Chapter Twelve:

Once Upon a Time

The sun had fully rose and hung in the clear sky. Harry still remained on the ground, bucketing in his guilt, and staring into the crystal blue sky. The air was hot, and not much wind was flowing. Harry looked to the side as a butterfly fluttered helplessly down and onto the pavement.

He moved his finger as the tiny legs of the butterfly crawled up the skin of it. He smiled and noticed something… it had a broken wing. He removed his wand from his pocket and pointed at the small insect. He muttered a spell and the butterfly's wing repaired itself quickly. Harry smiled.

He put his want back into the waistband of his pants and looked at the butterfly. It fluttered its wings joyously and landed slightly on his nose. He giggled slightly as it ticked his nose. He smiled and suddenly he heard a grunting noise be hind him as he sat up straight.

"Butterflies?" A female voice asked a little toughly. "Will you stop playing with the butterflies and join me inside?" She asked.

"Coming 'Mione." He said.

Harry was quite annoyed with her mood swings, but after all it was in the stage of pregnancy to act like she did. He tried to be as sweet as possible, and couldn't wait till the day this was all over. She would soon be back to normal, and if they have another child she won't act like this. This was her fist baby and she was in a lot of pain that he couldn't describe.

"Harry," She said as she stopped. "Before we go in, I want to apologize for the way I've been acting." She said with a sigh. "Even if I am in pain, I have no right to treat you like I have been."

"It's alright." He replied rather relieved. "I knew this would come at some point, just please don't be upset with yourself." He said and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I can wait till the baby is out of there." He said, setting a hand on her overly-large stomach.

"Why is that?" She wondered and he smiled.

"Because then everything will go back to normal." He said in a flirtatious tone. She giggled and slapped him playfully.

"Ow," She said with a hiss and he gave her a confused look. "I think they're kicking… ow." She repeated.

"Well let's go see what our baby is." He said.

Hermione nodded and Harry placed a hand around her waist. She felt stupid walking into the doctor's office being big like this and having a tiny husband beside her. You tell she was pregnant by looking at her, obviously, but she felt like she was really fat and not pregnant.

They walked down the hall and she set her head upon his shoulder. Harry was a little over four inches taller then her. She was always known as the shortest of the "Golden Trio" back at Hogwarts. She never had a problem with it though. Not even now, eight years later, and everything she was content about.

They had entered the large waiting room. She went to sit down and many people had nicely congratulated her. She sweetly smiled as Harry walked to the Sigh-In desk. He hated the scent of a hospital, and it was always so cold. He had to be friendly though, because these were sick people.

"Can I help you?" A woman, with bright pink hair, asked. She slid open the glass window.

"Yes," He said leaning tapping his fingers lightly on the counter. This woman reminded him much like Tonks. "Appointment for Hermione Potter." He said.

"You must be Harry." She said with a smiled. Harry nodded. "Hermione talks about you a lot. When she works here that is." She laughed.

"She talks about me?" He asked, rather confused.

"Oh, don't worry about it." She laughed. "She says nice things." She assured.

"Well, that's good." He laughed.

He watched this woman as she shuffled through papers at her desk. For some reason he saw himself in her. Harry was basically a work-a-holic, and he felt she was just like that too. He smiled and waited patiently.

"Alright, she should be called in less the ten minutes." She smiled.

"Thank you, Ms…" He stopped and looked over the counter to see her badge. "Ms. Keth." He smiled.

"Good day Mr. Potter." She smiled in return and she closed the window. She laughed.

Harry shook his head and walked back to Hermione, who was reading a book, and sat down beside her. Hermione didn't keep her eyes off her book, but she started talking to him as she read each line carefully.

"Everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, fine." Harry answered with a smile.

"When am I going to be called?" She asked and she leaned to her side and laid upon his shoulder again.

"She said less then ten minutes." He smiled.

"That's not too bad." She said.

Harry nodded in agreement but as the time passed on it felt like forever. He felt like he'd been sitting there for a year and was glued to the seat. He stroked Hermione's back lightly and kissed the top of her head. She was wincing from the pain in her stomach again and Harry tried to sooth her.

"Hermione Potter." A voice called from behind the door. Hermione raised her hand and sat up straight.

Harry stood and helped her to her feet. She followed the nurse through the familiar hallways and into a large room. Machines were scattered through-out it and it held the scent of medicine. Hermione sat on a cart type thing and stared at the door.

A plump man with deep blond hair walked in. He looked about the age of forty and he had a stethoscope around his neck. Hermione smiled at him and nodded his head in a friendly manner towards Harry. Harry smiled in return.

"Hello Sid." Hermione greeted sweetly.

