Empty Rooms

Chapter 21: Empty Rooms

Freed from the wedding obligations, Harry and Hermione rushed home to collect their things before leaving for their honeymoon. They weren't going anywhere overly fancy or extravagant. Harry would have been just as happy staying home as he was that they were leaving. They traveled by the Floo Network to their destination; a small resort for Wizards and Witches in Ireland. Seamus had told Harry about it when they bumped into each other at the Ministry and Hermione had thought it sounded like a wonderful place.

The receptionist quickly checked them into their suite and guided them to it, taking their luggage for them. Once the door was shut and they were finally, blissfully, alone, Harry pulled his bride in close and kissed her deeply. "Question for you," he said. "Are you taking my name or keeping yours? Both?"

Hermione smiled. "I suppose you taking my name is out of the question?" she asked with a chuckle.

Harry laughed. "If that was what you wanted, I'd consider it," he replied.

"I'm thinking I'll hyphenate them," she said. "Or just take your name. I was planning to hyphenate before."

Harry nodded. "You have time to think about it," he said. "No rush. I was just curious to know if you had a plan."

Hermione smiled. She kissed Harry. "One of the things that I will always love about you is that you don't push me for more than I'm ready for," she said. "And… on that note… why don't we take that spell off of you and go into the bedroom?" she suggested.

Harry grinned. "You don't want to be married for a while first?" he asked. "You want to start trying for that baby right now?"

Hermione nodded. "We've been together for almost a year, Harry," she said. "We've known each other more than half our lives. I'm ready for us to make our family a little bigger."

Harry kissed her. He took his wand out from his sleeve and pointed it at himself. Hermione heard him whisper a spell but didn't pay much attention to the words. Harry set his wand aside before he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He set her down on the floor next to the bed and turned her so that her back was to him. He praised the dressmaker for putting a zipper in the back of her dress instead of something tedious, like buttons. He unzipped the dress and it fell down around Hermione's feet in a pool of satin and tulle.

Hermione turned around and draped her arms over Harry's shoulders, wearing very little now that the dress was gone. Harry fully intended to take off every last piece of fabric on her body and worship the goddess underneath.

He kissed her as his hands fumbled with the hooks of her bra. When it fell away, he picked her up again and laid her down on the bed. He slipped her heels off, then reached up for the one last piece of thin fabric covering her. His hands slid up her legs, his eyes never leaving hers.

A moment later, she lay naked before him. Harry placed featherlight kisses up her leg before burying his face between them. Hermione cried out and grabbed handfuls of his hair, pulling him closer to her.

He shrugged off his suit jacket and unbuttoned his shirt as he worked a different kind of magic on her body. He couldn't hear her moans as her legs clenched around his head, effectively keeping him from hearing anything. As her sweetness flooded his mouth, he sucked down every last drop before looking up at her.

Hermione lay across the bed, gasping for breath. When Harry rose up over her, ready for more, she wondered how much more she could take. She smiled at him as he came in for a kiss and let out a moan as he slid into her body so perfectly that she wanted to cry.

He moved slowly in and out of her, savoring this first moment as a married couple. Husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter. Mrs. Hermione Potter. The words rang through her head as he thrust into her. She let out a moan, unable to contain it. Harry took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked on it, sending a shockwave of pleasure through her body. Her body bucked. Her hips gyrated. She wanted more. Needed more. She was desperate for him to fill her to the brim and spill over.

And that's exactly what he did. Her body buzzed with static as the heat from his filled her up. Harry met her eyes and said how much he loved her without opening his mouth to speak. He kissed her deeply and she felt her heart start to slow down. "Potter," she said softly.

"What?" Harry asked, breathless from his exertion.

She smiled at him. "Hermione Potter," she said.

Harry grinned and she felt him stiffen inside of her. "I like the sound of that," he said.

Hermione moved her hips ever so slightly. "How much?" she asked.

Harry pulled out almost entirely before he shoved his member back into her apex. "This much," he said, doing it again. Hermione cried out, excited and desperate for more.

It didn't take long for Hermione to suspect she was pregnant. She was emotional. Everything smelled off to her. She didn't even want her soup. So, of course, the moment she ran to the bathroom to throw up, she had to know for sure. She pulled out her wand, cast the charm, and saw sparks. She grinned, knowing that Harry would be thrilled. She just needed to figure out how to break the news to him.

