Chapter 3
Forest of Dean, 24rd of December 1997
Hermione wakes to the sound of a kettle whistling, which actually wasn't the most pleasant of sounds to rise to. She stretches herself to get all the kinks out from her body and starts putting on her warm winter clothes. After that, she freshens up in the bathroom and then goes to the kitchen, where Harry has laid their morning tea and some scrambled eggs.
"Morning," she says with a fond tone of voice.
"Morning! I just finished getting breakfast ready, so let's eat," Harry answers in turn with a smile. His hair is still a little messed up, which thankfully means he hasn't been up for too long.
They enjoy their breakfast without conversation, just enjoying the presence of each other. Once in a while they glance at each other with small smiles as neither wants to break the ice or maybe the Titanic in this instance. But like the iceberg that broke the ship, so do words break silence.
As they are both finished with their food and sipping their tea, Harry decides to start the conversation.
"Today is the day. To be honest, I am more excited than anything. The worst part will be the waiting until it gets dark," he starts off with the main challenge of the day.
"To be honest, I feel mostly the same, but I can't help but worry. Hopefully it'll be quiet when we go and let's hope we at least find a clue regarding the sword," she responds with a nod of her head but with some caution in her tone.
"It would be good to finally make some progress because we're both out of ideas at this point," he says in turn, pursing his lips together and moving them side to side.
"Well, we've done all we could to prepare for anything and if it gets dangerous we'll just apparate back to the tent," Hermione says, continuing the conversation.
"Also…," she continues with a short pause "we need to talk about last night, we can't have that hanging over us today," she finally gets to the crux of the small tension or rather dread they have both felt this morning. With a small bite of her lip, she moves her hand across the table, and Harry mirrors the move. They grasp each other's hand while giving a hesitant smile to each other.
"You're right, we need to talk," Harry answers with a nod, "I've never been the best when it comes to things like this."
Hermione gives a wide smile, "I don't know, I remember a few instances and escapades from Hogwarts," she says with a small chuckle at the end, to which responds with a short laugh in turn.
"I don't want to drag this on any more, though. These last few days have been the greatest, even taking our circumstances into account. I've grown fond of you…no that's not the right word," Harry says, stammering a bit with Hermione just smiling at him and brushing her thumb slowly back and forth on top of his warm hand. Harry starts doing the same to Hermione to help him calm his nerves and then continue.
"You've always been by my side through thick and thin. You are the most important person in the world to me, honestly, and I think…, No, I know that what I've started to feel in my chest is more than what you feel for a friend. I like you, Hermione Granger, and I mean I like you. Like Jack did with Rose. I like you the same, Hermione," he finishes with growing confidence in the end.
No matter what Hermione's response is, he's ready for it. Harry knows it can't be negative going by everything that has been happening, yet he still worries. However, whatever her response is, he feels a sense of relief of finally having got the words out.
Hermione meanwhile had been watching Harry with a smile which had grown more adoring as he continued pouring his heart out. She then lets go of his hand, causing Harry to get a face full of worry. She then rises from her seat and walks to Harry, who while still having a small smile was a little confused until she rids him of that emotion. Likewise, she bends town and captures his lips while threading her hands behind his head and pulls him closer. Harry quickly returns the kiss and draws her closer to him when he finally pulls her to his lap, deepening the kiss. When they break the kiss, Hermione and Harry are smiling at each other.
"I like you too, Harry Potter, just like Rose liked Jack," she says while rubbing one of her hands through his hair at the back of his head in a reassuring manner.
"I think I've got a new memory for my Patronus," Harry says, showing how meaningful this has been while tightening his grip around Hermione and bringing her closer together with him.
"Me too," she responds, and with her eyes closed she puts her forehead and brings him closer with her hands in turn. They are both basking at the moment. Connected in a more intimate manner than ever. They stay like this for quite a while, both initiating small becks to the other's lips in between.
Hermione then moves her head to his shoulder, with her arms having dropped to his lower back between the chair.
"No matter what happens from this point forward, no one can ever take this moment away from us," she says to Harry.
Harry has laid his head on hers meanwhile and says, "you're right, this moment is ours and only ours."
Hermione then moves away and stretches herself, with Harry rising also.
"As much as I liked that, I'd like to walk around a bit as the chair was a bit uncomfortable," she says to him to which he nods.
