Nanny Wanted by MisCard

Rating: R
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 6
Published: 25/10/2005
Last Updated: 05/04/2006
Status: Completed

***Finally Completed!*** Alternate Universe- Set eight years after finishing their schooling,
Hermione Granger answers an ad to be a Nanny for a High Society family. When she goes to the
interview, she is surprised to find that her would-be employer is none other than Harry Potter, and
that he is engaged to be married. If she gets the job, will she be able to survive working for him
with her heart intact? Contains bad!Ginny.




1. The Beginning
----------------


~A/N> Hi everyone! After some encouraging words from my friend poppywillow I decided to post
this here. Truthfully, I'm a little nervous because I'm treading into some new waters with
this story, like the presence of bad!Ginny (which I've never written before) and the chapters
will not be very long. I am still working on all my other stories, I work on them every day believe
it or not, so I will be posting the last chapter of "Dreams Will Come True" soon. I am
also doing a podcast now that's on iTunes called "harmony podcast" and deals with the
H/Hr ship. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it :)



Hermione Granger looked at the piece of paper in her hand again and looked at the spacious manse
that loomed before her. "Wanted: a live-in nanny to care for my two children. Well known
family looking for someone who knows how to be discreet. Please call for interview 05496 876203 and
ask for Harry," she read aloud to herself, "Very well known if the security gates and
guards are any indication."

She walked up to the big man standing in the guard house to the right of the gates and said,
"Hello, my name is Hermione Granger and I have a one o'clock interview with
Harry."

She watched as the man looked over a list that was attached to a clipboard and said, "Right
then, go on in." He opened a door that was behind him in the guard house and motioned for her
to walk through.

As she walked up the driveway to the front door she took a deep breath and quietly muttered,
"Okay Hermione, you can do this...you need this job." Taking one last relaxing breath,
Hermione rang the doorbell next to the huge door and waited for someone to answer.

About two seconds later a woman dressed in a formal skirt and dress shirt answered the door and
asked, "Hello, may I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Hermione Granger and I'm here to interview for the Nanny
position," she answered with a friendly smile.

"Please come in," the woman said, gesturing toward the giant entryway. Hermione
followed her inside and into a beautifully decorated sitting room. The furniture was obviously
expensive and the couch and chair were lush and looked very comfortable. Hermione sat in the chair
and the woman asked, "Would you like some tea Miss Granger?"

"Yes, please," Hermione answered politely and smiled back at the friendly smile the
woman gave her. When the woman brought back her tea she said, "Thank you Miss...?"

"Miss Bradley," the woman answered, "I'm the resident maidservant. Someone
will be with you shortly."

Hermione smiled and nodded in acknowledgement and then watched as Miss Bradley walked out of the
room. She looked around at the paintings that adorned the walls and the bookcase full of books.
Unable to tamp down her curiosity and love of books, she made her way over to it and read over all
the titles, noting that there were many there that she hadn't yet read.

"Who are you?" came a small voice behind her, startling her.

When she turned around she saw a small girl with blond hair and bright green eyes staring at her
curiously. "My name is Hermione," she replied with a smile, "What's
yours?"

"I'm Lily," the little girl answered, "Why are you here Her-Herm..."

"Hermione," she repeated, tickled that the little girl was trying so hard to say her
name. She couldn't have been more than three and her speech seemed to be advanced for her age.
"I'm here because I heard that a Nanny was needed."

"Oh," Lily said, "You mean you're a nanny? You look really young."

"I'm twenty-five," Hermione answered, liking the girl immediately, "I guess I
am still young, aren't I? How old are you?"

"I'm four," Lily replied, surprising Hermione. This girl looked very small and
frail for a four year old.

Before she could ask Lily anymore questions, a woman with bright red hair walked into the room
and asked, "Miss Granger, I presume?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, trying not to laugh when Lily rolled her eyes as she saw the
woman.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," the woman answered, "The lady of the house, or
soon-to-be lady of the house I should say." Hermione inwardly cringed at the falsely sweet
smile Ginny was giving her and really disliked her when she turned to Lily and not-so-nicely said,
"Aren't you supposed to be playing upstairs in your room?"

"Yes, but I got hungry," Lily answered defiantly.

"LISA!" Ginny shouted loudly, causing Hermione to jump in surprise.

Miss Bradley came hustling into the room and asked, "Yes Miss Weasley?"

"Please take Lily into the kitchen and feed her something," Ginny ordered with a
dismissive wave of her hand and an annoyed look on her face.

Hermione watched as Miss Bradley held her hand out to Lily and the little girl took it
immediately. Before leaving the room Lily turned and said, "Bye-bye Hermy."

"Bye," Hermione replied, liking the girl immensely and silently laughing at the
child's inability to say her name.

"Please have a seat," Ginny said, not really asking but demanding, "My fiance
will be in shortly to start the interview."

Hermione sat in the chair once again, disliking Miss Weasley for her high-handed treatment of
Miss Bradley and especially the way she had treated Lily. It was obvious that Miss Weasley thought
of the child as a nuisance and not worth her time.

"Miss Granger?" a deep male voice asked, startling Hermione from her thoughts. When
she looked up she gasped and asked, "Harry P-Potter?"

Harry laughed good naturedly at the shocked look on her face and replied, "That would be
me."

"I'm sorry Sir, that was very unprofessional of me," Hermione said, mortified by
her reaction.

"Don't worry about it Miss Granger, you're not the first person to react that
way," Harry said, giving her a friendly smile. "Do you have your references?"

"Oh, right here Sir," Hermione replied, handing him two pieces of paper. She watched
nervously as he read over them and tried to hide the fact that she wanted to work for him badly.
She had taken immediately to Lily, and the child seemed to like her to, and the fact that Harry
Potter would be her employer was a major bonus.

"Your resume is impeccable," Harry said, "You've worked for two very
prominent families before, so I don't think that I would have to worry about discretion on your
part."

"No Sir," Hermione answered, "If you hire me I will only have the best interest
of your children in mind."

"Please call me Harry, you make me feel very old by calling me Sir," he said, causing
her to smile. "Now, when would you be able to start?"

"I could start in two days," she answered, "I would just need time to get a few
things in order first."

"Okay then, Miss Granger, I'll be making my decision tonight and if you are chosen for
the job I will contact you tomorrow," Harry said, standing up from the chair.

Hermione stood up also and followed him into the entryway. As she shook his hand, Miss Bradley
walked up and asked, "May I call you a cab Miss Granger?"

"Yes please," Hermione replied. With a final farewell to Harry she made her way for
the door.

Lily had walked out of the kitchen and seeing that Hermione was leaving, she ran up to Harry and
tugged on the bottom of his shirt. "Daddy," she said in a loud whisper, "Daddy, I
want her to be my nanny. She's nice and I like her."

"And how do you know she's nice Lily?" Harry asked, picking her up.

"Cause I spokeded to her and she didn't talk to me like I was a little baby," Lily
answered as she gave him her best puppy dog look, "And I like that her name is
Hermy."

"Hermy 'eh?" Harry said, laughing at his daughters interpretation of
Hermione's name. "So you want her to be your Nanny, do you?"

"Yes Daddy," Lily answered, "Please?"

"Miss Granger," Harry called, stopping Hermione just as she was walking out the front
door.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?" she asked, turning to look at him and noticing that he was holding
Lily.

"Would you be able to start the day after tomorrow?" he asked.

Stunned, Hermione walked up to him and said, "Sure, I could start the day after
tomorrow."

"Okay then, you'll have your own room upstairs, near the kids rooms. You'll be
required to make sure they're up in time and ready for school, you'll be in charge of them
from the time they come home from school until their bed time. You will have one day off a week,
Sunday, and you will be paid every Friday." He smiled at her and asked, "Do you have any
questions?"

"Not at the moment," Hermione replied, still unable to believe that she had gotten the
job.

"We will see you in two days then," Harry said.

"Thank you," Hermione said, "I will see you in two days."

"Bye Hermy," Lily called as Hermione walked out the door.

"Bye Lily," Hermione replied, turning back to wave at her. Making her way down the
driveway, Hermione couldn't hold back her excitement anymore and a huge smile broke out on her
face as she quietly said, "I can't believe I'm going to be working for Harry
Potter!"



2. Hermione's First Day
-----------------------


~A/N> Thank you so much for all the great reviews! I know I haven't revealed much about
Hermione, but as I told a few reviewers, I'd like for everyone to learn about her as Harry
does. As the story progresses, there'll be more revealed each chapter, and soon you'll know
all about her. I have one more chapter written after this that I will be posting tomorrow, I need
to edit it a bit, format it and convert it, and then I'm not sure when I'll update again.
Hopefully it won't be too long between updates. And if you're reading my other story,
"Dreams Can Come True", I plan on posting the last chapter on Friday :) If you're
waiting to hear the second harmony podcast, I'm hoping to finish recording it tonight, so it
will hopefully be up tomorrow or Friday.


Two days after the interview, Hermione sat in a taxi outside the sprawling Potter estate. She had
recieved an owl the night before stating that flooing and apparating were not allowed anywhere near
the estate, which was fine by her since she had given up both years ago. She still couldn't
believe that she was going to be Nanny to Harry Potter's children...let alone living in his
house.

"Would you like some help with your bags?" the driver asked, interrupting her
thoughts.

"Yes, thank you," she replied as she paid him and then opened the door to climb
out.

After the driver got out of the taxi, he walked back to the boot and lifted the lid, taking four
bags out that had been stuffed inside. She thanked him again and then made her way to the
now-familiar guard house. Walking up to the same guard that had been there two days before she
said, "Hello again. Mr. Potter is expecting me."

"So you're the new Nanny 'eh?" the guard asked, looking much more friendly
than he had the previous time, "My name's Cole Jamison. I've worked for Mr. Potter for
seven years now."

"Hermione Granger," she replied, shaking his outstretched hand. "So you must know
Mr. Potter and his family well then."

"I was in Mr. Potter's class at Hogwarts," he said, "I fought with him in the
Second War and when the dust settled and we finished school he offered me this job. There was no
way I could pass it up." Cole was quiet for a moment, looking at her as if he were sizing her
up, and said, "I don't remember you being at Hogwarts though..."

"I-uh...I attended Beauxbatons," she replied hesitantly, and quickly changing subjects
added, "I just can't believe I'm going to be working for Harry Potter."

"He's a great boss," Cole said, noting the sudden topic change but deciding to
leave it alone for now, "But you need to watch out for Miss Weasley. If she feels threatened
by you at all she'll push Mr. Potter to sack you. That's what happened to the last
Nanny...she got a little too 'friendly' with Mr. Potter."

"Thanks for the warning," Hermione said, liking Cole immediately, "But I'm
more worried about Lily liking me."

"Lily's a great kid," he said, "But I'm not sure you'll be able to
win James over so easily."

"James?" Hermione asked, "Right, Mr. Potter's other child. I didn't meet
him or see him the other day."

"He pretty much keeps to himself," Cole said, "Ever since Mr. Potter started
dating Miss Weasley, he's given everyone the silent treatment."

"That's so sad," she said, "Hopefully I can do something to help
him."

"Good luck. Mr. Potter has had one expert after another here to help him and none of them
have succeeded so far," Cole explained.

"If James is taking it so hard, why doesn't Mr. Potter stop seeing Miss Weasley?"
Hermione asked, knowing she was overstepping her bounds, but letting her curiosity win out in the
end.

"Because he's got all the Weasley's pressuring him to marry her," Cole
replied, shaking his head. "I almost feel sorry for him, I don't think he was completely
over Miss Lovegood, his first wife, when Mrs. Weasley started pushing Ginny at him."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Hermione asked, more to herself than to Cole.

"You'll soon find out for yourself," he answered, "Good luck, and if you need
anything my room is two doors down from yours. Harry likes to keep his employees close."

"Okay, thanks for the warning and I'm sure I'll see you again soon," Hermione
replied with a smile. As she picked up two of her bags, Cole picked up the other two and walked
next to her down the driveway. Hermione was quiet the entire way, thinking over everything Cole had
just told her about her new employer...she was beginning to think that this job may not be as
wonderful as she first thought.

~*~

"Mr. Potter?" Lisa Bradley asked, knocking lightly on the study door and then walking
in when he called out, "Come in."

She found him sitting at his desk with a picture of Luna in his hands. She knew he came in here
often to do just this since Miss Weasley wasn't allowed into his study. She remembered the day
that Miss Weasley had insisted he take down all the pictures of the late Mrs. Potter...she had been
so angry on Harry's behalf that day and had become even more angry when Harry had actually
taken them down. James had looked heartbroken that day, and he had hardly spoken to any of them
since. All he had left were a few hidden pictures in here and the kids rooms, which of course Ginny
Weasley knew nothing about.

"What is it Lisa?" Harry asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I just wanted to let you know that Miss Granger has arrived," she replied, concerned
by the look of sadness that was on his face.

"Will you please show her to her room so that she can put her bags in there and then bring
her here?" Harry asked, "I need to speak with her."

"Yes Mr. Potter," Lisa replied.

As she turned to leave the study Harry said, "How many times have I asked you not to call
me Mr. Potter, Lisa?"

"I don't know Sir," Lisa replied as she turned back to face him, causing him to
give her a dark look for her use of the word 'Sir', "I would call you by your first
name, as you requested, if it weren't for the fact that Miss Weasley berates me for it when I
do it in her presence."

"Right," Harry said, his voice dropping in volume, "I forgot about that. I
don't suppose you would call me by my first name when she's not around, would
you?"

"I'll try Si...Harry," Lisa replied with a smile. Harry could be one of the nicest
guys sometimes, it made her wonder what the hell he was doing with Ginny Weasley...unfortunately
Lisa didn't feel comfortable bringing up the subject of Miss Weasley in that capacity.
"I'll be right back with Miss Granger."

"Alright," Harry said, and then went back to looking at Luna's picture thinking,
'Why did you have to leave us so soon?'


As soon as Hermione had set her luggage in her room, Lisa told her that Mr. Potter wished to speak
to her right away. "Oh, okay," Hermione said, feeling slightly nervous at the impending
meeting.

Quickly checking her hair in the mirror that was over the dresser, Hermione walked out into the
corridor where Lisa was waiting for her. She followed her down the long hall, passing by many
doors, and she could hear Lily laughing behind one of them. When the door suddenly opened Lily saw
her, lunged for her and said excitedly, "Hermy!"

Smiling at Lily's excitement, she reached down and picked her up, balancing her on her hip.
"Hello Lily," she said, "How have you been?"

"Bored," the little girl answered, "No one will play with me."

"Well, I have to talk to your Dad for a little while but as soon as I'm finished
I'll come play with you, okay?" Hermione asked.

"Oh," Lily said, sounding a little defeated. Hermione had a bad feeling when the
little girls eyes suddenly lit up and then she asked, "How about if I go to see my Daddy with
you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea Lily," Lisa said, giving the girl a somewhat
stern look.

"But you're not the one talking to Daddy, Hermy is," Lily replied stubbornly, and
then turning toward Hermione she laid her head on her shoulder and giving her puppy dog eyes asked,
"Can I Hermy? Can I go with you? Please?"

Hermione looked from Lisa to Lily and said, "Why don't we ask your Dad if it's okay
and if he says yes then you can stay during our talk, okay?"

"Okay," Lily said, her eyes lighting up once again.

The three of them continued on toward Harry's study and when Lisa knocked on the door his
masculine voice called out, "Come in."

~*~

When he heard the door opening he looked up, expecting to see Hermione, but was surprised to see
her holding Lily in her arms. When Lily smiled at him and waved he asked, "Lily, what are you
doing here?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter," Hermione answered, "She came out of her room and
asked me to play. When I told her I was coming here she asked to come too. I told her she could
only stay if you said it was okay."

"Can I stay Daddy?" Lily asked expectantly, giving her Father the same puppy eyes she
had just given Hermione.

Harry looked from his daughter to Hermione and couldn't believe how Lily had taken to the
woman so quickly. She had hated the last nanny so much that she would bite her any chance she could
and never listened to her. But she let Hermione pick her up and seemed to be listening to her
already. He continued to look at Hermione, trying to figure out what it was about her that had won
his daughters favor so quickly, and replied, "I guess you can stay. But you have to promise to
be quiet so I can talk to Miss Granger, okay?"

"Okay," Lily agreed, giving Hermione a huge smile.

With a smile on her face also, Hermione sat in one of the chairs in front of Harry's desk
and rearranged Lily so that they were both sitting comfortably. When both were settled she looked
at Harry and waited for him to speak. He watched her for a minute, making her a bit uncomfortable,
and then said, "It seems that you and Lily get on well already."

"She's a very sweet girl," Hermione replied, looking down at Lily with a
heart-felt smile on her face.

"Yes she is," Harry agreed, giving Lily a loving smile of his own. "I also have a
six year old son, his name is James and his room is across the hall from Lily's. He goes to
school every morning at eight and Cole usually drives him. Do you drive?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, "But I don't own a car."

"That's fine, on the morning's that Cole can't do it you can take him in one of
my cars," he said. "Both James and Lily go to bed at eight p.m. sharp, and James is to be
awakened at seven on school days. You will be responsible for waking Lily also, at eight every
morning, and you will need to dress her for the day and fix her hair. Lisa will make their
breakfast and after James is off to school and Lily has eaten you are to make sure that Lily is
kept occupied and out of trouble. James arrives home from school between three and three-thirty, so
you will need to watch him also from that time until bedtime. Your pay will be five hundred pounds
a week, I will pay you every Friday, and you will have every Sunday off. If something comes up
where I need you on a Sunday, we will discuss it well beforehand and make other arrangements for
your day off. Any questions?"

"Not right now," Hermione answered, "I'm sure I'll have one or two later,
but Lisa can probably answer them for me."

"If she can't just come to me and I'll answer them," Harry said.
"Don't be afraid to come to me with any problems that you have with either Lily or James.
If they're bad tell me and I will discipline them accordingly."

"Okay," Hermione replied.

"Oh, and please try to keep them away from Gi-Miss Weasley," he said, without any
further explanation, and they both noticed the sour face Lily made at the mention of the other
woman. When Hermione didn't ask any questions he said, "That's about all for now, if I
think of anything else I'll let you know."

Nodding her head in understanding, Hermione said, "Thank you again Mr. Potter, I won't
disappoint you," and made her way out of the study with Lily still in her arms, making her way
to the girl's room to play with her.

Harry watched her closely as she left the room with her head bent close to Lily's, talking
in low tones to the girl, and he tried not to think about how lovely Hermione was or how good she
was with Lily. Realization dawned on the direction his thoughts were taking him and he quashed them
immediately. What bothered him the most was that, even though he barely knew her, there was just
something about her that reminded him of Luna. Whatever the reason was, he had a feeling that Miss
Granger was going to get on the wrong side of Ginny, and that it wouldn't take long to happen.
It didn't matter though, this time Harry would overrule the obstinate redhead...Hermione would
stay on as Lily and James' Nanny, no matter what Ginny said or how much she argued with
him.



3. The First Crack In The Dam
-----------------------------


~A/N> Here's chapter 3. Thank you so much for all the great reviews you've been
leaving! This is the last pre-written chapter I have, so hopefully I'll have chapter 4 done
shortly. I'll be working on it tomorrow. The length of the chapters will be staying the same,
I'm comfortable with it and I don't intend for this to be a really, really long story.
There's a little cliffy at the end, but I will work hard to get the next chapter written asap
so you won't be left hanging long. A big thank-you to poppywillow who helped me with this
chapter, and I hope you enjoy! :)



Hermione was near her wits end.

She'd been working for Mr. Potter for exactly one month, and in that entire time she had
been unable to get through to James. The first day she was there, while she had been playing with
Lily in her room, she had sensed someone watching her. She had looked up to see James standing in
the doorway watching them play. When she had introduced herself and asked if he wanted to play with
them, he had simply turned around and walked away. "He misses our Mum," Lily had said,
"He's sad all the time, and Miss Weasley isn't very nice to him. She made our Daddy
take down the pictures of our Mum because it's going to be her house now."

Hermione remembered the flash of anger she had experienced when she heard how Miss Weasley
treated James. Before she could think on it more Lily had gone into one of her bureau drawers and
pulled out a picture. When Lily had handed it to her to look at she knew it was the late Mrs.
Potter just from the resemblence between the woman in the picture and the little girl. "Daddy
gave me that picture and said I was to hide it so that no one else would find it. I don't want
to hide it though...I want to keep it out so that I can still see Mummy every day. I miss
her."

Hermione had hugged Lily, telling her that it was okay to miss her Mum and still want to see her
every day, if only in a photograph. "I couldn't imagine how sad I would be if I
couldn't see or speak with my Mum whenever I wanted to," she had told Lily, "But
she'll always be with you as long as you keep her memory alive in your heart."

Lily had launched herself at Hermione, hugging her fiercely. "No one else will talk to me
about Mum," she had said with tears in her eyes, "I'm afraid I'll forget
her."

Hermione had lain awake in her room that night, trying to comprehend what kind of bloke would
put a woman before his own children. She had no idea how long it had been since the late Mrs.
Potter's passing, but it was obvious to her how much James and Lily were still hurting over the
loss of their Mum, so why would Mr. Potter disregard their feelings just to be with Miss Weasley?
That night she had made a decision that could, in the very least, cost her the Nanny position. But
she found that she was willing to risk it, if it opened Mr. Potter's eyes to his son and
daughter's grief.

