Day Twenty-Three

"Hermione, come back to bed."

She briefly glanced at Harry over her shoulder and then continued digging through her dresser drawer. "I shouldn't have let you drag me to bed in the first place. We have somewhere to be and you know it."

"Remind me why we have to go to a party the night before the wedding as well?"

"Because it's important to Amelia, and we told her we would be there. She wants us to meet her friends and the rest of her family at a smaller gathering. She'll be too busy tomorrow to socialize much with any one person or couple," Hermione explained with put-upon patience.

"Maybe if she wasn't having such a bloody ginormous wedding she wouldn't have to indulge in weird American traditions to get to talk to the people she actually wants to talk to."

"It's a rehearsal dinner Harry, just a dinner party. It's not that weird."

"I just don't understand why this wedding is so over the top."

"Amelia plans events for a living. Which is why, not so coincidentally, she knows quite a lot about rehearsal dinners and doesn't think that they're weird. It's just an excuse to throw another party, don't overthink it."

"But that's exactly my point! You'd think she'd want a break from it."

"She plans events for other people. This is her chance to do something to her own tastes, it's literally her day."

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow is her day. Not today."

She turned around and looked at him, half exasperation, half amusement. "You were fine with this when you first heard about it. Why the sudden resistance?"

"Because when I first heard about it, I knew I would have you there with me."

"I'll be there with you tonight."

"Yes, but when I first heard about it, it was either go to this party and see you, or not get to hang out with you. Now I have the option of being with you, naked in bed. That's the one I'd like to choose."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry, you're going to have to suck it up. It would be beyond rude to cancel, especially this late."

Harry groaned dramatically.

"I didn't know starting a relationship with you would turn you into such a drama queen," she noted dryly.

Harry just huffed in response, which rather proved her point. But he had been having such a fantastic day. Hermione had been in an especially good mood since yesterday, feeling like she had made great strides in getting her relationship with her parents back on track.

This morning he and Hermione had taken Teddy ice skating and for a special holiday lunch where Hermione wore the necklace Teddy had made for her, much to his delight. Teddy had also delighted in telling her how he helped pick out her otter plushie. Watching his two favorite people in the world interact had put thoughts in Harry's head, extremely appealing thoughts that he never would have dreamed of even a month ago. Thoughts about even smaller children with dark curly hair and excellent flying skills joining their party of three.

Then they'd come back to Hermione's flat and he'd made a small amount of headway in bribing Crookshanks into tolerating him again. (Apparently literally sleeping with Hermione was acceptable, but figuratively sleeping with her was grounds for repeated attempted maulings.) And then he'd enticed Hermione into spending the afternoon in bed. He didn't want to ruin all of that by going anywhere near his aunt and uncle.

He knew he couldn't really get out of it. He liked Amelia and wouldn't want to upset her. And frankly, he didn't want to give his aunt and uncle or Marge the satisfaction of believing that they might have driven him away. But he was comfortable, and he had a great view of Hermione's arse at the moment, so he was pouting, because he knew she would chastise him, but it would be playful, and he would feel better after he got it off his chest.

"Close your eyes."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I'm about to change."

"Hermione, I hate to break this to you, but I've seen you naked."

"Well," she made an annoyed little sound, "I was going to put something special on for you to see later, but since you're being a prat I'll just take my regular underwear and go change in the loo."

Harry immediately shut his eyes. "When you say special…"

"I'm not describing it for you, that would also defeat the point."

"Oh I beg to differ."

However, he kept his eyes firmly shut and after a few minutes he could feel her hovering over him, then her hands were on his chest. Without opening his eyes he grabbed her and flipped them, trapping her beneath him. She squealed and he expected a reprimand, but he just felt her hands on his face.

"You can open your eyes now. I put your tee shirt back on, you won't ruin my surprise any more than you already have." Her voice was teasing but when he did finally open his eyes she was smiling softly at him, however, it looked a little sad. "Are you worried about tonight? If you really don't want to go I can come down with a terrible case of food poisoning."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. I mean there are ways I'd rather spend my evening but I'll be fine, you're right I was mostly being dramatic."

"Okay," she gave him a light kiss, "you need to go change. I'm going to be here for a while wrangling my hair."

"I like it like this," he tugged on some of her wild curls.

"I know you do. But I think I should keep the 'just shagged' look for private viewing."

"Well, when you put it like that, you definitely should." He crawled off of her and stood up to pull on his jeans. "I'll go home and get dressed, see you soon." He leaned down to kiss her again and then walked out her bedroom door, before he could stare at her laying in bed in his shirt for too long and change his mind about letting her fake an illness.

