Hermione and the Watch Part 23 (Patreon)

Hermione released Harry and Lily’s hands as they appeared in the Shrieking shack. “Follow me, we have the majority of them upstairs.”

“New books!” Lily cheered, getting a laugh from Hermione as they charged up the stairs.

Harry was going to follow them but found himself pulled in the opposite direction to the living room where a fire still roared in the fireplace and Beth and Selena’s heads were resting on the mantle. 

Rose pulled Harry down onto the couch in front of the fire and wrapped her arms around him. “I really did miss you, you know. Mum and Da, talked about you and we’d occasionally hear stories about how you were doing over the wireless. Hell, we even have a couple of children’s books that claim some fairly ridiculous things about you.”

Harry groaned. “I hate those books.”

“So, my entire life I have been missing you,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes. “Do you understand?”

“I think I do,” Harry said, “though I hadn’t even know I had anyone to miss, so you’re one up on me there.” He felt a hand creep up his leg to rest on his inner thigh and began to respond despite himself.

“Well now you know, and I don’t plan on missing even a second more of your life,” she said firmly, her breath catching as she felt a finger gently brush against her panties. She’d been a tad worried she was going to have take things a lot slower than she’d wanted to, but thankfully that didn’t appear to be true.

“I am not going to disappear again,” he said as she leaned in closer and he felt the hand creep closer to his groin. He wasn’t quite sure if this was right, but he could practically feel the love she had for him radiating from her and that wasn’t something he had a defense against.

“Promise?” she breathed against his lips, feeling her panties getting pushed aside to allow a finger entrance. 

“Promise,” he said as his zipper was pulled down and her lips descended on his own. Her kiss held a hunger that surprised him and he was sure that he was suppose to object, but as the hand slowly stroked him and her tongue wrestled with his own he couldn’t recall why.

“Children!” Lily scolded.

The two leapt apart and a pair of disembodied hands dropped from their groins unnoticed and scurried under the couch.

“Mum!” Harry exclaimed, absently noting that Rose was still holding his hand.

“None of that, until after dinner,” Lily said, “I need your help packing the books up.” She turned and left with a bounce in her step.

“Um,” Rose said shyly. “Rain check?”

“If our parents don’t kill me,” Harry offered, just happy that his mother wasn’t like Mrs. Weasley as she would have went ballistic if she’d caught him with Ginny and that was while not being her brother.

“Harry, the island doesn’t have your silly taboos or the reasons for them,” she said before glancing down to where he was hanging out of his zipper, “thankfully.”

“I am feeling very conflicted and confused at the moment,” Harry admitted.

Rose reached down and slowly tucked him back in his pants bringing the hand up and licking an errant drop of precum off it. “How about now?”

“My hormones generally don’t get a say,” Harry lied.

“I love you, I am going to love you, and you are just going to have to accept that,” she said firmly as she looked into his eyes.

“Ok, that actually does make it feel better,” Harry said. “I will simply blame you for corrupting my poor naive self.”

The heads on the mantle snickered.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

“Wholesome light magic,” Harry assured her.

“Really?” She grinned and pecked him on the lips. “You’ll have to make up for lying to me later, for now let’s go help Mum before she makes us sleep in different beds as punishment.”

“Sleep in different beds?”

“Yep, I am stuck to you forever!” she cheered and drug him up the stairs.

0o0o0

Beth smiled as Hermione flame teleported into their room. “What’s up?”

“We’re playing a bit of a prank on Remus and Sirius, do you want to meet some new people?” Hermione asked, figuring they’d want to get out of the house and have some fun for a while.

“Yes!” Selena agreed eagerly, happy to have something better to do than reading about potions.

Hermione reached out and took the girls’ hands and flash teleported to the triplets.

Claudette smiled as Hermione appeared with two curvy redheads. “What’s up?”

Selena smiled as she looked around the circular stone room with open windows, shelves and desks around the outside and a large king size bed in the middle. 

“Do you mind keeping my friends entertained until I get back with the pizza?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“We don’t mind,” Laurette said, happy to have someone new to talk to.

“I don’t know, they look sort of shifty,” Paulette teased.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be on our best behavior,” Selena assured them.

“Thanks Beth. Are the twins downstairs?” Hermione asked, wanting to talk with them before she went back for the guys.

“Yep, have fun with your prank,” Claudette said cheerfully.

Hermione shook her head then turned and headed down the spiral stairs. “It’s not my prank.”

“Names, I’m Selena, you’re?”

“Claudette, Laurette and Paulette,” Claudette said as she pointed her sisters out.

“So what’s there to do around here?” Selena asked curious what they did for fun.

