Life After Hogwarts

Chapter 2

Batilda walked through the Burrow, sweeping toys and clothes off the floor with a wave of her wand, to have them folded in their respective piles and the toys thrown into boxes. She smiled as she thought of how strange life could be. Who would have thought that she would have ended up where she was now? A humble wife, three children, a husband who was two years younger than her and life in a crazy family, a crazy world, with very odd friends. Living in Australia had been so much different. She had lived with her brother, Aleck, and had lived for her job at the Ministry. She was always in a good mood and she credited that to her good karma. She loved to interact with Muggles and other wizards, but hadn't been out of Australia much. Hadn't felt inclined to leave. Until she met the serious redhead at an Operations Delegations' meeting. He was different from the other men she had dated, not to mention, younger. Ron had an air of vulnerability and yet was such a serious, grim fellow. At least, when she had first met him. Once he told her about his life, she realized that he wasn't really such a frozen soul. He had been through a lot and she realized how much it must have meant to him to have a younger brother, to have a responsibility, to be able to take care of another being. From that moment, Bat had been committed to this loving man and had decided that she would be his responsibility. She would love him and care for him, and would always be there for him. Well, that wasn't really the only reason. She also had been wondering when the right time would come for her. When she would meet that "special someone"... And suddenly, he was there. Staring starry-eyed at her. Bat chuckled and sat where she stood. She put her hand to her stomach, wishing once more that she could feel a kick there, or just hear a baby's gurgle. No doubt, there would be more Weasley children. She could wait. She wouldn't be going anywhere and neither would Ron.

Hermione walked into the seemingly small apartment at the end of the road at Dill Crescent. She walked up the flight of stairs and straight down the hall to the door at the end. She knocked on the door and stood waiting. Never one for patience, she looked left, then right, before pulling out her wand and whispering "Alohomora."

The door swung open and she stepped inside the small apartment. She looked all around before walking to the window at the opposite end of the dining room and pulling the curtains shut. Then she walked to the first door in the hallway and pushed it open. She walked inside and tip-toed quietly to the bed where a long, lean form lay. She sat on the bed and looked at the handsome face below her, then leaned over so that her nose was almost touching his.

"Fred," she whispered.

"Fred, dear, wake up," she repeated.

Seeing no result she lifted one of his eyelids and watched as his eye rolled back into his head, seeming to retreat from the lamplight. Hermione sat back and sighed, then an evil grin formed on her face, showing deep creases at her eyes. She reached up a hand and stroked his cheek gently, almost lazily. Suddenly, she drew back her hand and then let it go like a rubber band. The blow to his face brought Fred out of dreamland and back to the real world. Or maybe it still was a nightmare, he thought, as an angry figure stood over him.

"GET UP YOU LAZY GIT!"

He rolled over, out of reach and turned on the other lamp. The light fell on the face of none other than Hermione Granger. Fred clutched at his chest as his heart pumped uncontrollably.

"Hermione! What on earth are you doing here, acting like some she-devil with menopause?"

"Gee, Fred, I dunno. See, I thought we were supposed to meet today for..."

Her voice faded and Fred frowned at her. "What?"

But the younger woman wasn't listening to him. She wasn't even looking at him anymore. Her eyes had strayed from his face... to the area exposed by his instinctive roll-over. Fred looked down and realized that the sheet was on the other side of the bed and he lay there in his Birthday Suit. Hermione looked at him appreciatively, then laughed as he frantically tried to repair the damage.

"Hermione, why are you here? Our meeting isn't until the 7^th."

She looked at him pointedly and he smacked his forehead. "Oh shit. Sorry Herm, I haven't been keeping track of the days."

"Obviously," she retorted. " I spoke to George earlier in the week and he gave me a little insight into your schedule. Mindy, Ellen, Audrey, Lauraine..."

He scowled and removed himself from the bed, wrapped in the sheet. "I'm sorry Herm, I know this is serious stuff, but I needed a break. Everything's such a stress now."

