Confessions

Chapter Six

Aislynn walked out and breathed in the warm mid-morning air. Her mother, shocked from what they had all just learned, had asked her to leave for a moment so she could talk with Ron and Harry.

It was a beautiful day out. There was a slight breeze in the air, which helped cool the effects of warm sun, and the birds chirped a merry song in the distance. Aislynn walked to the lake, its surface glittered like millions of diamonds under the sun's glare.

She loved it here. She didn't want to be anywhere else. She walked towards the waters edge and softly sat down on the moist green grass. She untied her shoes and let her feet dangle in the chilly water. She sighed, "Of all the people in the world, my father is the famous Harry Potter," she thought. How stupid she felt that she hadn't recognized him when they first met. She softly giggled. She didn't know what to think. She was shocked to say the least. What would it mean for her? What was going to happen with her mother and her own life? She let out a deep breath she had been holding unbeknownst to her and laid down to look at the clouds. It was peaceful here. Too bad she didn't feel peaceful inside. She had so many questions to ask. Like, would she see Harry often? What would it be like now that she actually had a father? Would he want to see her? How will people react knowing that she is child of the famous "Boy Who Lived?" What would it be like to be the daughter of the Minister of Magic? When would she feel like everything was going to be all right?

Aislynn knew that her mother desperately loved Harry; although she was surprised she had never spoken of knowing him before they all met on the train. She couldn't imagine how her mother would feel if they left and Harry was never around. Aislynn felt as if her mother would more than likely be more disappointed than she would.

"Mom would be devastated," she thought to herself. She slowly closed her eyes and began to let herself imagine life in England, with a father, and attending Hogwarts. She had never wanted anything in life more than a father. Now she had that and she didn't want to be apart from him.

She could see a shadow approaching from behind her out of the corner of her eye. Quickly sitting up, she turned around to see who was there. She sat up a bit to fast, for her hair whipped around and flipped a bit into her face. Brushing it away, she looked up and into the face of Adrian.

***

"Ron...Harry...I...I am so sorry. I never knew...I never thought!" Hermione said in a jumble of rushed words.

"Hush Hermione," Ron said from a chair behind her. He glanced over at his wife and smiled at her. Felicity smiled back, relieved that they finally had an answer.

"He's right Hermione, calm down. Sit down for a moment. It is okay. I don't know if I speak for the both of Ron and I, but I am excited as hell that she is my daughter," he glanced over at Ron as he placed his hands on Hermione's shoulders.

"I think it is bloody wonderful!"

"See Hermione, it is okay," Harry said turning Hermione to face him. Her eyes were filling up with tears. She was beautiful he thought. She always had been, yet as she had grown, she had become a gorgeous woman.

"Ron, Felicity, would you mind?" Hermione asked through soft, broken sobs.

"Not at all, come on Ron," Felicity said standing up. Ron took her hand and followed her out, quickly patting Harry on the back. Hermione looked up at Harry as the door shut softly behind them.

"Harry, I just..."

"Shhh...don't say you are sorry. Hermione I love you. I love Aislynn. I am more than happy that she is my daughter. You have no idea how wonderful that makes me feel. You mean the world to me Hermione. You have for a long time. I have never been able to get over losing you the first time, and I hope that you won't make me try again."

"What are you asking me Harry?" Hermione asked looking up into his eyes.

"Well," he said clearing his throat. "I know this is a bit sudden and all, but I have been waiting to ask you this since the day that I left to face Voldemort. Hermione," he drew in a deep breath and kneeled in front of her. "Hermione you are my sun, my moon, my stars, my everything. There hasn't been a day that I haven't thought of you. You kept me alive when I was gone, you bore my daughter and you have raised her to be an amazing young woman. I long for you to love me like you used to, and most of all, Hermione, and the point that I am so desperately trying to make is...would you marry me?" he opened his hand and out of nowhere a lovely diamond ring appeared glistening in the soft light.

Hermione's jaw dropped. She wasn't expecting this. Closing her eyes she felt a tear roll down her cheek and the soft and tender kiss of Harry wiping it away. All of the feelings that she had pushed into the depths of her mind for the last several years came flooding to the service. She opened her eyes slowly thinking that it was, perhaps, all a dream. She looked into his bright green eyes and smiled.

"Of course I will marry you Harry," she said reaching up and taking his face in her hands. Slowly she pulled him forward, their eyes never parting, and kissed him gently at first on the lips. She was nervous. Why, she didn't know. Harry pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her deepening the kiss.