“Why don’t we show you,” Laurette said with a grin. 

0o0o0

Lily giggled as she looked around the busy street, the lights, smells and sounds of a thriving city were almost overwhelming with how long she’d been away, not in a bad way, just in a way that reminded her how much she missed her occasional trips into the city. “I feel like shouting I’m back or something equally as stupid.”

“If you want to, go for it,” Harry said with amusement, far too happy about having his family back to worry about people’s reactions.

Rose’s gazed darted around, never stopping on anything for long as she tried to take everything in while keeping a death grip on Harry’s arm. She wasn’t sure where to focus, the woman with the odd dress walking down the crowded street, the man in a long coat that seemed to be selling watches, the strange low to the ground car next to the curb, the almost stagecoach boxy looking thing driving down the street mixed in with the various other unidentifiable cars, the towering buildings with an almost endless sea of windows or the hundreds of signs that she found herself reading. “I’ve seen pictures but actually being here is something else entirely.”

“That’s how I felt the first time I went to Diagon Alley, so much to see, so little time.”

Lily kept her voice down as she asked, “Have they expanded the Alley much?”

“Probably not, it’s just that I didn’t get out much while I was with the Dursleys and when I did, Vernon wanted to make sure I wasn’t having fun.”

“I’m going to need to have a chat with him at some point.”

“If you want, I don’t honestly care,” Harry replied, wishing they’d drop it. He wanted to enjoy having his family back, not dwell on the Dursleys.

“Really?” Rose asked, surprised that Harry didn’t want revenge for some of the stuff he’d mentioned.

“I’m alive and I have my family back, I’m quite content to ignore the Dursleys.” He snorted. “Of course, if they were hit by a truck, I wouldn’t particularly care or shed any tears. If they were actually a danger to society then I’d have to deal with them but they’re not.” He lowered his voice. “I’d rather just pretend they don’t exist, it’s easier that way.”

“Not a problem,” Lily agreed, making a mental note to have a rather long chat with her ‘dear’ sister when she had a choice. 

Hermione stepped out of the pizza shop and walked over to where Harry was standing with his family. “The pizza should be here shortly and I dropped everyone off.”

Lily glanced at Rose who looked a bit frustrated that Harry had changed the subject. She could certainly understand Harry’s point of view, not that it would stop her from having some words with the Dursleys to make sure they never hurt anyone again. “In that case, we should probably find a decent place to sit.”

0o0o0

Remus blinked as he went from sitting in the drawing room reading the paper to standing on a mist shrouded beach that smelled like brimstone. “What the hell?”

“Right there with you…” Sirius trailed off as two familiar looking red skinned teenage girls wearing spiked black armor dripping a smoking black fluid, stepped out of the mist holding signs in front of them. He pulled his attention off their slowly swishing tails as he read the signs. “Welcome to hell?”

“You’re saying we’re dead?” Remus asked in disbelief.

Bell nodded. “Of course, Sirius Orion Black, in the drawing room at 3:00 due to a death curse from behind.”

Dora looked at Remus. “Remus, you put up a decent fight but sadly, you got bludgeoned to death at 3:02.”

Sirius snorted. “Bullshit, I just looked at the clock when I sat down, it said twelve twenty.”

Bell sighed. “Shit, I hate when the damned reapers get the time wrong and pull people early.”

“You know what this means, right?” Dora asked with faked annoyance.

“Paperwork,” Bell grumbled. “Boss!”

“We have a problem with the paperwork!” Dora shouted.

“You don’t have to scream,” James said as he walked out of the mist. “I heard your evil twin just fine.”

“What the fuck?” Sirius asked as he pulled his wand. “Why do you look like James Potter?”

James shook his head. “It turns out Snivellus was right in at least one way, it’s always a Potter’s fault.”

“How is this James’ fault?” Remus asked.

“Do you know how many siblings Harry has that you never found? I mean seriously, half a dozen.”

Remus snorted. “Now I know you’re lying, he’d never cheat on Lily.”

“Well, there was that one time back in third year where he stole of a kiss from Melissa Jones,” James pointed out.

Remus snorted. “That was a kiss and it doesn’t count as it was from before they got together.”

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Ignoring the fact that a reaper grabbed me before my time which I’ll get back to, why am I in hell? I know I was a bit of a practical joker but I’ve never done anything too horrible.”

James looked down his nose at his friend, using all of his acting skills to not burst into laughter. “Let’s see, you fucked Remus’s underage daughters and you tried to feed Snape to him back in school.”

“In my defense, totally worth it and no I didn’t, I didn’t think the bastard was actually stupid enough to go down there.”

