Author's note: the final battle was four years ago at the end of Harry's seventh year. That makes Harry and Hermione in their early twenties. Lupin teaches History of Magic, Neville teaches Herbology, Luna teaches Arithmancy, Harry teaches DADA, Tonks teaches Ancient Runes, and the rest teach what they normally would. None of this really matters and I don't even know if these characters like these subjects but just in case you were wondering this is what I had in mind. GINNY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EVIL... SHE JUST DOESN'T WANT TO EXCEPT THE TRUTH. This is a rush job so don't get mad at me.
Summary: HPxHG one-shot! Ginny bashing… They were chasing him and he needed to get back to his sanctuary. He desperately needed to get back to her…back to his home.
Disclaimer: not mine!!! Except for the plot which no one wants anyway.
He needed to get away. They were chasing him again. After the final battle four years ago the Ministry needed a new villain to rally the people against and they chose him. Of course it didn't really work and no one was willing to tell the Ministry where he was but that only infuriated them more. Harry Potter was to be brought in and tried for resisting arrest. And so Rufus Scrimgeour had sent the aurors after him. He needed somewhere to go and he needed to get there fast. He needed to go home. He needed to get back to his sanctuary.
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Hermione could sense him coming. It seemed that becoming Headmistress of Hogwarts came with this sense of knowing more than any one person should. She had sent the students to bed and requested that the Professors join her at the door after the students had been brought to their common rooms.
He was rather close now and the aurors were not far behind. In fact Harry would be lucky to make it through the doors. As she made her way to the door to open it she noticed that Hagrid and Professor McGonagall were the first people at the entry way. They stood aside as she opened the large castle door to let Harry inside.
Just as the doors had opened a tiny bit Harry stumbled through looking exhausted and bruised. Madame Pomfrey had arrived and was already taking care of Harry. It was evident that the other Professors had also arrived by the number of wands pointed and ready for use.
Hermione was about to open the doors even further when they were slammed open by a red faced minister of magic.
"Where is the boy?" He snarled at Professor McGonagall, who stood in an almost motherly fashion in front of Harry.
"Minister Scrimgeour, Mr. Potter is hardly a boy any more having become an adult four yeas ago. And I am not the one you should be addressing." Professor McGonagall motioned towards Hermione who stood with a bemused expression on her face.
"Good evening Minister. Is there something I can help you with?" Hermione said rather calmly and with a small smile.
"Yes Miss Granger you can release that boy into my custody. If you do that I will be on my way." Hermione watched him as he motioned his aurors forward. Hagrid stepped forward with an almost outraged expression.
"That's headmistress Granger to you Minister!" Hermione laid a hand on Hagrid's for arm thanking him and at the same time asking him to stand down.
"I'm sorry minister but I cannot do that. I would never willingly let you take an innocent person away from the sanctuary that is Hogwarts. Besides, who would teach Defense against the Dark Arts for me if Harry left?" she said rather coyly. She began to notice the aurors that had entered the castle and one in particular stood out to her.
"I'll fill the bloody position if you give me the boy!" The minister was almost purple now and rather hysterical. A young female auror walked forward with a look of determination on her face. A snort was heard coming from Harry's direction.
"Thank you for the offer Minister but I will have to decline. You see the last time the ministry offered to fill that position one of our students was abused and I can't have that happening, now can I?" Hermione pulled out her wand and let it hang loosely in her hand. Scrimgeour face had turned from angry to scared and she knew why. Behind her was a line of Hogwarts Professors. McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Luna, Neville, Flitwick, Pomphrey, Hagrid, Firenze, Hooch, and a few house elves stood ready to fight. And if there had been one thing learned in the last war it was don't mess with the Hogwarts staff, all of whom were on the front line during the final battle. All but one auror stood down.
"Harry, love, come with us and we can sort this all out." Ginny Weasley said in a rather coaxing tone. She slowly began to move forward only to find Hermione standing in her way.
"Stand down, Ginny." Hermione's voice was calm, almost too calm and it was making every one else slightly uneasy.
