Chapter 2
Hermione woke with Harry's arms wrapped around her, and Teddy curled into her other side. Smiling down at the one year old, she shifted slightly to turn her head and look at Harry; only to see him already watching her.
"Morning." She whispered, a small blush dusting her cheeks.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?" He whispered, searching her face.
"I'm fine, Harry. I promise." She whispered, as she stretched her body out and groaned as her back popped. "Have you talked to them yet?" She asked, curling around Teddy more.
Harry shook his head, his eyes watering. "I couldn't knowing that you had risked yourself so greatly in order to do this. I couldn't face them."
Hermione shook her head, wanting to tell him that she didn't intend to survive the ritual; the words caught in her throat, heart clenching in pain.
"Mimi?" A sleep voice spoke up from her side.
Grinning, Hermione turned to look at Teddy as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes to watch her.
"How's my little man?" She whispered softly, her voice cracking slightly.
"Sleepy." Teddy whispered, cuddling her closer.
Harry, who's arms were still wrapped around Hermione, reached over and ruffed the curly mess of hair on the little boys head. "Go back to sleep, buddy."
Teddy yawned and shook his head, but continued to cuddle into Hermione's side. Harry and Hermione watched the little one slowly fall back to sleep, his little hands clutching tightly to Hermione's soaked shirt.
"I'm beyond pissed at you." Harry whispered against her head, pressing a kiss to her curls.
"I know. But can you please wait until later. Maybe tomorrow." She grinned up at him, knowing that when his anger got the best of him, he would yell then.
"Can you move?" He whispered.
She nodded, but pulled Teddy closer. Harry nodded, and curled back around her.
"I love you." He whispered, watching her reaction.
She smiled. "I love you too, Harry."
Harry turned her head a little more, and pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. He felt her smile, felt her hand cup his cheek as she kissed him back. And he deepened it, with a sigh.
Pulling back, Harry and Hermione smiled at each other. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Teddy as he shoved his way between the two and giggled.
"That's gross, Uncle Harry."
Harry smiled down at Teddy. "One day, when you're much older, you'll find someone to do that with."
"No way!" He exclaimed.
"Yes way." Hermione grinned, tickling his sides and grinning at Harry.
Teddy stuck his tongue out, before breaking into a big grin. "Is Aunt Hermione better?" He whispered, looking at Hermione but directing his question at Harry.
Hermione smiled and nodded.
"She will be better soon, but she's gonna have to take it easy for awhile." Harry said, giving Hermione a pointed look. She rolled her eyes in reply.
"Can we go get breakfast?" Teddy asked, sitting up and watching his godparents.
Hermione gave Harry a pointed look, before she pushed herself up. Harry quickly stood and scooped her into his arms and carried her out the door. Teddy giggled, following closely behind the pair.
"Harry Potter, put me down now! I can walk just fine on my own!" Hermione shouted as they headed down the stairs.
"Not a chance in hell, Mione." He grinned.
"Don't call me that!" She growled.
"Come on, Mione. I've been calling you Mione for years now."
"So! I still don't like the nickname!"
"Will you two stop shouting!" Andromeda laughed as they walked in, Harry setting Hermione down in her usual seat and Teddy scrambling into her lap once she was settled.
Harry grinned at Andy, moving to give her cheek a quick peck. It has been this routine since about two months after the war.
"Is anyone else—?" Hermione trailed off when Remus, Tonks, and Sirius rushed over and wrapped their arms around Hermione, mindful of the child on her lap.
"I'm so glad your ok." Remus whispered, Sirius and Tonks echoing his statement.
"I'm fine, you guys." Hermione groaned, but smiled at their affection.
"Mimi! No lying to family! You know the rules!" Teddy scolded from the barricade of arms.
Everyone chuckled before the three adults released the girl and took seats around the table. It was only then did Harry and Hermione notice the odd couple standing in the doorway.
"It's good to officially meet you, Mr and Mrs Potter. I'm Hermione Granger. I'd stand and greet you properly, but Harry would throw the hissy fit that is currently boiling. And you don't want to see that." She said, smiling at them.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Hermione. And thank you, for bringing us back." Lily said after a moment of staring.
"Sit down, let's eat." Andy said with a smile.
Harry sat down next to Hermione and gripped her hand tightly. Hermione squeezed back gently before scooping up a bite of eggs.
Chitchat. Mind numbing, souls crushing chitchat, was the only thing that seemed to happen during breakfast. And Hermione wanted to scream! She hated chitchat. There's no point in chitchat. So she did what she always did, she broke the damn ice.
"How have you guys been settling in?" Hermione asked first.
"Alright. It's strange being back. Andy brought us old newspapers to read to help catch us up." Sirius said with a smile. "I noticed there was plenty of stories about that Weasley kid, but not a lot about the two of you. What happened there?"
Harry growled lowly, and tightened his hold on Hermione's hand.
"That fame seeking, narcissistic, manipulative ares?" Harry seethed.
"Harry." Hermione hissed softly.
"Hermione, you more than anyone knows what he's capable of."
Hermione tightened her hold on Harry's hand. She had scars too deep to see from him, and Harry knew it.
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked.
