Author's Notes: This is the one, the big one, the one you've all been waiting for...

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I am not going to post another chapter in July (at least I don't think I will). I'm traveling and it's difficult to get this done while I'm on the road. I'll go back to half chapter after this.

Thank you Arnel for beta'ing

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 84

"You okay?" Al asked Nat as she rocked the tiny Lorelei who was fretting and fussy.

Nat knew she must have a funny look on her face, but this baby was emitting magic at a serious rate and it was like holding a buzzing cellphone constantly. Of course, she couldn't explain that to Al, as he'd never used a cell phone and had no idea what it would mean. "Yeah, I'm good," she smiled down at the baby as she continued to rock. Lorelei was only a few weeks old, and she was still quite small, but she did have an opinion on everything. Currently her opinion was that, even though she was clearly exhausted and she was fed and she was dry, sleep was for the weak and they were torturing her. Scorpius couldn't even think of going back to work because this little peanut was bound and determined that neither of her parents were going to sleep ever again.

Actually, they were sleeping just then, or at least Nat hoped they were. It was her and Al's turn to watch the baby so they could get a solid two hours of sleep without worrying. They'd cast a Silencing Charm on the room and they weren't going to disturb them until the two hours was up.

They were all taking turns doing this. In her three weeks of life, Lorelei had attempted to stay awake for the whole thing. Even Gran said Ginny hadn't been this stubborn, but if Nat had to guess, she imagined it was the magic in her that was keeping her awake and Nat honestly had no idea how to quiet it so Lorelei could relax.

She hadn't told anyone yet that the baby was powerful. It felt weird to say it, if she was honest. There had been many new babies born to the family and all of them had various magical levels, but it was in a certain range. On the low end had been James' son, Alex, but he'd actually gained power in the short years of his life as he'd continued to heal from his traumatic entry into the world. On the higher end, at least before Lorelei had come screaming into the world, was the very shy and reserved Olivia. She wasn't one to speak around most people, but when she did speak it was clear and it showed just how intelligent she was. She was definitely going to be a smart and powerful witch when she was grown.

But then there was Lorelei and frankly she wanted Rick to see her to get his take on the baby. He'd been at family gatherings, so she was hoping Harry would include him again tonight for their dinner with Hugo and Honor, who would be home for the Easter hols that afternoon. She hadn't asked, though, but maybe she should have. They would be having the dinner at Lily's house, only because it was the only place that could hold everyone, but Lily was doing absolutely nothing for it. She really couldn't, as the baby took up all her time and attention.

But she could ask Al… "Is Rick coming tonight?" she asked, trying to sooth the baby even as she made her nerves jitter.

Al shot her a look that she couldn't read and he nodded, but before he could say anything else, Rose, Andrew, and Claire came through the Floo.

"We are here to help!" Rose told them as she came over to smile at the baby. "I know we don't need too much help with Polly and Teeny doing the cooking, but I hate to leave all the work for them. Victoire said she'd be along about now, so Claire will play with the littles while we get everything going. She is so sweet," Rose cooed, even as Lorelei fussed some more.

"Here, I'll take a turn," Andrew said as he held out his arms. "I haven't held many babies since Claire was little, but I had a knack for it."

Nat passed her over and had to resist shaking her hands out to get the feelings out of them. "Sounds good, I'll go help in the kitchen."

"She's still so little," Claire told her brother as Nat left with Rose to see where they could help. Al followed along with them and soon enough they were all helping get dinner on the table.

Forty minutes later most of the family was there, including Honor and Hugo.

Nat hugged both of them hard as they came in to say hi. "You're almost through!" she said with a laugh when she saw they were both looking exhausted. "This last bit is definitely brutal."

"It is," Hugo agreed as he ran a hand over his face.

He had an odd look in his eyes that Nat couldn't interpret but Honor filled them in. "He's going to ask Catie to marry him."

All the cousins who were close enough goggled at him. "Really?" Rose asked with a barely restrained squeal as she rushed for her brother and forced him into a hug. She was a good bit smaller than him so he had to bend to her, but the smile on his face said it was true.

Hugo and Catie had been together for quite a long time, now, although Nat couldn't remember exactly how long it had been. She thought maybe going on two years. Honor had dated on and off in that time, but she'd been single for most of the last year after her last relationship had gone south in a not so fun way.

"Congratulations, mate," Al said heartily, clapping him on the shoulder. "Is she in your year? Are you both done?"

"You were going to join your dad at the joke shop, right?" someone else asked.

"Actually," Hugo hesitated, shifting a bit. He glanced between them. "Yeah, she's in my year and done soon. I'm going to get a ring while I'm home and I'm going to have dinner with her parents, talk to her dad, but I think I'm going to apply to be an Auror."

They all stared at him and then pandemonium erupted as questions were fired at him and the fathers heard what was going on and more questions were asked.

Moments later Rick was there and he was being introduced to Hugo and Honor and Nat really, really wanted to get his opinion about Lorelei but Rick was having none of it.

He was absolutely smitten with Honor.

Nat blew out her breath and knew she had to bide her time.

She finally cornered him after dinner, pulling him away from everyone else.

"What?" Rick asked quietly, clearly annoyed that she'd pulled him away from helping Honor clear the table.

"Did you see the baby?"

