The warm yellow sun beat down on a rather large house on the outskirts of a small familiar town. On the broad front porch there was a swing that hung from the roof of the porch. On the swing was a young woman who stared blankly out into the horizon, not appearing to focus on anything in particular, just staring, her mind concentrated on something beyond what she could see. One hand rested on her stomach and the other clasped the chain that held the suspended bench to the house. A young man stood behind her in the house observing her through the open window. After moments of silent thought, the young man moved around to the front porch to be with his bride. Sitting down next to her, he weaved his hand through hers, though she continued to look away, seemingly unaffected.
“What are you worrying about now?” he asked her softly.
“You know very well what I’m worrying about, Harry,” she replied, her voice melancholy.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” he returned, not seeming to want to begin a quarrel. Hermione didn’t respond but shook her head slightly. They sat in silence for a while and she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out right away.
“I…I really want this…more than anything almost. I’m tired of waiting for permission; we have before the Wizarding courts and the Muggle courts more times than I can count. I just want to do something that will make a difference; I mean, after all you’ve done”“
“Hermione, don’t belittle yourself because of what I’ve”“
“I’m not Harry, I’m not…I just want the Wizarding world and the Muggle worlds to be better; both have been through so much. I just want to help, but every time I get a step closer the law and Ministry pushes me back five more. I want to begin working; the sooner I can start the better. I want to see something change in my lifetime; I just want to see my dream come true. Is that selfish?”
“No, it’s not,” Harry, said simply, also seeming to turn cheerless after her confession. In the distance a white owl flew, approaching the house at a rapid speed despite her age.
“Hedwig!” Harry called. “Where have you been? I just sent you to town with a simple message and you come back three hours later!” Hedwig hooted disapprovingly and Harry removed the letters from her leg.
“What’s this? This is not from Neville,” Harry said, glancing at the two extra letters.
“It’s for me,” Hermione said, leaning over and taking the notes from him.
“Who are they from?” Harry asked, frowning, his brow furrowed.
Hermione opened the note and in a dark familiar scrawl was a short note.
Miss Hermione Granger and Charlotte,
This is part of my debt to pay. I would give you everything if that were all you asked of me.
Hermione frowned and examined the back but there was nothing else with this note. The other one had official script and a Ministry seal on the back of it. Her heart leapt in anticipation.
“Hermione?” Harry asked impatiently. Her eyes grew big and she jumped up, jubilant.
“Hermione!” he demanded this time.
“We can open the school, Harry! The Muggle Learning Center!” she cried, and he stood picking her up and kissing her.
“This is fantastic! But how? I thought we were years away from approval?!” Harry asked staring up at her
“Does it matter how? We did it! There is a great seraph watching out for me and that is all that matters,” she replied, and Harry put her down, not really satisfied with her answer.
“I must let Ron and Luna and all the others know!” she exclaimed, running into the house.
Harry picked up the Ministry letter and read it, still not understanding how it could be true. Then his eyes fell upon the dark scrawl of the first letter that had fallen under the swing. Scooping it up he stared at it, feeling a chill run through him as though it weren’t warm and calm outside.
“Hermione…”he called, but the words were caught and his throat and his call was more of a whisper than a yell. So he called for her again, this time his voice climbing into what seemed to be a cry of panic.
“Harry!” she said poking her head around the opened front door. “What’s wrong?”
“How does he know about Charlotte?” he demanded, his eyes growing large. “Why is he helping us? We don’t need that bastard’s help!” Harry tore up the letter and threw it from the porch angrily, staring hard at Hermione.
“Harry, don’t lose your temper, please,” Hermione begged from the door, still hiding behind it as if it were a shield.
“Why shouldn’t I, after what he did to you? To me? Does that matter to you at all!? You would make deals with Satan himself to open this school wouldn’t you, Hermione, behind my back! How long have you been talking with him? What am I supposed to believe is going on here?”
“Harry please, you don’t understand!” He started to interject but she shushed him loudly. “No! Listen to me! I haven’t told him about Charlotte, or about the school or anything, be reasonable! It isn’t hard to learn anything about our lives if you look hard enough, the newspapers have been covering the story about the school, and the gossips have known of our baby for a long time. You are the savior of the wizarding world; our private life is not a secret Harry, least of all to Severus…to Snape. You knew when we left him that this was not over. I’m not afraid of him Harry, and you shouldn’t be either. Why don’t we just take this as a blessing?”
“The devil doesn’t give blessings,” snapped Harry as Hermione started to emerge from the door.
“What are you afraid of” she asked, looking at him sadly.
“I don’t want him part of our lives anymore! Not then, not now, not ever” he replied, still obviously upset.
“Would you rather I decline the offer from the Ministry?” Hermione asked him.
“No, Hermione! Don’t put me in that situation. I will not be the bad guy here!”
“Harry,” Hermione pleaded, “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I want…I want…” Harry started, running his hands through his hair. His eyes scanned around anxiously looking for an answer, finding none.
“I want to know that you are done looking back, I want to know that you need only me,” he said finally, looking at her. His face was that of a frightened child’s, anxious and earnest.
Hermione smiled and approached him, resting her head on his chest. She reflected on how cute it was that he still wanted to be her hero. She didn’t have to think much about his pleas. After leaving Hogwarts she’d tossed and turned, wondering if she had made the right decision, wondering if things would have been better if she had stayed, but after all these years it was still Harry who stood beside her and Harry who worried about being her hero. Severus was just like a seraph, a ghost watching from the distance, something she couldn’t reach any longer, and something she didn’t need to see anymore. She knew now for certain that standing here leaning on Harry was exactly where she was meant to be, and more than she ever wanted.
“Since I met you, Harry, I only ever needed you -- even if I didn’t know it then, I know it now. Every moment I need you more than the last, and I’m not going back if it means l lose the future. I always chose you, Harry, and I always will; please believe that, that’s all I want of you.” As she finished, he didn’t say anything but passed his hand over her hair and she could feel him relax.
“We’re going to be okay, Harry,” she said finally, looking up and kissing his forehead. “There’s no going back now.”