Hermione slipped in a semi-depression. It wasn't bad enough to ignore her daughter or smile, but it was bad enough to stay in her bedroom a lot. Arabella was getting worried for her mother. She felt as if Torry was always around and taking care of her. As much as she loved Torry, she wanted and loved and needed Mummy more. Hermione had decided that Arabella was getting a little bit too big for her crib, so to keep her mind off of Harry, she took Arabella toddler bed shopping. They settled on a white bed with pink sheets that contrasted well with her walls. Arabella loved her new bed. It was easy to get out of and she didn't feel trapped anymore.
Three Auror guards were posted out front of the Manor and two in the back. Hermione felt safe with that many. They would take shifts and would leave for the night, but would spend the night at Remus and Tonks' house across the street since they were gone to help Harry.
Occasionally, Hermione would take Arabella to visit her parents. She needed a little tender, love, and care.
One night, Arabella was lying in her bed awake, an hour after Hermione had tucked her in. She couldn't sleep. She was too worried about her Daddy. She wanted her Mummy. She wanted to be held. She slipped out of her new bed, grabbing Peter, her stuffed bunny rabbit that she named after "Peter Cottontail" by Beatrix Potter. She tip-toed out of her room and to her mother's. She reached up and slowly opened the door, letting light into the room. She searched for her mother's figure in the dark and saw her back as she was not faced her, but to the other side. She shut the door quietly, and waited for her eyes to adjust in the dark. When they did, she went to the king-sized bed and hoisted herself up, almost struggling. When she crawled up, she pulled the covers and got under them.
She scooted over towards Hermione. The covers were around her waist; and despite the summer weather, Arabella could see that she was shivering. She pulled the covers and sheets around her mother and kissed her cheek. "Good night, Mummy. I love you," she whispered and laid back down on the bed.
Hermione, who had stirred at someone kissing her cheek, rolled over to see who it was. She squinted in the darkness and saw her daughter. "Arabella?" The eighteen-month-old opened her eyes and smiled slightly.
"I'm sowwy, Mummy, I didn't mean to wake you," she said cutely.
Hermione smiled and ran her hand through Arabella's brown locks, like she always did. The little girl closed her eyes at her mother's soft touch, like she always did. "You're so sweet. Did you know that?"
She giggled a little. Hermione kissed her forehead. "What's wrong, baby girl?"
"I couldn't sweep."
"Why?"
Arabella looked sad. "D-Daddy. I miss Daddy."
Hermione closed her eyes in pain. "I miss him, too. You want to sleep in here tonight?" she asked already knowing the answer.
Arabella nodded. "I'm scared," she shuddered.
"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay. It's alright. I'm here. Come here. Mummy's not going to let you go," she pulled her into her arms and held her. Arabella buried her face and snuggled into her side. Hermione began to sing her lullaby, getting her to close her eyes and nod off. Once she heard her daughter's even breathing, she eventually fell asleep.
The next morning, Arabella woke up to someone smoothing her hair out and feeling a finger on her forehead. She woke up and saw her mother's smiling face looking at her. "G'morning, Arabella." She received a kiss on her forehead.
"'Morning, Mummy. How did you sweep?" she asked politely.
"Wonderful, you?"
"Brilliant!" she cried, getting a soft smile from Hermione.
From then on, Hermione felt as if Arabella saw her sadness and wanted to comfort her mother. Therefore, as much as she loved her daughter taking care of her, she tried to be more happy and upbeat.
She asked Torry to watch her while she went to the store to get something for Arabella. When she came back, she had one bag with her. Curious as she was, Arabella's eyes went to the bag. "What's dat, Mummy?"
"Well, since we can't do much outside, I figured I'd get a jump-start on teaching you small things," Hermione said smiling.
"Wike what?"
"Like..." she took a big, giant box of crayons out of the bag and a coloring book. "...coloring! I'm going to teach you how to color."
"Is it fun?" she asked excitedly. She'd heard of coloring, but never actually seen it done. She was not in pre-school yet and she didn't have any older brothers and sisters that already colored, obviously.
"Tons, come on!" Hermione led her to her playroom and they both sat down at her small art table they never used. "Sit right here and I'll show you." Arabella did as she was told, listening intently to her mother.