"Which baby? They're everywhere around here."

She would have laughed, but it was honestly true. "Lily and Scorpius' baby."

"No, I only caught a glimpse of them as they headed up the stairs," he answered, but finally she had his attention, or more likely his curiosity. "Why?"

"There is something different about that baby and I want your opinion."

She had him then and she knew it. She asked Scorpius if Lily would bring the baby down again, but he simply shrugged and said she was probably going to be up there all evening. She didn't know how to ask him, didn't want to alarm him, but she didn't know when they'd have another chance. "I… want Rick to see the baby, maybe hold her."

Scorpius' brow rose and she knew if he didn't trust her implicitly, he'd be seriously questioning her motivations. "Is something wrong with her?" he asked softly.

"No!" Nat assured him quickly. "No, nothing like that, it's just… she's uhm," she really didn't know how to say it. "She has a lot of magic running through her and I wanted Rick's opinion. Would that be okay?"

"I…" Scorpius hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah, let me go check with Lily and if she's good with it, I'll bring you two up."

They went up to see the baby a few minutes later and Al absolutely wouldn't stay behind, but Nat couldn't say she minded. When they pushed open the door, it was to a small, well-lit sitting room with several large sofas spread in a sort of U patterns while the last rays of the setting sun filtered through the tall trees outside and into the large, picture windows. Lily sat with the baby on one of the arm chairs and while she looked as beautiful as she always did, she was also clearly exhausted. It told in the bags under her eyes.

"Hey," Rick said with a small wave. "I'm Rick and—" his words cut off abruptly as he actually caught sight of the baby. "Holy shit," he whispered, just loud enough for Nat and Al to catch the drawn out words.

"Yeah," Nat said as she forced a smile for Lily. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It isn't… it isn't like you," Rick told Nat as they both stepped towards the baby.

Nat nodded. "She isn't like you, either. That's not it."

"Can one of you please tell me what's going on?" Scorpius asked as he moved around them to kneel next to Lily. "You're scaring both of us."

"Nothing is wrong, exactly," Nat assured them but didn't think it sounded reassuring. "Can he touch her hand?" he asked Lily.

"Why?" Lily asked with very wide eyes.

Nat let out a long sigh and then decided to come clean. "I want to see if he feels the buzzing coming off her."

"The what?" Lorelei's parents both asked at the same time as Al exclaimed, "Excuse me?!"

Nat shrugged her shoulders and glanced to Rick, but he wasn't any help because he hadn't experienced it yet. "It's, uhm… it's like waves of energy coming off her skin. It feels like it's vibrating."

"It's vibrating?" Scorpius said as Lily's eyes filled and tears flowed over.

Now she felt terrible. She really, really hadn't known how to approach this! Maybe she shouldn't have said anything, but… no. No, if this was her child, she'd want to know. "Please don't cry," she said to Lily as Scorpius put an arm around her shoulders. "She's fine! She's healthy, it's just a lot of magic. I wanted Rick's opinion on it."

It took Lily a moment to compose herself, but when she did, she nodded to Rick and he approached and took Lorelei's little hand between two of his fingers. He let out a low whistle. "Yeah, I'm feeling it. I imagine it's a lot stronger for you."

"It probably is," Nat agreed since she tended to feel things through her hands better than he could. "But it's just a lot."

"So you're saying she's powerful?" Al asked them, glancing between Nat and Rick.

"That's my best guess since I see it as a power signature," Nat told them, glancing between them. "I've never seen a person like this. Rick's magic is intense, likely maybe Dumbledore intense, but it's in a different way that I can't exactly explain."

"I am going to go get your dad," Scorpius told Lily, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Let's talk about this with others."

Scorpius ended up coming back with Harry, Ginny, Bill and Audrey. "Explain it again," Harry told her after she'd given a halting account of what she experienced, "But this time compare it to the other children."

"Well, it's really Olivia that's the closest, but nothing like this," Nat told them. "Livy is very powerful, but her power is sort of on the same level as Bill," she said as she pointed to the man, "it's powerfully magical, but not too out of the ordinary. It looks different on a baby or small child before they start using a wand."

Harry studied her for a long moment and then nodded. "Alright, is that what you see, Rick?"

"Honestly, she sees all of this better than I do, but in general I know what she's talking about and I can sense it, to some extent, as well."

Harry ran his hands through his hair and gripped at it hard while Bill studied the baby. "Let me hold her a moment, Lils." He picked up the baby and smiled down at her open eyes that were direct in looking back at his. "I wish we still had Dumbledore."

"I wish I'd have been able to meet him," Rick admitted with a grunt. "It would have helped a lot."

"What if…" Audrey hesitated and then glanced over at Harry. "What if she sees your memory of Dumbledore?"

He gave a helpless shrug. "We can try, but it's my memory, not his, so it's—" he stopped and then let out a short laugh. "We have a few of his memories stored, actually. She can go into his."

~*~

They didn't put her and Rick into the memory until the next day and Harry was not anxious to go into the memory of Dumbledore. The old professor's Pensieve had eventually made its way to the Ministry and was stored by the Minister. It was rarely used, mostly only now for judicial matters to prove innocence, but as memories could be selected it was also not the most reliable tool for that job. He personally liked the truth serum and he didn't have the best memories of his trips into the Pensieve.

