Day Sixteen

For the second day in a row Harry appeared in the doorway to Hermione's office without any warning, though today it was at the start of the day instead of the end. She looked up and he was standing there with a small smile on his face, his hair its usual mess, though not the same mess it became after she'd run her hands through it. She felt more than a little smug to be able to say that she knew the difference now.

"Morning," he greeted her.

"Morning."

"Sorry to just barge in here. I won't make a habit of it, but I wanted to let you know I talked to Dudley."

"Oh. Don't worry about that Harry. What did he say, how did it go?"

"It sounds like it went pretty well, actually. She has some questions about magic and the war. He wanted to know if we could meet. I invited them to Grimmauld tonight. I thought it would be easier to explain things in a magical house, and safer to be behind wards depending on what she wants to see. I don't want to scare her neighbors," he said the last part with a little smile, but he seemed troubled.

"That sounds like good news. But you don't seem so sure."

He sighed. "It does, doesn't it? I guess it's just that Dudley seemed so surprised. He just kept telling me how interested she seemed in magic, how many questions she had that he didn't know how to answer. I think he was embarrassed by that, and that he doesn't really know much about the war except for the generalities.``

"So he thinks it's too good to be true?"

"I don't know, Hermione. Doesn't it kind of seem like that?"

Hermione could tell Harry was really concerned, and if she was honest, she had also thought that Amelia would initially freak out to learn such big news, and right before her wedding at that. But she had to admit she didn't really know Amelia all that well, so she sat back and considered it from her point of view.

"Would you come in so we're not talking about this across the room from each other?"

He nodded, then smirked. "Would you like me to close the door?"

"Yes actually," she rolled her eyes, "though don't expect this to go the same way yesterday did," but got up from her desk, walked around it and met him between her two visitors chairs where she intended for them to sit.

He pulled her into him when she reached him, holding her tight, and leaning down for a kiss. She kept it as brief as possible, because she knew they needed to talk, but she'd much prefer to be kissing him and could easily get lost in it if she allowed herself to. She reluctantly pulled away from him with an apologetic smile. "Now it's a good morning."

He chuckled but he looked pleased, which gave her a little thrill. "It is."

She turned her chair so that it was facing him instead of the desk and sat down.

"So," she began, "it's just occurring to me that you and Dudley and I might be a little biased in this regard."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for the three of us, learning about magic was a life changing event. For you and I, it changed our entire futures. For Dudley, well his first interactions with magic were pretty traumatic. So, in our eyes, learning about magic should provoke an extreme reaction. But none of that is true for Amelia. She's not a witch, so while knowing that magic exists might alter her perceptions of the world from here on out, in reality it will probably have very little effect on her day to day life."

"Okay, but what if she has a magical child?"

"That's a remote possibility, both in time and statistics. Even if she was pregnant right now she would have years to really get used to the idea before the child would start showing their magic. And even though I couldn't truthfully tell Dudley the chances of him producing a magic child, my instincts tell me that they're pretty remote, and Amelia would probably assume so as well- she'll fall back on what she knows, which is genetics."

"Okay," he was obviously thinking this through.

"And we're forgetting something else, Harry."

"What's that?"

"Even if we could tell her with 100% certainty that they will have magical children, well, it's not like we're telling her they are going to have some terrible disease, magic can very well be viewed as a wonderful gift. Again, the three of us are biased because we've seen the difficulties that mixed muggle/magical families can encounter, but it doesn't have to be that way. In many ways, excitement and curiosity is a natural reaction. "

"Oh."

"I know, right?" She asked wryly. "Makes you feel very old and jaded."

"That's good though. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to blow up their relationship, I was worried that was going to happen."

"Me too. From what I can tell, she loves him a lot, she'll do her best to understand. And he was literally prohibited by law from telling her about this until this week," that last statement reminded her of something else she wanted to discuss with Harry. "Are you really okay with them coming to Grimmauld, and talking about the war, though?"

He shrugged. "Why not? It was my idea."

She sat back and twisted her fingers together. "Okay, I know that I can be bossy."

He let out a startled laugh. "What?"

"Just- I acknowledge that. I'm a control freak and I tend to try and solve problems by charging right in. My instincts to do so are especially sensitive when it comes to you. And I'm afraid that's what I did in this case, and that now you feel obligated to help."

"Hermione, what are you talking about?"

She took a deep breath. "That night at the pub with Dudley, I knew that you were trying to build a relationship with him. I saw an opportunity to help with that by helping him with a problem. But in doing so I also kind of volunteered you to get him permission to tell Amelia about magic- which is a huge deal- and to possibly talk about things that you don't like talking about, namely the war and your aunt and uncle- because it's bound to come up that they don't like magic, you get that, don't you?"

"Oh Hermione," he sighed, he reached for her with both of his hands and she gave him both of hers without a thought, he brought them to his lips and kissed them tenderly. "You're a little bossy, I'm not going to fight you on that one."

She laughed.

"But it's a good bossy. I'll admit it annoyed me and even scared me a little when we first became friends, but I learned that you did it because you cared, and that you were usually right." He squeezed her hands. "And then it saved my life about a dozen times. That's why I called you last week, because I wanted to help Dudley too, but I didn't even know where to start. I knew you would, and you did. I could have put a stop to it at any time. I definitely didn't have to go to the MInister, Dudley never would have known the difference."

