Author's note: Sorry for the long update. I finished this chapter over Christmas but accidentally left my memory stick at my parents' house. They just mailed it to me and I got it today. I am working on the next chapter already. I don't think there will be many chapters left, only a handful max. Thanks for your patience and Happy New Year to you all. Redfrog

Chapter 15:

The next morning at breakfast everyone was wondering why Harry had such a contented smirk on his face. They could all tell he was up to something but none of them were privy to what. His meeting at the ministry had gone well and they had all celebrated their victory last night so none of them knew what new mischief Harry was up to. The girls in the great hall gasped when the morning post owls arrived. Hedwig was soaring in with a dozen roses, 10 white, 1 red and 1 a stunning emerald green, which incidentally matched the color of Harry's eyes. Hermione was sure there were quite a few gaping mouths as Hedwig flew directly to Pansy to drop off her burden before flying to Harry to steal his bacon. Pansy was staring lovingly at the flowers with a very girly smile on her face as she began to realize their significance.

"You know Harry, you and Severus are making me look bad," Draco drawled as he saw the almost longing look Ginny gave the flowers. "No one at Hogwarts has been courted in over a decade and now there are two." Hermione laughed at the put out look on Draco's face.

"We're not going to have to court someone now are we?" Greg Goyle asked her nervously.

"No Greg," she told him with a smile. "You don't have to following the courting protocol unless you wish to. Besides, nowadays most couples are dating for a while and that takes the place of courting." Both Crabbe and Goyle looked relieved to hear that along with a lot of the other boys but the girls looked disappointed.

Pansy finally snapped out of her daze and sent a dazzling smile at Harry before pulling the green rose from the bouquet and placing it in her hair. She smiled as she handed the card to Ginny and Hermione to read.

My Dearest Pansy,

I have fallen in love with you and I want the world to know it. You gave me the strength to do what was needed to end the war. Without you I would be empty. I am free now and the only thing I want to do with that freedom is make you mine. I will spend the rest of my life making you happy if you will only allow it.

All my love,

Harry

The two girls sighed at the sentiment and then hugged their friend. They were so happy that Harry and Pansy were finally going to get together.

Harry watched his love's reaction to his courting proposal and was glad she accepted. He knew she had feelings for him but was afraid she may have only wanted to date him, not commit to him alone. Severus was sitting in shock at the head table. He couldn't believe that Potter was courting Pansy Parkenson. He knew they had become friends and were close but he figured that was because Ginny and Draco had paired off. He was happy for Pansy as he knew she and Draco were never in love and knew that for Harry to have sent the flowers he must already be head over heals for her. He saw that Hermione didn't seemed surprised by the turn of events and decided he needed a little talk with his beloved, she should be keeping him up to date on the latest Slytherin gossip!

The week seemed to fly by for Pansy as she received her first courting presents. The first day she received a huge box of chocolates as well as a big tin of cookies. Harry had just shrugged and told her he wanted to make sure she had enough so she could share. The next day was a very large box filled to the brim with different scents and sizes of candles, Harry just commented that he wasn't sure what she preferred so he got some of everything. Pansy loved the next gift of a stuffed phoenix and a beautiful leather photo album. Harry just smirked as Draco called him a showoff, he knew Pansy liked her gifts and that was all that mattered. The next day she received a stained glass sun catcher with the design of a phoenix in it as well as a dream catcher, which Harry's note said was to make sure all her dreams were pleasant. Harry just sat back with a smug look on his face as the last of the first week presents was delivered the next morning. The box was gigantic and filled to the brim with bath products. There were lotions and creams, shampoos and conditioners, body washes, bath salts, bubble baths, sponges, loofas, poofs, and a monogrammed bath robe and towel set in pale pink. His smirk widened as Pansy found the box of massage oils that was enclosed as well.

"You do realize the first week's gifts are supposed to be small and inexpensive right?" Ginny asked him as she eyed the giant box enviously.

"Yep," Harry told her with a cheeky grin. "Everything in there is fairly inexpensive. Besides there is no limit to the amount of gifts that can be sent the first week." The others just rolled their eyes knowing how much Harry loves to spend his money on things for other people. "I promise the number of items will significantly lessen next week. You may even become bored with how normal everything becomes." He warned them.

