Weeks, Months, Years.


Written for the HMS Harmony Discord 4K Member Celebration House Competition.

Summary: Three moments in Harry and Hermione's life that represent Four Weeks, Four Months and Four Years.


Hermione sat nervously at the end of the bed, tapping her feet like mad as she heard the footsteps approaching. The hand towel in her lap felt heavy as the door swung inwards and she saw the green eyes beaming at her that usually came with Harry's return home each day.

"Hello, love." He smiled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and turned to toss his jumper into the hamper. "You'll never guess who I saw today."

Hermione's eyes followed his movement, but her demeanour did not change. Harry caught sight of her face in the mirror and his smile vanished.

"What's wrong?" He asked, spinning on his heel, belt hanging open as he knelt in front of her.

Hermione looked down into his wide eyes, unable to speak, the fear clenching at her chest keeping her from breathing properly. Was he going to be mad, to hate her, to yell and scream? She shifted her hands uneasily and Harry's eyes tracked the motion. His hands came up and one took her fingers between its own while his other gently freed the white washcloth from her fingers.

His eyes flicked up once more when he noticed the tiny splotches of blood. "Hermione?"

His voice cracked with concern and Hermione finally managed to speak. "I've been really tired the last few days, and now I'm spotting."

"Spotting?" He replied, uncertain. Hermione nodded slightly. "What is spott…"

Harry trailed off as he noticed the other item in her lap, now no longer covered by the soiled cloth. It was a white object, far longer than it was wide. One end was rounded, while the other was flat and pointed, covered with a cap. In the middle was a small window with a pair of lines visible. Harry's eyes flicked to her face once again and she could see the question plastered on his face.

"Spotting is an early symptom." Harry's eyes went wide at the word symptom, clearly going to the worst possible option. Hermione steadied her breath and continued, clutching his hand for support, even if it might soon vanish. "Of pregnancy. I am pregnant, Harry. About four weeks if my math is correct."

Harry remained frozen in place for several extremely long seconds. Hermione couldn't read what was going on behind his eyes before he suddenly moved, tackling her to the bed in the fiercest kiss they had shared in months. Hermione's breath left her as he pulled her tight, her back flat on the bed they shared as his lips wrung the tension from her body. After a much nicer eternity, he pulled away and Hermione was left looking up into his glowing green eyes.

"You're really pregnant?" He whispered, as though speaking the thought aloud might shatter it.

Hermione nodded and Harry broke out into the widest grin she'd seen in years. True joy lit his features and made him look more attractive than she could recall, and she already had enough trouble keeping her hands off of him at the best of times.

"I'm going to be a dad." His voice was full of delight but soon gave way to panic. "I'm going to be a dad. What if I'm bad at it?"

Hermione reached up and directed his gaze back at her. "Harry James Potter. You will be the best-damned dad on the planet. I need you to be because I cannot do something like this on my own. Alright?"

Several emotions passed over his features in rapid succession, before he nodded and took a few deep breaths. "Yes. I suppose if there is anything we've proven in the past, it's that together we can do anything."

He propped himself up on one arm and his other slowly travelled down her arm, leaving gooseflesh in its wake, onto her torso and down over the thin shirt that covered her belly. His eyes became full of wonder as he gazed down at the place where the two of them had become one. The part of her body that even now was growing a whole new life.

"I love magic, but it's got nothing on this." Harry marvelled, slipping the cotton fabric up to rest his hand directly on her skin.

Hermione nodded her agreement, wondering now how she had ever for a moment doubted that Harry would be thrilled with the news. Family was his greatest wish, and now they would share in it together. People would probably expect them to get married now, but that was a concern for some other time. Now was for relishing in the amazing moment between herself and her lover. The man who had stolen her heart and now filled her womb as well.

ϟ

Hermione relaxed back, her head lolling lightly on Harry's shoulder as the pair lay on the couch. She wasn't really paying any attention to the television, and she knew Harry wasn't due to the soft sound of his breathing in her ear. He had fallen asleep like he usually did. For someone who'd been denied television growing up, he seemed to find it awfully disinteresting in adulthood.

She, on the other hand, was not paying attention because she was relishing the moment of reprieve. The past few months had been sort of rough. A constant lack of energy, the annoying mood swings, the neverending need to pee no matter how inconvenient. Thankfully, she'd mostly dodged the nausea, but there were a few cases of the dreaded morning sickness, which stupidly struck at all hours despite its name. A trait which had very much annoyed Hermione when she had uncovered it.

Four months in was supposedly a time of slight respite from the pains of the first trimester. Today was a particularly good day. None of her hurt any more than usual, their baby was resting comfortably, she had begun to find herself talking to them more often, having learned this was the period when the baby's ears were developing.