“I don’t think totally worth it is a valid defense,” Remus grumbled.

“That’s your defense?” James asked in disbelief. “You’re trying to claim that Snape has common sense?”

Sirius winced. “On reflection, I’ll admit that it wasn’t my best moment.”

“Then why I am here?” Remus asked.

“I could make a long list…” James paused for dramatic effect, “but really, the prank wouldn’t work unless I brought you both here.”

“Prank?” Sirius asked in disbelief as he looked around at the mist.

James shrugged then canceled the spell which caused the fog to disperse. “Eh, the only excuse I need is the look on your face.”

“James?” Sirius asked in disbelief and growing hope.

“The one and only,” James said smugly then changed into his stag form for further proof.

“Fucking hell!” Sirius laughed.

“How the fuck?!” Remus added.

“Language!” Dora snapped. “There are innocents around.”

“Where?” Bell asked as she glanced around.

“Us,” Dora replied with a snicker.

“That’s less believable than them being in hell and we couldn’t sell that,” Bell replied with amusement.

“Fair enough,” Dora agreed after a moment’s thought.

“Okay, I’m confused,” Remus complained as he glanced between the girls that looked remarkably like Lily and James. “What the hell is going on?”

“Like most things it’s Snape’s fault.”

Sirius laughed, he could get behind that idea but he wanted a better explanation. “Narrow it down.”

“Well, you see, it started during the war with Peter becoming a spy.”

“I still can’t believe that bastard flipped on us.”

“Actually, not so much, he was our spy…”

0o0o0

Rose snickered as she used a napkin to wipe pizza sauce off her mother’s face. “I can’t believe you’re this messy.”

Lily finished chewing her latest bite of pizza. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had pizza?”

“At least fourteen years?” Harry teased as he grabbed a piece of pizza.

“A couple of days before that Halloween, Sirius brought back pineapple and sausage pizza.”

Rose rolled her eyes then grabbed a piece of the strange bread like stuff with melted cheese and strange yellow bits before her mother could eat it all and took a bite. Her face lit up in delight as the explosion of tastes hit her tongue.

Hermione snickered. “I think she’s a fan.”

“Looks like it,” Harry agreed, rather amused at his sister’s enthusiasm.

“Just wait until we show you some of the stuff on the island,” Lily said with amusement.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Harry said as two waitresses walked over with a half a dozen large pizzas each. “Thanks, we’ve got a horde to feed.”

“Don’t worry about it, it happens more than you might think,” the blonde waitress pointed out as she set her stack on the table.

“Best of luck with your party,” the other waitress said as she set her stack down then followed her friend.

“I’ve already paid, so let’s grab the pizza and hit the alley so we can get back.” Hermione figured teleporting back from the alley next to the shop would be less noticeable than from the middle of the shop.

“James should have explained the joke by now,” Lily agreed then stuffed the last of the crust in her mouth and grabbed the stack of pizzas.

Harry looked at Rose’s hand on his arm. “I’m going to need my arm back to carry the pizza.”

Rose snickered as she let go long enough for Harry to stand up and grab the pizza then put her hand in his back pocket.

Hermione shook her head, rather amused with Rose.

0o0o0

Lily grinned as they appeared in a flash of fire in the living room. “I brought pizza!”

“Lily!” Sirius shouted as he stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. “Merlin I’ve missed you!”

James laughed. “I see how it is, I get a punch to the shoulder and she gets a hug.”

Harry smiled as he saw Beth and Selena sitting between the triplets on the couch, looking noticeably worn out. ‘At least they’re making friends.’

“She’s beautiful and you’re a troll,” Sirius replied unrepentantly. “Besides, half of that was because of the prank.”

“Troll might be a bit harsh,” Lily said as she gave Sirius a hug.

“Nah, I probably deserved it,” James admitted with a smirk as he helped Hermione with her stack of pizzas. 

“Probably?” Remus asked with amusement as the first couple boxes of pizza were passed around so that everyone could help themselves.

“It’s not like we haven’t done worse,” Sirius pointed out, rather amused by the entire situation.

James smiled at Harry and Hermione. “Thanks for grabbing pizza, Lily has wanted some for more than ten years. You wouldn’t believe everything she used to try to duplicate a decent pizza.”

Lily stuck her sauce covered tongue out at her husband. “The cheesy bread wasn’t bad.”

“It wasn’t the cheesy bread, it was the pumpkin crap that you put on it,” Dora complained.

“Like I said, thank you,” James cut in before Lily could defend her experiment.

Hermione grinned. “You’re welcome.”

