Three

Three

One might ask how we arrived at this point, I think as I look across my bed. It is not an easy story, nor is it a simple one. It's not like there was one day, a turning point, which set us from the path we were on to the path that has led us here.

I look down at the sleeping form of the woman who is lying beside me; her left arm draped across my stomach. I smile as my gaze shifts to the man spooned behind her, his left arm draped over her, his left hand grasping her right one.

I think, we were always destined to end up here, ever since the first day we met.

~*~*~*~

When we were in our sixth year at Hogwarts, war finally broke out. The worst war our kind had ever seen. The war we had known was coming for the previous five years. And we were right in the middle of it. Well, Harry was right in the middle of it, but there was no way we were leaving his side. Harry of course tried every trick in the book to get us to leave him, to get ourselves 'to safety'. Yeah right. As if there was anywhere that was safe.

School was closed for the duration of the war, nearly a year in length. But Hogwarts still remained our home over that time. Harry had no where else to go, and since Hogwarts was as safe a place as any, it became the new headquarters for The Order.

It's strange really, when I think back on it. I remember Harry standing there in the middle of our bedroom, close to tears, begging Hermione and I to leave and get as far away from him as possible. We refused, tears in our eyes, as we hugged him tight.

In the end, had it not been for us, he would not have survived. Voldemort had gotten immunity to the effects that Harry's mother had left on him. Voldemort could touch Harry. But what none of us expected was the new layer of protection our love had given him. Had we not been at his side, had we left, had we not loved him unconditionally, he would not have survived.

It was around this time, I guess you could say, we started slowly gravitating to the relationship we have now. Only members of the Order were still on the Hogwarts grounds, but most of them went home at night. However, Hermione, Harry, Fred, George, Ginny and I still lived at Hogwarts. We insisted that we get to stay in the Gryffindor tower. After all, it was our home. My mother eventually relented, though she was adamant that each night one of the Order stay in the tower also. So Fred and George had one bedroom, Hermione and Ginny another, and Harry and I had another. However after a few months, each night Hermione would sneak into our room after an hour or so and claim one of the empty beds for herself. Then a few months after that, she would sneak into our room but she wouldn't sleep in her usual bed. Sometimes she would come and sleep in my bed and sometimes she would go and sleep in Harry's bed. That's all, just sleep. But it was a comfort thing, for all three of us. We never really felt the need to rationalise it or even speak about it. It was just... what it was.

After the war, the school reopened. But it was never the same. Dumbledore had died fighting and Professor McGonagall was now Headmistress. Professor Snape had also been killed. We didn't really know how to feel about that. I mean, we never liked Snape and he never liked us, but he had been on the side of good and he fought until his death.

Remus Lupin was bought back as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. People were now decidedly more tolerant and had a newfound respect for Dumbledore's ideas. There was not one owl of complaint at this teaching assignment.

Remus had changed a great deal since we first met him that day on the train in our third year. Here was a man who, aside from being a werewolf and having all the stress and issues that accompany that fact, in the last fifteen years had lost his three best friends and found out another of his friends was directly responsible for two of those deaths.

Aside from Hermione and myself, Remus was the closest thing Harry had to family. And he was the only remaining link Harry had to his parents. We were so happy when Remus came back to Hogwarts. Not only was he one of our good friends, he was the best teacher we ever had. Although it was difficult to remember not to call him Remus in class.

It was in our seventh year that we had to start thinking about what career it was we wanted after we left school. This was something the three of us had not given serious thought to previously. Sure, from time to time we had mentioned careers that interested us. But I think in the back of our minds, we weren't really sure whether we would make it out of Hogwarts and so had never really given it much real thought.

I remember the three of us sitting in the quiet common room one night, talking about life beyond Hogwarts. We sat on the floor near the fireplace, Hermione holding our hands in hers. We stayed up until dawn, laying all of our feelings bare. The funny thing is, we were all so afraid to say what we were thinking and feeling. But we were all thinking and feeling the exact same thing. We really didn't care what we did beyond school. As long as we did it together. We didn't care where we lived. As long as we lived together.

The friendship we had was always infamous at school. In our first few years, we had all those adventures together. Got into trouble together. Basically did everything together. I never doubted for a second the reason that people were so interested in the friendship the three of us had. It was Harry. People were intrigued by the life of The Boy Who Lived. But in the last few years at school, we became, if it were possible, even more famous. Although very few people knew the truth about what happened with Voldemort, that it was mine and Hermione's love that helped defeat him, they knew how much we cared for each other. More than the fact we were never alone, people could sense our connection. Plus, let's face it, Harry was now The Boy Who Lived twice over.