Pansy was definitely not bored with her gifts and was happy that she wasn't completely isolated from Harry like Hermione was from Severus. The first gift of the second week was a soft and scrumptious hot pink set of winter accessories including a hat, earmuffs, scarf, gloves, mittens, muff and leg warmers. Pansy was delighted that he knew her favorite color and didn't mind her wearing so much pink. One of the only things she and Draco ever fought over was her obsession with the color pink. Draco hates pink and told her to wear as little of it as possible but Harry could care less what she wears as long as she was happy. Her 2nd gift was a bottle of her favorite perfume from a trendy designer in Paris. She loved the 3rd gift and thought it was so neat. He had gotten her an entire set of hair jewelry with different rhinestone accents. There were combs, clips, barrettes, pins, ties and anything else she could use to decorate her hair.

Harry usually hated the attention of his fans but he couldn't help but smirk at all their jealous looks at Pansy. He knew they only wanted him for his fame so he was perfectly content to show off a little for Pansy. She deserved a little pampering and he wanted everyone to know that he was serious about her. He was using the courting process just so the general public couldn't accuse her of putting him under a love spell or tricking him into marriage in some way. This was his way of making them all understand that he chose her, not the other way around.

The third week of gifts saw everyone in the great hall watching Pansy with great interest. It seemed everyone wanted to see what the great Harry Potter would get his girlfriend this week. Her 1st gift of the week was a personalized stationary set with a beautiful blown glass paperweight in Slytherin green and sliver. The next gift went along with the 1st as it was an elegant quill and ink set and Pansy was shocked to realize it was a phoenix feather quill, which were extremely rare as very few phoenixes were willing to give up a feather just for a quill. The 3rd gift of the week was a blown glass vase that matched the paperweight and was full with two dozen roses in different shades of pink. Harry knew the idea of the vase and flowers was from Severus but didn't care as Pansy seemed to love them even if the idea wasn't as original.

The 4th week of gifts was soon upon them and everyone was still curious but their close friends could tell the forced separation with no privacy was getting to Harry and Pansy and they still had 6 more weeks to go until their 1st date. Pansy loved her pale pink cashmere sweater as well as the pale green and pale blue one he sent as her 1st gift of the week but she would have preferred to have been wrapped up in him instead of the soft wool. She adored the new silver cloak he gave her and the phoenix cloak clasp was beautifully crafted but her favorite gift of the weeks was the set of pink satin pajamas that he ordered for her from a muggle store with matching robe, slippers and even a matching gown for when it was warmer out. She just wished her bed both here and at home was more comfortable.

As if Harry had heard her thoughts, her 1st gift of the 5th week was a new bedding set. It was Ivory colored with green trim and came with everything you would need for the bed including matching window coverings and floor rug. The other gift of the week had her squeal in happiness when she discovered he had gotten her a memory foam mattress pad and pillows for her bed. Hermione had told her about the wonderful muggle invention and she had promised herself she would have some once she graduated. She was in heaven when she placed the pad on her bed (charmed to fit any size mattress from twin to king) and had her new bedding in place. Hermione and Ginny had to drag her out of bed at 2pm that Saturday as she had spent the entire morning lounging in her new extra comfortable bed. What many didn't know was that Pansy's favorite weekend activity was sleeping and she would happily stay in bed all day if they let her.

The 6th week of gifts dawned and Pansy was thrilled with her new camera as she had always wanted one of her own. She went around taking pictures of all her friends determined to make a photo album for all of them for graduation. The next day Harry seemed nervous and everyone wondered what the gift was to make him seem so jittery. The whole hall turned to him in confusion when the owls had finished delivering the mail and Hedwig hadn't brought Pansy anything. They all watched as Harry pulled something out from under the table and tapped it with his wand to end the disillusionment spell. Soon they could all see the adorable black kitty with a hot pink collar around its neck.

"I knew you wanted a cat before you came to Hogwarts but your father wouldn't let you have one. I hope you like her," Harry told her quietly, hoping she would appreciate the gift. Pets were a hard gift to buy as they were very owner specific.

"Oh Harry she's wonderful," Pansy whispered as she gently picked up the kitten and nuzzled with it. The little cat purred under its new owners ministrations and quickly fell into a contented sleep on her lap. That night they decided to name her kitten Slumber as she had slept all day, which they teased Pansy about saying they were perfect for each other.

