"I'm proud of you Hermione," Harry told his sister in every way but DNA. "I know you were hurt when Ron got involved with Lavender Brown and ignored all the signs you were giving him. You know though that he's always been oblivious."
"I do and I also know what Molly expected to happen between us," Hermione said. "I come to realize that we never would've worked long term, as he's just too damn lazy for us to ever make a good couple. We both know that Ron has plenty of brains, but he's too lazy to use them."
"Yeah, he is," Harry admitted with a wary twist of his mouth. "I'm glad you can forget about Ron Weasley. He doesn't deserve someone as special as you."
"I'm glad that you didn't marry Ginny, just like you're happy I didn't marry, Ron," Hermione said. "Ginny never has gotten over her crush on you and loves the Boy Who Lived not Harry Potter, even though she's nearly 30."
"She's still not married," Harry said.
"That's because she still pining for you, even though you're married now and have two children with a third one on the way," Hermione said.
"I can't help it that Ginny is still pining after me," Harry said shaking his head. "You're the one that stopped me from marrying her. You know and I'm grateful. I can't see myself being very happy after the first blush of lust wore off anyway. I can see her being jealous of every woman I even spoke to even you. I won't be surprised if she hexed whatever woman I said more than a hello to unless they were related. I suspect that she would have even hated you when you showed your face, even though I consider you my sister, so it's just as well that we never married. I was all too willing to sacrifice my happiness to do what people expected of me instead of what I really wanted. I only wish, Arthur hadn't read her those bedtime stories about me because she believes they're real and that one day she'll marry her prince, instead of them being fictional."
"True," Hermione said. "I know that Arthur didn't realize the damage he was doing and we can blame a certain headmaster for those books being published, since he authorized them once he forced to Wizengamot to name him your guardian." Hermione said. "There are also plenty of other crimes we can lay in his door, as he's the one that placed you with the Dursleys without even making sure they would be suitable guardians."
"I know. Really, it is just as well he's dead," Harry said.
Harry still had very mixed feelings about one Albus Dumbledore and Hermione couldn't blame him for that, as she did as well.
"So are you going to continue to see this Aaron Dunin that you met by accident?" Harry asked Hermione.
"I have to admit I'm very attracted to him, more attracted than I ever was to Ron Weasley. I'll have to see where it goes, but you know there are going to be problems if we do get close and he proposes," Hermione said.
"You're sure he's a Muggle?" Harry asked. "He could be a wizard you know, just from a different country."
"That's possible, but I don't believe so. Call it an instinct if you would," Hermione said. "There is something strange about him, but I don't think he has magic."
"Well, we'll see I suppose," Harry said. "I'll look forward to hearing more about your relationship with this Aaron Dunin. Make sure you let him know however, that if he hurts you he'll answer to me."
"I will, when the time is right, but since we've only had a couple of dates now is not the time to threaten him," Hermione said
"I would like to meet him but I understand that right now your relationship is just beginning," Harry said.
"I've already mentioned you and said I thought of you as a brother," Hermione said. "I didn't lie."
"I know it must be difficult to keep such a significant secret that you have magic, especially since you're sure that he doesn't," Harry said.
"Not as difficult as you may think, but yeah, it is hard to hide such a significant part of myself. Hopefully, he'll accept it if our relationship reaches that stage," Hermione agreed.
"Why don't you come say hello to your godchildren before you leave they'll be happy to see you," Harry said. "They adore you."
"I'll be happy to," Hermione smiled. "It makes me imagine what it would be like to have children of my own."
"If you and this Aaron Dunin get married then that's a possibility you know," Harry mentioned.
"That's for the future," Hermione said liking the possibility.
~~~Aaron and Hermione~~~
Several months later
"I have something of a confession to make," Aaron told Hermione as the two of them shared dinner at her home. It was clear the food had come from a restaurant, as it turned out that Hermione didn't cook very well.
