The sounds were always muffled at first. She would be dreaming of something- books, days at Hogwarts, nights at the Burrow and it would start subtly. It was intrusive, and soon everything would stop in her dream, causing her to climb next to a door or wall to listen. The sound of voices through a muffled conversation- something farther from the barrier were heard.
Sometimes she would catch distinct words. Harry. Mum. Teddy. Ron. Even on occasion, there would be sounds of crying. What type of death tortures you when you're waiting in between? What unfinished business did she have that her dreams would be pushed from delightfully quiet, too painful?
The woman, for what was a witch with absolute power, would throw herself away in tears. She missed them. Oh, how her heart pined for them! It was on this particular day when the clouds reflected her mood, that she stood at the window of her twenty-second floor flat and gazed out at her new universe.
It started with a simple concept. She needed a place to absorb what happened. That was down in the square, where she sat under a large willow tree and sobbed about her death — whispering unfinished goals. Speaking to the bark about her unwritten love story. That was when the Marauders showed up. Everything bloomed when they gently guided her into the hands of her death.
Remus was careful. He never mentioned death or dying. Not even about his own, which was tragic even for her to think about. This unspoken rule developed where they wouldn't speak about it unless they must. They helped her create this world, filling it with things she'd never seen or weren't physically possible on the other side. That was her way of building the bridge to acceptance.
Sirius, however, enjoyed her company immensely. It was typical for the animagus the first few nights of her stay to poke and annoy Hermione about what she always wanted to do, what she had done. What would be the cherry on top of Elsewhere? Their friendship was kind and lighthearted- something the woman desperately needed in the hours that followed her into the in-between.
This situation with her dreams was only increasing. Hermione checked the calendar she created and marked off the date. Nine months. Such a long time to be waiting to see what was next and longing to follow the others when they would leave her theater and head to the next. For now, it was just her and the marauders on her endless island.
The knock at the door wasn't surprising. The rain was heavy as her heart sang a song it hadn't in months. She missed home. "Come in," Hermione murmured as she sat down on the large sofa at the window.
"Love, are you alright?" Sirius questioned as the heavy footfalls stopped behind her.
"I miss them today, Sirius. I had another dream," Hermione sighed and pulled at the couch, causing the fabric to draw from it and stretch to create a blanket.
"Can I do anything for you?"
Hermione nodded and glanced up at the uneasy marauder. "Hold me?"
Sirius jumped over the sofa back and plopped next to her, yanking the woman to his form. "Oh, you just about kill me, Hermione. We have eternity, and you decide to cry about the past," he sighed as she sniffled against his chest.
"I miss them, Pads. I miss drinking wine with Ginny and laughing with Harry. Small, inconsequential things. I long for love and children and all the things I will never have with Ronald. I heard the whispering again last night."
He kissed her hair and exhaled. "You want kids; we can have them by the litter. All you have to do is think it and we can. I don't mind if you want to grow old and weak after a hundred years and we create a whole world for them," Sirius suggested.
Hermione yanked from him and glared. "It isn't real. None of it would be real, Sirius. Even your love for me couldn't be. You didn't feel that way in life and certainly not," she couldn't finish her lecture because the animagus kissed her lips.
It was tender and sweet, melding with the passions of her broken heart. Hermione didn't realize just how much she desired to kiss him again until that moment. The mistletoe held nothing to the bold but gentle hands of his as Sirius caressed her cheeks and continued with the coupling with fervor.
They parted, and Sirius pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Hermione. There's no complications here that would keep me from telling you. In a different life, one where you were there from the beginning, and I wasn't godfather to your best friend; I would have told you the very instant I met you. Your heart, your mind, your very soul enchants me, and I've waited so long here in Elsewhere just to declare my undying love for you."
The sun was shining through the clouds and rainbows started to appear through the small showers as Hermione blinked at the marauder. His confession was one she wasn't expecting. "You do?" was all she could think to ask.
Sirius glanced at the door and waved at the silent observer. "Come on over, Moony. We were just talking about love."
Remus chuckled and strolled over to the pair while scratching his chin. "Love is such an interesting concept when life isn't in the way. None of the past matters because all we have in Elsewhere is today."
