The newborn had his mother’s eyes.
Harry couldn’t deny that the child that he held in his arms would change everything.
“You know, I thought it’d be you and me here,” came Ginny’s voice. She sauntered up behind him and put an arm around his waist.
“What? Married with kids?”
“Yep.”
His heart began to race and he had no idea how to respond. So he asked, “Really?”
She shrugged. “I’d hoped, I guess.”
“Ginny…”
“It’s OK,” she cut in, “I’m happy. And you seem happy too. With her.”
“I am.”
“The Chudley Cannons, they offered me a full-time position,” she said softly.
He finally took his eyes from the baby and turned to get a good look at her. She was still breathtaking. “Wow, Ginny… Congratulations! What position?”
“Seeker, of course.”
“But I thought Cho had been playing their Seeker for years?”
“She has,” replied Ginny, “but she’s been injured. Something dreadful if it can’t be fixed with magic. But she’ll be consulting on the team, for the time being.”
“So you’ll accept?”
“Yes, I think so. Coaching at Hogwarts has been great, but now that Neville and I are broken up, it’s a little weird, you know?”
“He’s still teaching Herbology then?”
She nodded.
Neville had taken over Professor Sprout’s career as soon as he’d passed his N.E.W.T.s. Ginny had started her job a few months after her own graduation, the following year. Of Harry’s classmates, only one other had remained on at Hogwarts, and that was Luna. When Professor Grubbly-Plank had retired, Luna had applied for the Care of Magical Creatures position. Ever since, she had been hailed as the greatest educator on the subject that Hogwarts had ever seen, though she often spoke to her students about creatures that she was unable to actually produce for examination.
“So when will you leave?” Harry asked Ginny.
“Not sure yet.”
“I should have known,” interrupted a voice, and they turned to see Luci in the doorway. “Weasley hair.”
Harry grinned. “I just wish that his grandmother was here to see him.”
“Mmm,” Luci agreed.
“So do I,” said Ginny, staring down at the child.
After a few moments, Luci said, still from the doorway, “OK, put little Charlie down so we can all go congratulate the proud parents.”
In a way, Harry had been dreading this day since Ron and Hermione’s wedding over a year prior. This did change everything. Marriage and children “ they were happening everywhere that he looked. But something just didn’t sit right with him. He had yet to ask Luci to marry him, though he had certainly toyed with the idea. He had repeatedly told her that he wasn’t ready, even though she’d never pressured him; in fact, she’d always been very understanding. It was just that he often found himself missing his days at Hogwarts, his days of fighting Lord Voldemort, his days of adventure.
Training up to be an Auror was far more tedious than he’d ever imagined, and it involved more reading than actual utilization. Luci had never gone back to it. The two of them had been living together in her flat for almost a year now, and though she’d helped him immensely through his own Auror studies, she had now decided that she preferred teaching to doing. She had made a joke long ago about instructing anger management classes, but she had ended up presiding over an Auror Preparation course intended for seventh year students at Hogwarts. “Those who can’t do teach,” she would say in her cheerful, self-deprecating way.
Ron had also left the Auror profession behind, dropping out of the program shortly before his wedding. He was now working a high-profile job alongside his wife and father in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Hermione, with the assistance of Percy, had also established a new branch within the Ministry, called the Intelligent Creature Welfare Office, wherein she promoted fair treatment of all non-human magical creatures, including, but not limited to, house-elves. In her spare time, she was attending a Muggle university.
But, today, her priorities would change.
They found her in her hospital bed, somnolent and babbling something about Ron being the one to stay home with the newborn. “I am a career woman,” she was saying authoritatively before she noticed her visitors and drawled, “Oh, did you see him? Isn’t he just brilliant?”
“She’s a bit out of it right now,” Arthur Weasley whispered to Harry.
“He’s beautiful, Hermione,” said Ginny, going to the side of the bed to hug her.
“You’ve just created your biggest accomplishment, career woman,” Luci agreed, kissing her on the forehead. “And a Virgo too!” The pair of them had grown very close over the past few years and could rarely be seen apart. They still revised together, for no particular reason, except that they both enjoyed it so much. Hermione had even helped Luci to come up with the syllabus for her course at Hogwarts.
