Love What is Mortal
Love What is Mortal
R-rated, H/R/Hr, H/D, angst, romance, 11,000 words
What would have happened if Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spend the nights in the tent doing something besides sleeping?
A/N: This fic was "purchased" by lies_d through livelongnmarry. The plot was all hers, and I merely wrote it down and embellished it. Huge thank yous go to her for making this fic possible! Also, thank you to snarkyscorp and tiger_flame for betaing this fic in an incredibly short amount of time! ♥
LOVE WHAT IS MORTAL
Love what is mortal; hold it against your bones knowing your life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, let it go.
-Mary Oliver
PART I
Harry stared out into the night sky, wishing he was inside the warm tent with his friends. Still, he knew he didn’t belong in there.
He fiddled with the chain of the locket. It was a nuisance. He often woke in the middle of the night when he was wearing it, the chain wrapped tightly around his throat and the memory of a nightmare floating through his mind. He wanted to pull it off, throw it away, and be rid of it, but he knew he couldn’t do that.
He couldn’t even pass it on yet. He had taken it from Ron early, promising to wear it for the next eighteen hours, to give him and Hermione a break. They had been fighting all week, and Harry was tired of it. As soon as the locket left Ron’s throat, he had visibly relaxed, becoming much happier. He had scooted closer to Hermione by the fire, leaving Harry alone on the other side as he fastened the locket around his neck.
Harry sighed and stretched out on the cold ground, cushioning his head with his arms. There in the forest, it was hard to see the stars through the trees, but those he could see glittered brightly. Hermione giggled inside of the tent, and Harry tried not to listen. She and Ron were his best mates-they meant the world to him. If they chose to avoid thoughts of the fighting and running and hiding with each other, why should he stop them? The thought of them entangled within a pile of blankets, Ron’s freckled back rising out of them as he moved to kiss Hermione’s shoulder, sent a flash of pain through Harry’s heart.
He had walked in on them on accident. He had been tired and irritated, wearing the locket then as he did now. He thought he heard sounds from within the tent, so he opened the flap, hoping someone was awake and willing to talk to him. They were awake at the time, but Harry didn’t think they were interested in talking. He watched just long enough to catch a glimpse of Ron’s smile and hear Hermione utter a deep moan, and then backed out of the tent.
Ron’s groan pierced the night air and punctured Harry’s heart. He leapt up from his position on the ground and started for the nearby trees. He would stay close enough to see them, but he knew he couldn’t handle hearing the noises from inside of the tent. Those few seconds when he had seen them entwined together had destroyed him. Harry had always believed that you never knew what you wanted until you lost it, and this just proved it. Seeing them had shown him the truth.
The only thing was, Harry was not exactly sure what hurt worse-that Hermione wanted Ron or that Ron wanted Hermione. He did not want either of them to want the other; he wanted both of them to himself. When Ron and Hermione fought, he had always been the go-between. He sat between them in the Great Hall at dinner, and one of them was always his partner during class. He had never felt as alone as he had when he saw them together.
It was stupid, but Harry had thought they would be together forever, all three of them. Even when Ron was dating Lavender, Harry had Hermione, and when Hermione was with Krum, he had Ron. Harry had dated Cho and Ginny, of course, but even then, he still had the both of them there to rely on. Now they had each other, and Harry had no one.
Harry leaned back against a tree at the edge of the small clearing. An owl hooted in the distance, and he nervously tugged on the locket. Merlin, he hated that thing. He should have been happy for his friends, but all he wanted to do was throttle the both of them. It didn’t make sense! He had no claim to either of them. Still, it felt like they were his, and he wanted them, both of them, for himself.
Closing his eyes, Harry slumped down to the ground and rested his head on the trunk of the tree. He needed to stop thinking, stop feeling, and just forget about it. They had each other, and they were still Harry’s friends. Nothing was different, not really.
~*~
It wasn’t until Harry woke up to Hermione shaking him that he realized he had fallen asleep.
“Whu-What?” he blinked up at her, noticing that her hair looked beautiful in the moonlight.
She smiled gently, and stood, tugging her Transfigured dressing gown closer to her body. He could still make out the pattern of one of their sheets on the fabric. “You were crying again, Harry. Ron and I heard you from all the way in the tent.”
Harry blushed and looked away. His sobs must have interrupted their tryst. How embarrassing.
“I’m fine now. You go back to... sleep. I can keep watch now that I’ve slept for a bit.” Harry smiled at her, but he didn’t meet her eyes.
Hermione huffed. “You are not fine!” She reached out a hand, which Harry took. “You need to get some proper sleep.” She pulled him upright and, once he was steady on his feet, dropped his hand. “Give me the locket.”
Harry shook his head. “No, you and Ron deserve a break. This is something I’m supposed to do, not you guys.” Dumbledore had given Harry the mission, and Harry should be able to handle it on his own.
Hermione stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck, startling him. This close, he could see the moonlight reflecting in her eyes. He trembled slightly when her fingers brushed against the hair on the back of his neck.
“There!” said Hermione triumphantly as she pulled away. “I’ll take care of the locket then.”
Harry’s hand rose to his chest and groped for the locket. She had taken it, and Harry felt the loss keenly-and happily. Still, he tried to take it back.
“Hermione, give it to me,” Harry said. She shook her head. “Hermione!”
“Are you two really fighting over that locket? Honestly, why anyone would want to wear it is beyond me,” Ron called from in the tent. “Both of you get over here, and we’ll settle this fairly.”
Hermione looked at Ron and then at Harry and finally shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Harry nodded and followed her back to the tent. “How should we decide?” he asked Ron.
Ron held out his hand. “Give me the locket.” Hermione passed it over silently. “All right then. This is how we’ll decide.” He turned away, stomped over to a pile of dirty clothes, and shoved the locket underneath it. “No one will wear it.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “We can’t do that. We need to protect it.”
“We need a break!” said Ron. “We are all going crazy. We can’t get along.” He abandoned the clothing pile and plopped down on his bed. “I hate this.”
Hermione sighed and sat down next to Ron, leaving Harry standing alone near the tent flap. “Fine. Only for tonight though. We really need to keep it on us, just in case.”
Harry watched Hermione’s arm reach around Ron’s waist, and he turned to go. “I’ll go back on watch then,” he called, not wanting to watch them snuggle. He felt much better without the weight of the locket around his neck, but his mood hadn’t lightened much.
“Harry,” Hermione said. “Come back.” Harry looked back at them. Hermione was watching him sadly, but Ron was smiling.
“Come on, mate. We’re taking a break from the locket; I think we need a break from guarding too.” Ron stood and walked to him, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulders when he reached him. “You know you need a break, right?” He looked down at Harry and frowned when Harry didn’t respond.
Harry was far too busy revelling in the feel of Ron’s arm against the back of his neck to answer. His eyes drifted almost shut and he leaned closer to Ron. When he was close enough to smell his scent-masculine, musky, and somewhat woodsy-he realised what he was doing and moved away. He turned to Hermione in time to see a look of understanding cross her face, and he blanched.
“I’m fine!” he said, not sure whether he was speaking to Ron, Hermione, or himself. “I’m fine,” he repeated.
Hermione smiled. “It’s okay, Harry.” She cast a speculative gaze at Ron. “I think... you two have something you should talk about. I’ll keep watch.”
Harry stepped away from Ron but grasped Hermione’s arm before she could move. “It’s not... it’s not like that,” he said quietly. “You two are meant to be. I’m just... the extra.” Harry shivered as he said the words. Being the extra was something he had feared for a long time, since Cedric’s death. It was what he was though, and he didn’t see the point in denying it, no matter how much it hurt.
Hermione tugged her arm free and then pulled Harry into a hug. “You aren’t the extra. You’re more important than either of us.”
Harry wondered if that wasn’t really just another way of saying he was different from them. Being above everyone else meant he wasn’t a part of them, after all.
Ron put a hand on his shoulder, and Harry tried to pull away from Hermione. “I’m sor-sorry,” Harry stuttered. He caught Ron’s eye and then looked away. “I know you two are... together, and it’s not... it’s not like that.”
Ron’s grip tightened and then he tugged Harry backward into his arms. “What if we wanted it to be like that?” Ron murmured in Harry’s ear.
“What?” Harry asked. He tilted his head back until he could see Ron’s face. Ron was grinning. He glanced at Hermione, and she was smiling softly. He felt wonderful wrapped up in his friends’ affection, but he was horribly confused.
“We talked about this, about us,” said Hermione. “We both... love you, you know.”
Harry was staring at Hermione when he felt Ron press a kiss on the top of his head. Heart fluttering as he realized what they were saying, Harry looked up, and Ron frowned slightly.
“We both want you,” Ron said, “but if you... I don’t know if you even like guys. So, if you want, I’ll back off, and you and Hermione can-“
Harry cut him off with a kiss. Ron groaned and hugged Harry tighter, and Hermione giggled at them.
When they pulled apart, Hermione was smiling at them. “I’ll let you two have some privacy then.”
Harry asked, “Why are you okay with this?” If he could have Ron or Hermione for his own, he’d never let them go.
Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, but Harry could see her smile trembling slightly. “We figured that we would let you decide. You picked Ron,” she said. “But, it’s okay! I’m fine.”
“No!” Harry barked. Hermione started, and Ron rubbed an arm. “I don’t want to split you up, not for just this... whatever we are going to do.” He backed away from Ron and sat down on a bed. “The two of you are a couple. And,” he blushed and looked away from them, “I don’t want to pick between you. I want both of you.”
“Are you sure?” Ron asked.
Harry nodded, his glasses slipping down his nose a bit and obscuring his vision. “I’m sure.” He shoved his glasses back up, stood, and walked to the tent flap, passing Hermione. “So let me go back to guarding, and you can spend some time together.” He had known it was too good to be true. He couldn’t have them both, and he wouldn’t hurt them by breaking them apart.
Ron laughed. “You honestly think we are going to let you go now?”
Hermione chimed in, “That was what we were really hoping for, that we would all be able to be together.”
Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled it until he fell against her. Ron came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Harry and Hermione. Harry wasn’t quite sure what this meant, or rather, he had an idea, but he didn’t think it was possible.
“Both of you?” Harry asked.
Ron nodded, his chin bumping lightly on Harry’s head, and Hermione said, “Both of us.”
Harry buried his head in Hermione’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around her so he could grasp Ron’s hands. “At... at the same time?” he asked bashfully.
“Merlin, yes,” Ron said and tightened his hold.
Hermione pulled away. Was she... had Harry disgusted her? He was about to explain that he didn’t need that when she smiled and undid the belt on her dressing gown. It drooped open and then slid down her shoulders, revealing a softly curved pair of breasts.
Ron groaned in Harry’s ear, and the masculine sound sent shivers down his spine. “She’s gorgeous, right Harry?” Ron asked loudly enough for Hermione to hear.
Harry found that his throat was too dry to respond with words, so he nodded. Hermione giggled, a girlish sound that was as enticing as Ron’s groan had been. The dressing gown fell to the floor, and Harry knew he was gaping at her.
His attention was rapidly pulled away from Hermione when he felt hands at his waist. Ron tugged Harry’s shirt over his head and then pulled off his own. He pressed a quick kiss on Harry’s lips and then moved back a step to tug down his trousers. He was wearing nothing underneath them.
Harry’s mouth was dry and it felt as though all of the blood had left his head. He was dizzy, and a little lost, and he was extremely grateful when Ron took the lead. He pulled Harry over to a bed, and Harry sat on it. Then Ron tugged off his shoes and socks. Hermione sat next to Harry on the bed and kissed him, hard, as she unbuttoned his jeans. Ron pulled them down, along with Harry’s pants, and then crawled up on the bed too.
Harry found himself in the middle of his two best friends, and he realized he had never been happier. No matter what happened later with the Horcruxes, Death Eaters, and Voldemort, he would always have this moment.
His thoughts trailed off as his two best friends kissed each other and then took turns kissing him. He was drowning in a sea of emotion, and he hoped he would never reach dry land.
~*~
Ron was wearing the locket three nights later when everything fell apart. They had just overheard Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and a pair of goblins discussing the war, and Harry and Hermione had discovered something new, something that could help their search for the Horcruxes. They were happy that they had uncovered some of the secrets behind what had happened to Gryffindor’s sword, when Harry asked Ron if he had any input about what he thought might have been done with the sword.
Ron had glared at him and said angrily, “Oh, remembered me, have you?”
Harry and Hermione spluttered, not understanding what he meant. They hadn’t forgotten him; he simply hadn’t chimed into the conversation.
Ron had been livid, and it took time and more than a few heated words for the true reason to come out.
“I get it. You choose him,” Ron said almost solemnly.
Hermione was trying to reach Ron, to explain to him why she wanted to help Harry with the Horcrux hunt even though it was so hard, when Harry realized what Ron had meant.