"Okay, we'll start off with blank sheets of paper." She took out a stack of blank sheets of white copy paper. Then she opened the crayon box. "This is also a color lesson. Mummy's going to teach you the colors."
Arabella grinned. She loved to learn, like her mother.
Hermione took them out, each by each and said the colors, telling her to repeat it.
"Okay, now take the red color, Arabella."
Arabella looked at the crayons, thinking hard and biting her lip. Her eyes sparked up as she found it and held it up.
"Very good, angel! Okay, now, blue."
She had no trouble finding the rest of the colors as she called them out. "Good job, Arabella! Mummy's proud of you! Okay, let's color!" She taught her how to hold it properly and how to stay within the lines. Arabella was having the time of her life. She colored she didn't know how many pictures because she couldn't count yet. She decided to lay off of the coloring book for a while and start actually drawing a picture on the copy paper. Hermione showed her how and she caught on quick. It was just scribbles, nothing more. Hermione figured in time they would develop into shapes. But she still thought they were beautiful.
Occasionally, Arabella would get up earlier than Hermione, around six-thirty. Now that she had a bed, she could get out of it and roam around. She wouldn't get into the rooms, though. She'd grab Peter and toddle down the stairs to the kitchen. "Kit!" she would call softly and the house elf would appear in front of her.
"Yes, Little Miss, good morning,what can Kit do for you?" he would bow.
"'Morning, Kit! Mummy is not up yet. How bout we make her breakfast in bed?" she would say excitedly.
"Splendid idea, Little Miss!" And Kit would get working on making eggs, sausage, and toast. He also put some milk in a sippy cup for Arabella to drink. After, he would put the cooked food on a tray, along with a glass of orange juice, and together they would bring it into Hermione's room at around seven. They figured that would be late enough for her. However, she was not awake when Arabella opened her door. So, they decided to leave it on her bedside table for when she did wake. When they tip-toed quietly towards the door, they heard, "Arabella?"
Arabella and Kit turned around and looked at her figure. Kit snapped his fingers, the curtain opening, letting sunlight in, almost blinding Hermione. "Sorry, miss!" he apologized.
"That's okay, Kit," she smiled. "What are you two doing?"
"We made you breakfast in bed, Mummy!" she cried pointing to the tray on the bedside table. She looked and smiled.
"Thank you both so much!"
Arabella blushed, a little embarrassed. "It was nufink, Mummy!"
Hermione thought her daughter was the most cutest thing ever. "Kit, you're welcome to fix whatever you and Torry want." He nodded happily and disappeared.
Hermione grinned at Arabella. "Hey, there's enough for the both of us. Why don't we share?" she suggested.
"Dat was da plan, Mummy!" she cried grinning as well and jumped on the bed next to her. Hermione put the tray of food on the bed and they began eating. "What do you want to do today, angel?" she asked as they ate.
Arabella furrowed her brow thinking hard. "I dunno, Mummy. What else is dere to teach me?" she was eager to learn.
Hermione chuckled. "I don't know. You're still a little too young to be learning how to read and write. I'll start with numbers. How about that, sweetheart?"
Arabella was disappointed she wouldn't be learning how to read and write yet, but thrilled she would learn her numbers. She nodded. "Dat would be nice!"
After breakfast, Hermione gave Arabella a bath and dressed her up in baby jeans and a pink, collared polo shirt. "Arabella, what color is your shirt?" she quizzed her.
"Erm..." she thought. "Pink!"
"Right! Good job!" After she dressed her, she called Torry to watch her while she went shower. Arabella went into her playroom to wait for her mother, playing with her Little People set. Thirty minutes later, Hermione walked in wearing blue jeans and a white, v-neck blouse. "Hey, baby girl, you ready to learn?" she asked.
Arabella jumped from her spot on the floor, grinning, into her little art table chair, sitting down. Hermione chuckled again and sat next to her. "Okay," she began taking out a piece of copy paper and a black crayon to write with. On the paper, she wrote the number "1". "Arabella, this is the number one."
"One," the one year old repeated. Then she was confused. "Hey! Isn't dat how old I am?!"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, you're one year old." She wrote down "2". "This is two."
