly elope after Hermione turns seventeen then they still wouldn't be breaking that promise now would they." Ron put his two cents into the conversation.
"Ron. Prince William can arrange for anything, after all he is the next in line and next King of England." Luna was as calm and dreamy eyed as ever.
"I never thought of it that way." Ron frowned.
"Wills thinks of Harry as a kid brother and Hermione as a kid sister, so yeah he'd pull strings for the two of them." Draco grinned.
"One thing's for sure it's not gonna be a boring year for any of you is it." Daniel grinned.
"It's Hogwarts one thousand fifth anniversary this January and we're gonna be doing one formal event after another, so no its not gonna be boring. That and we may get to play a game of professional Quidditch or two, and play on our House team." Draco gave them even more insight on what would occur seventh year. "Christmas we get to go see the finished product of Harry and Hermione's sanctuary...hmm maybe that's when ...Or after the Masquerade Ball New Years Eve one never knows." Draco's eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Draco Sirius Black what did you just see?" Ginny arched a knowing brow at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Peaches. I was just thinking out loud."
"Poppycock I know that you can see things. In your letters you saw you and Harry calling a truce in your dreams. Don't give me that bull about thinking aloud." Ginny glared at him.
"Gin we don't even know if there's some big thing that we have to attend here yet. So we might not even get to go home for the holidays." Draco eyed her warily.
"I've had enough of the dungeons. Can we go back up to the tower?" Emma changed the subject.
"Sure thing Emma, we'll get you back to the tower." Draco took that as a means of escape. "Just follow me and you won't get lost."
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Harry and Hermione were watching Lord of the Rings in the study of his and Draco's tower rooms.
"Don't glare at me like that. You were blabbing everything to my father. We won't have any freedom if he finds out the whole plan." Harry defended himself.
"Well it's not my fault the medicine that I took makes me tell the truth." Hermione pouted.
"I know that angel, but you not only made yourself look foolish, but you gave them every reason to keep us here at Hogwarts and not be allowed to leave for the Christmas holiday and such." Harry cuddled her in his lap.
"Because the remaining Dementors are after you again, I would say that we should expect a constant shadow from one of your guards."
"My guard didn't do one bloody thing to defeat them. I did that by myself." Harry grumbled.
"It just shows there are still Dark Wizards at large." Hermione sighed, "I thought that Karkaroff was weak, but now that Voldemort is out of the picture he could be trying to take his place."
"The only one that wants my head on a platter is Krum." Harry wished that he'd given Krum the test again to see if he was dark or not. "Karkaroff is a coward and wouldn't want my wrath to come down on his worthless hide. Now there are other Dark Wizards in other countries that might not be pleased that Voldemort is dead and he could be among them."
"Viktor would never send Dementors after you. He isn't that kind of a person." Hermione defended her former pen pal.
Harry stiffened at the thought of Hermione still having feelings for Krum. He became extremely jealous of the man. "Are you defending that moron after the crap that he pulled in the game and before that!?"
"I'm merely saying that he would never do something like that. You don't know him like I do." Hermione didn't even sense that Harry was feeling jealous and continued on. "I got to know him and he's nothing like the former Headmaster of his school. He's a kind, gentle, sensitive, and caring person."
"Is that so and you know this how?! Did you date the jerk?! Did you go visit his country!? Or did you learn all of this from your letters and that short time fourth year!?" Harry was getting more and more jealous by the second.
"Are you jealous?" Hermione was now curled on the other side of the couch.
"NO I'M NOT JEALOUS OF THAT MORONIC JERK!" Harry stood up and paced the room.
"You are jealous!" She hooted in delight. "To answer your questions…No I didn't date him. I felt sorry for him, and went with him to the Yule ball. No I didn't visit his country. I went to Number 12 instead, and yes I learned a lot about him from his letters. Most of mine to him were about Hogwarts and my adventures with you and Ron. Do you feel better now or do you want to howl at me some more?"