Harry was glad she loved the kitten and knew he had great final gifts so he began to relax and finish the plans for their first date. Pansy waited impatiently for her 7th week gift to arrive and squealed in delight at the pair of stunning diamond earrings. There were 7 diamonds in increasing size starting at the ear hole and curving downward in an almost S shape. The other girls exchanged a look realizing that if these were the gift for the 7th week, the rest of the weeks must be amazing. Pansy watched in wonder as Hedwig brought her another gift the next day, she hadn't been expecting anything else that week. She opened the box to find a silver anklet with small diamonds every so often. She looked at the grin on Harry's face and realized that he liked giving the presents even more than she liked receiving them, well that and throwing everyone else off balance with his excessive and extravagant gifts.

The next few weeks seemed to crawl by for Harry and his friends and especially Pansy as she wanted nothing more than to smother his face in kisses and tell him how happy she was that he wanted her. Her 8th week gift had stunned the girls in the great hall as it was a diamond ring. It wasn't an engagement ring; it was a ring that matched the earrings as it was a string of diamonds around her finger. She tenderly placed it upon her right ring finger and smiled at the awe in the other girls faces as they realized if that was the kind of ring he would buy her as a courting gift then her engagement ring would be amazing. Pansy spent the rest of the week staring dreamily at the ring, wishing it was an engagement ring so they could end the entire courting charade and just be together! Her 9th week gift was the matching bracelet to the ring and earrings and she couldn't help but feel amazing wearing all those diamonds! Her last present of the initial courting stage or the 10th and final week's present was the matching diamond necklace to the set and it was impressive. There were diamonds all along the chain and then a pendant to match her earrings in the S shape. She thought the other girls in the school were going to turn green with envy.

"Well there is no doubting his sincerity in the courting process," Ginny commented with a smirk after seeing Pansy in the full collection of diamonds. "I guess you're just lucky the set didn't come with a matching tiara or you'd have that too!"

Hermione thought it was great that Harry was having such a good time buying gifts. She knew that Harry had a hard life and that both he and Pansy just wanted a nice comfortable life. Harry would be able to afford any type of lifestyle Pansy chose as well as for any children they would have. She knew they both wanted a good size family and that Pansy had no intention of ever working after Hogwarts. Harry and she were perfect as he wanted a wife and family he could dote upon and Pansy wanted someone to pamper and love her and to be a good mother. She was also the type that could handle hosting all the political functions that would be required as Harry began his campaign to change the wizarding world. She looked up at the head table with a smile to Severus. She couldn't wait until their courting was complete, nothing would make her happier than being Hermione Snape.

Pansy sat nervously awaiting her date box. She knew, from not so subtle hints from Draco, that Harry planned on her receiving it today but she was still scared. She was afraid he would change his mind or that her father would change his mind. Once the first date was over and the couple was happy with the match there is nothing either parties family can do to break the match as long as the courting conditions are maintained. She didn't think her father would go back on his word considering how many other fathers would die to have Harry Potter court their only daughter, but she was still nervous. She saw Hedwig fly toward her with a medium sized box and was somewhat surprised by the small size of the package, until she noticed her friends clearing a very large space on the table. She heard Hermione and Ginny commenting on how they wondered if Harry wrote the poem himself as he was definitely not a poet and had to keep herself from laughing.

The first thing she noticed about the package is that it was wrapped in red and gold paper, very Gryffindor. She then red the note attached that said, "Please unshrink me" and grinned. She removed the paper and then reversed the shrinking charm. She smiled at the gasps from around the hall when her present resized. It was a beautiful cherry wood trunk. Hers was wearing out and she knew she needed a new one. This one was beautiful and had her initials inlayed into the top in a lighter color wood. It was the first time she realized her initials wouldn't change when she married Harry and she was glad as she had a lot of monogrammed things.

She noticed there were multiple locks on the trunk which suggested multiple compartments and wondered which one to open and how as she had no key. That was when she noticed the locks didn't have key holes they looked to have a thumb pad. So she gingerly placed her thumb on the first lock and the lid clicked. She gently opened the lid to see inside. This compartment was obviously for small items such as jewelry, toiletries, accessories and shoes as it lifted out and became a small armoire with rows of drawers and bins on the bottom for shoes. She was amazed at the craftsmanship and almost missed her first two hint gifts. There was a pair of hot pink sunglasses in one drawer and a tiny toy broom in another. She smiled at the cute gifts and handed them to Ginny for safe keeping. Ginny was gazing in wonder at the tiny broom. "Pansy this is an exact replica of the new Storm broom, look it even has the storm insignia!" Ginny told her excitedly and the girls spent another couple minutes admiring the details of the replica, neither noticing Harry's extra large smirk.

