Disclaimer: Not mine, but maybe if I save all my pennies for the next six hundred years I'll have enough.
A/N: Well here it is, the long awaited 'reaction chapter' lol. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter…58 of them, in like, 2 days, I can't believe it! You guys totally rock! Special dedication to Queen of Duct Tape, cause your reviews always make me smile and leave me laughing! And for those who asked, there are a couple of chapters left, maybe two or three. I can't say that I'm a hundred percent sure, as it will really just depend on how much I write per chapter, and what all I want to write about. But for now, just focus on reading this one!
Love Means Never Having to Time Travel
Chapter Fifteen- Home is Where the Heart is
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"Threefold the stride of time, from first to last;
Loitering slow, the future creepeth-
Arrow swift the present sweepeth-
And motionless forever stands the past."
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"When are they going to be here? Professor Dumbledore said they'd be arriving today!" Ron all but whined as he stood with Luna, Harry, and his family in the great hall. The graduation ceremony was about to start, and they had all hoped that Hermione and Fred would have arrived home by then. Ron and Harry were especially anxious, and had been up since early that morning, waiting for them.
"Yeah Ron, he said today, but he didn't say when. For all we know, it might not be till a minute before midnight," Harry snapped; he was getting fed up with the whining.
"Good afternoon everyone!" Professor Dumbledore stood up from the chair he had been sitting in on the dais, the head table gone. He was wearing dress robes, as were all the teachers. The students were also wearing dress robes, and looking their best.
"She'll be here directly as soon as time allows, don't worry," Luna leaned over and kissed Ron's cheek before heading to find a seat. Ginny marveled at how apt Luna's words were, especially considering that she didn't know the truth of the situation.
"We will begin this year's graduation ceremony in five minutes if everyone would find their seats," Professor Dumbledore announced before returning to his seat.
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"Oof!" Fred expelled a gasp of air as he and Hermione landed hard on the floor of a small room.
"Remind me to not time travel again," Hermione groaned as she pushed herself to a sitting position.
"You!" Fred suddenly exclaimed.
"What about me?"
"YOU!" Fred waved his hand at her, staring in surprise. "You're Hermione again, not Mya! No long hair or anything."
"What!" Hermione's hands immediately went to her brown-again, wavy hair. "Well you're back to a typical Weasley once again."
"Yea!" Fred hopped up and pumped a fist in the air. "I missed my red hair and freckles. Never thought that would happen."
"Yeah. Same with my hair," Hermione giggled as he helped her up.
"So where are we? And why are we in dress robes?"
"I think we're in that little room off the great hall," Hermione replied after glancing around. "Tempus. Hogwarts, June 25th, 1998. Oh good, we are back in the right time. As for what we're wearing, I suppose we have Albus to thank for this."
"Probably," Fred nodded, looking down at the dark blue dress robes trimmed with light blue Celtic knots he was wearing. Hermione was in the exact opposite; a light blue robe trimmed with dark blue Celtic knotting. Albus had somehow included a spell to change their clothing upon their arrival to dress robes."
"Now, to figure out what's going on right now and where everyone is."
"Graduation, and they're in the great hall right now," Fred sent through the mind link. "That explains the dress robes."
"What?" Hermione sent back as she walked over to where he was peeking through a crack in the door. "Oh Merlin, they are! Look! Harry's going up now!"
"Well good for him," Fred grinned, squeezing her hand as they watched the students go up one by one. "Hey, ickle-Ronnie's turn!"
"Ronald Weasley," Albus announced, and a large group of red-heads began cheering as he stood up and walked across the dais to get his diploma. Hermione and Fred watched proudly as he shook Albus' hand, moving down the line to the other teachers as the last student, Blaise Zabini, was called up."
"Do you suppose we should go out now that they're done?"
"And now, for our salutatorian speech, I would like you to welcome two much-loved guests, Hogwarts alumni Frederick Weasley and Hermione Granger," Albus smiled, looking towards the door they were peaking out from behind.
"Guess that answers that," Fred chuckled as he opened the door.