Harry was clapping Ron on the back. “Congratulations, mate!”
“Oy,” groaned Ron. “It certainly was exhausting!”
“Excuse me,” Hermione called from the bed, “but aren’t I the one who did all the work?”
“Yes, dear,” agreed Ron passively.
“So, Harry…” Hermione began, “when are you going to give Draco a niece or nephew?”
Harry grimaced. He and Draco still didn’t get on, though they had taken to calling one another by their first names, which Luci deemed acceptable improvement. Thankfully, they rarely saw each other, as Luci was considerate enough to hold her visits with her brother in neutral locations, or at the Malfoy Mansion. Draco had graduated from Hogwarts at the top of his year, coming in only behind Hermione, a Ravenclaw called Lisa Turpin, and Harry himself. However, he had yet to obtain any proper occupation. Luci said that he spent most of his time searching for a cure for their father, who remained in Azkaban. Harry had reckoned that this was a waste of time, but Luci thought that if he succeeded, it would be a wonderful achievement. His mother, Narcissa, had discovered Muggle spirits and had become an alcoholic, leaving Luci as the only support that Draco had, so she encouraged him.
“Um…” Harry had stammered, in answer to Hermione’s question, but was exceedingly relieved when the twins bustled into the room, followed by Bill and Fleur, who were each bouncing a child upon their hip.
“Greetings, new daddy!” cheered George, and he hugged Ron enthusiastically. Fred joined in until they were squeezing Ron breathless and he complained, “Get off me!”
“For you,” said George, offering Ron a large white box.
“New product?” Ron asked, removing the lid. “What do I do? Turn this knob?”
“Right,” said Fred.
Ron reached into the box and they heard a clicking sound, and then confetti exploded from the container, filling the room and igniting a fit of giggles from almost everyone.
The twins had expanded their joke shop business and now created almost any enchanted item that you could want. They were making enough money to support the entire Weasley family, as well as families of their own, but neither of them had coupled up yet. Sometimes, they would bring ’round their dates, but it was rare that anyone saw the same girl twice.
Bill was ardently shaking his youngest brother’s hand, while Fleur was cooing at Hermione, “He iz so bee-you-tee-ful! Ov courz, he cannot compare to my babiez, but zat is to be expected.” The blonde two-year-old girl in her arms tugged at the glistening hair flowing down Fleur’s shoulders. The child’s younger brother was equally high-maintenance, drooling uncontrollably all over Bill’s button-down shirt. Harry suddenly found himself overwhelmed and stepped out of the room, into the hallway, sucking in cool air.
Luci appeared around the corner momentarily. “Are you OK, my heart?” The moniker had caught on years ago.
“Yeah. Just crowded in there.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement. “Let’s say goodbye and we’ll go to Mama’s and tell her the news.”
Melissa had married Sirius a few months prior, so when Luci spoke of her mother’s home, she meant Grimmauld Place. And, suddenly, Harry couldn’t think of anything that he wanted more right now than to talk to Sirius.
When Harry and Luci arrived at Number Twelve, they found Sirius and Melissa playing a Muggle card game in the kitchen. It was a Saturday, so Melissa, who was an associate at a prestigious Muggle corporation, was home with her husband. Sirius was still unemployed and spent his time exploring. After years in prison, and then years in the purgatory of the Veil, he claimed that he had no use for the shackles of a career. Lupin often traveled with him, leaving Tonks at home with their plethora of pets.
“Hermione had the baby!” chimed Luci in salutation.
“Oh, wonderful!” her mother cheered. “What’d they name him?”
“Charlie, of course,” answered Harry.
“Fitting name,” Sirius approved.
Melissa, who had a soft spot for babies, beseeched, “So tell me all about him!”
“Sirius, can I talk to you?” asked Harry, as Luci sat down next to her mother.
“Ah, rescue!” he said jovially, and Melissa gave him a reproachful smile.
In the drawing room, Sirius asked, “So everyone’s happy and healthy?”
“Yep,” answered Harry.