Ron stormed off, and Hermione dropped the Shield Charm she had put up to protect herself and Harry from Ron’s temper. She raced after him, but Harry simply stood in place, knowing what he had done.
He had spent three nights in happiness. After that first night, the three of them had again put on the locket and taken up guard duty, but it hadn’t seemed as difficult to go out into the wet night or to wear the Horcrux. Harry hadn’t minded it because he knew that when his watch was over, he would be able to crawl into bed with either Hermione or Ron while one of them took over the watch. The warmth of someone else’s skin on his was more comforting than anything he had ever felt.
He had destroyed everything though. Hermione and Ron had just split up, right in front of his eyes, because he had somehow hurt Ron. He didn’t know what had made Ron think that Hermione liked him more, had chosen him, but Harry was afraid that he had just ruined their friendship forever.
Hermione came back into the tent, wet and crying, and told him Ron had Disapparated. Harry stooped to pick up the locket and fastened it around his neck. It felt heavier than ever before. Hermione collapsed into a bed, sobbing harshly, and Harry draped Ron’s blankets over her. Then he climbed into his own bed and swore he would do whatever it took to regain Ron’s friendship and to get Hermione and Ron back together again.
~*~
Ron saved Harry’s life the night he came back, pulling him from the frozen pond and breaking the locket chain that tried to strangle him after he grasped the sword of Gryffindor.
Harry was grateful, yes, but confused. “How come you’re here?” he finally asked.
Ron had looked away, glancing off into the forest. “Well, I’ve-you know-I’ve come back. If-you know. You still want me.”
Harry wanted Ron. He wanted him badly. He wanted to kiss Ron, to hit Ron, to show Ron how angry he was that he left and how glad Harry was that he came back.
Harry didn’t say anything though. He had given Ron up, as well as Hermione. The two of them were obviously meant to be, and Harry was just a friend. He hadn’t touched Hermione since Ron left, and he would never touch either of them again.
Ron broke the silence by mentioning the sword. Harry looked around for the person who had cast the doe and led him to the sword, running into the part of the forest where Ron said he had seen someone. Nothing came of it though, and the two of them realized what having the sword meant.
Harry pushed Ron to break the locket after he opened it, and Ron refused.
“I can’t handle it!” he cried. “I’m not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affected you and Hermione, it made me think stuff-stuff that I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse, I can’t explain it, and then I’d take it off and I’d get my head on straight again, and then I’d have to put the effing thing back on-I can’t do it, Harry!”
Harry shook his head. “You can do it; you can! You’ve just got the sword, I know it’s supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it, Ron.”
Ron swallowed hard. “Tell me when,” he finally croaked.
“On three,” Harry said. “One... two... three... open.”
The locket clicked open.
“Stab,” said Harry, as he held the locket open and steady on a flat rock.
Ron raised the sword and was about to bring it down on the locket when a voice hissed out of the Horcrux. Harry listened with horror as the locket whispered to Ron.
When it said, “...least loved now, by the girl who prefers the other boy, and the boy who prefers the girl...” Harry gasped.
“Ron, stab it now!” he cried. However, Ron hesitated and the locket continued to speak, following the same vein.
Then the locket bubbled, and the bubbles grew into distorted heads. The heads were Harry and Hermione and they grew from the locket, developing bodies and arms and legs. They wrapped themselves around each other, embracing in front of them. They spoke, taunting Ron.
“It was never you, you were only a means to an end,” the locket-Hermione said.
The locket-Harry laughed viciously, “You were useful, but now that I have Hermione, I have no need for you anymore. She’s smarter than you.”
“He’s stronger than you,” locket-Hermione murmured throatily.
“You are nothing compared to either of us.” Locket-Harry smirked at Ron, and then leaned in towards locket-Hermione. Their lips met.
Ron’s face was filled with anguish. The sword was trembling in his grip.
Harry shook his head. This wasn’t the truth; it wasn’t how he felt at all. He loved Hermione and Ron equally. Ron was strong and smart and courageous. Harry had missed him every day he was gone.
“Do it, Ron!” Harry cried. Ron looked at him, the red of the locket reflected eerily in his eyes. “Ron-?”
The sword fell, and the locket shattered beneath it. Locket-Harry and locket-Hermione melted away, and when Harry caught Ron’s eyes again, they were their normal blue.
Ron dropped the sword and sank to his knees. Harry picked up the pieces of the locket and shoved them in his pocket, and then knelt next to Ron, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“After you left, she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn’t want me to see. There were loads of nights where we never even spoke to each other. With you gone...” Harry paused and considered his next words. “I love you both, but... like siblings, almost. The two of you belong together. I think Hermione feels the same way. We haven’t... spent the night together since you left. She’s really, really missed you.”
Ron shrugged and looked away. He apologized for leaving, but he didn’t talk about Harry or Hermione or what had happened between them. They made their way back to the tent, where Hermione greeted Ron with punches, and Harry knew everything was back to normal, the way it had been in the past.
Harry wasn’t sure why this thought depressed him so much.
INTERLUDE
Harry tucked the Elder Wand into a dark corner of Dumbledore’s tomb. He knew it would probably be more poetic to place it in Dumbledore’s hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch the corpse. Instead, he hid it where he didn’t think anyone could find it unless they knew where to look.
Then he stepped out of the tomb and closed it behind him. Hermione and Ron were waiting for him outside, and he shot them a tremulous smile, trying not to wince when he noticed they were holding hands.
They had never really reconciled after Ron’s return to camp-not romantically, at least. Harry had been as surprised as Ron when Hermione kissed him so suddenly earlier. He had also been jealous. He had hoped that, since they hadn’t got back together, they wouldn’t ever get back together, and Harry could have the two of them as best friends. Now he had lost them to each other again.
Hermione smiled at him. “It’s all over now.”
Ron grinned. “Thank Merlin!” His smile dimmed. “I just wish it hadn’t cost us so many.”
Harry knew it would only hurt him if he pretended things could be what they were those three days in the tent. Still, as he enveloped Ron in a hug to try to ease his pain, he couldn’t help but breathe in his scent. His heart tightened as he realized he had no right to that smell, the purely masculine fragrance that surrounded him. He pulled away slowly, not wanting to let go, and Hermione stepped up to take his place.
He backed away from the hugging couple. “I’m... going to go find Ginny and see how she is,” he said.
Ron looked over at him. “Do you... do you still love her?” asked Ron.
Harry fixed his eyes on his shoes. “I-No.”
“Then stay with us,” said Hermione.
Harry shook his head. They needed some privacy, and Harry needed some space. His heart hurt badly, and he wasn’t sure how much more it could take before it shattered. “You guys probably have things to talk about.”
“We all have something to discuss,” said Ron. He walked over to Harry, bringing Hermione along with him. “When I came back, Hermione and I talked a lot. We love each other.”
Harry felt his heart cracking just a little.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her to you,” Ron continued, “so I ran away.”
The reminder of how Harry had destroyed their relationship hurt him even more. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“What are you sorry for?” asked Ron.
Harry couldn’t bring himself to look at Ron, so he focused on Hermione instead. “If I had just stayed out of your relationship, you never would have felt like that, and you never would’ve broken up.”
Ron shook his head. “No, it wasn’t you. It was me.”
Hermione giggled at that, and Harry had to stifle a smile of his own. Ron glared at both of them.
“Shut it. It’s the truth. It was only because it was you, Harry, that I got upset. I don’t want just Hermione. I want you too, and I hated the thought of losing both of you at once.”
Harry knew exactly what Ron meant. It was just what he had felt the first time he saw Hermione and Ron together.
“Now though, I’ve grown up a little. I’m ready for a relationship between all three of us... if you still want one. Hermione and I talked about it when I came back, and we decided that we wouldn’t start another relationship until I was mature enough to handle including you too. Doing anything else would feel weird.”
Hermione was too quiet. Harry wondered how she felt. “Are you okay with this, Hermione?”
She smiled. “I’m more than okay with this. You two have been my best friends for seven years, and I love you equally. I was afraid that I would have to either choose one of you and lose the other or lose both of you. Being with both of you is... more than I ever dreamed I could have.”
Ron reached for Harry. He stopped before his hand could touch him. “It’s up to you, Harry. We both love each other, and we love you too.”
Harry looked back and forth between them for a minute. Then he launched himself between them, wrapping Hermione in a hug and pulling Ron close enough to kiss. Ron kissed him back for a moment and then broke the kiss so Hermione could have a turn. After Harry pulled back from that kiss, he watched Hermione and Ron kiss and thought his heart would burst. It no longer felt like it could break at the drop of a hat. Instead, it was overflowing with his love for his friends.
They stood outside for a while, basking in the sun and the peace they had just discovered in each other. Harry hoped they would never again be separated.
PART II
Grimmauld Place was not the happiest house on earth. It had too much of a history. The very foundations of the building were seeped in darkness. Harry knew this, but he also knew that Ron and Hermione's fight was not due to the depressing house they all lived in. The fight was just a repetition of the one they had been having for the past three years.
"Why won't you even consider having a baby?" Ron shouted from one side of the table.
Hermione glared at him from the other side. "I have considered a baby. This is not a good time to have one."
Harry sighed and picked through his food. He didn't want to eat the dry eggs and soggy toast, but at least it gave him something to focus on besides the fight.
"Not a good time for who? I'm ready for a kid."
"Well, I'm not and since I'm the one that's going to have to carry it, I should think my opinion carries some extra weight."
"But Hermione, you wouldn't even have to take care of it! I'm basically the housewife anyway, so I could be a stay-at-home-dad. You could go right back to work."
Harry poked his eggs a couple of times and then stood and threw them away. They took turns cooking breakfast, and Harry had yet to go into work with a full stomach on the mornings Hermione cooked.
"And who do you think is going to nurse the child, Ronald?"
"We could feed it bottles!"
"Mother's breast milk contains important nutrients that no one has ever been able to mimic in a formula. I refuse to let my baby have sub-standard nutrition."
"You also refuse to have a baby!"
Harry sighed again and grabbed his cloak from a peg near the door. He walked over to Hermione and kissed her forehead gently, interrupting her rant.
"Have a good day at work, Harry," she said before she kissed him back on his cheek.
"Will you two be coming home for lunch?" Ron asked as Harry made his way to Ron's side.
"Not today," Harry said. "Neville asked me to test the wards on his newest greenhouse. Do you want to come too?"
Hermione shook her head. "I can't come home or go to Neville's. I have a meeting with my sub-heads that will last through lunch."
Ron frowned at her. "You're too busy. You shouldn't have to work through lunch." He hugged Harry and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Have a good day. I can't make it to Neville's either. Mum said she'll be over around lunch time for something or another." Then he turned back to Hermione. "Do you get overtime for working this much?"
Harry felt like he had been dismissed. He tried not to take it to heart, but as Hermione and Ron devolved into another fight, he couldn't help but feel a bit left out.
They've never even asked my opinion about whether we should have a baby… or adopt one. Harry imagined what their baby would look like. A baby with fluffy red hair and bright brown eyes. Or a baby with incredibly messy brown hair and dark green eyes. It's too bad all of our genes wouldn't be able to mesh. We could have a brown-haired, green-eyed, freckled baby.
Harry wouldn't mind having a baby, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to help with it much. Work was crazy, and his boss had been hinting that Harry might be getting a promotion soon, which would only increase his workload. Ron wouldn't be able to care for a baby by himself, and Hermione was far too busy trying to pass legislation to support the various creatures of the wizarding world to have a baby.
He passed through the house to the parlor, and then he tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace. Stepping in he announced, "The Ministry of Magic," as clearly as possible and braced himself for the spinning feeling of Floo transport.
Harry staggered out of the fire at the Ministry. "Good morning," he muttered to the Floo operator once he had gained control of his body.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter!" she said as she waved him through the clearance ward. "You've a bit of dirt on your nose, sir."
Harry nodded and thanked her before heading towards his office. On the ride up the lift, he tried to wipe the smudge of ash off with his handkerchief.
Evidently, he didn't get it all because his partner burst out laughing as Harry entered the office.
"Look at you, Potter. Have you been sniffing at the dirt like a Niffler?" Draco asked.
Harry grinned. Once he might have taken that as an insult, but after working with Draco Malfoy for three years, he knew that it was simply a joke. He pretended to sniff the air, only to pause at the scent of food.
"Do I smell what I think I smell?"
"Yes, there are fresh blueberry scones sitting on your desk," Draco said.
"Thank you," he said, hanging his cloak up. "It was Hermione's morning to cook again."
Draco smirked. "I know. That's why I brought them. Why don't you just tell Granger you'll do the cooking for her? At least then you won't come in with your stomach growling all of the time."
Harry moaned as he bit into a scone. It was sweet and warm, and it practically melted in his mouth. He took as second to swallow and replied, "Hermione wants us to divide the housework evenly, as much as possible anyway."
"And how does that work? You two do as much as the Weasel, yet he is home all day?"