"Remind me to curse Albus for this later," Hermione said through clenched teeth as she grabbed her cane, and taking his arm with her free hand, stepped through the doorway to cheers, applause, and a few gasps of shock at her cane. She could see Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys almost visibly straining to not rush over and mob them, especially once they caught sight of the cane as word spread.
"As you've noticed, Miss Granger is using a cane," Albus stated the obvious. "She had a slight accident while away, and was unable to access any muscle-regrowth potion at the time. Of course, that will be remedied later on, but for now, let us proceed with the ceremony."
For Hermione, she wouldn't be able to tell you what she or Fred said for the closing speech. Albus' words about remedying her leg were racing through her mind. Sometime between 1978 and 1998, a potion must have been created to re-grow or repair damaged muscle.
"C'mon love," Fred placed his hand on her back, gently nudging her to get her moving as the students cheered and celebrated, now officially graduates. "We've got some family and friends who are going to want explanations."
"There's a cure for my leg," Hermione whispered as they climbed off the dais and began to make their way to where they could see a group of red.
"Yes, and we'll get it as soon as we can," Fred gave her elbow a light squeeze as they pushed past more people, a few calling out greetings as they did so.
"All right," Hermione nodded, putting it at the back of her mind for a few minutes as she braced herself for the onslaught of questioning that they were about to face as they came face to face with the entirety of the Weasley family.
"Hello Mum, fancy seeing you here," Fred was the first to speak, breaking the silence that seemed to have frozen the group. "Oh, and congrats Ronnie, I knew you could do it."
"I believe the room you two just left might serve as a more appropriate location for your conversation," Albus appeared suddenly beside them before anyone could say anything.
"Of course sir, thank you," Hermione nodded shortly as she and Fred led the group into the small room that now held several couches and chairs in it.
"Oh Fred!" Molly burst into tears as soon as the door closed.
Fred was immediately at her side, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest. Hermione smiled as she watched Ginny rush over to hug them both, her father and other brothers joining them. Feeling a presence next to her, she turned her head to see Harry standing with his hands in his pockets, twisting back and forth slightly.
"Missed ya Mione," he smiled bashfully.
"I missed you too Harry," she smiled back. Reaching a hand out, she grabbed his and tugged until she was hugging him around the waist, his arm around her shoulders as he rested his head against hers.
"Hey hey, hands off Potter," Fred called out jokingly as everyone pulled back.
"You can share her for a while, you had her for a year," Harry called back, making a big show of holding a giggling Hermione tighter.
"Honestly, both of you," Hermione elbowed Harry playfully to let her go so she could make her way over to the others. Molly started to move forward, as if to hug her, but her cane was blatantly obvious in her hand, and Hermione sighed as their eyes continually lighted on it. "You can touch me, hug me, squeeze me…I promise, I won't break."
That was all it took for them to descend on her, much like they had Fred, hugging her. Hermione just managed to pass her cane to Fred before being engulfed by Molly in a tight embrace. Hermione felt tears come to her eyes as her second family squished her in a group hug.
"If you're quite finished," a harsh voice interrupted them. As the others pulled back, Hermione was shocked to see Professor Snape standing there, a vial in his hand.
"Severus…" Hermione gasped softly, bringing curious glances from everyone. Foregoing her cane, she launched herself at him, shocking everyone. He stiffened before roughly grabbing her hands and forcing her off of him.
"I wanted to hate you when I realised who you were, thanks to that bloody cane," he sneered at her. "I am so…angry…with you right now, I can't be around you. I just came to bring this to you, at Albus' request."
"I understand," she whispered, looking away from him.
"For your leg. It's going to be sore for a few days."
She took it, watching sadly as he left. Looking at the vial, she downed it. She doubled over and bit back a cry at the rapid burn that spread through her body, concentrating at her thigh. Taking several deep breaths, she felt Fred at her side, rubbing her back soothingly as the pain lessened. She gladly took his hand as she slowly straightened up, testing her leg.
"Okay…would one of you like to explain what the hell that was all about?" Ron stared at the door that his professor had just walked through.