It had taken four weeks to finally go through with her decision, but finally she was told that
Cole couldn't take James to school one morning and that she was to drive him. After a silent
ride, which made her wish she knew how to get through to the boy because he was obviously
depressed, she stopped at a store and picked up two picture frames. One was a shiny gold frame that
had intricate patterns engraved around it, all meeting at a heart that was on the bottom, in the
middle and the other was black. When she arrived home she put her purchases, all except Lily's
frame, in her room and made her way to Lily's room, where she found the little girl sitting on
her bed weeping.

"Lily, what's wrong?" she asked as she made her way to sit on the bed next to her.
Lily turned and buried her face in Hermione's chest, sobbing harder and mumbling incoherently.
Hermione wrapped her arms around her and just held her while she cried, waiting until she was able
to talk about what had upset her so.

"She's so mean!" Lily said with a hitch in her voice.

"Who is?" Hermione asked gently as she smoothed the hair from Lily's face, having
a pretty good idea who she was referring to.

"Miss Ginny," Lily replied, looking at Hermione with such sadness in her eyes,
"She came in a little while ago and said she was going to do my hair. When I told her that you
usually do it she said I was not to talk back and she grabbed the brush and yanked it through my
hair. It really hurt."

Hermione felt her jaw clench in anger as the sudden urge to give Miss Weasley a tongue lashing
overtook her. She comforted the girl for quite a while and when she felt she was calmed down she
picked up the bag that held the frame she had purchased for Lily and said, "I bought you a
gift this morning Lily."

The little girl's green eyes took on such a light that Hermione silently congratulated
herself on her idea. Handing the bag over, she watched as Lily opened it and pulled out the frame,
giving her a confused look. "What's this for?"

"It's for your Mum's picture," she replied, "You can put it in the frame
and it will sit on your nightstand so you can see your Mum every night before you go to sleep and
every morning when you wake up."

Hermione knew she would never forget the look on Lily's face as they put her Mum's
picture in the frame and carefully set it on the nightstand, facing her bed. They had started
playing games after that, Lily's spirits raised considerably, and both were laughing and having
such a good time.

"If you're going to be so loud you need to close the door," Ginny said, suddenly
standing in the doorway with a not-so-nice expression on her face.

"I'm sorry Miss Weasley," Hermione replied, trying to keep her anger out of her
voice.

Ginny had grabbed the door handle so that she could pull the door shut on her way out and
Hermione noticed that she suddenly froze in mid-swing. Opening the door up again, she looked toward
Lily and asked, "What is that?"

Hermione felt a pool of dread gather in her stomach as Miss Weasley walked over to the
nightstand and picked up the picture of Lily's Mum in the new frame. "Where did this come
from?" she asked in a tight voice.

"That's mine!" Lily said, running over to grab it from her.

Ginny swiftly raised the frame into the air so that Lily couldn't reach it and asked,
"Who gave it to you?"

Lily stopped trying to reach the frame and looked defiantly at her. When Ginny narrowed her gaze
at her Lily said, "Hermy gave it to me, now give it back!"

"Oh really?" Ginny asked, turning angry eyes on Hermione while Lily desperately jumped
and tried to reach her Mother's picture. "What do you mean by giving her this?! It's
not your place to go out and buy things for her!"

Harry, who had been in his study trying to get some work done, had heard Lily yelling and
decided to see what was going on. He walked down the corridor to Lily's bedroom door and when
he looked inside his eyes widened. Ginny stood next to Lily's bed holding what looked to be a
picture frame, almost shouting at Hermione who was sitting on Lily's bed, while Lily was
jumping up and down trying to grab the frame out of Ginny's hand.

"What is going on in here?" he had asked in a raised voice so that he could be heard
over the chaos.

"Daddy!" Lily said, relieved.

"Harry, thank goodness," Ginny said, stepping around Lily and making her way toward
him. "Look what I found on Lily's nightstand," she said as she shoved the frame into
his hands.

"Daddy, that's mine!" Lily said on the verge of tears as she ran to him and hugged
his legs tightly.

Harry looked toward Hermione who sat quietly on the bed with a strange expression on her face
and then looked down at the picture frame he held in his hand. His eyes softened as he saw the
picture of Luna in it.

"Where did this picture come from?" Ginny asked him, clearly upset, "I thought we
agreed to get rid of them."

"Lily and James should each get to keep a picture of their Mother," Harry replied
quietly, not meeting her stare.

"That's not what you said when we discussed it," Ginny said with a very unladylike
pout. "I told you how uncomfortable it makes me to have her pictures around what is soon-to-be
my home."

"This isn't your home!" Lily had nearly shouted as she released Harry's legs,
"And you're not my Mum!" Looking imploringly up at him she said, "Daddy, you
gave it to me, tell her it's mine! Please don't take it away!"

Hermione's heart broke at the look of utter despair on Lily's face, along with
fear...she was afraid that her Dad was going to take the picture away from her just to appease
Ginny.

"Lily, shut it!" Ginny had hissed, causing both Harry and Hermione to look at her in
surprise, and that was all Hermione could take.

"Mr. Potter, I bought Lily the frame for her Mother's picture," she admitted,
looking at him and no one else. "I thought she would like to have it so that she could see her
Mum everyday...she misses her so much."

"That's not your decision to make," Ginny said angrily as she glared at her.

Harry just looked at Hermione silently for a moment and then his gaze slid to his daughter. When
he saw how sad and upset Lily looked he turned to Ginny and said, "I need to speak to
Lily...alone...for a moment."

"B-But I...we agreed..." Ginny replied, and seeing that Harry wasn't going to
change his mind, she turned and stalked past him into the hallway.

Looking up at Hermione he said, "You can go to your room for now, I'll come speak to
you after Lily and I have a chat."

"Yes Sir," Hermione said dejectedly, sure she was about to lose her position.

"You'd better start packing your things," Ginny said as she walked past her in the
corridor, "You're as good as sacked."

Hermione stopped and looked back at her, daring to look down her nose at the spiteful witch and
replied, "That may be, but it was worth it if it made Mr. Potter finally see just how horribly
you treat his children or make him realize how much they are hurting over the loss of their
mother." Hermione had had all she could take, if she was going to lose her job then by Merlin,
she would tell Miss Ginny Weasley just what she thought. Feeling very proud of herself, she turned
to make her way to her room, missing the look of shock and anger that quickly passed over Miss
Weasley's face.

She looked around her room as she walked through the door, realizing how much she enjoyed
working for Mr. Potter and knowing how much she would miss Lily, and even James although she really
hadn't gotten to know him any better. Closing the door as quietly as possible, she leaned back
against it and slid slowly down until she was sitting on the floor. 'I can't believe I
said all those things to her,' she thought, placing her head in her hands as the anger at
herself flooded through her. How could she have gone off like that? What had she been thinking?

'You were thinking of Lily and James,' came the answer from her subconscious.
Her head snapped up suddenly as the realization hit her...damn it, she did it for them, and
that's all she needed to remember. If it meant that Mr. Potter paid more attention to them
instead of concentrating on pleasing Miss Weasley so much, then it would definitely be worth losing
her job over.

Feeling a little more at ease, she busied herself with straightening her room and when she was
done she brought out the new book she had purchased that morning. Settling comfortably into a chair
she tried to immerse herself in one of her guilty pleasures, a sappy romance novel, and soon all
thoughts of what had happened just a short time before was overshadowed by pirates and fair
maidens.

What seemed like thirty minutes later to her, someone rapped on her door, and the dread she felt
before came back tenfold as she assumed it was Mr. Potter there to sack her. When she opened the
door though, it wasn't Mr. Potter standing on the other side, it was...

"James?"

She hadn't even heard him come home, or realized just how late in the afternoon it was, so
it was a surprise to see him there. Not knowing when she would have the chance again, Hermione
walked over to her nightstand and took a bag out of its drawer. Walking back to the door where he
stood, she took another picture frame out of the bag, this one black with gold trim, and showed it
to him. "I bought this for you today. Lily showed me the picture of her Mum that your Dad gave
her and I thought she might like a frame so that she could have the picture sitting out in her
room... that way she can see it all the time. I assumed you had a picture too, but if you don't
I can take Lily's into town and have a copy made for you." When James stood there looking
back and forth between her face and the frame in her hands she said, "You don't have to
take it now, I'll keep it in my room and whenever you want it, you just let me know
okay?"

She watched as a flicker of sadness passed over his features and just as quickly was gone. He
gave a slight nod and then watched her as she put the frame back into the drawer. He stood there
after that, staring at her with his green eyes that were an exact match to his Dad and
sister's, and after a moments hesitation he held out his hand to her. Walking over to him
slowly, she gently took hold of his proffered hand and closed the door behind her. Silently, she
let him guide her down the hall and was surprised when he stopped in front of Lily's open
bedroom door. Inside, Lily and Mr. Potter were sitting side-by-side on the floor, obviously
discussing something very serious by the looks on their faces. Lily looked up and when she saw her
said, "Hi Hermy, Daddy and I are talking."

"That's good," Hermione said as she smiled at Lily affectionately.

"It's very good," Harry said, shifting her attention to him. Hermione had to stop
herself from gasping aloud at the intensity in his stare and then breaking eye contact he looked at
his son and added, "Thank you for bringing Hermione here James. Why don't you two come in
and join us?"

Hermione went to take a step forward but stopped as she noticed that James was not moving. She
turned her gaze back to Harry as he said, "It's okay James, I know you don't want to
talk, but Lily and I would like it if you would just come sit with us and listen. It seems that she
has a lot to say."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the trace of humor she heard in his voice as he said the
last part. She knew how much Lily loved to talk and ask questions, and sometimes the little girl
could be downright unrelenting in her quest to learn everything she could in one day. Turning back
to look at James, she watched as he stared at his Dad and sister and then started to walk into the
room. The look of relief that was on Harry's face mirrored the way she felt as James let go of
her hand, went to Harry's side and sat down.

"Close the door and come join us Miss Granger," Harry stated, "From what Lily has
told me, it seems that you should be included in our discussion too. She's asked if it's
okay to tell you all about her Mum, and it seems to mean a lot to her for you to know, so I've
told her that it's okay with me."

Hermione was shocked. It seemed almost taboo to mention the late Mrs. Potter in this house, let
alone have any pictures of her around, and here were the three people that loved Luna Potter the
most in this world, ready to tell her all about their wife and Mum. Walking over to them, she sat
next to Lily and smiled as the little girl crawled onto her lap and got comfortable. It seemed this
was going to be a very interesting discussion indeed...



4. Healing Confessions and Strange Feelings
-------------------------------------------


~A/N> Hello everyone! Here's chapter four :) I have to say, this is my favorite chapter
so far. I've written some of chapter five, so hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the
week. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, you guys are great!!


"Before we begin," Harry said as he pulled his wand from his back pocket, "I think
I'd like to make sure that we can talk privately."

He cast a silencing and locking spell on the room, which was good because Ginny was right around
the corner listening. When she heard the locking charm take affect she stomped away to the Kitchen,
hellbent on giving Lisa a hard time.

"Can I tell her now Daddy?" Lily asked, looking at Harry expectantly.

"Yes pumpkin," Harry said with affection in his voice.

"I wanted to tell you about my Mummy," Lily started, looking back at Hermione's
face, "Because you're the only growned-up that has ever talked to me about her, besides
Daddy. Not even Lisa will talk about her with me."

"Um, well that's because..." Hermione started and then stopped herself
abruptly.

When she stayed quiet Harry looked at her and saw a very uncomfortable look on her face.
"What is it?" he asked, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy.

"I don't know if I should say anything Mr. Potter," she replied, looking anywhere
but at him.

"First off, please call me Harry, I don't like people that work for me calling me Mr.
Potter," he stated, looking a little angry now. "And second, if there is something going
on under my roof that I don't know about, I expect you to tell me."

"Well Si...H-Harry...it's just that on the day I started here..." she trailed off,
a little weary of telling him.

"Yes?" Harry said, silently prodding her on.

"Miss Weasley told me that I was not to mention the late Mrs. Potter," she replied
quickly, without meeting his eyes.

"I see," he said after a few moments of complete silence. James just sat staring at
the floor while Lily and Hermione sat watching Harry's reaction. "That is something that
we will discuss more later, I believe Lily was going to tell you about her and James'
Mum."

"Right," Lily agreed with a smile. The little girl wiggled around until she had turned
herself just enough in Hermione's lap so that she could look Hermione in the face as she spoke.
"Mummy and Daddy met at Hogwarts, and after Daddy beat V-V..."

"Voldemort," Harry said since Lily was unable to pronounce it.

"Yeah, him," Lily agreed again, "they got married and had James. Then two years
after that they had me. Mummy and Daddy came here and made it pretty for us and we had so much
fun!"

"That's right pumpkin," Harry praised with a slight, loving smile.

Hermione watched the smile on Lily's face slowly disappear and when the little girl's
eyes locked on hers, she teared up at the sadness she could now see in them. "Then last
year..."

"It was almost two years ago now luv," Harry corrected, his own eyes and voice full of
sadness now.

"Then almost two years ago," Lily said correctly, "my Mummy went to town to buy
something and she never came home. Daddy said that one of the Bad Man's friends hurt her and
she wouldn't be coming home again."

Hermione blinked, causing a single tear to gently slide down her face, and tightened her hold on
Lily. The little girl lay her head against her chest and it was very quiet as the three Potters
seemed to be lost in their memories. Her throat suddenly constricted by emotion, Hermione cleared
it as quietly as she could and looking at Harry asked, "Did they catch the Bad Man's
friend that hurt your wife?"

"Yes," Harry answered quietly, "It turned out to be one of Voldemort's
minions that hadn't been rounded up after I defeated him eight years ago. I thank the Gods
everyday that James and Lily stayed home that day, otherwise I would have lost them too."

It became strangely silent in Lily's pink and purple bedroom and when Hermione looked over
at James her heart broke as she noticed that he had two tear tracks on his face. "Are you okay
James?" she asked quietly as she gently placed her hand on his back for comfort.

Harry looked over at his son and immediately put his hand on his shoulder. Lily crawled from
Hermione's lap over to her brother and hugged him tightly. "I miss her too, James,"
said the little girl sadly.

"We all miss your Mum," Harry said sadly.

James, who had awkwardly wrapped his arms around his little sister to return her hug, glared
angrily at Harry over her shoulder with tears still in his eyes. Surprising everyone in the room he
said in a low, raspy voice, "You don't."

When Hermione turned her shocked gaze from James to Harry, she noticed that Harry looked as if
he had just been punched in the stomach, hard. "O-of course I do," he replied, surprised
that his son had finally talked and yet hurt by what he had said.

Without saying another word, James let go of Lily and scooted back from her. With one last angry
look at his dad, James stood up and made his way to the door. Putting his hand on the doorknob, he
stood with his back to the three others and waited silently for Harry to take off the locking
charm. Harry ran his hand roughly through his hair and sighed heavily as he watched his son just
standing there. Feeling a mixture of emotions, he brought his wand out once more and unlocked the
door. James immediately opened it once he heard the lock disengage and the next thing that was
heard was the slamming of his bedroom door.

"Poor James," Lily said as she crawled into Harry's lap and hugged him next.
"Don't worry Daddy, I know you loved Mummy."

"Thank you pumpkin," Harry said quietly as he looked over his daughter's head at
Hermione who still sat staring at the door, one lone tear snaking silently down her cheek.

~*~

After the eventful afternoon, Hermione had made her way back to her room while Harry and Lily
had gone down to dinner. She had heard James go downstairs shortly after the other two had and she
could only imagine the tense atmosphere that would surround the meal that night. She already felt
emotionally drained from all that had happened, so she had decided that she would forego dinner
that night to relax until she had to get Lily and James ready for bed.

Now she sat in the comfortable armchair in the corner of her room with her legs tucked
underneath her as classical music drifted quietly from her radio. Taking a deep, calming breath she
closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, relaxing away the tenseness that the time spent in
Lily's room had caused.

Her eyes popped open suddenly as someone rapped on her door. Sighing, she lazily got out of her
chair and made her way to the door, expecting to see Lisa on the other side, asking if she would be
joining them for dinner. Instead, she was surprised to see Cole standing there, dressed in jeans
and a T-shirt and looking much more handsome than she remembered.

"Hello," he said happily with a dashing smile, "Feel like a bit of
company?"

"Sure," she replied, returning his infectious smile. Motioning for him to come in, she
closed the door behind him and watched as he took a seat on her bed. Walking over to the chair, she
picked the pillow up that she had set down and got comfortable once again.

"Rough day?" Cole asked as he took in her slumped shoulders and tired expression.

"You have no idea," she replied. When he just sat quietly watching her, she added,
"There was an incident with me and Miss Weasley this morning...let's just say it
wasn't pretty."

"I heard," he said, "Lisa filled me in when I came in from shift change. If it
makes you feel better, you're the only person to work for Harry so far that has confronted Miss
Weasley and not been sacked on the spot."

"Well, I guess that's something," she replied, giving him a slight smile.

They continued to talk about everything and nothing for the next hour, enjoying the other's
company after a long day. When there came yet another knock on her door, Hermione looked at Cole
wearily as she crossed the room and said quietly, "I really hope it's not Miss
Weasley."

"That makes two of us," Cole replied in the same low tone of voice, causing her to
smile.

She reached out and turned the knob, still looking back at Cole as he said something else that
she didn't quite hear. "What was that?" she asked, swinging the door open.

"I didn't say anything," came Harry's deep voice, causing Hermione to turn
around quickly.

"Oh Mr. P-I mean Harry," she corrected as she remembered his request earlier that
afternoon, "I'm sorry, I was speaking to Cole as I answered the door."

"Cole?" Harry repeated, and then noticed the man in question as he leaned over and
came into view behind Hermione. "Oh, hello Cole."

"Hello Mr...I mean hello Harry," Cole replied, correcting himself since he had been
told to call his boss by his first name also.

"I'm um...sorry to interrupt, but I needed to speak to you," Harry said, bringing
his gaze back to Hermione's. Noticing the slight pink tinge that blossomed on her cheeks, he
realized that he suddenly felt annoyed for no reason. Not wanting to think about why he felt that
way he said, "Come see me in my office in five minutes."

Confused by the sharp way he had said it, Hermione looked at him blankly and said, "Yes
sir, I'll be right there."

After watching him stiffly walk away, Hermione closed the door and turned back to Cole, seeing
the same confused look she must have been wearing mirrored on his face. "What was that all
about?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied, "But I should go speak to him right
away."

She watched Cole as he stood up and made his way toward the door, noting the fluid way his body
moved as he walked. Shaking herself from the thought, she smiled at him and said, "Thank you
for keeping me company, I enjoyed our conversation."

"I did too," he replied, lightly placing his hand on her arm and giving her a friendly
smile, "If you ever want to talk, don't hesitate to knock on my door, okay?"

"I won't, thanks," she said, and then watched as he made his way out her door.
Trying not to think about how much she enjoyed Cole's company or her employer's strange
behavior, Hermione walked over to her chair and sat to put her shoes on. Wondering for the first
time since that morning if she may still lose her job, she thought over everything that had
happened so far that day and mumbled quietly to herself, "Only one way to find out."

~*~

Harry made his way back to his study in a haze as images of Cole in Hermione's room kept
flashing through his head. 'Why the bloody hell should I care?' he thought as he turned the
corner, and bumped head on into Ginny.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, grabbing onto his arms, "Goodness, where are you going in
such a hurry?"

"I'm sorry Ginny," he apologized off handedly, "Just had things on my mind
and wasn't watching where I was going."

"Oh, okay," she replied, noticing the way he wasn't really looking at her.
"Why don't we spend some time together? James and Lily are with Lisa, we could go snuggle
up somewhere and talk, maybe snog a bit...it's been a while since we've had time
alone."

"Not right now Ginny," Harry said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I have
other things I have to do."

"Fine," she huffed, brushing by him, "When you decide to be nice to me again,
come find me and we can have some fun."

"Whatever," Harry mumbled, continuing down the corridor.

Ginny watched him walk away, her eyes wide with disbelief, and just as she turned to make her
way to the bathroom someone else collided with her. "Bloody hell, watch where you're
going!"

"I-I'm sorry Miss Weasley," came the feminine reply, "I was just on my way to
see H...Mr. Potter."

"You better not be one of the things he has to 'do'," she spat, spearing
Hermione with her angry, narrowed gaze.

"W-What?" Hermione asked, only to have the redhead practically push her aside and
stomp down the hall. Feeling really confused, Hermione continued on to Harry's office and
mumbled, "Stark raving mad, that one."

Oblivious to Ginny's temper tantrum, Harry was in his study, pacing back and forth behind
his desk. He felt on edge and uneasy, almost uncomfortable in his own skin. "What is wrong
with me?" he asked aloud, talking to no one but himself. Running his hand through his
now-disheveled hair, he stopped pacing abruptly when there was a knock on the door.
"Enter," he bit out, swearing at himself for sounding as angry as he felt. Hermione
hadn't done anything to make him angry at her, so what was it that was causing him to feel this
way?

The door opened slowly and his eyes followed her as she walked toward his desk and sat in one of
the chairs in front of it. Feeling too worked up to sit still, Harry stayed standing and put both
hands on the back of his office chair. When Hermione just sat there, watching him silently, he took
a deep breath and more demanded than asked, "Please tell me what it was that Ginny said to you
about mentioning Luna."

"Erm, well...she came to my room the first day I was here, after I put Lily and James to
bed, and said she needed to speak to me," Hermione replied, looking uneasy. "She walked
into my room, shut the door and told me that in no uncertain terms was I ever to bring up the late
Mrs. Potter around her, you, or the children."

"You don't say," Harry said after a moment's silence, "But didn't
Lily say that you two discussed Luna before?"