***

"What do you want Adrian?" Aislynn thought turning back to looked out over the lake.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he said softly. She looked enchanting, the light shinning off her hair and skin. What was he thinking? He was a Malfoy. He should hate her, yet he couldn't. There was something about her. Something about her eyes bewitched him. He cast his gaze away from her and looked down at his feet.

Aislynn was uncomfortable with him standing behind her. Reluctantly she stood up and turned to face him. Her heart skipped a beat for a brief moment.

"He is the best looking guy I have ever met. Still," she thought to herself. "He is a Malfoy. There is a reason Harry doesn't like Adrian's dad."

"I have to go," she said beginning to walk away.

"Please don't," Adrian said grabbing her arm in his hand. "I want to talk to you."

"About what?" she was afraid that he might try to kiss her again. She was fighting a battle within herself. Part of her wanted to hate him, the other part wanted to love him.

"Well," he said pausing as he kicked at the ground, which stirred up some dust. "I hadn't got that far yet."

He was pathetic. A total loser. She didn't even want to talk to him anymore. She looked at him once more and said, "Adrian, I don't want to talk to you. You don't know me and I'm not sure if I want you to know me. I should be heading back," she said turning towards the school. "I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for New York. I guess I will say this now then," she looked over her shoulder. "Good-bye Adrian," her heart broke as she turned to walk away. She didn't want to know him for fear that she would not be able to say no to him on anything he would ask her.

She turned back to face the school and began walking quickly away. She wasn't sure what her problem was though. She had never been that cruel to anyone. Maybe it was because he made her nervous. She paused for a second debating whether she should turn around and apologize. It wasn't everyday that she had a boy say he wanted to get to know her. Thinking for a moment she decided against it and began walking again. She felt horrible for how she had acted; yet he had been the cruel one at first.

Adrian stared after her his eyes narrowing with anger. He had never been turned down. Who did she think she was? He was Adrian Dmitri Malfoy. No one turned him down.

"She'll regret pissing me off," he thought to himself. He knew though as he walked towards the Quidditch field that his mind would not be able to deceive his heart.

***

Harry walked down the stairs towards the front entrance of the school his mind in a daze. The past few days were nothing but a blur in his mind, yet there was one thing that was clear. Hermione had stated she would marry him. He had been surprised. He hadn't even considered asking her. He had wanted to of course. He just didn't think he would actually do it. The words had just flowed out of his mouth, completely bypassing his brain. He was glad that he had asked though.

Smiling to himself, Harry walked out into the warm summer air and felt as light as a feather. He couldn't be happier. For once in his life he was completely happy. He felt whole. He shielded his eyes from the brilliant sun by placing his hand above his eyes. He needed to find Aislynn so that they could get going to Hogsmeade. He could see a figure walking towards him and squinted a bit to make out who it was. It was Aislynn and she looked a bit upset.

"Are you alright Aislynn?" he asked a bit concerned as he walked over to where she had stopped.

"He is insufferable Harry! I mean it! He told me he wanted to get to know me!" she said with a small huff. Her emotions were running high. She didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't know if she should be angry or not. She was frustrated with herself, with Adrian, with everything.

"What?" Harry was taken aback. He didn't know what to say to her. Let alone know what she was even talking about.

"Adrian. He said he wanted to get to know me," she said looking up at him.

Harry did all he could to keep his face straight and not break out with laughter. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "That bother's you?"

"Bother me? Of course it bothers me! He is rude, annoying, mean..." her voice trailed off as she sat down on the grass with a sigh.

"He's a Malfoy," Harry said. "They are all that way. They are born that way. Come on Aislynn. Don't let him bother you."

Aislynn watched as Harry kneeled down on the grass in front of her. She looked down at her hands and tugged at the hem of the shirt she was wearing. Harry reached out and took her hand in his.

"Aislynn don't worry about it right now. Come on," he said tugging at her hand as he stood up. Aislynn slowly stood in front of him and looked down at her feet. "Come on. We're going to Hogsmeade. I am sure that will take your mind off of everything," he still was laughing inside. The pains of growing up were stupid really. Adrian had not done anything wrong in Harry's eyes, well except for liking his daughter when he was a Malfoy. "The nerve of him wanting to get to know her," he thought to himself. Lost in his thoughts he let out a small chuckle.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Huh? Oh...well...nothing really. Just thinking about my teenage years," Harry was proud of himself. That was a good save.

"Oh."

Harry pulled Aislynn into a tight hug and kissed her on the top of her head, "Come on. Let's get going. We have a busy day ahead of us," he said pulling away and taking her hand in his. The walked towards the castle hand-in-hand not saying anything just becoming accustomed to being in the other's presence. Aislynn looked over at Harry and smiled.