"Severus and I became rather close in the past," Hermione explained, taking a few slow steps towards a couch to sit down, Fred beside her. Everyone else moved to do the same, taking up the remaining seats on the couches and chairs. "I guess you could say we adopted each other as family, since he couldn't stand his, and Fred and I didn't really have any we could go see back then. Understandably, he's angry at the fact I didn't really tell him who I was."
"Okay, new topic," Fred rubbed her back again.
"Hey, what was it like going to school with my parents?" Harry asked suddenly, eagerly leaning forward. Fred latched onto the new subject gratefully.
"We didn't go to school, per say, with your parents…we taught them! Professors Greg and Mya, at your service," Fred gave a playful bow.
"You, my twin, prankster extraordinaire, taught, impressionable young minds?" George stared at him.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione informed them. "He did a great job."
"Pfft, you're the one who's a born teacher. I'm just okay at helping with the practical stuff, and grading papers," Fred joked, poking her in the side, and thus ensued a tickle fight, everyone watching the two in amusement, Ginny with some degree of suspicion as she caught sight of a significant glittery object on Hermione's left hand.
"You two seem awfully close," she commented once they had stopped.
"Well what would you expect, with only each other for company for the better part of a year?" Hermione shrugged.
"I'd believe that, except for the fact you're wearing a ring on a very significant finger," Ginny pointed it out, an eyebrow raised in question.
Fred mumbled something indistinguishable in reply.
"What was that? We didn't quite hear you," George looked curiously at his twin.
"We're married," Hermione said bluntly. "We accidentally performed the binding marriage blood ritual upon our arrival in the past."
"Yeah, what she said," Fred looked nervously at his family for their reactions.
"And we're staying together now because we're very much in love, and quite happy," Hermione added with a smile, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together.
"Married," Ron stared at them in shock, not moving as the rest of the family once more got up to hug them; Molly being the first, and undoubtedly, the most excited.
"Yes Ron, I'm your sister now," Hermione teased as she obligingly showed her ring to her mother-in-law.
"Bloody hell, that's going to take some getting used to," he shook his head as if to clear it before giving her a hug.
"You know the only bad thing about this?" Charlie looked around at his brothers and Harry. "We can't give Fred the talk about being a good boyfriend, cause they're already married and it's too late for us to do anything. Not to mention we know he'll take care of her."
"And the same goes for Harry," Bill piped up. "About the taking care of her thing."
"You two are dating!" Hermione whipped her head around to look at a blushing Harry and smiling Ginny.
"For a couple months now," Ginny nodded shyly.
"Finally!" Hermione exclaimed, bringing laughs from everyone.
"I know, everyone saw it but us," Harry laughed. "Or rather, everyone saw it but me."
"I'm surprised though, I thought you kept pushing people away, what with the threat of Voldemort and all."
"Oh that…I defeated him on Christmas Eve," Harry replied nonchalantly, bring shocked looks from the two.
"You know, this whole disappearing for a year thing kinda sucks in some ways," Fred frowned in annoyance, bringing a round of laughs from everyone.
This of course set off a furious discussion of what everyone deemed to be the most important events of the last year. Voldemort's defeat, what Hermione and Fred did when they found out they were married, what their bond was like, how Harry and Ginny finally got together, and so on.
"Oh I'm sorry," Hermione gave a huge yawn several hours later.
"Merlin, it's almost midnight!" Bill exclaimed after looking at his watch.
"You should've been in bed hours ago," Fred chided gently as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, smiling tenderly.
"We were talking," she shrugged, snuggling closer to him as she closed her eyes.
"C'mon love," Fred chuckled as he stood up, and in one swift movement, scooped her up in his arms and held her close against his chest. "I think we're going to just crash here for the night. So we'll see you guys tomorrow sometime."
"Where do you plan on sleeping?" Charlie asked as he stood up and stretched.
"I plan on invading Gryffindor tower for tonight, and then I suppose tomorrow we've got to figure out where we're going to live," Fred made a face. "Though we should have some money in Gringotts from teaching. We opened an account back then, and I'm sure it's got a lot of interest in the twenty years it's been sitting there."
"We'll go with you," Ron offered through a loud yawn.
"Yeah, you'll need the password anyways," Harry nodded as he pushed himself up from the couch he'd been sitting in. Ginny followed his lead, linking her arm through his.