When they'd retrieved the stone basin, it had still contained Dumbledore's memory of speaking to the child Riddle before he'd gone to Hogwarts and that was the memory that would be best. There were a few others, but as those two were some of the most powerful wizards they'd had in the last hundred years, it was also a memory of a powerful wizard before he'd begun to use a wand.

Harry had to fight back a shudder as he didn't want to think of his newest granddaughter as being on the same power level as Voldemort, but she came from three ancient magical houses.

"Alright, I'm not going to explain much about this," Harry told them. "I'll just say this is Dumbledore going to visit a student to tell him that he's a wizard."

"Alright," Nat agreed as she reached out to touch the surface of the Pensieve. Soon enough Harry stood there with Nat and Rick as they watched Dumbledore tell Riddle that thievery wouldn't be tolerated at Hogwarts and that all the stolen items had to be returned.

He pulled them from the memory a short time later and Nat shook her head. "They looked like Muggles to me, magically speaking. I couldn't see anything."

"Same," Rick agreed apologetically. "But… that was Voldemort."

"That was," Harry agreed, now out of ideas. "You didn't see any powerful students like Lorelei at Hogwarts while you were there?"

"Not like that," Nat told him as she chewed on her lip.

Rick shifted back and forth on his feet before he said, "Listen, since we didn't see anything, I'm going to take off. I'm meeting up with Honor in Diagon Alley."

Harry waved the young man off and let out a breath. "Right, well, cloak back on, Nat. I'm going to take you to my office and we can pretend you've just come through."

They'd done this a few times, as it let Nat visit the Auror office without causing too much of a stir. She silently followed him under the cloak and was thankful to get to throw it off fifteen minutes later as he led her to where Al and Lena were training.

"Hey," Lena called out with a smile and a wave. "We're just about done and then we're going to get lunch."

"This is actually good timing," Harry said as Teddy walked in with some parchment in his hand. "Because," he said with a grin to the two trainees. "You two are being promoted early to Auror."

They stared at Harry and then at Teddy as he handed them the parchment, which turned out to be certificates.

"What?" Al asked, clearly dumbfounded as he stared at first his father, then his godbrother. "We… we still have another few months at least, right?"

"You're ready," Teddy told him. "We'll keep up some training from here on out, but it's the same sort of thing the rest of the Aurors do. You two have both been working overtime and it's paid off."

Lena let out a laugh and jumped up, hugging first Al, and then Nat. "Oh, this is amazing! Thank you, sir," she said, sobering a bit as she turned to Harry, but she couldn't tone down her smile. "You won't regret this."

"See that I don't, now," he said to the three of them, "Why don't you three go on and get something to eat, maybe down at Diagon Alley. Nat should be safe with two Aurors with her. Al, your mother is going to want to throw a party in a few weeks. I think it would be nice if you came, too, Lena."

It was more than a party invitation. It was an invitation into the Potter's inner circle and they all knew it. Lena beamed with pride.

~*~

Nat ignored the pain in her stomach, which came on gradually as April waned into May. Her cycles were always random and she'd long since learned to ignore them, but she hadn't had one in several months and she assumed that is what was going on. Her body was gearing up for yet another miserable period. She had work to do. She didn't have wands to make, oh no. Ollivander had bought all the wands from her he was going to for the next several months, which meant she didn't have much money. That was alright, as she didn't have a lot of expenses and it gave her time to try to figure out what was up with Lorelei.

Rick had finally asked Harry about staying in England and working for the British Ministry and predictably, the Americans were unhappy and it was causing tensions. Harry had the added problem of adding a foreigner to the rank of British Aurors. Yes, the Brits and Americans were close allies, but that didn't mean they shared everything.

It was finally agreed upon that Rick would work for both, but he stationed in England. He'd told his American boss that he'd fallen in love and he wasn't leaving.

How Rick and Honor had fallen in love in a week was beyond Nat, but it seemed to be true. James, who thought of himself as being responsible for Honor, was not completely happy with how things had turned out, but he'd begrudgingly accepted it.

Honor was a lovely person, but just like Nat, herself, she wasn't beautiful. She'd been awkward and large for her age when she'd been younger, but she'd trimmed out and grown into her face as she'd grown up. She was cute, in her own right, but she wasn't the same kind of beautiful that her sister, Caroline, was. So if Rick said he'd fallen for her, Nat knew it wasn't just lust talking. Of course, Rick wasn't exactly handsome himself, so maybe it was, as she'd known from so long ago, that like attracted like.

Rick had helped with Lorelei, but as he didn't sense as much as she did, and he wanted to actually be an Auror, so he had to work, she was left to her own devices to comb through the records and try to find what was happening with the baby. She rather thought it was nothing, but she'd still been attempting to try to find records of parents to powerfully magical babies, to see if there were some similarities.

So she couldn't just stop for her period, even though it hadn't come. The pain just kept getting worse, too, and she knew it might mean she'd miss the party for Al and Lena that was supposed to happen the next day.

But that next day came, bright and early, and Nat was in incredible pain. She didn't even bother to tell Ginny where she was going. She stumbled to the Floo and took it to St. Mungo's. She was still in her pajamas as she landed in the Floo used by the Healers. Thankfully, no one was there to see her awkward fall or her stumble towards Audrey's office. She wasn't in, but the door wasn't locked so Nat pushed in, closed the door and tried to sit on the chair in front of her desk to wait.

