In Fate's Design

Chapter Five

She awoke peacefully the next morning. Teddy was at the age where he could finally sleep through the night, so he hadn't bothered either Harry or her since he had fallen asleep in the crib that they had moved into the room they had occupied, with the exception of wanting to play at five in the morning. After he got Teddy settled, Harry slept in late, later than he had in a long time. It was a true miracle. She rose from the bed, taking care not to wake them, and treaded softly to the kitchen. She tapped the coffee maker with her wand and went to sit in the window sill with a book. Soon, the coffee was ready and she poured herself a cup, stirring in a bit of cream and sugar. Light, stumbling steps told her Remus was awake. She poured a second cup, black with a spot of sugar, and handed it to the weary man.
"Hermione." He croaked. "Did you and Harry sleep here last night?"
She nodded.
"Teddy's in bed with Harry. He woke up at around five wanting him, and somehow Harry managed to get him back to bed. No worries."
"Thank you, Hermione. I'm sorry to burden you with him."
"Not at all, Remus." She said. For a while, they sat in peace.
"You know, Sirius and I were great friends at Hogwarts. But, after he escaped from Azkaban, we were.. Well, closer. I love him, Hermione. And when I lost him a second time, I was positive I'd never have him back. But he's here. Harry saved him. He's here." He said, in a dulcet, love sick tone. Hermione frowned.
"What about Tonks?" She asked.
"I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking. I was trying desperately to fill the hole in my heart, and it did get filled a bit by Teddy. But, Nymphadora couldn't do what Sirius does for me."
Hermione frowned, staring into her former professor's weary but joyous face. She then glanced at the picture behind him, with him and Tonks smiling down at her. She concluded that Lupin had lost hope that his wife would ever return, just as he had for Sirius.
She then contemplated the fact that Sirius had been Remus's first love. She knew firsthand that one doesn't 'forget' feelings for their first loves. If your first love was ripped from you before you were ready to move on, you couldn't. Then, if they were to come back.. Well, she understood where Lupin was coming from, feeling-wise.
"I understand. But, please, Remus, don't hurt her. If she wakes up, she doesn't need this to be the first thing she hears." He nodded and sat, sipping his coffee and enjoying a quiet sunrise.
Harry eventually walked down the stairs, carrying a very grumpy Teddy in one arm and rubbing sleep from his eyes with the other. He put Teddy in his highchair and stretched.
"Morning, Hermione, Lupin. Where's Sirius?"
Lupin chuckled. "The man's asleep. Four years without a proper night's sleep, maybe even longer than that." Harry nodded lazily and fixed his slightly askew glasses.
"Is that coffee?"
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After a peaceful morning session between the four adults (Sirius woke up shortly after Harry), Teddy had begun to fuss and Hermione was late to her desk job. Harry decided to go back to Grimmauld Place. After a talk with Sirius, who refused to take the 'bloody house and ghastly elf' from his Godson, Harry decided to pay a visit to Potter Manor, the home of his grandparents that was rightfully his. Upon seeing the bare, lonely walls and the state of disrepair, he knew that he could never call it his home.
It was both lavish and decrepit; the nearly two decades without people residing within its walls gave it an almost haunted appearance. Moth eaten curtains allowed sunlight to seep through the grimy windows. As he took a step, he saw the dust swirling around his feet. He sensed a change in the floor, it was thicker. Upon looking down, he saw a threadbare, but once beautiful, he was sure, Persian rug.
He explored the house without saying a word, breathing in the stale air with some difficulty. Using his wand, he siphoned away most of the dust and repaired things here and there. By the time he had seen all of the rooms he could find, the house was liveable. He decided to put the Fidelius charm on it, with himself being the secret keeper, in case of emergency. He apparated to Sirius' room to grab his portrait of Dumbledore and apparated back.
Dumbledore walked him through the Charm nodding his approval when Harry finally accomplished the task. He asked if Dumbledore would be able to guard the Manor and keep in touch with him through his other portrait, which was hanging in the dining room at Grimmauld Place. He agreed, and Harry left the smaller portrait next to one of his mother and father that he had brought along. He turned away, eyes watering, and apparated back to Grimmauld Place.
He landed on the front porch step, not realizing that it was now dark; the Charm had taken him all evening. He braced himself for Hermione's screech. But, when he entered, it was silent. Puzzled and a bit worried, he called out to her.
"Hermione?" He asked. Nothing. "I'm sorry I got home so late, I was doing something important for work."
He walked in to the living room, where he found her asleep on the couch with a book. He smiled and touched her shoulder. When she didn't stir, he slipped her bookmark into place, shut it, and put it on her lap before picking her up and carrying her to her room. He laid her down under a thick comforter and moved a stray piece of her frizzy, curly hair from her face. On his way out, he shut the light off and put the book down on her bedside table.