About a week after our all night deep and meaningful, McGonagall called us into her office. We were confused as to what she wanted with us; after all, we hadn't been breaking any rules lately.

McGonagall had been speaking to all the students one on one about what career they wanted and what they wanted for their life beyond school. But for us she had decided to talk to us together. Like I said, our friendship was infamous and she knew it would be easier to talk to us together.

During that meeting we confessed to her the truth. We didn't care what we did, as long as we did it together. If she was surprised she didn't show it. She nodded before getting out of her chair and started slowly walking around her office.

She had an idea for us. They needed three permanent teachers at Hogwarts and she would consider offering it to the three of us if we were interested. I was so shocked. The three of us - teachers. The three students who had gotten into more trouble than the rest of the year level combined. I was in complete shock. Harry and Hermione however had gotten past their shock, if they had any, and where considering this proposal.

I remember asking what subjects she had in mind. Well, I didn't so much ask as blurt it out almost incoherently. McGonagall returned to her desk and stated they needed teachers for Potions, Transfiguration and Care for Magical Creatures. They had found a temporary Transfiguration teacher to take over from McGonagall when she became Headmistress, but no one permanent. After Snape's death, they had bought in a temporary Potions teacher. And Hagrid had decided he wanted to go back to being simply the Gamekeeper.

McGonagall said she would be willing to let us choose which subjects we each wanted to teach and that we would have every support from the other teaching staff. She mentioned there was one condition to this offer but she would let us know what it was only if we chose to accept. She wanted us to go away and have a think about it and come back to her.

I left the office in complete shock but Hermione and Harry seemed to be mulling it over. I knew in that moment we would eventually accept.

That night, we had an all night discussion again, about whether to accept this offer. I knew Harry was definitely interested. After all, as he had said many times, Hogwarts was his home. And I knew he would be happy he could remain close to Remus and Hagrid. But I was worried about Hermione. I always thought she was destined for greater things, something like the Ministry of Magic, and that she wouldn't be happy in a simple teaching job. As for me, I never really had much ambition, career wise. I would be happy to go wherever my best friends went.

Hermione of course insisted we 'talk about this logically.' All the pros and cons. What else we could be doing. Harry and I laughed. Talk about this logically. How logical was it for three people to choose careers based not on what they wanted for their individual lives but for what the other two people wanted. Hermione smiled and didn't mention the word logic again.

Two days later we accepted McGonagall's offer. The condition she mentioned earlier was that we take a year off before returning to teach. We had never had a childhood, never had much time to do things simply for fun. McGonagall said we needed to take some time out to relax, have some fun, and see the world. If we didn't we would burn out after a couple of years. And we had not survived all we had survived to burn out in a teaching job.

I was more than happy with this condition. I had been having the same thoughts. Quite frankly, it would be a little too weird to go straight from student to teacher, teaching people who were only a year younger than us. And I thought we needed a break. Some time away to clear our heads and basically, just to live a little.

So after we graduated from Hogwarts, we started on our year long sabbatical. We were going to spend six months travelling throughout Europe, then return to England, and find somewhere to live and relax for the rest of the year.

In the end, we travelled for three months before returning to London. We were tired of living out of a suitcase and were a little homesick so we returned earlier than planned. We found a nice three-bedroom house we could rent until we went to live at Hogwarts again.

Money wasn't really a problem. Harry had the money left to him by his parents and Sirius had left him everything he had, although that wasn't much. Harry was more than happy to pay for everything, but Hermione and I wouldn't allow it. We both got part time jobs to help out, she as a tutor a couple of hours a week and I worked one day a week in the Leaky Cauldron.

It was definitely one of the best years of our lives. We spent hours lounging around. We spent days talking about everything and nothing. We were together and that was all that mattered.

It was during this year our relationships shifted yet again. I can still remember the day Hermione and I shared our first kiss. It was even better than how I imagined it would be and I had thought about it a lot over the years. We were sitting on the floor, our backs leaning against the couch, my arm around her shoulders. We were talking, about nothing really. Nothing of significance anyway. Just killing time while Harry cooked dinner in the kitchen. And before I knew it, the gap between us had closed and we kissed for the first time. Her lips were so soft. I traced her cheek with my fingertips and was surprised at the electricity I felt. It was only when Harry called to us to come eat did we break apart.