For that, she enlisted Teddy's help.

She made dinner that night. Harry had stayed late at the office for evaluations of the new recruits. While waiting for him to get home, Hermione helped Teddy draw a picture of their family. He insisted on adding a dog, which further reinforced the fact that he wanted one. When Teddy finished his drawing, Hermione helped him label each person, then instructed him to draw another arrow at stick-figure Hermione's midsection with a question mark. She folded the drawing into a card and put it at Harry's place at the table.

That night, when Harry got home, Hermione served his favorite meal and they sat down at the table to eat. Harry picked up the card and looked at it. His eyes widened when he realized what the question mark meant. "Are you pregnant?" he asked.

Hermione grinned as she nodded. "I am," she said.

Harry pulled Hermione out of her chair and spun her around as he lifted her into the air. He quickly realized how that could make her feel and put her feet back on the solid floor before he kissed her deeply. "This is the happiest day of my life," he whispered.

They returned to the table and Harry noticed that Teddy was less than thrilled at the news.

He reached across the table for his godson and pulled Teddy into his lap. "What's the matter, young man?" he asked.

Teddy sighed as he shook his head. He mumbled something that Harry didn't catch. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to say that again, a little louder this time."

Teddy met Harry's eyes. They were bluer than usual. His hair was also darker. "What's going to happen to me now that you're having a baby?" he asked. "Am I going to go back to Grandma's?"

Harry shook his head. "No, of course not," he said. "Not unless that was what you really wanted. Why would you think that?"

Teddy shrugged. "Because I'm not yours," he said. "I wish I was, but I know Remus and Tonks were my parents and they're dead now. I'm not anybody's."

"You most certainly are ours," Harry said. "You may not be our blood, but you are family." Teddy still looked unsure. "Do you know what adoption is?" Harry asked. Teddy shook his head. "It's the official way to make people like us family," he explained. "It's what people do when they have kids that aren't theirs originally. Remus and Tonks will always be the people who brought you into this world, but if you'd like, we can make it official and Hermione and I can be your parents forever. Is that something you'd like?"

Teddy's eyes lit up. "So we'll always be together forever?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "You'd be stuck with us."

Teddy grinned. "Will you adopt me?" he asked.

Harry hugged him tightly. "Yes, we will," he whispered.

Teddy hugged Harry tight before he slipped off Harry's lap and threw his arms around Hermione. "I love you, mummy," he said.

Hermione felt tears burn at her eyes as she hugged Teddy back just as tightly. "I love you too, Teddy," she whispered.

Teddy pulled away from her and went back to his seat at the table. He dug into his dinner and Hermione turned to Harry. "We need a bigger house, you realize that don't you?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Absolutely," he said. "I already started looking. Do you think five bedrooms are enough?"

"How many kids do you want?" Hermione asked, surprised that Harry would look at something so large.

Harry shrugged. "Depends on if we want to fill the empty rooms or not," he said with a grin. "I think it would certainly be fun to try."

Hermione laughed before she tossed her napkin at Harry. She bit back the remark she wanted to throw at him because it wasn't an appropriate thing to say with a child in the room. "You'll pay for that one," she promised.

Harry grinned. "Can't wait," he said. "And," Harry said, turning to Teddy, "getting a bigger house means we can get a dog to go with it."

Teddy gasped as he grinned at Harry. He bounced in his seat. "Promise?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Promise," he vowed.

"YAY!" Teddy squealed before throwing himself at Harry with his excitement. Harry chuckled and hugged his godson before sending him back to his chair. "Eat your dinner," he said.

It didn't take them long to get a new house. Hermione was barely showing her pregnancy as they packed up the house. As she made one final pass through the house, she looked at all of the empty rooms and couldn't believe that a single idea, the idea of an empty room, could be something that caused her so much pain as well as so much happiness. She smiled at the house Harry had invited her to live in and turned into a home with her one final time before she closed the door on the empty living room. She turned away and saw Harry waiting for her, his hand extended toward her. She took his hand and together they got into the car and drove to their new home as a family.

The End