"Krum has always been a sore spot with me. You chose to go with him instead of Ron or me and that hurt...more than I realized...it was like we weren't...I wasn't good enough to go to the Ball with you. So you chose some hotshot World Cup champ that was also my competition for the Triwizard tournament." Harry was still pacing the carpet in front of the doors to the tower.
"You were too busy dillydallying to even think of asking me and I didn't want to be rude and say no to him, so I said yes. At the time, you didn't even realize that I was actually a girl and not just one of the guys. If you think that you had hurt feelings how do you think I felt. You chose Cho over me in fifth year. It was so obvious to even Cho that it was me you fancied, because you kept talking about me constantly when you were around her." Hermione shot back.
"Well to be honest it wasn't until I saw you all dressed up for the Ball that I realized you were a girl and not just one of the guys. It was you who pushed me into Cho's arms. Told me to go for it and date her. That wasn't my fault it was your own. Is this called crying over spilled milk?" He grinned sheepishly.
"This is a ridiculous conversation. We went from talking about eloping to something totally irrelevant. None of that matters, we chose each other and that's the end of it." Hermione patted the cushion next to her. "Stop pacing and come here."
Harry sat down and pulled her onto his lap again. "All of this wedding talk is getting to me. I just want this year over so that we can focus on us. I know that it sounds selfish, but its how I feel."
"It doesn't sound selfish at all. The problem with that is the grown-ups aren't ready for us to leave the nest quite yet. So we just have to grit our teeth and humor them for a while." Hermione kissed him.
"At least we can still kiss and cuddle." Harry was just about to do just that when Wills and Kate walked up the stairs and into the study. "How did he guess the password?" He grumbled.
"This map is amazing." Wills was referring to the Marauders Map. "It tells all the passwords to every part of the castle."
"Accio Map!" The map flew into his hands. "I know what it does, William. Now what I don't know is how you got your hands on it."
"Now don't go getting violent on me. You dropped it by the gate and I picked it up for safekeeping." Wills talked fast.
"Thanks this isn't something I want to fall into teacher hands." Harry tapped the map with his wand. "Mischief managed."
"So did Katie and I interrupt something?" Wills noticed that Hermione was glaring at him.
"We're just attempting a little quiet time." Harry sighed in defeat. "It seems to be impossible, until after the wedding, and the Order of Merlin ceremony."
"So the two of you were about to snog on the couch and we ruined your playtime." Kate gave them a knowing look.
"We were fighting if you must know and were about to kiss and make up." Harry was tired of defending their actions with everyone. "It's not like she and I can sneak into my room or anything, since the grown-ups have covered that situation very thoroughly."
"Your father is beyond paranoid. He's positive the two of you are going to run off and elope as soon as Ducky turns seventeen." Wills told them of the conversation going on with the adults.
"I would think they would have taken Uncle Remus to Hogsmeade and given him a stag party or something. That's if they do that in the Wizarding World." Harry frowned.
"Kiddo you were attacked by over twenty Dementors tonight, which means that there's some Dark Wizard gunning for your ass again. So, any thought of them going out and celebrating went out the window. Your Uncle went to personally collect you himself." Wills couldn't believe that Harry was more concerned with getting his snogging time with Hermione than with some wacko after him again.
"They had Tonks and Charlie shadowing us during our try at a date. We were watching the movie when a Dementor came out of the IMAX screen. Then Tonks, Hermione, and Charlie tried their hands at a patronus. It didn't work very well because a tiny dragon, little otter, and Koala aren't very threatening to a Dementor. In fact it ate them for a snack. So as usual I used my stag to attack it, only this time it upgraded itself into an unicorn that totally destroyed it." Harry was interrupted by Kate.
"POA on the IMAX just opened in London and I'll bet anything that you crashed Dan and Emma's screening of their movie." Kate smirked.
"The movie is about my life, besides the clerk never mentioned anything about a private screening." Harry grumbled.
"That's because you're Harry Potter and besides that you threatened him with your wand." Hermione chided.
