~OOooOO~

If anyone had told me, at the end of our 7th year at Hogwarts, that I would become best mates with The-Boy-Who-Lived, I would have laughed them out of the room. Potter and I had been enemies since our first year, after he refused my hand in friendship. Well, to be honest, not friendship. I just wanted to be associated with Potter because he was The-Boy-Who-Lived! My father thought that there could be no better boost to the Malfoy name than to be associated with him.

To say my father was not pleased, when I told him I had been refused, would have been a drastic understatement. He was furious. He actually came to visit me at Hogwarts, two weeks into my first year. I was called into Severus' office where my father verbally flayed me alive. He told me to try again, but the damage had already been done. Harry avoided me like I had the plague.

Yes, I said Harry. He is my best mate after all. This all came about when I returned to Hogwarts for my '8th year'. This had never been done before, but the war had forced so many students to go without a decent education, that it was decided, by the Ministry of course, that any student who had not taken their N.E.W.T.s would return, whether they wanted to or not. I was one of those students, as was Harry.

My father was rotting in Azkaban, my testimony, along with Harry's, had put him there, and Mother had become a permanent resident of the spell damage ward at St. Mungo's. Harry had tried to step between her and an unknown curse, but had been hit with one of his own before he could reach her. I will be forever grateful to him for trying to save her, unsuccessful though he was.

The 'Final Battle' accounted for many losses on both sides. I had decided, at the beginning of 7th year, that I didn't want to serve the idiot posing as The Dark Lord anymore. I offered my services as a spy to Minerva McGonagall after the Christmas holidays that year and she had eagerly accepted. Once my loyalties had been verified, through the use of Veritaserum, Severus pulled me aside and told me that he had switched sides long ago, upon the death of his first love, Lily Evans Potter. I was shocked. I had not known that Severus was bisexual. You see, he and I had finally declared our love for each other, albeit privately, during my sixth year.

Oh, I know, you're thinking 'How could you love a man old enough to be your father, let alone your own godfather?' But, I'll get to that later.

When we returned to Hogwarts, I immediately noticed a change in Harry. He seemed more open, more willing to listen, not so quick to reach for his wand. I suppose getting rid of the 'man' who was continually threatening you with death will do that. Anyway, I pulled him aside to speak with him, about a week into the term. He followed me to an unused classroom, where I again offered my hand, this time with explanations for my past behaviour. He thought for a moment, asked me some questions and thought some more, before reaching his decision. He took my hand. I was thrilled, to say the least. I would have a friend here at Hogwarts. Most of my so-called friends had either been killed or were residing in Azkaban with Father.

Slowly, Harry began to tell me a little of his life before Hogwarts. I was stunned! We had all been told that his life had been one of pampering and joy. When I found out that he had been abused, (emotionally not physically) I grew angry. Who would continually send him back to such a place? Why would they ignore signs of any kind of abuse? When I asked who sent him to live there, he hesitated, but then shrugged. I'll never forget his answer.

"Dumbledore sent me to live there and kept sending me back, even though I told him what they did. I guess that he didn't consider possible starvation to be a form of abuse. He essentially told me to suck it up and get on with life."

Albus Dumbledore, the guiding hand for the Light. He had sent my new friend to an abusive home. If the man weren't already dead, he would have been after I was told this. I told Severus and the look on his face was one I had never seen before. He looked as if he would cry. Now, you must understand that Severus is not a man given to strong emotions. For him to fight tears meant that this was something he felt very strongly about. I asked what was wrong.

"That is Lily's son. I made a promise to her, before her death, and one to myself afterward, that I would do my best to protect Harry from people who would want to use or hurt him. I failed her."

I held him long into the night after that, listening to him sob, soothing the tremors that shook his body. He had been through so much for Dumbledore; to find out that he had sent an innocent child into a home like that shattered the last of his illusions about the man.

About five weeks into the term, I noticed another change in Harry. He began to look haunted, like there was something wrong, but couldn't, or wouldn't, speak with anyone about it. He had lost weight and had gained dark circles under his eyes. I pulled him aside and asked if anything was wrong, but he sidestepped the question. I didn't realize that he had avoided answering me until much later that day.