"Well...yes, she did," Hermoine admitted, "Mr. P...Harry, I may be well out of
line by saying this, but I believe that Lily and James have a right to remember their Mother. She
brought them into this world, she loved them for as long as she could, and I just don't feel
that it's right to ask them to forget her."

"Nobody's asking them to do that," Harry replied quietly with an edge to his
voice.

"I beg to differ sir," Hermione said, "That's exactly what Miss Weasley is
doing, and she told Cole and Lisa the same thing."

Harry bristled as she mentioned Cole and then turned to look out the window behind his desk to
cover his reaction from her. Taking a deep breath and keeping his back turned to her he said,
"Thank you for being honest with me...I'll see to it that this problem is
rectified."

When he didn't turn around and stayed quiet for a while Hermione cleared her throat and
asked, "Is that all sir?"

"Yes," he replied, "You can go."

Glad that she was in fact not going to get sacked, Hermione got up quickly and made her way to
the door, wanting to escape the tense atmosphere as quickly as possible. Just as she was reaching
for the door, she heard him say, "Hermione?"

Her movements stilled immediately, surprised to hear him use her first name, and when she turned
to face him she found him watching her. Taking her hand off the door, she met his intense stare and
replied quietly, "Yes sir?"

"I just wanted you to know that you're doing an excellent job with Lily and
James," he said.

"Thank you sir," she replied and when he said nothing else she turned once more to
open the door.

Just as she went to step into the corridor Harry said, "Oh, and Hermione..."

"Yes?" she asked again as she paused in the doorway.

"Don't call me sir."



5. Life's Little Surprises
--------------------------


~A/N> I think I can safely say that this chapter includes one of the moments you've been
waiting for :) I've already started on the next chapter so I'm hoping to finish it by
week's end. I hope you enjoy the chapter and a big thanks to everyone who has read and/or
reviewed so far! I'm sorry I haven't responded to any reviews lately but between my boys,
writing and managing my podcast, I've been quite the busy person.


That night in the Potter house was pure hell. Ginny Weasley had finally had enough of Harry's
moodiness and the way he had been ignoring her. When he had gone into the bedroom around ten
o'clock that night, everyone in the house soon found out just how angry she really was.

"How dare you skive off spending time with me to talk to that...that...nanny!" Ginny
yelled, making Hermione's job sound like the most vile word in all of England. "And what
was all that nonsense this morning? Hiding out in Lily's room the way you did? I should have
been included in your little 'talk'...not her."

Hermione lay in her bed, listening to her name and job position being used as a bad word, and
the way Miss Weasley said it made her feel almost dirty. As the redhead launched into yet another
tirade Hermione could hear one of the doors down the hall squeak as it opened., She quickly put on
her robe, opened her door as quietly as possible, and peeked out into the corridor. Looking to the
right, she could see Lily peeking out a crack in her door and quietly made her way to check on the
frightened looking girl.

"Did Miss Weasley's yelling wake you?" Hermione asked quietly with a look of
concern on her face.

"Yes," Lily replied with fear showing in her eyes, "Why is she so mad? And why is
she yelling at Daddy?"

"I'm not sure why," Hermione fibbed, picking her up. "Let's get you back
to bed."

"No!" Lily said so fervently that Hermione stopped in mid-stride and almost stumbled.
"I don't want to go back to bed...I don't want to be by myself."

"What if I sit with you until you go back to sleep?" Hermione asked, tucking a lock of
blond hair behind Lily's ear.

"Okay," she agreed.

Hermione carried her back to her bed and tucked her in, making sure she was well covered. The
temperature that night had dropped more than normal for the time of year and she had to ask Lisa
for extra blankets. Sitting on the side of the bed, Hermione started to lightly run her hand over
Lily's hair. Humming a lullaby that her Mum had always sung to her when she couldn't sleep,
Hermione watched as Lily's eyes started to droop slowly until they were closed completely and
her breathing had started to even out.

"Get out!" Harry suddenly yelled, startling Lily awake again and causing Hermione to
jump. As Hermione tried to soothe her again, she heard the door to Harry's room slam open and
two sets of feet stomping down the corridor. "You heard me, I said get out!" he repeated,
his voice louder this time. "I will not have you going behind my back to my employees, trying
your damnedest to erase Luna's memory. She is...was...the Mother of my children and the fact
that you even tried appalls and sickens me to no end. Now leave my house!"

"B-But I...you can't...where am I supposed to go?" Ginny spluttered, her face
bright red as her eyes danced with fire.

"Go back to Molly," he spat as he advanced on her, "Tell her that I said she can
have her little girl back and that I've had my fill of you." As Ginny stomped her foot
angrily one last time and turned to go down the stairs, Harry said, "Oh, and make sure to tell
her that I don't need her to play matchmaker any more!"

Ginny halted on the fifth step and turned to glare at Harry as she said, "Of course you
don't, not since that tart moved in. I'm sure you've been planning this ever since you
hired her."

While they had been shouting back and forth, Hermione told Lily to stay in bed and had crept up
to the door to watch what was happening, unnoticed. After Ginny had called her a tart her eyes grew
wide at the insult and she gasped as she suddenly felt a powerful wave of magic pass through her.
Shocked, she stared at Harry and then jumped as the table that had been against the wall behind him
slid across the hall and slammed into the railing. At the same time all the candles in the sconces
that were lighting the hall and staircase blew out, leaving Harry and Ginny in the dark. Thankfully
the light in Lily's room didn't go out and frighten the little girl even more than she
already was.

"Incendio," Harry said quietly, causing the sconces to light up once again. Breathing
quite heavily now, he pierced Ginny with his bright green eyes and said in an almost normal tone of
voice, "Leave now, and don't come back."

Recovering from the powerful magic Harry had just inadvertently used, Ginny turned quickly, made
her way down the stairs and was out the door in mere seconds. Hermione had to say one thing for
her, at least she knew when to shut her mouth and get out as quickly as she could with all of her
limbs intact.

"Hermione?" Lily called softly as she peeked out from under her covers.

Hermione turned and made her way back to the bedside and sat once again. Lily untangled herself
from the blankets and crawled onto her lap, snuggling into her the way only a scared child who was
looking for comfort could. "Is Miss Ginny gone?" Lily asked, staring at Hermione with her
big green eyes.

"Yes, I believe she is," Hermione replied, trying not to dwell on how good the thought
made her feel.

"Is everything okay in here?" Harry asked quietly from the doorway, startling them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you, it's just that I heard voices and I
wanted to make sure Lily was okay."

"I'm okay," Lily answered as she watched Harry walk toward them.

"She um...she heard you and Miss Weasley arguing and got a little frightened,"
Hermione answered, looking and sounding unsure.

Walking up to them and squatting down so that he was at eye level with his daughter, Harry said,
"I'm sorry if I scared you pumpkin."

"It's okay Daddy," Lily replied, giving him a small smile. While he stared at her
lovingly, running his hand over her hair, a big yawn escaped her and her eyes drooped a bit as she
fought to keep them open. "Will you stay here with me until I go to sleep?" she asked
Harry tiredly.

"Of course I will," he answered immediately. When she crawled off of Hermoine's
lap and lay back on her pillow, Harry pulled the blankets up around her and knelt on the floor so
that he stayed face-to-face with her.

When Hermione gave him a smile and started to get up Lily quickly said, "Don't go
Hermy."

Hermione sat back down and looked at Lily. Seeing the little girl watching her she gave her a
reassuring smile and said, "I'm not going anywhere."

Happy with her answer, Lily snuggled down into her blankets and not even five minutes later was
sound asleep. Harry bent over and gently placed a kiss on her forehead as Hermione slowly got up
from the bed so as not to wake her up again. Once they were both in the hall, Harry closed the door
without a sound and turned to James' bedroom door. Taking a look inside, he saw that James was
fast asleep, the sound of his slow, steady breathing filling the room.

As he and Hermione made their way down the hall, Harry turned to her and asked, "I'm
not going to be able to go back to sleep, I think I'll have a spot of tea. Care to join
me?"

Hermione looked at him and found herself drawn into his eyes. They were such an intense color of
green and it seemed as if every time she looked at him she was drawn into them to the point where
she felt she might drown. Taking a deep breath and breaking eye contact with him she said, "I
should probably get back to bed, Lily and James might get up early, even though it's been an
eventful night."

She could feel him watching her but refused to look him in the eye again. Muttering "Good
night," she turned and headed to her room, wondering if she had made the right decision.

~*~

The next morning as Hermione walked into the kitchen, she could sense the change in the
atmosphere of the household. Lily was laughing at the funny faces Cole kept making, Lisa was
humming while she prepared breakfast, and Harry looked tired, but relaxed for the first time since
she had started working for him. As she sat in the chair next to Harry and thanked Lisa for the tea
she set in front of her, Hermione looked up at James who was sitting across from her and froze. He
was sitting there watching Cole entertain his sister and had the biggest smile on his face that she
had ever seen. Harry looked over at her, saw her staring, and following her gaze he noticed his
son's smile also. When Hermione looked over at him all he said was, "I've been such a
fool."

After that, breakfast was a myriad of small talk, teasing, and food consumption. Soon Cole stood
up and said, "Time for school James." Looking toward Hermione he winked at her and said,
"I'll see you later."

"Bye," she responded quietly, feeling her cheeks warm with his attention. As she
turned all her attention to stirring her already stirred tea, she missed the dark look that passed
over Harry's face as he watched the two of them.

"Hermy," Lily said, breaking into Harry and Hermione's sudden silence, "Can
we play outside this morning?"

Hermione looked out the window and when she saw how sunny it was outside she said, "That
sounds like a great idea."

The two of them finished their breakfast and made their way out into the vast front yard. As
they were tossing a ball back and forth, Harry walked out the door and stood watching them with a
smile on his face. Walking toward them, Hermione noticed that he carried a broom with him and was
surprised when he walked up to Lily and asked, "Feel like going for a ride pumpkin?"

"Yes!" Lily replied excitedly, jumping up and down.

Hermione watched as the two mounted the broom and Harry made sure that Lily was safely on before
pushing off the ground. He slowly ascended until they were level with the top of the shortest tree
on the property and then proceeded to fly in wide circles. When he started to carefully zigzag back
and forth, Hermione could hear Lily laughing and the sound was one of the best she had ever
heard.

When they finally came back down to earth, Harry and Lily's cheeks were tinged pink from the
cool wind hitting them as they flew. What she noticed next were their eyes, they were bright and
filled with a happiness that made Hermione feel a bit choked up. It made her happy just seeing them
so happy for a change, enjoying a joyous father/daughter moment that she hadn't witnessed until
that day.

As soon as Lily was off the broom, she went running to pick her ball up again. "Hey
Daddy," she called and when he looked toward her she threw the ball at him. Placing his broom
on the ground and catching it easily, he went to toss it back to her, only to laugh when Hermione
suddenly ran up and snatched it out of the air. "Hey!" Lily said, giggling as she started
to chase Hermione, "Give that back!"

"You'll have to catch me," Hermione called playfully, already some distance away
from her. She turned around and jogged backwards, slowing her pace so that the short-legged Lily
could catch up to her quickly.

Lily was laughing happily as she chased after her and Hermione would slow just enough to let her
catch up a bit and then would increase her speed again. When Lily suddenly stopped, smiling the
biggest smile she had ever seen, Hermione slowed again, confused.

"Gotcha!" came a masculine voice from behind as two arms wrapped themselves around her
waist, stopping her immediately. Lily ran up laughing and grabbed the ball off the ground where it
had dropped completely unnoticed when Hermione had turned around in surprise and came face-to-face
with Harry. She stood there with his arms wrapped around her, his touch sending a jolt of nervous
awareness through her body, and found herself looking into those damn eyes again.

Harry, on the other hand, was struck by how wonderful it felt to have her in his arms. With her
body pressed against his, he couldn't help but notice how nicely they fit together. Realizing
that he probably should have let go of her by now, he loosened his hold on her and stuttered,
"S-Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay," Hermione replied, unable to meet his eyes and silently admonishing
herself for wishing he would have held her just a little longer. "I, uh...I should get Lily
inside so that she can wash up for lunch."

"Right," Harry agreed as he dared a glimpse at her face. When she wouldn't look at
him, he swore inwardly at the stupidity of his actions. He hadn't meant to make her
uncomfortable, he had just gotten swept up in their game of keep-away when Lily had ran by him and
said, "Daddy, help me catch her!"

The three of them made their way silently back to the house, Lily in between the two adults,
looking back and forth between them and wondering why they were suddenly so quiet. Inside the
house, Lisa stood unnoticed by a window watching them, observing how Harry and Hermione stole a
glance when they thought the other wasn't looking. With a knowing smile, she made her way back
to the kitchen, wondering what it was going to take for them to admit they had feelings for each
other.



6. Confessions of Love Lost
---------------------------


~A/N> Thank God for my writing or else I might just go stark raving mad :p And thanks to all
the stress I've been under this week, I got the next chapter finished when I said I would.
I've actually got the next one all planned out and have a few paragraphs already written.
I'm not going to guesstimate on when it'll be finished though because I have a busy weekend
ahead of me...the best of it being that I get to see Goblet of Fire on Sunday!! :) I won tickets to
an advanced screening in San Diego and my boys and I are so excited to see it. Anyway, hopefully
(fingers crossed) the next chapter will be up by Tuesday because I have to start working on the
next Podcast. You get to learn more about Hermione in this chapter, and even though it's played
down, there's an important thing that happens (well, two actually). I want to say thank-you for
all the wonderful reviews and thanks to Poppywillow for all the help!



For the next three weeks things around the Potter house were quiet and routine. Everyone was in
better spirits and Harry spent most of his days spending time with Lily and James, which meant
spending a lot of time with Hermione also. They did everything they could to avoid any physical
contact or situations where they spent more than five minutes alone together. Lisa continued to
watch them ignore their feelings and it was starting to make her a tad bit cranky at times.

"Lisa, have you seen Harry?" Hermione asked as she walked into the kitchen with Lily
in tow.

"I'm not his keeper, I don't know where he is every minute of the day," Lisa
said in a clipped voice, startling both Hermione and Lily.

"I only asked because he promised to take Lily flying today since it will be too cold to
fly soon," Hermione said, giving her a confused look.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Lisa closed her eyes for a tick and then opened them once more. Focusing
on Hermione she said, "I'm sorry, it's just been one of those days."

Hermione gave her an understanding smile while saying, "I've had a few of those myself,
it's totally understandable."

Returning the smile Lisa replied, "I believe Harry is outside already."

"Thanks Lisa," Hermione said and started out of the kitchen toward the front door.

"Oh, and Hermione," Lisa called, stopping her just before she opened it, "Cole
has been looking for you."

"Thanks," Hermione replied, looking a bit uncomfortable, which made Lisa wonder what
the hell Hermione was playing at.

~*~

"Don't forget that I'll be hosting the Halloween Ball here next week," Harry
reminded everyone that night at dinner.

Hermione looked up quickly and asked, "Halloween Ball?"

"It's the social event of the year for the wizarding world," Cole replied before
Harry could, "Lot's of important witches and wizards dressed in their very finest.
It's one hell of a party."

When Lisa looked up she noticed that Harry was practically glaring at Cole and she tried not to
laugh at the thought that Cole should have already fallen out of his chair dead if looks could
kill.

"You are all required to attend," Harry said, staring right at Hermione, clearly
getting his point across and making her a little uncomfortable while doing it. "Lily and James
included. You'll be expected to take care of them during that time, usually from seven to eight
that night, and then once they're in bed you'll be expected to rejoin the party."

"Okay," Hermione replied quietly, a little intimidated by the look in his eyes. She
had never seen such coldness there, and she wondered what had suddenly caused the turn in his
behavior.

"Excuse me, I have some work to do," he stated as he stood up quickly and then walked
out of the room without hesitation.

Sparing a questioning look at Lisa, Hermione noticed the secretive smile she wore and was even
more confused. Before she could give voice to any of her questions, Lisa said, "Why don't
you go talk to him and I'll take James and Lily upstairs."

"Um...okay," Hermione replied, not really sure what she was supposed to speak to Harry
about. The only thing that convinced her to agree was her curiosity about his shortness with her.
As she walked out of the kitchen, she could hear snippets of Cole and Lisa talking back and forth
rather heatedly.

Walking up to his office door, she knocked quietly and opened it after he called for her to
enter. As she quietly closed the door behind her, she noticed that he was speaking to somebody
through the floo, so she sat in one of the chairs she was now very familiar with and waited for him
to end the conversation.

"Thank you for your time Minister," Harry said respectfully, "Will you be
attending the ball?"

"Absolutely Mr. Potter," came the Minister's reply, "I wouldn't miss it
for anything."

After exchanging polite goodbye's, Harry turned his desk chair around and stopped as his
eyes landed on Hermione in the chair.

When he continued to sit there quietly watching her, she fidgeted a bit in her chair and asked
quietly, "I'm sorry to interrupt Mr.-Harry, but I wanted to ask if I had done something
that upset you?"

"What makes you think that?" he asked in reply.

"It's just that...well, I couldn't help but notice that you've been a bit short
with me lately and I wanted to know if I had done something wrong," she replied, keeping her
eyes trained on his.

"You've done nothing wrong," he replied finally as he pushed his chair away from
his desk. She watched as he walked around the desk and proceeded to sit on it directly in front of
her. "My nerves and patience have been taxed lately because of the planning I've had to do
for this event," he explained, using a handy excuse instead of admitting the truth, "I
apologize if I took any of it out on you."

"I understand," Hermione said, a little more at ease. Standing up, she smiled at him
and added, "If you need me to do anything, I'd be happy to help."

"Thank you," Harry said, "But everything is pretty much taken care of
already."

"Well, I should get upstairs and get James and Lily ready for bed," she said after an
uncomfortable silence, and then turned to make her way to the door.

Harry stayed quiet as she walked up to the door and when she grasped the door handle he said,
"Hermione, wait."

When she turned around, she was surprised to find him directly behind her. When she looked in
his eyes she saw something she'd never seen there before...vulnerability. Before she had time
to think about it, Harry quickly closed the distance between them, took her in his arms, and kissed
her. This was like no kiss she had ever experienced before; it was rough yet gentle, questioning
yet demanding, cautious yet possessive and she found herself being swept away. Just as she was
surrendering to it, Harry pulled away and said, "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done
that. I don't know what I was thinking."

Hermione stared at him dazedly, the fog that had started creeping into her brain clearing as she
slowed her breathing. "I didn't mind," she said without thinking. Realizing what she
had just said, her eyes grew wide and she stuttered, "I-I mean, it's no big deal."
Mentally kicking herself, she sighed and said, "I should really get back to the
children."

"Right," he said, sounding somewhat disappointed, "I'll be up shortly to tuck
them in."

Without another word, Hermione grabbed the door handle once again and quickly made her way out
of the office, trying not to think of how wonderful it felt to kiss her employer.

~*~

The next seven days flew by in a blur, and even though the house was abuzz with activity, Lisa
could see that something had changed between Harry and Hermione. They would still try to avoid each
other, but they weren't doing a very good job of it lately. She'd also been witness to many
passing glances that were held just long enough to give them meaning. The thing that convinced her
most though was the fact that Hermione now seemed to be staying far away from Cole, and he really
wasn't very happy about it.

"Has she said anything to you?" Cole had asked her that morning, "Have I done
something to upset her?"

"I don't think you did anything," she had answered, trying to soothe his obviously
wounded male ego, "I just think she has other things on her mind right now."

She didn't dare tell him that she thought Hermione seemed to only have eyes for their boss
lately. He and Harry had been pretty competitive when it came to getting girls during their
Hogwarts years, she could only imagine what would happen if she clued Cole into what was going on.
Playing dumb was much simpler and kept the peace they all had come to love so much since Miss
Weasley's departure.

When Hermione walked into the room, Lisa smiled at her and asked, "Have your dress robes
out and ready to go?"

"Er, not exactly," Hermione hedged, not meeting her eyes. "I don't think the
robes I brought with me are formal enough...I was actually going to see if I could borrow the car
to go into town. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to find new ones."

"I'm on my way into town now," Harry said, startling everyone in the room.
Chuckling quietly he said, "My, you lot are jumpy aren't you?"

"Would it be okay if I went with you?" Hermione asked hopefully. "I'll just
run to the shop while you run your errands and I promise I won't take long."

"Absolutely," Harry said with an easy smile.

Lisa watched him for a moment, noticing a small twinkle in his eyes, and knew immediately that
he was up to something. "Is there anything you need me to do while you're gone?" she
asked, giving him a look that told him she knew what he was doing.

"Can you watch Lily and James?" he replied, giving her a secretive smile that really
made Lisa wonder what he was planning.

"Sure," she replied, giving up hope that his features would give anything away.

As she and Cole watched Harry and Hermione walk out the front door Cole turned to her and said,
"Damn it! I was about to offer to drive her."

"Better luck next time," Lisa said, coughing suddenly to cover the hint of amusement
that could be heard in her voice.

~*~

After the short ride into town, Hermione went one way to get new robes while Harry went the
opposite direction to get his last-minute errands done. About thirty minutes later, they met back
at the car and were on their way back home.

"It didn't take you long to find something to wear," Harry said conversationally,
hating the silence in the car.

"I don't usually take very long to find what I want," she replied, glancing toward
him and then quickly averting her eyes from his.

"That's refreshing," he said with a smile, "I remember when I'd take Luna
shopping...she could spend hours in a store without buying anything. It used to frustrate me so
much, but after she died, I found myself missing it. It always seems to be the simple things about
her that I miss the most."