"The git wouldn't shut up about the books, about you and Ron, and he did see my ID." Harry hated that he felt like the bad guy in this situation.
"Tonks had to adjust his memory." Hermione sighed.
"I would imagine that after seeing you in action against the Dementor Daniel and Emma revealed themselves to you." Wills frowned.
"You could say that and I wasn't in the mood to see my copy. Hermione handed me my ass on a platter for snarling at Dan. She sentenced me to no cookies." Harry looked down at her and pouted.
"She did what?" Wills and Kate gaped at Hermione.
"Daniel and Emma were there, I couldn't just say what I was thinking, so I came up with no cookies instead of no shagging. Don't look at me like that. I happen to have PMS at the moment. Harry went totally mental on Daniel, who had done nothing except for asking him a simple question. So I sentenced him to no cookies, which is something that I'm so not ready to even think about yet." Hermione defended her actions.
"You sentenced him to the couch for how long?" Wills took one look at Harry's face and knew the answer.
"You see even if we did go and elope nothing could happen not till after the official wedding day. I'm not so sure about that even..." Harry sulked.
"That's just wrong Ducky..." Wills glared at her. "He was having a bad day!"
"He was going to use his wand on Daniel and besides that cookies can lead to other things and there is no way the babies are going to be born with his temper the way it is right now. He can see this as incentive to rein in his temper." Hermione was standing firm on her decision.
"Hermione Anne you know as well as I do that we are on the second year of our marriage when the twins are born! I'm telling you this right now. You are safe until after the royal wedding. I have not done anything to deserve a longer sentence than that!" Harry pinned her with a look that said that he meant business.
"I have a suggestion the two of you might go for." Wills interrupted their minibattle.
Harry and Hermione looked at him.
"You and Ducky can use the yacht for your let's say two month honeymoon that way no one will be able to find you..." Wills was jabbed in the rib cage by Kate. "That is after the official wedding of course."
"You would do that for us?" Hermione acted touched.
"You know damn well that I would do just about anything for the two of you. Do you really want to elope before the actual royal wedding?" Wills tried to see what they were plotting so he could figure out a way to help them with their plan.
"We both know that going through a royal wedding like that will be extremely stressful on the two of us, so by secretly getting married before the official day we eliminate that stress." Harry tried to explain the logic in his plan.
"It's a brilliant plan. No pressure means the two of you can actually enjoy your special day." Kate was all for it.
"The thing is there hasn't been a royal wedding in our world for nearly a century, it's almost certain that ours is going to be huge." Hermione groaned.
"If that's the case it could be bigger than my parents wedding was." Wills sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs and pulled Kate down onto his lap.
"There's one difference. Harry and I love each other and he doesn't have a mistress on the side either." Hermione didn't like being compared to his father in any way. "Dad and Mum always saw your mum marrying Andrew not him."
"Look I know that my dad is a real piece of work..." Wills pinned her with a look. "What did you just say?"
"The truth is that Uncle Andrew cared for your mum more than your dad ever did. I can't help but see how you and Harry resemble Uncle Andrew more than you do your own father. Uncle Andrew was devastated when your mum died. He and Dad took turns throwing darts at pictures of your dad, grandfather, and the other woman." Hermione was in babble mode again. "It was obvious the Men in Grey took out your mother and made it look like an accident."
"Are you trying to say that my dad isn't...I can't even fathom the thought. It's true that we do resemble our Uncle more than my father, but that's just genetics. I mean that would be the ultimate royal cover up. Dad was shooting blanks. They needed an heir and so they took...I can't even go there, not that I wouldn't put it passed them. Uncle Andrew has never missed anything important in my life...Dad was always on the sidelines...even when I was seriously injured...holly hell this makes sense to me..." Wills was floored by her suggestion. "Now as for the other, I know that they had my mother killed. Why the hell do you think that Harry and I don't like most of our family? I received a dossier when I turned eighteen and it really opened my eyes to what my father actually was."