"What are you going to do Hermione? It's not like you have a claim on him." Scrimgeour looked around at his aurors and the Professors and realized that Ginny Weasley was fighting her own battle now. She had brought up something personal and no one else was going to get in the way of the battle that was soon to come.
"Are you sure about that Ginny? You haven't been in contact with us in quite some time. How are you to know what is going on in Harry's life?" Hermione felt the presence of two other people enter the room. Ginny was looking around trying to find someone who would support her. There was no one.
"He was busy recuperating and I was going through training. Obviously we couldn't be together. But that's going to change. We'll get him some therapy and a bit of rest. Then he can face the trial and we'll get this all cleared up." Hermione started Ginny straight in the eyes.
"Therapy? You think he needs therapy? There is nothing wrong with Harry. And as for rest he has gotten all the rest he needs from the war. He might need a night or two to recuperate from you chasing him all day but other than that he is perfectly fine, as I'm sure Madame Pomfrey can assure you." Ginny didn't back down and she didn't notice the two small figures slowly making their way into the room.
"Harry needs to be out in the public. He's a hero for Merlin's sake! There are so many things he has yet to do that he can't accomplish here holed up in this drafty old castle with you." The look in Hermione's eyes was terrifying. She had the look of a predator stalking its prey and her power was emanating off of her body. No one in the room was left to wonder why she had been chosen to lead the school.
"Why don't you let Harry speak for himself? I have not held him back. If he wanted to be out in the public then he could be. He has chosen to stay here and teach. Is that such a crime?" Hermione said through a clenched jaw.
"Yes it is because he left everyone that supported him behind. He left me behind. And if he comes back with me we can fix this and everything can be as it was before all of this nonsense." Ginny eyes were fixed on Harry and it wasn't until she heard the patter of feet that she looked back at Hermione.
"Mommy…" Everyone's attention was diverted downward as a small hand came to tug on Hermione's robe. A small girl with curly back hair and green eyes and a little boy with tousled, straight black hair and brown eyes stood hugging their mother's knees. Hermione expertly picked up both of her toddlers and placed them each on a hip.
"Obviously, Ginny, not every thing would be the same. Now stand down." Harry, now feeling better due to a pepper up potion and some quick healing from Madame Pomfrey, made his way over to take his little girl in his arms.
"Harry, darling are you alright?" Hermione turned towards Harry and smiled as he wrapped his free arm around her waist.
"Just fine, love. Ginny." Harry said in acknowledgement. Hermione turned to Ginny and kissed the little boy on the cheek.
"Ginny, I would like you to meet my two-year-old son and daughter Sirius James Potter and Lily Eva Potter." Both of the children snuggled close to their parents.
"What the hell has been going on? You're not even married! How could you do this to me Harry? And with that bitch of all people?" Ginny cried as she took in the scene. All of the sudden the room got very cold but the power wasn't coming from Hermione. It was coming from Harry.
"You will not speak about my wife in that manner, Miss Weasley. Hermione and I will be happy to give you a summary of what has happened if you will allow us. You were once a friend of ours and we ought to tell you that at least." Harry's voice had become a low growl. Ginny seemed reluctant but kept her mouth shut under Harry's deadly cold stare. Hermione addressed the rest of the on lookers.
"Minister, I am sure you now know that Harry will not be leaving with you and so I ask you to leave. Hagrid, would you be so kind as to show them out? Professors, you are free to return to your quarters. Thank you for you support." With a nod from Hagrid, the aurors and the Minister were shuffled out the front door. Harry and Hermione lead Ginny into Professor Dumbledore's old office.
"Harry, can you take the children to bed?" Hermione asked. Harry smiled and took Sirius from her and carried both children out of the room and presumably to the Potter's private living quarters. As soon as he was out of the room Hermione turned to Ginny.
"Now, I know you may harbor ill will towards me after this but I assure you that Harry and I did not go around behind your back. I was never the "other woman" and there was nothing between Harry and I before Voldemort's downfall. Now, please sit." Ginny took a seat in one of the large chairs on the opposite side of Hermione's desk. She noticed that a good number of the portraits were awake, including Professor Dumbledore's portrait. Ginny sighed and looked down, finally defeated under Hermione's piercing gaze.