"Two." Hermione went through the numbers until she got to ten. Then she went over them again two more times and then asked her to say them. Hermione went backwards and forwards. And pointed to them out of order, asking her what it was.
Arabella got them all. She was proud of herself. "Mummy, can you mix da numbers?"
"Yes, you can, but I won't let you do that just yet. We'll save that for another day," Hermione said, not wanting too much into her brain that it'll explode.
They played until lunch, in which they had sandwiches. After lunch, Hermione put Arabella down for a nap.
Hermione was missing Harry terribly. She missed his handsome face. His gorgeous emerald-green eyes. She sometimes found it hard to look at her daughter in her eyes, seeing Harry's, but she soon got over that. She missed his smell, the smell of a hint of cologne, freshcut grass, and a bit of parchment. Often, when she would put Arabella down to sleep, she would go into Harry's room and lay on his bed, with her head on his pillow, inhaling his scent; and then cry her eyes out. She wanted him. She wanted him back. She wanted him back in her arms, holding her tight and kissing her.
She missed his kisses, even though she only had two when he left. But perhaps more in the last two years, if you count the night they were together. That was another thing she missed. She missed it even when she was pregnant and in the last year, ever since she spent the night with him. She missed making love to him. She missed him being inside of her, filling her up, stretching her, making her complete. Making her feel like she was home. She missed his moans of pleasure as he had drove into her. She missed his soft caresses on her skin. His licks on her breasts. His looks of desire and lust.
She missed him.
She wanted him.
She needed him.
She often daydreamed about her and him getting married and raising Arabella together like that. They would live here, obviously, and would have a few more children, possibly a brother for Arabella would come next. Baby Jacob James Potter would be his name. And then another girl would come. Baby Georgiana Lily Potter. They would share Harry's bedroom, since it was the next biggest. Every morning they'd wake up to pitter-pattering of tiny feet and shutting of doors. Then their children would run into their room and jump on their bed. Harry would grab one of them and tickle them until they cried laughing so hard.
"Mummy, help me!" they would cry, but she would just tickle them with her husband.
Arabella would be the eldest at six, then Jacob would be three, and their youngest would be almost two. Harry and Hermione would both be twenty-one. It was a lovely dream.
She would also daydream about when Harry would get back home and what they would do. She and Arabella would be in the living room, watching a movie or something entertaining, and the front door would open. The two females would look up and see Harry standing there, looking very rugged and dirty, but sexy to Hermione. She would stood up and rush into his arms, hugging him, and then pulling away for a long, passionate kiss. Arabella would come running and hug his leg. He would lean down and pull her up into his arms and they would have a family hug.
That night after they would send Arabella off to bed, they would get into Harry's bed, lock the door, put a Silencing Charm on the room, and fuck senselessly, missing each other terribly. They would, however, this time put a contraceptive charm on Hermione, and they would fuck all night.
Hermione felt dirty using that word, but she shook it off when she realized she was sixteen. But she told herself not to say it in front of Arabella.
Several days later, the young mother and her daughter went to visit Charlotte and Jacob Granger again. Hermione told the guards where she was going and Flooed to her parents' house. Charlotte and Jacob Granger came running in from the kitchen, as they had just finished lunch, to see what the ruckus was.
"Hey, Mum, Dad," Hermione said standing up and helping Arabella up from the ground.
"Hermione! Arabella!" Charlotte cried and hugged the two tightly. Jacob followed suit.
"Grammy! Gramps!" Arabella cried out hugging them both.
"Oh, Arabella, you've gotten so big!" Arabella giggled and went play with Jacob as Hermione talked to her mother.
"So, how have you been?" Charlotte asked her daughter pouring her some tea.
"I'm getting through. I miss Harry like crazy," she answered blowing on her hot tea.
"How is Arabella handling everything?"
"Well, better than I am, that's for sure. She still misses her Daddy, but she still has that energetic spirit in her. She's actually taking care of me, more than I've been taking care of her," she said with a soft smile.
"Aww, that's cute!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"I just want...I just want this war to be over, you know? I want to live with Harry and Arabella in peace. And make more children," she said thoughtfully and then added for her mother's sake, "Far down the road, of course." She was referring to the more children bit.
