Epilogue - 'Some Day our Generation is Gonna Rule the Population'

November 1983

Hermione

It had been seven months since she had become Hermione Lupin. Seven months filled with joy.

Both she and Remus had struggled a bit to gain some sort of balance after the both started new careers at the same time but they managed it and now Hermione was starting the slow climb up through the ranks of the department. She had become widely recognised as a defender of the rights of those suffering lycanthropy, although the role was somewhat thrust upon her when those whom she liaised with found out that she was married to a sufferer. Now she was in line for a promotion to junior manager of that branch of the department after less than a year of being employed there.

Remus was enjoying his new job too, she reflected. She had known that he would. The students loved him and many of the more reluctant parents were beginning to slowly change their attitudes towards him as a result. He took a few days leave of absence every full moon in which time Sirius (by permission of the auror department) would step in and take over his classes for a day or two until Remus was back on his feet. On the whole it worked quite well and only increased the bonds of friendship between the two.

Sirius had really proven himself to his fellow aurors in the last few months by catching several Death Eaters who had formerly escaped the squads after the war. Hermione had cried when he Dolohov was captured and sent to Azkaban, knowing that he would never do to anyone what had happened to her and that he would never have the opportunity to kill Remus. But despite this his high-flying career, Sirius continued to come home every night to look after Harry. Everything the teenage Harry she knew had been denied as a child was now open to him, including the love of a close but rather unconventional family in the shape Sirius, Remus and herself.

As for Remus and herself, Hermione was ridiculously happy. They still fought, not often and when they did it was impressive but short-lived. Their relationship was loving but volatile. More often than not arguments led to passion and they forgot what they had been arguing about in the first place. Still, here wasn't a day went by that Hermione didn't feel loved and cherished and she fell more in love with her husband every day.

''Mione, are you home?' Remus's voice called out form the hall. He must have spotted her shoes.

'In the kitchen.' She replied, taking another sip of her tea.

'Why're you home so early?' He asked, dropping a kiss to her forehead. 'You're not sick, are you?'

'I was this morning, but I'm fine now.' She answered.

A look of panic flitted across his face. 'Should you go to see a healer? I mean, do you feel alright?'

'Oh, I'm fine,' she reassured him, 'I saw a healer this afternoon.'

'And are you alright?'

'Of course,' she said airily, trying to hide her nerves. 'Though I have something to tell you.'

Remus pulled out the chair next to her at the kitchen table. 'What is it?'

Hermione took his hand in hers. 'I'm pregnant.'

Remus opened and closed his mouth before crashing his lips to hers. 'You're pregnant? We're going to be parents?'

Hermione nodded tearfully. 'In seven months.'

'Seven months,' Remus repeated in wonder before he coughed. 'Damn, you know what that means, don't you?' Hermione looked at him curiously, assessing his sudden change in mood as he snickered. 'The only time we forgot the charms two months ago?' He prompted.

Hermione felt her cheeks burn with shame as she remembered.

/-/

May 1984

Remus

'You are never touching me again!'

Remus watched the midwife fighting to control her amusement as his wife vocalised her discomfort.

'Now, honey...'

'Don't you "honey" me!' she panted, 'No more parties at Sirius's house and I am never letting you anywhere near his bathroom ever again.'

Remus had the good grace to look slightly ashamed as the young midwife gave him a curious look. He remembered exactly how Hermione had become pregnant, he had known as soon as she told him that it had happened in September.

They had been having a party in Sirius's house to celebrate the auror's birthday. Hermione and Remus hadn't known many people there and had spent most of the night dodging questions about their relationship and his condition. As the evening went on Hermione had a little bit more to drink and before she knew it she was more than just a little tipsy and he had been both shocked and amused to learn that Hermione was both very possessive and very handsy when she had been drinking. She had lured him upstairs under the pretence of collecting their coats before shoving Remus into the bathroom and locking the door.

'She can't have you,' she purred in his ear as her hands pulled at his belt, 'you're my husband.'

It was only after they arrived home that Remus asked who Hermione had been talking about. She had broken sobbed out something about Sirius's young cousin, Nymphadora. Remus had always known that Hermione was scared of another woman taking him away from her but he had never imagine that it would be someone so directly connected to their little group of friends.

'There will only ever be you, 'Mione.'

He struggled to reassure her, but how did one try to deny something which had not yet come to pass. He shook that thought off, it would never come to pass. Hermione held his heart and no other woman would ever compare to her. Except maybe their daughter.

''Mione you really...'

'If you tell me to calm down I'm going to castrate you,' she warned, squeezing her eyes shut against the pain of another contraction. 'Don't think I won't do it, I brought down Lord Moldy-Shorts.'

Molly Weasley's boys had come up with that one. The family had become an extension of their close groups of friends through Sirius and Harry. Remus fought the urge to laugh, it probably wouldn't endear him to her right now.

'I swear we're not having any more, twins is enough.' She whined as Remus took her hand.

'That's okay, honey. We said we only wanted two anyway.'

'Yes but I didn't expect to have to do it all at once,' she panted, her face becoming increasingly pain stricken.

'I'm so sorry, 'Mione. I wish I could make this better for you.'

Two more hours of painful labour later, Remus held his daughter in his arms while Hermione nursed their son.

'I'm so proud of you,' he whispered, kissing his wife's forehead as he sat next to her and their son on the bed.

'Alison Catherine and John Granger Lupin,' she whispered to them, 'we love you so much.'