Harry knew he should scold Draco for calling Ron a name, but he was feeling charitable because of the scones. "No, not really. Ron foots most of the housework." Really, the scones were amazing. "It's some Muggle sexist thing Hermione thinks she's fighting. Ron and I don't get it, but we let her do it anyway."
Draco shook his head. "I really don't understand what you see in her. In either of them, really."
Sometimes I don't know what I see in them either. Harry felt bad for thinking it. "I love them. That's all that matters."
Draco shot Harry a sharp look. "If you say so." Draco flipped through some papers in front of him and pulled out a blue sheet of parchment. "Here's our assignment for today. Dawlish wants us to go investigate a woman's claim that someone stole her Blibbering Humdinger."
Harry laughed. "Is it Luna?"
"Yes, Lovegood is complaining yet again." Draco sneered lightly.
"She really needs to stop filing false claims just so I'll come to tea." Harry shook his head in dismay, but he was smiling. "She thinks the two of us are overworked you know."
Draco waved a pile of papers at Harry. "I wonder how she ever got that impression? Maybe because we are?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't think we are. We're busy but it keeps us from getting bored."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Only you, Potter. Only you.”
Harry just grinned. He loved coming into work and sniping at Draco and being sniped at in return. Ron and Hermione fought with each other, but they never fought with Harry. It made him feel a little left out, especially because he really enjoyed the good natured banter he shared with Draco. He wished he could fit that into his relationship with Hermione and Ron too.
He flipped through Luna’s report and took another bite of a scone. The morning had been a bit rough, but perhaps the day would be a good day after all.
~*~
Harry Apparated onto his doorstep, grinning happily. His day had been wonderful. Draco had spent all morning sniping at him playfully, and Harry had gleefully prodded back at him. Harry had then spent lunch at Neville’s greenhouse, testing the wards for him but also eating a fabulous stew and talking about everything under the sun. He arrived back at work only to set out for Luna’s house. Harry and Draco spent a couple of hours “discussing” her stolen Blibbering Humdinger and drinking lemon tea, which supposedly kept away Flitterbugs, whatever those were. Finally, Harry had gone back to work and spent some time filing paperwork before leaving for home. It had been a nice slow day, and Harry was hoping things at home would be equally calm.
Sadly, as he opened the front door, he realized that would not be the case. Hermione and Ron were shouting at each other again.
“Why the hell won’t you let me work as your assistant, Hermione?” Ron’s voice cried from their living room. Harry walked in that direction.
He entered the room just as Hermione replied, “I need someone with credentials.”
Ron’s face twisted up into a snarl. “You know why I don’t have credentials. I was following you and Harry around during my seventh year! I can do the work, you know I can, so why won’t you just hire me?”
Hermione shook her head. “I don’t make the rules. The job description requires a minimum of two N.E.W.T.S. If I gave you the job, it would be blatant nepotism.”
“But, Hermione, I’m sick and tired of being stuck in the house all day. You and Harry go out and work and talk to other people and the only person I see is my mother. I tried to get a job, really, I did, but no one would hire me!”
Hermione looked annoyed. “George has offered you a job more than once, and you refuse to take it, so I don’t want to hear your complaints.” Ron looked as if he was going to speak, but Hermione cut him off. “And don’t you dare say you don’t want to be given a job out of pity because that’s exactly what you just asked me to do!”
Harry finally stepped out of the doorway to intervene before they killed each other. “What’s going on?”
Ron spun towards him. “Hermione’s being a bitch.”
Hermione gasped and then smacked him. “Well, you’re being a bastard!”
Harry watched the two people he loved glare at each other, and he felt forgotten.
“Can we just calm down, please?” he asked timidly.
“Oh, stay out of it, Harry. You don’t always need to be the peacemaker.” Harry stepped back as though he had been hit with a physical blow.
Neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to notice; their eyes were completely focused on each other.
Ron said quietly, “This has nothing to do with you.” Harry took another blow to his heart.
Harry took a shuddering breath. “You’re right,” he said. “This has nothing to do with me. In fact, neither of you have anything to do with me.”
They looked at him then, finally truly acknowledging his presence.
Harry glanced back and forth between them as he spoke. “I wake up in the morning and I listen to you fight. I come home at night and I listen to you fight. I go to bed at night and I listen to you fight. There’s no reason for me to be here. You can fight without me. I’m not even a part of this relationship anymore.”
“Harry, no, I’m sorry it’s just-“
Harry cut Hermione off. “No. You two don’t need me.” He stepped towards the door. “I’ll grab a change of clothes and then sleep at Draco’s. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Harry!” Ron cried.
Harry shook his head and left the room. He headed up to their bedroom and grabbed the overnight bag he kept for emergency missions. He tucked a clean set of clothes into it and grabbed a pair of pajamas. Ron and Hermione watched him from the door.
“Harry, you don’t have to leave,” said Ron.
“I do need to leave,” Harry replied as he pushed past them and walked down the stairs. He took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to calm down. “I need to get away, at least for tonight. You two need to get over your fight, and then I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”
Hermione reached out for him, but her hand missed his shoulder. Harry’s steps faltered anyway. He looked back at them.
“I… I love you both, but I don’t feel like you need me. I just… need a break, okay?” He smiled and pulled open the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Hermione swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”
Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’re sorry. We love you too, you know.”
Harry looked at them. They were a perfect couple. Hermione was a few inches shorter than Ron, and they both had some of the most distinctive hair in existence. Ron held his arm casually, as if it belonged on her shoulders, and she leaned into his touch. Harry stood only a few feet away, but it felt like there was a wide chasm between them. His smile fell, and he turned away.
“Goodbye,” he said softly and stepped outside. The door closed behind him; the click of the latch sounded final in his ears. He Apparated to Draco’s house.
It wasn’t until he knocked on Draco’s door that he realized exactly what he had done. By the time Draco answered the door, Harry was trembling miserably.
Draco looked at him for a second and then yanked him into the house. “I’m in the middle of supper. Come join me.”
Harry shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I’m fine… I-I’ll go. I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
Draco snorted. "Yeah right. You know exactly why you are here. Something happened with Weasley and Granger, didn't it?"
Harry looked away. "I... can I not talk about it? Please?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It's not my life. Just get your arse into the kitchen. You look like you are about to tremble yourself into pieces."
Harry dropped his bag in the hall and headed towards Draco's kitchen. "Can I help make anything?" he asked when he saw that Draco was actually in the middle of preparations for dinner.
Draco pointed towards his icebox, a wizarding accoutrement that Harry had never been able to convince him was outdated. If it had worked for hundreds of Malfoys before him, then it would work for Draco. The same idea applied to all of Draco's appliances. Thankfully, the wizarding versions of iron stoves and hand-pump sinks had never been quite as rudimentary as the Muggle versions. A swipe of a wand could set water to gushing from the antiquated faucet and the stove was heated entirely by magic with no physical fuel like wood or coal necessary. Draco's hand fell and he turned away, leaving Harry to wonder what exactly he was supposed to do.
Opening the door of the icebox, Harry found a pile of salad ingredients sitting on top of everything else. "You want me to make a salad?"
"Merlin, yes. Do I have to tell you how to do everything?" Draco drawled. His words were sharp, but his voice was gentle. Harry smiled at the sound. Draco had few social skills but he knew how to make Harry laugh, and that was much more important.
Harry grabbed the vegetables from the box and laid them out on the counter. He shuffled around Draco and reached for the chopping knife from the cutting block. Draco stepped backwards and bumped into Harry. The two looked at each other for a moment, their bodies pressed against one another, and then moved apart, Harry jumping away as if he had been burned. Draco moved a little more slowly, and Harry saw a small, almost sad, smile form on his face.
They worked in silence, Draco preparing a quick dinner of spaghetti with jarred sauce and frozen meatballs. Harry chopped up cucumbers, spinach and lettuce before dumping them into a big bowl. After rummaging around in the icebox for a moment, he uncovered some feta cheese. He added it to the salad, along with some dried cranberries he found in the cupboard. He dowsed the whole thing in balsamic vinaigrette.
Draco sneered at the bowl. "Went all out, did you?"
Harry shrugged. "I... When I'm stressed, I like to cook. You never have anything cookable in your flat...."
"Cookable is not a word, you plebeian. Moreover, it's not my fault that I used to have house elves that cooked for me. I was never forced to slave away over a hot stove like you." Draco dished up his contribution to the meal and set it on the table. Harry sat his salad down too, and then they set the table together. Harry pretended he didn't hear the longing note in Draco's voice as he said, "Though... I do have a cake mix in the pantry..."
"Give me a minute to mix it up, and it will be ready for dessert by the time we are done eating."
Draco's bright smile lit up the room, making Harry smile in turn. "Excellent! My oven doesn't seem to like me. My cakes always come out badly."
Harry snickered then. "I think it's more your fault than the oven's. It seems to me that you burn almost anything you cook."
Draco shoved him, hard, as he walked past him to reach the pantry. Harry rubbed the spot, certain a bruise would appear there by morning, but he continued to laugh.
Draco popped his head into what was actually a large cupboard and rooted around for a minute. "Do you want vanilla or chocolate cake?"
"Do you have any pound cake mixes?" Harry asked plaintively, thinking longingly of the sweet cream and strawberries he had seen in the icebox. They would make a sweet and light dessert when used as topping on the pound cake.
Draco stepped out of the cupboard. "I've got this angel food cake mix... though I don't think it's actually made of angel food... would it work?"
The utter confusion on Draco's face was adorable. Harry couldn't help but grin at him. "That'll be fine."
He mixed up the cake quickly and poured it into a pan. He made sure to set the timer as he placed it into the oven, not wanting to get laughed at if he burned the cake. Then he sat down at the table. Draco had already filled his plate for him, so Harry set to work eating. Their conversation moved along quickly covering topics from work to Quidditch to politics to food and everything in between.
It wasn't until Harry had finished up their dessert and he and Draco were sitting on the couch in the living room eating it and drinking a sweet white wine that he explained why he had shown up on Draco's doorstep so suddenly.
"...and then I left. I didn't know what else to do. It was like--like they didn't even need me."
Draco snorted. "Those two need you more than anything. If they would pull their heads out of their arses, they would see that you hold the relationship together."
"No, they don't need me. They've never needed me. They got together before I ever entered the picture. I was an afterthought. The only people who ever needed me were the people who used me to defeat Voldemort: Dumbledore, the Order, even Snape."
Draco grabbed Harry's hand, and Harry was startled to see a soft look on his face. "That's not true."
Harry frowned and tried to pull his hand away. "Yes it is. Even Ron and Hermione didn't want me unless they could both have me, as if I was a possession to share. I've never had sex with just one of them. I'm just... a toy to share."
Draco clung to him, squeezing his hand harshly. "You are not a toy. Shut up."
Harry yanked his hand free. "You shut up!" He stood and walked away from the couch, staring at the wall with his arms crossed. "Even you don't need me. I'm just your Auror partner so you're stuck with me." Harry's voice broke. "I heard you, you know. Right after we finished training, when partners were being assigned. I thought we were becoming friends, moving past the war, and I was glad that we had been matched up. But you stormed into Dawlish's office and screamed at him." Remembering how upset Draco had become, Harry found himself crying. He didn't care though. Better to cry over that than his failing relationship.
Draco stood. His footsteps echoed as he crossed the room to Harry. "I... it wasn't that."
Harry spun toward him. "What was it then? Why can't anyone want me?"
"I want you." Draco reached out and ran his hand across Harry's cheek, wiping away his tears. "I want you so badly, and that's why I didn't want to be partners."
Harry didn't know what he was talking about. He understood Draco not wanting to be partners because he hadn't liked him but... "I wanted you for a partner because I thought you understood me."
Draco's smile was sad. "I did-do-understand you. You've never understood me though." He leaned closer to Harry. "I want you, idiot."
As he pressed a kiss to Harry's lips, Harry realized what he meant. It was a soft, chaste kiss, and it ended quickly, but suddenly things made sense to Harry.
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," said Draco.
Harry shook his head. "I can't. I--I'm sorry. Hermione and Ron..."
Draco kissed him again lightly. "I know," he murmured against Harry's lips. "I want you to be happy. That's why I'm only going to say this once. They need you, and they love you. If you want to fix your relationship, you need to go do it now."
"I told them I'd be back tomorrow--"
"No, now."
Harry looked at Draco, hard. He could see affection on the man's face, and he wondered how he could have missed it this whole time. Draco would love him completely, Harry knew, but he wasn't sure if he could give up Ron and Hermione. "I... You mean a lot to me, Draco."
"But not as much as they do," Draco said sadly. "So you need to go to them."
"All right, I'll go."
Harry turned to leave, but Draco reached for him, his hand grabbing Harry's shoulder harshly. "If you come back tonight... I won't let you leave again."