The woman tossed her long curly hair from her shoulders and pulled away from the animagus as Remus sat down. "Is that why you both are here? Had I not realized it was under your own fruition," Hermione stopped as the werewolf took her hand.
"Hermione, did you ever ask yourself that maybe we weren't in Elsewhere before you got here? All I remember is waking up on the barren beach of an island. Sirius was next to me, and we followed the thrum of warmth straight to your tree. Everything before Elsewhere didn't matter. It's blank. The moment you needed us, we became us again," he paused as her brow pinched. "It's not a trick or odd happenstance; it's what we needed as well. Some part of us was just waiting for you. Now we're living in your world, together. Of course, we love you."
Her bottom lip disappeared into her mouth. "You fancy me?"
Remus's smirk turned crooked as he shifted his head from side to side while his eyes traced the ceiling. "It's a bit difficult not to, Hermione. We've spent an abundance of time discovering what moves you and what your soul desires. To know someone intimately who sparks the same flame as any passionate creature, would cause droves of men to fall to their knees in prayer."
She laughed despite the heat building in her cheeks. "That was eloquently spoken, Remus."
"So what do you say, love? Care to indulge a couple of dead marauders?" Sirius asked as his chin tucked over her shoulder.
Her form stiffened as she craned her neck enough to eye him. "Both?"
Remus squeezed her fingers to draw her attention. "Both. It can't be any other way. You love us, and we most certainly love you. Spend your hours of eternity with us? Stop fretting about the past- we promise to make the most of Elsewhere."
"You know I love you, Remus," Hermione sighed as her thumb ran over his knuckles. "But how is this real?"
"It's only real if you believe it is, love. That's the surefire way that it will happen," Sirius insisted.
"Well, I'm not going to be easy, Sirius. I demand dates and dinners, and," she was halted on her tangent when the werewolf bent to her and kissed her lips.
She could get used to ending arguments this way. Her eyebrow arched as Remus cupped her face and efficiently banished her trepidation. This was going to be a decorative element added to the concept of forever- Hermione knew that even more when Sirius stroked her hair and nuzzled her neck. Yes, there would be another perk added to the in-between, and this one she would relish.
Something profound happened in all of the build-up to their confession. With it, all of her pining and sadness dissipated as Hermione was finding out how delightful it was to date the marauders. The woman stopped counting days on the calendar. There was no reason for them to live in the building down the way, so she created another floor to her flat, with a library big enough to fill every book she'd ever wanted to read.
There was no shagging, at least not the many days they spent together. Most of it was filled with heated kisses, swimming on the roof, or practicing surfing in the ocean. Things that made relationships fun- things she never had in life.
Nights were filled with stories from the marauders. Hogwarts mischief. Confessions of their childhoods. All the individual pieces of a soul that it sheds when it moves on from one life to the next. They offered them freely and without a doubt — the intimacy of lives blending to make love last and worth every second.
It wasn't until one evening where they all were in their large bed, that Hermione blinked in surprise. This was their love story. It may have waited until she died, but she at least would get one. That was the very evening that everything changed. The woman wanted it to continue, and she suddenly desired to have the very human, quite alive feeling of lust tint her feelings. That was the night she would indeed start the affair of a lifetime.
"It's time?" Sirius asked while bouncing his eyebrows- his eyes glinted in the low light.
Hermione nodded as she sat up from the pillows. "Yes, it's time, my marauders."
"Thank Merlin," Remus huffed and nearly launched himself at her, licking and nipping at her neck.
The woman was soon enveloped in soft touches and nibbling. Her clothes soon stripped from her body, and the build of pressure in her abdomen made her feel alive again. This was as close to Heaven as it possibly could be. They were her perfect paradise.
Two years later…
Hermione groaned and stretched as sleep crawled away from her mind. The warmth of her husbands was more than enough to keep her in bed, but she could hear the soft murmuring coming from the other room.
"It's your turn, love," Sirius grumbled.