"I know," she sighed. "Sometimes I just feel like you're too good, that you always put others first and for somebody who hates being famous as much as you do, that part of you still feels like you owe something to the public, or in this case to Dudley. But you don't, you've done more than anybody had any right to ask, and you certainly don't owe them your story and your continued attention."

He just looked at her, the tenderest expression she'd ever seen on his face. "Thank you for saying that."

"Do you want me to be there tonight?"

His eyes flew to hers. "Oh I assumed you would."

She laughed. "I didn't want to assume."

He shook his head. "Save us some time Hermione, and always assume I want you around. You always would have before."

"I know," she rolled her eyes to herself at what she was about to say. "But it's one thing to be the pushy best friend, it's another to be the pushy girlfriend."

"I don't want you to treat me differently now that we're dating, Hermione. At least not in that way. I don't want this to change us."

"Well, it's going to change us." She sighed. "But I see what you mean. Okay." She leaned forward and snagged one of the pineapple shaped stress balls she'd found in her Advent calendar that morning off of her desk and tossed it to him.

"This was for you!" He laughed.

"Yes, and I have extras. I've been playing with it all morning. So, as thanks for your generosity I'm going to get you addicted to fidgeting with a fruit shaped, pastel colored muggle toy too."

He just laughed.

Hermione stood in the entryway to Grimmauld Place that evening holding Estelle and waiting for Harry to bring Dudley and Amelia inside the wards. The house was no longer under the Fidelius, as they'd discovered during the war that charm had a multitude of weaknesses- practical and magical, but the house was otherwise one of the most heavily warded private residences in the country.

It was a rather strange feeling, like she was about to play hostess in Harry's house. Though, as Harry's home, it felt more like home to her than anywhere else, even her own flat in many ways. It had been a sanctuary to her for more than a third of her life.

Amelia entered with wide eyes, and Hermoine tried to imagine what she was seeing. It was clearly a magical house, but not in the wildly eccentric way some were. From a muggle perspective she imagined everything just seemed to be a little off, with the sconces that lit automatically, the animated paintings and photographs, the pile of parchment Harry had left on the entry table next to the cloaks hanging on the hatstand. Old fashioned and mysterious.

She wouldn't have dreamed of allowing a muggle into Grimmauld Place as she'd first seen it, not only would she not want to terrorize them that way, but it would have been dangerous. But after the war Harry had thoroughly cleaned and renovated, truly making it a home. It felt like him to her, which was probably why she liked it so much.

"Hello," Amelia beamed at Hermione and Hermione was pleased when she stepped forward with no apparent hesitation and with her arms extended for a hug.

"Hello," Hermione said in return, embracing her.

She then greeted Dudley who offered her his hand and she introduced them both to Estelle who, as she did everybody, won Amelia over in a moment and was quickly transferred to the other woman's arms.

"Feel free to look around." said Harry from behind them.

"Is there anything dangerous?" Asked Dudley.

"Oh no, we cleared anything like that out years ago," answered Harry.

Dudley's face fell. "Oh, I was joking."

Hermione laughed lightly to distract from the tension. "It's just that magical pests can be dangerous if you don't know how to deal with them properly and this house had been sitting empty for years when Harry first moved in. That's not something you would normally have to worry about."

Amelia just nodded but Dudley managed to look sheepish and wary at the same time. They perused the corridor that ran the length of the house. Then Harry offered to show them the kitchen in the basement and Hermione waited in the living room while they did that.

When they returned they were followed by Kreacher- who was back from Hogwarts and his semi-retirement for the night, because he never would have forgiven Harry for not calling him home when he had guests- and a tray of their refreshments.

By the time they'd gotten seated Amelia looked ready to burst. "Will you show me some magic," she looked between them with pleading eyes.

They both laughed and then they began taking turns demonstrating some basic spells, and some showy ones, as they'd discussed doing before Dudley and Amelia arrived. It had been Hermione's suggestion based on what Professor McGonagall had shown her and her parents when she came to deliver Hermione's first Hogwarts letter. Since Harry had never gotten such an introduction he was happy to follow her plan.

"What's your favorite spell?" Amelia asked after they'd finished a series of transfigurations turning the room into a miniature menagerie.

"Oh," said Harry with a frown, "I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

"Really?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, I mean, there are some useful ones, some that have come easy to me but-" he just shrugged.

She glanced at him with a sly smile. "He's always been very fond of the disarming spell."

Harry turned to her, cocked an eyebrow and with a flick of his wand silently disarmed her.

"Show off," she muttered.

She knew that, given a choice, he preferred to say that particular spell aloud. To Dudley and Amelia it probably would have looked more impressive that way. But she also knew that the way he'd performed it would be almost impossible for any other wizard. He hadn't even performed the correct wand movement, he had just been holding his wand out of habit because only a few people knew about his wandless abilities and that was a secret he wanted to keep.

Then she realized that, of course, he knew that she knew all of these things, and she got a little tingle of pleasure when it sunk in that he had been showing off for her.