Draco's threat made Harry feel warm. He didn't want to lead his friend on, but it was nice to know that Draco wanted him. He simply nodded and continued toward the door, picking up his bag as he passed it. "Goodnight, Draco."
"Goodnight, Harry."
Harry walked out of the door and through the Apparition words of the house and then Apparated straight into his own living room. "Hello? Anyone home?"
He couldn't hear anyone in the house, but he dropped his bag on the couch and continued up the stairs. "Ron? Hermione?"
A bang from their bedroom told Harry that someone was home. He smiled and pushed open the door, ready to apologize for storming out earlier when the words died on his lips.
Ron and Hermione were intertwined on the bed, in the same position Harry had first seen them in all those years ago.
"Ron..." Hermione sighed as he kissed her neck.
Harry watched the two of them rock together, calling out each other’s names. Neither of them noticed Harry in the doorway.
Ron stiffed suddenly. "I love you, Hermione!" he shouted, the same phrase Harry had heard him say many times before in bed. This time though, it wasn't followed with "I love you, Harry," too.
Hermione captured Ron's lips with her own, the two of them lost in their own world, and Harry backed out of the door. Closing it softly, he slumped to the floor. In the three years of their relationship, they had never had sex without all three of them being there. Yes, they had done some foreplay and more than once one of them had participated through the Floo because they were out of town, but Harry had never done anything with one of them without the other one knowing about it.
Apparently, they hadn't had the same consideration for him. He wondered if this was the first time that they had done something without him. Memories of long lonely nights on missions plagued him. They had probably spent those nights together, just as they had during the long months of camping. Harry had never felt so alone in his life.
A thought occurred to him though, and he Apparated away, not worrying about whether the pop of his Apparition would startle the two lovers.
Draco looked up at him when he flung the door open. "I hoped you'd come back," he whispered before Harry's lips claimed his.
Harry knew it was wrong to do this to Draco, to pretend that he had feelings for him when all he really wanted was for someone to need him, but he didn't care. He could come to love Draco, he hoped. Hermione and Ron though... he loved them with all of his heart. He wanted them to be happy. If that meant giving up his own happiness so they could be together, just the two of them, then that is what he would do. Tomorrow, he would go to them and tell them he was leaving.
Tonight though... "Take me to bed," he murmured huskily. Tonight, he was going to live in the present. Tonight, he would forget the past. Tonight, he would be wanted.
EPILOGUE
The little girl ran across the playground, her straight, red hair streaming behind her. Harry could hear her tinkling laughter as he walked by. He was surprised when he saw who was chasing her.
“Hermione?” When Harry had decided to go for a walk during lunch that day, he’d never imagined he’d run into a woman he hadn’t talked to in five years.
She scooped up the little girl before she turned to him. “Harry!” She sounded delighted to see him, and Harry couldn’t help but feel happy too. Hermione had always been good about infecting others with her emotions.
As she neared him, Harry’s attention fell to the little girl in her arms. Her hair made it obvious that she was a Weasley-the almost carrot-coloured locks simply weren’t found in any other wizarding family in England. He was surprised to find that the little girl had bright blue eyes; he had always thought that Hermione and Ron’s children would end up with Hermione’s brown eyes and bushy hair.
“It’s... nice to see you,” Hermione said, nervously straightening her daughter’s clothing.
Harry smiled. “It’s good to see you too,” he said and meant it. He smiled at the little girl and held out his hand to her. She giggled and shook it. “And how old are you, sweetie?”
She giggled again and buried her face in Hermione’s shoulder.
“Come on, Vi. Tell Harry how old you are,” Hermione cajoled her. She shook her head.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. “She’s two. She’s very, very two.”
The little girl popped her head up then. “Two!” she shouted into Hermione’s ear. Harry laughed when Hermione cringed at the noise.
“What’s her name then?” Harry asked, watching the toddler twirl her arms around wildly, struggling to escape from Hermione.
“Violet, though most of her family calls her Vi.” Hermione shifted her from one hip to the other, but the little girl’s struggles didn’t stop. “Would you stop that?” she asked sharply.
Vi burst into tears.
“Oh, hell.” Hermione seemed to realise she had just said a curse word. “Shit. Damn. Oh, bugger it all!” she said, giving up.
Vi’s tears dried up as quickly as they had appeared. “Bugga! Bugga!”
Harry chuckled when Hermione groaned. “Her father is going to kill me. I just can’t seem to keep a civil tongue around her...”
Harry held out his hands when the little girl began to struggle again, even as she sang “bugga, bugga, bugga!”
“Can I hold her?” he asked. Hermione nodded and handed her over gratefully. “How is Ron?” He settled the small girl on one hip, tickling her until she was giggling too hard to talk.
“He’s good. This little ankle-biter tends to run him ragged. He’s working at George’s shop now, part time so that he can stay home with Vi. Molly keeps her when he’s working, unless her mother manages to get a day off from work.”
Harry nodded, amazed at the changes in Hermione. He’d never imagined she would have a child, let alone take time off from work to care for it. “And how have you been?”
“Good, good.” Hermione smiled tiredly. “Work’s been a bit crazy recently. I know that the Auror department has been working hard on the latest international problems, but we’re still trying to get werewolf rights passed right here. The Wizengamot is incredibly prejudiced. Today was supposed to be a big meeting to discuss some new laws, but they decided that they wanted to make it a closed session. When I found out that I didn’t have to work today, I decided to take a break and spend the day with Vi. I don’t spend enough time with her.”
“’Mione play!” Vi shouted. “Down! Wanna play!”
Harry shook his head. “Stay here for a minute, sweet pea. I want to spend some time with you and ‘Mione.” He smirked at Hermione’s nickname, wondering why the toddler called her that instead of Mum or Mummy.
Hermione just shook her head. “Blame Ron for that one. I hate that blasted nickname.”
“Blasted Ron! Blasted, blasted!”
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, and Harry fought laughter. “She enjoys bad words,” Hermione said sheepishly.
“I can tell.” Harry shifted his feet and bounced Vi up and down on his hip for a moment, distracting her from her new word. “I’ve... I’m on lunch. Are you two headed anywhere, or do you want to grab something with me?”
“Fish and chips!” Vi crowed. “Want chips!”
Harry quirked an eyebrow. “Ron?”
“Unfortunately... that’s my fault too. I rather live on fast food, so she lives on it too when I’m watching her.” Hermione grimaced. “I’m terrible with childcare. It’s the reason I never wanted a baby when we... when we were still together.”
“I remember.” Harry lowered Vi to the ground, grasping her by the hand before she could escape. “Let’s go get some fish and chips, and we can talk.”
They walked slowly to the small diner next to the Ministry, letting Vi toddle along at her own pace as they talked. Harry knew that he would be late getting back to work, but he didn’t care. As the head of the department, it didn’t really matter if he wasn’t back right on time. He had his Porta-Floo, and if they needed him, they’d let him know.
They had a wonderful lunch, reminiscing over happy memories as if the years had never separated them. Vi babbled at them about everything from the food to her shoes. Harry found himself charmed by the little girl.
Finally, the conversation took a turn for more serious subjects.
“I... I heard about you and Draco. I’m sorry,” said Hermione.
Harry shrugged. “It wasn’t meant to be. We get along well, but we couldn’t keep up with a relationship. We needed too much from each other that neither of us could afford to give. I’m afraid it was mostly my fault-Draco loved me, but I never felt quite as much for him. When he met Jackson, I was happy to give up our relationship so he could be happy. We’re still best mates now though.”
“Oh, Harry.” Hermione’s hand clasped his. “Why do you do that to yourself? I wish you could find someone for your own who you wouldn’t give up on.”
Harry blushed. “Well, actually... Draco introduced me to his cousin. She’s a sweet girl and we’ve been dating for about six months now. She’s... a lot like Draco, but without the history.”
She squeezed his hand. “As long as you’re happy.”
“I am.” Harry smiled at her and then pulled his hand away to stop Vi from dumping vinegar all over herself. “I’m just glad you and Ron are happy.”
“We are. In the long run, the break-up was good for us.”
Harry tried not to feel wounded by that. He’d known that he was hurting Hermione and Ron’s relationship, but it was painful to hear Hermione confirm it.
Hermione’s Porta-Floo beeped then and she answered it by lighting the fire inside with her wand. Then she placed it up to her ear. Harry could hear Ron’s tinny voice coming through the small flame that flickered in the casing, though he couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Yes, we are eating lunch now, in the diner by the Ministry. Do you have time to Floo in and join us?” Hermione asked. Ron must have replied in the affirmative because she replied, “Good, we’ll see you in a few then. Oh, and Harry’s eating lunch with us too. Yes, okay, see you then.” She snuffed out the flame. “Ron’ll be here in just a few minutes.” She turned to Vi. “Daddy’s coming to eat lunch with you!”
Vi’s face light up. “Daddy! Chips for Daddy?”
Hermione nodded, her voice slightly higher than normal as she replied, “Yes, Daddy will probably get chips. Will you share your chips with him?”
Vi shook her head wildly. “No, no! Mine!”
Hermione and Harry both hid their smiles behind their hands. “Now, Vi, that’s not nice. You should always share your things,” said Hermione.
Harry heard the Floo across the room emit a belch and saw Ron approaching as he dusted off his robes. Vi, meanwhile, was pouting and her eyes were filling with tears. “No! Mine, mine, mine! Don’t wanna!”
Ron laughed, his familiar chuckle warming Harry. He’d missed his best friends so much. “What’s yours, love?” Ron asked as he gave Vi a kiss on the head.
“Daddy!” she cried. When Ron reached for one of her chips, she let out a loud cry. “No, mine!” She burst into tears.
Ron pulled back his hand. “Oh, dear. Is she being two?”
Hermione sighed deeply. “Yes. We were teasing her that she should share her chips with you and she had a fit.”
Ron picked his daughter up, tugging her out of her highchair. “Aw, poor Vi. Was Auntie ‘Mione being mean to you?”
Harry sat up straight. “’Auntie ‘Mione’?”
“Just a nickname. Lavender doesn’t like having children call adults by their first name, and Ms. Granger is a mouthful,” said Ron.
Harry frowned. “But... Lavender? I thought Hermione and you...”
Hermione flushed. “I thought you knew!”
“Hermione and I... we didn’t make it six months after we moved out of Grimmauld. We fought constantly without you there to keep us calm,” said Ron.
Ron fed his daughter a chip and then offered her a cup of juice. “I ended up with Lavender again and... well, it worked out this time. Neither of us is very ambitious, and we both just wanted to settle down and start a family. We got married over three years ago and immediately started trying for a baby, which is where this little one came from.” Ron’s face brightened as he watched his daughter pour her cup into her plate, soaking her chips with juice. “I’ve never been happier.”
Harry was completely stunned. “But... Hermione... what about you?”
“Oh, I’m happy too. I haven’t met the right man yet, but I don’t mind waiting. My work is important to me and... well, I’m not sure I’ll ever want to settle down. As much as I love playing with Vi, I’m just not cut out to be a mother. Little ones with their illogical thinking irritate the hell out of me.”
Vi looked up from her plate of juice. “Hell! Blasted! Bugga!” She was obviously pleased that she had remembered her new words.
Ron glared at Hermione. “I’m never letting you babysit again.”
“Thank god,” she muttered. “I’m so tired.”
Harry watched them and was surprised to realize how unalike they really were. They had always seemed alike in their differences, but Harry could see now that this wasn’t really a case of “opposites attract”.
“I’ve missed you guys.” Harry blurted suddenly.
Ron said, “I missed you too,” and Hermione nodded.
“I don’t want this to be the last time I see you for months,” she said. “There are only a few weeks until the anniversary of the final battle. I’m throwing a quiet dinner the weekend before the anniversary. Ron, Lavender, the Weasleys, and some work friends will be there. Will you come?”
“I’d love to. What time is-“ Harry’s question was cut off by a beep. He excused himself from the table and answered his Porta-Floo. There was an emergency at the office. Sighing, he returned to the table. “I’ve got to go. There’s a problem with a case, and they need me to come in and give them directions.”
Ron stood and pulled Harry into a hug, crushing Vi between them. “Don’t be a stranger, all right?”
Vi reached up and patted Harry’s cheek. “Not stranger! Harry!”
The three adults laughed and then Hermione took her turn hugging Harry. “I’ll owl you,” she promised.
Harry said his goodbyes, kissing Vi on the cheek and tickling her until she was giggling so hard she turned red. When he finally broke away from his best friends, he felt as though he had been thrown back into the past. Even with five years of silence between them, there hadn’t been any awkward silences in their conversation. The three of them were still best mates, probably always would be, and Harry was glad.
Leaving the diner, he headed for the Ministry with a smile on his face. The three of them hadn’t made it work as lovers, but at least they still had their friendship. As much as Harry wished he could go back to the past and fix things, he didn’t really miss their relationship that much. It had always been their friendship that he cherished the most, and he still had that.
The past was the past, and Harry was ready to look forward to the future.