Instead she passed out and didn't feel it when she hit the soft carpet.

She came to with Audrey standing over her, her lined face grim. "Oh, Natalie…"

Nat glanced around and realized she was in one of the hospital beds. "What happened?"

"I've given you medicine for the pain," Audrey told her quietly. "But I had a look and… it's not good."

~*~

She didn't know how she made it home or how she made it out into the garden to sit on the bench facing Hope's grave. She was numb. Just… numb. She heard something and glanced over to see Al walking towards her from the house in jeans and a red long sleeve shirt, rolled at the sleeves. He looked so tall, so strong… so whole and healthy. She couldn't face him, and she turned away.

"What's the matter, Leah?" Al said just loudly enough for her to hear and his use of his special pet name for her is was stopped her from walking away. "I know something is wrong."

The tears that she'd managed to hold in for the last few hours since she'd passed out in Audrey's office now streamed silently down her cheeks as she stood still, unwilling to face him, her arms around her waist, trying to hold in the pain that threatened to erupt at any moment. The warm breeze kissed her cheeks, but there was no comfort to be had. "Nothing worth fretting over. We're supposed to be celebrating your advancement today and it came wait." She didn't know if that would stop him, but she had to try. Today was about him, him and Lena and in a way Rick as he was also given permission to be an Auror.

She heard him walk towards her and willed herself to stay strong. "Leah…"

His voice, the concern she heard, everything that was him did it and she broke, sobs wracking her body as though they fought to break her, to shatter her. He pulled her into his arms and then sat on the bench nearest Hope's grave, pulling her down into his lap. He cradled her, running a hand through her hair and rocking her as though she were a child.

A child… something she would never have. She had to tell him, Nat knew. He was her best friend and he'd be hurt if she kept it from him. Fighting for control she got the tears settled back and she started to speak, whispering into his chest because she didn't have the courage to meet his eyes when she told him.

"I'm never going to have a family, Al. I met with Audrey today. She says that there's too much scarring and that even if I can get pregnant, I'd probably just miscarry over and over again." It amazed her, in an almost detached way, that her voice didn't shake more. She didn't tell him about the pain or her fainting. He didn't need to hear about that.

Al seemed to freeze. "There's nothing she can do?"

"No," Nat assured him. "There's no fixing it. I was cursed for years and it did a lot of damage. We knew that, but I didn't worry about a wonky cycle before now. I was just thankful for it." A fresh sob nearly escaped her, but she fought it back. "I never had much chance of having a family anyway, but this is the last nail in the coffin. No bloke will want me now." She laughed, but it was a bitter, hollow sound. "Not that they wanted me before, but this is just going to seal the deal."

His hand tightened, almost painfully in her hair. "Don't do that, Nat. Don't. Why are you always so hard on yourself?"

"It's not being hard on myself when it's true. I've never been asked on a date, never been kissed… I'm twenty bleeding years old for Merlin's sake!" She scrubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands, barely noting that his arms stayed strong around her, keeping her steady. "Everyone else is married or engaged or about to get engaged except you. I'm tiny, clumsy, weird… and I can't even have a baby. The one damn thing I wanted out of my life and I'm never going to get it! I just wanted a home, a family, a husband who loves me and to be stable in one place! I didn't want to be famous, or rich, or powerful or well thought of… I just wanted to be the one cooking supper and kissing her husband hello and changing nappies and…" but she couldn't go further along that line. "Well, it was stupid anyway. I should have aimed for rich and powerful. That was at least achievable with my powers. I should have given up the notion of kids when I figured out no one was ever going to want to date me."

"Nat…" Al began, but stopped and she knew he didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely. "You just caught me at a bad moment. If you'd have gotten here an hour later, I'd have been okay and able to laugh it off."

"You shouldn't laugh this off! It's not like you were told you've got a cold." He cupped her cheek and gently turned her head so she was looking at him, into his amazing green eyes. It didn't help. "You can adopt, you know. It's not like you have to be pregnant to have kids. Any… any man who can't deal with that isn't worthy of you."

It hurt. It hurt in ways that she couldn't begin to name for him to say that to her when the only man she wanted was him, and he was so far out of her reach that it wasn't funny. "It's the other way round, Al. I don't seem to be worthy of any man."

"Stop it!" he growled, suddenly furious. He put her off his lap onto the bench so he could stride off. She could see him shaking with rage. He turned back to her, a hard, blazing look in his eyes. "You're worth everything, Leah. Every damn thing! How can you not see it?"

Nat stood too, shaking and realizing vaguely that she hadn't eaten in a while. The pain had been too much and what had Audrey said about the pain medicine? Something… there was something there, but she couldn't focus. She'd need to eat soon; she could already feel the buzz in her brain from her blood sugar dropping. "If I were worth a damn to any man, then someone would have noticed, Al! They'd have said 'hey Nat, would you fancy going to dinner with me?'" She tried to stop herself, but her control was slipping right along with everything else. "I'm sick, plain, and awkward and no one is ever going to want me! No one is ever going to want me enough to want to come home to me every night!"