She had felt closer to their little surprise every day, but whispering to them while Harry slumbered had become her favourite little distraction. Hermione glanced down, noticing Harry's and her own hands intertwined, resting over the still slight curve of her belly. It was definitely beginning to show, but they had already told everyone that mattered long before it had made its presence known.

Hermione smiled at the sight as Harry's hand occasionally shifted up and down the soft skin, sending a flutter through her body. Sometimes while they were laying about like this, she would feel the smallest taps and movements from within as well. Harry's face the first time he had felt their child move within her had been priceless.

She suddenly blushed as she felt a rumbling in her belly that had nothing, well not nothing to do with, but was not strictly caused by the baby. Her stomach was growling and the sound and vibration were enough to stir Harry from his slumber.

"What's…" He mumbled as his eyes opened and he used his free hand to adjust the glasses that were laying askew on his face. "Hermione? Is the movie finished?"

"About three hours ago." She replied, smiling at her boyfriend. They'd now been dating for more than three years, after bonding even closer on their trip to return her parents' memories and the thrill of it still hadn't worn off.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Harry asked, stretching as best he could while trapped between her body and the back of the couch.

"Actually." She looked away. "I have a real hankering for nachos. With strawberries and cream." Hermione bit her lip as she finished.

She could feel Harry chuckle lightly underneath her and she turned to face him. "I love you, Hermione."

Before she could react, he had slipped his arms underneath her and heaved her into the air. She gave a shout as he stood from the couch and began walking the pair towards the kitchen. The wide opening between it and the lounge meant Hermione didn't need to tuck up into his chest to avoid the door jamb, but she liked doing so anyway. If he was going to manhandle her and carry her about, she had decided she was going to enjoy it.

He set her down softly, bum first on the kitchen bench, allowing her to pull away slowly and manage her own balance. Harry gave her a soft peck on the lips before he turned and opened the fridge, his wand appearing from nowhere and flicking towards the stove, pans and spatulas floating down to rest on the now flaming cooktop. He emerged a moment later with a bowl of pre-cooked mince that he had seasoned the day before when she had requested something spicy, before changing her mind halfway through.

The meat was soon sizzling away in the pan and Hermione couldn't help the surge of lust that shot throughout her body as she watched Harry hum to himself as he danced about the kitchen, preparing her 1 am random snack desire for this week.

A small bowl of fresh strawberries floated out of the fridge as he was winding up his culinary work, settling beside her on the bench as the cream finished whipping in the hovering bowl nearby and came to rest with it as well. A moment later, Harry spun on his heel with a flourish that made Hermione laugh out loud until the smell of the delicious looking nachos on the plate in his hand caught her attention and she felt four for a moment as she made grabby gimme hands at the meal.

The crisp tortilla chips poked out of it at all angles, coated in still sizzling mince and pepper. Hermione hadn't been a big fan of spicy food growing up, but ever since she had found out that she was pregnant, she had been into it like mad.

Harry winked at her and poured the salsa in his right hand evocatively over the nachos and Hermione bit her lip again.

"Dinner is served." He said huskily, peeling a chip from the plate, cheese stretching out and holding the extras in its grip as he sidled over to her and she opened wide. The crunch as she bit down brought as much delight to her senses as the flavour. She didn't even try to hold in the pleasurable moan at the combination.

"You do realize how sexy it is when you do things like that?" Harry asked, holding up the plate for her to dig in.

Hermione gave him a cheeky smirk before she reached to her side and dug into the strawberries instead, taking a particularly juicy looking one and dragging it through the cream. With a waggle of her eyebrows, she dropped the berry onto the top of a large chip and took a huge bite of all three, the odd flavours coming together in her mouth.

"Is that so?" She asked, mouth full of food, trying to be as unsexy as possible.

Harry just laughed and nodded. "It is so."

Hermione smiled brightly at the back and forth, diving into the odd late-night snack as Harry joined her in its unusual delight.

ϟ

Hermione basked in the feeling of Harry's arms wrapped about her waist as they stood in the doorway, watching the small bed in the corner. The light of their life tucked under the covers in a dark room, slumbering away softly. She'd been a struggle at first. The birth being one of the most painful experiences of her life, but with Harry by her side, she had pushed through and brought their daughter into this world.

She already loved their child more than life itself before she was born, but seeing her there in person, in her arms… the feeling was indescribable. Watching Harry look at the tangible proof he had a family was a sight to behold as well. He was a father and he'd proven to be every bit as magnificent as Hermione had predicted four years ago today, she realized.

Today was the anniversary of the day he had come home to find her panicking on their bed, the very same one they still slept in now. Her mind had been bouncing all over the place that day, from joy to panic to fear to surprise to concern to dread to delight to hunger to desire to panic all over again. She'd gotten so worked up that she had begun to worry Harry would leave her over it.

