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Harry looked at Hermione, offering her a lopsided grin as they entered the North Georgia Zoo. This was Hermione’s first trip to America, and Harry’s fourth. It was his first with Teddy, who was ‘oohing’ and ‘awing’ at every animal. Her favourite moment, however, was the “roar off” between Teddy and a lion cub. It drew the attention of the papa lion, who watched Harry. Their eyes met, and Hermione could tell that the lion knew that he and Harry were two kindred souls of protectors. They didn’t want to fight, but when they had no other choice, they would.
As they arrived at the otter exhibit, Hermione’s eyes went wide. At a young age, she discovered that otters would hold hands to not float away, and she thought it was adorable. It was what got her through the days when the kids would bully her for her large front teeth, or bushy hair, or even her love for books.
She would hold her plush otter close, feeling the warm tears trail down her cheeks as she tried to keep the pain hidden. Hidden underneath her love of books and knowledge, and to make her parents less worried about her lack of friends.
Then came that fateful day.
“Do you remember the day you received your letter?” She asked, approaching the glass for a better look at the otters. Harry, while carrying Teddy on his back, gently guided her hands down until she felt one of the otters grab her finger.
“I do. Hagrid arrived at the small shack my relatives used to hide. Breaking the door down after knocking three times, each one sounding like a cannon.” Harry chuckled. He saw Hermione gently petting the otter’s hands. “It was the best day of my life. He arrived at the moment I felt hope was gone. He took me, an orphan who had been told that I was lucky to have such gracious relatives who would take a freak in.” The otter, hearing the scorn in his voice chirped its agreement.
“It was? What replaced it?”
“Two days. The first was when we saved Sirius. Finally, I had someone who loves me for me. Though Dumbledore couldn’t get a trial for him, he did alert the Dursley’s to the fact that he was keeping his silence of their treatment, and if it got worse, not only would he break the wards and silence, he would do so in front of their neighbors.”
“Wouldn’t that have broken the Statute?”
“No. He told me that the wards were in place due to the sacrifice of my mum. To break them, he would have required only a statement from me on her actions. If they were that of a loving aunt. The answer would always be a no, and that would have meant that she didn’t care for her blood and the wards would break.” Hermione stepped back from the glass and placed Teddy where he could pet the otter, who was playfully chirping. Both watched as his hair turned brown like the otter’s fur, knowing that there wasn’t a major risk of it breaking the Statute. America, after repealing Rappaport’s Law at least, combined both worlds. Their magical community was known, as they did try to help the non magicals.
“Mama! Look!” Hermione felt tears welling as she heard Teddy. Feeling the protective arms of Harry wrap around her, she leaned into his embrace. In that moment, she felt all the old taunts that once harmed her be removed with the surgical precision of love. Never again, she heard a soft voice whisper in her head, shall the vain words of those who do not know the glory of true love bother your pure soul.
“We see, Teddy.” Harry’s voice drew her away from her inner dialogue and back onto the Man-Who-Conquered. It felt like the first time she truly saw him, not as a heroic knight who fought dragons to save damsels in distress, nor as her best friend, but the way her mother looks at her dad.
Stubble covering his jaw adding to the bright, emerald eyes that glowed with elation at Teddy saying ‘mama.’ His athletic figure, a product of his time spent running from his cousin and gang and quidditch, was finely toned. Perhaps not to the level of football players, but definitely to that of martial artists. Swallowing nervously, she faintly heard a voice that sounded like Ginny’s urging her to kiss him.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” She saw a park worker smiling at her. “Your husband asked if you three could get a photo with the otters. Would you please follow me?” She didn’t bother correcting the lady, surprising her. Once upon a time, she would admit, she expected someone like Ron to be her husband. But now, after their breakup, she realized just how quickly it turned to Harry. He stood by her side as her parents regained their memories, and apologized to them for putting them, and her, in danger.
She could recall the day she heard that her favourite cousin was killed. How he held her close and took command of calling her aunt and confirming it. How he had anonymously taken care of purchasing a plot out near the Forest of Dean, where the first evidence of a Granger family existed. His stoicism offering a calmness to the grief that dominated the day they buried her cousin.
The photo was snapped, with the otter holding a silver ring consisting of two otters holding a rose quartz stone in the middle. Her eyes met Harry’s, who was smiling at her.
“Hermione, I said that two days beat the day Hagrid gave me my letter. The second one was the day we became friends. You gave me my first hug that I could remember. In all the years we have known one another, you have always gone all out for my birthday, even though I asked you not to. Our meeting after we won our war was close, but it has been over four months since then. And this is the first step in me truly living. Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?” Hermione couldn’t help but smile at such a question.
“Yes. Yes, I will marry you.” The ring was slipped on, with Teddy clapping excitedly as her and Harry melded into a kiss. When they broke apart, Hermione saw the two otters holding hands and smiling at them.
She saw the green eyes of Lily Potter, according to the photos that Harry had, and the hazel eyes of James Potter. They held tears, happy tears, and made Hermione remember an old quote. One that she heard her parents recite, and one that seemed to tie her and Harry together.
“Perhaps more than anything else, I want you to remember that I always love you and that you are always loved. It is the only thing that really matters. Let this then be the only thing you remember; Sweetheart, I love you.”
“I stand here, as the Father of the Bride, trying not to cry, as I give my daughter to another man who loves her as much as I. This day, Harry James Potter becomes my son-in-law, and to him, I say welcome to the family. There is a quote from J.R.R Tolkien that sums up the love between Hermione and Harry.
“For we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.”
“In the months planning this wedding, I saw how these two would end up marrying here, within the walls of Hogwarts, for they put all of their thought into what would be perfect for the other. And tonight, they shall not forget that, in the darkest of moments in their time together, they were the light that guided the other home. To the happy couple!”