"The plus in this whole mess is that he screwed up so much that he will never be king." Hermione growled.
"Hermione, I think that you've given Wills more than enough to think about." Harry sighed in defeat. "She took a mixture of Muggle and Wizarding medicine and the side effect is that she speaks her mind about everything."
"That's ok Harry. I'm going to arrange a DNA test when I return to the Muggle World. Although, it doesn't really matter because no one would ever admit that they were that desperate for an heir. It just shows that they had no confidence in my father." Wills seemed calmer now.
"Uncle Remus you can stop spying now." Harry stared over at the entrance to the tower.
"I was not spying on you." Remus revealed himself to the four of them. "I know that you're in a mood and this was one way to check on you. I see that even an invisibility cloak doesn't escape your attention."
"Obviously not," Harry pinned him with a look. "So they elected you to come see what we were plotting, because I wouldn't hurt someone who was about to get hitched."
"Look smart ass. You happen to be like a son to me. No. I wasn't elected to come up here and spy on you. Although, what I have overheard has me very impressed," Remus sat down on the other end of the couch. "You wish to elope so you don't have to be stressed out on the official day. It's a well thought out plan, since the two of you have vowed to wait until after the official ceremony."
He had requested that food be sent up to the tower because Harry and Hermione had skipped out on dinner. It appeared on any available table in the study.
"The fact is the two of us haven't been kids for a very longtime. So, any of our plans are rarely not well thought out." Hermione was so hungry that her stomach growled.
"We're aware of that and even Severus understands to a point." Remus got up and fixed Hermione a plate. "We also know how it is to be seventeen and in love." He handed Hermione a plate loaded with food and a goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Those two are more like seventeen going on twenty seven." Kate smirked.
"That's something else that we're all well aware of, which makes all of us a little uneasy about your relationship." He handed Harry his own plate and goblet.
"I know that all of you plan on keeping us so busy that we won't have time to think about anything else, so what is there to worry about?" Harry sighed.
"I think that it's because you are about to be exposed to the whole wedding day atmosphere and they don't know how that's going to effect you." Wills surmised.
"It's going to be more than just Gene and I getting married." Remus nodded.
"Let me guess Bill and Fleur, my aunt and Uncle, Percy and Penelope, or better yet Tonks and Charlie?" Harry guessed.
"Percy feels like you resent him, so even though Penelope is thrilled about getting married here he's still not so sure, as for Charlie and Tonks they just got engaged." Remus took a sip of his own juice.
"Percy is family, so even though I still think he showed asinine judgment for a while, I don't hate him or even resent him. If my big brother wishes to get married like the rest of you I'm all for it." Harry looked over at where Remus had been hiding. "You can come out now big brother."
Percy took off Moody's cloak and made himself known. "I can't figure out how you can detect anyone under one of these cloaks." He was impressed.
"I just know." Harry grinned.
"So you really are okay with tomorrow?" Percy still couldn't believe what he had heard.
"You were a prat for a while, but that's over now." Harry rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah Percy, I'm okay with tomorrow."
"Harry is a true prince and pettiness is beneath him." Hermione remarked.
"It's true she really is a little chatterbox tonight isn't she." Percy chuckled.
"You know if I had my wand I would jinx you!"
"You are so lucky that Uncle Albus made it so she couldn't use my wand to jinx others unless it's an emergency situation." Harry grinned.
"Not to mention that she can't use her own wand until September first. Even though, I was against that idea they seem to think that she can't control her temper." Remus frowned.
"Thank you for pointing that out Uncle Remus. I'm not the only one who has to learn to rein in their temper." Harry felt a little better now.
"I'm going to bed!" Hermione took her plate and goblet and stalked out of the study.
"Sorry about that Harry." Percy frowned.
"No need to apologize. It's been a long day and I need to turn in as well." Harry had finished eating and was discovering that he was bone tired.
"You fought twenty-one Dementors. You should be unconscious in Hospital wing. The patronus charm takes a lot out of you and any other wizard would have been down for the count for days." Remus eyed him worriedly.
