Author note: a bittersweet idea that rattled in my head for a bit then came out. It is not exactly Ginny friendly. Once again I disavow all ownership of any of this in any way shape or form.
A technical note I use voice to text for some of these so editing and making it look pretty are the longest part of the process on these short ones. As they did not program the stupid thing for Appalachian I do have to enunciate as Jeff Foxworthy says. I still sit and think at the keyboard on the main stories though.
xxx===xx
Harry stepped into his bedroom and looked at himself in the big mirror on the closet door. He had just passed his 42nd birthday two months ago and was still in fairly decent shape as his auror duties required him to stay fit. The things that did trouble him about his reflection though had nothing to do with his job. He was contemplating them when a strange ka-woosh noise occurred across the room. Spinning he had just enough time to see a small explosion occur in the corner causing a body to come flying out of the glittery spinning pink wormhole that had replaced his wall.
His wand was on the bedside stand but before he could take the three steps to get to it the wormhole closed with a shlurping whump sound and the person groaned their way to the edge of the mattress. Staring across the bed at him was the face of a very confused and shocked teenage Hermione Granger.
"Harry?" She shrieked, "Why are you naked? Where am I? What happened?"
"Uh hold on." He said turning and grabbing his bathrobe off the hook inside the closet. Making sure it was closed tightly he walked over to his dresser to pull a pair of boxers out and pulled them on.
By the time he was done Hermione, or at least the girl who looked like her was standing across the room from him looking around with a scowl on her face.
"This looks sort of like Grimmould Place but not like it."
"No its Grimmould. I fixed it up. Hermione? Is that really you?"
"Yeah. At least I think so. We were at the Ministry fighting Death Eaters a moment ago and there was a large explosion. I got knocked here I guess."
Harry thought back to the battle. There had been a large explosion in one of the rooms. For a brief moment everyone had been dazed and confused, blinking spots out of their eyes while a loud ringing tone was all that could be heard. He had thought Hermione was dead when she staggered out of the wreckage of a nearby cabinet.
"Harry? What year is this?" Hermione cautiously asked as she studied him.
"Its 2022." Harry said with a smile.
"I got thrown forward 26 years? Wow." Hermione was impressed as she did the math in her head trying to figure out how she got here. "Blinovitch's calculations must have been incorrect as he said forward time travel was impossible due to the uncertainty principle of the..." She stopped talking and blushed.
Harry laughed as he had forgotten how she could take something as crazy as being thrown through time by a deadly explosion and try to calculate a way out of it. "I've missed you."
She looked at him in confusion then, "Missed me? I'm not in your life."
Harry realized what he said and slumped. Rubbing the back of his neck he sighed. "Uh no, not really. We see each other at the Ministry sometimes but we don't talk except for official duties."
Hermione looked aghast, "OH no. What happened. Why? I didn't change did I?"
Harry frowned at her, "Hermione I don't know if I should tell you. What if you go back and do things differently because you know the future."
"Harry. I already know you're married, and not to me. You're not happy and we are not friends. If I got back I am going to change things no matter what with just that information."
He raised his wand, "Not If I obliviate you."
She raised hers so fast Harry had no time to blink. He had forgotten that she was just as good as he was thanks to his teaching and drilling her in the DA. Plus his reflexes were slowing down in his middle age while she was still in her prime teenage years. His wand left his hand and wound up in hers.
"Harry. You know what I'm like when there is a problem in front of me that needs solved. I've already been shot at, blasted through time and told that I am not in my best friend's life. Now spill it before I get angry."
He laughed, "Okay. I surrender. I can see your point."
She smiled back, "I'm glad you haven't lost all sense of reason."
Pulling Ginny's chair from her dressing table he spun it around and sat down, "I don't know where to start."
She sat on the bed looking at him expectantly. She did at least lay his wand back on the nightstand. "Well how about this. I ask you questions and you answer them, then if you figure out how to explain things you take over." When he nodded she asked, "We won right?"
"Yeah. It was painful but a couple years after the Battle at the Ministry as they called it I defeated him."
"Congratulations, by your tone of voice I take it we lost friends?" she asked sadly.
"Yeah quite a few." He confirmed.
"Anyone. Uh. Who."
"Fred, Percy, Lavender, Colin, and Seamus were the ones closest to us we lost. Along with Dumbledore and a few others." Harry choked up.
She reached out and patted his hand. "Okay. So lets cut to the big one. Who did you marry?"
Harry looked at the floor, closing his eyes at the painful memories of the last two decades.
"Harry? You can tell me. Obviously its not a happy one is it?"
"You can tell?" He asked looking up at her with doleful eyes.
"I can tell you're hiding something. Plus from the view I got when I first arrived, you've got more scars than I recall from school, newer ones, more recent ones." she said with a frown.