Hermione was watching him now, moved by the fact that he was talking about Luna to her for the
first time. "It usually is," she replied, causing him to glance her way when he heard the
sadness that tinged her voice. Feeling as if she could truly talk to him she said, "I lost
someone dear to me four years ago. His name was Brian and we were engaged to be
married..."

Harry continued to stare out the windshield as she talked and when she trailed off he reached
over and took hold of her hand. He didn't dare try to speak because he knew his voice would
fail him. He could hear how much the loss of her fiance still affected her as she spoke and he knew
better than anyone how long it took to heal.

"We had been a couple since our sixth year at Beauxbatons and he had proposed to me on my
twenty-first birthday. We were so happy and I had already started to plan the wedding...a-and then
as he was driving to the Bingham's house in Denham on Christmas Eve, he was hit head-on by
another car and died instantly." She sniffled and Harry squeezed her hand, hoping that it
would give her a small amount of comfort. Smiling at him through the tears that had gathered in her
eyes she said, "The thing I loved most about him was that he was muggleborn like me and loved
to drive as much as I did. He used to drive up from Woodley every weekend since the couple I worked
for at the time liked him so much and never minded that he came over. Ironic that it was also what
killed him. If he had just apparated he would probably still be alive."

Harry let go of her hand so that he could turn the car into the driveway and pulled it easily
into the garage for the night. After shutting off the engine, he turned to her and quietly asked,
"Are you going to be okay?"

"I just need a moment to compose myself," she said, wiping her eyes with a tissue she
had found in her bag.

They sat in the car for about five minutes more and then gathered their purchases. Before she
opened the door that led from the garage into the kitchen, Harry put his hand on her shoulder to
stop her and said, "No one knows better than I do how much it hurts to lose someone you love
Hermione. If you ever need to talk, I'd be glad to listen."

"Thank you," she replied quietly, touched by his kind offer. "I can usually talk
about him without crying, but I've found myself thinking of him...He would have turned
twenty-six two days ago...and I still miss him. He was my best friend."

"Luna was my best friend too," Harry said, "I always thought she was rather odd
until my fifth year at Hogwarts. She had walked up to me and my best mate Ron Weasley, talking
about snorkacks or something of the sort, and suddenly I found it more endearing than odd. She had
a way at looking at life that was refreshing."

He stopped talking suddenly, realizing how much he had just told her, and looked away.
"Harry," Hermione said softly, causing him to look at her once more, "It goes both
ways you know, if you ever need to talk I'm here to listen too."

After staring at each other for a moment, Harry broke through the intensity of the moment by
saying, "Right. Well, we should really get inside, the guests will be arriving in less than
two hours."

She watched as he walked by her, opened the door, and strode quickly inside. Mulling over the
things he had said, and the things about Brian that she had confessed to, she shook her head
thinking that the night was off to a very interesting start.



7. Adorned With Roses
---------------------


~A/N> Surprise! I got the chapter done faster than I had anticipated, so I decided to post
it today. Don't get used to the quick updates, this has been a slow week and I had lots of free
time. This chapter is all H/Hr and the kids and it was so much fun to write. I also got to see
Goblet of Fire this morning and I have written a review on it. If you'd like to read it you can
find it here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/harmony_podcast/10217.html#cutid1
It is full of spoilers so don't read it if you want the movie to be a surprise. I hope you
enjoy the chapter, and thank-you for all the reviews!! :)



Even though Hermione had gone directly upstairs after they walked into the house, she still found
herself pressed for time. She had gone immediately into James's room, taken his robes out of
the wardrobe, and told him to get ready. With a quick, "Come find me if you need any
help," thrown over her shoulder as she rushed across the hallway, she walked into Lily's
room. She spotted Lily sitting on her bed, already dressed with a proud look on her face. She
smiled as she noticed how pretty she looked in the white lace dress she wore. She had on shiny
black dress shoes and from the looks of it Lisa had curled her hair.

"You look so pretty Lily," Hermione said as she walked over to sit on the bed next to
her.

"Thank you," the little girl replied shyly, "I dressed myself."

"And you did a wonderful job," Hermione praised, beaming at her with pride. "I
need to go get ready now, but if you need anything just come knock on my door, okay?"

"Can I watch you get ready?" Lily asked quietly, spearing her with blue, questioning
eyes.

Hermione sat quietly for a moment, turning over in her mind thoughts of whether it would be a
good idea or not, and finally replied, "Sure, why not? I'd love to have some
company."

Lily jumped off the bed and gave Hermione a big smile. Excitedly walking out the door, Lily made
her way toward Hermione's room while she checked on James one last time to see how he was
faring. She waited patiently for him to open the door after she knocked, and when he did she gave a
startled gasp. There, in the doorway, stood a miniature Harry Potter. With his black, messy hair
that would never lay flat, the bright green eyes that seemed to always look right through you, to
the general features of his face, he was the spitting image of his father.

"James, you look so handsome!" she said, sounding a bit breathless. She noticed that
his cheeks took on a pink tinge and not wanting to embarrass him further she said, "Lily will
be in my room, she wants to watch me get ready." When he rolled his eyes and smirked she
laughed and said, "It's a girl thing. Just remember that your Dad will come up ten minutes
before we are to make our entrance. If he's not up here by then, can you go down and get
him?"

James nodded and she gave him one last smile before making her way back to her room with only
one hour to get herself ready for the biggest event of the year.

~*~

While everyone else was hastily getting ready and making sure everything was ready, Harry sat in
his office with a glass of firewhiskey, relaxing. He found that all he could think about since his
trip into town was Hermione. He couldn't get over the fact that they had more in common than he
had first thought. And the kiss...when he had pressed his lips to hers it had felt as if his blood
had caught fire instantaneously. He found himself wanting to do it again...and so much more.

Shaking himself from his overactive imagination, he turned his chair from the fire as someone
knocked on the door and called, "Come in." He had no idea who he had expected to walk
through the door, but he had never imagined in a million years that it would have been
her.

"Hello luv," Ginny said, in what he expected she thought was a sexy tone of voice.

Uttering an expletive at her undesired arrival, he stayed in his chair and asked in an even
tone, "What are you doing here Ginny?"

"I'm here for the Ball, silly," she replied, making it sound like he was foolish
for not knowing in the first place. He followed her with his eyes, which shone with his dislike of
her, as she closed the door and made her way to his desk. "Don't tell me you're still
upset with me? I've given you plenty of time to calm down Harry, tonight we can be a normal
couple again and let everyone know that our engagement is still on."

He was stunned speechless for all of five seconds before he picked his wand up, cast a
'silencio' on the room, and yelled, "What the bloody hell are you on about?! I
don't want anything to do with you, and when I told you to leave and never come back, I
meant it!"

"Oh pish-posh," Ginny replied in an aggravating tone of voice, "We both know you
still want me Harry, you've just been distracted by that...that...nanny."

"Her name is Hermione," he said, gritting his teeth together in anger, "She is a
loving, caring woman who is beautiful inside and out and treats James and Lily like they are the
most precious things in this world. You, on the other hand, wouldn't know love if it walked up
and bit you on the arse! Your only priority is yourself and anyone else be damned!"

He sat staring at Ginny angrily, his eyes ablaze with his fury, while she stood in front of him
looking just as angry as he did. Without another word, she closed the distance between them, sat on
his lap, and pressed her lips demandingly to his. Shocked by her brazenness, it took his mind a
moment to realize what she was doing, but before he could do anything there came a voice yelling,
"NO!"

Startled, Harry pushed Ginny from his lap, causing her to none-to-gracefully fall to the floor
on her bum. Standing, he immediately looked in the direction the voice had come from and was
shocked to see James standing there with his hands balled into fists at his sides. He seemed to be
breathing heavily as he looked at Harry with hatred in his eyes. As Harry continued to stare at
him, unable to find the words he needed to say, James yelled, "No, no, no!"

Rushing up to him, Harry knelt down and took his son by the arms. Staring into his shiny green
eyes he said, "James, this isn't what you think. I didn't invite Miss Weasley here,
she came on her own."

The boy's eyes broke away from his, glaring angrily at Ginny. She glared back at him and
spat, "What are you looking at, you little mute?"

Suddenly, everything in the room that wasn't extremely heavy went flying at Ginny. She
screamed as picture frames, quidditch trophies, and ink pots came at her with great speed, barely
missing her head and body.

Harry looked back at Ginny and then whipped his head around to stare at James again. He could
feel the waves of magical energy coming off his son's body and he started shaking him.
"James, stop it! This isn't right! You're going to hurt her!"

It seemed the thought that he might hurt her finally penetrated through James anger-induced haze
and Harry felt him relax a little. Anything that was in midair fell to the ground, which caused a
pot of ink to spill all over Ginny's dress. When Harry heard her sputtering and cursing, he
turned and had to stifle his laughter as he saw why she was so upset. Sobering quickly, he put his
hand on James shoulder and steered him over to the desk. Looking down at the fiery redhead, he
said, "Leave now Ginny before I call the authorities and have you forcibly removed. I have no
idea how you got past the gate in the first place."

Ginny stood up, looking angry and embarrassed at the same time. Taking out her wand, she
scourgified her dress and sneered at Harry. "The young man that you have out there was very
receptive to my...friendly behavior."

"You're vile," Harry spat, "Now get out of my house and never come
back."

Pulling herself together and trying to act more dignified than she was, Ginny raised her nose
into the air and walked quickly from the room. Harry and James followed her, Harry wanting to make
sure she actually left, and once she was past the perimeter gate he turned to James and said,
"I am so sorry you had to see that son. Miss Weasley sort of...surprised me and you saw us
before I could stop her. I hope you'll forgive me."

James looked up at his Dad and saw how sorry he was by the look on his face. He nodded his head,
letting Harry know that he wouldn't hold it against him. Relieved, Harry bent down and hugged
James, something he didn't do near enough, and straightening up he said, "It's time to
go up and get the girls."

~*~

Hermione sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror and explained why she was putting the
shiny powder on her eyes. She couldn't imagine how a four and a half year old like Lily Potter
could come up with so many questions. She smiled at her reflection as she remembered a time when
her own Mother had said much the same thing about her.

Shooing Lily out of her bathroom so that she could change into her dress, Hermione told her
she'd be right out and shut the door. When a knock sounded on her bedroom door a minute later,
Hermione opened the bathroom door a crack and asked Lily to please answer it. "Daddy!"
she cried as she saw Harry standing on the other side.

"Hey pumpkin," Harry greeted, "I wondered why James pulled me to Hermione's
room when I said we were going to find you first. What are you doing in here?"

"Hermy said I could watch her get ready," Lily replied happily, "I got to watch
her do her hair, and color her face. She's in the bathroom putting her dress on now."

Just as Lily said this, the bathroom door opened and Hermione walked into her room, trying to
smooth out the skirt of her dress. When she saw Harry and James in the doorway she stopped suddenly
and said, "Oh, hello. Is it time to go downstairs already?"

Harry stood there staring at her, not really registering the words she was saying. She had on a
dress that had thin straps and started as dark blue around her chest, gradually lightened to a
powder blue around her hips, until it was almost white at the bottom of the skirt that was just
above the floor. It had lines running vertically two-thirds of the way down it that were sparkling
and he noticed that she was wearing high-heeled shoes that were a frosty blue color. When he
brought his eyes up to her face, he noticed how her cinnamon colored eyes shone with an
inner-radiance that took his breath away. And her hair...she had pulled the top and sides back into
a clip while letting the rest cascade down her back in ringlets and Harry's fingers itched to
touch it to see if it felt as silky as it looked.

Hermione, on the other hand, was struck by how handsome Harry looked in his black dress robes.
His green eyes were even more striking than usual and she suddenly felt shy under his appreciative
stare.

Both adults were brought out of their perusals of one another as James and Lily started laughing
at their behavior. Embarrassed, Hermione moved to her bureau to put her earrings on and picked up
the necklace she planned to wear. When she fumbled with the clasp Harry walked over to her and
asked, "May I?"

Letting him take over, she shivered as his fingers whispered across her skin as he secured the
clasp. When his hands lingered, brushing across her shoulders, she felt every nerve in her body
ignite as desire washed over her like a tidal wave. Gasping, she turned to face him and noticed
that his eyes had darkened and she swore she saw a flicker of desire in them before he quickly
turned away.

"It's time we go downstairs," Harry said, joining James in the hallway. "Oh,
I almost forgot..." he said, picking up a small box that he had placed just outside the door.
Opening it, he took out what looked like a bracelet and said, "Lily, I got this for you to
wear tonight." He slid the elastic band over her hand and when Hermione looked at it more
closely she smiled. The bracelet was a corsage made up of small orange and green flowers that were
arranged in the shape of a pumpkin, and Lily's eyes lit up as she stared at it.

"Thank-you Daddy!" she said, launching herself at him. He picked her up just long
enough to hug her and then set her down.

Walking up to Hermione, Harry smiled and said, "I got one for you too, I hope you like
it."

She watched as he carefully took out another wrist corsage and gently placed it on her wrist. It
had three small white teacup roses surrounded by baby's breath and small green leaves. Hermione
stared at it, touched that he had gotten her something so beautiful, and when she looked up at him
she said, "Thank-you Harry, it's beautiful."

He found himself getting drawn in by her eyes as he replied, "You're
beautiful."

They stood there staring at each other for a moment, both caught up in the turmoil of emotions
they were experiencing. Finally, Lily broke through the seriousness of the moment by saying,
"Daddy, we need to go."

"Right," Harry said, breaking eye contact with Hermione. Walking toward the door,
Harry stopped before stepping into the hallway and motioned toward Lily and Hermione. "Ladies
first," he said with a smile. Hermione took hold of Lily's hand and carefully made her way
to the top of the staircase. She could see the guests all gathered at the bottom, dressed in their
finest, and she felt a little nervous at the prospect of meeting all these new people. Interrupting
her thoughts, Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Why don't you walk down with
Lily first, and then I'll walk down with James."

"I'm just the nanny, shouldn't I go down by myself and let you and the children
make your entrance?" Hermione asked, looking uncomfortable.

"No, you should walk down with us. You play an important role in Lily and James life,
I'm proud of the work you do and I think you deserve some recognition," Harry replied,
looking very serious. "Usually Cole and Lisa would walk down with us, but unfortunately they
both had to work tonight for the first couple of hours and then they'll be able to enjoy
themselves." 'And I'll have you all to myself for at least an hour,' he
thought to himself, pleased at the prospect of holding Hermione close and dancing with her.

Reigning in his wandering thoughts, Harry took a deep breath and said, "Time to mingle with
the Rich and Pretentious."



8. The Start of Something Wonderful
-----------------------------------


~A/N> I know this update took a little longer than the others, but it is almost a thousand
words longer so hopefully that makes up for it. I'm not sure when the next update will be, I
have to have injections in my lower back tomorrow and then Thursday is Thanksgiving. I'm hoping
to work on the next chapter on Friday, I'll just have to see how I'm feeling. If you feel a
bit frustrated with me at the end, keep in mind that a lot of big things will be happening in the
next chapter or two, including an appearance by Mrs. Weasley soon :) I hope you enjoy the chapter,
and an early Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the States! Oh, and the third harmony podcast is out
now, you can find it here if you'd like to listen to it: http://miscard.libsyn.com/

As Hermione and Lily stepped off of the last stair onto the hardwood floor of the converted
dining room, she noticed many of the older women staring at her and leaning together, obviously
openly gossiping about her. Trying to tamp down her nervousness, she walked forward into the crowd
as it parted, making her way to the makeshift stage where the band Harry had hired for the night
was set up. Stopping in front of it, she waited for Harry and James to pass by her and make their
way up the stairs of the stage. Following them, Hermione held her hand out to James and the three
of them stood off to the side behind Harry as he took center stage and cast a sonorous charm.

"Hello, and welcome to my annual Halloween Ball," Harry said graciously and then
paused as everyone applauded politely. When the noise died down he continued, "I hope that you
will all have an enjoyable evening, and now the musical styling's of The Hippogriffs!"

The band struck up behind him and as he, Hermione, Lily, and James moved off the stage and the
lead singer took his place. As he sang one of the top songs on the wizard charts, Harry walked up
to Lily, gave an exaggerated bow and asked, "Fancy a dance with your clumsy old
Father?"

Lily giggled and replied, "You're not old Daddy, and I love to dance with you."
She squealed as Harry scooped her up in his arms and proceeded to spin her around in circles,
surrounded by all of his guests who smiled adoringly at their obvious happiness.

Hermione watched them with a huge smile on her face, loving how carefree Harry seemed, when she
felt a tug on her hand. She looked down and saw James standing there looking at her questioningly
and then looking out at the dance floor. "Would you like to dance James?" she asked,
amazed at what he was silently requesting. He nodded his head slowly, took a deep breath and while
looking at her said, "Yes."

Hermione gasped when he spoke and felt tears welling up in her eyes. Thinking that it would be
best not to make a big deal out of it, she said, "I would be honored."

The two of them walked out onto the floor, blending in with the many other couples that were
dancing, and Hermione couldn't help thinking how grown-up James acted as he lightly placed his
hand on her waist and took hold of her other hand. He barely stood higher than her waist, so he was
actually reaching up as he assumed the traditional dancing position and he looked so serious that
Hermione's heart melted. As they slowly started to sway back and forth, she smiled down at him
and asked, "Did your Mum teach you how to dance?"

James nodded in reply and smiled back. His cheeks took on a pinkish tinge as she said,
"Well you are a very good dancer."

When Harry looked around, he noticed his son dancing with Hermione and stopped. Lily, curious as
to why he had stopped, looked where he was looking and said, "James is dancing with
Hermy...he's never danced with anyone but..."

"Your Mother," Harry finished, his surprise evident in his voice. He continued to
watch, pride and love overwhelming him as he watched how stoically James held himself and how
serious he was as he and Hermione moved slowly, side to side. Smiling, Harry said, "We'd
better not keep watching or else he might get embarrassed."

As the song finished, Lily walked over to James and Hermione, leaving Harry alone to talk to his
guests. Hermione continued to mingle, making sure to keep the children by her side the entire time
so that they didn't bother Harry, and talked to many witches and wizards she had never met
before in her life. A lot of them came up to say hello to Lily and James, and soon the grandfather
clock struck eight and it was time for them to go to bed. After saying goodnight to Harry, the kids
made their way to their rooms to change. Just as Hermione stepped up on the staircase, Harry walked
up behind her, grabbing her arm gently to stop her, and asked, "May I have the first dance
when you come back down?"

"Yes you may," she answered quietly, affected yet again by the intensity of his eyes.
When his attention was drawn away from her by an older witch that had asked if she could have a
word, Hermoine made her way up the stairs. She could feel him watching her and she had to stop
herself from turning back to look at him as she felt a flutter of anticipation in her stomach.

Making her way to James room first, she knocked and then opened the door to find him already in
his pajamas and under the covers. Walking up to the bed, Hermione leaned over to pull the covers up
to his shoulders and said, "Goodnight James, and thank you for the dance, you're a
wonderful dancer."

Hermione watched as his smile spread from ear to ear and he looked embarrassed again. Leaning
down, she placed a light kiss on his forehead and once again wished him goodnight before walking
out and closing the door behind her. Next she made her way across the hall to Lily's room,
knocked lightly and then walked in after hearing Lily telling her to come in. Hermione found her
holding one of her stuffed animals, twirling around the room as she hummed one of the songs the
band had played. Finally coaxing her into bed, Hermione said goodnight to her and kissed her on the
forehead before closing the door to her room also.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and tamp down the anticipation that she felt, Hermione
walked down the staircase once more and found Harry waiting for her at the bottom, his eyes on her
the entire way down. When he silently held out a hand to her, she took it while bowing her head to
look at the floor, flattered at the attention he was giving her.

Harry led her onto the dance floor just as the band started to play a slow song and Harry had to
fight not to smile. He had secretly hoped that he would get to hold Hermione close as they danced
and a slow song gave him a perfect excuse to do so. Wrapping his right arm around her waist, he
took her left hand in his and started to move slowly. He didn't know why, but for some reason
that night he just couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Maybe it was the blue of the dress she
wore that made her eyes sparkle the way they were, or the way her hair cascaded over her shoulders
and down her back that made her look more soft and feminine. Whatever it was, Harry could feel
himself becoming even more attracted to her and he found that he didn't really want to fight
it. Without realizing it, he pulled her closer to him, making it so that there wasn't any space
between them at all and when he looked down at her he found her staring back with a surprised look
on her face.

"I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?" he asked quietly, bending his head
closer to hers.

"N-No," she stuttered, clearly affected by his forwardness, "Not at
all."

They continued to dance closely for two more songs and when a faster song came on they both
agreed they could use something to drink and headed toward the bar that had been set up against one
of the walls. "One firewhiskey and..." Harry turned from the bartender to look at
Hermione and asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"Sherry, please," Hermione replied, surprising him.

After handing Hermione her drink Harry said, "I'm not sure why, but I'm surprised
that you drink sherry."

"My Mum turned me on to it," she answered, "She started drinking it after her Mum
had her try it...I guess it's just something the women of my family enjoy."

After that, Hermione stood by his side, sipping her drink as he spoke to the many guests that
approached him wanting a word. She watched as he smiled politely and admired how gracious he was to
each of them. While lost in thoughts of how handsome he looked while staring at his lips and
thinking how they had felt on hers when he kissed her, he turned toward her and caught her staring.
She felt her cheeks warm instantly and cursed herself as he smiled knowingly at her. Blaming her
traitorous thoughts on the sherry, she turned to watch the couples on the dance floor and found
herself face-to-face with Cole...who looked absolutely dashing.