"I'm fine." Harry got to his feet. "All I need is to go to bed."
"We'll see you in the morning." Percy, Wills, and Kate left.
"It seems to me that the Dementors have lost their affect on you."
"The first Dementor affected me, but the others didn't." Harry yawned.
"Sleep well Harry." Remus left him to go off and check on Draco on Ginny.
"I need to unwind a little." Harry headed to his room to get his robe, and nightclothes. "The Prefect bathroom is just what I need to relax." He headed down the stairs.
--
Ten minutes later he was enjoying a nice soak in the huge golden tub. "This is just what I needed no stress, just a nice soak." He closed his eyes and tried to relax.
The door to the bathroom opened and in stepped Hermione. He had forgotten to lock the door.
"Get out of here, Hermione!! This place is occupied at the moment!" Harry was immersed in bubbles, but the fact remained that he was not wearing anything and this was an awkward situation.
"I never pictured you as the bubble bath type." Hermione grinned mischievously.
"The only thing this place has is a bathtub!" Harry growled. "You sentenced me to the couch so get out!"
"I did sentence you to no cookies didn't I?" Hermione took a step closer.
"That you did angel. Now turn around and leave." Harry dove under the water.
"You did try something like this as Prince. It's only fair." Hermione was in a playful mood.
"Princess is not allowed in this tub either!" Harry surfaced so he could glare at her.
"You my dear prince are at my mercy." Hermione loved every minute of his turmoil.
"The alarms are no doubt going off everywhere in the castle, so please get out before we get in trouble." Harry begged. "I mean for the love of magic, you're wearing my pajama top and my shorts too!"
"It's not like you missed these or anything." Hermione pouted.
"This looks incredibly bad." Harry just knew they were going to get in trouble.
Draco having been dragged there by Myrtle entered the bathroom. "Do the two of you have a death wish or something!?" He took in the situation.
"I was here first and she won't leave!" Harry gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Not only that but she's wearing your nightclothes!" Draco growled.
"Look!! She's in a playful mood now and I'm stuck in the tub with the bubbles disappearing faster than I would like!" Harry was not having a good day.
"I'm enjoying my view."
"You really are trying to kill him aren't you?" Draco dragged her out of the room.
"Party pooper," Hermione pouted.
"Hermione Anne Diana Granger what are you doing now!?" Katherine growled.
"Mother!? I was just...I mean...I..." Hermione acted extremely guilty.
"You can't give the poor boy a break can you? If you saw that he was in there you should have left!" Katherine was not pleased.
"He was in bubbles, it's not like I got a view or anything." Hermione pouted.
"Aunt Katherine you might want to take her to her room before Harry comes out here and gives her what for." Draco suggested.
"I don't even want to know how you managed to steal his nightclothes! Let's go young lady!" Katherine dragged her off.
Harry poked his head out of the door. "Is she gone?"
"You really can't stay out of trouble at all can you?" Draco shook his head.
"I didn't plan on her walking into my bath! It's like she has her own James side and uses our link to get me into trouble!" Harry and Draco walked back to the Common Room.
"The link you both share is both a plus and a minus." Draco agreed.
"It would be easier if the guys and the girls had separate Prefect bathrooms." Harry grumbled.
"Nicely put nephew and that is what is going to be." Albus appeared beside him.
"She wouldn't leave! That's so not like Hermione not to leave! I thought she was gonna turn into princess and jump into the tub with me!" Harry was at his whit's end.
"It's all right Harry. Just go to bed and try to get some sleep." Albus escorted him all the way up to his room.
"Well she has been acting strange all evening, maybe that mixture of medicine has made her more feral towards you." Draco paused before entering his room.
"Yeah, like that's going to happen, "Harry grumbled as he entered his room. "Feral! She looked at me like I was dinner or something!"
"He isn't gonna survive at this rate." Draco chuckled and went to bed.
"And to think it has only just begun." Albus seemed highly amused.