As nice as it was, starting to get a bit uncomfortable sitting like that.
"You're right, let's go and take a small walk outside and check the enchantments," he says.
Hermione nods with a smile and they both move to go and take their coats. Harry pulls Hermione's out first and offers to put it on for her. Hermione smiles at him and with a quick 'thank you' slips inside her coat. When Harry finishes putting his on, they both move outside.
He extends his hands towards her, which she takes with a smile, earning a smirk from Harry.
The forest is quiet except for the sound of wind whistling and the footsteps of Harry and Hermione.
"You know…" starts Harry with a bit of a smirk on his lips and causing Hermione to look up at him, "doesn't this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now," he finishes his sentence while smiling at Hermione.
"I don't know, are you asking or are you saying Mr Potter," responds Hermione with a smirk of her own.
"Ohh, well then dear Ms Granger, would you do me the utmost honour of being my girlfriend," says Harry quickly back.
"Of course silly, if it wasn't clear before," she responds with a smile.
This makes Harry have a big smile on his face, and he drapes his hand-over Hermione, pulling her close for a second. He then lets her go so she can check the enchantments she had cast. He decides to just enjoy her presence and not talk so she can concentrate better. When she finally finishes, they decide to walk back to the tent hand in hand as it's cold, and they'll need to conserve their strength for the evening.
"Do you want some tea," asks Harry as they arrive back in the tent.
"Yes, I'd love that," responds Hermione in turn and makes herself comfortable on their sofa.
She decides to take out 'Hogwarts, a History.' Her greatest book of comfort. She's also got a soft blanket wrapped around her while Harry tithers away in the kitchen.
He then comes with a tray and two cups of tea upon it.
"Here you go," he says while joining her on the sofa.
"Thank you," says Hermione with a smile and raises her blanket up so he can join her, which he gladly does. He puts his head on her shoulder and decides to read the book with her while they sip their tea.
"This is my first time reading this, you know," he says.
"After all the times I pestered for you to read this, now you finally do," she says while also raising her eyes from the book and looking into Harry's green eyes. 'They really are pretty,' she muses.
"Yes, after all, if you love it, how could I not at least check it out. I can't promise to become a fan, though," he says, and then kisses her on the cheek. This causes the both of them to blush, as they are still getting used to being more than just friends.
"Is it alright, when I do things like this," asks Harry, suddenly a bit self-conscious.
"If it wasn't I'd let you know," she responds with warmth in her voice.
This causes them both to just smile at each other and continue reading the book together.
Soon enough, it's past noon, and they decide to make some canned soup for lunch. Not a feast, but not bad either. After eating their meals, Harry reads about quidditch, while Hermione has taken another book on arithmancy. The history book wasn't actually as bad as Harry dreaded, but they both decided with his lack of curiosity in the subject, it would be better to take some pauses so he would have an interest to get back into it later and not burn out.
A few hours later
Both Harry and Hermione have passed the hours with reading and small conversations, with a meal in-between. They are both dressed and ready to finally face the magic.
"Just to reiterate for the final time, we are not going in for a fight, okay. We're just trying to find some clues that can help us," says Hermione, pacing nervously.
Harry is nervous as well, but with his upbringing, he has grown to hide his emotions of distress better. He understands how much is weighed on the success of their missions for everyone, with himself included in that rather long list.
"I understand Hermione. I'm not thirteen any more to go and seek out danger," he says in reply, bringing back memories of werewolves and a certain 'deranged' criminal. He then takes a step towards Hermione and brings her to his arms, which has the thankful effect of stopping her pacing. Hermione just closes her eyes and with a deep breath of air, hugs Harry back.
"Besides, I have the brightest witch of her age by my side," he says with a smile, causing Hermione to let out a small chuckle.
"You're right, but like always I can't help but to worry," she says looking up at his bespectacled green eyes.
"So do I, but this war cannot be won without taking action. Hopefully this night goes successfully and we can finally level a blow against the other side," says Harry with hope.
Hermione just nods at this. The both of them are still holding each other in their arms.
"Alright, are you ready then," she asks with determination. She understands that it's finally time for deeds, not words.
"Yes, so let's get going," he responds.
Hermione brings Harry in for a kiss, which he gladly returns. This one has more fire than any others they've had. But unfortunately it doesn't last as long as either of them wished it to.