"Hello Hermione," he greeted, "May I just say that you look absolutely stunning
tonight?"

"Thank you Cole," she replied, glancing uneasily at Harry when she felt his stare.

"Would you like to dance?" Cole asked as the band struck up a traditional waltz.

"Um, sure," Hermione replied. Placing her glass on the bar, she took Cole's
proffered hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor. As he led the dance, Hermione could
almost feel Harry's eye's boring into her back and knew that she dare not turn around. When
she looked up at Cole's face she noticed him looking in Harry's direction with a smug sort
of look on his face and felt herself grow aggravated. She didn't know what little game they
were playing, but she was starting to feel like some prize they were both competing for. Startled
by that thought, she realized that Harry and Cole had been acting that way for the past couple of
weeks, she just hadn't paid much attention to it before.

"So who's winning?" she asked, causing Cole to look down at her with a confused
look on his face.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, perplexed.

"I asked you who was winning, you know, this little pissing contest that you and Harry seem
to have going between the two of you," she replied, looking annoyed. "I've thought
that there was something amiss with the way you two were behaving, how suddenly you both needed me
for one thing or another, coming up with excuses so that I would help you with things I normally
wouldn't. What, am I some prize that you're trying to win?"

"Look, Hermione, it's not what you're thinking," Cole said, giving her what he
probably thought was a charming smile. "I've had my eye on you since the first day you
interviewed, you are a very beautiful woman, and I don't think my interest has gone
unnoticed." Hermione looked away, a little embarrassed by his straight-forward explanation,
but then looked him in the eye again as he said, "And I'm sure you haven't missed
Harry's obvious interest in you either. We've always had great taste in women, and have
been attracted to the same birds through the years. It's not on purpose, but it usually turns
into an unmentioned, friendly competition between us. It's nothing personal, and we don't
think of you as a prize...it's just a man thing, and you happen to be a bonus."

Acting without thinking, Hermione felt her hand connect with Cole's cheek as a red haze
clouded her vision. "I am NOT some prize to be won!" she said harshly, trying to keep her
voice down. Turning quickly on her heel, she hastily made her way off the dance floor, away from
all the happily dancing couples, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione, what's wrong? Has Cole done something to upset you?" Harry asked, his
voice full of concern.

Hermione turned to face him, her face portraying her hurt and anger as she glared at him and
said, "As if you don't know? Cole was just telling me about your 'friendly
competition'!"

"Our what?" Harry asked, clearly confused. He turned as someone walked up behind him
and saw Cole standing there looking quite mad as he stared Hermione down. "Enough of this.
Cole, go outside and make sure that David is doing okay out there by himself. Hermione, go wait in
my office, I'll be in there in a moment to speak with you."

Taking a deep breath and silently swearing to himself as he noticed the stares they had
attracted, Harry excused himself to those around him and made his way to his office to see what the
hell had just transpired between Hermione and Cole.

~*~

When he walked into the office, Harry found Hermione pacing back and forth in front of his desk,
mumbling incoherently to herself. Fighting not to smile as he thought how cute she was when she was
angry, Harry walked toward her and said, "Care to explain why you slapped Cole out on the
dance floor?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it was because he told me about your little competition to see
who could win my attention?!" she replied, glaring at him angrily.

"Our 'competition'?" Harry repeated again, still unclear as to what she was
referring to. When she continued to stare at him, he said, "Honestly, Hermione, I have no idea
what you are talking about. Cole and I are in no competition over you. That would be disrespectful
and it's something I don't believe in. If Cole feels there is a reason to compete with me,
then I have no knowledge of it and I apologize for his behavior."

The hard look in her eyes softened a bit but there was still some distrust as she studied him
quietly, trying to gauge his sincerity. "Why would he tell me that then?" she asked.

Harry walked up to her, stopping mere inches away, and replied, "Because he has always felt
the need to make everything a competition between us. It was that way all through Hogwarts, and he
still continues to do it now. If you like, I can speak with him and set him straight on the
matter?"

"No, that's okay, but thank you for offering," she replied politely, "At
least now I know what his intentions are." Thrown a little by his outright honesty and a
little unnerved by his nearness, she could smell the cologne that he was wearing, and that combined
with the only light in the room coming from the fireplace started to overwhelm her senses.

Harry stood there watching the many emotions that were flashing in her eyes and took in the way
her skin glowed in the firelight. Trying to reign in his desire for her that seemed to be fueled
even more by the alcohol he had consumed, he closed the distance between them and asked quietly,
"What about my intentions? Were they clear after I kissed you?"

Hermione's eyes grew wide as his question washed over her and sparked a fire in her blood.
She stared into his eyes and saw that they were darker than their usual brilliant green. The
twinkle that she sometimes saw in them was gone as well and as he continued to stare at her with
his desire filled gaze she felt her knees buckle a bit, so she leaned back against the desk.

Feeling emboldened by her reaction to him, Harry reached out and slipped his hands around her
waist, drawing her to him so that there wasn't any space left between them. The feel of her
body pressed along his was nearly his undoing, and he tightened his arms around her. When she
didn't attempt to push him away or slap him for his forwardness, he decided to push his luck
and bending his head down, captured her lips with his in a heated kiss. This wasn't like the
simple kiss they had shared before...Harry had immediately slipped his tongue into her mouth,
letting her know that this was no friendly kiss, and deepened it when he heard her moan.

Hermione was lost in a sea of longing. When he had wrapped his arms around her she had felt like
just melting into him and letting go of all her inhibitions. Now as he kissed her without
reservation, she brought her hands up and tangled them into his hair, loving the feel of the silky
black strands as they slid through her fingers. Feeling his tongue tangling with hers, Hermione
pressed her body closer to his, acting upon some instinct that told her that she needed to be
closer somehow, and her breath caught as she felt his hands moving from her waist up to her
shoulders and back down. Trailing his hands around her sides to her stomach, he slowly brought them
up until they rested on her covered breasts, causing a hitch in her breathing at the feel of them
there.

Harry broke the kiss and before she could utter a protest, he started to kiss his way along her
jaw, down her neck, and then across her collarbone. Tangling her hands in his hair again, she
closed her eyes as the feel of his lips on her bare skin caused a fire to erupt low in her belly.
She could feel him moving the bodice of her dress and before she could think about what he could be
doing she felt him take one of her nipples into his mouth and she gasped. "Oh God..." she
whispered and then moaned as he sucked harder. When he moved to lavish the other one with equal
attention her knees did buckle and she found herself sitting on top of his desk.

As he kissed his way back up her neck and claimed her lips again, she realized that he had
positioned himself between her legs. With her skirt pushed up so that it draped around his legs,
she wrapped her legs around him and couldn't help but smile against his lips as he groaned. She
couldn't believe how turned on she was at that moment, and the fact that she could affect Harry
this way made her feel powerful. He was not Harry Potter, her boss at that moment...he was Harry
Potter, a normal hot-blooded male that seemed to want her as much as she wanted him.

That last thought slammed into her hard and her eyes popped open, wide with disbelief at what
she was doing. She couldn't do this, he was her boss for Merlin's sake, and she wasn't
willing to put her job in jeopardy for something she was unsure about. Breaking the kiss and
breathing hard, she looked him in the eyes and said, "Harry, I don't think we should be
doing this."

He stood there quietly for a moment, staring at her with passion-glazed eyes, and she watched as
they cleared and became more focused on her. Leaning his forehead against hers lightly, he took a
few deep breaths and said, "I'm not going to say I'm sorry that this happened,
Hermione. I want to be with you, I'm tired of denying it, and I think it's safe to say you
want me too."

There it was again, that brutal honesty that blew her away and attracted her even more. Damn
him! Why did he have to make it so complicated? Of course she wanted him too, but did she really
want to risk losing her job for some physical pleasure, or whatever this was between them? Lily and
James meant the world to her and she didn't want to do something that could cause her to have
to leave them, especially now when it seemed that James was starting to open up a bit.

Harry watched as the myriad of emotions played out across her face and knew she was silently
arguing with herself. Deciding to spare her the internal unease she looked to be feeling, he kissed
her once more and said, "I should be getting back to the guests, why don't you and I talk
about this more later?"

"Okay," Hermione replied quietly as she fixed her dress, thankful that he'd given
her a way out of her ordeal, if only for a little while. She would have some time to think things
over now, and would hopefully be able to come up with an answer soon. She smiled as Harry took her
hand in his and led her to the door. Turning toward him, she noticed that, thanks to her, his hair
was messier than usual and she reached up to try to fix it.

"Thank you," Harry said with an appreciative smile. Opening the door, he motioned for
her to walk out first and then followed her out, closing the door behind him. He watched as she
walked amongst the guests, saying a polite greeting to a few here and there, and knew that they
would be having their talk a lot sooner than she expected.








9. The Dance Of Ages
--------------------


~A/N> Sorry that this update took a little longer than the others and that the chapter is
shorter than usual, but it's been a really rough week. My back injections did not go well, they
made my back pain worse, and on top of that my Grandma died Tuesday morning. So I did my best to
finish up this chapter, and I don't know when I will update again. I will try to post another
chapter next week, there's probably only a couple left until this story is finished. Thank you
for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as much, if not
more. And I know it's late, but if you would like to see a picture of the dress I based
Hermione's Ball Gown off of, you can see it here: http://www.pix8.net/pro/pic.php?u=7225pbT7K&i=721290



After Hermione came out of Harry's office, Lisa watched as she made her way around the room,
graciously talking to everyone who introduced themselves. She had noticed the faint blush on
Hermione's cheeks, and when she saw the cat-who-ate-the-canary look on Harry's face when he
emerged, she was pretty sure that something major had just occurred between them. Walking up to her
employer and friend, she smiled and asked, "Having a good time?"

"Yes I am," Harry replied, "How about you? Are you having fun?"

"Well I was, until I was hunted down by..."

"Harry dear, I've been looking all over for you!" Molly Weasley said, walking up
to them and interrupting their conversation.

"I can see why," Harry replied quietly to Lisa as he realized she had been making a
reference to the pushy witch standing before him. Turning toward the portly woman he said,
"Hello Molly, how are you this fine evening?"

"I would be much better if you would tell me why you have broken my poor little girl's
heart," she replied, giving him a very pouty, upset look that showed him that Ginny had
learned from the best.

"What heart?" Harry mumbled, causing Lisa to start laughing. At the angry glare Mrs.
Weasley turned on her, Lisa quickly stopped laughing and excused herself from the tense situation.
Looking her in the eyes, Harry said, "Look, Molly, I'm sorry if Ginny is upset that
we're not together anymore, but it wasn't working out between us. I think of her more as a
sister than a wife, and to tell you the truth, she wasn't much of a mother figure for James and
Lily. They need a woman in their lives that will think of them as her own, not like two nuisances
that take up too much of my time."

"She thought no such thing!" Molly exclaimed, looking horrified that he could say such
a thing about her daughter.

"Really? Then why didn't she ever spend any time with them by herself?" Harry
asked, getting more angry by the second. "She always passed them off to Lisa or Hermione, and
when she came to see me earlier tonight she had the nerve to spitefully call James a mute while he
was in the room with us. If you want to pretend that your daughter is a woman that can do no wrong,
go right ahead, but I suggest you find a blind and deaf man for her to marry or she may just die an
old maid."

"Oh yes, Hermione, your new nanny," she said with angry disdain, "Ginny
told me all about how friendly your new employee is. Really Harry, your behavior with the people
that work for you is shameful."

Grinding his teeth together in a desperate attempt to control his anger and stop himself from
saying what was on his mind, Harry ground out, "Molly, I've always thought of you like a
surrogate Mother, so I'm going to respectfully ask you not to say another word. I'm sorry
that you are upset that I'm no longer with your daughter, but you have absolutely no right to
speak poorly about the people that work for me when you don't know them at all. If you wish to
preach to someone, I suggest you go find Ginny and impart your Motherly wisdom to her."

While Mrs. Weasley stood there angrily sputtering at him, he excused himself and quickly made
his way to the opposite side of the room. He thought to himself how glad he was that his best mate
Ron, Ginny's older brother, wasn't able to attend that night thanks to Quidditch
obligations. He was sure he would be hearing from his friend about it soon though, but thankfully
he would have time to think of a way to pacify Ron between now and then. At least he had Molly out
of the way, and hopefully Ginny had finally gotten the hint that he wouldn't be taking her back
after their earlier confrontation.

The next two hours were spent catching up with old friends and courteously talking with
important people from the Ministry. He'd also had to share a friendly dance or two with some of
the Ministry official's wives who wanted to dance with the famous Harry Potter, all the while
wishing it was Hermione in his arms instead of the older witches. He had seen her dancing with a
couple of other wizards and tried to ignore the knot of unease he felt when he saw her in their
arms.

Finally, at half past midnight, the final guests said their goodnight's and took their
leave. As Lisa and Hermione helped with the clean up, Harry made his way upstairs to check on James
and Lily, finding them fast asleep in their beds. Going back downstairs, he met Hermione as she
made her way out of the Kitchen and smiled at her tired appearance. "Long night?" he
asked.

"It was, but it was fun. I haven't danced that much in a long time," she answered
sleepily. Stifling a yawn, she asked, "Is there anything else you needed me to do before I
turn in for the night?"

With his thoughts drifting back to their encounter in his office, Harry gazed into her eyes and
answered, "No, nothing else. Thank you for everything you did tonight."

"Alright, goodnight then," she replied, trying to ignore the fluttering that started
in her stomach as she had seen his eyes darken after she asked her question. Passing by him, she
made her way up the stairs to her room, thinking of how she couldn't wait to take her dress off
and take a hot, relaxing shower.

Once in her room, she carefully took off her dress, hanging it immediately in her closet so as
not to ruin it. Depositing her jewelry back into her jewelry box, she grabbed her favorite robe off
of her bed and made her way into the bathroom. After standing under the hot spray of water for
about twenty minutes, she reluctantly turned the water off and stepped out of the shower stall.
After toweling off, she slipped into her robe and proceeded to remove all the makeup she wore.
Feeling like herself once again, she slid her feet into her slippers and made her way out of the
steam-filled room, stopping immediately when she saw Harry sitting on the side of her bed waiting
for her.

"W-What are you doing in my room?" she asked, startled and angry at her traitorous
heart, which had started beating rapidly in excitement at the sight of him.

He sat quietly for a moment, taking in the fluffy white robe and matching slippers she wore
while wondering if she wore anything underneath it, and then said, "I'm here because I
can't stop thinking about what happened in my office earlier this evening."

Hermione's eyes widened as he stood and then started to slowly close the distance between
them and she stuttered, "Oh, w-well I, uh...I..."

Unable to form a coherent thought at that moment, she watched as he stopped directly in front of
her and reached his hand out to caress her cheek. "I keep thinking how damn good it felt to
hold you, how much I want you...I couldn't just go to bed as if nothing happened tonight when I
can't get you out of my head."

"I-I'm just not sure that we should do...this," she said lamely, his words
swimming around in her head as she thought about how affected she had been by his kisses.
"What happened before, in your office, was...lovely...but it really shouldn't happen
again." She felt her cheeks grow hot as she remembered how his mouth had felt on her breasts
and then silently admonished herself for dwelling on something that should never have happened.
"You just ended things with Miss Weasley, and I don't want to do something that could
upset James and Lily. They've been through so much as it is, they deserve to be able to spend
quality time with you, without having to share you with anyone."

"Actually, what I have in mind is something that James and Lily will never know about, and
I don't love Ginny," he replied, taking in her suddenly flushed appearance. "I was
weak and foolish, and I allowed her Mother to push her on me at a time when I was vulnerable and
lonely. She was simply a warm body in bed next to me...one that I never got to know
intimately." When he saw how surprised she looked, he smiled sadly and explained,
"I've been out with two women since Luna died, Ginny and one other that is meant for
friendship only, and with both I wasn't interested in taking it to a physical level. But
you...I haven't wanted anyone the way I want you, and it's almost frightening how easily I
lose control around you."

Hermione stood there staring into his gorgeous eyes, the desire in her body warring with the
logic in her brain, and knew that her body was winning. She had never wanted someone as much as she
wanted the man that was standing in front of her, not even Brian who had been her first and only
lover. When Harry reached out and took hold of the tie that held her robe closed she didn't
move to stop him, she just continued to keep eye contact with him. She felt the tie fall undone and
shivered as the cold air hit her heated skin. Harry parted her robe and then let his eyes trail
from hers, taking in every inch of her.

Unable to fight it anymore, Hermione gave in to her desire and reached up to the buttons on
Harry's shirt, undoing them one by one. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and the feel of
his hands on her back sent tingles up her spine. When she finally got the last button undone, she
slid the shirt down his arms and marveled at his chest. He wasn't a muscular man, but he was
well built, with wide, strong shoulders, a chest with a spattering of hair, and a flat stomach.
Unable to resist, Hermione placed both her hands flat on his chest and slid them slowly down toward
his stomach, relishing how hot his skin was under her palms and fingers.

Sucking in his breath, Harry shook his shirt from his arms where it had been hanging and taking
hold of her robe, immediately slid it down her arms and tossed it onto the floor. Trying to ignore
the embarrassment she felt at being completely naked in front of him, Hermione undid his trousers,
waited for him to take off his shoes and socks, and disposed of them quickly, along with his
boxers.

They both stood face-to-face once again, each of them openly letting their gazes roam over the
other's body. Harry was the first to move as he closed the distance between them and took her
into his arms. Harry captured her lips and poured every ounce of passion he was feeling for her
into the kiss, causing her knees to buckle with the intensity. Scooping her into his arms, Harry
walked her over to the bed and lay her down gently. Settling himself carefully atop her, he
remained unmoving while he studied her face, making her a little uncomfortable with his
scrutiny.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, afraid of what his answer might be as all of her
insecurities came crashing down around her.

"You're so beautiful," he replied with a gentle smile. "I knew from the first
day you came to work here that there was something special about you, and that you were a wonderful
person. But the more time I spent with you, the more I noticed the little things like the sprinkle
of freckles across your nose and cheeks, the gold flecks in your eyes that sparkle in the sunlight,
and the loving way you look at Lily and James when you think no one is looking. You are an amazing
woman."

He kissed her again as he let one of his hands explore every inch of her body that it could
reach. When he was done, Hermione lay panting underneath him, almost begging him to join them and
make them one. As he positioned himself to do just that, Hermione quietly said, "Please go
slow, I've only been with one other man, and that was some time ago."

"I would never do anything to hurt you," he replied, brushing his lips across hers in
a whisper of a kiss. He slid into her as slowly as his waning restraint would allow, and once he
was fully enveloped in her warmth they started the dance that so many lovers before them had
danced, completely lost in one another.



10. Encore
----------


A/N> Yes, I'm still alive. I'm sorry it's been so long between updates, but life
has been crazy and my back has been bad. I've been working on this chapter whenever possible,
and I've also been working on the final chapter for "The Razor's Edge". Add to
that recording the new podcast that will be coming out on Christmas Eve, and you might be able to
get an idea as to how busy I've been. I don't get much free time during the day, but what I
get I spend writing as much as possible. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter,
and thanks to Poppywillow for her help and encouragement :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, and Happy
Holidays to you all!!!



Cocooned in her sheet and blanket, Hermione snuggled lower into the warmth and turned over for a
more comfortable position. When her nose bumped into something, she opened her eyes sleepily and
came face-to-face with a wide-awake Harry.

Seeing her eyes widen to the size of saucers in surprise, Harry smiled and said, "Good
morning."

"Morning? It's morning already? I have to get up and take care of Lily and James!"
she said in a panicked voice, clumsily trying to untangle herself from the blanket.

She stopped her frantic movements when Harry placed his hand on her arm and said, "I've
already been downstairs and asked Lisa to take care of them this morning so that we could have a
lie-in and talk about what happened last night."

"You what?!" Hermione exclaimed as an angered expression stole over her face.
"How dare you assume to know what I want! And I'm sure that Lisa knows what happened
between us last night, even if you didn't come right out and say it, and I have to work with
her. She'll probably think I'm some type of scarlet woman who's just trying to take
Ginny's place. How could you?"

"I just thought..." Harry started, only to be interrupted by her continuing anger.

"You didn't think at all," Hermione said furiously as she finally got out of bed
and put her robe on. Walking to her bathroom door, she turned back to face Harry with tears in her
eyes and said, "I'm going to take a shower. Please don't be here when I come
out."

Harry watched in disbelief as she disappeared into the bathroom, wondering what he had done to
make her so angry with him. He had thought that it would be nice to spend some time together that
morning, especially after what they had shared the night before. It had been so long since he had
felt such desire for a woman, and last night while he was inside her he could feel the wall that he
had built around his heart start to crumble. He wanted to spend every waking minute with her, find
out everything he could about her, and the way she pushed him away just then confused him to no
end. Had she not felt the same connection that he had last night? With a resigned sigh, he got up
from the bed and cast one last look toward the bathroom door. Hoping that a hot shower and some
time alone might help to clear her head, Harry closed the door behind him and made his way to his
office for some quiet time of his own.

~*~

Hermione had been standing with her back against the bathroom door until she heard Harry walk
out of her room. Sighing and wiping the tears from her eyes, she slid her robe off and stepped into
the shower. Letting the hot stream of water spray on her aching back muscles, she closed her eyes
and tried not to think of how wonderful Harry's hands and lips had felt on her body the night
before. She could almost feel the sensation of his lips on her stomach as he placed kisses on her
hot skin, and the way his fingertips seemed to glide over every part of her most private places,
illiciting feelings she had never before experienced. Becoming aroused all over again as the
memories played out in her mind, Hermione let her hands roam to the places that ached to be touched
and proceeded to pleasure herself, all the while wishing that it were Harry's hands instead of
her own. Afterwards, she finished up quickly and got out. Drying herself, she slipped on her robe
once more and made her way into her room to dress for the day.