"Harry was mine, Hermione…" Hermione looked at Ginny with sympathy.
"No, Ginny. Harry doesn't belong to anyone, not even me. I am his partner not his owner." Ginny looked up at the older witch and nodded.
"I'm sorry if I sounded a bit harsh but you must understand that all of my dreams have come crashing down on me in a matter of moments. I thought I would come here and play Harry's princess or some nonsense like that. It hadn't even occurred to me that he didn't love me. It hurts. You don't know what it's like to have your dreams fall apart." Hermione shook her head.
"You're wrong Ginny. I do know what it's like. I have loved Harry since he rescued me from the troll in first year. I didn't want any one to know so I hid that part of me. Every time he went on a date with someone else it felt like a stab to my chest. And I know my heart broke the day he snogged you in the common room. But I tried to cover it up and get over it, thinking that my dream was impossible. The only reason I got to live my dream is because I love Harry for who he is not his title. I would still love Harry, even if he wasn't The-Man-Who-Conquered." Hermione's eyes moved towards the door and a few seconds later Harry stepped through. He moved to stand behind Hermione's chair.
"Well, I guess we should just start from the beginning, unless you don't want to hear it anymore, Ginny." Hermione said. Ginny shook her head and motioned for them to tell her how it happened. Harry stepped up to the plate.
"You see Ginny after the war Professor McGonagall didn't want to run Hogwarts. She just wanted to go on teaching Transfiguration. So she passed the position on to her favorite student, Hermione. Hermione was moved into the castle not even a month after the final battle. She's the youngest Headmistress or Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts. Eighteen is rather young to be a Headmistress… but back to the important stuff. Ever since the Horcrux hunts we went on I was having mixed feelings towards Hermione and I couldn't figure it out. I certainly didn't want to be away from her so when she offered me a teaching position I accepted. To make a long story short I asked her on a date, we got married a year later, and then had the twins." Harry finished and smiled down at his wife. Ginny looked at the two of them and a small, sad smile appeared on her face.
"I can see you two are happy together. Congratulations on the twins. They are beautiful. I'm sorry about the way I acted. I suppose I just wasn't ready to be hit with that just yet. I ought to get back to work. I'll see you two around some time." With that Ginny strode across the room and exited. Hermione sighed and let her head rest on the table. Harry kneeled down next to the chair and rubbed Hermione's back.
"Hermione, love, don't feel bad about this. It's better that she found out now instead of later." Harry heard a groan come from under his wife's curtain of brown curls.
"I know, but she was my best and possibly only female friend and it kind of feels like I let her down in some way by not telling her sooner." Harry brushed back the curls enough to see his wife's face. He kissed her cheek and stood up.
"I know love, I know. But we both know it was best that no one outside of these walls knew about us. The students have been rather good about not telling anyone… It's getting late. We should get some sleep." Harry said as he pulled Hermione to her feet. They walked silently back to their room where they got ready for bed.
Harry watched as Hermione crawled into bed and curled up next to him. Ashe had gotten comfortable she turned to look at him.
"Harry, why did you choose me?" she had asked this before but he had never been full prepared to answer before. But after today he thought he might finally have a suitable answer.
"Other than the fact that I love you?" Hermione giggled.
"Yes other than that." Harry hugged her closer to him and placed a kiss on her neck.
"…You're my sanctuary Hermione. My home is where you are. That's all I can come up with." She seemed to understand and appreciate his answer because she turned to face him and kissed him full on the mouth before she rested her head on his chest.
"I love you so much Harry." Harry watched as she drifted off to sleep.
"You have no idea how much I love you Hermione." He too drifted off to sleep thinking about the one person he could take refuge with and never feel unwanted; his sanctuary… his Hermione.
End comments: I just wrote this to prove that I am actually still alive and kicking. Between school and college applications I've been driving myself crazy so I haven't had time to write. So I apologize if it's totally crap. Hope you like it!!!