R-rated, H/R/Hr, H/D, angst, romance, 11,000 words
What would have happened if Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spend the nights in the tent doing something besides sleeping?
A/N: This fic was "purchased" by lies_d through livelongnmarry. The plot was all hers, and I merely wrote it down and embellished it. Huge thank yous go to her for making this fic possible! Also, thank you to snarkyscorp and tiger_flame for betaing this fic in an incredibly short amount of time! ♥
LOVE WHAT IS MORTAL
Love what is mortal; hold it against your bones knowing your life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, let it go.
-Mary Oliver
PART I
Harry stared out into the night sky, wishing he was inside the warm tent with his friends. Still, he knew he didn’t belong in there.
He fiddled with the chain of the locket. It was a nuisance. He often woke in the middle of the night when he was wearing it, the chain wrapped tightly around his throat and the memory of a nightmare floating through his mind. He wanted to pull it off, throw it away, and be rid of it, but he knew he couldn’t do that.
He couldn’t even pass it on yet. He had taken it from Ron early, promising to wear it for the next eighteen hours, to give him and Hermione a break. They had been fighting all week, and Harry was tired of it. As soon as the locket left Ron’s throat, he had visibly relaxed, becoming much happier. He had scooted closer to Hermione by the fire, leaving Harry alone on the other side as he fastened the locket around his neck.
Harry sighed and stretched out on the cold ground, cushioning his head with his arms. There in the forest, it was hard to see the stars through the trees, but those he could see glittered brightly. Hermione giggled inside of the tent, and Harry tried not to listen. She and Ron were his best mates-they meant the world to him. If they chose to avoid thoughts of the fighting and running and hiding with each other, why should he stop them? The thought of them entangled within a pile of blankets, Ron’s freckled back rising out of them as he moved to kiss Hermione’s shoulder, sent a flash of pain through Harry’s heart.
He had walked in on them on accident. He had been tired and irritated, wearing the locket then as he did now. He thought he heard sounds from within the tent, so he opened the flap, hoping someone was awake and willing to talk to him. They were awake at the time, but Harry didn’t think they were interested in talking. He watched just long enough to catch a glimpse of Ron’s smile and hear Hermione utter a deep moan, and then backed out of the tent.
Ron’s groan pierced the night air and punctured Harry’s heart. He leapt up from his position on the ground and started for the nearby trees. He would stay close enough to see them, but he knew he couldn’t handle hearing the noises from inside of the tent. Those few seconds when he had seen them entwined together had destroyed him. Harry had always believed that you never knew what you wanted until you lost it, and this just proved it. Seeing them had shown him the truth.
The only thing was, Harry was not exactly sure what hurt worse-that Hermione wanted Ron or that Ron wanted Hermione. He did not want either of them to want the other; he wanted both of them to himself. When Ron and Hermione fought, he had always been the go-between. He sat between them in the Great Hall at dinner, and one of them was always his partner during class. He had never felt as alone as he had when he saw them together.
It was stupid, but Harry had thought they would be together forever, all three of them. Even when Ron was dating Lavender, Harry had Hermione, and when Hermione was with Krum, he had Ron. Harry had dated Cho and Ginny, of course, but even then, he still had the both of them there to rely on. Now they had each other, and Harry had no one.
Harry leaned back against a tree at the edge of the small clearing. An owl hooted in the distance, and he nervously tugged on the locket. Merlin, he hated that thing. He should have been happy for his friends, but all he wanted to do was throttle the both of them. It didn’t make sense! He had no claim to either of them. Still, it felt like they were his, and he wanted them, both of them, for himself.
Closing his eyes, Harry slumped down to the ground and rested his head on the trunk of the tree. He needed to stop thinking, stop feeling, and just forget about it. They had each other, and they were still Harry’s friends. Nothing was different, not really.
~*~
It wasn’t until Harry woke up to Hermione shaking him that he realized he had fallen asleep.
“Whu-What?” he blinked up at her, noticing that her hair looked beautiful in the moonlight.
She smiled gently, and stood, tugging her Transfigured dressing gown closer to her body. He could still make out the pattern of one of their sheets on the fabric. “You were crying again, Harry. Ron and I heard you from all the way in the tent.”
Harry blushed and looked away. His sobs must have interrupted their tryst. How embarrassing.
“I’m fine now. You go back to... sleep. I can keep watch now that I’ve slept for a bit.” Harry smiled at her, but he didn’t meet her eyes.
Hermione huffed. “You are not fine!” She reached out a hand, which Harry took. “You need to get some proper sleep.” She pulled him upright and, once he was steady on his feet, dropped his hand. “Give me the locket.”
Harry shook his head. “No, you and Ron deserve a break. This is something I’m supposed to do, not you guys.” Dumbledore had given Harry the mission, and Harry should be able to handle it on his own.
Hermione stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck, startling him. This close, he could see the moonlight reflecting in her eyes. He trembled slightly when her fingers brushed against the hair on the back of his neck.
“There!” said Hermione triumphantly as she pulled away. “I’ll take care of the locket then.”
Harry’s hand rose to his chest and groped for the locket. She had taken it, and Harry felt the loss keenly-and happily. Still, he tried to take it back.
“Hermione, give it to me,” Harry said. She shook her head. “Hermione!”
“Are you two really fighting over that locket? Honestly, why anyone would want to wear it is beyond me,” Ron called from in the tent. “Both of you get over here, and we’ll settle this fairly.”
Hermione looked at Ron and then at Harry and finally shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Harry nodded and followed her back to the tent. “How should we decide?” he asked Ron.
Ron held out his hand. “Give me the locket.” Hermione passed it over silently. “All right then. This is how we’ll decide.” He turned away, stomped over to a pile of dirty clothes, and shoved the locket underneath it. “No one will wear it.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “We can’t do that. We need to protect it.”
“We need a break!” said Ron. “We are all going crazy. We can’t get along.” He abandoned the clothing pile and plopped down on his bed. “I hate this.”
Hermione sighed and sat down next to Ron, leaving Harry standing alone near the tent flap. “Fine. Only for tonight though. We really need to keep it on us, just in case.”
Harry watched Hermione’s arm reach around Ron’s waist, and he turned to go. “I’ll go back on watch then,” he called, not wanting to watch them snuggle. He felt much better without the weight of the locket around his neck, but his mood hadn’t lightened much.
“Harry,” Hermione said. “Come back.” Harry looked back at them. Hermione was watching him sadly, but Ron was smiling.
“Come on, mate. We’re taking a break from the locket; I think we need a break from guarding too.” Ron stood and walked to him, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulders when he reached him. “You know you need a break, right?” He looked down at Harry and frowned when Harry didn’t respond.
Harry was far too busy revelling in the feel of Ron’s arm against the back of his neck to answer. His eyes drifted almost shut and he leaned closer to Ron. When he was close enough to smell his scent-masculine, musky, and somewhat woodsy-he realised what he was doing and moved away. He turned to Hermione in time to see a look of understanding cross her face, and he blanched.
“I’m fine!” he said, not sure whether he was speaking to Ron, Hermione, or himself. “I’m fine,” he repeated.
Hermione smiled. “It’s okay, Harry.” She cast a speculative gaze at Ron. “I think... you two have something you should talk about. I’ll keep watch.”
Harry stepped away from Ron but grasped Hermione’s arm before she could move. “It’s not... it’s not like that,” he said quietly. “You two are meant to be. I’m just... the extra.” Harry shivered as he said the words. Being the extra was something he had feared for a long time, since Cedric’s death. It was what he was though, and he didn’t see the point in denying it, no matter how much it hurt.
Hermione tugged her arm free and then pulled Harry into a hug. “You aren’t the extra. You’re more important than either of us.”
Harry wondered if that wasn’t really just another way of saying he was different from them. Being above everyone else meant he wasn’t a part of them, after all.
Ron put a hand on his shoulder, and Harry tried to pull away from Hermione. “I’m sor-sorry,” Harry stuttered. He caught Ron’s eye and then looked away. “I know you two are... together, and it’s not... it’s not like that.”
Ron’s grip tightened and then he tugged Harry backward into his arms. “What if we wanted it to be like that?” Ron murmured in Harry’s ear.
“What?” Harry asked. He tilted his head back until he could see Ron’s face. Ron was grinning. He glanced at Hermione, and she was smiling softly. He felt wonderful wrapped up in his friends’ affection, but he was horribly confused.
“We talked about this, about us,” said Hermione. “We both... love you, you know.”
Harry was staring at Hermione when he felt Ron press a kiss on the top of his head. Heart fluttering as he realized what they were saying, Harry looked up, and Ron frowned slightly.
“We both want you,” Ron said, “but if you... I don’t know if you even like guys. So, if you want, I’ll back off, and you and Hermione can-“
Harry cut him off with a kiss. Ron groaned and hugged Harry tighter, and Hermione giggled at them.
When they pulled apart, Hermione was smiling at them. “I’ll let you two have some privacy then.”
Harry asked, “Why are you okay with this?” If he could have Ron or Hermione for his own, he’d never let them go.
Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, but Harry could see her smile trembling slightly. “We figured that we would let you decide. You picked Ron,” she said. “But, it’s okay! I’m fine.”
“No!” Harry barked. Hermione started, and Ron rubbed an arm. “I don’t want to split you up, not for just this... whatever we are going to do.” He backed away from Ron and sat down on a bed. “The two of you are a couple. And,” he blushed and looked away from them, “I don’t want to pick between you. I want both of you.”
“Are you sure?” Ron asked.
Harry nodded, his glasses slipping down his nose a bit and obscuring his vision. “I’m sure.” He shoved his glasses back up, stood, and walked to the tent flap, passing Hermione. “So let me go back to guarding, and you can spend some time together.” He had known it was too good to be true. He couldn’t have them both, and he wouldn’t hurt them by breaking them apart.
Ron laughed. “You honestly think we are going to let you go now?”
Hermione chimed in, “That was what we were really hoping for, that we would all be able to be together.”
Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled it until he fell against her. Ron came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Harry and Hermione. Harry wasn’t quite sure what this meant, or rather, he had an idea, but he didn’t think it was possible.
“Both of you?” Harry asked.
Ron nodded, his chin bumping lightly on Harry’s head, and Hermione said, “Both of us.”
Harry buried his head in Hermione’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around her so he could grasp Ron’s hands. “At... at the same time?” he asked bashfully.
“Merlin, yes,” Ron said and tightened his hold.
Hermione pulled away. Was she... had Harry disgusted her? He was about to explain that he didn’t need that when she smiled and undid the belt on her dressing gown. It drooped open and then slid down her shoulders, revealing a softly curved pair of breasts.
Ron groaned in Harry’s ear, and the masculine sound sent shivers down his spine. “She’s gorgeous, right Harry?” Ron asked loudly enough for Hermione to hear.
Harry found that his throat was too dry to respond with words, so he nodded. Hermione giggled, a girlish sound that was as enticing as Ron’s groan had been. The dressing gown fell to the floor, and Harry knew he was gaping at her.
His attention was rapidly pulled away from Hermione when he felt hands at his waist. Ron tugged Harry’s shirt over his head and then pulled off his own. He pressed a quick kiss on Harry’s lips and then moved back a step to tug down his trousers. He was wearing nothing underneath them.
Harry’s mouth was dry and it felt as though all of the blood had left his head. He was dizzy, and a little lost, and he was extremely grateful when Ron took the lead. He pulled Harry over to a bed, and Harry sat on it. Then Ron tugged off his shoes and socks. Hermione sat next to Harry on the bed and kissed him, hard, as she unbuttoned his jeans. Ron pulled them down, along with Harry’s pants, and then crawled up on the bed too.
Harry found himself in the middle of his two best friends, and he realized he had never been happier. No matter what happened later with the Horcruxes, Death Eaters, and Voldemort, he would always have this moment.
His thoughts trailed off as his two best friends kissed each other and then took turns kissing him. He was drowning in a sea of emotion, and he hoped he would never reach dry land.
~*~
Ron was wearing the locket three nights later when everything fell apart. They had just overheard Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and a pair of goblins discussing the war, and Harry and Hermione had discovered something new, something that could help their search for the Horcruxes. They were happy that they had uncovered some of the secrets behind what had happened to Gryffindor’s sword, when Harry asked Ron if he had any input about what he thought might have been done with the sword.
Ron had glared at him and said angrily, “Oh, remembered me, have you?”
Harry and Hermione spluttered, not understanding what he meant. They hadn’t forgotten him; he simply hadn’t chimed into the conversation.
Ron had been livid, and it took time and more than a few heated words for the true reason to come out.
“I get it. You choose him,” Ron said almost solemnly.
Hermione was trying to reach Ron, to explain to him why she wanted to help Harry with the Horcrux hunt even though it was so hard, when Harry realized what Ron had meant.