Hermione shrugged, and handed Teddy a piece of bacon, while Harry and Andy scoffed.
"Most spoiled child I have ever met. Most hateful child as well." Andy said.
Remus, Tonks, and Sirius all shared a glance before locking eyes with Harry. "After the war, Hermione and Ron tried to date. It lasted about three weeks after she woke up. But during those three weeks Ron wasn't treating her properly. That's not including everything he did."
"Harry, drop it." Hermione hissed.
"Hermione, he blamed you for EVERYTHING. Everything that happened to us at Hogwarts, during the war, in the forest, the manor!"
Hermione flinched at the last part, and turned her focus on the food in front of her. She wasn't hungry anymore.
"He did what?" Remus growled. She didn't have to look up to see the amber in his eyes.
"Let it go, Remus. Everything is fine now. Promise." Hermione whispered, not meeting anyone's gaze.
"Says the girl with unstable magic." Sirius scoffed.
Hermione kept her eyes firmly downwards. She was upset with Ron, don't get her wrong, but she has been scorned by him before. She was used to it. Everything he said, was a lot of what he would say to her in third and fourth year when Harry and him weren't talking.
"That wasn't the first time he's talked to you that way, was it?" Lily finally spoke up, staring at the brown haired girl.
"No it's not." Hermione said, looking up and locking eyes with her best friends mom.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
She shrugged. "Ron and I never really got along in the first place. We constantly bickered, and when I took Harry's side, he would take our arguments too far. He's blame me for the fight between him and Harry. He would start shouting at me in front of Harry about something that didn't even belong to him. He would call me Muggleborn as if he were saying mudblood. He acted no better than Malfoy if it was just the two of us."
Harry didn't need to be a genius to know she had referenced the firebolt incident in her explanation, and neither did Remus.
"The firebolt?" Remus asked.
Silence greeted his question. "That incident was a little my fault, I won't lie, but he took it too far."
There was a lot of things with that incident that bothered Remus. Because he knew how run down and exhausted his favorite student was at that time. He could smell the hurt and betrayal in her scent when she would walk into class. Now he had all the pieces.
"You sided with him over someone who was looking out for you best interests?" Remus growled, glaring at Harry.
Harry jerked his head up and froze at the amber gaze locked onto him. "I was an idiot back then. I didn't know what I was doing."
"Yes. You are an idiot. For proving every insecurity that Hermione has ever had about friendship right! Has she ever told you about her childhood? Or why she never wants people taking care of her?! Why she didn't want you taking care of her?"
"Remus—"
"No, if we're going for to talk about how idiotic Ron is, Harry needs to own up to just what that hit has done. I could smell the betrayal and hurt on you in third year. I could smell that fear and anger every time we ran into each other during your fourth. If we're going to bash Ron for being such an idiot towards you, Harry needs to understand just what that has done between the two of you!"
"What do you mean, Firebolt incident?" Sirius asked slowly.
"During Christmas, Harry got a new broom. At the time Sirius was still wanted for the betrayal of the potters, and we didn't know anything outside of that. The broom came from someone anonymous. I had tried to talk to Harry and told him to have it checked by McGonagall or Flitwick, and Ron told me to stay out of it because I didn't know anything about brooms. I tried to remind Harry about Quirrell and how he was jinxing his broom during a match, but he cut me off and agreed with Ron. So I told McGonagall and she confiscated it. She told them he would get it back once it had been checked over. Ron blew up. I couldn't get a word in. He told me I was a stupid know-it-all, that didn't understand anything about how important the broom was to win the house cup that year. Or that this broom was the latest model. By the time he finished Harry told me I should have tried talking to him, and that I shouldn't have gone behind his back. Ron yelled some more, and I ran out of the common room." She shrugged, and squeezed Teddy tighter; while squeezing Harry's hand as well. She wasn't mad anymore.
"How come I'm just learning of this?" Sirius asked, looking up at Harry.
"I don't know." Harry whispered, squeezing Hermione's hand gently. "I also apologized."
But as they were speaking, Harry pondered what Remus had said. What he said, matched up with a lot of the things Hermione did when it came to him. Her avoidance to talk too deeply about herself. How she won't let him take care of her.
He watched Remus, Sirius, and Tonks rally to scream at him. "Don't even think about. You start screaming now, you will upset Teddy. And an upset Teddy is an upset Aunt Mimi. Even with unstable magic, I will kick all your butts if you so much as scream the word I. Now, Harry and I have moved on from that chapter of our lives. If you want to hear everything, you will shut up and keep your opinions to yourself. Am I clear?" Hermione hissed, glaring at the three.
"Yes, Hermione." The three growled, taking in a couple deep breaths before visibly relaxing.
"Is she always like this?" James asked, directing the question to his son.
"Yes, but only when Teddy is around. When it's just adults, she can scream with the best of them." Harry grinned.
"Just picture a younger Lily. The only difference is appearances." Sirius said with a grin, and both witches turned to glare at him. He threw his hands up, grin widening. "Am I wrong?"
Remus chuckled, and so did James and it clicked into his brain.
"Potter men always go for the brightest." James grinned, leaning over to kiss Lily's cheek.