He started getting up before everyone else and was showered and dressed by the time we were all crawling out of bed. He was always doing homework or reading, I just supposed that he was still not sleeping well. After all, wouldn't years of seeing visions from an insane wizard cause you to sleep poorly? I also began to notice a change in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Where they had once been attached at the hip to Harry, they were now distancing themselves. I would watch Weasley answer a question from Harry with barely concealed impatience, then he would leave as soon as he could. Granger was a little better, but she still showed signs of unwarranted impatience with Harry.

After a few months of this treatment, everything came to a head with a public argument between Harry and Granger. It was the day before the Christmas holidays were supposed to start and Weasley had just given Harry the cut direct, not even bothering to answer his question, just turning his back and stalking away. I had been following behind Harry, so I heard the entire thing.

"'Mione? What's going on with Ron? He won't talk to me anymore and avoids me like the plague."

"We figured it out, you know. Did you think you were going to be able to hide this from us?"

"Hide what?"

"Why didn't you tell us you are gay? Why did you just let us figure it out?" Granger was losing patience with him and began tapping her foot. Looking around, I saw Severus entering the hall. I walked over and grabbed his arm, dragging him into the hallway.

"To avoid the publicity. This isn't anyone's business but mine." Harry had noticed that they were gaining attention, and began to get angry with Granger.

"And ours! You know, we could have helped you get over this."

"Get over it? Hermione, I'm gay! It's not something you 'get over'. This is who and what I am."

"Well, it's disgusting! Men are not supposed to be with other men! It's against God's laws!"

"If you believe in the Christian God, maybe. I don't happen to believe in that God, so it doesn't affect me. What kind of God allows a child to be tormented and abused by those who are supposed to protect him? What kind of God thinks it's alright for people to use said child to further their own agenda, to tell that child that he has to become a murderer in order for the rest of the world to survive? If you want to believe that your God is so generous and loving that these actions are perfectly acceptable, so be it. I don't!"

I watched as Harry ran out of the hall and up the stairs. I knew he was headed for our common room and hoped that Weasley wasn't there. I turned back to the scene in the hallway and heard Severus begin to take Granger to task over her religious views.

"Ms. Granger." His words were filled with contempt for the Muggleborn. "I cannot believe that you are so narrow minded that you would alienate your best friend because of your religious tendencies. Homosexuality is very common in the wizarding world. In fact, half of our world is either gay or bisexual. It is no crime to be gay, as it is in the muggle world. Azkaban would be overflowing if it were a crime. You need to be more careful whom you spout your beliefs to. If you would look around, I'm certain that you will see quite a few of your schoolmates do not agree with your views."

At this, students and teachers began stepping forward, some with clasped hands, others by themselves. Severus and I stayed apart; we weren't ready to out ourselves, not yet. Granger looked frightened as more and more of our schoolmates stepped forward. She tried to back away, but I stepped into her path and stopped her.

"I'd watch yourself Granger. We don't take kindly to having people tell us our way of life is 'wrong'. This is why most Purebloods look down on Muggleborns. You bring all your preconceived notions with you and they just don't fit here. Now, go off and find your homophobic boyfriend and let him know what you've found out today. You are amongst the minority here, and I'm going to make sure that you remember that!"

I turned and stalked away, charming my robes to billow behind me, like Severus'. He didn't need to use a charm, but I wasn't quite that practiced at it. I quickly made my way to the common room and up to the dormitory. I wanted to let Harry know that he wasn't alone, that both Severus and I stood behind him. He wasn't in the dorm, and once I began to look around, I noticed that his trunk and all of his possessions were gone. I saw red. Granger and Weasley had driven away the one true friend I had, other than Severus. I found Severus in his office, starting early with the firewhiskey. I told him that Harry and his things were gone. He stood up so quickly that he knocked his chair over.

We located Minerva and told her that Harry was missing. She immediately organized a search of the castle and grounds. The only people we found were Weasley and his bint. I tried asking if they had seen Harry, but Weasley became belligerent. Severus, being Severus, dragged the git off of the ground by the front of his robes and asked him, in lethal tones, if Weasley had seen Harry. He hadn't. We met Minerva, along with the rest of the searchers, in the Great Hall. She fire-called Harry's godfather, Sirius Lupin-Black, to let him know that Harry had gone missing.