Ron stormed off, and Hermione dropped the Shield Charm she had put up to protect herself and Harry from Ron’s temper. She raced after him, but Harry simply stood in place, knowing what he had done.
He had spent three nights in happiness. After that first night, the three of them had again put on the locket and taken up guard duty, but it hadn’t seemed as difficult to go out into the wet night or to wear the Horcrux. Harry hadn’t minded it because he knew that when his watch was over, he would be able to crawl into bed with either Hermione or Ron while one of them took over the watch. The warmth of someone else’s skin on his was more comforting than anything he had ever felt.
He had destroyed everything though. Hermione and Ron had just split up, right in front of his eyes, because he had somehow hurt Ron. He didn’t know what had made Ron think that Hermione liked him more, had chosen him, but Harry was afraid that he had just ruined their friendship forever.
Hermione came back into the tent, wet and crying, and told him Ron had Disapparated. Harry stooped to pick up the locket and fastened it around his neck. It felt heavier than ever before. Hermione collapsed into a bed, sobbing harshly, and Harry draped Ron’s blankets over her. Then he climbed into his own bed and swore he would do whatever it took to regain Ron’s friendship and to get Hermione and Ron back together again.
~*~
Ron saved Harry’s life the night he came back, pulling him from the frozen pond and breaking the locket chain that tried to strangle him after he grasped the sword of Gryffindor.
Harry was grateful, yes, but confused. “How come you’re here?” he finally asked.
Ron had looked away, glancing off into the forest. “Well, I’ve-you know-I’ve come back. If-you know. You still want me.”
Harry wanted Ron. He wanted him badly. He wanted to kiss Ron, to hit Ron, to show Ron how angry he was that he left and how glad Harry was that he came back.
Harry didn’t say anything though. He had given Ron up, as well as Hermione. The two of them were obviously meant to be, and Harry was just a friend. He hadn’t touched Hermione since Ron left, and he would never touch either of them again.
Ron broke the silence by mentioning the sword. Harry looked around for the person who had cast the doe and led him to the sword, running into the part of the forest where Ron said he had seen someone. Nothing came of it though, and the two of them realized what having the sword meant.
Harry pushed Ron to break the locket after he opened it, and Ron refused.
“I can’t handle it!” he cried. “I’m not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affected you and Hermione, it made me think stuff-stuff that I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse, I can’t explain it, and then I’d take it off and I’d get my head on straight again, and then I’d have to put the effing thing back on-I can’t do it, Harry!”
Harry shook his head. “You can do it; you can! You’ve just got the sword, I know it’s supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it, Ron.”
Ron swallowed hard. “Tell me when,” he finally croaked.
“On three,” Harry said. “One... two... three... open.”
The locket clicked open.
“Stab,” said Harry, as he held the locket open and steady on a flat rock.
Ron raised the sword and was about to bring it down on the locket when a voice hissed out of the Horcrux. Harry listened with horror as the locket whispered to Ron.
When it said, “...least loved now, by the girl who prefers the other boy, and the boy who prefers the girl...” Harry gasped.
“Ron, stab it now!” he cried. However, Ron hesitated and the locket continued to speak, following the same vein.
Then the locket bubbled, and the bubbles grew into distorted heads. The heads were Harry and Hermione and they grew from the locket, developing bodies and arms and legs. They wrapped themselves around each other, embracing in front of them. They spoke, taunting Ron.
“It was never you, you were only a means to an end,” the locket-Hermione said.
The locket-Harry laughed viciously, “You were useful, but now that I have Hermione, I have no need for you anymore. She’s smarter than you.”
“He’s stronger than you,” locket-Hermione murmured throatily.
“You are nothing compared to either of us.” Locket-Harry smirked at Ron, and then leaned in towards locket-Hermione. Their lips met.
Ron’s face was filled with anguish. The sword was trembling in his grip.
Harry shook his head. This wasn’t the truth; it wasn’t how he felt at all. He loved Hermione and Ron equally. Ron was strong and smart and courageous. Harry had missed him every day he was gone.
“Do it, Ron!” Harry cried. Ron looked at him, the red of the locket reflected eerily in his eyes. “Ron-?”
The sword fell, and the locket shattered beneath it. Locket-Harry and locket-Hermione melted away, and when Harry caught Ron’s eyes again, they were their normal blue.
Ron dropped the sword and sank to his knees. Harry picked up the pieces of the locket and shoved them in his pocket, and then knelt next to Ron, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“After you left, she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn’t want me to see. There were loads of nights where we never even spoke to each other. With you gone...” Harry paused and considered his next words. “I love you both, but... like siblings, almost. The two of you belong together. I think Hermione feels the same way. We haven’t... spent the night together since you left. She’s really, really missed you.”
Ron shrugged and looked away. He apologized for leaving, but he didn’t talk about Harry or Hermione or what had happened between them. They made their way back to the tent, where Hermione greeted Ron with punches, and Harry knew everything was back to normal, the way it had been in the past.
Harry wasn’t sure why this thought depressed him so much.
INTERLUDE
Harry tucked the Elder Wand into a dark corner of Dumbledore’s tomb. He knew it would probably be more poetic to place it in Dumbledore’s hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch the corpse. Instead, he hid it where he didn’t think anyone could find it unless they knew where to look.
Then he stepped out of the tomb and closed it behind him. Hermione and Ron were waiting for him outside, and he shot them a tremulous smile, trying not to wince when he noticed they were holding hands.
They had never really reconciled after Ron’s return to camp-not romantically, at least. Harry had been as surprised as Ron when Hermione kissed him so suddenly earlier. He had also been jealous. He had hoped that, since they hadn’t got back together, they wouldn’t ever get back together, and Harry could have the two of them as best friends. Now he had lost them to each other again.
Hermione smiled at him. “It’s all over now.”
Ron grinned. “Thank Merlin!” His smile dimmed. “I just wish it hadn’t cost us so many.”
Harry knew it would only hurt him if he pretended things could be what they were those three days in the tent. Still, as he enveloped Ron in a hug to try to ease his pain, he couldn’t help but breathe in his scent. His heart tightened as he realized he had no right to that smell, the purely masculine fragrance that surrounded him. He pulled away slowly, not wanting to let go, and Hermione stepped up to take his place.
He backed away from the hugging couple. “I’m... going to go find Ginny and see how she is,” he said.
Ron looked over at him. “Do you... do you still love her?” asked Ron.
Harry fixed his eyes on his shoes. “I-No.”
“Then stay with us,” said Hermione.
Harry shook his head. They needed some privacy, and Harry needed some space. His heart hurt badly, and he wasn’t sure how much more it could take before it shattered. “You guys probably have things to talk about.”
“We all have something to discuss,” said Ron. He walked over to Harry, bringing Hermione along with him. “When I came back, Hermione and I talked a lot. We love each other.”
Harry felt his heart cracking just a little.
“I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her to you,” Ron continued, “so I ran away.”
The reminder of how Harry had destroyed their relationship hurt him even more. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“What are you sorry for?” asked Ron.
Harry couldn’t bring himself to look at Ron, so he focused on Hermione instead. “If I had just stayed out of your relationship, you never would have felt like that, and you never would’ve broken up.”
Ron shook his head. “No, it wasn’t you. It was me.”
Hermione giggled at that, and Harry had to stifle a smile of his own. Ron glared at both of them.
“Shut it. It’s the truth. It was only because it was you, Harry, that I got upset. I don’t want just Hermione. I want you too, and I hated the thought of losing both of you at once.”
Harry knew exactly what Ron meant. It was just what he had felt the first time he saw Hermione and Ron together.
“Now though, I’ve grown up a little. I’m ready for a relationship between all three of us... if you still want one. Hermione and I talked about it when I came back, and we decided that we wouldn’t start another relationship until I was mature enough to handle including you too. Doing anything else would feel weird.”
Hermione was too quiet. Harry wondered how she felt. “Are you okay with this, Hermione?”
She smiled. “I’m more than okay with this. You two have been my best friends for seven years, and I love you equally. I was afraid that I would have to either choose one of you and lose the other or lose both of you. Being with both of you is... more than I ever dreamed I could have.”
Ron reached for Harry. He stopped before his hand could touch him. “It’s up to you, Harry. We both love each other, and we love you too.”
Harry looked back and forth between them for a minute. Then he launched himself between them, wrapping Hermione in a hug and pulling Ron close enough to kiss. Ron kissed him back for a moment and then broke the kiss so Hermione could have a turn. After Harry pulled back from that kiss, he watched Hermione and Ron kiss and thought his heart would burst. It no longer felt like it could break at the drop of a hat. Instead, it was overflowing with his love for his friends.
They stood outside for a while, basking in the sun and the peace they had just discovered in each other. Harry hoped they would never again be separated.
PART II
Grimmauld Place was not the happiest house on earth. It had too much of a history. The very foundations of the building were seeped in darkness. Harry knew this, but he also knew that Ron and Hermione's fight was not due to the depressing house they all lived in. The fight was just a repetition of the one they had been having for the past three years.
"Why won't you even consider having a baby?" Ron shouted from one side of the table.
Hermione glared at him from the other side. "I have considered a baby. This is not a good time to have one."
Harry sighed and picked through his food. He didn't want to eat the dry eggs and soggy toast, but at least it gave him something to focus on besides the fight.
"Not a good time for who? I'm ready for a kid."
"Well, I'm not and since I'm the one that's going to have to carry it, I should think my opinion carries some extra weight."
"But Hermione, you wouldn't even have to take care of it! I'm basically the housewife anyway, so I could be a stay-at-home-dad. You could go right back to work."
Harry poked his eggs a couple of times and then stood and threw them away. They took turns cooking breakfast, and Harry had yet to go into work with a full stomach on the mornings Hermione cooked.
"And who do you think is going to nurse the child, Ronald?"
"We could feed it bottles!"
"Mother's breast milk contains important nutrients that no one has ever been able to mimic in a formula. I refuse to let my baby have sub-standard nutrition."
"You also refuse to have a baby!"
Harry sighed again and grabbed his cloak from a peg near the door. He walked over to Hermione and kissed her forehead gently, interrupting her rant.
"Have a good day at work, Harry," she said before she kissed him back on his cheek.
"Will you two be coming home for lunch?" Ron asked as Harry made his way to Ron's side.
"Not today," Harry said. "Neville asked me to test the wards on his newest greenhouse. Do you want to come too?"
Hermione shook her head. "I can't come home or go to Neville's. I have a meeting with my sub-heads that will last through lunch."
Ron frowned at her. "You're too busy. You shouldn't have to work through lunch." He hugged Harry and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Have a good day. I can't make it to Neville's either. Mum said she'll be over around lunch time for something or another." Then he turned back to Hermione. "Do you get overtime for working this much?"
Harry felt like he had been dismissed. He tried not to take it to heart, but as Hermione and Ron devolved into another fight, he couldn't help but feel a bit left out.
They've never even asked my opinion about whether we should have a baby… or adopt one. Harry imagined what their baby would look like. A baby with fluffy red hair and bright brown eyes. Or a baby with incredibly messy brown hair and dark green eyes. It's too bad all of our genes wouldn't be able to mesh. We could have a brown-haired, green-eyed, freckled baby.
Harry wouldn't mind having a baby, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to help with it much. Work was crazy, and his boss had been hinting that Harry might be getting a promotion soon, which would only increase his workload. Ron wouldn't be able to care for a baby by himself, and Hermione was far too busy trying to pass legislation to support the various creatures of the wizarding world to have a baby.
He passed through the house to the parlor, and then he tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace. Stepping in he announced, "The Ministry of Magic," as clearly as possible and braced himself for the spinning feeling of Floo transport.
Harry staggered out of the fire at the Ministry. "Good morning," he muttered to the Floo operator once he had gained control of his body.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter!" she said as she waved him through the clearance ward. "You've a bit of dirt on your nose, sir."
Harry nodded and thanked her before heading towards his office. On the ride up the lift, he tried to wipe the smudge of ash off with his handkerchief.
Evidently, he didn't get it all because his partner burst out laughing as Harry entered the office.
"Look at you, Potter. Have you been sniffing at the dirt like a Niffler?" Draco asked.
Harry grinned. Once he might have taken that as an insult, but after working with Draco Malfoy for three years, he knew that it was simply a joke. He pretended to sniff the air, only to pause at the scent of food.
"Do I smell what I think I smell?"
"Yes, there are fresh blueberry scones sitting on your desk," Draco said.
"Thank you," he said, hanging his cloak up. "It was Hermione's morning to cook again."
Draco smirked. "I know. That's why I brought them. Why don't you just tell Granger you'll do the cooking for her? At least then you won't come in with your stomach growling all of the time."
Harry moaned as he bit into a scone. It was sweet and warm, and it practically melted in his mouth. He took as second to swallow and replied, "Hermione wants us to divide the housework evenly, as much as possible anyway."
"And how does that work? You two do as much as the Weasel, yet he is home all day?"
