Work Text:
Interview With Lily and James Potter
By: SnarkyGranger1
Andrea and Hermione were getting ready at the bungalow to go to a Samhain party at Harry's old house in Godric Hollow. It's a small gathering of friends and some co-workers at the cottage. Andrea was excited to see this place. "Hermione?"
"Yes, my darling?" Hermione looked at her through the mirror.
"Is there something I should know about these people that I am meeting tonight?" Andrea pulled her hair up into a bun.
"Well, Ron might be there. Just ignore him. Don't let him try to bait you. I would think that Pansy would keep him in line." Hermione sighed.
"Is he the idiot who tried to attack us at the pub?" Andrea scrunched up her nose.
Hermione laughed. "Yes, he's the bloody fool to try to attack us."
"I wonder if he has come to his senses yet." Andrea tapped her chin before shrugging. "I will just chat with Luna or Ginny or whoever else is there."
"One thing, if you need the bathroom, it's upstairs on the right." Hermione rose from her chair.
"Hermione, you look gorgeous in your burnt orange chiffon dress." Andrea carefully wrapped her arms around her and gave her a soft kiss.
"Thank you, my dear Andrea," Hermione smirked at her. "You looked smashing in your gold sequin dress."
"Thank you, Love." Andrea beamed as she pulled back to pick up her little bag. She checked to make sure she had her wallet and a couple of other essentials. "Are we ready to go?"
Hermione looked into her girlfriend's worried eyes. She cupped her cheek. "You have nothing to worry about. We are going a little early to help set up. Kreacher and Winky are doing most of the work."
"Oh yeah, the house elves." Andrea nodded. "Plus, you will be nearby as it is."
"That's right, my dear." Hermione gave her a kiss of encouragement. "I love you. Just remember that, and you will be fine."
"I love you, too, my love, and that isn't going to change anytime soon." Andrea reaffirmed her love.
"Brilliant, now let's go!" Hermione pulled her out of the bedroom to grab their cloaks before leaving for the party.
"Now, the house we are going to is the house that his parents died in. They have been buried in the cemetery nearby. Harry took down the sign that was in front of the house because he does want to stay there from time to time." Hermione explained the scene they were about to visit.
"Got it!" Andrea nodded in understanding. "Let's go!"
“MEOWL!” Emily made her presence known.
“Emily, behave and keep an eye on the house for us!” Andrea smiled down at her familiar. “Love you, Emily!”
“We’ll see you later, Emily. I promise.” Hermione cooed.
“MEOW!” Emily ran down the hall.
"Alright, grab my hand, and I will side-along us to the cottage." Hermione held out her hand for Andrea to take, which she did readily. Hermione kissed her cheek before they disappeared from her place.
Andrea looked around in amazement. "Wow, Hermione, this is awesome." They had the place decorated with orange, black and white balloons leading to the doorway. "I see that Luna is here already with Rolf."
"How do you know?" Hermione looked at Andrea in surprise.
"See the plant above the door?" Andrea pointed to it.
"Yes, what is it?" Hermione looked at it closely.
"It's a varied version of the mistletoe. It's supposed to help keep the Nargles at bay." Andrea explained.
"Do you seriously believe in Nargles?" Hermione's eyes widened.
"I believe that any creature is alive if you believe in it enough." Andrea looked at Hermione. "And you don't believe in all those creatures that Luna talks about, and that is fine because you like to see proof."
"I have become more open-minded as I grow older, but there are some things that I still don't believe." Hermione shrugged. "Let’s go in and see where they need help.”
They walked into the house and found Luna waving her wand around, throwing up decorations in the living room. “Hey, boss!” Andrea smiled.
“Hello, Andrea and Hermione.” Luna gave them both a hug. “How are we tonight?” She stepped back to look at them. “You two look great!”
“Thank you, Luna, and I love your outfit. It’s so you.” Andrea beamed at her. Luna wore a bright yellow and orange dress.
“I don’t like dark colours. They are too morbid, and we need bright and sunny.” Luna smiled. “Plus, I allowed Rolf to wear a navy suit with a pale orange shirt.”
“Sounds perfect.” Hermione nodded. “What are Harry and Ginny doing?”
“They are setting up the bar area and making sure the house elves don’t go overboard with the food.” Luna shook her head. “Harry did tell me that Ron will be here with Pansy along with Dean, Seamus, Neville, Daphne, Hannah, and Susan as well.”