"Hello Hermione." He smiled. "I see your name is Potter now." He said looking over her records.

"It's been for about eight months." She said with a smile.

"Well I haven't seen your record in a year or so," He said with a smile. "Congrats." He winked slightly to Harry.

"Thanks." They both muttered.

Harry had sat in little wooden chair in the corner of the room. Hermione was still on the table, shivering slightly, and looking at her doctor with comfort. He was the only male doctor she trusted, and Harry felt a little sketchy about having a male deliver the baby. It's not that he didn't trust him, he just didn't know him.

"Well looking at your ultrasound results your baby looked very healthy." He said.

"What is it?" Hermione asked sweetly.

The doctor had a wide smile on his face and turned to her. Hermione felt her heart jump into her throat. She was about to find out what the sex of the baby was. She had a smile of happiness and thrill ness rising inside her. She crossed her fingers and hoping for something.

"It's a…" The doctor smiled. "Wait." He said.

"Wait… why?" Harry asked.

"I want to say something else." He smiled. "Good luck with your new baby girl." He said.

"I'm having a girl?" Hermione screamed in excitement.

"It's a girl." The doctor smiled. "You're in top condition yourself, so good luck and I shall be seeing you in less then a month I expect." He smiled.

"A month?" Hermione asked, still jumping in excitement. "Why so early?" She wondered.

"Witches and Wizards develop faster then normal muggles." He said. "Your daughter is growing at tip top shape so I shall be seeing you soon." Hermione smiled.

"Good bye." She said sweetly before the doctor had left the room.

Harry helped Hermione from the cart and to her feet. Hermione had a smile of excitement and fear on her face. She walked out with Harry and kept quiet. They were walking home and she still had everything stuck in her mind. She turned to Harry and showed him a sweetened smile.

"Can you believe it?" She wondered. "A girl." She said breathlessly.

"Nope," He said sweetly and kissed her lips lightly. "It only a month we shall have a little Hermione." He joked.

"No," She said quickly. "We'll have a little Melody Potter." She smiled.

When they had returned home they decided to be lazy. They sprawled themselves across the king sized bed and were quiet. Harry was lying on his stomach and Hermione was leaning against his side with comfort. They were staring at the television on the other side of the room with fascination.

"There is no way a muggle can melt by throwing water on them!" Hermione said knowingly.

"Hermione, dear," Harry laughed. "It's a fairy tale." She rolled her eyes.

"I know it's a fairy tale!" She complained. "I'm just saying that would never happen!" She said.

"I'm sure one point in time you thought magic was a fairy tale." He said and she nodded reluctantly.

"Yes," She mumbled. "But that was before I went to Hogwarts!" She added on rather quickly.

"True." Harry said. "I always believed in magic, but living with those people on privet Drive insisted that it was all a lie. I was locked in a cupboard every time I brought it up." Harry said when he reached inside a bowl and grabbed a couple pieces of yellowish food.

"That's horrible." She laughed as she threw a piece of food at him to ease the tone.

"You did not just throw popcorn at me." He joked and smiled at her. "You're luck you're pregnant." He teased.

"And why is that?" She wondered.

"Because I would have straddled you by now." He teased in a flirtatious way.

Hermione slapped him playfully and lay down on her back beside him. She smiled lightly and half lay against him. Her smile was one that could make men stare at her for hours because it was so beautiful.

"Are we getting a little aroused?" She teased. Harry smiled and snaked his arm up and over the top of her body.

"Maybe." He teased with a flirtatious grin again.

He pulled at her side lightly so only her top half was under him. He looked into her eyes with want and desire. She smiled, but before she could say anything her mouth had been claimed by the lips of her loved one. She had kissed him so many times before, but there was something about this one's spark.

Harry had no sooner started to explore the crevice of her mouth then she had smiled. He closed his eyes and claimed his wife as his. Now and forever he expected. He wanted to be together for that long, but who knew what was going to happen? Harry started panting as he split his lips with Hermione's for air.

"I love you." He panted softly.

"I love you too." She said as she rolled her fingers with his wavy hair.

Hermione smiled lightly as she kissed him once again on the mouth. She pulled Harry's head to his chest and he laid there with content. She let out a small sigh and kissed the top of his head before speaking. She spoke with all her emotions gathering into a few words:

"In less then a month, we will be parents." She said.

"Are you scared?" He asked. She nodded, but of course he hadn't seen it. She sighed as the corner of mouth twitched.

"To death," She said. "But I am mostly afraid of the pain." She said truthfully.