"Some of them are from work. A few are from her." he admitted. He really had missed talking to Hermione. The two of them had been so close they could literally talk about anything. Her periods, his life before Hogwarts. That's why his wife had made him shove Hermione away.
"She has hexed you?" She asked with narrowed eyes. When he nodded she asked, "This hex wouldn't happen to involve large snot bats would it?"
"Sometimes. Other times its just her nails. Or its her voice."
"Ginny Weasley did this to you? I'll kick her twat so hard she'll need to douche her nosehairs." Hermione growled.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. Hermione was usually quite proper until you crossed her too much then she could get quite inventive with her language.
"Its not funny Harry. Men can be abused too." She said changing her tone to one of comfort and reassurance instantly.
"I know. I just missed you. I missed sitting and talking to you." He confessed tearing up.
"How. Why? Was it always like this with her? How did you get married?"
Harry nodded, "It started out okay. She got pregnant just after the main celebrations so we got married. I thought I loved her and she loved me. Then after the baby she got jealous, and controlling and when you refused to marry Ron she got even angrier and jealous and made me shove you out of my life. Made me fight with you and never speak to you or of you again. None of the Weasleys speak to you." He said in a gush of words.
Hermione calmed herself for a moment before saying, "Well why don't you divorce her?"
"She made me use an ancient Weasley ritual. Its a magical marriage vow that combines the unbreakable. If I leave her, cheat on her or divorce her I die."
Hermione's mouth worked for several moments before she could form words, "That bitch. Didn't Molly or Arthur say anything?"
"Molly was behind it. And Arthur has one of the same vows on him."
She pursed her lips while she counted to ten, in German he thought he heard her mumbling. "I take it Ron wanted me to undergo the same ritual?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah when you researched what it was you about castrated him. With a letter opener. That's not a figure of speech either."
"I'm sure he recovered quite well." She spat.
"Well he and some Hufflepuff named Michelle have six kids so I guess so." Harry shrugged.
"So uh. How is my life? Did I do well?"
"I guess so. You're my boss at the Ministry. You lost the last election to be Minister but Susan was a pretty worthy opponent."
"Susan Bones?"
"Uh Abbot. Her and Hannah came out a few years ago when the muggles legalized it."
Hermione considered for a moment then shrugged, "Oh. Okay."
"Well as for your personal life. You and Neville make a good couple. You've got three kids. Two girls and a boy. Luna's your best friend and since Ginny approves of her I get to hear about what's going on with you from her." he said with a sad smile.
"So were you ever happy with her? I mean did you really want to marry her?"
Harry started to say something but closed his mouth before taking a deep breath, "I don't know. It was like everyone expected me to fall in love with her and be happy and marry her and when she turned up pregnant Arthur invoked some old rule from the Victorian era while Ron and Molly guilted me into not abandoning my child. I was not really very good about expressing my feelings back then, or even understanding them."
Hermione sighed, "Sounds like you could use a guide to help you with them."
Harry smiled at her, "Yeah it does."
"So. Is she at least a good mother?"
Harry shook his head, "No. The kids would rather stay at school because she's controlling and her temper makes Molly look like Luna. Jimmie has well he has no love for her and Teddy he went fully feral on her the last time he was around her. Albus he's totally cowed by her. The only one that isn't bothered by her is Lilly. But she spends a lot of time around her godmother Luna."
Hermione hung her head shaking it slowly before looking at Harry with sad eyes, "I'm not going to allow this to happen. I'll make sure you wind up married to Luna before you marry Ginny."
"I think I'd rather marry you." He said with a wince.
"Harry?" she asked in concern.
"Its okay. I've been thinking about this for sometime now. I'm tired Hermione. My shoes are too tight." Harry gasped again.
"What?" Hermione had rushed to help Harry before he fell off the chair as he clutched his chest.
"Something Luna told me once. She said My shoes are too tight but its okay because I've forgotten how to dance." he chuckled, "I never understood that until recently."
Hermione helped him lay down in the bed. He threw his arms around here holding her tightly against him. She didn't resist as she realized that he was going to end it one way or another. "Harry. I loved you. I just never told you because I didn't think you loved me. Seeing you with Cho made my heart break but I wanted you to be happy. I knew you deserved to be happy."
"I was happy when I was with you. I never realized that." His voice had taken a gravelly rasping tone.
She raised her head to look into his Emerald green eyes. Eyes that held so much pain and suffering, tired eyes. "I love you Harry."
"I love you too Hermione." Harry said.
Their lips touched, gently, softly, that was the final straw as the vow activated and Harry convulsed twice before he exhaled in a long gasping rattle. His face held a smile though.