“Oh, cool. It will be nice to see Susan and Hannah again outside of their pub.” Andrea perked up.
“Yes, it will be.” Hermione smiled at her girlfriend as Ginny walked into the room. “Hey, Gin.”
“Hermione! Andy!” Gin’s face brightened at the sight of them. “You two look awesome!”
“Thank you!” Andrea beamed. “You look pretty awesome yourself.”
“Thank you.” Gin smiled. “I was just going to check the loo to make sure it’s stocked for tonight.”
“Oh, let me do that.” Andrea volunteered. “I need to use it, anyways.”
“Alright, thanks.” Ginny grinned. “If you need extra toilet paper, it’s in the hall closet upstairs.”
“Okay!” Andrea gave her a thumbs up. “Stairs are where?”
“Right behind you, Andrea.” Hermione supplied. “Remember, it’s on the right.”
“Right. Gotcha.” Andrea glanced behind her and saw the stairs. Before she went up, she gave Hermione a quick kiss. “See you soon, Love,” Hermione smirked back.
Hermione watched Andrea carefully go up the stairs with a goofy grin on her face.
“Someone is in love!” Gin jested Hermione, which made the older witch halfheartedly glare at her. “You know that I am happy for you.”
“True, I truly started to think I wasn’t going to find someone.” Hermione happily sighed.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Andrea finished using the loo and noticed that the paper was low and knew that it would get used. She went out into the hallway to get some from the hall closet when she saw a couple that she didn’t recognize in one of the rooms. She stuck her head in the room. “Hey, can I help you with something?”
They spun around, and Andrea gasped at the vision in front of her. The couple reminds her of Harry and Ginny, but that couldn’t be right because their eye colouring is all wrong.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in our family house?” the woman demanded.
Andrea gasped when she realized who she was seeing and couldn’t believe it. “Lily and James?”
“Yes, that is our name.” The male in front of her looked at her puzzledly. “Do we know you?”
“No, but I do know Harry and Ginny.” Andrea shyly smiled before slapping herself on the forehead. “I’m an idiot.”
“I highly doubt that, young lady.” Lily reprimanded her. “but why do you say that?”
“Because I forgot that when it’s close to Samhain, spirits can walk, talk and be more visible to the real world.” Andrea shook her head. “I knew I should have researched that more when they told me about the party.”
“Oh, were you a Ravenclaw?” Lily inquired.
“No, I went to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” Andrea answered. “I was in the Horned Serpent's house, which is similar to…” James cut her off.
“SLYTHERIN!” James shouted. “I am going to get Harry to get you out of here!” James disappeared through the floor.
“JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER! GET BACK HERE!” Lily yelled at her husband. She huffed before looking at the young woman’s shocked face. “Sorry, he still hasn’t let go of his house rivalry with Slytherins.”
“But we aren’t like Slytherins.” Andrea looked puzzled. “We are actually like the Ravenclaws.”
“Oh, really?” Lily appeared surprised. “That’s good, but it shouldn’t matter what house you were in anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Andrea waved her off as her eyes grew wide at the golden opportunity in front of her. “I can see that you are truly Lily Potter, and I can see Harry’s resemblance between the two of you, but he has your sensibility. Or I think he does?”
“Yes, I am Lily Potter, and I thank you for that compliment.” Lily smiled. “but I have a question for you.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Andrea tilted her head.
“What’s your name?” Lily looked genuinely interested.
“Oh, I am so sorry.” Andrea shook her head. “I am Andrea Sachs, an American who is dating Hermione.”
“Oh, did she finally meet someone who will make her happy?” Lily perked up.
Andrea blushed. “I hope I make her happy, but do you haunt this place every year or every day?”
“Yes, we do, and we are happy that Harry and Ginny have redone this place after so many years of it being empty.” Lily gushed.
“Andrea, what are you doing?” Hermione walked into the room.
“I haven’t done anything yet.” Andrea threw up her hands.
“She hasn’t done anything wrong, Hermione.” Lily defended her new friend. “It was James being James, and she didn’t even get to finish her sentence.”
“What were you talking about?” Hermione looked at Andrea, arching her eyebrow.
“I was just telling them where I went to school.” Andrea explained. “and I got as far as Horned Serpent.”