Harry knew he should scold Draco for calling Ron a name, but he was feeling charitable because of the scones. "No, not really. Ron foots most of the housework." Really, the scones were amazing. "It's some Muggle sexist thing Hermione thinks she's fighting. Ron and I don't get it, but we let her do it anyway."
Draco shook his head. "I really don't understand what you see in her. In either of them, really."
Sometimes I don't know what I see in them either. Harry felt bad for thinking it. "I love them. That's all that matters."
Draco shot Harry a sharp look. "If you say so." Draco flipped through some papers in front of him and pulled out a blue sheet of parchment. "Here's our assignment for today. Dawlish wants us to go investigate a woman's claim that someone stole her Blibbering Humdinger."
Harry laughed. "Is it Luna?"
"Yes, Lovegood is complaining yet again." Draco sneered lightly.
"She really needs to stop filing false claims just so I'll come to tea." Harry shook his head in dismay, but he was smiling. "She thinks the two of us are overworked you know."
Draco waved a pile of papers at Harry. "I wonder how she ever got that impression? Maybe because we are?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't think we are. We're busy but it keeps us from getting bored."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Only you, Potter. Only you.”
Harry just grinned. He loved coming into work and sniping at Draco and being sniped at in return. Ron and Hermione fought with each other, but they never fought with Harry. It made him feel a little left out, especially because he really enjoyed the good natured banter he shared with Draco. He wished he could fit that into his relationship with Hermione and Ron too.
He flipped through Luna’s report and took another bite of a scone. The morning had been a bit rough, but perhaps the day would be a good day after all.
~*~
Harry Apparated onto his doorstep, grinning happily. His day had been wonderful. Draco had spent all morning sniping at him playfully, and Harry had gleefully prodded back at him. Harry had then spent lunch at Neville’s greenhouse, testing the wards for him but also eating a fabulous stew and talking about everything under the sun. He arrived back at work only to set out for Luna’s house. Harry and Draco spent a couple of hours “discussing” her stolen Blibbering Humdinger and drinking lemon tea, which supposedly kept away Flitterbugs, whatever those were. Finally, Harry had gone back to work and spent some time filing paperwork before leaving for home. It had been a nice slow day, and Harry was hoping things at home would be equally calm.
Sadly, as he opened the front door, he realized that would not be the case. Hermione and Ron were shouting at each other again.
“Why the hell won’t you let me work as your assistant, Hermione?” Ron’s voice cried from their living room. Harry walked in that direction.
He entered the room just as Hermione replied, “I need someone with credentials.”
Ron’s face twisted up into a snarl. “You know why I don’t have credentials. I was following you and Harry around during my seventh year! I can do the work, you know I can, so why won’t you just hire me?”
Hermione shook her head. “I don’t make the rules. The job description requires a minimum of two N.E.W.T.S. If I gave you the job, it would be blatant nepotism.”
“But, Hermione, I’m sick and tired of being stuck in the house all day. You and Harry go out and work and talk to other people and the only person I see is my mother. I tried to get a job, really, I did, but no one would hire me!”
Hermione looked annoyed. “George has offered you a job more than once, and you refuse to take it, so I don’t want to hear your complaints.” Ron looked as if he was going to speak, but Hermione cut him off. “And don’t you dare say you don’t want to be given a job out of pity because that’s exactly what you just asked me to do!”
Harry finally stepped out of the doorway to intervene before they killed each other. “What’s going on?”
Ron spun towards him. “Hermione’s being a bitch.”
Hermione gasped and then smacked him. “Well, you’re being a bastard!”
Harry watched the two people he loved glare at each other, and he felt forgotten.
“Can we just calm down, please?” he asked timidly.
“Oh, stay out of it, Harry. You don’t always need to be the peacemaker.” Harry stepped back as though he had been hit with a physical blow.
Neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to notice; their eyes were completely focused on each other.
Ron said quietly, “This has nothing to do with you.” Harry took another blow to his heart.
Harry took a shuddering breath. “You’re right,” he said. “This has nothing to do with me. In fact, neither of you have anything to do with me.”
They looked at him then, finally truly acknowledging his presence.
Harry glanced back and forth between them as he spoke. “I wake up in the morning and I listen to you fight. I come home at night and I listen to you fight. I go to bed at night and I listen to you fight. There’s no reason for me to be here. You can fight without me. I’m not even a part of this relationship anymore.”
“Harry, no, I’m sorry it’s just-“
Harry cut Hermione off. “No. You two don’t need me.” He stepped towards the door. “I’ll grab a change of clothes and then sleep at Draco’s. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Harry!” Ron cried.
Harry shook his head and left the room. He headed up to their bedroom and grabbed the overnight bag he kept for emergency missions. He tucked a clean set of clothes into it and grabbed a pair of pajamas. Ron and Hermione watched him from the door.
“Harry, you don’t have to leave,” said Ron.
“I do need to leave,” Harry replied as he pushed past them and walked down the stairs. He took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to calm down. “I need to get away, at least for tonight. You two need to get over your fight, and then I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”
Hermione reached out for him, but her hand missed his shoulder. Harry’s steps faltered anyway. He looked back at them.
“I… I love you both, but I don’t feel like you need me. I just… need a break, okay?” He smiled and pulled open the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Hermione swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”
Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’re sorry. We love you too, you know.”
Harry looked at them. They were a perfect couple. Hermione was a few inches shorter than Ron, and they both had some of the most distinctive hair in existence. Ron held his arm casually, as if it belonged on her shoulders, and she leaned into his touch. Harry stood only a few feet away, but it felt like there was a wide chasm between them. His smile fell, and he turned away.
“Goodbye,” he said softly and stepped outside. The door closed behind him; the click of the latch sounded final in his ears. He Apparated to Draco’s house.
It wasn’t until he knocked on Draco’s door that he realized exactly what he had done. By the time Draco answered the door, Harry was trembling miserably.
Draco looked at him for a second and then yanked him into the house. “I’m in the middle of supper. Come join me.”
Harry shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I’m fine… I-I’ll go. I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
Draco snorted. "Yeah right. You know exactly why you are here. Something happened with Weasley and Granger, didn't it?"
Harry looked away. "I... can I not talk about it? Please?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It's not my life. Just get your arse into the kitchen. You look like you are about to tremble yourself into pieces."
Harry dropped his bag in the hall and headed towards Draco's kitchen. "Can I help make anything?" he asked when he saw that Draco was actually in the middle of preparations for dinner.
Draco pointed towards his icebox, a wizarding accoutrement that Harry had never been able to convince him was outdated. If it had worked for hundreds of Malfoys before him, then it would work for Draco. The same idea applied to all of Draco's appliances. Thankfully, the wizarding versions of iron stoves and hand-pump sinks had never been quite as rudimentary as the Muggle versions. A swipe of a wand could set water to gushing from the antiquated faucet and the stove was heated entirely by magic with no physical fuel like wood or coal necessary. Draco's hand fell and he turned away, leaving Harry to wonder what exactly he was supposed to do.
Opening the door of the icebox, Harry found a pile of salad ingredients sitting on top of everything else. "You want me to make a salad?"
"Merlin, yes. Do I have to tell you how to do everything?" Draco drawled. His words were sharp, but his voice was gentle. Harry smiled at the sound. Draco had few social skills but he knew how to make Harry laugh, and that was much more important.
Harry grabbed the vegetables from the box and laid them out on the counter. He shuffled around Draco and reached for the chopping knife from the cutting block. Draco stepped backwards and bumped into Harry. The two looked at each other for a moment, their bodies pressed against one another, and then moved apart, Harry jumping away as if he had been burned. Draco moved a little more slowly, and Harry saw a small, almost sad, smile form on his face.
They worked in silence, Draco preparing a quick dinner of spaghetti with jarred sauce and frozen meatballs. Harry chopped up cucumbers, spinach and lettuce before dumping them into a big bowl. After rummaging around in the icebox for a moment, he uncovered some feta cheese. He added it to the salad, along with some dried cranberries he found in the cupboard. He dowsed the whole thing in balsamic vinaigrette.
Draco sneered at the bowl. "Went all out, did you?"
Harry shrugged. "I... When I'm stressed, I like to cook. You never have anything cookable in your flat...."
"Cookable is not a word, you plebeian. Moreover, it's not my fault that I used to have house elves that cooked for me. I was never forced to slave away over a hot stove like you." Draco dished up his contribution to the meal and set it on the table. Harry sat his salad down too, and then they set the table together. Harry pretended he didn't hear the longing note in Draco's voice as he said, "Though... I do have a cake mix in the pantry..."
"Give me a minute to mix it up, and it will be ready for dessert by the time we are done eating."
Draco's bright smile lit up the room, making Harry smile in turn. "Excellent! My oven doesn't seem to like me. My cakes always come out badly."
Harry snickered then. "I think it's more your fault than the oven's. It seems to me that you burn almost anything you cook."
Draco shoved him, hard, as he walked past him to reach the pantry. Harry rubbed the spot, certain a bruise would appear there by morning, but he continued to laugh.
Draco popped his head into what was actually a large cupboard and rooted around for a minute. "Do you want vanilla or chocolate cake?"
"Do you have any pound cake mixes?" Harry asked plaintively, thinking longingly of the sweet cream and strawberries he had seen in the icebox. They would make a sweet and light dessert when used as topping on the pound cake.
Draco stepped out of the cupboard. "I've got this angel food cake mix... though I don't think it's actually made of angel food... would it work?"
The utter confusion on Draco's face was adorable. Harry couldn't help but grin at him. "That'll be fine."
He mixed up the cake quickly and poured it into a pan. He made sure to set the timer as he placed it into the oven, not wanting to get laughed at if he burned the cake. Then he sat down at the table. Draco had already filled his plate for him, so Harry set to work eating. Their conversation moved along quickly covering topics from work to Quidditch to politics to food and everything in between.
It wasn't until Harry had finished up their dessert and he and Draco were sitting on the couch in the living room eating it and drinking a sweet white wine that he explained why he had shown up on Draco's doorstep so suddenly.
"...and then I left. I didn't know what else to do. It was like--like they didn't even need me."
Draco snorted. "Those two need you more than anything. If they would pull their heads out of their arses, they would see that you hold the relationship together."
"No, they don't need me. They've never needed me. They got together before I ever entered the picture. I was an afterthought. The only people who ever needed me were the people who used me to defeat Voldemort: Dumbledore, the Order, even Snape."
Draco grabbed Harry's hand, and Harry was startled to see a soft look on his face. "That's not true."
Harry frowned and tried to pull his hand away. "Yes it is. Even Ron and Hermione didn't want me unless they could both have me, as if I was a possession to share. I've never had sex with just one of them. I'm just... a toy to share."
Draco clung to him, squeezing his hand harshly. "You are not a toy. Shut up."
Harry yanked his hand free. "You shut up!" He stood and walked away from the couch, staring at the wall with his arms crossed. "Even you don't need me. I'm just your Auror partner so you're stuck with me." Harry's voice broke. "I heard you, you know. Right after we finished training, when partners were being assigned. I thought we were becoming friends, moving past the war, and I was glad that we had been matched up. But you stormed into Dawlish's office and screamed at him." Remembering how upset Draco had become, Harry found himself crying. He didn't care though. Better to cry over that than his failing relationship.
Draco stood. His footsteps echoed as he crossed the room to Harry. "I... it wasn't that."
Harry spun toward him. "What was it then? Why can't anyone want me?"
"I want you." Draco reached out and ran his hand across Harry's cheek, wiping away his tears. "I want you so badly, and that's why I didn't want to be partners."
Harry didn't know what he was talking about. He understood Draco not wanting to be partners because he hadn't liked him but... "I wanted you for a partner because I thought you understood me."
Draco's smile was sad. "I did-do-understand you. You've never understood me though." He leaned closer to Harry. "I want you, idiot."
As he pressed a kiss to Harry's lips, Harry realized what he meant. It was a soft, chaste kiss, and it ended quickly, but suddenly things made sense to Harry.
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," said Draco.
Harry shook his head. "I can't. I--I'm sorry. Hermione and Ron..."
Draco kissed him again lightly. "I know," he murmured against Harry's lips. "I want you to be happy. That's why I'm only going to say this once. They need you, and they love you. If you want to fix your relationship, you need to go do it now."
"I told them I'd be back tomorrow--"
"No, now."
Harry looked at Draco, hard. He could see affection on the man's face, and he wondered how he could have missed it this whole time. Draco would love him completely, Harry knew, but he wasn't sure if he could give up Ron and Hermione. "I... You mean a lot to me, Draco."
"But not as much as they do," Draco said sadly. "So you need to go to them."
"All right, I'll go."
Harry turned to leave, but Draco reached for him, his hand grabbing Harry's shoulder harshly. "If you come back tonight... I won't let you leave again."