Almost an hour later they were once again in a car borrowed from her parents, on their way to the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was being held. When Amelia had explained last Saturday that they'd actually rented out an entire restaurant to host this party Harry had nearly choked on his wine.

Harry knew that his perspective on money was strange. He hadn't had access to any growing up to buy his own things, and what his relatives had provided for him had been barely adequate, so he knew what it was like to go without. But then from the moment he'd entered the magical world, he'd had more than he would ever need and he'd never really gotten used to that. He felt lucky that it was there, and that he would never have to worry about providing for his family, but other than that, he hardly ever thought about it.

Despite what he'd said to Hermione earlier, he really wouldn't have cared if Amelia had wanted to host a party every day for a week leading up to her wedding. He just didn't understand the desire. He also had to admit that he was a little intimidated because he didn't know what to expect.

He had some experience with weddings, but he had no frame of reference for what was happening tonight. Also, despite his best efforts, being around his relatives still sometimes made him feel like a little kid who had no control over his life, and as he understood it, this gathering wasn't going to be big enough to just avoid them all night.

Determined not to dwell on it, he turned his attention back to Hermione, who was driving. "Will you teach me to drive?" He asked.

"What?"

"Driving. Will you teach me?"

"If you like. Though I have to warn you, when my dad taught me, it wasn't fun."

"Somehow I think our relationship will survive."

She rolled her eyes. "What brought this on?"

"It just seems like a good skill to have. And I've been thinking I might get a car, we've needed your parents' twice this week. If we are going to be spending more time with them, and with Dudley and Amelia, we can't always be traveling magically."

She sighed. "That's a sweet sentiment. And you're right. My parents' friends and neighbors especially will get suspicious if we keep appearing out of nowhere, and I think they would appreciate the effort."

He wished he could take her hand but she needed them both, so he reached over and cupped the back of her neck. "Yesterday with them was great. They were obviously happy to see us just now. We're having Christmas together. Don't beat yourself up over the past."

She shot him a small smile. "Thank you, Harry."

When they arrived they entered the restaurant and nearly ran headlong into his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who were standing next to the Bertrands ostensibly greeting guests. Harry recognized the looks on their faces immediately, they were the same ones they had always worn when they were headed to what they considered to be an important event, or were hosting people from Uncle Vernon's work; they were set to impress.

Their faces fell comically when they spotted Harry and Hermione. "What are you doing here?" Aunt Petunia sputtered.

Hermione squeezed his hand. "Hello Mrs. Dursley, we're here for the rehearsal dinner," she answered, like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

"You were invited?" Asked Uncle Vernon, he looked affronted at the very idea, but he also looked so confused that Harry almost laughed.

As he stood there with these people who could have been like parents to him, who couldn't even bring themselves to greet him politely, some long buried desire to be loved, for them to just accept him and treat him with decency, a desire he thought was long ago snuffed out, finally did disappear completely.

They really didn't even see him as human, but it wasn't his fault, they were delusional. It clearly hadn't even occurred to them that Dudley and Amelia weren't ashamed of him. Their invitation to the wedding and family dinner hadn't simply been one of polite obligation. They didn't want to keep Harry hidden away like some dirty little secret as Dudley's parents had, they actually wanted him around.

It was just so sad, the way that they stood their gaping at him, like his very presence might ruin their lives. And what was even sadder, was that if he wanted to, he probably could. He wouldn't even need gold or magic, he could just expose them for the small, hateful people that they were.

"We were," Harry confirmed.

John and Anne interrupted the awkward stand-off then, greeting them like old friends with handshakes and hugs. And then Harry heard a shout of their names and turned to see Ben making his way over to them.

He greeted them happily too, asked them to come with him, telling them that he had some people he wanted them to meet. He practically shoved a couple of champagne flutes into their hands and they followed him into the party.

The whole night was like that. Aside from the elder Dursleys, the few people that they knew were happy to see them, and the new people- Amelia and Dudley's friends, in particular- seemed pleased to meet them. It was a relief to be introduced simply as "Dudley's cousin, Harry,' and not have everybody in the room simply recognize him at a glance. But all the time he felt the eyes of his aunts (for Marge was there, tucked away in a corner getting drunk again) and uncle on him.

It had been a long time since they'd been any kind of threat to him, but he still found it disconcerting. However, Hermione's familiar presence, and now intimately familiar body tucked against his side all night soothed his nerves. And though he loathed small talk, Amelia and Dudley's groups of friends were all acquainted with each other, and being the same age as him and Hermione, they were automatically pulled into their sphere and treated much more like friends themselves, than people they'd just met. So, by the end of the night, Harry was shocked to realize that he was having fun.