Hermione groaned, “And he assumed Slytherin.” The other two in the room nodded. “Bloody prat.”
Andrea’s face brightened as she started to look in her bag. Hermione has learned that look. “No, Andrea.”
“But Hermione!” Andrea deflated.
“Andrea, you aren’t working tonight.” Hermione admonished.
Lily was looking confused between them, and she was about to ask a question when Luna walked in. “Hi, Lily!” Luna waved.
“Hi, Luna!” Lily smiled. “Can you help me?”
“Sure?” Luna’s face turned serious.
“What are those two talking about?” Lily pointed to the couple, who were having a heated discussion.
“Oh no, I have no idea, but let me find out,” Luna moved closer to the pair, and Hermione spotted her.
“Luna!” Hermione appeared hopeful. “Please tell Andy she isn’t working tonight.”
“Why does she think she’s working?” Luna tilted her head. “She’s here for a party.”
“Luna, my darling boss, Luna.” Andrea was trying to butter up her boss.
“Andrea!” Hermione tried to warn her with a glare before turning to Luna. “She wants to do an interview.”
“An interview of who?” Luna was confused.
“I was trying to explain that this is the best time to interview James and Lily about what happened that night!” Andrea explained to her editor.
“Oh!” Luna lit up. “Now, why didn’t I think of that before?” Luna smiled. “I’m so glad that I hired you.”
Hermione groaned. “Luna!”
“Sorry, Hermione, but this would sell out like Harry’s interview did in your fifth year.” Luna retorted. “Oh, Lily?”
“Yes, Luna.” Lily looked at them with curiosity.
“Would you like to get interviewed by one of my best people under my employ?” Luna asked.
“Interview? About what?” Lily was intrigued.
Andrea stepped forward as she pulled a small notebook and a pen. “I want to know what happened that night you died.”
“I can’t believe you carry a notebook around.” Hermione huffed.
“Are you going to tell me that you don’t have one in your purse?” Andrea smirked because she knew the answer.
“Oh, hush.” Hermione shook her head.
“Unless it is too painful for you to talk about.” Andrea stepped back. “I won’t push you to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“No, I want to talk about that night.” Lily shook her head. “I want the whole truth to come out. I was sickened how Sirius got thrown in jail when he wasn’t our secret keeper and how the RAT got away with it.”
“Fine!” Hermione grumbled. “You have.” Hermione looked at her watch, “thirty minutes before the party is supposed to start. That’s all.” Andrea paled at the last words. “What’s wrong?” Hermione stepped closer to her girlfriend.
“Oh, sorry, ‘That’s all.’ was a phrase that my old boss used,” Andrea shook her head to dispel the ghost of her old job. “Anyway, can you send James upstairs so he can be asked about that night as well?”
“Alright, my darling Andrea.” Hermione kissed her. “Is the loo ready?”
Andrea smacked her forehead. “I was heading to the closet to get more paper for the toilet when I saw them.”
“I get that after I get James for you,” Hermione left the room.
“Andrea, I trust you explicitly with this.” Luna serenely smiled. “I’ll try to get Hermione happy again before you come down.”
“Don’t worry about it, Luna. Enjoy your time with Rolf and our friends.” Andrea shook her head. “Ah, here is the wayward James.”
James came in looking sheepish. “I am sorry, Andrea. Harry and Hermione gave me the riot act for my misinterpretation of the Horned Serpent.”
“Well, I am glad that our son is more like me in personality instead of you.” Lily hmphed.
“I’ll leave you to it, Andrea.” Luna left the room.
“Alright, I am going to create seats for us since this is a bedroom.” Andrea waved her hand, and a small loveseat and a cosy chair appeared.
“She’s powerful, Lily,” James was in awe. “We better be careful around her.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “James! Can you please stop?” Lily sat down. “She wants to interview us about that night.”
“Really?” James’s face lit up. “Finally, the truth will come out! Wait!” He looked between the two seated ladies. “Who does she work for?”
Andrea raised her hand to stall Lily’s answer. “James Potter, the father of Harry Potter, I am Andrea Marie Sachs, and I work for Lune Lovegood and her magazine, the Quibbler. I am a rising Associate Editor for her as well. Suppose you would kindly take a seat. I would love to get this over in a timely manner before Hermione gets madder at me than she is already.”