Minerva pulled me aside at supper and let me know that Sirius and his husband, Remus, had found Harry, safe, at their house in London. I was relieved, but at the same time, I was worried. How had all of this affected Harry?

I didn't hear from Harry over the holidays. I had seen Mrs. Weasley at King's Cross and let her know where Harry was. Ginny had written to her parents about what the Weasel had done to Harry and she was laying into her son with the ferocity of a mother lion, which, I suppose, was relatively accurate. That entire family had been sorted into Gryffindor. I can't imagine that the holidays were much fun for Granger and the Weasel.

I met up with Harry at King's Cross when the holidays were over. I let him know what had happened after he left the hallway and told him that Ginny had written to her parents about it. He chuckled slightly, but lapsed into silence almost immediately. I was now very worried that what the Arse and the Bint had done had affected Harry much more than I had originally thought. He slept most of the train ride back to Hogwarts, after the spectacular prank from the Weasley Twins had made itself known.

After the holidays, he kept to himself, mostly. Severus and I being the exceptions to that. Well, we weren't about to let him fall into a depression! I knew it hadn't worked all that well, but Harry hadn't let on. Harry took to charming his bed curtains closed at night. I found this out when I caught the Arse trying to open them at about 3 in the morning. I cast a silencing spell around us and tore into him. He left Harry alone after that.

I didn't know that Harry had stayed at the castle for the Easter holidays. Severus and I kept to his quarters, so that we wouldn't run into the Arse and the Bint (my new nicknames for them...rather clever, don't you think?). I later found out that he had spent the entire holiday closed up in the Room of Requirement. He had asked the room for everything he would need to live in there for the holiday, including food and a place to cook it. Did you know that Harry could be a chef, if he wanted to? He's that good. I really don't want to think about where he gained that knowledge, it would probably make me even more angry at the Muggles.

Harry seemed to withdraw into himself as time went on. He talked to me, yes, but avoided everyone else. He went out of his way to avoid people and large crowds. I noticed that he kept walking next to the walls when he had to be around others and, when he had to go up and down stairs, he waited until he was by himself, or with only one or two people, before climbing or descending them. His behaviour had not gone unnoticed by Severus or Ginny Weasley, either. They both asked me about it, but, as I had no answer for them, they began to watch him more closely. There was nothing truly odd in his behaviour, he just seemed to avoid being around people.

We sat for our N.E.W.T.s and passed with flying colours. Harry took to going to Hogsmeade every weekend. I never knew what he was buying, but he always played around in his trunk after one of these visits. One Saturday, he was gone for so long that I sat and waited for him to come back. He flooed into the Hogs Head, as I had known he would. The Hogs Head seemed to be his public floo of choice. I asked where he had gone, but all he did was shake his head and refuse to answer me.

In the middle of May, Severus made the announcement that Harry and I were the top students for that term. The look of disappointment on the Bint's face was a balm to my soul. Harry turned to me, shock plain to see, and asked me if Severus was joking. I assured him that he wasn't. Severus asked us to stay after class and I knew that he was planning on trying to get into Harry's mind. We walked up to the desk and were there for less than a minute when Harry cried out and fell to his knees, wrapping both arms around his stomach. I couldn't seem to move. Severus almost leaped over his desk to get to Harry. I heard Severus tell him to drop his glamour. I couldn't believe my eyes when, once the glamour was gone, there lay Harry with a very obvious belly. He was pregnant! Severus told me to get Poppy and have her bring her childbirth kit.

I flooed to the infirmary and got Poppy. Once I told her what was happening, she moved faster than I had ever seen her move. She handed me a huge pile of blankets, sheets and towels while she picked up a basket full of potions. We went back to the potions classroom where Poppy proceeded to deliver Harry's baby. I don't remember much of it, Severus told me later that I had fainted when Poppy pulled the baby out. Can you blame me?

Poppy asked Harry if he had been prepared for the baby. He said he was and asked me to get a rucksack out of his trunk and take it to the infirmary. I ran to do so, meeting Minerva on my way back. I told her what had happened and she stared at me like I had grown a second head. I took off back to the infirmary, Minerva almost running to keep up with me. By the time we got there, several Weasleys had arrived and the door to a private room was closed. I assumed that Harry was in there with the father.