His arms around her helped to shoo away the remnants of the panic that still clung to the memory, even after so long. She was a mother now, and a damned good one, Harry liked to remind her regularly of that fact. She was firm but fair, with both her children. Their daughter and Harry alike when he decided to be an immature git.

Here now though, watching their three-year-old sleep in her new bed for the first time, was magical. They'd had the bed for nearly two months now, but every night she would spend maybe thirty minutes laying in it restlessly before she would inevitably find her way back to their room, forcing her way between Harry and herself and settling in.

It was the idea that those visits would soon diminish in frequency that set a new thought spiralling through Hermione's mind. A surprise she had not thought would be there for a long time to come. But the need was unmistakable.

"I want to try again." Her voice came softly in the night air, sounding both soft yet firm, the decision solid within her.

Harry turned to look at her, his bright eyes visible even in the dark of the room. "Really?"

She nodded, turning to look at him as well. "Yes. I don't really know why, but it feels right. I'm ready."

Harry leant in and pressed their lips together, the pair losing themselves in the soft intimacy that just flowed so easily between them. Their love had only grown in the years they'd spent together, both those before and those during their time dating.

"You know I am game. I always wished I had someone better than Dudley to play with as a child. May as well have been two only children in different houses."

"I think you turned out alright, all things considered. You're pretty great even." She whispered, turning in his arms to face him. "Though it was a lot of work moulding you into what I needed in a man."

Harry returned her broad smile before leaning in for another stronger kiss, this one lasting far longer than the last. "We both know that you love me exactly as I am. And I wouldn't change a thing about you either."

"Can't blame a girl for having a little fun teasing her boyfriend," Hermione said, sassing Harry.

His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment, deep in thought. "Speaking of that."

Hermione looked at him curiously, trying to ascertain where he might be going. "Of what?"

"Boyfriend. Girlfriend. I'd really much rather call you my wife before we have another. What do you say?"

Hermione was mildly flabbergasted. "Did you… did you just propose to me?"

Harry gave it a moment of thought. "Yes."

Hermione felt the light heat she had been feeling surge throughout her body and her hands quickly dropped lower down Harry's back to cup the much firmer muscles of his bum.

"You…" She growled, pulling him tight and groping him shamelessly as she snogged the life out of him.

When they pulled apart, Harry smirked at her. "Me. So, is that a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes you blithering idiot." She quipped in return. "I would love to make you the future Mr Granger."

"Hmmm," he pondered. "Has a nice ring to it. Then I can join my two favourite girls."

Hermione pulled back and looked deep into Harry's eyes. "Are you sure about that? I was only kidding."

"Being a Potter has only brought me trouble. I love my parents, I truly do. But I don't think they'd begrudge me taking your name and seeing what sort of life I can lead as Harry Granger. Father of two, wife of the most beautiful and intelligent woman on earth. I rather like the idea."

"Harry." Hermione moaned, pulling him into another deep kiss.

"Mummy?" A soft voice came from behind her and the pair quickly pulled apart, Hermione spinning to face the little girl sitting up in the enormous seeming bed.

"Yes, sweetie?" She swatted gently at Harry's hands as he pinched her bum as she turned to face their child.

"Thirsty." The three-year-old said, putting on a pair of puppy dog eyes that neither one of them could resist.

Hermione felt Harry's arms move and she saw the tip of his wand come up. With a roll of her eyes, she conjured a glass and Harry quickly filled it halfway. His arms slipped from around her body as she stepped over to the bed and handed the cool glass to their daughter.

"Here you go, sweetheart."

She brushed the thick brown hair away from her little face as she grasped the glass with both hands and lifted it to her mouth, taking strong heavy gulps of water, soon finishing it off.

"Thank you, mummy. Daddy." She smiled, her hazel eyes a near-perfect mix of her own brown and Harry's green.

"Anytime, pumpkin," Harry said, now standing right behind Hermione again, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Try and go back to sleep."

The light of their lives lay back down and Hermione tucked the covers around her once again. In no time at all, she was out like a light once more. Hermione couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered softly, trying his best not to wake the girl.

"Take me to bed, Harry. I want to get started right now." Hermione replied, standing and giving him a smouldering look she knew would set his motor running big time.

Harry gulped and with a quick movement, had her in his arms. With a quick glance at the bed, he turned and guided her through the doorway, out into the light of the hallway. In the light, she knew he caught sight of the look she was fixing him with as his pace leading to their room was faster than speedy.

As the door closed behind them, Hermione felt a coil of desire tighten in her core. Not only were they going to have another baby, but she was also going to enjoy every second of making them.