"Night everyone," Fred called over his shoulder as the five of them left.
"I can't believe you two are married," Ron shook his head as they made their way through the halls in the direction of the tower.
"Well if it makes you feel better, I can't believe it half the time either," Fred laughed softly so as not to disturb Hermione, who was almost completely asleep in his arms. "I'll admit I'm very glad for what happened though. Otherwise it might've taken us forever to get together, and I'd have wasted so much time that could've been spent with her."
"You really love her, don't you?" Ron looked over at his brother appraisingly.
"More than anything, cliché as that may sound," he answered seriously. "She is my heart, my confidant, my soulmate, and most definitely my better half. She completes me."
"Well I think she'd say the same," Harry smiled. "And your mum would agree with you. She seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. Your whole family did."
"Yeah, Mum's cool," Fred grinned. "And everyone else too."
"I know, and I'm glad. Gives me hope that when I propose to your sister, they're not going to kill me."
"Propose?" Ron stopped dead in his tracks, causing Ginny to giggle.
"Like one of us could kill the Boy-Who-Just-Won't-Die," Fred teased. "But no, they won't. And mum'll be ecstatic, and immediately plan your wedding, especially since she didn't get to do ours."
"Propose," Ron repeated, hurrying to catch up with them. "You're going to propose to my sister Harry? And why aren't you surprised Gin?"
"Because we've talked about it already," she replied simply. "We've talked about what we want for the future, and that's a life together. Though we're not planning on getting engaged for a few years. I have one year left here, and then two years of mediwizardry school to complete after that. So you have plenty of time to get used to the idea."
"Okay," Ron nodded slowly. "Just don't mention marriage around me again. Getting used to you two dating was hard enough!"
"Slytherins are hot," Harry said to the portrait, causing Fred to look at him oddly as the portrait swung open.
"Fifth year prefect whose boyfriend is a Slytherin," Ron wrinkled his face in disgust as they all climbed through.
"Now, where to sleep?" Fred mused aloud as he looked around the empty room.
"C'mon, you can crash in our room," Harry offered. "I'll transfigure something into a mattress and sleep on the floor."
"Thanks," Fred smiled as they headed up the stairs to the seventh year boy's dorm.
Fred immediately placed Hermione on Harry's bed and proceeded to take off her shoes and outer robe, transfiguring her clothes into a pair of lounge pants and a cami. Drawing the curtains around the bed, he, Ron, and Harry also changed their clothes, Fred transfiguring his also. He helped Harry transfigure a mattress, blankets, and a pillow out of some stray socks before turning back to climb into bed with Hermione.
"Hey Fred?"
"Yeah Ron?" He turned back around to face his youngest brother.
"I'm glad you're back," he quirked a smile, and crossed the room to hug him tightly before turning back around and jumping into bed, slightly embarrassed.
"Me too bro," Fred shook his head, smiling, before slipping behind the curtains and into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.
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"Ow!" A loud yell and some thumping and scrambling noises woke Hermione the next morning. Not quite sure where she was, she poked her head out the curtains only to burst out laughing.
"Hey Mione," Harry smiled sheepishly up at her from where he and Fred were sprawled, half on the floor, half on Harry's transfigured mattress.
"Good morning Harry," she replied, still laughing.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Seamus' voice was thick with sleep, his accent even more pronounced.
"Sorry mate, I just got a foot to the stomach," Harry apologised as he and Fred disentangled themselves.
"Huh?" Dean sat up and flopped forward onto his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows to look out the end of his bed.
"What are you doing on the floor?" Neville asked, yawning.
"Sleeping," Ron piped up, kicking his covers off.
"Well yeah, I think we get that," Seamus grumbled. "The question is why."
"Cause I needed a place to sleep," Fred answered, causing the others to finally take notice of him.
"Fred!" Dean hopped out of bed and walked over to shake his hand. "Thought I'd just imagined you and Hermione last night."
"We're very real, I promise," Hermione spoke up as she pushed the curtains back.
"HERMIONE!" Seamus, Dean, and Neville yelled trying to find blankets to wrap around themselves.