Mrs. Weasley said that their second oldest son, Charlie was the father. Minerva walked to the door, knocked and opened it. She shut it immediately, blushing. I was in awe. What had they been doing in there to get her to turn that colour? Poppy did the same thing. It was interesting to see two grown women blush like schoolgirls. The door opened and Charlie Weasley ushered us inside.

Harry's daughter was absolutely beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so lovely as that little baby. Then again, Severus and I haven't been blessed yet. Harry's godfather and his husband ran into the infirmary. We could hear them all the way from the main doors. I was surprised to see that Sirius was pregnant. He was only about five years younger than my father.

I was surprised again when Harry asked me to be the godfather for his daughter. I held her and looked down into eyes that would most definitely be turning green shortly. I had only just stopped crying, but started again when he asked me. I'm still very honoured to be Lily's godfather.

Two days later, the Arse's world collapsed on itself. Weasel was disowned by his family and was refused the right to be called Weasley. I loved the whole episode. One by one, starting with me, we all took turns at the Arse. I told him I would gladly go to Azkaban if he ever came near Harry or his family again. Mr. Weasley disowned him, in front of the entire school. Mrs. Weasley slapped him and proceeded to tell the school that they weren't allowed to drag the Weasley name through the mud by letting the Arse claim it. Sirius, now Head Auror, threatened to arrest him if he came near Harry, Charlie or the baby, or any other Weasley for that matter. The best, though, came when Remus Lupin-Black stepped up and got into the Arse's face. He made sure that Ron understood the consequences of threatening his 'Pup'. I think Ron nearly shat himself. He did fall to the floor and just sat there and shook. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen, right after Lily.

Harry and I graduated with the rest of the 7th and 8th year students. Yes, even the Arse graduated, although I don't think we'll ever figure out how. Severus and I attended Harry and Charlie's bonding, six weeks later. We had decided, with Harry and Charlie's blessing, to announce our relationship at their reception. No one seemed surprised by it. That is, until it got out that we had been together since shortly after I reached the age of consent, at 16. We got a few howlers about that, but they died out fairly quickly. Severus and I have been in love for years. We just weren't able to show it until I was 19 and out of Hogwarts..

Harry and Charlie have two children now. Their son, James Arthur, was born just a month ago. Harry's been teaching at Hogwarts since the first term after graduation. He took over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and broke the curse on it. He's been there for two years now, and was just named Head of Gryffindor House. Charlie just accepted the Flying Instructor and Quidditch coach positions, replacing Rolanda Hooch, who decided to run off with her lover of almost twenty years, Pomona Sprout. Neville Longbottom is taking over Herbology, to no one's surprise. However, he did surprise everyone when he finally convinced Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood to bond with him in a tri-bond. There aren't too many of those out there.

Occasionally, Harry or I will see the Arse and the Bint. They know to keep their distance, though. I had heard that the Arse took her last name after leaving Hogwarts. I'm assuming that they married, but, fortunately, they haven't inflicted any spawn on the wizarding world. Yet. The Bint works in Arthur Weasley's old department, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department. Ginny told me that Arthur's favourite past-time is to go and 'supervise' his old department for a day or two. I'm fairly certain that he's watching the Bint, just to see if he can find something to fire her for.

The Arse works in Muggle London, in a bookstore, of all places. I don't think he cracked a book once while he was at Hogwarts. Arthur and I made damn sure that he would never be able to get a job in the wizarding sector. Every once in a while, I'll remind one of our classmates of where he's working and they'll go torment him for a while.

Severus retired, not because he's old, but because he now runs a potions company out of our house. His potions are in high demand worldwide and he never dreamed he'd ever be this successful. I've been offered the position of Potions instructor at Hogwarts and I just sent my acceptance letter to Minerva. It took me over a year before I became comfortable calling her by her first name. Harry still calls her Professor, but she's working on him.

Severus and I are getting bonded next month, three years to the day from when we first announced that we were together. Yes, we'll share an anniversary with Harry and Charlie, but since we are so close, they don't mind. I personally like it, because it means that I won't forget their anniversary again. I don't ever want to go through the guilt Harry put me through last year again. That boy should have let himself be sorted into Slytherin.

Well, thank you for allowing me to tell you my side of the story. I've an appointment with a healer in about an hour. I think Severus and I are finally going to be blessed. I'll be sure to let you know.