"Dad?" Harry was shocked to hear her say that. Of course she had asked if it would be all right and of course it was, it still was just a bit of a shock to hear someone call him dad.

"Yes?"

"Am I just being stupid?"

"You could never be stupid Aislynn. You have to decide what is best for you. I will support any decision that you make," he said as they came to the front gate. "Now, run inside and get your mom. I have to ask you one thing though. Which would you rather do? Do you want to take the carriages down the road to Hogsmeade or do you want to take the fun route?"

"The fun route?" Aislynn asked a bit skeptical. "What is the fun route?" she asked, placing addition emphasis in the word fun. Harry had to laugh. Hermione had definitely rubbed off on her.

"Yes, the FUN route," he laughed. "Now run along and get your mother. Tell her that you two are to meet me at the statue of the one-eyed witch."

"The one-eyed witch?" Aislynn looked at him like he was crazy.

"Can't you just say okay?" Harry laughed again. "Just go get Hermione!"

"Okay," she said walking towards the stairway. "But just for the record, I think you're crazy," she stated with a slight giggle. Aislynn walked up the never-ending flights of stairs. At least she got to look around the castle a bit. Reaching her mother's room she knocked gently on the door.

"Who is it?" Hermione's voice called through the door.

"It's me mom, can I come in?"

"Oh! Of course you can!" Hermione said as she opened the door. Her daughter was a welcome sight and Hermione pulled her into a tight hug.

"Ooff...mom you're squeezing me too tight."

"Oh, sorry about that. I am just happy to see you. And talking to me and all."

"Mom, why wouldn't I be? I swear you are just as crazy as Harry. Speaking of which, he said that we should meet him at the statue of the one-eyed witch."

"Oh no! Why do we have to take that route? It is such a nice day out," Hermione said with an exasperated sigh.

"He said it was the fun route."

"Yeah, right. It is only fun because that is how he used to sneak to Hogsmeade. I swear," she said standing and brushing her hair. "Well, come on. We should get going. I can't wait to give you your present. Oh, and I do have one other surprise for you. Something that we need to talk about."

"What is it mom?" Aislynn asked a feeling of nervousness filling her stomach.

"Ummm...what would you think of moving here to England and spending your seventh year of school at Hogwarts?" she was nervous of what her daughter would say. They had never discussed not staying in America. There had never been a reason to. Hermione felt horrible that she was asking her daughter to leave her friends, school, and everything behind. Aislynn had grown up in America. It would be hard to leave her home.

"Really?" Aislynn said a smile spreading across her face and all the worry disappearing. "I would love it mom!"

"Really Aislynn?" Hermione was taken aback. These past few days were becoming a blur. Everything was happening so quickly and so well.

"Of course! I love it here!"

"Well, then," Hermione paused apprehensive to continue. "What would you think if Harry and I were to get married?"

Aislynn looked over to where her mother was standing and smiled, "Nothing would make me happier mother. Nothing," Aislynn stood up and walked over to her mother and grabbed her hands. "Mom, thank you for bringing me here. In just a few days, I have found a school that I hardly know yet love, a father that is beyond words, a generous man who is one of your best friends, and have seen my mother in a new light. Thank you," Hermione felt her eyes fill up with tears as she grabbed Aislynn again in a tight hug.

"Mom...can't breath," Aislynn stated.

"Sorry," Hermione said holding Aislynn out at arms length with a giant smile. "Come on, we better get going. I can't believe we are taking the underground route," she said as they walked out the door.

"So where does this secret passage come out at?" Aislynn asked curiously.

"At Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. I think that you'll really like it there. Hogsmeade is a fun place."

"I'm sure I will, but I don't know about this whole secret tunnel thing," she said with a smile. Hermione looked over at her daughter and grabbed her hand.

"I love you Aislynn," she said.

"I love you too, Mom."

Harry watched as the two approached him. They were both beautiful and looked more like sisters than they did mother and daughter. Hermione had aged gracefully. There wasn't a single sign of age on her face. Her daughter...no their daughter...had her mother's structure. Small and delicate yet he could see a little bit of himself in her. She was a conglomeration of several people. The redness in her hair must have come from his mother, the blue eyes from his father, the caramel color in her hair and bone structure were from her mother, and she seemed to have his unruly hair, which she seemed to constantly be fighting with. He noticed that at that moment in time she had pulled it back in ribbon of some sort.

Hermione glanced up and smiled at him as they approached. The look in her eyes told him that she had told Aislynn of their new arrangement. Smiling Harry closed the distance between them in a few long strides.

"So, this is the one-eyed witch huh?" Aislynn asked looking over Harry's shoulder.