Hermione stood up. Tears streaming down her face she took his glasses off and put them on the nightstand. She smoothed his hair and closed his eyes. She tried to find something to say but there was a screaming swirling pink maelstrom forming on the wall that was pulling her towards it with the force of a hurricane.
===xxx===xx
Hermione woke up in the hospital wing. She recognized the smells from visiting Harry and her own adventures. She remembered everything that had happened when she went forward in time. Standing up she looked around to see the matron hurrying over.
"Miss Granger. You're the last one to awaken."
"I'm sorry about that. I got lost a bit in time."
The matron looked confused but ran her wand over Hermione as she changed into her clothes. Grabbing her wand she spun it before sliding it into her belt.
"So can I leave. I have something I need to do."
"Yes of course. You seem to be healthy enough." The matron said with a nod.
"Where is Harry?"
"I believe everyone is gathering for lunch." The matron said curiously.
Hermione smiled. "Good. So much the better."
xxx===xx
Hermione flung both sets of doors to the Great Hall open so hard they actually clanged into their stops. That announced to everyone something major was going on. Striding across the hall her heels clicked in the sudden silence.
Harry saw her and grinned as he stood up. She never broke stride until she reached him when she threw her arms around him pulling him tight against her as she kissed him. Deeply, passionately and possessively. Making sure that it went on long enough that people had no doubt this was more than just a friendly greeting.
The cheers and applause began at the Hufflepuff table then most of Gryffindor joined in until most of the school was raucously cheering her and Harry. All but two red haired siblings.
Ginny had jumped up enraged so badly her face was a bright scarlet, "Get your hands off my boyfriend!" She snarled.
"I don't see your name on him." Hermione countered.
Ginny went for her wand but Hermione had moved lightning fast to disarm her. "I don't think so bat bogey girl."
"I'll rip your face off you cunt! He's supposed to marry me, everyone knows it!" Ginny snarled as she leapt across the table trying to reach Hermione. Her leap was halted in mid flight by a spell that came from the teachers table.
"Fighting during mealtimes is so distressing to the digestion. I'll have to ask you to cease." Dumbledore called out.
"But she started it." Ron shouted standing up to point at Hermione.
"Mister Weasley all I saw was Miss Granger and Mr Potter reuniting after a very upsetting evening." Professor McGonnegal raising her voice only a slight bit but somehow being heard in all corners of the hall.
"Yeah but Ginny's his girlfriend already." Ron growled, "Everyone knows that."
Dumbledore sighed, "Mister Potter. Is Miss Weasley your girlfriend?" Professor McGonnegal asked him in her commanding tone.
Harry looked at the red haired girl frozen in mid leap. Her fingers reaching out towards Hermione, her face frozen in a mask of pure rage. He looked at Hermione who was placidly standing there smiling at him, ignoring the whispers and stares of everyone in the great hall. Harry felt like she was the only other person in the room at the moment.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir. Ginny is not my girlfriend. Hermione is." He said looking at her with an awkward blushing smile.
Ron glared at the two of them before Fred and George dragged him back into his seat with a bit more force than was quite required. Ron started to say something but Neville shoved a potato in his mouth and shook his head causing Ron to glare at being outnumbered.
"You sure you want this?" Harry asked softly. "I'm not exactly the best boyfriend material."
"Harry you have utterly no idea how much I want this. And yes you are the best boyfriend material." She smiled warmly as Ginny was floated to the detention hall by Dumbledore who said as he left the great hall, "Love for the win."
xxx===xx(Review Responses)
hisnhers: Yep continuing the choice them in this episode too. A very easy choice indeed.
Thank you for the compliment.
OfficerDonNZ: Like I said. I pass the idiot ball around and let some of them take a break from being the designated butt monkey. Keeps things entertaining. I agree we know so little about Hermione in canon that there is a lot of room to explore.
Katmom: Thanks.
Dennisud: I had Hermione choose to just walk away from Helen as she felt that the investment in energy to confront her, even if it was to show how much better she turned out was not worth the return on it. Helen would not change, would not be guilty so Hermione did what she needed to do for her and her new families health and walked away. She might have eventually reached out to her father and become at least on Christmas card closeness but even then those bridges had been burned a long time ago and it takes effort to rebuild them. Sometimes a toxic person is not worth the effort and you just got to walk away. Thanks. I've got several other little quickie ideas rattling around and distracting me from the main stories so there will be some stuff popping up.
Manwe Illuvatarian: True. People from those kinds of lives either knuckle down and become successful, surrender and fall or they wallow in mediocrity for the rest of their lives. Hermione chose to succeed. As for your question I have this on the hard rive and the notebook and a vague idea of how to bring this out into a longer one just it would have to be handled with some care, and I have several other ideas on the runway ahead of it I'm working on. So if I do expand it I wouldn't say anytime soon. Though I will keep it in mind.
Starie78: Thank you. Glad to please.