Her look softened. "I'll wait for you in the sitting room."

When Fred emerged, he was wearing sweatpants and a huge white sweater. She moved over and made room for him on the sofa.

"So...tell me what happened Fred."

Fred sighed, ran a hand through his red hair and sighed again.

"Last week should have been the 4^th checkup on Merva. There were reports that she had claimed to have... seen things. Of course, many of the patients at St. Mungo's claim that. But, as you know, Merva's different. She's not crazy. She just doesn't want to accept the fact that she's an ordinary witch in an ordinary world. I told her I would be in to see her Tuesday of last week, to make sure she was alright. Merva agreed and we met. But from the moment I looked in her eyes, I saw that something was wrong. She stunned me before I had even sat down and 'escaped'. No one saw her leave, but everyone saw me enter. It was as though she had some sort of shield around her. I have a hunch as to where she might have gone, but I'm not certain, and going there would mean risking the lives of everyone."

Fred looked down at Hermione and sighed again.

Hermione leaned back and thought about what he had said. If Merva was on the loose, that would probably mean that she was on one of her imaginary 'missions', trying to rid the world of Dark Wizards. Merva always did love her job. One of the best Aurors around, Fred's ex girlfriend and Bat's half sister. Merva was committed to ridding the world of Dark Wizards, and she would do this through her 'sight'.

Hermione looked at Fred, noticing the lines that had etched themselves on his forehead. It seemed only yesterday that he had been a lively young boy, playing pranks on everyone in sight, his brother at his side...

"I'll see what I can do Fred. In the meantime, keep an eye out. I'll be in touch as soon as I've consulted with the others. Then you can tell us all about your plan." Hermione smiled at Fred and planted a kiss on his cheek. Fred smiled and they both walked to the door. Hermione waved back at the figure in the doorway and walked to the stairs.

Harry walked through the front door of the "flat" he shared with Hermione. He silently took in the mail on the front table and walked towards the linen closet. He pulled his wand out of his coat pocket and tapped on the pink, frilly towel before him. The towels disappeared and in their place stood a black door with small flecks of emerald on it (Hermione had insisted that it be the colour of his eyes and hair). He pulled open the door and went through to the landing of his house. He looked over the railing and peered down into the front hall.

"Magda!" he yelled.

Two big grey eyes peered through the open doorway to his study, then there was a 'pop!' and the eyes were directly before him.

"Maggie, how are you?" Harry asked the small House-elf.

"Oh, Sir! Maggie is fine! She is cleaning Sir's study when she is called."

Harry grinned at the house-elf and handed her a white envelope. "Your pay, Maggie. You can go now, I'll just wait for Hermione to get home, okay?"

Magda nodded her head viciously, "Sir is so good to Maggie!". She grinned. Then (with a 'pop!') was gone.

Harry walked down the wide staircase and into the front room. He sat in the grey couch and leaned back, closing his eyes. He had just been dozing into a dream where he was surrounded by ten naked women who, not surprisingly, each looked exactly like Hermione, when he heard a sound near the doorway.

"Harry?"

Harry twisted around in the couch to face the door.

"Harrietta? I didn't know anyone was here! Much less you!"

The girl stepped into the room, "Sorry if I frightened you." She seemed to take much pleasure in this thought, "The door was unlocked. I just came."

Harry looked at the girl before him, then stood and chuckled. "Come here, you!"

She laughed and flung herself into his outstretched arms.

"It's been a long time, 'Retta! Gosh, you're probably taller than Herm!"

"Oh, big feat," she muttered, grinning.

Harry held her at arms length and looked the smaller girl up and down, while Harrietta blushed furiously. Harry did some quick math and figured that she was 17 now, 5 years younger than he. She pulled away, walked around him and dropped onto the couch. She looked around, then at Harry.

"So. Where's Herm?"