"I'll be right there with you." Harry assured. "I'll be there to help you through this. I promise I won't leave you." He said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Do you," She stopped. "Do you think we'll be together forever?" She asked and Harry nodded.

"I do." He answered with a sweetened tone. "And once our daughter has arrived we'll finally be a family." He smiled.

"Melody," She repeated. "Are you fine with that name?" She asked, a little concerned.

"Yes." Harry smiled. "Melody Lynn Potter." He smiled.

"It sounds perfect." She giggled.

It was getting darker by the moment and the movie had ended. The credits were whizzing up the T.V and out of sight. One of her favorite childhood movies had brought her back to reality. She noticed something that she never did when she watched this as a younger girl.

Not everything has a happy ending, and not everything can be exactly what you want. She knew this as a little girl, but what she didn't know is that her dreams had come true at last. She smiled at the thought. Soon a frown crawled upon her lips because a memory had been released back into her mind.

"Sorry everyone, but I got to leave." Hermione said as she stood up in front of a gathering at the hospital.

"Why so soon?" A healer-in-training asked.

"I have things I'm planning on doing." She smiled sweetly.

She had entered the locker room and slowly got dressed. She was about to leave when something happened that scared her out of her wits. A siren had screeched through the halls and pressed into the once quiet rooms. Hermione was going to leave again, but only in the worst situations were the sirens set off.

She dressed again as quickly as possible, and ran down the halls at a fast speed. She swerved through each corner and went into the emergency section. Four men in bright white linen were moving a body from a stretcher onto a hospital bed. The body was covered in blood and his glasses looked like they were shredded.

"What's the case?" Hermione asked as she slipped on latex gloves.

"Car accident." A man answered. "He was driving and his car was hijacked. It swiveled and collided with several trees and a large cliff." The man said in a rushed tone.

"Who hijacked it?" Hermione asked.

"Well since who this is I only have one suspect in my book." The man said with a worried tone.

"Who is this?" She asked. The man looked at her like she was insane. She wasn't paying attention though, she was analyzing the man.

"Can't you see the scar?" He asked as they entered the Emergency Room at top speed.

"Oh my god, it's Harry Potter." She said.

After three hours of surgery and five hours of recovery Harry had awoken. She had sent in other doctors and healers so she wouldn't have to face him. She couldn't bear to see him like this. The feeling of knowing he'd almost died was painful enough.

"What do you suppose will happen to him?" A nurse asked Hermione as she peered through the window of his room. He was sleeping soundly.

"He's lost his memory." Hermione said. "At the age of nineteen he's lost his memory." She said.

He'd have all his memory of Hogwarts, the Dursley's and Voldemort away from him now, but there is one thing that hurt the most: Would he ever remember her again? It had only been a year since the graduation of Hogwarts, and she promised herself to not push him into remembering.

"Is it permanent?" The woman asked Hermione. She did nothing but speak.

"He's got a good chance of getting his memory back, and he seems fully aware of what happened. I believe this will be temporary," She spoke lightly. "But for now all we can do is hope it's not permanent."

"But you knew him, didn't you?" She asked Hermione. She nodded her response.

"Once upon a time."

Hermione bolted up straight and panted. She must have dozed off. She was panting rather loudly and she screamed. She covered her mouth quickly as Harry sat sleepily up. He looked at her with worry.

"Are you alright?" He asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"Harry I have something to tell you!" She said rather hastily.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Ron didn't tell me about your accident." Hermione said at a fast speed.

"What?" He yawned sleepily.

"When I re-met you that day I told you that Ron told me about your accident." Hermione said. "Well, I lied." She said quickly.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I was at the hospital after your accident." She spoke as if this was the worst thing in the world.

"So," Harry laughed at her stupidity in worry. "It doesn't matter." He said.

"It does." Hermione said.

"Look, it happened over seven years ago," Harry said. "It was once upon a time." He said as if he read her mind. "Now go back to sleep." He said, sleepily falling back down on his pillow.

Hermione stared at him and thought to herself. 'That's it,' She said and those three words were stuck in her head again. Would she bring this up later? Perhaps, but she would always remember that it was the past. It was just that.

It was once upon a time.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I thought this idea would be good so I tried to write it. It might be a little confusing to some of you so if you have any questions feel free to IM me on AOL Instant Messenger.

My screen name: Aira of Sapphire

Airalynn

To my Reviewers:

NicciBubbles – I couldn't resist :P

pumpkinpie4ever – Actually I was going to have it like this: Melody, James, and Airalynn. But I might decide on twins… I'm not quite sure at the moment.

Thank you all who read this story every time I update. It means a lot to me and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Later Dayz!

UPDATED: (SATURDAY) JUNE 25, 2005