He would have stayed even longer, if Hermione had wanted to, but she had decided to start murmuring into his ear about all the things she had planned for them when they got home, and he only lasted thirty minutes after that. They said their goodbyes, Amelia actually looked between them and then laughed in their faces and told them to have fun, and when they departed Harry had nearly forgotten the Dursleys.

Until he realized that they were being followed before they even left the building. It was his job to notice such things, but he could tell Hermione realized it too, because it wasn't a trained wizard, or anybody who was really even trying to be subtle. He stopped and turned around once they were outside, his Aunt Petunia nearly ran into them.

"Did you have something to say?" He asked, raising himself to his full height, but keeping Hermione's hand in his, and her close to him.

She narrowed her eyes and craned her neck, trying to look menacing. She'd once towered over him, but now these tactics were laughable. "Why couldn't you just stay away?" She hissed.

"Excuse me?"

"Why couldn't you just stay away, in your world, where you belong! We never wanted you."

Harry laughed bitterly. "Oh I know, you never made any attempt to hide that from me. And you know what, Aunt Petunia, I even agree that you shouldn't have been forced to keep me, that was unfair to you. But it takes a special kind of monster to treat a little kid the way you treated me, and I know monsters. There's nothing I could have done to deserve that, but we both know I never did anything anyway, despite what you liked to tell people. You just hated the fact that I existed."

She clenched her jaw. Harry didn't think she really cared about what he was saying to her, but he thought she might have been surprised that he was saying it at all. "Just stay away, stay out of our lives. Don't come tomorrow and interrupt Dudley's wedding. We don't want you here, Dudley doesn't want you here."

"You know, I think you actually believe that. And you probably will choose not to believe me when I tell you that Dudley sought me out, years ago. He's the one who wanted to mend fences and see if we could be friends. He sees how utterly fucked up what you did was, and he's embarrassed."

She opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to find any words.

"Do you know what?" Harry continued. "We get along, me and Dudley. I consider him a friend now. Hermione and Amelia like each other. So, no I'm not going to go away. Or, at least I'm not going to stay away from him and Amelia just because you don't like it."

She actually stomped her foot and Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, and then as far as I'm concerned, I don't care if I ever see you again. You can go on living the same small, sad little life you always have, you'll have no effect on me. Goodbye Aunt Petunia."

He tugged on Hermione's hand but she stayed put. "I'd like to say something," she said quietly.

He glanced at her and saw the question in her eyes, he just shrugged. He'd said what he needed to, this night had freed him of any remaining trappings of his childhood. If it would make Hermione feel better to say something, she was welcome to.

"You'll never know how amazing it is to be loved by this man," Hermione began, "and I feel sorry for you. Because it's the most incredible thing in the world, it's such a privilege."

Hermione squeezed his hand as she took a small step forward, and Harry had to restrain himself from stopping her. She could handle his aunt.

"It's a privilege you could have gotten so easily," she continued with a shake of her head, "a little bit of kindness, a little bit of compassion, and it would have been yours forever. He would have razed the world to keep you safe. He would have been unfailingly loyal and generous. You could have had another son. Just for being decent." She took a deep shuddering breath. "Harry's right, you live a small, sad little life. And it's only going to keep getting smaller and sadder. People will start to see through you if they haven't already, because this facade of yours just isn't that good. The Bertrands did. Dudley and Amelia might tolerate you, but that's all it'll be, that's all it already is. I hope justifying your own bigotry was worth it."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Aunt Petunia answered, but it wasn't very convincing.

"You'll see," Hermione said, with a cold little smile that might have been the most frightening thing Harry had ever seen.

This time she was the one who tugged on his hand and they turned and walked to the car without another word. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Harry heard Hermione sniff, he looked at her and noticed that she was wiping her eyes with one of the embroidered handkerchiefs that had been behind today's Advent calendar door.

"Those were meant for the wedding, I know how weddings make you cry," he said, going for humor, but it fell flat.

"I know, but I thought something like this might happen tonight, so I made sure to tuck one in my bag," she patted her infamous little beaded arsenal.

"You shouldn't let her get to you. She's just," he sighed, searching for a word, "pathetic. She's not worth your tears."

"I know she's pathetic. And she's not worth my tears, but you certainly are." She held up a hand to forestall his interruption. "I meant what I said about razing the world to keep her safe. You would do anything to protect the people you love. What would you do to somebody who treated me the way that she treated you?"

Harry froze and rage like he'd never experienced before welled up within him. She immediately grabbed his hand.

"I would never go against your wishes and retaliate against her. But these emotions have to go somewhere, that's all. And I feel better now that I've said my piece," she let out a little laugh, "twice, really. I should be asking you how you feel."

He took a deep breath and considered her question carefully, wanting to be totally honest. "I feel like it's finally over."

She smiled at him and started the car.