"When we get back, there will be more of that to come," Hermione says with a bit of an impish smile.
Harry with rosey cheeks has a lopsided smile and a new sense of determination.
They both then give each other a final nod and then they are gone with a small pop.
Godric's Hollow
They both arrive in a back alley, with Hermione and Harry holding onto each other. They quickly adjust to the new environment and look around at all the lights around the houses surrounding them. Furthermore, they then take hold of each other's hand and start walking around to get a better sense of their surroundings. With Hermione having got a map of the area that she memorised it doesn't take them long to get their bearings and then first go to the tragic Potter home.
Due to it being Christmastime, the streets are thankfully empty, as they expected. When they start getting closer to the house, Hermione glances at Harry as she sees his face getting tighter at the sight of his first home. She gives a quick squeeze of their clamped hands, causing Harry to give Hermione a reassuring smile, which she returns.
"So, this is where it all started," Harry says with a quiet voice.
Hermione just listens, not having anything to say at that moment.
They then notice the ministry plaque on the outside of the house detailing the event that happened during that fateful October night.
Strangely enough, they also notice some graffiti left by other wizards left in support of the Potter family, but also some more recent ones done in solidarity with Harry's resistance to the new order in mind.
"Let's go check it out," he says, looking at the front door.
Hermione is a bit unsure knowing there might be some risks but understands the importance of this to both Harry and their quest. She gives him a nod, and they open the front gate, walking towards the door.
Harry opens it and walks in first in case there is any danger with Hermione behind him at the door. With a quick 'lumos,' he sees there is no one in there besides them. Hermione enters the house quickly then as well, closing the door behind her.
They check the living room, which still bears marks from that night.
'It must be hard for him, I couldn't imagine what he's feeling right now.' thinks Hermione while walking towards Harry and rubs a hand on his lower back, causing him to let go of some of the tension in his body.
"Did you see anything which might be connected to the sword," Harry asks Hermione.
"No, nothing unfortunately. We'll have to check the second floor next though, or I can do it myself if you want me to," she says, knowing that it might be too hard for him to see his nursery where it all happened.
But Harry just shakes his head, "no, we'll go together to be safe," he says while looking at her. With a quick nod, they move up the stairs, checking his parent's room first but finding nothing to help them on their quest. They then move on to the nursery, where Harry takes a quick pause at the doorstep. Hermione just gives him a reassuring side hug, moving her hand up and down, which seems to help a little.
"This is where it all happened, I can still remember that day," he says with an almost whisper-like tone.
Hermione is just silent, feeling a little helpless, even when she knows there is not much she can do. It doesn't unfortunately help her with the emotions she is feeling while knowing it's out of her hands. The best she can do is take hold of his hand and be there for him, which is more than enough for Harry.
"Thank you for being here with me," he says with a sad sort of smile.
"I'll always be here for you," she responds with a small and earnest smile of hers.
"Is there anything that caught your eye," he then asks after their small shared moment.
"Unfortunately not, it seems there is nothing in the house which can be of help to us," she replies back to him.
Although they didn't have high hopes, they still wished that there were some clues in his old home to help them.
"Alright, then let's get out of here and look around a bit more," he says, thankful to finally leave his birth home. While it may have had happy memories once, it was but a shadow of its former self.
They both quietly leave the house and exit the gate, moving back to the street they came from.
"Would you like to go to the cemetery next," Hermione asks.
"Yes, I'd like that," Harry responds, and they walk hand in hand.
The both of them aren't sure whether his parents are buried here or not, but they are hopeful. It could also have some clues, with the town having had both Potter and Dumbledore families living in it for generations.
When they enter through the kissing gate to the graveyard, they quickly start looking around. Along the way they spot the graves of two Dumbledore's and a Peverell when Hermione suddenly pulls Harry's arm to get his attention.
They notice the names written on the gravestones of both of his parents.
Harry and Hermione stand holding hands together in front of his parents' graves. It's a sombering thing for certain to look upon one's parent's final resting place.
"I've never once known where you were buried, so I'm sorry for never visiting you both. I'm also sorry for not bringing any candles or flowers for you" he says with a hint of sadness.
"There's some much that has happened that I wish you were here to see. It was rough growing up, but it got better when I got to Hogwarts. I was able to make friends who I care for," he continues.