“Then why so glum?”
“I’m… confused.”
“’Bout what?” Sirius inquired, having a seat.
Harry parked himself on the couch. “All of this… settling down.”
Sirius grinned. “A free spirit like your godfather, eh?”
“But you’re married.”
“Married, but not settled,” agreed Sirius. “I found a woman who is happy to let me have my adventures, so we get on. You think Luci wants to settle down?”
“I don’t know. I mean… I guess I’ve never asked. She’s never demanded anything from me or mentioned being unfulfilled or wanting more or anything…”
His godfather nodded. “You need to talk to your girl, Harry. Figure out what you want, and talk to her.”
“I want... to travel. Maybe with you? Have adventures too, you know?”
“Happy to have you along,” smiled Sirius. “What about your friends here?”
Shaking his head, Harry replied, “Everything has changed. They don’t need me anymore.”
“They will be busier, yes, but they’ll always need you.”
Harry shrugged.
“And your studies?”
“I’ll take a break,” Harry responded. “I can always come back to it.”
“True. And what if Luci does want a different future?”
“I… I don’t know. I love her. I wanna marry her. I wanna travel with her… I just… I’m not ready for anything more than that, right now... I guess.”
“But you’re ready to marry her?”
“Yes.”
“Harry, you don’t need my advice. It sounds like you know exactly what you want. You just need to talk to your better half.”
“Better half?” asked Harry, feigning indignation.
“Oh, you know it’s true,” Sirius laughed.
“Yeah, I know.”
That night, Harry crawled into bed next to her.
“Luci?”
“Harry?” she queried in reply, glancing up from the novel that she was reading.
“If I asked you to leave with me, would you?”
She blinked and closed the book. “I’d go anywhere with you. Do you wanna leave?”
“I’ve never been out of Britain. All of this settling down, I can’t do it. Not yet. I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin. I want… adventure and new experiences. I’m just afraid that… that we don’t want the same things, I guess.”
Luci was studying his face. “I knew that something was bothering you and I just kept waiting for you to talk to me about it.” She pressed her lips together, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “Harry, I’m not in any hurry to lose my freedom either. Being in that hospital room today… it was... crowded for me too. So if you wanna travel, I’ll follow you wherever you’d like to go, or I’ll wait for you if you wanna go alone. I don’t need any commitments from you; I know that you love me.”
“No, I haven’t worded it right. I am committed to you. I want us to travel together.”
She smiled. “I can’t think of anything that would be more fun.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course.”
“Marry me then.”
Luci laughed. “Harry, you don’t have to propose to me to get me to go away with you.”
“I know,” he grinned. “Marry me anyway.”
“Oh, all right,” she agreed good-naturedly, as though she thought that he was joking.
Harry leaned over and pulled the small black box from the dresser on his side of the bed. There was dust on the top of it, and he brushed it away with his thumb.
“No, I’m serious,” he said soberly, removing the lid and revealing his mother’s engagement ring.
Luci’s eyes got wide. “Oh my god…”
“It’s not much.”
“No, no, it’s… gorgeous! I love it. Really.”
“It was my mum’s,” he added softly.
“Oh, Harry.” Tears were slowly tumbling down her cheeks and she wiped at them with the back of her hand.
His chest filled with warmth at the sight of her emotion. “Will you?”
“Yes. You know I will.” Her eyes moved from the ring and met his. “Put it on for me?”
He nodded and took the band from the box, sliding it carefully onto her pale finger. It was quite a bit too large, so he waved his hand over hers, reducing it to fit. Then it was perfect.
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Beloved Readers,
I am devastated to say that our story has come to an end. The official date of completion is June 27, 2007. In less than a month, we will know if I got anything right.
If you are at all interested in hearing more from me, and an author can only dream of this, you can read The Progeny of the Pure-Blood’s partner story, The Death Eater’s Daughter, found at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3626193/1/.
Those of you who have gone on this adventure with me, I am so grateful for your continued reading, your reviews, and your encouragement. I am one of those people who has a hard time believing in the good in this world, but all of you have absolutely filled me with love, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.
With adoration, Sunny Christian