“Oh, sure!” James knew of Hermione’s temper. “Why would she be furious?”
“She’s my girlfriend, and I was supposed to have the night off, but I wasn’t going to pass this opportunity up to get the real truth about that night, and it will be the truth. No shortcuts.” Andrea explained. “Plus, Luna overruled her on my not doing this interview.”
“Can we please start now?” Lily exasperatedly asked. “I am sure that Andrea would like to have some fun tonight.”
“Sure, can we set the scene for the night?” Andrea looked at them sitting across from her.
“It was October 31st of 1981. We just had a quiet Halloween celebration, the six of us, but we were missing one of our mutual friends, and we know why now.” Lily sighed.
“Six?” Andrea looked up from her notebook.
“Yes, when we were in Hogwarts, I was part of a group of four guys, and we did pranks and jokes and so forth, and we stayed connected after we graduated. Sirius was Harry’s godfather.” James gave her a bit of background information.
“Sirius Black?” Andrea tilted her head.
“Yes, it was him, along with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew,” James spat out the last name.
“Easy, James,” Lily patted his arm. “I’ll tell the story.”
“Fine!” James crossed his arms as he sat back.
“Anyways, the five of us usually get together regularly, but that changed a little bit when Harry came along.” Lily started. “There was a prophecy foretold, and we had to go into hiding because it was either us or another family.”
“Oh? Do you know who that other family was?” Andrea inquired.
“It was the Longbottoms,” Harry interrupted the interview. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to barge in, but I would like to hear this.”
“Let me make you a chair.” Andrea waved her arm and made another chair identical to hers.
“Thank you, Andrea. Your wandwork is getting better.” Harry praised her.
“Thank you, Harry.” Andrea beamed before turning serious. “Longbottom, as in Neville Longbottom.”
“Yes, Neville and I were born a day apart, so that the stupid prophecy could have meant either of us,” Harry sighed. “Tom Riddle decided to attack this family. The Longbottoms were attacked later.”
“Who attacked Alice and Frank?” Lily asked.
“Bellatrix Lestrange, the Lestrange brothers, and Barty Crouch, Jr.” Harry supplied.
“Barty Jr was a Death Eater!” James looked surprised.
“Yes, but can we get back to that fateful night that I lost you two,” Harry implored.
“Yes, let’s!” Andrea looked down at her notes. “Lily, you said that you went into hiding to protect your family. I am assuming that you had a secret keeper.”
“Yes, we did, and we should have stayed with our gut instinct and insisted that Sirius be our gatekeeper, but he wanted Peter to do it.” Lily looked confused at James. “What was his reasoning?”
“He said that they wouldn’t suspect Peter to be the keeper of our secret and that everyone would suspect him to be it.” James sighed. “I knew that I should have fought with him more, but Remus agreed with him. So, I felt overruled on the decision.”
“So the pact was forged, and nothing happened for a while,” Lily continued the story. “Peter wasn’t around as much as usual, but we didn’t think anything of it, to be honest.”
“Actually, Lils, I and the other two were just discussing that earlier that week, but I forgot to tell you that conversation.” James ducked his head.
“James, I wish you had because I might have insisted that we changed our secret keeper.” Lily huffed. “but we relaxing in front of the fire, the two of us, after we put Harry to bed.” Lily started to cry.
“I’ll take over.” James wrapped his arm around his wife. “We felt a shift in the protection spells that we had. Our eyes went wide in fear as we rose from our couch and peeked outside. We saw that it was Lord Voldemort himself.”
“Was there anyone else with him?” Andrea inquired.
“We didn’t see anyone, but Peter might have been around in his rat form,” James spat out.
“Oh, was he animagus?” Andrea inquired.
“Yes, we learned while at Hogwarts because Remus was a werewolf, and Headmaster Dumbledore was able to figure out a way for him to take classes and a safe place to change,” James explained.
“So, you three other boys were animagi?” Andrea looked impressed.
“Yes, I was a Stag, Sirius was a Grim-like dog, and Peter was a rat,” James nodded. “We would run around in the forest with Remus after he changed. Peter would hang on either me or Sirius.”
“Okay, cool, but let’s get back to this dreadful night,” Andrea tried to refocus the conversation.