Pansy reverently closed the first compartment and placed her thumb to the next lock. This time the trunk shuddered for a second and then grew into a full wardrobe. She would be able to fit all her clothes, plus all of Ginny's and Hermione's in it and still only fill half it was that deep. Her next hint gift was hanging inside. Draped over a hanger was a red and white checkered blanket that she instantly recognized as a picnic blanket. She smiled, beginning to try and work out the clues as she closed the second compartment after handing the blanket to Hermione. She placed her thumb onto the 3rd lock and the lid clicked so she opened it to see a normal trunk compartment, although magically expanded to hold 5 times what her current trunk could. In the trunk was what looked like a doll house? She carefully lifted it out onto the table so they could examine it closer.

The house was very pretty sort of a modernized Victorian. It was painted a light yellow and even had a cliché white picket fence. The detailing was incredible, almost as good as the toy broom. Hermione gasped as she realized the significance of the little house. Pansy looked where she pointed and saw the placard on the gate. "Welcome to Godric's Hollow" the sign read and then above the front door it read, "The Potter Family Country Cottage". Pansy realized this was a replica of the house Harry should have grown up in, the house he lived in with his parents until it was destroyed the night they died. She gently turned the house so she could see the side that was open (like a doll house). Each room was done in exquisite detail. The girls were mesmerized by the different rooms. Ginny was the first to notice the irregularities. "Pansy, this isn't Lily and James Potter's house," she whispered to her friend.

Pansy looked closer and saw a picture of her and Harry on the bedside table of the master bedroom. The kitchen was done in pale pink and she noticed that only one room was done in red and gold and that was what looked to be an office/game room. It suddenly hit her that he had made the house how it would be if they lived there. She also noticed that the appliances and muggle electronics were state of the art, just another reason it was not his parents house. Tears threatened her eyes as she imagined how happy they would be living there and she threw a tender smile at Harry.

"Do remember there's a poem," Draco drawled breaking the girls out of their inspection.

Pansy realized she had not opened the last compartment and pressed her thumb to the last lock. A staircase led down into what she assumed was a room of the trunk. There was a note on the top step. "You can explore this room later at your leisure." And then her poem:

There is no place I'd rather be

Than in your arms & flying free

A basket lunch upon the grass

Where memories of home will always last

She smiled at Harry again and closed the trunk so the rest of the hall would be able to return to their breakfasts rather than strain to see if she received any more gifts. She was debating the location of the first date and was hoping it was as obvious as he made it out to be, otherwise she had no idea.

"So where is he taking you?" An excited third year asked her.

"We are going to have a picnic at the house he lived in with his parents and we'll go flying as well." She told the girl with a smile.

"I expected him to take you someplace exotic and fancy after all the gifts he got you," Millicent Bulstrode commented with a shrug.

"He could," Pansy told her, "but he knows if we go someplace like that there will be lots of people who will want to see the famous Harry Potter. Besides he doesn't let very many people close to him so this shows just how much he wants to share his life with me. I'd much rather spend a quiet but romantic day in his company than trying to fend off the reporters that chase him whenever he goes out in pubic now." She smiled happily at Harry and he grinned back, both looking forward to some time together.

"I would have thought his date present would have put the others to shame. Not that a multi-compartment trunk is anything small. I had just assumed it would be the largest date box known to mankind. You know like that muggle phrase, 'everything but the kitchen sink'," Blaise Zambini said to them. They all laughed thinking that was just like something Harry would do.

"But Blaise I did get a kitchen sink," Pansy laughed and pointed out the sink in the kitchen of the doll house. Just then Hedwig flew back over and dropped a small card onto her lap. She read the inscription on the card and sent Harry an incredulous look. The card read:

Some things big can be made small

Perhaps this is your largest gift of all

She showed the card to Ginny and Hermione who were sitting on either side of her and they each sent Harry a look before Ginny reverently placed the tiny broom in the center of the table. "No Gin he wouldn't have, would he?" Pansy asked her friends as they stared from the mini broom to Harry who was wearing a very smug smile.