"Actually, no, I don't want these things. I need these things. I just need this war to be over. I need to live with Harry and Arabella in peace. And I need to make more children. I can't live without the two of them. I needthem." She began to sob and Charlotte wrapped her in an embrace.
"Shh, it's okay, that time will come soon enough. Don't worry. Everything will work out, I promise," she replied and kissed the side of her head.
"I love him, Mum!" she cried on her shoulder.
"I know you do, dear, I know you do."
Arabella saw through the sliding door window her mother sobbing. She left her Gramps and went to the door, putting her hands flat on the glass, sad that her Mummy was sad. Her Gramps came up behind her and opened the door for her, seeing that she wanted to go in. She went in and walked to Hermione, putting her hands on her leg. Hermione looked up from her mother's shoulder and down at Arabella. "Don't cry, Mummy. It's okay." Of course that didn't make her stop crying. It made her sob even more and grab her daughter in her arms hugging her tightly. "I love you, Arabella."
"I wove you, too, Mummy." She held her Mummy tight, not wanting to let her go.
Soon enough, Harry's birthday came along. They were both sad because he was all they could think of that day. As Hermione fell asleep, she whispered into her pillow, "Happy Birthday, Harry. I love you. Goodnight."
Hermione would check the Daily Prophet everyday for news on Harry and the war. There were none about Harry, just articles about attackings in various cities and towns. Death was everywhere. No one could escape it. It was all over the papers, the Muggle news, the Wizarding Wireless, everywhere.
One day, in the Daily Prophet, there was an article that cheered her up a bit. It said that Voldemort was seeming to get weaker. She smiled, knowing that Harry had destroyed at least one Horcrux so far.
Harry could not stop thinking about them. His best friend/love of his life and his daughter. He wished he was with them. He wished he was holding Hermione in his arms and kissing her neck. He wished he was tickling Arabella to death. He wished he was...home. With his family.
He had found Salazar Slytherin's locket and destroyed it with Godric Gryffindor's sword that he had found at the bottom of a lake in the Forest of Dean. He stabbed the locket with it. But not before the locket showed him something. It showed him his worst fear.
Harry stared at the locket as he opened it. Remus and Tonks were behind him. He had the sword poised, ready to blow, when a voice came out from the locket saying, "I've seen your heart. I have seen your dreams. All that you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible."
Soon a misty cloud that soon twisted into the forms of Hermione Granger and Arabella Granger-Potter. He almost smiled, but they looked mad and almost...evil. Hermione was snarling at him. "You aren't enough, Potter. You will never be a part of this family. You left us. I don't love you and I never will and I never have. All I needed was a good shag. Too bad I didn't get what I wanted. You can't even fuck good."
Harry's heart broke in two. He tried to hold back tears. How could she say that? She knew he left to save her and their child.
Arabella spoke up, "You're not even a good father. You're not here. Leave and never come back. We hate you!"
Harry began to cry openly now. "NO!"
"HARRY, STAB IT!" he heard Remus shout behind him. He struck it with all his might and a blinding white light erupted and the forms of his love and his daughter were gone.
Harry could not stop thinking about that. He knew it wasn't true, but it still hurt. Bad.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Remus standing there. "You alright there, Harry?"
He shrugged. "Not really."
"Don't believe what that locket said. You're are an amazing father. And Hermione understands why you left and why she couldn't come."
Harry smiled slightly. "Thanks. I just wish...he never existed. I wish my parents were alive. I wish I could have other siblings. I wish I didn't have someone like the Dursleys to bring me up. I wish that I didn't have this painful scar. I wish people would stop dying because of me. I wish I could be with Hermione and Arabella. I wish he never existed!" he almost shouted wiping a lone tear that had escaped.
"Harry," he sat down next to him at the table. "I wish those were true, too. I miss Lily and James and I want you to have a peaceful life. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. And there's nothing we can do about it. I know that sounds not comforting, but it's true. And don't you worry, you'll defeat him and you can live in peace with Hermione and Arabella and have plenty of more little Potters running around." He smiled, which Harry returned half-heartedly.
Remus left to help Tonks cook dinner.
Harry just sat there and thought.
And thought.
And thought.
He didn't want Hermione nor Arabella. No way.
He needed them.