"Honestly, you're in boxers and pants," Hermione giggled as she climbed out of bed. "I've seen plenty of naked chests before, yours are nothing new."
"Why didn't I know about that?" Fred questioned as he sat up, still on the mattress on the floor.
"Cause they were nothing compared to you," she smiled, then leaned down to kiss him.
"Whoa, when did that happen?" Seamus looked between the two of them.
"We've been married for the past eleven months," Hermione replied simply, and once again burst out laughing at the dumbfounded looks that appeared on their faces.
"You…bookworm extraordinaire…married one of Hogwarts' legendary pranksters?" Dean stared at her in surprise.
"Yes!" Hermione squealed as Fred grabbed her hand and yanked her down into his lap. "And quite happily too."
"Why don't you two look surprised?" Neville directed his question to Harry and Ron.
"We had yesterday evening to get used to this," Harry shrugged as he disappeared into the bathroom to shower.
"That's where you two disappeared to then," Dean commented. "We were wondering last night. Gryffindor tower threw us a graduation party."
"Oh well," Ron shrugged, and followed Harry into the bathroom, hopping into the second shower.
"Fred, let me go," Hermione pushed at his hands. "I've got to go shower."
"All right let's go!" Fred immediately pushed her up before hopping up himself.
"By myself," she laughed. "I'm going to go shower in Ginny's room. I'll see you at breakfast."
"Fine," he pouted. "Love you."
"You know I love you too," she gave him a kiss, then turned and walked out.
"Hey Mione," Ginny looked up from where she was brushing her hair at her vanity. As a prefect, she had been given her own room.
"Hey Gin, can I borrow your shower?"
"Sure."
"Thanks," Hermione smiled. "I'll see you at breakfast."
Twenty minutes later found Hermione dressed in a black skirt and blue jumper, hair back in a bun, and walking towards the great hall. She still had some pain in her leg as she walked, but she refused to use the cane any longer than she had too. Upon entrance, she was immediately accosted by Lavender and Parvati, who linked their arms through hers, questioning her about her year away. Hermione gave some sort of answers as she looked around for Fred.
"Over here love," Fred yelled out when he spotted her.
"Ooh, why'd he call you love Hermione?" Parvati immediately asked, always looking for gossip.
"Well, as my husband, he's entitled to use pet names I suppose," Hermione replied nonchalantly as she unlinked their arms and made her way towards him. She could hear Lavender and Parvati behind her, already spreading the word to some others.
"Morning again Fred," Hermione greeted as she sat down next to him. "Just to let you know, by the end of breakfast, everyone will know that we're married."
"Good. Saves me the trouble of sending out wedding announcements to everyone," he grinned cheekily before turning back to his breakfast, and talking to George. The Weasley family had come back for the day to spend more time talking with Hermione and Fred. Hermione shook her head in amusement before turning to her own breakfast, eating quickly. She and Fred were going to eat lunch with the Weasley family before they all rode the train home for old times' sake, instead of flooing or apparating.
"I'm going to go find Severus now," Hermione told Fred as she finished the last bit of juice in her cup.
"Kay, see you at lunch," he kissed her quickly before she left.
Hermione slowly walked down to the dungeons, trying to collect her thoughts. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to say. She knew that Severus was feeling betrayed, but she couldn't have told him. Now to make him see that. Arriving at the potions classroom, she knocked on the door.
"Hello Severus, may I come in?" Hermione asked hesitantly once the door opened.
He didn't say anything, but simply stepped back, holding the door open.
"This is going to be harder than I had hoped," Hermione thought as she stepped through.
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A/N: Okay, that's it for this chappie. It's a little shorter than the others, but I wanted to get this out for y'all. I'm sorry it took so long! But there were midterms (I got straight A's for those who care), and then spring break. And for spring break, a last minute vacation opportunity came up for me to go to the beach with my best friend. So I didn't bring my laptop, hence the reason I'm just getting this up now. But I hope you liked it, and leave a review if you want. Let's set a goal to get me up to 742 reviews, okay? Lol, whatever I get will be cool though, and you'll get another chappie in a week or two- I have a feeling the Severus/Mione conversation is going to be tough. So…till then!