She turned her eyes to his and Remus could see her love for him reflected in them. 'And I love your mummy, very much,' he whispered to little Allie.

/-/

September 1995

Hermione

It was strange to think that if in her previous life in 1995 Hermione had been starting sixth year with Harry and Ron. The two of them were at the station today too, pushing their trolleys through the barrier in front of them with ease. There had been no Philosopher's Stone and no flying car incident to bind them together, but still the boys had become good friends. Harry's childhood had been untroubled and for that Hermione was thankful. Sirius, with a little help from the Weasleys and Hermione and Remus, had raised him to be a polite and kind young man. He had already given her a hug goodbye adding under his breath, 'I'll keep an eye on John and Allie, Aunt Hermione.'

It no longer felt as strange as when he has started calling her 'Auntie 'Mione' when he was three. Hermione had long since accepted that this life was the one she was always meant to live. Everything she had experienced in her old world had led her to this one and the things she would do here. She and Remus had decided that they wouldn't tell the kids about her past. They knew the official story, that Hermione had been friends with Regulus and then had later befriended Remus. When they were older then Hermione would reconsider telling them the truth and she put it out of her head until then. All that mattered to her now was that all of her extended family were happy and safe.

Sirius still kept her going about the name, though. Over the course of the last twelve years he had defied everyone's expectations of him. He had worked hard and was now training new aurors. He had never married but had recently started to take interest in one of the aurors under his supervision. They couldn't officially date until Jane had moved on to someone else's team but she had been over to have dinner with Sirius and Harry and had even attended one of the now infamous Scrabble nights that had taken on a new vigour after Remus had introduced Arthur to the game.

Hermione had worked her way up too, she had been named the new head of department only a few weeks ago and as soon as she had told Remus he had yelled to the kids that they were going out for five minutes and had dragged her to Hogsmead.

'Remus John Lupin, what are we doing here?' Hermione groused, thoroughly confused as Remus pulled her through the bookshop he had worked in all those years ago.

'You always spoil all my plans,' he groused but smiled at her as her led her back to the history section. 'This is where we met, on this day, thirteen years ago,' he said with a smile. 'I was feeling sentimental,' he explained.

Hermione smiled at her husband and kissed him on the cheek. 'I love you.'

'Mum? We have to go now.'

Hermione pulled herself from her thoughts as she watched her two children hug their Uncle Sirius goodbye.

'Be good, please,' she requested, giving them each a kiss on the cheek, 'or else you know I'll hear about it.'

Allie laughed, 'But mum, we're always good.' She had grown up more like her father, with his sandy hair and amber eyes, but she had her mother's curls and her cheekiness.

'Of course you are,' Hermione said, rolling her eyes before turning to her son. 'Now remember, dear, whatever the older students try to talk you into, ask Harry or Ron first.'

'I'm not a baby, mum.' He groused, flicking his brown fringe out of his eyes. She would never forget evening at the Burrow when he had eaten one of the 'trial' Skiving Snackboxes and she and Remus had spent the rest of the night in St Mungo's with him. She still teased her son about it, finding secret satisfaction in the fact that this cheeks coloured as easily as hers did. She gave him one last hug.

'Don't I get a hug?' She heard Remus ask Allie.

'Sorry, Dad. It's not cool to hug the teachers on your first day.'

Hermione snickered as her two children rushed off into the crowds.

'You're going to miss them, aren't you?' Remus asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

Hermione relaxed into his embrace. 'Yes. You're lucky, getting to see them every day.'

'But I get to come home to you every night, without two nosy children in the house.' His whisper had the hair on Hermione's neck standing on end. Even now they were still very much in love and Hermione's attraction to her husband had not abated as they got older.

Her theory that the Remus she had previously known had looked old before his time because he hadn't had the resources to look after himself had proven to be correct. After the twins were born, Hermione had learnt how to become an animagus. Now on the nights of the full moon, a light brown haired wolf accompanied her mate and distracted him from the pain. The next day, Hermione would look after him as he recovered, her time off to do so being one of the changes she had implemented in her work for the Ministry.

They were both happy and safe and in love. Though her world had felt like it was crumbling when Hermione had been hit with the curse in 1997 her new life had turned out better than she could ever have hoped. She had saved the lives of so many people and instituted justice where there was previously corruption. She had lost her friendship with the two boys she had loved, but she had seen them grow up happy and had found new friends in her husband and in Sirius. And she had two beautiful children and a happy marriage with the man she loved. She couldn't ask for a more blessed life.

'I have to head back to school soon,' Remus whispered as they watched the train pull out.

'I know,' Hermione sighed, turning in his arms. 'I love you.'

Remus smiled at her, the light from the glass roof shining off his sandy hair. 'I love you too, my beautiful wife. Let's go home.'

Hermione smiled around at the people she called her family briefly before leaning up to wrap her arms around her husband's neck, leaning her forehead against his. 'I am home.'

Author's Notes

So we have come to the end of Geminus Terra.

Thank you to all of my readers/reviewers. I have truly loved writing this piece and am glad to have finally finished the idea that has been floating around in my head for the best part of three years now.

I have a few plans floating about for my next fan fiction so if you have enjoyed the story then please feel free to add me to your author alerts. I may also be adding another epilogue to this story at some point, but I have no plans to do so in the immediate future.

Thank you again to all who have read Geminus Terra. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did.

The epilogue title was taken from the song 'Waiting on the World to Change' by John Mayer. I thought it was an appropriate song to end on...

For now