"Do you think that I might have wanted to know that I would be having a roommate?" Harry stalked back out into the study.
"I conjured a bed for young Daniel. There is plenty of room in there for the two of you." Albus responded in his calming tone.
"There's how many empty beds below and you stick him in my room!" Harry snarled.
"Harry James you are acting like a spoiled brat now enough with the three-year-old tantrum!" Lily appeared in the room.
"Look it's my first night back! The hell with it I'll sleep out here!" Harry got comfortable on the couch. "First he takes on my image and now he takes my room!"
"You are being childish!" Lily glared down at him.
"That would be a first since I have never been able to be a kid!" Harry snarled back.
"I told you that he wouldn't like the idea of me rooming with him." Daniel was standing in the doorway. "He has every right to resent me. I do play him in the movies."
"When I wish to have back up from my carbon copy I will ask for it! You have no clue what it's like to be me! The movies don't even scratch the surface! If you want to know what happened follow the damn books not a script edited because it's too scary for the kiddies!" Harry was so furious that his eyes were blazing and books were flying out of the bookcases.
"I don't have any say how they make the movie! I just make sure that you look good in it!" Daniel growled. "I have some idea what it's like to be you if the books are even close! I have read all of them so cut the bull shit about me not knowing who you are!"
"Oh kid you really don't know when to quit do you!" Harry narrowed his eyes at Daniel.
"I know that you can't harm me, because that's not you! You would never make your Uncle ashamed of you by doing something as asinine as jinxing me because you're in a ratty mood! You pride yourself at being a good guy and your morals are your greatest strength! I know that even though you may have went through hell for the past six years that it was all worth it, because you can now have some sort of life and peace now! How am I doing big brother?" Daniel saw that Harry felt lower than Flobberworm mucus.
"Maybe you do know me, but then you would know the only roommate that I want isn't possible right now! In fact, the reason that I'm in such a foul mood is that she barged into my time in the Prefect bathroom and refused to leave! She looked at me as if I were dinner or something! All of that after sentencing me to NO COOKIES!" Harry was clearly not okay with the whole no cookies thing.
"You're not even out of school yet, so the no cookies clause is a good thing, besides that you promised us that you would behave until after the official wedding." Lily growled.
"Hermione is way different from anything that I imagined." Daniel frowned.
"Oh she was normal once, but then we started dating. No scratch that we haven't really completed an actual date without something happening. Anyway, we discovered that we're soul mates and everything, which changed the whole Harry/ Hermione best friends' relationship. Now I don't know which way is up with her and it's a challenge just keeping up with her moods." Harry buried his face in the pillows on the couch.
"It's called growing up." Albus grinned.
"It's called learning to live with each other's faults without killing the other person." Lily corrected.
"Emma has moods, but nothing near as bad as Hermione." Daniel sighed.
"Emma is young. You just wait three years from now and then tell me that she isn't as bad as Hermione." Harry looked up at him from the couch.
"Harry you do know that Peeves can enter the study. He just can't enter your bedrooms." Albus pointed out that factor.
"Bring him on. I so wish to hurt something and it may as well be that pain in the ass poltergeist." Harry settled himself on the couch.
"I see that you are going to be stubborn about it. Well then good night to both of you." Albus left the study.
"Harry James the couch is no place for a proper nights sleep." Lily frowned down at him.
"I would say his mind is made up." Daniel could see that Harry wasn't going to move from the couch.
"I'm staying right here. I seriously doubt that Peeves would dare show his face up here, but I refuse to let him trash my stuff on my first night here." He settled in for the night.
"Night Harry," Daniel went back to bed.
"Night Daniel," Harry yawned.
"You are worse than your father."
"I have been saying this for ages now. I'm not my father." He closed his eyes and feigned sleep.
"Oh yes you are." Lily stood guard over her son.
"Don't worry about Peeves, Lil's. He won't be causing any trouble this year not after what Sirius and I did to him." James pulled her into his arms.
