The months began to fly by for the large family. Luna and Eric had truly hit it off on their date, the diminutive blonde putting the large Viking in his place on a nightly occurrence. They did have a huge fight about 2 months after becoming a couple, and that was over Luna's intention to become a vampire once she was older. Eric had been very reluctant about it, not wanting Luna to become like him, but when she had threatened going back to England and never returning, the man saw sense and said he would allow it, but only after she had done everything she wanted while a human, and was at least 25 years old.
Of course Eric wasn't the only one having problems with their love; Bill, Pam, and Isabel all got talked to by their mates about becoming vampires as to never leave them. Their refusals had led to Sookie, Jason and Sam giving them the cold shoulder and not sleeping with them. Isabel was the first to relent, followed very quickly by the other two. They were all placed under the same conditions though; do everything they wanted while human and then it would be worked out.
Tara's first full moon had been interesting, when she changed; her fur became a golden colour and silky smooth. She and Remus had spent the entire night playing like puppies, and when the moon had set, neither had the pained look that the older werewolf was prone to having after every moon. As she never wanted children, and it was dangerous for a female werewolf to bear young, both werewolves call Dr Patricia Ludwig, on recommendation of Eric. Tara had her tubes tied just after her 3rd full moon and was very happy to not need contraception anymore.
The babies were growing like twigs; Teddy's first birthday had been a huge night celebration that no one was going to forget any time soon. Kendra and Romulus were already magically adept at 2 months old, floating the deadly diapers at anyone who annoyed them, though after a while everyone learnt to duck and clean up the wall before someone else saw it. All three could easily bring smiles to everyone's faces, no matter how depressed or angry that person was.
Hermione and Godric had only gotten closer ever since their first night together, and while they didn't screw as much as George and Lafayette did, they were definitely louder, which everyone found out when they returned from their dates, instantly going up to Bill's to spend the night after hearing the screams coming from the house.
On the anniversary of the Final Battle, Hermione, Remus, George and Luna spent the day and night reminiscing and toasting their fallen friends. Their mates had come gotten them around midnight, tucking them in bed because they were all wasted out of their skulls from their toasting. And not one of them were given a Hangover Cure the next day as a reminder to not drink as much the next anniversary, much to their discomfort the entire day.
Before anyone knew it, Hermione, Remus and Teddy had been in America for a year, which elicited yet another celebration at Merlotte's, not that they truly needed a reason. There was one thing that everyone had noticed; ever since the twins were born, Hermione would spend hours on end in her office, sometimes in there with a goblin or two. No one had been able to get the real story out of her, and they had tried extremely hard to.
It was Independence Day night, and Hermione had called for her family to join her behind the house for a celebration. Seeing her standing there, looking out at the trees that were in the distance, Godric walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "So what are we celebrating tonight, our nation's independence or whatever it is you have been doing these past months?"
"A bit of both my love," turning in his arms, the witch sighed happily, "Big things are coming Godric, good things, and it will help those we love so much."
"What have you been up to Hermione?" The vampire chuckled as he asked, knowing she wouldn't answer properly.
"Changing our world as we know it hopefully. Come on, let's join the party," the brunette pulled her love to the dance floor.
When the fireworks in town began at midnight, Hermione knew that was her cue to reveal what she had been up to. Nudging her love, she waited for him to get everyone ready, "Alright, we're finally going to learn what our lovely Hermione has been doing all these months. Gather around."
Her family all sat down onto the blankets that were laid out on the ground, and looked at her with interest, "So, I know that some of you have tried to learn what I've been doing, and learnt the consequences of trying."
"Loud and fucking clear," Jason joked.
"Now that everything is nearing completion, I'm ready to tell those here who I am closest too and love, the total truth. There are three things really, all somewhat linked I guess, but first of all is that I've purchased the forest back there and will be building 5 houses on the land, in between the trees," there were cheers and gasps at that, "The houses will be for all of you who want to stop living entirely under my roof, and those who need a better bloody place to live in than they currently are.
"That was the lesser of the things I've been up to. Next is that ever since the twins' birth, and seeing how great Godric was with them, I realised that I don't want my babies growing up in a world that won't allow their parents to marry just because of what they are. You all remember how I was gone for a few days at a time the last few months. Well I was in Washington D.C."