"This is the one and only. Are we ready?" Harry asked, placing his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"I am!" Aislynn said as she studied the statue. "How does this thing work?"

"I'll show you," Harry said as he walked over to where she was standing. "Have you ever heard of the Dissendium spell Aislynn?"

"Yeah, while reading a while back I came across it."

"Okay, well, take out your wand, tap the statue and say the spell aloud and the door will open."

Aislynn walked closer to the statue and reached inside her cloak, her mother had insisted they dress in their cloaks, and pulled out her wand. Glancing nervously at Harry she tapped the statue once and in her soft voice said, "Dissendium."

With a small creak, the hump on the statue began to move showing a small opening that had been hidden within it.

"Go on in," Harry said with a smile. Aislynn looked at her mother and with quite a bit of nervousness she stepped inside. Aislynn hated the dark, hated the unknown, and hated any type of bug ever created.

"Lumos," Aislynn whispered into the dead silence. Her wand produced a glow under her command. Harry and Hermione walked in behind her and the hump closed behind them sealing off the school. Aislynn jumped at the noise it made and thought to herself, "I am such a wuss!"

She could hear her parents behind her and smiled. They were whispering to each other and although she could hear every word they said, which generally consisted only of 'I love you,' she smiled and kept to herself, following the path.

"Do I just keep going?" she asked them, sorry to have interrupted them.

"Yes, just keep going until the end," Harry said before turning back to Hermione again. He ran his fingers gently up and down the middle of her back and bent down to kiss her neck.

Hermione giggled. He knew how to make her melt and knew as he kissed that spot right behind her ear that she would not be able to turn him down. He had discovered it a few nights ago.

"Stop it Harry," Hermione said in a laughing whisper. "Not here."

"Why not?"

"Why not? You silly boy, our daughter is not but 20 yards ahead," Hermione said with a smile.

"Fine, but I do know that she will be in her own room tonight, and I promise that you will pay for this," Harry said as he stopped walking. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her back to him. Reaching up he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently on the lips. Within seconds Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers tangle themselves in his soft hair. They parted as they heard Aislynn say that she had reached the end of the passage.

"Come on Harry. We will have plenty of time to continue," she said walking away adding a slight sway in her hips.

"She's a beautiful, talented, wonderful witch," he said to himself. "But at times she can be downright cruel," Harry watched as she disappeared into the door and followed wishing it were nighttime.

Aislynn entered into Honeydukes through a trap door in the floor and marveled at the smell. It was wonderful. She continued through to the main showroom and gaped at the candies there. She had never seen as many odd things in her life. Of course she had grown up as a witch, yet she had grown up in a primarily Muggle city and had never seen an entirely wizarding town.

"This is wonderful mom!" she said, as she looked everything over. Hermione smiled at her daughter. Almost seventeen and she was still amazed by a candy store.

"Come on. We'll come back before we leave," Hermione said as she headed towards the door. "First we must go to Gladrags Wizardwear."

"What for?" Aislynn asked as she followed dragging Harry behind her and away from the candy.

"Because my dear," he said placing his arm around her. "We need to get some new dress robes."

"For what?"

"Well, that is the surprise. There is a going away ball tonight at Hogwarts, and I thought it would be nice if you had new robes to wear," Hermione stated as she opened the door to the Gladrags.

Aislynn was excited. If it was one thing that she loved doing, it was shopping. Especially when it was shopping with her mother. Aislynn walked in and didn't know where to begin. She had an old pair of dress robes from a couple years back, but the no longer fit. Even though that didn't really matter, she never had a real reason for dress robes anyway. Aislynn began walking around the store in awe. Everything was beautiful. She didn't know what to choose.

Hermione walked around the store. She figured that she deserved something new. She generally was a bit conservative with her money. They didn't have much but they got by. Today, however, Hermione felt that a little splurge wouldn't be too much of a problem. She was looking at a light green dress when she felt someone's arms circle around her waist. Smiling to herself she felt Harry's lips kiss the side of her neck. She giggled and turned around kissing him gently on the lips.

"Harry, when did you become so bold with public displays of affection?"

"Well, since you told me you would marry me. I don't want to let go of you," he said as he kissed her again. He could feel her lips form a smile under his.

"Let's not do this in front of Aislynn," Hermione said giggling.

"Why not? She's 16," he said kissing down her neck slowly. His lips stopped where her collarbone met the base of her neck and she let out a small moan.

"Yes, but she is our daughter!" he didn't stop. "Harry! Not here," she giggled.

"Fine," he said with reluctance. He watched her as he pulled away. Amazing was the only word that described her.

"Come on, let's get some new clothes for this evening," she said grabbing his hand. It was then that he noticed something about her. She no longer had a British accent. Not that he minded it was just different.