Not long after that, maybe a week or so, I saw Hermione and Harry kissing on the front verandah. I wasn't angry. Nor jealous. Like so many things in our lives, it was what it was.

Soon after, Hermione started joining me in bed, just like when we were at school. Except this time, we didn't just sleep. I knew she had already been sneaking into Harry's room. I was sure I should have felt something but I really didn't. I loved Hermione and Harry. And whatever we did, whatever they did, it didn't affect my feelings.

One day, I was running late from work. I knew they would be waiting for me to eat. I ran in the front door and sure enough, there they were, sitting at our square dinner table with the food, waiting for me before eating. I apologised for being late as I gave them both a hello kiss on their cheek. They smiled as they told me it was fine, and we started eating dinner. Hermione was unusually quiet during dinner. I caught Harry's eye, mutely asking if Hermione was okay. He shrugged. After we finished eating, we cleared the table with a flick of a wand and Harry and I turned to Hermione. Something was clearly bothering her. Finally we asked her what was wrong. She looked up at both of us and simply said she couldn't do it. Do what, we asked. She gave a one word answer, 'choose.'

There was no need for clarification; we knew exactly what she was talking about. I felt bad; this had clearly been gnawing away at her. I looked across at Harry. He raised his eyebrow at me and I nodded in response. Harry responded to her. 'So don't.'

She looked up at us. She was clearly happy but still a little unsure. I felt maybe actions could help illustrate our sincerity. I held out my hands, Hermione taking one and Harry taking the other. Harry and Hermione linked their other hands, creating a circle. 'The three of us' I said.

'Always' Hermione asked, her voice quivering with emotion. 'Always' Harry confirmed. Hermione leant over and gave both of us a kiss. Harry squeezed my hand. Yep, it would always be the three of us.

We knew people wouldn't understand our relationship. Though it wasn't very complicated, it wasn't very common either. But it made perfect sense to me. We balanced each other out. We needed each other. There was The Boy Who Lived, the brightest witch of our age, and me, the clown who bought them both back down to earth and made them laugh.

We never told anyone about the truth of our relationship. Could you imagine if we did? How would that conversation go? Yes, we are three best friends but we also sleep together. No, there are no threesomes. No, Harry and I do not sleep together but we are affectionate with each other. Yes, Hermione loves us both equally and we love her. Yes, Harry and I love each other very much. No, it is not weird or uncomfortable.

It is definitely better it remains this way. To the world we were merely three best friends. Nothing more, nothing less. Only one person knows the truth. Remus Lupin.

We didn't actually tell him ourselves. He figured out something was going on and when he asked we couldn't lie. And we knew he would understand. He had known us a long time. He was like family. But more than anything else, he didn't live a normal life either.

Having said that however, it was still not an easy conversation. We wanted to be honest with him but at the same time, not give away too much information. After all, Remus was Harry's parents' best friend and too much information may be a little weird to hear, let alone tell. But we let him know the basics of our relationship: we loved each other. We couldn't live without each other.

Remus simply smiled. He let us know as long as we were happy, he was happy.

At the start of the summer, Harry and I made a special dinner for Hermione. We asked Remus to take her out for the afternoon so we could get things ready. We made some

dinner, covered the floors with rose petals, and had hundreds of candles floating through the air. It was really beautiful.

When we saw Hermione approaching the house, I turned to Harry and asked if he was ready. He simply smiled and gave me a hug. 'Absolutely.'

Hermione was so shocked when she walked inside. She looked so amazingly beautiful, a smile spread across her face, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. We led her to the dinner table where an array of food was laid out. She raised her eyebrow in question but we wouldn't answer her.

We ate a beautiful dinner. When it was finished I grabbed my wand and with a flick, cleared away all the plates and food and replaced them with a small velvet box in the centre of the table. Harry moved the box so it was in front of Hermione. She kept looking between us, as if waiting for us to explain what was going on. When we didn't, she slowly opened the box.

I'd never seen Hermione's face light up the way it did when she saw the diamond ring that lay within.

Harry and I told Hermione that we loved her more than anyone in the world. We couldn't live without her. We knew our lives had always been different but we wouldn't change it for the world. Even though we both couldn't marry her legally, we wanted her to be our wife; we wanted the three of us to be married. Not legally, not for the world, just for us.

Hermione had tears streaking down her face. She accepted our proposal, 'with all my heart.' She kissed us both and told us she loved us. I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. It looked perfect.