Hermione meanwhile has conjured a wreath of flowers owing to his earlier comment about not bringing anything, but also because she wants to show her respect to his parents. She lays it down on their graves and takes a step back to Harry, taking hold of his hand again. He turns to her and gives her a 'thank you' with a quick smile on his face.
"I'd also like to introduce you to my beautiful girlfriend, she's a muggleborn and the brightest witch in school, just like mum was. Like father like son I guess," he says with a smile on his face. Hermione puts her head on his shoulder at this while squeezing his hand.
"It's nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Potter, and thank you for having brought such a wonderful son to this world," she says with a small smile on her face.
Harry then notices that there's also a strange quote written on their gravestone.
"The last enemy that shall be defeated is death," he reads confused, "isn't that a death eater quote," he asks.
Hermione then answers him, "no, it's from the bible and it has many different meanings. It's likely that they meant that no one truly dies in the sense that they will be remembered, although I could be mistaken."
Harry just nods at this, thankful for the possible explanation.
The both of them after spending some time at the grave then decide it's time to leave, when they notice an old lady beckoning them with her head. He moves to get closer when Hermione pulls him back.
"It could be a trap," she says.
"I know, but what option do we have left," he responds. He knows it's not a great idea, but they have found nothing of help this evening.
Hermione knows that also and with a hard nod they follow the old lady to a house. She notices the many books in the home and finds an interesting one that she picks up titled 'The life and lies of Albus Dumbledore' by Rita Skeeter.
Harry meanwhile has followed the lady up the stairs, with Hermione staying on the ground floor in case an ambush could come from there. He notices a painting of a youth on the wall when he sees the woman suddenly stop on the corridor of 1st floor.
It's only then that he notices the rotten smell, causing him to get more cautions for an attack. It's only when the woman's face melts away and a green snake lunges at him.
'Nagini,' he thinks, making the connection.
He then quickly summons a small cabinet on the floor to block the snake and makes for the stairs.
'Nagini,' he thinks, making the connection.
Hermione has also heard the commotion and turns to the stairs to see Harry running down them with a panicked face.
"He's here," he says as he has also felt his arch nemesis' sudden arrival through their shared connection.
Hermione with widened eyes quickly grabs hold of him and apparates them both away while seeing a big green snake flying towards them, fangs ready to tear them both apart, but also the sound of multiple pops signalling apparition.
Forest of Dean
The both of them land badly, with Hermione laying on top of Harry. They quickly check each other, being lucky to not have spliced themselves.
"Well, that could have gone better," Harry says first but then notices Hermione's look of horror.
"What is it," he quickly asks, but she then points towards his hand grasping his wand, or rather what is left of it. This causes him to widen his eyes also while looking at the two pieces in shock.
The most important part to a wizard and the part that changed his life was broken.
"I'm so sorry, I must have fallen on top of it," she says with genuine regret in her voice.
This causes him to look up at her face, but he can't be mad at her, especially with her face strewn in such worry.
"It's alright, we both knew the risks. The most important thing is that we're both okay," he responds and pulls Hermione in for a hug, which she melts into.
"You couldn't have predicted this happening, so don't take the blame," he continues and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead to reassure her.
"If anyone is at fault, it's mine for foolishly following someone I didn't know," he says, laying the blame onto himself.
"You couldn't have known, besides it was the only possible lead for a clue that we had," she responds to reassure him.
They then both rise up to their feet, with Harry picking up the pieces of his wand. Hermione is looking at his actions with some still lingering regret. When they get to the tent, she rumbles through her backpack and brings out a small box which she offers for Harry to put his wand pieces in. He gives her a small smile and does so.
"We will need to be more careful from now on with only your wand left until we can figure out a way to get another one," Harry says with the both of them having taken their coats off and sitting on their small sofa holding onto each other.
"You're right, this is an unfortunate setback," she says, but then she brings a book out that she had found in the house.
"That's a new one," says Harry, and then he notices the title, "where did you get that from?"
"I found it in the house and took it in the hopes of it being of help for us," she responds.
They open up the first page and notice a note written by Ms Skeeter which finally reveals the original owner of the house to be a certain Bathilda Bagshot.
"Oh no, that poor lady," Hermione says, "I always wanted to meet her for writing 'Hogwarts a History'," she continued.
Harry understands the importance of the woman for her and pulls her a little closer to him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure she would have loved to meet you as well," he says reassuringly.