Anger more intense than she'd ever seen flashed into his eyes as he strode towards her. He got straight into her face, vibrating from his fury, but she was beyond caring. She was too tired and too dizzy to fight this fight any longer. He could be as mad as he wanted. It wouldn't change…

Then he took her face between his big hands and he kissed her.

Her brain spun to a stop as sensation flooded through her. She felt her body ignite with a fire and at the same time felt completely at home, as though this was where she was meant to be. She wanted to ask why he was kissing her, but she couldn't seem to stop them long enough to ask that important question so she put her hands on his chest, and up to his shoulders and followed his lead as he molded her body to his. It was better than she'd ever imagined a kiss would be. When their lips finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard. She looked at him, but couldn't speak. Her vision was going a bit hazy around the edges. His eyes were closed, though, so he couldn't see the questions she wanted to ask.

"Everything, Leah," he whispered. "You're worth everything to me."

"I am?" she mumbled, sure that this must be a dream and as soon as she ate she'd wake up and find that she'd made an arse of herself. Again.

He kissed her again, slowly, and she responded. She couldn't not respond to him. "I love you, Leah."

"I know," she said. She knew he did. He'd told her often enough.

"No, I mean... I'm in love with you."

She shook her head, her muddled brain telling her it wasn't real. "That's not possible."

"Why not?" He asked quietly.

"Because you're way out of my league," she mumbled, trying to remember the details of why that was so. "Al, I'm…" she reached out a hand which he grasped in his much large one.

He swore softly. "When was the last time you ate?" He didn't wait for a response but scooped her up into his arms and took off with her towards the house. She let her head drop against his shoulder, not able to keep it upright anymore. "Mum! I need food for Nat."

She knew things were going on around her, but it wasn't until after they'd tipped nearly a full glass of tea down her throat that her brain started to kick back in. "Walnuts," Al said, putting a bowl in her hand. She ate without opening her eyes. Her ears were still ringing and they would keep ringing until she had herself stabilized.

"Why was she crying, Al?" Ginny asked.

"Can I tell her?" Al asked and Nat realized vaguely that he seemed to be speaking to her. She must have nodded or said something because he took her response as a 'yes'. "She saw Aunt Audrey today and found out she can't get pregnant."

Ginny gasped. "I knew something was wrong, the moment I saw her but she wouldn't talk about it. Oh, Nat…" Nat felt a hand run through her hair, a gentle, feminine hand. "I know how much you want a family, but… you know it's not the end. You can adopt."

"I told her that," Al said.

"Audrey said can't adopt if not married," Nat mumbled around a walnut. She was exhausted from her dizzy spell and she realized vaguely that she was freezing as well when she began to shiver. She felt Al grab a throw and pull it over them. Was she still on his lap? She thought she might be because the side touching him was warmer.

"So we'll get married, then," Al growled, although she thought he sounded unsure. "Unless you don't love me back. I think from that kiss—" but he let off when his mother gasped.

She cracked an eye open. "'Course, I love you. I've always loved you." She sighed. "I'm still cold."

He shifted her on the couch and cradled her closer in his arms. Ginny must have tucked the blanket in around them because she felt instantly better, cocooned into his warmth. Al was always warm. "Are you in love with me, Nat?"

"Mmhmm," she mumbled, snuggling in, finally feeling like she was getting some of herself back. She was really sleepy. "I'm a wreck, Al. You don't want to be dealing with me for forever, do you? Catching me when I trip and shoving food down me. I'm broken."

"You're not broken," he told her.

"I am," she breathed out, fighting back a yawn and losing, not realizing just how tired she sounded.

She felt him shift a bit and press another walnut to her lips. She ate it instantly. "I want you just how you are."

"Al, maybe you shouldn't press this," Ginny said gently. "You know she's not really with it right now."

"It's the best time to press it. If she can't launch a full-scale defense, I've got a better shot of her saying yes."

"You're not in love with me, Al," Nat managed after she'd swallowed the nut. "You can have anyone you like."

"I want you, Natalie!"

She heard Ginny sigh. "Don't do this right now. She's ready to pass out. Wait until she's had a bit of sleep."

"Listen to your mother," Nat agreed, tucking her freezing hands into the warn underside shirt sleeve, next to his bare arm. She hardly noticed him gasp at the icy touch. "She knows you can do better than me."

"That is not what I meant at all, Natalie Leah Parker!" Ginny growled. "You and Al are perfect together. You always have been."

Nat pried one eye open. She really wanted to sleep. "It's such a mum thing that saying a person's middle name that means you're in big trouble." She felt a tear form and flow down her cheek. "I want to be a mum. I want to get mad sometimes and be able to yell at my kids using their middle name and then laugh with their dad afterward. This hurts so much."

"She always says exactly what she's thinking when she's like this," Ginny said softly, but her voice firmed with determination. "Nat, you're going to marry Al and adopt kids with him. That's final."

"I didn't say yes," Nat argued pitifully. "I can't marry Al. He'd have to see me naked and what if he laughs?"

Nat felt Al freeze and Ginny let out an exasperated groan. "I can't believe I'm going to say this… I am certain that the last thing he'll be thinking about when he sees you naked is laughing."

"You sure?" Nat murmured.

"Positive," Ginny said firmly.

"And I have to marry him?"

"Yes. Your mum and I agreed on that point years ago."