That night was the first of only two nights in our lives when the three of us slept together. We were so high on love we couldn't bear to separate. So we didn't.

The only other time this happened was our wedding night. It was a month before the return of school. Three weeks before we actually had to leave for Hogwarts.

We asked Remus to be our witness. We didn't really need a witness because, after all, it wasn't legally binding. But we wanted him there to celebrate with us. And having a witness there made it feel more real.

It was a beautiful summer night. Remus, Harry and I stood in the backyard, awaiting the arrival of our girl. The backyard was glowing from the hundreds of fairy lights around the place.

Then we saw her. She looked so stunning, wearing a simple strapless dress. She walked to us and the three of us joined our hands, forming a circle.

Remus spoke about life and love. About how our love was unique and though it was not conventional, it was stronger than any other he had come across.

Remus handed us the rings we bought. The three were simple, identical gold bands with an engraving on the inside. HP~HG~RW ~ always

We had already put a charm on the rings, so they could not be seen by anyone who didn't know they were there.

Remus handed Harry the first ring, which he slipped on Hermione's hand before sharing a kiss. He then handed Hermione the second ring, which she placed on my finger before we kissed. And finally, I put the last ring on Harry's finger before sharing a quick kiss.

I never thought I would be the kind of man to cry at a wedding. But I admit it, I shed some tears. But that was okay because so did Harry and Hermione. I think I even saw Remus wipe away a tear.

It was one of the best nights of our lives. We spent the evening talking, eating, drinking and dancing. I had never felt so loved in my life. Here were two people who would do anything for me. They would die for me. And I would do the same for them.

Three weeks later, we returned to Hogwarts. It was a strange experience. It was still the same castle, but it seemed smaller, less intimidating. We stood at the gates for a good ten minutes, my arms around Harry and Hermione. We were home.

Headmistress McGonagall, or Minerva as she now insisted we call her, led us our living quarters. It was a part of the castle we had never been to before and it reminded me of my first day at Hogwarts, seeing everything for the first time.

Remembering the conversation we had when she first offered the opportunity to us, Minerva had organised an apartment that had three bedrooms instead of the usual one. Hermione decided she really didn't need her own room so she kept half her things in my room and half in Harry's room. We turned her bedroom into a library.

It was a surreal thing, watching all the students file into the great hall from our position at the teachers table. It was even stranger when Minerva introduced us to the students. As if most of them didn't know who we were already. We each stood as we were presented; Harry as Transfiguration teacher, Hermione as Potions teacher and me as Care of Magical Creatures teacher.

During the feast, my gaze wandered to the Gryffindor table. I discreetly elbowed Hermione and she turned to me, then followed my gaze. She smiled and got the attention of Harry away from Hagrid to where she was now looking. He smiled as he leaned in towards Hermione and discreetly placed his hand over hers while putting his other arm behind her chair so his hand rested comfortably on my back.

At the very front of the table were three first years, one girl and two boys, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Nice to know some things never change.

~*~*~*~

Four years ago to the day. That's how long it's been since our first day as a teacher at Hogwarts. Since that first sorting ceremony from the other side of the teachers table.

Again, my eyes fall upon the two people sharing my bed. My soulmates.

I can tell from the expression on his face that he is having another bad dream. I reach out and smooth down his perpetually messy hair in a comforting motion.

I found him an hour ago, sitting in our living room. He turned to look at me, pain clearly etched on his face. I sighed. He shouldn't have to go through this. He doesn't deserve it.

I walked to him and held out my hand. He took it, a small smile of gratitude on his face. I led him to my bedroom and helped him into my bed. I watched him snuggle up to her before I walked around the other side of the bed and got in.

A noise from the other side of my bedroom steals my attention. Being careful not to wake them, I slowly climb out of bed and walk to the location of the noise.

Our son has just woken up.

I lift him out of the cot and hold him in my arms. I slowly rock back and forth and place kisses on his head, hoping this will stop him from screaming and waking his parents.

Sirius Albus Granger. He was named after those who fell in battle. Those we loved. Those who had no one else to follow on after them.

Biologically Sirius is my son, but he is Harry's son too. And I know if we have another child, that child will biologically be Harry's, but they will be my child too.

I wrap Sirius in the blanket his godfather Remus bought him and carry him over to our bed. I climb in, again careful not to disturb the two people who are still sleeping, and look at the photo on my bedside table. It's a picture of us on our wedding day.

I smile.

I always thought it would be just the three of us. Always. As I kiss my son's temple, I'm glad I was wrong.