Hermione stopped walking and turned back to where Harry was standing. He was staring at her, "Is something the matter Harry?"

"Your accent."

"Something's wrong with my accent?" she looked taken aback.

"No, nothing's wrong with it, it is just, you have an American accent. I hadn't noticed," Harry smiled as he walked over to her and kissed her on the nose. "I like it," he said as he walked over to a rack of Men's dress robes. Hermione smiled as she turned and walked over to him. She grabbed his hand and looked up at him. He smiled down at her and placed his arm around her waist.

Aislynn smiled at her parents. They were cute together. It was nice to see them kiss and hold hands. She looked through a few other racks as she watched them. They were always touching in one way or another. Smiling, she turned her attention back to the racks. She didn't know what she was looking for. Everything was beautiful.

"Aislynn!" she heard her mother call.

"Yeah?"

"Come here would you?" she asked. Aislynn placed the dress she was looking at back on the rack and walked over to where Hermione and Harry were standing. "What do you think of this one?"

Aislynn looked at the dress and cloak her mother was holding up. They were beautiful. The dress was black and must have had a charm placed on it because it looked like it was covered in sparkling stars. The cloak was rich black velvet and looked like it would reach to the ground on her. It was beautiful. She didn't know what to say. She knew this was the one for her.

"Go try it on," Harry said with a smile.

"Alright," she said as she gingerly took the dress from her mother's hands. She stared at the cloth as she walked towards a fitting room. She stepped in and hung the dress on the hook provided on the wall and stared at it for a moment. She noticed the tag and reached out to see how much it cost. "68 Galleons and 10 Knuts!" she let out a sigh. They could never afford that. The most expensive outfit she had ever had had only been 13 Galleons. Still, she couldn't resist trying it on.

She quickly undressed and slipped the dress on. It was beautiful. The bodice fit tightly against her upper body and the dress flared out a bit at the waist creating a bell-like skirt. There were no sleeves or straps, yet it fit her perfectly as she zipped up the back. The cloak hung loosely on her shoulders as she clasped the silver closure, which was shaped like a leaf. She sighed as she untied the ribbon holding back her hair and let it fall over her shoulders. She looked beautiful. She never thought she was beautiful, yet in this dress she felt like a princess.

"Come on! Hurry up! Do you have it on?" Hermione's voice called. She could tell her mother wanted to see how it looked. She had heard this tone of voice before. Impatient anticipation.

"Coming!" she called out as she gave herself one last look in the mirror. She turned and unlocked the door and walked out towards her parents. Harry and Hermione both smiled as she walked towards them.

"You look beautiful Aislynn," Harry said with a smile.

"Absolutely stunning!" Hermione said as she walked around Aislynn looking the dress over.

"Mom, there is no way that we can afford this," Aislynn said softly as Hermione stopped in front of her. Hermione grabbed the price tag and smiled.

"We can splurge a bit. Plus, you need a new dress don't you? You can wear it to the Yule Ball this winter," she said as she hugged her daughter gently. "We'll take it," she said to the woman who had walked over to them to see if they needed any help.

"Mom, no, we can't afford it!"

Harry smiled as the two of them argued over whether or not they would buy the dress. Gently Harry grabbed the dress Hermione had decided on for herself and walked away with the clerk.

"I will get these two things, and the dress the young girl is wearing please," he said to the woman. She rang everything up and Harry paid her the total of 200 Galleons and 12 Knuts and walked back over to where Aislynn and Hermione stood arguing.

"Come on you two, let's go," he said as Hermione turned and saw the bags in his hand. "Here is a bag to put your dress in Aislynn."

"Harry, you didn't...did you?" Hermione asked.

"What? I bought my daughter and my soon-to-be-wife dresses. What's wrong with that?" He gave her a dazzling smile.

"But, are you sure it isn't too much?" Aislynn asked quietly.

"Aislynn," he said looking down at her, lowering his voice. "I don't say this often, because it makes me uncomfortable, but we can afford anything you could ever dream of. You need not worry about money. Okay?" she nodded slowly before turning back to the room to change. Stopping she looked back at where Harry was standing and smiled at him.

"Thank you Harry," Hermione said grabbing his hand.

"You're welcome, luv," he said with a smile.

Aislynn quickly changed. She was beyond excited that Harry had bought the dress for her. She wasn't used to receiving such lavish gifts, but hey, if he wanted to buy her something, that was just fine with her. She gently folded the material and placed it in the bag and took one last look in the mirror. She was happy and it showed. She grabbed the rest of her things and walked out to meet her parents.

To be continued...