As she made her way downstairs, she wondered how Lisa would react toward her. She had come to
like her fellow co-worker immensely and the thought of losing the friendship they had started
saddened her. She hadn't made many friends over the years, but Lisa was such a sweet, caring
person that it was hard not to like the spunky brunette. When the sudden memory of what had
happened with Cole the previous evening invaded her mind, Hermione stopped just short of entering
the kitchen and took a deep breath. It had been such a crazy twenty-four hours...it was amazing how
quickly her serene life had gotten so screwed up.

Gathering up her courage, she walked into the kitchen and took her seat at the table next to
Lily. Smiling at the enthusiastic little girl's greeting, she turned to grab a piece of toast
and Lisa walked up to her with a pot of coffee in hand. As she filled Hermione's cup with the
hot liquid, she looked at her with an unreadable expression on her face and asked, "Eventful
night?"

"You could say that," Hermione quietly answered.

Lisa nodded knowingly and didn't say anything further. As they ate quietly, James got up and
placed his bowl in the sink. Just as Hermione opened her mouth to say something to him, Lisa said,
"Why don't you and Lily go upstairs and play, and either Hermione or I will be up in a
little while?"

"Okay," Lily said happily as she took James hand and followed him out of the room.

Hermione watched them leave and as she turned back to Lisa, she saw her flick her wand and cast
a silencing spell on the room. After putting her wand back on the table, next to her plate, she
looked Hermione in the eyes and asked, "Want to talk about it?"

"I don't know," Hermione answered truthfully, "I'm not quite sure I
understand it myself yet." When Lisa stayed silent Hermione continued, "I, well...last
night Harry and I...oh, I can't even say it!"

Lisa watched her for a moment before asking, "Did you sleep with Harry last
night?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, her voice full of anguish. "I didn't mean to, really
I didn't. I went to shower, and when I walked into my room afterwards he was waiting for me,
and...oh, I just don't know what to do."

Lisa stayed quiet for a while, and Hermione started to fidget nervously. Finally Lisa said,
"Luna told me that you would come along eventually."

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

Lisa smiled at the evident confusion in her voice and replied, "Luna and I were best
friends during our days at Hogwarts. When she and Harry got married, and she found out she was
pregnant, Luna asked me if I would come work for them. I was struggling financially and I knew she
was trying to help me out, so I took the job. We had so much fun together, it seemed as if I was
getting paid to spend time with my best friend. I helped her with James after he was born...she and
Harry were so happy together, and they were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting
Lily." Lisa sighed as she remembered all the great times she had experienced with Luna and
said, "Soon after Lily was born, Luna started acting strange. It seemed like she was trying to
distance herself from Harry and the children. When I confronted her on it one day, she confided in
me that she had 'seen' her death and that she would be gone soon."

At Hermione's obvious look of disbelief, Lisa said, "I take it you don't believe
too much in divination?"

"No," Hermione replied, "It was never a favorite subject of mine in
school."

"Mine either," Lisa said with a smile, "But Luna was something of a Seer, and she
gave quite a few readings and predictions that came true. I believed in her ability, as did Harry,
so when she told me how she had foreseen her own death, I was afraid for her. When six months went
by and nothing happened, I was foolish enough to let myself think that she had been wrong. When
Harry told me what had happened...she was like a sister to me, and it broke my heart when she
died."

Hermione looked sympathetically at Lisa, knowing how much it hurt to lose someone you loved, and
waited silently for her to continue. After dabbing her eyes with a napkin, Lisa sighed and
continued, "A week before she was killed, she and I were sitting at this very table, talking
about the future. She had brought up her vision and said that there was something else that had
been revealed to her in it. She had seen that Harry would find his true soul mate a few years after
she was gone and said that the woman would have trouble accepting her feelings because of being
hurt badly in the past."

Lisa's hunch was strengthened when Hermione wouldn't meet her eyes after she said the
last part. Figuring that she had nothing to lose, Lisa said, "He hasn't slept with anyone
other than Luna...until last night that is. He must care about you a lot if he let his defences
down enough to let you in, and I'd hate for him to be hurt again."

"How did you know that he's not been with anyone else?" Hermione asked, wondering
just how close a relationship she and Harry had.

"I'm sure he told you about only going out with two women since Luna's death?"
When Hermione nodded her head in confirmation she said, "Did he happen to tell you that the
second woman was me?"

"You and Harry dated after Luna died?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we went out twice and then we realized that it wasn't going anywhere. I think we
were just lonely, and we both missed Luna so much. We found comfort in one another," Lisa
replied quietly.

"Do you have feelings for Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously, not really sure she
wanted to know the answer.

"No," Lisa replied with a reassuring smile. "I realized on our second date that I
considered him more as a brother than a possible love interest. He's someone I can talk to
whenever I have a problem or just need to talk, and he comes to me if he needs a friendly ear to
listen."

"Oh," was all that Hermione said. Her head was full of confusing thoughts and she
rubbed her temples as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "If you don't mind
watching James and Lily this morning, I think I'm going to go lay down for a while."

"Of course I'll watch them," she replied. Hermione thanked her and just as she
went to walk out of the kitchen Lisa said, "Please think about what I said, and don't shut
Harry out. I've noticed that you seem to care about him as much as he cares about you,
don't deny yourself a shot at happiness and true love."

Without another word Hermione left the kitchen, and a very curious Lisa, behind.

~*~

Harry had spent the time that Lisa and Hermione were talking in the Kitchen pacing in his
office. Visions of the night before kept replaying in his mind, along with how wonderful it had
felt to hold Hermione in his arms while they danced. He couldn't get her out of his head and it
was driving him mad. Walking over to his desk chair, he dropped into it with a sigh and his eyes
landed on the picture of Luna that he kept on his desk now that Ginny was gone. Picking it up he
said, "I have no idea what to do Luna, I haven't felt like this since I fell in love with
you." Feeling shame wash over him he muttered, "Actually, what I feel for her seems
more...intense somehow and I feel like I'm being unfaithful to you. But she is so wonderful
with Lily and James, she loves and treats them as if they were her own children." Running a
hand roughly through his hair he set the picture back onto his desk and said, "I screwed up
when I allowed Ginny to barge into my life, I'm not going to mess it up again by letting
Hermione get away."

Deciding that he needed to talk to Hermione right that second, Harry got up and made his way
into the hall, walking right into the person he was going to find.

"Can I talk to you for a moment in my office?" Harry asked formally, causing Hermione
to give him a strange look.

"Um, sure," she replied, following him into the room. She sat in one of the chairs in
front of his desk as he closed the door and followed her inside.

He sat in the chair next to hers and when he turned and faced her she had a somewhat surprised
look on her face. Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his and said, " I don't know
how you feel about last night, but I want to tell you that I'm glad it happened."

"I'll admit, I was unsure when I rolled over and saw you in my bed this morning,"
Hermione replied. "What happened last night was wonderful, but I don't want to do anything
to make Lily and James uncomfortable around me. They're doing so well now, I don't want to
jeopardize that."

"I don't either," Harry agreed, "But I want to be with you at the same
time."

They sat quietly, looking at each other as various thoughts ran through both their minds. Before
he could think about what he was doing, Harry leaned over and took her face in his hands. Leaning
in, he claimed her lips in a passion filled kiss, trying to convey everything he felt for her. As
he tasted her, he could feel himself grow hard and he kissed her harder.

Her heart had sped up as he started kissing her, and as the kiss grew more passionate she found
herself lost in the feelings that were washing over her. With all thoughts of Lily and James far
from her mind, Hermione kissed him back. Suddenly needing to be closer to him, she slid over
without breaking the kiss and sat so that she was straddling his lap. Burying her hands in his
hair, she moaned as his hands slid under her shirt and he started to knead her breasts . Losing
themselves to their desire for one another, they started to unconsciously grind against the other,
looking for release.

Bringing his hands from under her shirt, Harry wrapped his arms around her back and stood up,
taking her with him. Sitting her on top of his desk, he waved his hand towards the items that
cluttered it and sent everything flying and falling to the floor. Laying her flat on her back,
Harry proceeded to undress her and himself. As he joined them together once more, he looked her in
the eyes and said, "I love you."

With tears suddenly blurring her vision, Hermione stared into his beautiful green eyes and with
a quivering voice replied, "Merlin help me, I love you too."

Harry stared at her, losing himself in her limpid brown eyes, in wonder of the feelings she
invoked in him. Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly and proceeded to take them both over the edge
of reason.





11. One of those horrid author's notes
--------------------------------------

I swore I would never do this and I can't stand myself right now...

I am sorry that this is not the last chapter for "Nanny Wanted". I hate chapters that
are only authors notes, but I feel I need to explain why I haven't updated. I have not been
able to finish it and I am sorry, I meant to have this story finished long before now.
Unfortunately family matters and the podcast have taken more of my free time lately and I
haven't written anything for weeks. I miss writing so much, it almost hurts.

I am leaving on vacation in the morning, and I will be riding in a car for three days. In those
three days, I will have a notebook with me and I plan to work on the chapter. I also plan on
finishing the final chapter of "The Razor's Edge" and working on "The Light
Within". I won't be doing much driving at all, so I'll have lots of spare time, and
I'm looking forward to it. I'm doing it the good old fashioned way, taking pen to paper to
tell my tale :)

I hope you'll be patient with me, and if I get the chapter finished and one of my relatives
will let me use their computer, I will try to upload it while I'm gone. If not, I will post it
as soon as I get home and can get on my computer. I am sorry again, and I swear that I will not
post another author's note only chapter ever again.

~MisCard~





12. Epilogue-The Magical Wonders of Life
----------------------------------------


~A/N> Finally, it's done! The final chapter of Nanny Wanted is complete, and it is
longer than any chapter I've written before. I'm sorry it's taken so long to finish,
but I hope the length and content of it make up for the time you had to wait to read it. Enjoy, and
I'm off to work on my other two stories :)



One year later…

"Hermy, Daddy said I was s'posed to come get you," Lily said as her smiling face
appeared in the doorway of Hermione's room.

"It's `supposed' Lily," Hermione corrected, smiling. "And why are you
supposed to come and get me?"

"I dunno," Lily replied with the same smirk that Harry got when he was up to
something. "Daddy said that I was to bring you downstairs to the sitting room."

"Well then, I guess I should go see what he wants, shouldn't I?" Hermione said,
taking Lily's hand. As they made their way down the hallway to the staircase, Hermione looked
at all the Christmas decorations that were hanging up everywhere, adding a very festive atmosphere
to the house.

Lily pulled her down the stairs excitedly as she let the Christmas-y feeling wash over her,
along with curiosity as to what Harry had planned for her. It had to be something good if Lily was
this excited.

Lily stopped just outside the sitting room and bounced up and down. "Go in, go
in!"

"Okay," Hermione replied, laughing. Reaching out to grab the door handle, she gasped
as she felt a tingle run from her hand, throughout her entire body. Looking down, she gasped again
as she saw that she was now dressed in a beautiful white lace dress. It was a simple, floor length
dress with a beaded bodice and a simple tie-in-the-back waist…and it was the most beautiful dress
she had ever seen. As her stomach suddenly became aflutter with nerves for no reason at all, the
door opened and her eyes widened at the scene before her. Looking down at Lily, she noticed that
the beautiful little girl was wearing a dress similar to hers and a huge smile.

"Are you going to stand out there, or will you be joining James and I in here?" Harry
asked amused and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Walking in through the door, she took in the scene before her and stopped immediately. The
sitting room had been converted and it looked stunning. There were fairy lights floating overhead,
a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner, and Harry was standing in front of a roaring
fireplace with James standing next to him. Finally moving, Hermione started to walk toward them and
asked, "What is all of this? I thought we were just having a simple Christmas Eve dinner
tonight and then it would be off to bed?"

"Well, James,Lily, and I were discussing what to get you for Christmas, and then we started
talking about what they wanted for Christmas…and well, maybe they should tell you," Harry
replied, looking from Lily to James.

Hermione watched as James walked toward her and she smiled lovingly at him. He had come so far
in the last year; she had worked with him eveyday, trying to get him to speak, and he was coming
out of his shell more and more each day. Even his interaction with other adults was getting better,
and she was so proud of him. Feeling him take her hand in his, she snapped out of her thoughts and
looked down at his smiling face. "Hermione," he said quietly, looking at her shyly,
"Lily and I talked about it with Dad, and for Christmas we'd like you to be our new
Mum."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears immediately as she knelt down so that she was face to face
with him. "But James, even though your Mum's not with us anymore, she's still your Mum
and I would never dream of trying to take her place. Besides, I already think of you and Lily as my
own children, and I love you both so much."

"And we love you," Lily said, walking up and taking her other hand. "And we want
to know if you'll marry our Dad and be our new Mum?"

When Hermione looked up, Harry was standing behind his children, holding an open ring box in his
hand. As happy tears fell gently down her cheeks, Harry reached out to wipe one away and said,
"You're already a part of our family; you take care of us when we're sick, you're
there when we need you, and you always make sure that we know how much we mean to you. You are
everything to us and we couldn't imagine living one day without you in it. Will you marry
me…well, I should ask will you marry us, Hermione?"

Hermione laughed and cried at the same time. She looked from Harry to James and then to Lily,
all three of their faces watching her expectantly. Looking back to Harry she asked, "Lily,
James, can I talk to your Dad alone for a moment?"

It broke her heart a little as she saw their faces fall with thoughts of her saying no to their
question. Reluctantly, James took Lily's hand and they walked out the door with their heads
hung low. When she tore her gaze from their dejected forms she looked back to Harry to see the
children's expressions mirrored on his face. Taking both of his hands in hers, she smiled up at
him and said, "I'm not saying 'no' Harry, I just wanted to speak with you before I
answered to make sure this is really what you want."

His face brightened a little and he said, "This is absolutely what I want. Since the first
day you walked through my front door, my life hasn't been the same…it's been better than I
ever could have imagined. You may have started out by working for me, and we had our rough points
in the beginning, but once I saw Ginny for who she really was and stopped denying my feelings for
you…well, life's been brilliant." Cupping her face in his hands, he gently caressed her
skin with his thumbs and continued, "All this time that we thought we were being so sneaky and
keeping our relationship from James and Lily? Well, they knew and confronted me on it two weeks
ago. The three of us had a very enlightening conversation and it was almost like they were reading
my mind. I had been thinking about proposing to you for Christmas and they came to me with the
exact same idea…and here we are." Taking her left hand in his, he kneeled down in front of her
and placed the ring near the fingernail of her left ring finger, poised to slide it on, and asked,
"Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will marry you," she answered as happy tears fell from her eyes. She laughed
as she heard Lily and James both shouting happily outside the door where they had obviously been
listening. Finally looking down at the ring Harry had placed on her finger she said, "Harry,
this ring is absolutely stunning!"

"I'm glad you think so, because Lily picked it out," Harry replied as James and
Lily came running into the room toward them, both their faces shining brightly with happiness.

Lily ran up to Hermione and threw her hands around her waist, giving her a big hug.
"I'm so glad you said yes, and that you like my ring! It was so pretty, just like
you."

Hermione bent down and placed a kiss on the top of Lily's head and looked toward James, who
was standing proudly next to his Dad smiling at her. With one of her arms wrapped around Lily's
shoulders, she held out her other one in invitation and he walked up to her without hesitation. She
wrapped her outstretched arm around his shoulders too and squeezed them lightly. Kissing James on
the top of his head too, causing his cheeks to take on a pink tinge, she said, "I feel like
the luckiest person in the world right now."

"Oh, the night has only just begun," Harry said mischievously. Walking toward the
door, he motioned for someone to come in, and in walked Lisa, Cole, and Hermione's parents.

When she saw her parents standing there she quirked one of her eyebrows and asked,
"Mum…Dad? Not that I'm not deliriously happy to see you, but…what are you doing here? You
told me you couldn't make it for Christmas?"

"Hello dear," her Mum answered as she walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Your
young fellow called us to let us know what he was planning and we wanted it to be a surprise. We
were hoping that it would be more than just a Christmas celebration. Is it?"

"Yes it is," Hermione replied, beaming happily at her parents. "Harry asked me to
marry him and I've said yes!"

"Congratulations honey," her Dad said, giving her a hug also. Turning around, he held
his hand out to Harry and said, "Congratulations to you too, Harry. Just make sure that you
take good care of our little girl."

"I plan to Sir," Harry answered looking just a tad nervous under Mr. Granger's
intense stare and the hidden warning in his words.

Lily, who had been quiet up until that moment walked up to Jane, Hermione's mum, and asked,
"Does that mean that you'll be my new Gramma?"

"Why, yes, I suppose it does," Jane answered, smiling down at the beautiful little
blond girl standing before her, watching her with her big green eyes.

"Good, because I only have Granda Lovegood and I don't get to see him very much
anymore," Lily replied, as any innocent child would, but her comment hit Harry hard.

He hadn't thought about how Luna's dad had been for a long time now and a stab of guilt
shot through him. Vowing to contact his former father-in-law the next chance he got, Harry said,
"I think we've made the Minister wait long enough, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, perplexed, wondering what other surprises Harry
had up his sleeve.

"Well, I figured that since your parents are here, and I really have no one that I want
here other than Cole, Lisa, and the kids, that we could get married tonight. Now."

Hermione looked up at Harry with the utmost look of love shining in her eyes and said,
"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Lily ran to the door and motioned for the Minister, who had been standing outside the room
waiting to see if he would be needed or not, to come in to join them. Walking into the room with a
smile on his face the Minister said, "I see we'll be celebrating after all."

"Thank you for waiting," Harry replied, "There were a few things we needed to
sort out first, but we're ready now."

"Brilliant! Let's get this ceremony started then, shall we? My wife would like me home
to have dinner with the family tonight and as you probably know, it's not wise to upset the
wife during the holidays."

"You're absolutely right," Mr. Granger agreed quickly with a smirk toward his
wife. When she glared back at him he looked away from her and focused once more on the Minister of
Magic, causing the adults in the room to laugh.

Harry moved to stand next to the Minister of Magic while Hermione followed her Dad to the back
of the room, along with Lily. James stood next to his Father proudly with a big smile on his face,
looking like Christmas had come early (which in a way, it had). With a little bit of bustle in the
back of the room, and a wave of the Minister's wand, some beautiful music filled the air. With
a bouquet of flowers that Lisa had transfigured and given her, Lily walked down the short aisle and
went to proudly stand off to the side opposite her Dad and brother. Hermione's Dad wrapped her
arm around his as her Mom went to tearfully sit next to Cole and Lisa in one of the few chairs that
were left in the room.

After walking his daughter to the front of the room and handing her to Harry with his blessings,
the Minister of Magic performed the ceremony to marry them. Afterwards, they had a giant
celebration dinner that they couldn't convince the Minister to stay for due to his wife's
insistance that he come straight home afterward. When everyone was full and sleepy, preperations
were made for Christmas morning and everyone went off to bed. When Hermione had turned to go toward
his room that night after tucking James and Lily in, he had stopped her and asked, "Why
don't we sleep in your room tonight?"

"Okay," Hermione replied, confused. "But can I ask why you'd rather sleep in
my small bed when you have one twice the size?"

Walking up to her, Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "First I want you to
understand that what I'm about to say is in no way to hurt your feelings." When she nodded
he continued, "That room, the bed that's in my room...I shared with Luna and Ginny.
I'm not proud about letting Ginny in but that's in the past, you're my future, and
that's why I don't want you and I to have the same room or bed. If it's okay with you,
there will be a new bed delivered the day after tomorrow and we can choose which one of the other
rooms to use as ours."

Hermione stood there looking at him as he spoke, genuinely in awe of his consideration for her
feelings. As he stood waiting for her reply, she said, "That would be fine with me," and
kissed him deeply. When she pulled back and he smiled at her she added, "I don't know of
any other man that would even be so considerate of his new wife's feelings. I have to admit, it
had crossed my mind that I would be sharing the same room with you that they had."

"Well, now you won't be." Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her into her
room and lay her gently onto the bed. Closing and locking the door while casting the silencing
spell, he walked back over to her and lay down on top of her. Claiming her lips in a heated kiss,
he started to undress her slowly, relishing in every inch of soft, silky skin that he revealed.
They spent the night exploring each other's bodies, not as lover's anymore, but as husband
and wife, relishing in the fact that their new life together was off to a very, very nice
start.

~*~

"Daddy? Hermy? It's time to open presents!" came Lily's voice through
Hermione's bedroom door very early on Christmas morning, as well as some pounding on the door
to get her point across. When Harry untangled himself from his new wife and looked at the clock he
groaned and said, "Bloody hell, it's only six-thirty in the morning!"

Yawning loudly as she languidly stretched, giving Harry a very nice view, Hermione said,
"But it's Christmas morning, all children get up before the crack of dawn so that they can
rip open every one of their presents in as little time as possible. I think my all time record was
ten minutes."

"Erm, well...there is something I should tell you," Harry said, looking at her with a
bit of a serious look on her face. "I never really had that many memorable Christmas's
while I was growing up so I sort of overdo it with James and Lily, I'm afraid."

"And you think that's a bad thing?" she asked, looking at him with love shining in
her eyes. "Harry, you spoiled them last year too. If Lily and James acted like two spoiled
children who never listened, then maybe I could find fault with the fact that you spoil them. But
they are two of the most wonderful children I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and I can't
even start to tell you how proud I am to be their step-mum."