"You did?"

"Yes. It was clear from the first moment I saw you two together that you were meant to be."

Nat yawned again. "Okay."

"Take her up to her room, Al. She's clearly exhausted."

Nat felt him lift her, taking the quilt along but she was asleep before he even reached the steps.

~*~

Nat's eyes fluttered open and felt someone's arm around her waist. She turned and found Al watching at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you agreed to marry me so I figured I could lay here with you for a bit." His face held a tenderness that she didn't often see.

"I what?" she asked, momentarily confused before all the memories flooded back in. "Oh, my gosh! Oh no, did I really…" She covered her face with her hands, beyond humiliated.

"Here, eat this," Al told her, pushing a jerky stick into her hands. "Come on. We don't need you passing out again.

She could feel the flames of embarrassment licking up her face. She couldn't believe what she'd said to him! But she ate, knowing she was going to need to face the music. Thus far when she'd acted stupidly he'd forgiven her, so hopefully this time would be the same. "I'm so sorry for what I said. I… I didn't want to burden you with any of it."

"Which bit?"

"All of it," Nat admitted, taking the last bite before sitting up. She needed to get away from him if she was going to think clearly. "I'm not going to let you marry me, Al. I know why you're doing it and I can't."

He sat up behind her, and put a hand on her back. "Why do you think I'm doing this?"

"You're trying to save me again," she told him simply even as the pain dug at her, clawing at her heart. "Like when I didn't have a date for that ball. You can't marry someone out of pity! That's just wrong."

He let out a breath that spoke volumes towards his frustration. "I didn't want to go to the ball with you out of pity! I wanted to go with you because I fancied you, but I couldn't ask you."

She turned her head and eyed him skeptically. "Why not?"

"Because you didn't fancy me!" He growled.

She'd fancied him for years. "How do you know I didn't fancy you?"

"You didn't flirt with me or act like other girls did when they wanted my attention," he said.

"You're my best friend. Was I supposed to throw myself at you?"

"You were always trying to set me up on dates."

Nat shrugged helplessly. "I wanted you to be happy, and I could tell you didn't like being single."

"I wanted to be with you," he told her quietly. "That's why I was unhappy being single."

He'd never lied to her. She had no reason to doubt him, but still… "Al, you're really good looking and I'm… not." She met his eyes straight on, needing him to accept that she knew the truth. "People throughout history are typically attracted to similarly attractive people. There are always variants, of course, but trends have shown—"

She was cut off when his hand went over her mouth. "I'm not a trend, you know." Nat could hear the annoyance in his voice but his eyes were steady on hers, open and honest. "I think you're beautiful, Leah. I've always loved looking at you. In fact, I've often had to stop myself from staring at you."

Her breath caught as she searched him, trying to see if he was being honest. She only saw truth. "Why would you only tell me that you love me now? Why not before?"

Al's jaw tightened for the briefest of moments and he swallowed hard to continue to meet her eyes. "You were wrong that no one wanted you. Even if I made an arse out of myself, and you didn't love me back… well, you'd at least know that someone wants to be with you."

"Oh," Nat said, and the tears began to pool again. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to badly, but it just didn't make sense. "Anyone… Al, you could have anyone. Why on earth would you want me?"

He leaned in to kiss her, his lips gentle and warm against hers and she leaned in despite herself. When he spoke it was as though a dam had broken loose and all the things he wanted to say for a while came spilling out. "You're so smart, and funny, and caring. You give to everyone, you know so many really interesting things… you love my family and not because they're famous because that doesn't mean anything to you, but because you can see how amazing they are and the fact that there are about a million of them doesn't even faze you. You give me courage, and you make me feel needed. Your touch can set me on fire and I laugh most when I'm with you. When I've had a bad day, a genuine smile from you always makes me feel really good. I want to be with you all the time and I never get tired of being with you. Even though it makes no sense because you're so tiny, you fit best in my arms. No one else fits perfectly like you do. All of my favorite memories involve you and me…" He studied her as he talked, and he rubbed his brow. "How can I convince you?"

Nat shrugged her shoulders. She wanted to believe him so she reached for his hand, which was wonderfully warm against her frozen fingers. "I want this to be real."

He was staring at their linked hands and a grin spread across his face. He met her eyes again. "You always warm your cold hands and feet against me."

"Er," she hedged, knowing it was true. She knew she shouldn't, but… "I do?"

"There have been a lot of times when you stuck your cold feet on my legs to warm them up." He pulled her hand to his lips with a shy smile, leaving a lingering kiss there.

Her breath caught at the amazing feeling and the intimacy of the gesture. "How does that prove you're in love with me?"

"Do you do that with anyone else?"

She shook her head. "No, but if I had a brother I'm sure I would."

His 'check mate' face flashed over his features and she blinked. He had won, but she couldn't yet see how. "Who does Lily warm up on?"

"Scorpius, but—"

"What about my mum?" Al asked, not waiting.

"Your dad, but—"

"See?" He said triumphantly.

"No, Al! That just proves that I love you… although if you think about it, that's really twisted. But your mum does that to her brothers all the time," Nat reminded him. "She thinks it's funny."

His expression didn't falter. "And what do my uncles do to her when she tries to put cold hands on their cheeks?"

