Fate Set Right

Chapter 57

"He's still a prat," Harry chuckled.

"But he's your prat," Aurora teased, her head jostled by Harry's half-hearted attempts to dislodge her. She laughed along with him, and it felt good. "Life was just easier, then," she said once they calmed. "I knew about magic, but I didn't think anything that's happened would. It seems insane that it started."

"And it's only going to get worse," Harry sighed. And since she couldn't argue, she rested her head on his shoulder again.

—————H—————

July 3, 1997

It was harder than it should have been to live without her husband. Severus couldn't leave Voldemort's side for very long before they would question where he disappeared to, and the Aurory still had questions about his involvement in Dumbledore's death. And she, well, she wasn't supposed to be alive.

Hermione also desperately missed her children, but she knew they were safe with Sirius. Minerva may be their godmother, but that would be the first place anyone would look for them. With Grimmauld Place still Secret-Kept, it was the safest place for them.

She looked up at the towering buildings and sighed. How she had longed to see New York, yet now that she was here, she found it too busy, too bright, too loud. Maybe she'd spent too much time in the wizarding world, and that was why she felt the city lacked magic. Still, there were parts of it that were magical, and that's where she was headed. She ducked into a dark little alley, following the signs to her destination. When she arrived at the wand shop, she knocked on the door three times and waited.

A moment later, a small, dark-haired woman opened the door. "How can I help you?" she asked, looking Hermione over.

"I need a new wand," she said bluntly, watching the woman's eyes widen.

"What happened to yours?" she asked suspiciously.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not confiscated," she said as she pulled out her old one. "But I can't use it back in Britain. And I don't dare use it here."

The woman nodded in understanding. "You've got a problem over there, we heard. Just do us a favor and keep it there. We don't need another Grindelwald coming over to mess around here."

"That's the plan," Hermione said.

"Your old wand?" the witch asked as she beckoned Hermione inside.

"Vine wood, dragon heartstring, ten and three-quarter inches," Hermione said, handing it to the witch to examine.

"An Ollivander wand, too. It's a shame you'll have to give this up, even temporarily." The witch handed Hermione back her wand, and then ambled behind the counter. "Now, let's get you set up."

July 17, 1997

"How was New York?" Severus asked between peppering her lips, cheeks, and neck with kisses.

"Not as lovely as I imagined. But I have a wand. Walnut, dragon heartstring, a touch longer than my previous one," she replied, stroking his hair, his back, anywhere she could reach.

He'd been waiting for her in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, which was a wonderful surprise, considering she'd been expecting Sirius. Their reunion was quiet, as just after a heartbeat of seeing one another again, they were in one another's arms and kissing as though it had been years and not weeks since they'd parted. As if they were much younger, Hermione had wrapped her legs around his waist, and Severus had carried her upstairs, quietly closing their assigned bedroom door before soundproofing the room. They still hadn't spoken much in the two hours that followed, not until now, not until their bodies refused to act half their age.