“So, now what?” Remus asked.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“What do we tell people about the island and what are we going to do about Voldemort?”

“We don’t have to tell people shit and Dumbledore can deal with Voldemort for all I care. I’m going to finish out the year then I’m probably done with Hogwarts, dust in the wind and all of that,” Harry said unconcerned.

Hermione shook her head. “Besides, I’m not being a taxi for the entire wizarding world.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not have an influx of stupid,” Lily grumbled as she thought of the number of bigots and idiots that would flock to the island if they knew about it.

“What about Molly?” Remus asked.

“Not a chance,” James said. “I’ve met her, the island doesn’t have any use for pureblood prudishness.”

Hermione said, “I’d rather just arrange the occasional vacation from the island or transport the occasional letter. I mean if anyone wants to leave, I’m sure we can work something out, but I have my own projects.”

James turned to look at Sirius. “Speaking of projects, you should probably say hello to your brother at some point.”

Sirius blinked. “Regulus is here?”

“Yeah, Snape saved him, though it was a close thing.”

“Why?” Sirius asked in disbelief.

James shrugged. “Regulus collected one of Voldemort’s horcruxes and was going to destroy it.”

“Why?” Remus asked in surprise.

“He’s a Black.”

Sirius opened his mouth then closed it. “That actually makes a surprising amount of sense.”

“How does that make sense?” Rose asked.

“The Blacks might be a traditionally dark family but we have records of what happens when you split your soul, it never ends well. On that note, we should probably figure out how to tell people on the island that we have a way to take them back to the mainland.”

Lily finished her bite of pizza. “Yeah, no one is going to leave.”

“The island is that nice?” Sirius asked, a bit surprised. 

“No Statute of Secrecy, the government has spells that insure honesty from those elected, and an extremely long life, it’s basically paradise,” James said honestly. 

Lily cut in, “Don’t forget the disproportionate number of females thanks to the ‘mistake’ in the longevity spell, so society in general is a lot saner.”

“Mistake?” Remus asked.

“Basically only one in ten children are male,” she explained. “It was a minor rounding error, probably due to the material they were working with. I say it was on purpose. You see society really does work better with a higher number of females than male. If you look at the history of our species you’ll find there have always been more women than men, and lacking any physical dangers to maintain that balance the founders made a little booboo to insure it.”  

James shrugged. “Considering the complexity of the spell, the island’s ability to grow in size with the number of magic users and the meticulous spell diagrams, I’d be surprised if it was a mistake.”

“So what you’re saying is, that I have a decent chance to get a date?” Remus asked with amusement.

“Almost certainly and a lot more if you play your cards right,” Lily replied with amusement, knowing there were a decent number of girls that wouldn’t mind having another child with an intelligent and handsome wizard.

“Excellent,” Remus said. 

“So what’s with the hair and nicely done nails?” Lily asked curious when her friend had started paying attention to his looks. “It looks good on you.”

“You look well rested and relaxed, it’s sort of weird,” James said.

“Ask Harry,” Remus suggested.

“About what?” Harry asked innocently. “I don’t remember suggesting any hair care products.”

“Your werewolf cure?” Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Can you prove that it was me?” Harry asked with amusement, making Hermione giggle.

Remus sighed. “So, you managed to cure lycanthropy to win a date and you’re not taking credit for it?”

“I’m sure Tonks will credit me for it without me revealing any of my secrets,” Harry replied honestly.

“Can you give me a hint?” Remus begged.

“A hint?” Harry said thoughtfully. “OK, you’ll be able to sense a virgin at one hundred meters.”

Remus glanced over at the triplets. “I’m fairly sure that’s not true.”

Claudette snorted. “It counts just as much with another girl as with a guy so you’ll have to keep looking to find any virgins here.”

Selena snickered. “On that I can attest, they wore us out.”

“Best vacation ever, we can stay right?” Beth asked hopefully.

“Yep, we’re keeping you,” Paulette said happily.

“I’m good with that,” Selena agreed as she leaned into the younger girl.

Remus tried not to think of that rather horrible mental image as he turned to look at Hermione. “Can you explain the cure?”

Hermione shrugged. “If I had to guess without having any of the details, I’d guess it involved an ancient magical artifact of Great and Terrible power like The One Ring.”

Lily snorted. “Right.”

“On that note, we should probably work on a shopping list so that we can get some shopping down before the stores close.” Hermione wanted a chance to talk with Lily about some of the stuff that Harry hadn’t covered and to ask her about Rose as it was obvious she’d be sharing Harry with her.

“I can think of a couple of things I’d like.”

“Same,” James agreed.