Harry bent down and started kissing her passionately, hoping for a repeat of what they had done
into the wee hours of the morning, but once again Lily yelled, "Daaadddddyyyyyy.....come
on!"

When she started to jiggle the doorknob they looked at each other and laughed quietly.
"We'd better get up before they convince Lisa to use her wand to open the door."
Harry said.

"She wouldn't do that," Hermione replied, looking at him with some doubt in her
expression.

"No, she knows better," he answered with a smile. "But you never know with her
quirky sense of humor. Come on, we'd best get up and dressed so that the kids can open their
presents."

As they got into their robes, Harry took Hermione's hand and opened the door of her room,
only to be almost knocked down by Lily as she ran in and wrapped her arms around Harry's legs.
When he released Hermione's hand and picked her up, Lily leaned over to kiss Hermione on the
cheek and said, "Happy Christmas mummy."

Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes after she said this and as she smiled at Lily she asked,
"But before you called me Hermy?"

"I wanted to say it for the first time when I saw you," Lily replied with a huge
smile. "Now can we please go open our presents now?"

"Yes, yes we can," Harry said while laughing. Walking out into the hallway, he saw
James standing there and he said, "Happy Christmas son."

"Happy Christmas dad," James replied while smiling. Looking at Hermione his cheeks
took on a pink tinge as he said, "Happy Christmas mum."

Hermione walked over to James and kneeled down so that she was at eye level with him. Placing
her hand gently on his arm she said, "James, you don't have to call me mum if you
don't want to. It's okay if you still want to call me Hermione."

"No,I want to call you mum," he replied. "It's just kind of...new."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said while smiling lovingly at him. Standing up, she
held out her hand to him and he took it right away. The four of them made their way down the stairs
to find Hermione's parents, Lisa, and Cole all waiting around the Christmas tree. "We
tried to keep them patient for as long as we could," Lisa said with a smile.

"It's better than last year," Harry said, looking at Hermione. "What time was
it that they woke you up again?"

"Five a.m." she replied, yawning again.

As the adults settled in with nice hot steaming cups of tea, James and Lily seperated their
presents from everyone else's and started to open them as fast as they could. Fifteen minutes
later all the toys had been unwrapped and opened, and the two of them sat playing happily with
their new things. As Harry sat in front of the tree, handing out the gifts to everyone else, Cole
said, "Harry, would you mind giving that one there that's from me to Lisa?"

"Sure," Harry said, seeking out the present Cole was pointing to. Finding it, he
handed it to Lisa as Cole had asked and found the one he had been looking for to give to Hermione.
Not paying attention, he heard Lisa gasp and looked over to find her holding up a one-karat
solitaire diamond ring in her hand, looking at Cole with tears in her eyes.

"So what do you say?" Cole asked. "Lisa, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Lisa said happily as Cole took the ring from her shaking hand and slipped it on
her left ring finger. Lisa launched herself at Cole in a giant hug and kissed him. "What a
wonderful Christmas present, thank you so much."

"I wanted it to be special, and what's more special than proposing in front of the
people we think of as our own family?" he asked. "I was just hoping the spontaneous
wedding last night wouldn't put a damper on it"

Hermione sat on the sofa with tears running down her cheeks, touched at the scene unfolding
before her. Harry walked over and sat down next to her, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"It's about time, don't you think?" he whispered, causing her to laugh.

"Yes, I guess so," she replied, looking at him.

"This is for you, from me," he said and then corrected, "Well, from your parents
and I."

Looking at him quizzically, she opened the flat box and took out an old looking watch. Unsure of
how to react, she looked at him and asked more than said, "Thank you?"

Laughing, Harry looked over to her parents and back to her again. "It's a
Portkey," he explained. "Your parents have agreed to stay until after the New Year so
that they can get to know their knew grandchildren better and then on January second, we'll be
leaving on our honeymoon."

"Really?" she asked, touched by the gesture. When he nodded she asked, "So where
are we going?"

"That, my dearest heart, is a surprise," Harry answered cryptically.

At just that time, Lily walked up to Hermione and handed her an envelope. "I made this for
you this morning," she said quietly, as if divulging a big secret. "I would have made it
before, but I didn't know that I was supposed to."

When Lily stood there smiling at her as if nothing were unusual about what she had just said,
Hermione looked at Harry and then back at the envelope in her hand. Setting the portkey watch
aside, Hermione opened the envelope to find a card that Lily had made herself. It had a picture of
Santa drawn on the front (as best as any five year old could draw, anyway) and it read "Happy
Christmas To My New Mummy". Opening it, Hermione read what Lily had written and looked at the
small girl quizzically and asked, "Lily, I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You will," Lily replied with a big smile on her face as her eyes shone brightly with
happiness. As she made her way back to her new pile of toys, Harry gestured questioningly at the
card in Hermione's hand and she gave it to him to read. Inside it said:

"It's our first family Christmas
and there will be so many more.

You are my mum now and I'm so glad
because you're perfect for my Dad.
I'm afraid that my present will be latebut

please do not be mad.
You will get it in the next three months, and can share with our Dad."

Shrugging, Harry handed the card back to Hermione and said, "I guess we'll just have to
wait three months to see what she gives you."

Watching Lily as she played Hermione quietly agreed, "I guess we will," knowing that
it wouldn't be something simple, knowing how cunning the little girl could be.

~*~

The next day Harry and Hermione's bedroom arrived, which shocked Hermione since she was just
expecting a bed only. As the movers floated the old furniture down the staircase, Harry stepped
into the empty room they had chosen to be their new bedroom and asked, "Would you like it to
be a different color?"

Hermione looked around at the dark blue color on the wall and asked, "I don't suppose
we could make it something a bit...well, comforting?"

Taking in the empty room before him, Harry said, "You know, at Hogwarts our common room was
decorated in maroon and gold and it always made me feel so...at home, I guess you could
say."

"Why don't we make the walls maroon with gold trim?" Hermione asked simply.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all," she replied. "I think it sounds lovely, actually."

So with some flicks and swishes of his wand, Harry changed the color of their new bedroom and
stood in the center of it, admiring his work with Hermione. "I think it looks fabulous,"
she said matter-of-factly.

"I'm glad, because I think it's brilliant," he said, bending down to place a
quick kiss on her lips since they could hear the delivery wizards coming back up the stairs. After
telling them where to put each piece of furniture, they both lay on the bed together and took in
the room they would be sharing together for the rest of their lives. Lily came running in and
immediately jumped onto the bed, bouncing the two of them and making them laugh. When James walked
in, he looked around and said, "Dad, it looks just like the pictures you showed me of your old
common room at Hogwarts."

"Aye, it does," Harry replied. "Hermione likes the colors just as much as I
do."

"They're...soothing," she said, taking a moment to think of the right word.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Harry said, smiling over at her right
before Lily jumped on top of him playfully, knocking the breath right out of him while James and
Hermione laughed.

~*~

After that day, the rest of the year passed by quickly and the next thing they knew, they were
hosting a huge New Year's Eve party that anyone and everyone had been invited to. It was also a
celebration of Harry and Hermione's marriage, which hadn't yet been announced until that
night, so that made for an even more festive atmoshpere. With so many congratulations and
well-wishes, Hermione was exhauseted two hours after the new year had begun. "I don't
suppose we could go to bed now?" she asked sleepily. "Isn't our Portkey set to leave
in five hours?"

"Yes, it is," Harry replied, yawning as well. Four hours later, Harry found himself
stumbling down the stairs with Hermione in tow, their trunks shrunk and put in their pockets since,
according to Harry, it was a magical place they were going to.

"All set to go?" Hermione's dad asked as they walked by him as he stood at the
bottom of the stairs.

"All set," Hermione replied. "But you didn't have to get up so early just to
see us off."

"We're all up!" said a very excited Lily as she came bounding into the sitting
room. Unlike the adults, she and James had been in bed by nine the previous night so she was well
rested and ran straight for Harry, practically jumping into his arms, giving him a huge hug. James
followed her in, but at a walk, and stood quietly watching the scene before him.

"How long will you be gone?" he asked quietly, looking at his dad.

"Ten days," Harry replied, and then setting Lily back onto the floor he leaned over to
whisper in James' ear.

"Really?" James asked with a smile on his face.

"Really, but don't say anything," Harry replied, ruffling his son's hair
affectionately.

"It's almost time," Hermione said sleepily, drawing their attention to her.
Walking toward Lily, Hermione knelt down and gave Lily a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Moving
toward James, she knelt in front of him and asked, "Is it okay if I give you a hug goodbye
too?"

When he nodded, she wrapped her arms around his stomach as he put his around her neck and laid
his head on her shoulder. Turning so that his mouth was near her ear he whispered, "I'm
going to miss you."

Pulling back a little, Hermione kissed him quickly on his cheek and said, "I'm going to
miss you too. But I know that Lisa, Cole and my mum and dad will take good care of you." When
he nodded, she added, "And my dad is really bad at checkers." Checkers was James favorite
game of all.

"Hey!" her Dad protested with a smile. "We'll just have to see about that
now, won't we?" he asked, looking toward James who nodded in agreement.

Hugging all the others goodbye, Harry and Hermione took hold of the portkey watch and counted
down, disappearing as the clock in the sitting room chimed seven. When they landed gently (thanks
to many travels by portkey) and Hermione turned around she gasped at the huge ship that was before
her. "Is that...?"

"Welcome to the USS Merlin," Harry said, gesturing toward the ship. "This is a
purely magical cruise, so if we don't want to leave our room the entire time we're on the
ship, we can just magically order our food right from our room and anything else we want or
need."

Hermione hugged him and said, "Thank you so much Harry, this is going to be so much
fun!"

"Ten days alone with you, without James and Lily knocking on the door, or Lisa needing me
for something? Yeah, I'd say this is going to be a great trip!"

~*~

After enjoying ten lovely days together by themselves Harry and Hermione returned home to resume
their normal life together with Lisa, Cole, James, and Lily. Sadly, Hermione's parents had to
return to their home, and Hermione tearfully saw them off with the promise that she, Harry, and the
children would come to visit them soon. While they had been away, Lisa and Cole (with Lily's
input of course) had decided to be wed on June 7th, which was less than five months away.

"That's pretty quick," Harry remarked offhandedly.

"Like you're one to talk about quick weddings?" Cole teased.

"Smartass," Harry replied laughing. "If you need any help with anything just let
me know."

"Thank you," Lisa said, smiling brightly. "Erm, there is a reason for the
rush...I'm pregnant!"

Hermione let out a small squeal of delight and made her way to Lisa to give her a huge hug of
congratulations. Harry went over and shook Cole's hand as well as giving Lisa a hug and said,
"If you would like, you're both welcome to move into the guest house. It has two bedrooms
and is pretty good sized as you already know." When the two of them kept quiet he added,
"You two have been my friends all through Hogwarts, you stood by me through the war, and
you've been here with me since I first moved in. I couldn't imagine life around here
without you in it. Besides, Lily and James think of you as their Auntie Lisa and Uncle Cole, they
would miss you as well."

"And if you're not feeling up to cooking or whatever around here, I'm more than
happy to help out," Hermione replied, looking at Lisa. "Really, it just wouldn't be
the same around here without the two of you."

Lisa looked to Cole who stared back at her intensely, and when he saw the pleading look in her
eyes he said, "Okay, we would love to move into the guest house."

"And don't even think about paying rent or anything, I won't hear of it,"
Harry said when he saw Cole open his mouth to say something else.

Shaking his head, Cole said, "You always could tell what I was going to say before I said
it."

The following week, Harry and Cole moved Lisa and Cole's things into the guest house,
freeing up the entire west wing upstairs. Standing in the middle of the sitting room, Hermione
looked around as Harry walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, planting a kiss
on the side of her neck. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"This house just seems so big," she replied. "Especially now that Lisa and Cole
are living in the guest house."

"Well, why don't we start working on expanding our family then?" he asked, nipping
at her earlobe with his teeth, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"That sounds wonderful," she replied, reaching her hand behind her to caress his cheek
lovingly.

"Well, since the kids are over with Cole and Lisa, 'helping' them unpack," he
said with laughter in his voice, "why don't we go start on that right now?"

Turning toward him with a mischevious smile on her face, she said, "Only if you can beat me
up to our room," and took off running up the stairs.

Smiling as he watched her behind as she ran, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on what his
bedroom door looked like and apparated. When Hermione got to the top of the stairs, only to see
Harry leaning against the doorframe of their room with a cocky grin on his face, she said,
"How'd you...but you didn't...you apparated, didn't you?" When he nodded his
head with that damn grin still on his face she said, "You cheated and you told me the wards
didn't allow apparition inside the house!" she said, walking up to him.

"Did I? Hmm, guess I was thinking of something else." Laughing when she smacked him on
the arm, he scooped her up as she started laughing and said, "What does it matter? We win
either way."

~*~

Valentine's Day, two weeks later...

Hermione crawled back into bed, after running to the loo once again to be sick. Putting the cold
cloth on her head that she had brought back with her, along with something else, she snuggled under
the covers and Harry immediately rolled over and put his hand over her waist while snuggling
closer. When she moaned quietly he quickly brought his head up and asked, "Hermione? Are you
okay?"

"I'm still sick," she replied, enjoying the coolness of the cloth as she relaxed
into her pillow.

Harry could hear her stomach gurgle in the silence of the room and he said, "Is there
anything I can do?"

"No, but you're a luv for asking," she mumbled, just before quickly jumping out of
bed again for another run to the bathroom. When she came back ten minutes later, she switched on
her bedside lamp to find Harry laying in bed wide awake, watching her.

"Maybe you should go see a healer?" he asked. "You've had this flu for a week
now."

Looking down at the clock on her nightstand, Hermione picked up the other object she had brought
along with the clock and looked down at it. When her eyes filled with tears and two escaped, making
their way down her cheeks, Harry asked, "Luv, what is it? What's wrong?"

Sniffling, Hermione wiped at one of the tears and looked up at him. Showing him a thin white
stick she replied, "Absolutely nothing is wrong. I don't have the flu, I'm
pregnant."

Harry just stared at her for a moment, letting it soak in, and then he was out of bed in a
flash, wrapping her in a gentle hug. "We're going to have a baby?" he asked quietly,
sounding a bit choked up himself.

"According to this muggle stick test that I bought yesterday," she replied.
"I'll go to the healer tomorrow to confirm it."

"We're not waiting until tomorrow," he replied. "Wait here."

Hermione watched curiously as he quickly pulled on a t-shirt and jeans and made his way out of
their room. About fifteen minutes later, he walked back in with an older woman in tow, mumbling
none too happily behind him. Walking up to her he said, "Hermione, this is Madam Pomfrey. She
healed me after every Quidditch injury I suffered during my years at Hogwarts and saved me from
near-death after the war."

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Potter," the nurse replied politely.

"Please, call me Hermione," she said. "There's no need for such
formalities."

"Alright Hermione, Mr. Potter informs me you haven't been feeling well and that you
suspect you may be pregnant?"

"Um, yes, but you really didn't need to make a house call. I told Harry I was going to
see a healer tomorrow," she replied, casting an annoyed glance at him.

"One thing I've learned over the years is that Mr. Potter is anything but
patient," the nurse replied, casting him an annoyed look as well. Switching into official
nurse mode she asked, "If you would please lie down on the bed, I'll examine you and
preform the pregnancy spell."

Doing as she was asked, Hermione lay back down on their bed and opened her robe as the nurse
asked, exposing her nightdress. Madam Pomfrey started waving her wand over her right away and while
swirling it in a circular motion over her stomach, the nurse muttered a few words and a blue glow
appeared. Hermione looked at Harry to see him practically beaming and never having a magical
pregnancy test performed before she asked, "So I am pregnant then?"

"Yes you are," the nurse replied with a smile. "And it seems you'll be having
a boy."

"A boy?" Hermione asked, in a bit of a state of shock. It wasn't even nine in the
morning yet and already she had not only found out she was pregnant, but that she and Harry would
be having a little boy. "So can you tell me a due date?"

Waving her wand once more while uttering a few more words Madam Pomfrey answered, "I'd
say September 16th."

"That's just three days before my birthday," Hermione said, smiling and placing
her hand on her still flat stomach. Thinking back, she looked at the nurse and asked, "So then
I conceived..."

"On Christmas Eve," Madam Pomfrey finished with a smile. "So, if you experience
any morning sickness..." when Hermione nodded her head adamantly she continued, "try to
drink water and tea, and eat toast or other light foods."

Nodding in understanding, Hermione said, "Thank you so much for coming here this morning.
It means more than you'll ever know."

"Yes, thank you," Harry agreed as the nurse gathered her things and walked past him
toward the door.

"You're very welcome, congratulations," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Oh, and Happy
Valentine's Day."

Hermione hadn't even realized what day it was until the nurse mentioned it. "Thank
you." she replied quietly.

"I'm just going to accompany Madam Pomfrey back downstairs," Harry said with a
smile. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," Hermione replied, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. As she lay with
her hand on her stomach, thinking of the small version of she and Harry that was growing inside of
her, Lily peeked her head into the room and asked, "Can I come in?"

"Of course you can," Hermione replied instantly.

When the little blond walked over and sat next to her on the bed she said, "You don't
look good. Are you still sick?"

"I am," Hermoine replied, not knowing really how much she should say.

Lily sat there, staring intently into Hermione's eyes and said, "You got my Christmas
present, didn't you?"

"What?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"My Christmas present, remember my card?" Lily asked. "It said that you would get
my present in the next three months." When Hermione lay there watching her Lily said,
"I'm going to have a new baby brother, right?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open in surprise just as Harry walked in just in time to hear what
his daughter had said. "You told her already?" he asked, looking at Hermione.

"No, actually I didn't," Hermione said. "Lily, were you listening at the
door?"

"No," Lily replied innocently. "On Christmas Eve night, Mum came to me in my
dreams and told me that something special would be coming into our lives soon, a baby boy. She said
that you and Daddy would be getting the present in three months time, and she told me what I should
write in the card I gave you."

"Luna came to you in a dream and told you this?" Harry asked, walking up to his
daughter and kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with her.

"Yeah," Lily answered like there was nothing unusual about it.

"Then why didn't you put that in the card?" he asked.

"Because Mum said not to. She said that she knew how much you loved surprises, and that
this one was something that the two of you should find out on your own." Lily looked at
Hermione with a smile and said, "She wanted me to give you a present she knew you've
always wanted."

Hermione's eyes welled with tears and Lily threw her arms around her neck, hugging her.
"Don't cry mum. It's time to be happy. You and Aunt Lisa are both having babies, but
her's is gonna be a girl. Don't tell her I said so though, because she doesn't want to
know."

Sniffling, Hermione laughed and said, "I won't say anything."

"I'm going to go get some breakfast," Lily said, switching gears as quickly as any
other normal five year old does.

Harry watched her run out of their room and took her place next to Hermione. Caressing her cheek
with his hand, he said, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day," she replied. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she could
feel Harry's eyes boring into her and she looked up at him and asked, "What is
it?"

"Lily said that Luna told her a baby was something you've always wanted," he
stated carefully. "Was that with..."

"Brian? Yes, we had talked about starting a family right after we were married," she
replied quietly. "But obviously it wasn't meant to be with him...it was your baby that I
was supposed to carry, not his."

"I thought you didn't believe in divination?" he asked.

"I don't," she replied. "But I believe in Fate and Destiny, and obviously
this is our destiny."

"How about we go down and tell everyone the good news, if Lily hasn't
already?"

"Sounds great," Hermione replied. "Just please don't ask me to eat
anything."

~*~

The following months were...well, the only word Harry could think of was interesting.
With Lisa and Cole's wedding in June and then having two pregnant women about in the middle of
a sweltering summer the likes of none other was not an easy task. Thank Merlin for cooling charms.
Of course both Lisa and Hermione felt that they could do all the things they could do before, but
finally Harry and Cole had to step in and take over, making them lay down to rest. Since Lisa was
due on August seventh, she was bigger than Hermione but not by much since everyone but her knew
that she was carrying a girl (Cole wanted to know, she didn't, so she closed her eyes while the
midwife performed the charm). If you compared the two, you'd think that Hermione was due before
Lisa, which didn't make Hermione very happy on the days when her hormones were running rampant.
Every other day, she was her sweet, loving self to Harry's relief.

August first came around and Cole came running into the main house at six that night. When Harry
and Hermione saw the worried look on his face, Harry asked, "Cole, what's wrong?"

"Lisa's water has broken," he said. "She seems really scared, and I'm not
sure what to do to help her."

"Bring her in here," Hermione said immediately. "Carry her over and take her
upstairs to my old room. I've converted it into a birthing room, and I told her if she
couldn't make it or didn't want to go to Hospital she could use it."

Nodding quickly, Cole ran from the house and Hermione turned to Harry. "Would you please
floo the midwife and ask her to come straightaway?"

"Of course," he replied, bending down to kiss her quickly before making his way into
his office

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, knowing that whatever she felt
the baby felt. She promised Lisa that she would be there for her, with Lisa making the same promise
in return. As she slowly climbed up the stairs, leaning onto the railing since she was almost in
her ninth month, she saw James come out of his room. When he saw the look on her face he asked,
"Is everything okay?"

"It's fine. It's just that your Aunt Lisa is having her baby," she replied,
smiling at him as she finally reached the top.

When he saw Cole come rushing through the front door with Lisa in his arms, James asked,
"Is she having it here?"

"Yes she is," Hermione replied.

"I'll be in my room," he said, and turned to go back into his room, causing her to
laugh at the uncomfortable look that had crossed his face.