The two of them were settled in the living room of Hermione's parents old house, which she had never sold. She had just continued living in the house she had grown up in as it was paid for, for one thing and they were many fond memories within its walls.
"I am listening," Hermione said, as she sat in an armchair listening attentively. She cradled a glass of wine in her hands. The wine of course, was a wizarding brand from France and Aaron seemed to appreciate the smooth, rich taste of it. He had even asked where she had bought it, as he would have liked to have had some for himself, but Hermione had said she had ordered it from a little known wine distillery she was familiar with. She hadn't lied and just left out that it was a wizarding distillery. She had told Aaron that her family had French roots and she and her family often vacationed there in the summer, which is how she knew about it.
"You see..." Aaron began.
Hermione listened in astonishment as Aaron told her about how he was immortal.
Hermione's mind tried to work out what Aaron was telling her and immediately wondered how something like immortality could exist. Her next thought was that there were many wondrous things in the world so if unicorns, hippogriffs, dragons and phoenixes could be real or even magic itself why not immortality?
Her next thought was the only reason Aaron Dunin would tell her such a secret was if he planned on proposing as that the only reason she could figure that he would tell her all about himself.
She had known from the beginning that there was something unusual about Aaron Dunin, but she had never figured that he was immortal. The way that he had cleared his throat when they had first met when he could have easily walked by her without saying a word stuck out in Hermione's mind. Their meeting was significant for some reason, although Hermione hadn't been sure why if was at the time.
If there was one thing she hated it was not knowing something.
"The way you cleared your throat when we met," Hermione said finally seeming to suddenly realize something. "The way you insisted on taking me out for a drink when it was unnecessary. You could easily have passed me on the sidewalk as there was plenty of room to slip by me. I realized sometime ago that our meeting was significant in someway, though I wasn't entirely sure of why it was at that time."
"You're taking my revelation awfully well," Aaron offered cautiously relieved.
"I suppose I am, but I have a secret of my own, but before I reveal it I want to know why you told me," Hermione offered.
"Every immortal supposedly has a mate," Aaron explained, as calmly as he could. "Someone they can trust, that they can build a life with."
Hermione's mind rapidly digested that revelation.
"That makes sense," Hermione finally said. "I can't actually see you telling just anyone, not unless you trust them absolutely.
"That's well reasoned, considering I know the information I gave you is shocking and unbelievable," Aaron said.
"It is," Hermione agreed, even as she finished her wine.
"You're taking the news better than I thought you would," Aaron said.
"What did you expect Aaron Dunin?" Hermione asked with a coolly raised eyebrow.
"Well, I know you're not normally suspectible to histrionics, but I expected anger, disbelief, shock just to name a few," Aaron said truthfully.
"That's fair," Hermione decided.
Hermione refilled her glass from the bottle on the table and then offered Aaron the bottle of wine silently asking him if he wanted a refill.
When Aaron nodded Hermione obediently refilled his glass without a word.
"There is a reason I didn't overreact when you told me about your immortality," Hermione finally offered after drinking half of her refilled wine glass seeming to be rather contemplative.
"I'll be interested in hearing why," Aaron said taking a sip of his wine. "I mean you haven't, even asked me for a demonstration to prove my words, which I expected to have to provide."
"We'll get to that, but for now I'll believe you unless you prove yourself a liar," Hermione said putting down her empty glass on the table beside her chair.
"As I told you earlier, I have a secret of my own and like your immortality it must remain so," Hermione said.
"I swear I won't say a word unless you tell me I can," Aaron swore and Hermione nodded.
"You see there is a whole world out there that most people don't know about," Hermione began. "It is a world of magic."
"Magic?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow and Hermione nodded removing something from her upper arm, which Aaron hadn't seen even though Hermione was wearing short sleeves.
"This is known as a wand," Hermione explained. "It is a way for a witch or wizard to focus their magic. The magic however, is inherit in the bloodstream and the DNA. I went to school for magicals for seven years to learn control with a lot of other children with the same gift."