"Well," Nat tried to think back. "I think the last time was George and he backed off and told her that she had a damned husband to warm her cold hands and he got that enough from Angelina…" Her brain seemed to freeze.

Al quirked an eyebrow. "What does my dad do when she hugs him and puts her cold hands up under his shirt onto his back?"

"He…" her breath caught and she got it. She finally got it. "He usually swears in surprise and then pulls her in to warm her up." Her hands flew to her mouth as his point finally clicked into place. Oh sweet Merlin… Check Mate.

His expression held such tenderness that she felt stupid for ever having doubted it. "Have I ever pushed you away?"

She shook her head and spoke through her fingers. "No… oh…" she couldn't speak, but it didn't matter.

"Do I ever complain when you nick my sweaters or socks?" He probed.

"No. Never, you don't unless to tease me in fun." She understood it now. "Al… I love you, I love you so much." She reached out for his cheeks, shifting up to her knees so she could kiss him, marveling that she could, that he wanted her to.

"I love you too, Leah. Forever. It's always been you."

After a few minutes they broke apart and grinned at each other, feeling happier than either could have imagined. Then another thought skittered in, sending panic flooding into her stomach. "What about—"

He knew what she'd been about to ask. "The very last thing that will be on my mind when we're naked together will be laughing." He kissed her soundly and stood up. "In fact, we're getting married tomorrow so I don't have to wait too long to see you naked."

"You're not missing much," Nat grumbled as he pulled her to the door.

"Let me be the judge of that."

Nat pulled back. "Why do you want to get married tomorrow? Don't you want to date or something?"

Al's lips quirked. "Is dating going to change anything?"

"Well, no, but we can't get married tomorrow. My mum is in Australia for that thing and it will take at least a few days to get her here. I can't even remember where Dad is, especially since the Muggles are still in quarantine," Nat said as they walked down the stairs, hand in hand. She stopped on the bottom step and he turned to face her. She still wasn't eye level to him, even though he was on the step below her. Nat looked up and studied him, still feeling a pull to protect her heart, even though he'd always kept her safe. "Al…"

He bent slightly to kiss her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm going to love being able to kiss you any time I want," he whispered into her ear. "I've dreamed of this for years. Tomorrow might be a stretch, but next weekend is probably do-able."

She laughed nervously. "Al…"

"Don't, Leah," he said gently, cupping her cheek. "You make me happy. You're the one I love. I think you're beautiful. Whatever else is going through your head, those things are the most important facts and anything else is irrelevant."

But something was important. "What about kids?"

A huge grin spread over his face. "I told you; we're adopting. However many you want, that's how many we'll adopt."

"What if I want twelve?" Nat asked skeptically.

He kissed her again as he pulled her into his arms and swung her down from the step. "Then we're going to need a really big house."

"We'll need some place to live," Nat said suddenly, stopping. "I guess we could live in your flat. I don't fancy sharing my parents' tiny flat with them when they're in town… oh, but then we'd need to kick Rick out."

"We're buying a house," Al said firmly, pulling her behind him. They rounded the corner into the dining room where, much to Nat's chagrin, most of the family was sitting, staring at them. She'd forgotten about the party, which had clearly been shifted to Harry and Ginny's house. "She said yes."

Cheering erupted from all corners and Nat was soon inundated with more hugs than she could possibly count.

"It's about time," Rose whispered into her ear before she was whisked off into Harry's arms, and then Fred's.

Dinner what chaotic. The celebrations lasted till well after midnight, although the ones with babies only stayed till around 9pm. It was decided that as long as they could get Nat's parents back into town by the following weekend that the rest of the family could make it on Sunday for a wedding.

"The only problem is Charlie," Gran Molly said. "We've sent an owl already, but—"

"When did you do that?" Ginny asked curiously.

Gran laughed. "Oh, right before we ate. I used your owl, by the way, darling. Don't fuss when you can't find her." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Ron, Arthur and I will track down your parents," Harry assured Nat. "We'll finalize everything shortly."

"And I'll get the information for you about adoption," Audrey assured them. "It's smart to get that paper work started since it is likely going to take a few years."

Nat sighed, knowing that her dreams to become a mother would be on hold but Al squeezed her hand reassuringly. They would have a lot of time together, which was a blessing as well. She still had one concern. "I thought marriage licenses took weeks. I remember filing with Rose for hers months before the wedding."

"Ah, well," Granddad Arthur said with a small chuckle. "I'm rather high up in the ministry, and Harry is… well, he's Harry. We can pull some strings to make it happen."

"You two," Ginny said suddenly, looking at Al and Nat. "Go away and spend some time together. You both look like you need it. We'll handle things around here and get most of the nitty gritty out of the way. It's a good thing you're not fussy, Nat. We wouldn't be able to do this if you were."

Al didn't need a second invitation and he had Nat on her feet in a second while Rick told them he wouldn't be home for a while, as he wanted to spend more time with Honor.

"Be good!" Gran called as Al pulled her to the fireplace.

She and Al used the Floo to his flat, which Nat had always liked; it was so cozy and so male. There wasn't a fussy thing in the room that hadn't been put there by Nat or Lily. Al sat and pulled her into his lap, instantly locking his lips to hers for a slow, heated kiss. He pulled away reluctantly and gently stroked his thumb along her cheek. "You are so beautiful."