"What about you, Hermione?" Amelia interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh," for some reason the question caught her off guard. Harry handed her back her wand. "Well I've always liked this one," she quickly conjured three balls of bluebell flames, and then directed them to do a little dance around the other couple. "They were some of the first magic I learned. They're very useful, and they're pretty," she added with a sheepish shrug.

"They are," Amelia agreed.

"And dead useful," added Harry, "but they aren't your favorite."

She turned to see that he was looking at her intensely. "Oh really? Then what is?"

"I'd like to know that myself. I just know that you hesitated."

"Ah," she bit her lip. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why she was embarrassed about this, but for some reason it felt very revealing. "It's the patronus charm," she admitted eventually.

"Really?"

She shrugged. "There's a pure beauty to that spell that can't be imitated or falsified, that's what they mean by pure light magic. And it was so difficult for me to master it, I felt especially proud when I finally did."

"Oh. I get that," he said with a nod. "I guess I've just always associated it with dementors."

Hermione smiled sadly at him. "But also with your dad, right?"

His face changed completely. "Yeah, you're right."

"Wait, Dementors, those are the things-" Dudley started.

"Yeah, those were the things in the alley."

"Is that the spell that saved my life?" He asked.

"It is."

"Can I see it?"

"Uh, muggles can't see it."

"Oh," Dudley deflated.

"But," Hermione interrupted, and hurried to explain, "you could definitely feel its effects. For reference, a patronus is a guardian and a defender, for us magicals who can see it, the most powerful form of the spell takes the shape of an animal. Like I said, it's pure light magic, and Harry is very powerful, and even more so when it comes to his patronus. It's beautiful, and it feels even more beautiful than it looks."

They both looked at him expectantly. "Please," Amelia added in a whisper.

Harry just looked at Hermione. "Together." It was not a question.

"Okay." She scooted closer to him and they both raised their wands.

"Expecto Patronum."

Light erupted from their wands, forming into their familiar, beloved stag and otter who began making laps around the room, checking for danger. When they found none it became more like a game. Hermione closed her eyes at the sight. This spell had never come so easily to her.

She felt Harry nudge her and she opened her eyes again, she looked at him and he was nodding in the direction of the other couple. Dudley looked stunned. Amelia was close to tears.

"Alright guys, that's enough, thanks," Harry said to the patronuses like they were his loyal familiars and not the literal manifestations of their magic. But, of course, just like loyal familiars they both obeyed him. Perhaps Hermione should have felt violated by that, but she didn't, it was the simple truth of how much she, and therefore her magic, trusted Harry.

"Oh my god," Amelia choked, covering her hand with her mouth. "That was- I don't even know what that was. Incredible. How can your parents hate magic when it can do that?" She looked at Dudley askance.

"I don't know," he said, but there was an underlying note of frustration in his voice. "It's not all like that, there was a war."

Amelia snorted. "Because we've never had a war. Anyway, Harry was a kid, there's no way that could have been his fault. I think they just don't like people who are different. It's not like they've ever been particularly open minded," she hissed.

Hermione felt her eyes go wide and Harry grew still next to her. So, there were some cracks in this relationship after all. Expected, but Hermione was still sad to see them. However, she realized that she felt something like relief to hear that it seemed as if Amelia had already begun to see through the Dursleys' facade before magic came into play, and she couldn't help but wonder how they'd shown their hand.

Dudley let out a long breath. "I know," he said very quietly.

Amelia's expression softened. "That's not your fault either," she murmured, took his hand and turned back to Harry and Hermione. "I do have some questions about the war, if that's okay. It's a little weird to find out there was a war going on around me that I didn't even know about."

Hermione nodded, took Harry's hand, and took over the explanation before he could even think to open his mouth. Both because she knew that she could more accurately and concisely summarize the events, and because no matter how difficult it might be for her, she knew it would be worse for Harry, and she was determined to spare him that.

It was both more difficult and easier than she had imagined. Amelia didn't need much contextual explanation to understand the story of the rise and fall of a despot, just like so many others. From an outside perspective Voldemort was almost as sad as he was evil. But to see it like that, this man and this regime that had terrorized them for so long being placed into a category with so many others, as if there was almost nothing special about the horrors of his regime, that was hard.

As she'd told Dudley a week ago now, humanity and magic were both wonderful and terrible things.

Dudley and Amelia didn't stay long after that. Amelia didn't even inquire about their opinions on the chances of her and Dudley having a magical child. And maybe she was overwhelmed, but Hermione suspected that she had guessed correctly earlier in the day and that fear lay primarily with Dudley. Amelia hugged them both and confirmed that they would be attending what she called the 'family dinner' on Saturday night, and then they were gone.

"That went well. Didn't it?" Asked Harry, once they had walked out the door.

"I think so," she nodded, eyeing him, "you don't seem so sure."

"Family is still kind of a mystery to me," he shrugged.

"You're waiting for the other shoe to drop." She guessed.

He took a step towards her and put his arms around her waist. "Things are going really well for me right now, and that's usually a sign that they are actually about to go spectacularly awry."

She cupped his face in her hands. "We've got this Harry."