“I’ll take over, James.” Lily nudged him. “James told me to run upstairs and to get Harry and get out of here. I did run upstairs to get to Harry and to protect him.”
“But Lily, you don’t know what happened with me downstairs.” James interrupted. “Lord Voldemort blasted the door open, and we duelled for a few minutes, but he was too strong and powerful for me. I died almost instantly because I got distracted by his words.”
“What did he say, James?” Andrea leaned forward but leaned back in her seat. “Wait, James.”
“What’s wrong, Andrea?” Harry looked at her in concern.
“Can you ask Kreacher for a cup of tea for me?” Andrea took a deep breath. “I need a moment before we finish this story.”
“Of course,” Harry dipped his head. “KREACHER!”
“Yes, Master Harry!” the house elf popped in.
“Can you please get Hermione’s Andy and me some Earl Grey tea?” Harry ordered.
“Certainly, Master.” Kreacher popped out and returned a minute later with a tray with two cups of tea. “Master Harry, your cup with two sugars and cream and Missy Hermione’s Andy’s cup with one sugar.”
“Thank you, Kreacher,” Harry and Andy chimed before he disappeared, chuckling at the twinning. They took a sip of their tea before Harry made a small table for their cups.
“Nicely done, Harry.” Andrea smiled at him. “You must have your wand on your right arm.”
“I do, and you must have yours on your left arm,” Harry deducted.
“Yes, that’s right, but I will push my magic out,” Andrea explained.
“How much time do you have left, Andrea?” Lily asked.
Andrea peeked at her watch, “I honestly don’t know, Lily.” She glanced at Harry. “Do you know when Hermione came down the stairs?”
“Oh, did she try to give you a timetable for this interview?” Harry was confused by the question.
“Yes, she gave me a half hour because I wasn’t supposed to be working tonight.” Andrea clarified.
“Ah, that’s why Luna gave her a bit of trouble when she came down,” Harry dipped his head. “Don’t worry about it, Andy. They will have a tiff, and they always make up later.”
“Oh, okay,” Andrea turned to the ghostly spirits in front of her. “Shall we continue the story?”
“Yes, we are,” Lily smiled at her. “Where were we?”
“James was about to tell us what Lord Voldemort said.” Andrea checked her notes.
“Right, he went on about how I picked the worst secret keeper because he gave his secret to his true master.” Lily gasped. ‘Not only that, but he was going on about how he would relish killing us all.” He took a deep breath, “and that was when he sent the killing curse at me, killing me instantly.” James recalled his death.
Andrea looked up and saw tears running down everyone’s face. “Do you need a moment, Lily?”
“No, let’s get this over with.” Lily took a deep breath. “I could hear James fighting to his death, and I ran into Harry’s room. He was awake but unaware of what was truly going on.”
“Actually, Mum, you are wrong on that account.” Harry interrupted her account.
“What?” the other three exclaimed.
“Mom, I do remember that night,” Harry replied shakingly. “I would have nightmares and not realize what I was seeing until the Dementors came too close in my third year.”
“What were you doing at Azkaban?” Lily demanded.
“I wasn’t there, Mum.” Harry hopped up from his seat. “I was sitting on the Hogwarts Express, and they came on the train looking for someone.”
“Who?” James leaned forward.
“Sirius, but back to the point,” Harry stopped fidgeting in front of them. “Mum, I relive your death from you running into my room and pleading with him not to kill me.”
“Oh, my Merlin, Harry!” Lily got up and squeezed him, crying.
“Oh, Harry,” James got up and wrapped his arms around them both.
Andrea was sitting there crying at the beautiful, touching scene. She felt warm arms envelop her. “Shh… It’s okay, my darling.” Andrea heard Hermione whisper into her ear. “I’m not mad at you.”
“You’re not?” Andrea’s sad eyes looked into the loving eyes of her love.
“No, my dear Andrea.” Hermione softly kissed her. “I am, however, going to stay and support you and Harry through this.” Hermione rose from the floor and sat down on a seat that Andrea hadn’t noticed before. “I can be sneaky too.”
“Are you two done?” James smirked at them. Lily whacked him. “What was that for?”
“Don’t tease them.” Lily reprimanded him with a soft glare. “Plus, I am sure that everyone here would like this to end sooner rather than later.”
“Yes, please!” Everyone else muttered.