"Why are you lot looking at him like that?" Draco asked, personally glad that Harry's date box wasn't as cool as Severus' so he didn't look like a complete fool if he didn't end up getting Ginny something equally as nice if they ever got engaged.

"Only one way to find out," Hermione told her with a grin and tapped the toy broom while saying, "Finite Incantantem." Before their eyes the broom began to grow until it was a full size Storm, the newest make and model of brooms on the market. It still couldn't catch the Firebolt which was an international standard broom. But it was the fastest racing broom on the market for normal people; Harry would never fit in that category.

"No way Potter!" Draco exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of the student body again. "You bought her a Storm; she's not even on the team!"

"That's because you are too stupid to put her on the team," Harry told him with a shrug. "She likes to fly and she needed a broom, why buy her anything but the best if she's going to try and keep up with my Firebolt?" The chatter in the great hall increased 10 fold when they found out the "toy" broom was just a real one shrunken down. The Quidditch players in the crowd were all trying to get a closer look and all the boys were envious. Harry just sat back and smirked.

"What'd you go and do that for, now I'm never going to be able to live it down. That has to be the best date box ever created." Draco pouted; Ginny wasn't even paying attention to him as she was too caught up in petting Pansy's new broom. A broom that was better than his even and he was the captain of the Slytherin team!

"Like Blaise said, 'Everything but the kitchen sink,' except I made sure to include that as well." Harry told him with a very satisfied smirk on his face.

Hermione had been paying attention to the boy's conversation while everyone ogled the broom. Her eyes widened at the implications of what Harry was hinting at Draco. "Um, Harry," she whispered across the table. "How much of the doll house is big made small?" She asked him wondering if her guess was right.

Harry grinned at her mischievously. "Everything but the house, I had it made special and it is a doll house, just right now that's not doll furniture."

Hermione stared at him in shock for a moment before turning to whisper in Pansy's ear. Pansy turned to look at Harry and at his cheeky grin she gasped. "No, it can't be. He's just playing with us. There's no way," Pansy started to babble as she stared intently at the house in front of her. She decided there was only one way to decide if Harry was full of crap or not. She reached in for the grandfather clock she thought was so neat and set it on the floor before taking a breath, taping it with her wand and canceling the shrinking spell. The clock grew to full size and everyone looked at her strangely while she tried to fathom that almost everything in her doll house was real, just shrunk. She smiled as she saw the hands on the clock. There was one for her and one for Harry as well as ones for Draco, Ginny, Hermione, Severus, Neville and even Luna as well as a few empty hands she could assign names to. The clock was just like the one Molly Weasley has. Harry had thought it was the coolest clock that didn't tell time that he had ever seen. The bonus to the one he had made for Pansy was there was a real clock on it as well so it could tell you the time as well as the location of those you care about.

Hermione and Ginny helped her put everything back in her new trunk so she could take it to her dorm before classes. It didn't take long before the whole school knew that everything inside the house was real.

Minerva just shook her head at the lengths Potter would go to. She could definitely see the spirit of mischief in his eyes and knew that he had enjoyed making her figure it out. He must have had a lot of fun buying a house full of furnishings. She had known the Potters were rich, but she hadn't realized he had that kind of spending cash that he could almost literally buy her a house as well as a broom that would take the Weasley family 5 years to earn enough money for. She couldn't help but wonder what Tom would have gotten her if they had stayed together. She couldn't believe that Albus had ruined her life and was still trying to reconcile the hurt she still felt from Tom leaving her with knowing that he was under a compulsion charm. Her heart ached at knowing she could have been happy and they could have had a real family, with Hermione growing up with them. Her only consolation was that it was over now and her daughter would not have the same thing happen to her.

Tom Riddle sat in his room at Malfoy Manner and tried to figure out what to do with his life. He knew he could not take an active role in the political structure of the new world they were building. He had hurt too many people when Voldemort controlled him. All he really wanted was a nice comfortable place to settle down; A relaxing retirement where he would provide advice to Harry and anyone else as well as spend quality time with his daughter. His one true wish was that he could somehow undue the damage he caused to his and Minerva's relationship. He loved her, he always had and he longed to be able to tell her that but knew he had destroyed his chance years ago. His only consolation was that at least they had conceived Hermione. With all the evil that came from the war, Hermione was the silver lining.