"It's not your fault. I just wish innocent people wouldn't be hurt," she says sadly. It really does show her the casual cruelty the death eaters are capable of to kill such a respected historian just for the chance of a potential ambush.
"So do you think we should read the book or just throw it away, after all it's written by Skeeter," he says with a sense of anger in his tone. He still clearly remembers the smear campaigns she ran against him.
"As much as we would both love that, we should check the book out first. It may have some information we need," she says and opens the book up with the both of them starting to read it.
While they may both dislike Skeeter for the lies she spouts, they can clearly see that this book has some facts about Dumbledore's life they can't dismiss. For Harry, it's especially hard to read about the headmaster's mistakes when he always looked up to him.
"I can't believe he and Grindelwald used to be so close. Even more so the plans they had made together," he says, still in a state of shock over what he has read.
"I guess we all forgot at one point that he was just a mortal man prone to the same mistakes as everyone else," Hermione says, not sure whether she's trying to comfort Harry or herself with those words.
"Yet, knowing him, it still comes as a shock. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything helpful for us in the book either. And we're also no closer to finding the sword," he says with a hint of desperation. He's still not over the loss of his wand, which was a great blow, but also of the fact that Dumbledore wasn't perfect.
"It's a setback, but we'll get through this, you and I," Hermione says reassuringly, calming Harry down.
"You're right, as long as we're together and kicking we can't give up," he says.
The new relationship between them has given them the extra fire they were needing to keep on fighting on. If not for themselves, then for each other.
Harry then suddenly gets up and moves to the wireless, trying to find the channel they listened to last time. He finally finds it with a new song just starting. Something called 'O Children' or such, he isn't really sure.
Harry then turns to Hermione with a smile, which she returns.
"I thought that no matter how badly the day went we shouldn't let it ruin Christmas for us so would you do me the honour of this dance Rose," he asks with his smile turning into a smirk at the end.
"Ohh, how could I refuse if you ask me like that Jack," she replies cheekily back with the both of them using their counterpart's names from the Titanic.
They slowly dance together to the song, while occasionally spinning each other around until they fall into a slow sway. Hermione has put her head on his shoulder while he holds her close to him. They give each other a deep kiss at the end of the song, while an older Christmas carol starts up next.
"Merry Christmas Harry," she says to him, which he immediately returns with his own, "Merry Christmas Hermione."
"It's quite late now, we should probably head to bed," Harry says, thinking it's best to turn in after an exhausting day.
Hermione, though, has another plan in her mind for tonight. After all that has happened this night, the last thing on her mind is spending the night alone.
"Come," she simply says, pulling him to her small bedroom in the tent.
Harry simply follows her, although he's a bit confused about what she's planning.
When they get to the bedroom, Hermione turns to him with a nervous smile on her face, confusing Harry even more so.
"I want you to spend the night with me," she says with nervousness present in her voice.
"Not that I am going to say no, but what has brought this on," Harry asks her.
"After almost losing you tonight I never want to let you go," she says and after a small pause she continues, "that is why I'd like us to take the next step. I can't bear the thought of staying apart when we have so much to lose," she finishes, with nervousness being replaced by determination and adoration she feels for him.
"I don't know what to say… I would love to, but I just don't want you to push yourself to do things you're not ready for, especially if it comes about due to fear," he says to assure her but also to make her understand he's fine with how things are going so far also.
"I understand, but we cannot be sure everything will go swimmingly for us. I'd rather have no regrets and trust me, if it's with you Harry, I'll have them if we were not to go through with this," she says, having moved closer to him threading both hands behind his neck.
Harry then draws her close, his touch a gentle whisper of magic as their lips meet in a kiss that seems to transcend time itself. The world around them blurs into a dreamscape as they move toward her bed, melting into the shared enchantment of the moment.
As he gently lays her down, a cascade of warmth floods Hermione's senses. Harry's voice, filled with adoration, resonates like a spell.
"I'm all yours, Hermione," he murmured, his words weaving into the very fabric of the night.
In the soft glow of the room, she meets his gaze with a smile that sparkles like stars.
"And so am I for you, Harry," she replies, sealing their commitment with a promise that echoes through the air.
Thus began their first magical night of love, a symphony of shared laughter, whispered secrets, and the tender caresses of two souls intertwining in the embrace of something truly enchanting.