Lily, on the other hand, came bouncing out of her room. "Auntie Lisa is having the
baby?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes," Hermione answered.

"Now?" Lily asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Well, not right away, but probably sometime tonight, yes," Hermione replied to the
girl's rapid fire questions.

"So I won't get to see?" she asked, sounding suddenly disappointed.

"It's better if you don't watch Pumpkin," Harry said, coming up the stairs to
stand next to Hermione. As he rubbed his hand lovingly over her stomach, he could feel the baby
move under his hand and smiled. "You'll get to see her in the morning," he whispered
so that Lisa wouldn't hear, knowing that it wouldn't appease his all too curious
daughter.

"Alright," Lily replied dejectedly. Giving both of them hugs and kisses goodnight, she
made her way back to her room, looking for all intents and purposes as if she had just lost her
best friend.

"Any sign of James yet?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes," Hermione replied with a smile. "He hightailed it right back into his
room."

Laughing, Harry said, "I didn't think he'd stick around." Turning around at
the sound of someone coming up the stairs, he turned to see the midwife he had flooed making her
way up the stairs toward them. Pointing out the room, they stood watching as she went in and a
minute later Cole came out.

"Hermione, it seems she'd rather have you in there," Cole said. "Seems my
nervousness isn't helping her situation any."

"I understand completely," Harry said, slapping his friend on the back in a manly
gesture of friendship. "I was the same way when Luna had James. Why don't we go down to my
office and have a drink? It may be a very long night."

"Sounds good to me," Cole said, looking quickly toward the room, his wife's scream
echoing through the hallway. "Let's go get that drink now."

Ten hours later, Emily Rose Jamison made her entry into the world kicking and screaming. Cole
had been inside the room with Lisa the final hour, much calmer than when her labour had started,
and once Emily was checked, cleaned, and swaddled, he got to hold her for the first time.
"Hello, my little angel," he whispered softly as he bent down to kiss her forehead
gently. Walking out into the hallway where Harry and Hermione were waiting, he lifted Emily just
enough so that they could see her face clearly and said, "I'd like you to meet Emily
Rose."

Hermione's eyes swelled with tears when she saw him holding the tiny moving bundle in his
arms. Looking up at him she asked, "Can I hold her?"

"Absolutely," he said, still smiling proudly.

While he accepted congratulations from Harry, Hermione held Emily in her arms and was amazed at
how tiny she was. She had never been a nanny to a family with a child younger than a year old, so
holding the newborn in her arms was something wonderfully new. Just as she reached a finger up to
gently caress Emily's cheek, the baby kicked hard in her stomach, making her laugh. When the
men looked toward her she pointed toward her stomach and said, "It seems someone is already
jealous."

Handing Emily back to Cole, Harry and Hermione watched as Cole walked back into Lisa's room
and Hermione looked whistfully at Harry. "Just think," she said, "In just six weeks,
that's going to be us."

"Yes it is," Harry replied, kissing her tenderly while he led her to their room to try
and convince her to sleep since she had been up all night long, helping Lisa when she needed it. He
was glad when she gratefully crawled into bed without any argument and snuggled underneath the
covers, falling asleep after a short time.

The following day, after Hermione had slept the rest of the day and through the night, the
midwife returned to check on mother and baby. Since both Lisa and Emily were doing well, the
midwife said that Cole could move them back into the guest house. After thanking Hermione profusely
for all of her help with tears in her eyes (new moms can be very emotional) Lisa let Cole help her
down the stairs while Harry carried Emily behind them. "I need the practice you know,"
he'd said. "I haven't held a newborn for five years now."

Smiling as she watched him carry Emily ever-so-carefully, the midwife walked up to her and
asked, "While I'm here, why don't I go ahead and examine you to make sure that you and
your baby are doing fine, Mrs. Potter?"

"That would be fine," Hermione said, leading the nurse into their bedroom. While in
the midst of the examination, Harry walked in and got a worried look on his face when he saw the
midwife examining Hermione.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, a note of worry in his voice as well.

"Everything's fine," the midwife said.

"She offered to examine me while she was here to make sure the baby and I are doing
okay," Hermione replied, smiling at him, hopefully putting him at ease.

"Some of her magical levels are a little off, but that's normal this advanced into the
pregnancy. I'd suggest not doing any more magic until after you deliver."

Harry watched as the midwife finished the exam and helped Hermione sit up on the bed. "It
looks like everything else is right on schedule. I'll be back next week to check you
again."

After thanking her, they made their way into the kitchen to get something to eat. Harry pulled a
chair out for Hermione, indicating for her to sit down, making his point that he would take care of
dinner. As she watched him gather together the pans and food he would need she gasped as the baby
suddenly kicked her really hard in the side again. Quickly looking back at her, Harry asked,
"Alright then?"

"I swear he's going to be a football player," she replied, trying to make light of
things.

"There's no way he'll be a footballer," Harry replied with a cocky smile.
"He's a Potter, and Potter's are known for their Quidditch prowess."

"Then please tell him that so that he'll stop practicing his game winning kicks against
the inside of my stomach."

~*~

The following six weeks were once again peaceful after Emily's arrival into the
world...well, for everyone but Harry, that is. As Hermione got closer to her due date and stomach
grew bigger and bigger, she became a bit...dare he say it? Insufferable. Due to her very
swollen stomach and the discomfort brought on by the baby dropping lower into the birth canal as he
prepared to make his entrance into the world, Hermione wasn't sleeping much due to not being
able to get comfortable enough to drift off to sleep and she often woke Harry up so that she would
have someone to talk to in the wee hours of the morning.

Her due date passed uneventful, as well as the next two days. Finally her twenty-seventh
birthday arrived, finding her grouchy and snappish thanks to being three days overdue. In the hopes
of raising her spirits, Harry had planned a small family gathering for dinner that night to
celebrate, even making sure that her parents would be there. That morning, floating a tray full of
her favorite breakfast foods in front of him, he opened the door to their room to surprise her with
breakfast in bed. To his surprise, he found her sitting up in bed already, hunched over and
clutching her stomach with a look of pure pain etched onto her face.

Letting the tray fall to the floor, Harry rushed over to her side and asked, "Hermione,
luv, what's wrong? Is it the baby?"

"I-It's time," she panted, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "I think
I'm in labour."

"I'll go get the midwife," he said, running as fast as he could out of their room
and down the stairs to his office. In what seemed like record time, he was racing back up the
stairs with a very out of breath midwife behind him. Taking her into their bedroom, he watched as
the midwife examined her quickly and said, "She's definitely in labour. We'll need to
move her into the other room."

"No!" Hermione said adamantly. "I want to stay here, in my own bed." Looking
pleadingly at Harry she said, "I don't want to go into the other room. Please."

Sitting next to her and placing his hands on her cheeks, which felt as if they were on fire, he
said, "You can have whatever you want luv. Whatever makes you comfortable."

"But..." the midwife started, and whatever she was about to say died on her lips at
the look that Harry gave her.

"We'll just move everything in here," he said, taking charge. "We'll be
right back luv."

As he and the midwife made their way to the birthing room Hermione had set up and Lisa had used,
Harry said, "Midwife Goodwin, her face felt like it was on fire when I touched her."

"That's because she has a fever Mr. Potter, which means that an infection has set
in," Midwife Goodwin replied. "We need to get everything set up as quickly as
possible...I fear Mrs. Potter is in for a very rough labour and delivery."

Harry's blood ran ice cold at the concern he picked up in the midwife's tone and he
quickly gathered together everything they would need that the midwife couldn't carry herself.
Placing everything where it needed to be in the room, the midwife made quick work of finding out
where the infection was as Harry made his way to the opposite side of Hermione on the bed so that
he wasn't in the way. As the midwife waved her wand over Hermione, who kept crying out every
time a contraction hit she looked at Harry shaking her head and said, "This isn't a fever
due to infection. Her body is being overloaded by the magic from the baby and it's causing her
body temperature to rise rapidly."

"W-What do we do?" Harry asked, showing one of his rare moments of true fear.

"May I use your floo?" Midwife Goodwin asked, and Harry immediately nodded his head
yes. Faster than he'd ever seen her move before, she made her way out of the room and down the
stairs.

Smoothing her sweat soaked hair from her burning hot forehead Harry said, "Hang in there
luv, she's getting help now."

"But the baby," Hermione said. "Harry, promise me you'll make sure the baby
is okay."

Harry was stricken speechless for a moment before he gathered his wits together, kissed her lips
and said, "Of course he'll be okay, and so will you."

"I mean if it comes down to a choice," she whimpered. "Make sure he makes it,
okay?"

"Don't talk like that," Harry said. "You are BOTH going to be okay."

Just at that moment, Midwife Goodwin rushed into the room with Madam Pomfrey and Lisa in tow.
Lisa looked from Harry's face to the nurses concerned expressions and she placed her hand over
her mouth in concern. When she heard Lily's door open down the hall a ways, she walked out
while closing the door behind her, cast a silencing charm on the room, and made her way down there
hurriedly to make sure that neither she nor James saw Hermione in the condition she was in at the
moment.

As Madam Pomfrey and Midwife Goodwin talked amongst one another Harry said, "Will one of
you please tell me what's wrong with my wife?"

Looking at each other for a moment, Madam Pomfrey took the lead and explained, "Mr. Potter,
everyone knows what a powerful wizard you are and that your body contains a lot of magic within it,
at least double that of a normal wizard. When Luna carried your first two children it didn't
affect her so much because she was pureblood and her body could handle the amount of magic the baby
put forth while being born because she herself contained quite a bit of magical power.
Unfortunately, Hermione is muggleborn, so her body is not used to such strong magic coursing
through it and it may...shut down her system."

"What?" Harry asked, trying to take in all the information the nurse had just given
him and understand it. Light dawned in his eyes as he realized what she had meant by her last
sentence and he looked at Hermione. When he saw her staring back he asked, "You knew already,
didn't you?"

"Yes, I knew that there was a risk, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion," she
replied, crying out again as another contraction racked her body.

"Do something!" Harry yelled, desperate for her not to suffer. "There must be
something you can do?"

Madam Pomfrey thought for a moment and said, "I will be back as soon as I can. There may be
one thing that can help her through this."

Harry watched helplessly as she walked out of the room and vaguely heard the midwife ask,
"Mr. Potter? Will you please help me roll her onto her side, preferably facing you?"

Being as gentle as he could, he pulled her around so that she was facing him and he could hardly
bear the look of pain and fear that was on her face at that moment. "You're going to be
okay," he said, trying to sound assuring even though he himself didn't feel very confident
at that moment.

"I'm not worried about myself, I already told you that. I want you to make sure our son
is okay."

"Hermione, I can't let you..."

"Yes, you can. If I'm meant to come through this, I will. If not, then it's my
Destiny."

"I don't give a damn about destiny and fate!" Harry said sharply. Taking a deep,
calming breath he said, "I love you Hermione, and may the Gods forgive me, but I know deep in
my heart that you are the one I was meant to be with. I loved Luna, and because of
that I was blessed with James and Lily, but if I lose you...I just can't. Our life together has
just started, you can't leave me now. I don't think I could survive losing you."

Before any more could be said, Madam Pomfrey bustled back into the room with a dark figure
behind her and Harry sat up quickly, his eyes narrowing to slits. "What the hell is
he doing in my home?!" he growled angrily.

"I may just be saving your wife Potter, so I'd watch your tone if I were
you," sneered Severus Snape as he walked up to the bed. "I have a potion that will double
her magical levels just long enough for her to deliver."

"Like hell she'll be taking any potion that you've made, for all I know you're
here to poison her or hurt my unborn son," Harry said fiercely, getting off of the bed to
stand face-to-face with his hated ex-Potions Professor.

"Oh yay, another Potter in the world to play hero," Snape sneered down at him with
hatred glittering in his eyes. Shoving the vial into his most hated student's hands he said,
"Give it to her, don't give it to her, but if she dies her death will be on your hands,
not mine."

"Ahhh!" Hermione screamed as Snape walked out of the room, never once looking back.
"He's coming! I can feel something coming out!"

Madam Pomfrey gave Harry a grave, serious look and said, "Mr. Potter, she needs that potion
now."

Torn by whether to trust his most hated enemy or trying to save the love of his life, there
really was no choice. As the nurse was rolling Hermione onto her back once again he walked up to
her, gently tilted her head up and said, "Drink this."

He watched as she swallowed the yellowish-colored liquid and made a face afterward. Crying out
again, Madam Pomfrey peeked between her legs and said, "The head is crowning."

Harry was awestruck by what he saw, and worried sick about Hermione's well being at the same
time. If she didn't survive and he found out that Snape had his evil hand in it he would hunt
him down and kill the smarmy bastard with his own bare hands. "Madam Pomfrey," Midwife
Goodwin said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Her temperature is dropping."

Feeling a little bit of relief with that statement, Harry walked over so that he could be by
Hermione's side and helped to hold her head up as she worked to push the baby out. With one
final, strangled cry Madam Pomfrey pulled the baby free of her and went to work on him to be sure
he was okay while the midwife monitored Hermione. When Hermione cried out again suddenly Harry, the
midwife, and the nurse all looked at her quickly. When Midwife Goodwin checked her again she said,
"Oh my, it seems there's another baby."

"What?" Harry asked, shocked. When he looked down at Hermione he could see his shock
mirrored on her face.

Carefully handing the baby to the midwife, Madam Pomfrey looked at Hermione and said, "Push
again, as hard as you can."

Seven more pushes later, their daughter came into the world as well, just fifteen minutes after
her brother. When Hermione collapsed back against the pillow Harry looked down at her in concern
and with her eyes closed she said, "I'm okay Harry, just really, really tired."

"I can imagine," he said smiling, and then bent down to place a gentle kiss on her
lips. Looking over to where the nurse and midwife were examining their baby boy and girl Harry said
in awe, "We have a boy and a girl. Twins. I can't believe it."

"I can't either," mumbled Hermione sleepily. When I become coherent again someone
owes me one hell of an explanation." Harry, unused to her swearing, laughed quietly at her
statement.

"Just rest now luv. I'll make sure the babies are okay, I promise."

"I know you would never let anything happen to them," she said, barely opening her
eyes to look at him with the slightest of smiles on her face. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now rest." And he watched the love of his life fall fast asleep,
feeling happier than he ever thought was possible after all the heartache he'd experienced in
his life, the last being the loss of Luna. Looking around the room, it was as if he could sense her
presence watching over them, and as quietly as he could he whispered, "Thank you for watching
over us." And with what felt like a phantom kiss on his cheek, the feeling of her being there
disappeared as quickly as the realization that she was there to begin with.

~*~

Eight hours later, Hermione began to stir from the deep slumber she had been in and memories of
what had occurred that morning came rushing into her thoughts and her eyes opened wide. When she
took in the sight before her she couldn't help but smile the biggest smile of her life.
Someone, probably Harry, had conjured two rocking chairs across from the bed, and in one sat James
while in the other sat Lily. By the colors of the blankets, James was holding their son and Lily
was ever-so-carefully holding onto her new little sister. Looking up, Lily exclaimed, "Mummy,
it's a boy and a girl!"

"I know," she replied, her voice sounding scratchy. Harry walked over and knelt down
next to her, directing a straw into her mouth so that she could drink some water.

"Congratulations honey!" came her Mum's voice, causing Hermione to look around the
room. It seemed the midwife and nurse were gone now, but Lisa, Cole, Emily, Lily, James, her
parents, and Harry were all there, watching her. And when she took in the appearance of the room
her smile grew wider, if that were possible. Along with balloons and floating signs that read
"Congratulations" were more balloons and signs that read "Happy Birthday
Hermione!"

"I completely forgot it was my birthday," she said with a quiet laugh.

"That's no surprise after what you went through this morning," Harry replied.
"It seems we'll have three birthdays to celebrate on September 19th from now on."

Handing Emily to Cole, Lisa walked over to James and took the baby from him while Harry did the
same with Lily. As Hermione gingerly sat up and her parents piled the pillows behind her, Lisa
placed their son in one arm while Harry settled their daughter into the other. As she sat there,
looking from one beautiful, tiny face to the other, her eyes welled up with tears at the sheer
happiness she was feeling. Looking around at everyone Lisa said, "Why don't we give them
some time alone together?"

When she saw Lily and James go to follow the adults out of the room Hermione called,
"James, Lily, why don't you stay here with your Dad and I?"

Their faces lit up like it was Christmas morning all over again as they walked back to the bed
and crawled onto it causing Harry to caution, "Be careful not to move too much, your Mum is a
bit sore right now."

James stopped where he was, next to his Dad, but Lily carefully crept up so that she was sitting
right next to Hermione and said, "Mum only told me that there'd be a baby boy in my dream.
I wonder why she didn't mention that I would get a sister too?"

"I don't know pumpkin," Harry replied honestly. "Maybe she wanted you to be
surprised too."

"I know I was," Hermione said, smiling down lovingly at Lily. "Now we just need
to give them names."

"My little brother is supposed to be named Harrison Jacob Potter," Lily stated, making
the three of them turn to her.

"What do you mean he's supposed to be named that?" Harry asked.

Hermione, Harry, and James all stared at her in disbelief as she continued on, "Um, Mum
just said that Hermione's baby was to be named Harrison Jacob Potter because it was his
destiny...whatever that is."

Hermione looked to Harry to see what his reaction was, and she could practically see the wheels
turning in his mind as he thought it over. Clearing her throat to get his attention she said,
"I do kind of like the sound of it myself. If you don't mind, that is?"

"No...no I don't think I mind at all," he replied, surprising her a little bit. He
had a look on his face as if he wanted to say more, but obviously it was something he didn't
want to say in front of Lily and James. Smiling he said, "So now that Harrison has a name,
what about our baby girl?"

"Don't look at me," Lily said, "I didn't even know about her."

Harry and Hermione laughed at the way she held up her hands as she said this and then Hermione
looked down at her daughter who was sleeping peacefully. Taking in her delicate features she
thought of something and looking at Harry asked, "Have they opened their eyes at all
yet?"

"Yes," he said smiling. "They both have my eyes and your hair."

Staring at her daughter some more Hermione replied, "I believe her name should be Emma Jane
Potter."

"What a pretty name," Lily said right away. "I like it."

"I do too," Harry said. "So, we have Harrison Jacob and Emma Jane
Potter."

"Can James and I go tell everyone?" Lily asked excitedly.

"You sure can," Harry replied, watching her scamper off the bed, completely forgetting
his warning to move slowly.

James stood up, but instead of going toward the door he walked closer to Hermione and bending
down, he carefully wrapped his arms around her neck. Feeling like the most loved, luckiest woman in
the world at that moment he made it even better when he said, "I love you Mum, and I love
Harrison and Emma too."

"I love you too James," Hermione replied, her eyes shining bright. "And I know
you're going to be a wonderful big brother."

With his cheeks turning pink with embarrassment, he just gave a quick nod of his head and made
his way out the door to join Lily. Finally alone with the newest additions to their family Harry
carefully lifted Harrison from her arm and held him. As she shifted Emma and cradled her in her
arms she looked at Harry and said, "It's been a bit of a scary day, hasn't
it?"

"It has," he replied, looking at her as Harrison stretched in his arms. Staring at her
he said, "You had me right worried there for a while, I thought I was going to lose you
too."

"I don't really remember all of what happened," she replied. "I do remember a
strange man dressed in black walking in though."

"That was my old Potions Professor from Hogwarts, Severus Snape. We hated each other
throughout my school years, I used to wonder what side he was really on, good or evil, and I still
think he's evil. But after the war I saved him from going to Azkaban and today he paid his debt
to me by saving your life. Now we're even and I'll hopefully never have to see him
again."

They became quiet for a while, entranced by their new son and daughter, until Harry said,
"She was here, you know."

"Who was here?" Hermione asked.

"Luna," he replied, hoping he wasn't hurting her feelings by bringing up his
deceased wife on such a happy day. "After the babies had been delivered and I knew the three
of you were going to be alright, I could feel her presence in the room. I can't explain it
really, it was as if I suddenly knew that everything was going to be okay from here on out, and
that she had helped protect you."

"She was here," Hermione replied, surprising him. "While I was pushing Harrison
out it felt like a whisper's touch of a hand on my stomach, and it felt warm and painless, and
when I looked down there wasn't anything there. I could feel it until right after I had pushed
Emma out. Then right before I drifted off to sleep, I saw this strange mist in front of my eyes and
in my head I could hear this soft, feminine voice say, 'Sleep now, they're all going to
be okay...you'll be okay. I'll always be watching over you' and then it was
gone."

"I knew she had the gift of sight," Harry said, and at Hermione's skeptical look
he said, "I know you don't believe it, but I do. She knew about things that were going to
happen before they happened. She just didn't tell me everything. But obviously she foresaw you
and I, and this day, and knew that this was what fate had in store for her...and for us."

"She made the ultimate sacrifice, just like I was prepared to do today," she replied.
"I guess I can understand her a little better now."

Sitting quietly once more, pondering the wonders and surprises of life, Harry carefully leaned
in and kissed her lovingly. "Thank you so much for giving me these two precious
gifts."

"And just think," she said with a teasing smile on her face, "we both got special
presents, and it's my birthday."

~A/N2> I used Emma for the baby girls name on purpose because the name Emma Jane sounded
so pretty to me. As for Harrison's name, I was trying to give him the same initials as Harry
without making him Harry James Potter Jr. Well, imagine my surprise when I found out today after I
had written this that Daniel Radcliffe's middle name is Jacob! Is that coincidence or what? :p
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you so much for reading it and sticking with me during
the long periods of time between updates :)