"I'm not worried about Peeves, James. I'm worried about our son. He's trying so hard to be everything that everyone expects him to be that he's never been able to be just himself." Lily sighed worriedly.
"I think the only time that he's himself is on the Quidditch pitch. Don't worry Lil's he'll find his path. He just has to as they say in this time chill out and let things happen." James looked down at his sleeping son.
"I recall that you were just as stubborn as he's being. Is it right to put him through training now? It could wait till he's finished with seventh year." Lily looked pleadingly up at James.
"Lily we have been over this a dozen times. The three of them will be bored out of their minds if they don't start training now and we do not want them bored." James sighed in frustration.
"He's my baby and training is so hard."
"Love he isn't gonna have any problem with the training. He's a natural, even Dad thinks that he's gonna blow through the training in the first year." James watched as Lily's pout turned into a scowl.
"Your father Stephen James Potter…Is as much as a marauder as you and Sirius were and I'm not sure that I want his influence on our son!" Lily growled.
"He's my father, my mentor, since he heads the Aurors and is the new Co-Minister of Magic. I don't see that you have any choice. He isn't a wild card anymore. He has responsibility now and takes his job seriously."
"Your Dad convinced you to change secret keepers, so in my book he will always be a wild card!" Lily fumed.
"Dad thought that Sirius was too much of a target! Need I remind you that Harry adored his Grandfather?" James hated this argument. "He wasn't here when Mum and my little sister were killed. He arrived too late to save any of them and he thought that Peter was the safer bet. In fact, he was so devastated after losing us that he changed his surname back to Pendragon and went into seclusion.
"Nothing is going to make me think that your father is going to be a good influence on Harry! He may be your father, but I don't have to like him!" Lily looked down at Harry who was staring at them.
"Oh, please go on discussing what is and isn't good for me. It's not like you're the only ones doing it!" Harry grumbled.
"Your Grandfather used to take you up on his broom all the time." James tried to see if Harry remembered him or not.
"Let's see the only thing that I can remember is that someone took me up on a broom, I fell off, and Mum caught me." Harry frowned. "Mum was fried at the person jinxed him from here to Sunday and back."
"That would be your Grandpa Stephen, but in his defense Lily had a treat for you, and you jumped off the broom into her arms."
"He was six-months-old at the time and was not suppose to be up on the broom to begin with! Your dad does whatever the hell he wants and to hell with anyone else who says differently."
"Is there any chance that this long lost grandfather is going to be here tomorrow?"
James ignored Lily's murderous don't you tell him glare. "He's actually in the castle right now. He's a former professor he taught DADA when Lily and I were going to Hogwarts."
"I guess maybe I shouldn't have skipped dinner in the Great Hall."
"There are many people here for the wedding. Most of them were disappointed that they missed meeting you and Hermione." Lily nodded.
"Sorry, I wasn't in the mood to be HBP for anyone."
"You were the talk of dinner, taking down twenty-one Dementors with your new patronus." James was proud of his son.
"Gee Dad its not like I wanted to fight twenty-one Dementors. I was trying to have a date with Hermione." Harry rolled his eyes at his father.
"Still haven't managed that first date yet have you son." James sympathized.
"That tears it! I'm sleeping down in the Common Room!" He got up and stalked out of his quarters.
Lily glared a James.
"I know as usual it's my fault. Can I help it if he takes things so seriously all the time?" James grumbled.
"You are beyond pathetic at being a father." Lily vanished from sight.
"No. I'm gonna go out of my mind is what I am." James went after her.
--
Harry decided the only course of action was to turn into Prince and curl up by the fire in his favorite chair. He couldn't use the couch because Hermione was sleeping there.
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Chapter 23
Stephen Pendragon
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I do not claim any of JKR's characters only that I love being able to create my own kind of mischief with her beloved characters. I do not claim any other things that are owned by other companies that I may mention once and a while in the stories...Although the original characters and ideas are mine and I loved creating them. So please review if you wish but try not to flame me too badly.
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Cindra 2004-2008