Hermione calmly pointed her wand and said the Levitation Charm at the chair that Aaron was sitting in and it rose a few feet off the ground taking the man sitting in it with it. She then gently lowered it back to the ground. She then turned the bookcase on one side of the room into a large lion that roared before she turned it back into a bookcase.
"Need any more convincing?" Hermione asked him calmly with a raised eyebrow slipping her wand back into her arm holster that was invisible when her wand was sheathed.
"No I don't," Aaron said, as he had watched Hermione mutter some soft words and point what she called her wand at the bookcase turning it into a ferocious and angry lion. Also, his chair had risen off the floor several inches so that his feet hung above the rug and while that could be some kind of parlor trick her turning the bookcase into a lion could not possibly be any kind of trick that Aaron was aware of, so it had to be magic.
Aaron hadn't exactly been frightened for his life since he was immortal, but he had been amazed at what Hermione had accomplished with a swish of her wand and a few muttered words.
"Good," Hermione said relaxing back in her chair. "It's been awhile since I've you so much magic so I'm a little tired."
"I had no idea my mate would be so special," Aaron said with a smile making Hermione smile back. "I'd like to know more if you're willing to tell me."
"I am, but one of the reasons I got that promise out of you is that the Ministry of Magic is very strict about telling Muggles, like yourself about magic. Muggles if you haven't figured it out are basically, regular people without what is called magic," Hermione softly explained. "Think of it like a secret society, because that's exactly what it is. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Ministry of Magic trust me on that."
"So you have your own government than," Aaron said and Hermione nodded.
"We do, but they're also very corrupt and it doesn't help that I'm not a pure-blood, which basically means, I don't have both a witch and wizard at least three generations back in my family. I am what is known as a Muggle-born, which means my parents were much like you, just without the immortality."
"I remember you saying they were dentists," Aaron said.
"I didn't lie to you about that," Hermione said. "They had their own private practice, but had to turn it over to another dentist due to circumstances that I'll explain to you at another time. It's a long tale and it's very sad in parts and we'd be here half the night in order to tell it properly. Really, I need permission from someone who was at the center of it, as it would mean revealing certain facts of a personal nature."
"I understand," Aaron said suspecting it had to do with Hermione's friend Harry since she was very protective of him. Hermione talked about Harry all the time and it was clear they were very close and the fact that Hermione was godmother to Harry's children told Aaron a lot of things.
"I want your permission to tell Harry about your immortality because as I said we're close and I don't like keeping things from him. He knows about our relationship as you are aware."
"Yes, I remember when you told me that Harry would eviscerate me with a rusty blade if I hurt you," Aaron remembered with a half smile
"Actually, he'd do far worse, but I didn't want to scare you off," Hermione said with a twitch of her lips. "Since you're immortal apparently, he could kill you very painfully and messily and just wait for you to come back to life only for him to do it again. Harry is not usually the violent type, but he's also very protective of me. He's usually a very gentle and loving person actually and there are some thing's he will never do."
"The two of you went though something traumatic together didn't you?" Aaron asked shrewdly.
"We did," Hermione admitted looking sad. "It's part of that tale that I'll tell you sometime soon."
"I give you permission to tell your brother my secret so long as you promise that he's the only one you tell," Aaron said and Hermione nodded.
"Done," Hermione agreed. "I'll tell him in private make sure my godchildren are busy elsewhere as they tend to spy on adults if they believe they can get away with it. Daphne can keep them under control and will understand that I need to talk to Harry in private. I can put up certain wards that will make it impossible for anyone to overhear our conversation unless they're actually part of the spell."
"Well that's impressive," Aaron said thinking that magic could be very useful.
"I suppose from your point of view it is," Hermione shrugged. "Still, magic has a dark side as well, but we'll discuss that more at a later date."
Aaron nodded and the two continued to talk softly finishing half the the bottle of wine before Aaron headed back to where he was staying.
~~~Aaron and Hermione~~~