Draco's threat made Harry feel warm. He didn't want to lead his friend on, but it was nice to know that Draco wanted him. He simply nodded and continued toward the door, picking up his bag as he passed it. "Goodnight, Draco."
"Goodnight, Harry."
Harry walked out of the door and through the Apparition words of the house and then Apparated straight into his own living room. "Hello? Anyone home?"
He couldn't hear anyone in the house, but he dropped his bag on the couch and continued up the stairs. "Ron? Hermione?"
A bang from their bedroom told Harry that someone was home. He smiled and pushed open the door, ready to apologize for storming out earlier when the words died on his lips.
Ron and Hermione were intertwined on the bed, in the same position Harry had first seen them in all those years ago.
"Ron..." Hermione sighed as he kissed her neck.
Harry watched the two of them rock together, calling out each other’s names. Neither of them noticed Harry in the doorway.
Ron stiffed suddenly. "I love you, Hermione!" he shouted, the same phrase Harry had heard him say many times before in bed. This time though, it wasn't followed with "I love you, Harry," too.
Hermione captured Ron's lips with her own, the two of them lost in their own world, and Harry backed out of the door. Closing it softly, he slumped to the floor. In the three years of their relationship, they had never had sex without all three of them being there. Yes, they had done some foreplay and more than once one of them had participated through the Floo because they were out of town, but Harry had never done anything with one of them without the other one knowing about it.
Apparently, they hadn't had the same consideration for him. He wondered if this was the first time that they had done something without him. Memories of long lonely nights on missions plagued him. They had probably spent those nights together, just as they had during the long months of camping. Harry had never felt so alone in his life.
A thought occurred to him though, and he Apparated away, not worrying about whether the pop of his Apparition would startle the two lovers.
Draco looked up at him when he flung the door open. "I hoped you'd come back," he whispered before Harry's lips claimed his.
Harry knew it was wrong to do this to Draco, to pretend that he had feelings for him when all he really wanted was for someone to need him, but he didn't care. He could come to love Draco, he hoped. Hermione and Ron though... he loved them with all of his heart. He wanted them to be happy. If that meant giving up his own happiness so they could be together, just the two of them, then that is what he would do. Tomorrow, he would go to them and tell them he was leaving.
Tonight though... "Take me to bed," he murmured huskily. Tonight, he was going to live in the present. Tonight, he would forget the past. Tonight, he would be wanted.
EPILOGUE
The little girl ran across the playground, her straight, red hair streaming behind her. Harry could hear her tinkling laughter as he walked by. He was surprised when he saw who was chasing her.
“Hermione?” When Harry had decided to go for a walk during lunch that day, he’d never imagined he’d run into a woman he hadn’t talked to in five years.
She scooped up the little girl before she turned to him. “Harry!” She sounded delighted to see him, and Harry couldn’t help but feel happy too. Hermione had always been good about infecting others with her emotions.
As she neared him, Harry’s attention fell to the little girl in her arms. Her hair made it obvious that she was a Weasley-the almost carrot-coloured locks simply weren’t found in any other wizarding family in England. He was surprised to find that the little girl had bright blue eyes; he had always thought that Hermione and Ron’s children would end up with Hermione’s brown eyes and bushy hair.
“It’s... nice to see you,” Hermione said, nervously straightening her daughter’s clothing.
Harry smiled. “It’s good to see you too,” he said and meant it. He smiled at the little girl and held out his hand to her. She giggled and shook it. “And how old are you, sweetie?”
She giggled again and buried her face in Hermione’s shoulder.
“Come on, Vi. Tell Harry how old you are,” Hermione cajoled her. She shook her head.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. “She’s two. She’s very, very two.”
The little girl popped her head up then. “Two!” she shouted into Hermione’s ear. Harry laughed when Hermione cringed at the noise.
“What’s her name then?” Harry asked, watching the toddler twirl her arms around wildly, struggling to escape from Hermione.
“Violet, though most of her family calls her Vi.” Hermione shifted her from one hip to the other, but the little girl’s struggles didn’t stop. “Would you stop that?” she asked sharply.
Vi burst into tears.
“Oh, hell.” Hermione seemed to realise she had just said a curse word. “Shit. Damn. Oh, bugger it all!” she said, giving up.
Vi’s tears dried up as quickly as they had appeared. “Bugga! Bugga!”
Harry chuckled when Hermione groaned. “Her father is going to kill me. I just can’t seem to keep a civil tongue around her...”
Harry held out his hands when the little girl began to struggle again, even as she sang “bugga, bugga, bugga!”
“Can I hold her?” he asked. Hermione nodded and handed her over gratefully. “How is Ron?” He settled the small girl on one hip, tickling her until she was giggling too hard to talk.
“He’s good. This little ankle-biter tends to run him ragged. He’s working at George’s shop now, part time so that he can stay home with Vi. Molly keeps her when he’s working, unless her mother manages to get a day off from work.”
Harry nodded, amazed at the changes in Hermione. He’d never imagined she would have a child, let alone take time off from work to care for it. “And how have you been?”
“Good, good.” Hermione smiled tiredly. “Work’s been a bit crazy recently. I know that the Auror department has been working hard on the latest international problems, but we’re still trying to get werewolf rights passed right here. The Wizengamot is incredibly prejudiced. Today was supposed to be a big meeting to discuss some new laws, but they decided that they wanted to make it a closed session. When I found out that I didn’t have to work today, I decided to take a break and spend the day with Vi. I don’t spend enough time with her.”
“’Mione play!” Vi shouted. “Down! Wanna play!”
Harry shook his head. “Stay here for a minute, sweet pea. I want to spend some time with you and ‘Mione.” He smirked at Hermione’s nickname, wondering why the toddler called her that instead of Mum or Mummy.
Hermione just shook her head. “Blame Ron for that one. I hate that blasted nickname.”
“Blasted Ron! Blasted, blasted!”
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, and Harry fought laughter. “She enjoys bad words,” Hermione said sheepishly.
“I can tell.” Harry shifted his feet and bounced Vi up and down on his hip for a moment, distracting her from her new word. “I’ve... I’m on lunch. Are you two headed anywhere, or do you want to grab something with me?”
“Fish and chips!” Vi crowed. “Want chips!”
Harry quirked an eyebrow. “Ron?”
“Unfortunately... that’s my fault too. I rather live on fast food, so she lives on it too when I’m watching her.” Hermione grimaced. “I’m terrible with childcare. It’s the reason I never wanted a baby when we... when we were still together.”
“I remember.” Harry lowered Vi to the ground, grasping her by the hand before she could escape. “Let’s go get some fish and chips, and we can talk.”
They walked slowly to the small diner next to the Ministry, letting Vi toddle along at her own pace as they talked. Harry knew that he would be late getting back to work, but he didn’t care. As the head of the department, it didn’t really matter if he wasn’t back right on time. He had his Porta-Floo, and if they needed him, they’d let him know.
They had a wonderful lunch, reminiscing over happy memories as if the years had never separated them. Vi babbled at them about everything from the food to her shoes. Harry found himself charmed by the little girl.
Finally, the conversation took a turn for more serious subjects.
“I... I heard about you and Draco. I’m sorry,” said Hermione.
Harry shrugged. “It wasn’t meant to be. We get along well, but we couldn’t keep up with a relationship. We needed too much from each other that neither of us could afford to give. I’m afraid it was mostly my fault-Draco loved me, but I never felt quite as much for him. When he met Jackson, I was happy to give up our relationship so he could be happy. We’re still best mates now though.”
“Oh, Harry.” Hermione’s hand clasped his. “Why do you do that to yourself? I wish you could find someone for your own who you wouldn’t give up on.”
Harry blushed. “Well, actually... Draco introduced me to his cousin. She’s a sweet girl and we’ve been dating for about six months now. She’s... a lot like Draco, but without the history.”
She squeezed his hand. “As long as you’re happy.”
“I am.” Harry smiled at her and then pulled his hand away to stop Vi from dumping vinegar all over herself. “I’m just glad you and Ron are happy.”
“We are. In the long run, the break-up was good for us.”
Harry tried not to feel wounded by that. He’d known that he was hurting Hermione and Ron’s relationship, but it was painful to hear Hermione confirm it.
Hermione’s Porta-Floo beeped then and she answered it by lighting the fire inside with her wand. Then she placed it up to her ear. Harry could hear Ron’s tinny voice coming through the small flame that flickered in the casing, though he couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Yes, we are eating lunch now, in the diner by the Ministry. Do you have time to Floo in and join us?” Hermione asked. Ron must have replied in the affirmative because she replied, “Good, we’ll see you in a few then. Oh, and Harry’s eating lunch with us too. Yes, okay, see you then.” She snuffed out the flame. “Ron’ll be here in just a few minutes.” She turned to Vi. “Daddy’s coming to eat lunch with you!”
Vi’s face light up. “Daddy! Chips for Daddy?”
Hermione nodded, her voice slightly higher than normal as she replied, “Yes, Daddy will probably get chips. Will you share your chips with him?”
Vi shook her head wildly. “No, no! Mine!”
Hermione and Harry both hid their smiles behind their hands. “Now, Vi, that’s not nice. You should always share your things,” said Hermione.
Harry heard the Floo across the room emit a belch and saw Ron approaching as he dusted off his robes. Vi, meanwhile, was pouting and her eyes were filling with tears. “No! Mine, mine, mine! Don’t wanna!”
Ron laughed, his familiar chuckle warming Harry. He’d missed his best friends so much. “What’s yours, love?” Ron asked as he gave Vi a kiss on the head.
“Daddy!” she cried. When Ron reached for one of her chips, she let out a loud cry. “No, mine!” She burst into tears.
Ron pulled back his hand. “Oh, dear. Is she being two?”
Hermione sighed deeply. “Yes. We were teasing her that she should share her chips with you and she had a fit.”
Ron picked his daughter up, tugging her out of her highchair. “Aw, poor Vi. Was Auntie ‘Mione being mean to you?”
Harry sat up straight. “’Auntie ‘Mione’?”
“Just a nickname. Lavender doesn’t like having children call adults by their first name, and Ms. Granger is a mouthful,” said Ron.
Harry frowned. “But... Lavender? I thought Hermione and you...”
Hermione flushed. “I thought you knew!”
“Hermione and I... we didn’t make it six months after we moved out of Grimmauld. We fought constantly without you there to keep us calm,” said Ron.
Ron fed his daughter a chip and then offered her a cup of juice. “I ended up with Lavender again and... well, it worked out this time. Neither of us is very ambitious, and we both just wanted to settle down and start a family. We got married over three years ago and immediately started trying for a baby, which is where this little one came from.” Ron’s face brightened as he watched his daughter pour her cup into her plate, soaking her chips with juice. “I’ve never been happier.”
Harry was completely stunned. “But... Hermione... what about you?”
“Oh, I’m happy too. I haven’t met the right man yet, but I don’t mind waiting. My work is important to me and... well, I’m not sure I’ll ever want to settle down. As much as I love playing with Vi, I’m just not cut out to be a mother. Little ones with their illogical thinking irritate the hell out of me.”
Vi looked up from her plate of juice. “Hell! Blasted! Bugga!” She was obviously pleased that she had remembered her new words.
Ron glared at Hermione. “I’m never letting you babysit again.”
“Thank god,” she muttered. “I’m so tired.”
Harry watched them and was surprised to realize how unalike they really were. They had always seemed alike in their differences, but Harry could see now that this wasn’t really a case of “opposites attract”.
“I’ve missed you guys.” Harry blurted suddenly.
Ron said, “I missed you too,” and Hermione nodded.
“I don’t want this to be the last time I see you for months,” she said. “There are only a few weeks until the anniversary of the final battle. I’m throwing a quiet dinner the weekend before the anniversary. Ron, Lavender, the Weasleys, and some work friends will be there. Will you come?”
“I’d love to. What time is-“ Harry’s question was cut off by a beep. He excused himself from the table and answered his Porta-Floo. There was an emergency at the office. Sighing, he returned to the table. “I’ve got to go. There’s a problem with a case, and they need me to come in and give them directions.”
Ron stood and pulled Harry into a hug, crushing Vi between them. “Don’t be a stranger, all right?”
Vi reached up and patted Harry’s cheek. “Not stranger! Harry!”
The three adults laughed and then Hermione took her turn hugging Harry. “I’ll owl you,” she promised.
Harry said his goodbyes, kissing Vi on the cheek and tickling her until she was giggling so hard she turned red. When he finally broke away from his best friends, he felt as though he had been thrown back into the past. Even with five years of silence between them, there hadn’t been any awkward silences in their conversation. The three of them were still best mates, probably always would be, and Harry was glad.
Leaving the diner, he headed for the Ministry with a smile on his face. The three of them hadn’t made it work as lovers, but at least they still had their friendship. As much as Harry wished he could go back to the past and fix things, he didn’t really miss their relationship that much. It had always been their friendship that he cherished the most, and he still had that.
The past was the past, and Harry was ready to look forward to the future.