She rather thought he needed his eyes checked, but refrained from saying it. He clearly believed it. "Do you think they might have slipped you something?" The thought popped out before she could stop it and she regretted it instantly.

"Natalie!" Al exclaimed in frustration.

"I'm sorry!" Nat said looking away as her cheeks flushed. "You know… I've never even been called pretty and here you are telling me I'm beautiful? It's a little bit much."

He cupped her cheek and waited till she looked at him, into his emerald green eyes. "I've wanted to tell you that for years, you know. There are a lot of things I've wanted to say to you."

"Like what?" she asked tentatively.

"Like…" he took a deep breath, clearly steeling himself for what he was going to say. "Like when you told me that your dream for your life was to be a wife and mother… I wanted to be your husband and the father to those kids."

Nat's eyebrow rose. "We were barely sixteen years old! You're telling me you were thinking that at sixteen?"

Al's cheeks flushed a bit. "It surprised the hell out of me, too. Here I was trying to be supportive, we haven't even sat for our OWLs and I suddenly couldn't breathe at the thought of you marrying another bloke."

"I felt so stupid, you know, looking at those career pamphlets," Nat confided quietly. "Everyone else had these high and lofty ambitions to do great things with their lives and all I wanted was a family and to stay put. I felt like I was such a disappointment."

"Who says that having a family isn't a great thing?" Al questioned seriously. "My gran did it and she loved it. I don't see anything wrong with it."

She leaned in to put her head on his shoulder and traced the patterned weave on his shirt. "That's probably a good thing, since you'll end up having to pay for us to live. I haven't exactly been raking in the money working for Ollivander, although he isn't stingy, but it's only part time and barely enough to cover rent on a flat… if I were paying rent. Your parents won't accept anything."

"Yes, speak of that," Al said reflectively. "We have to decide where we want to live."

"Why do you live in this flat, then, if you could be in a house?" She'd asked him that before, as he had money the same as his siblings, but he'd always deflected the question away, never answering.

He ran his hand up and down her back slowly as he spoke. "Well, it's what Scorpius could afford when we first got out of school since he wouldn't take anything from his family and then after he and Lily got married… I dunno; it was comfortable. I thought moving into a house would be lonely, I guess. I didn't want to be rambling around a big house by myself and I… well, I guess I hoped one day we'd pick out a house. Together."

Nat sat silently, trying to soak this all in. Was this really happening? "I know why I didn't tell you, Al, but… you're so brave. Why didn't you say anything to me years ago?"

Al was quiet for a long time. "I had to beg the sorting hat to put me in Gryffindor. It wasn't going to, so maybe I'm not all that brave."

"You're an Auror and your dad says you've got nerves of steel," Nat reminded him quietly. "Even when you're afraid you always move forward. You couldn't ask me on a date?" Then a thought struck her, as hysterical thoughts are wont to strike at 1am. "I'm getting married next week and I've never been on a date!"

She heard Al sigh. "We've been on several dates. We've been to the ball and to the weddings. You've always been my date."

Nat thought back to those times, longing for it to be real. "I guess they count since you fancied me."

"I wanted my first date to be with you," Al admitted sheepishly. "It didn't feel right that it would be anyone else that I'd go to the ball with. I didn't ever want to kiss anyone but you either…"

Nat wished for it as well. "I suppose that was always a bit unrealistic."

"Not so much, though," he said. "I only kissed Ella once and Amanda twice. I've kissed you more in the last few hours and I did with them total."

"Really?" she asked. "I sort of thought they'd… want more."

Al's eyes were steady on hers. "They did, I didn't."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked again. "Did I really do such a great job of hiding my feelings that you didn't know?"

"If they knew, no one told me," Al informed her. "Rose wouldn't tell me if you fancied me or not. I think my mum may have known, but she never clued me in. Every time I'd pluck up the nerve to ask you on a date, you'd tell me about another nice girl that I should meet. It was uncanny in how it was timed."

Nat was quiet for a long time, enjoying the warmth of his embrace while she thought back. "I think… I think if you finally started to date someone then at least I'd have to give up my stupid feelings for you and accept that you weren't going to love me back."

"Leah, this is crazy," Al said with frustration. He let out a long, slow breath. "I've loved you for years! Why is that so hard to accept? I didn't want to ruin our friendship when it seemed like we could never be anything more than friends."

She sighed heavily and tried to fight back a yawn. "I dunno, Al. I guess I'll get used to it. You're not lying; you wouldn't ever hurt me…"

"Come on," he said, standing up with her in his arms.

She snorted. "Why are you always carrying me?"

He cocked his head to the side, amused. "'Cause I can and I love that I can." He set her gently on her feet. "Let's get you back home and so you can get some sleep. You're going to have lots of shopping to do tomorrow."

"Not lots," she told him. "It's just the dress."

"I remember all the complaining from the girls about the dress shopping. It's going to be a lot. At least your boss is understanding and will give you the day off."

Nat snorted. "Yeah, since I'm basically unemployed and only doing research on Lorelei. Plus, we should tell Rick it's okay for him to come back."

He laughed as he kissed her goodnight before throwing Floo powder into the lit grate. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon for lunch with Mum."

A/N: If you didn't already, please scroll back up and read my full author's note. Thanks! ~Sarah