Remus pulled the woman closer to his form and nosed her bare shoulder. "Pads, go get him while I wake her up the right way," he grumbled, and his lips lazily drifted over her skin.
Hermione twisted in his grip and touched the soft speckled beard on Remus's face. "I promised him if we had alone time last night I would take care of Corvus in the morning," she whispered before kissing his cheek.
Remus's hand trailed her naked skin down to her slightly distended stomach. "You should be babied, not the arsehole over there."
"I did that when she had Corvus, your turn, ya shit," Sirius huffed and tucked an arm around Hermione's body. "I have always doted on this magnificent goddess."
"Now, boys, no fighting. We have plenty of time for that after tea," Hermione snickered and stretched from their grasp. "I'm going to go make breakfast, don't take too long to wake up, my loves."
She pulled on a pair of sweats and one of their t-shirts before blowing kisses at the sleepy pair and leaving the room. Their flat was a mansion. Hermione spent tons of time while she was pregnant with Sirius's son perfecting their living quarters. That was the plan, for them to live out their days, watching their children grow up.
The child's bedroom was the perfect blend of love and Sirius. Hermione painted the walls with scenes from Hogwarts and placed objects from Sirius's childhood he loved around the room. Model cars he snuck from James's house. Tons of music from then all on vinyl records. It was everything a child of theirs could want, down to the large bookcase.
"My love, are you ready to greet the day," Hermione sighed as she approached the child in bed.
"Dis brekfist?" He questioned with a tilt of his black curly hair.
Hermione huffed and lifted the boy from his toddler bed. "Oh, spawn of Black, you're getting heavy."
They walked through the home while the boy yammered on about dreams and other small tidbits. He was perfect. Their blend of perfect. When they walked down the staircase and into the central portion of the flat, Hermione could smell the aroma of breakfast already cooking on the stovetop. Another fantastic day in their world.
She set the boy down in his seat and began to pull plates from the cabinet. "Shall we go camping today? We can fish in the lake and collect pretty stones," Hermione offered as she pulled out the utensils.
"Yeah!" the boy shouted while clapping.
"Hermione," a feminine voice said.
It sounded like it was coming from the living room, and the woman scowled. Corvus glanced in the direction before freezing mid-motion. Hermione walked into the living room, still trying to figure out who was there. No one visited her portion of Elsewhere. It was hers.
"I know it's been a while, but I have a hard time doing this," the voice was so familiar as Hermione walked toward the door.
Her hand shook as she reached for the knob and heard sniffling. "I wish you were here," the voice whimpered.
Hermione gripped her courage as she opened the barrier and saw darkness. When she stepped out into the hallway, she felt gobsmacked at the scene in front of her. The woman was standing in St. Mungo's and there in front of her was Ginny, gripping someone's hand tightly.
When Hermione lifted her left hand, she felt the pressure of the redhead's fingers on her palm.
"I love you, and I promised you would be the first one I would tell. Harry and I are going to have another baby. I know you hope it's a girl, but I kind of hope it's a boy," Ginny sniveled as she wiped her eyes.
"Ginny," Hermione gasped and walked next to her. "Ginny, I'm here. I'm not dead," Hermione voiced.
"You always did have a better reaction when you weren't lying there, but that's all we've got now," Ginny grumbled and tore her hand away from the resting Hermione.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried as she fell to her knees. "I'm not dead. I'm not dead; I'm right here."
The redhead exhaled and for a moment Hermione thought she saw her on the ground as they made eye contact. "I knew this would be harder than I thought. You probably aren't here anyway. Some library reading all the books you ever wanted to read. If Remus is there with you, tell him Teddy loves him."
"I'm not dead," Hermione repeated, and it was as if it clicked.
She wasn't dead. Elsewhere wasn't the afterlife. The in-between was where she had to go until she either died or woke up… what was she going to do?
"Love?" Sirius's voice came from the open door.
Hermione glanced back, and when she moved to point at the scene in front of her, it was gone… a blank wall. "Sirius, I'm not dead," Hermione whispered.
"What?" He asked as he walked out to meet her.
Hermione pressed her fingers to the cold plaster and exhaled. "I'm in a coma," she voiced.