Andrea took a sip of her tea before looking at her notes. “Alright, Harry, you were saying that you saw your Mum’s death.”
“That’s right through the Dementors,” Harry nodded. “Like I said, I saw her run into my room, and he came in after her. I honestly remember her pleading for my life, but I don’t know what went on between them. Mum?”
Lily was crying in James’s arms. She pulled herself together and took a deep breath. “So, I ran up the stairs like James asked me to and darted into your room. I snatched you up and tried to apparate out of this room, but it didn’t happen because he had placed an anti-apparition spell on the house.”
Andrea scribbles some notes. “I wish there was a way to give you some water or tea.”
“I’m fine, Andrea. Thank you, though.” Lily smiled, wiping her tears away.
“Oh good,” Andrea wanly smiled at her. “continue when you are ready.”
Lily nodded as she looked at her son. “Lord Voldemort came after Harry, but I stood in his way. He wasn’t making sense to me. He was trying to tell me to move out of the way.”
Harry nodded. “That coincides with a memory that I saw from Severus Snape.”
“What?” Lily and James cried.
“He had asked one of his masters to spare you, but as you know, he still killed you,” Harry explained. He saw the shocked faces of his parents. “Severus Snape had never stopped loving you, Mum. Do you know how I know?”
Lily shook her head. “No, son, please tell me. I never forgave him for calling me Mudblood.”
“Yes, I know. I saw a glimpse of that day when he tried to teach me Occlumency.” Harry sighed.
“Anyways, going back to Tom Riddle, what he didn’t know was that yours and Dad’s sacrifice gave me double protection that he didn’t know.” Harry smiled.
“We gave you protection?” James perked up.
“Yes, it was your love that saved me from the killing curse, and it rebounded back and made him disappear for nearly 14 years,” Harry explained. He raised his hand to halt their interruption. “I am not going to tell you at this time what happened after.” He breathed. “That is for another time or place or maybe next year.”
“Is there anything else that any of you three want to add to this article that I will be printing in the Quibbler?” Andrea looked at all three Potters. “I will allow Harry or even Hermione here to read through the article before it goes to print.”
“Maybe one thing, if you will, Andrea?’ Lily paused for a moment before turning her attention to Harry. “Son, your father and I are so happy how you turned out, young man.” James nodded in agreement. “Please keep loving your life and grow into the loving, caring man that we love seeing down here.”
James turned to Hermione, “And you, young lady, keep this one.” He pointed to Andrea. “She’s a keeper.” Everyone groaned at the Quidditch pun, but Andrea laughed.
“But I am a chaser!” Andrea smiled at James.
“Well, you did get quite the catch,” James smirked. Andrea cackled.
Hermione shook her head. “I think it’s time to go and join the party.”
“Yes!” Andrea hopped up from her chair and pulled her up from hers. “I love you, Hermione.” She gave her a big smack on the lips.
The Potters smiled at the scene as Harry got rid of their seats. “I should go and see if Ginny needs any help. I’ll try to come back in a couple of hours to chat with you, Mum and Dad.” He turned to his favourite couple, “Are you coming?”
“Yes, Harry.” Andrea put her notebook and pen away. “Thank you for getting rid of the chairs.” She then turned to his parents. “Thank you for allowing me to interview you.”
“No, we thank you for interviewing us, Andrea. We have been wanting this story out.” Lily praised her. “Please see us again.”
They all turned towards the doorway when they heard stomping up the stairs. Ron burst into the room. “There you are, Harry!”
“Ron, I am sure that Gin, your sister, told you where I was.” Harry sighed exasperatedly. “We were about to come down as it was.”
“Wait?” Ron looked puzzled. “I thought your parents couldn’t come out of this room.”
Andrea walked up to him and pushed him up against the wall. “What is your problem, buddy?”
“You’re the problem because you made Hermione more lost than she was.” Ron spat, which made all the women snort.
“Ronald Weasley!” Lily raised her voice, “Not all those who wander are lost!”
“What?” The males looked confused.
The women chorused, “Gandalf the Grey from Lord of the Rings.” They smiled at each other.
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. “A book.”
“Hey, don’t knock it unless you have read it.” Andrea pushed him before walking over to Hermione and laced their fingers together. “I love this woman completely, and I don’t think there is anything that would change that.”
“Even with her scars?” Ron tried to spring a surprise on them.
“RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!” Pansy screeched as she entered the room. “You need to stop this madness.”
“But Pansy, she is dating a female and not a male.” Ron tried to object.
“Are you saying that I am your second fiddle?” Pansy deflated.
“What, no!” Ron tried to wrap his arms around her. “Why would you say that?”
“Are you happy with me?” Pansy showed her vulnerability.
“Of course I am.” Ron looked at her in surprise with the question.
“Then do me a favour?” Pansy pleaded. Ron nodded his head. “Look at Hermione and Andrea.” Ron glanced at them. “No, seriously, look at them. They are happy. I have never seen Hermione smile this much in all the years I have known her.”
Ron looked at Hermione and Andrea and saw the looks of love in their eyes for each other. “Hermione?”
“Yes, Ronald?” Hermione answered.
He knew that she was still mad at him. “Answer me this: are you truly happy with Andrea?”
Hermione glanced at him before she gazed into Andrea’s loving mocha eyes, “Yes, you know why?” Ron shook his head. “Because my daydreams are about her and what it would be like to come home from work and the two of us cooking dinner and talking about our day.”
Andrea’s heart melted at the words. “Aw…really?”
“Yes, really, Andy. I have fallen truly and madly in love with you from day one. Ask Harry or Ginny.” Hermione caressed her love’s cheek.
“Ask me what?” Ginny came into the room.
“Whether or not Hermione was truly in love with me from day one?” Andrea asked.
Ginny snorted. “Bloody hell, she wouldn’t stop talking about you or Emily after she went to that bookstore for the first time.”
“Aw. You fell in love with her, too.” Andrea gushed.
“Who the bloody hell is Emily?” Ron interrupted the sweet moment.
“Get out of my house!” Harry pointed to the door. “I am tired of your bullocks and your interruptions.”
“But Harry?” Ron tried to plead with him.
“NO!” Harry growled. “I am so happy for Hermione and Andrea because they balance each other out.” Harry sighed. “If you ever decide to get your head out of your arse, maybe I’ll talk to you, and you owe them an apology.” Harry pointed to the surprised couple.
“Let’s go, Ron!” Pansy pulled his arm.
“By the way, Ronald, Emily is Andrea’s cat.” Hermione supplied the answer to his question. “Good-bye.”
Andrea wrapped her arms around Hermione and held her while whispering calming words into her ear.
Ron just stared at them while dragged out of the room by Pansy.
“I’m sorry, Harry.” Hermione started to apologize.
“Stuff it, Hermione.” Harry cut her off. “You aren’t the one who needs to apologize. It’s Ronald, and I will let Kreacher know that he isn’t allowed into Grimmauld Place until further notice.”
“But Harry, he’s your best friend.” Hermione looked at him in surprise.
“No, he isn’t. You are, Hermione.” Harry walked over to Hermione. Andrea stepped back to allow Harry to speak his piece. “Hermione, you are my very best friend. Ron might have been my first one, but he wasn’t always there. You were every year.” Harry paused. “I just realized that I just left out Hagrid, but he was the first adult that I trusted even though he can’t keep a secret.” Hermione snorted. “Do you believe me now?”
“I love you, too, Harry James Potter.” Hermione hugged him. “You and Ginny are my best friends, and I would have been lost if I didn’t have your support when I came out.”
Ginny walked over, “And you will continue to have our support even when you leave our house.”
“Thank you, Ginny!” Hermione hugged her, too, before she turned to see Andrea crying. “Come here, Andy.” Andrea joined the group. “I love you for allowing me to be me and allowing Harry to do his thing with me. He does have to remind me at times that he’s my friend as well as Ronniekins.”
Ginny started giggling before she burst out laughing, “Please, Harry, remind me to tell George about this.”
“Yes, I will.” Harry with a big smile on his face. “I think we have a party downstairs.”
“Yes!” Andrea pumped her fist. The others chuckled at her reaction as they wandered out of the room.
Lily and James Potter smiled at the loving scene before them. “Harry has really come into his own, hasn’t he, Lils?”
“Yes, he has, and he finally has let go of his first friend for his true friend,” Lily sighed.
“I know, my dear.” James hugged her. “Let’s relax and talk about what Harry told us.”
Lily and James relaxed on the sofa that Andrea made for them, chatting.