Sam cut in just then and called over to Bill, "You owe me $300, I told you she was there."
"You bet on where I was?" Hermione had her hands on her hips.
The vampire nodded as he pulled out the three green notes and good naturedly slapping them into the shapeshifter's hand, "Just Sam and I. I thought you were in New York City, forgoing everyone else and going directly in front of the United Nations."
"I was going to do that but the President answered my letter first," Hermione admitted.
"Holy shit! You actually went to the White House?" Pam asked.
"Of course, I couldn't talk about sensitive information in public. Anyway, the President has agreed to take a large step forward for vampire's right, despite what people like the Fellowship might think, and make the announcement in the next few days."
Tara cleared her throat, "What announcement?"
Hermione gently hit her forehead with the heel of her hand, "Sorry, of course I forgot that part. He's allowing vampire's to marry whoever they wish, just as a normal human is allowed to."
The cheers that rang out from that were deafening, but Hermione didn't hear them, all she heard was her love say to her, "You really are amazing Hermione."
"I did it for all of us, I mean look at them," motioning at the kissing couples before them, "They have every right to be married to whoever they wish, vampire, werewolf, witch, or just fucking insane human. I still have a while to go before he will do the same thing for homosexuals but I'm getting there."
"Downright amazing," Godric shook his head before passionately kissing his mate.
Once the making out sessions were completed, and everyone was somewhat settled again, Sookie questioned from her seat on Bill's lap, "What was the last thing you've been working on Mia?"
"I'm glad you asked that my dear cousin, because it is my greatest creation and it will change the lives of millions all over the world," reaching into her pocket, the brunette removed a vial of black liquid that shone red when the light hit it, "This is the Granger Philter, a potion for the vampires out there who want to be even more human-like."
"How? What does it do?" Isabel enquired.
"It allows you to go out into the sunlight and not get hurt…" that was all Hermione got out before she was up in the arms of her mate.
Godric heard what his love had created and simply had to thank her. Taking her into his arms, he spun around quickly, kissing her hard, leaving her breathless, "I can't believe you did this."
Before she could say anything in response, they were both on the bottom of a large dog pile hug, the others had all come out of their shock and even the non-vampires wanted to congratulate and thank the witch. Everyone had tears running down their faces, making a mess due to the blood tears, but no one cared, they were going to see the sun again and not have it be their death.
It took a while before everyone got up, and then Hermione was kissed and hugged by her family, but soon she was back on her feet and talking, "The goblins have been creating the potions, using my recipes, and Laurent was kind enough to be my test subject, poor bugger went through hell but was also the first to see the sun with the potion. It is going to be massed produced by the same people who do the Tru Blood, overseen by a group of goblins in disguise to make sure no one messes with them, and should be ready for sale in a month or so. But, I have a month's supply for each of us here who are of the right persuasion to use."
Hermione passed the bag holding the vials over to Remus, and was then pulled into Godric's arms. They were running like the wind, the brunette with her head nestled into the cold neck of her mate until they came to a halt. When she looked up, the witch saw they were overlooking a large lake that was twinkling from the near full moon and stars.
Godric placed the teenager on the ground and lay beside her, "I feel as though you beat me to the punch tonight my love."
"How do you mean?"
"Even though it wasn't legal yet, I had planned on doing this tonight," Godric sat up and got onto one knee, a velvet box in his hand, "But now you may think I'm only doing this due to your announcement."
Hermione's heart was in her throat at seeing the box, "Oh no, it won't matter even if it were that way. You can still do this if you want to."
Cracking a smile, the vampire took the offered hand, "If you insist. Hermione, I've been on this earth for a very long time and seen many things but not once did I truly feel love before I met you. You've shown me that there is no greater thing in the world than love, and I want to keep feeling that for however long I have left on this plane of existence. Will you be the one to keep that feeling alive and become my wife?"
As the box opened, Hermione saw the ring inside and lost her breath. It was a dragon's eye opal, mined from the deepest goblin mines in the world, set in black gold. Looking up from the ring, with tears welling in her eyes, the witch said the one word both of them needed to hear, "Yes."