Harry sat next to Harrietta and sighed, "Uh, I think she's out doing some more work with the Raems. You know how iffy her stuff is, so she's always all over the place."

"It's strange that she should have chosen such a job. She loves the straight-up, hard facts. Being a Raem, she's always somewhere else, putting together loose ends, delving into old cases.

But then she loves coming up with the missing links and fitting in that last piece of the puzzle." She smirked. "At least it pays well."

Harry laughed at her reasoning and turned in the couch to look at her. She noticed and turned and mirrored his look, a slight smile on her face.

"You can't make a pass at me. I may look like her, but I'm not."

She patted his arm and they both laughed. Long-time joke. They stood and she followed Harry to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and she pushed past him.

"FOOD!"

Harry stared in awe as she took out cheese, ham, turkey, jam, lettuce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, tomatoes and a jug of Cranberry juice. She stood back and looked around, as though searching for something. He smiled and opened the cupboard behind her. She squealed and took out an assortment of breads, kissed his cheek, grabbed a knife (he quickly backed away from her; she handled knives WAY too haphazardly), and went to work at various sandwiches. After 2 minutes of working at the sandwiches, she stopped, looking at the sandwich materials around her. She looked at her hands and guffawed, then waved them about. She turned to Harry.

"So, how has your job been?"

Harry watched as the enchanted knives finished her sandwiches for her, "Well, actually I'm taking a break. It gets a bit dizzying working with more creatures than humans, you know?"

Harrietta nodded, picking up a finished sandwich. She opened it to see what was inside, "Interaction with and Surveillance of Magical Creatures, right?"

"Yeh. They're great. And Hagrid keeps coming up with new ones for us. It's hard to keep up with him! I tell you, it's a great thing they did, giving Hagrid that job. He's around animals all day long, and they all accept him. And he has tons of fun breeding them."

"Wuh fwuh! A awaf wuh huh wuhfuh uh ekfwuwuh wuwwuh!"

Harry stared blankly at Harrietta and arched an eyebrow. She swallowed and said, "That's great! I always knew he would make an excellent breeder!"

Harry nodded and picked up a ham and (what might have been) turkey sandwich. Together, they walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. The two of them stood there silently, lost in their own thoughts, eating their sandwiches. There was a clatter behind them and Harry waved a hand at the kitchen, removing the charm. They were about to go into the front room when there was a noise from the landing and someone called out, "Harri!"

Both Harry and Harrietta turned at the sound of their names. Hermione ran down the stairs and threw herself at her sister.

"Harrietta Granger! What are you doing here? It is so good to see you!"

"Hermione! Do you know just how long I have been waiting here for you? I have had to sit here listening to Harry drone on and on about his horrifyingly boring job!"

"Oh dear! I do apologise! I know how absolutely revolting that can be. I wouldn't purposely wish it on anyone."

"Really though, do you have to sit through that every day?"

"Only if I get in early. Otherwise he's fast asleep (thank Heavens!)."

Harry listened as the two girls pretended he wasn't in the room. "Ahem," he ground out.

Hermione made a great show of looking surprised to see him there. "Why, Harry! How long have you been standing there?"

Harrietta couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a huge bellow. Harry and Hermione both looked at the mite of a girl in surprise, then they too laughed. Harry embraced Hermione and they kissed. When Hermione broke the kiss, she still held onto Harry's hand.

"Harrietta, it really is good to see you," said Hermione. "Come, let's sit and talk in the living room."

The women turned to go, then Hermione realized she was still dressed for 'work'.

"I'll be right back Harri. I just want to take a shower and get out of these Muggle clothes."

"Can't you just transfigure them?" asked Harrietta.

"Now, really, would you deprive your only sister of a proper wash? I'll be back in a jiffy," and Hermione went back up the stairs. Harry looked longingly after her and Harrietta nudged him.

"Go on," she said to him.

He didn't need her to tell him a second time. He was already rushing after her.