Just Too Tempting
By Avadne
Epilogue: A Fate
(INT: 1980)
"How are they?"
"Can we see them yet?"
"What's going on?" As 5 friends waited outside the hospital room, they were all anxiously bombarding every nurse or Healer that walked past.
"You'll be able to see them very soon, please stop worrying," the last Healer had told them patiently. But when 2 of your best friends are in a room, one in the process of giving birth to a child, none of them could really be calm.
"Do you think they'll be ok?" Pete asked, writing his hands as a nervous habit.
"Yeah, I mean, it's been a while…" Lily trailed off. Draco grinned at the image of Hermione and James. Draco and Marlene had gotten married merely a few weeks after graduation. Now Marlene Malfoy was at home taking care of their first child, only weeks old. And Hermione… well, she and Mar could bond or something.
"Don't worry; nothing bad can happen. I mean, it's Gra- Pot- er, Hermione," he said the name as if it explained everything. The others just looked confused, so Draco looked as if he was about to clarify, but was interrupted by a loud shriek… and a baby's cry? Immediately, 5 bodies jumped up, ready to burst into the room and see their friends. Unfortunately, a Healer stopped them just in time.
"Yes, you may go inside now. But Mr. and Mrs. Potter have been through a lot and I must ask you to behave appropriately and consider others carefully," 5 heads nodded simultaneously. Seconds later, Sirius, Remus, Draco, Pete and Lily surrounded a bed containing Hermione, sweaty and tried, but beaming radiantly. Next to her, James was seated comfortably, a bundle of blankets in his arms.
"This is Sirius, your godfather. You can call him Padfoot. And that's Lily, your godmother and there's Remus, also known as Moony. That's Pete, or if you prefer, Wormtail and last is Draco. They'll be your favourite uncles… and, er… aunt," James grinned apologetically at Lily. He pointed out each person as he spoke to the tiny infant.
"Guys, meet Harry James Potter, born at 2:31pm on a Friday, 22nd of August, 1980," Hermione was positively glowing, but Lily mock-frowned in disgust and lightly shoved James.
"You named your son after yourself? Like he doesn't have enough problems as it is!" Lily teased. James blushed slightly, but grinned nonetheless while the others laughed.
"Can I…?" Lily reached out. James nodded, kissed Harry's forehead and handed him to Lily. After a few minutes with her, it was Sirius. Then Remus took his turn, Pete and finally Draco.
"I can only hope you'll be better than the Harry James Potter I knew," Draco whispered to Harry, only so he could hear. The Marauders and Lily couldn't hear him, but saw he said something, so sent him questioning looks, but Hermione only smirked. Draco had a feeling she knew what he was saying. There was sadness in her eyes, but it passed as soon as it appeared. Draco handed Harry back to his mother.
"He has your eyes, Mi… but definitely the Potter hair!" Remus spoke up, his amber eyes dancing with amusement as James ran a hand through his messy hair self-consciously. Little Harry already had a few small tufts of very messy black hair, as well as Hermione's warm, caramel coloured eyes.
"Let's hope he gets Hermione's personality, too," Pete mock-whispered, grinning. James faked a hurt look, but the obvious pride at his new son couldn't be over looked. Of course, that didn't stop him from speaking out.
"Why do you all gang up on me as such? What is it that I've done wrong?" he asked dramatically, clutching his heart for an extra performance.
"If he has Potter's… uh, James Potter's arrogance…" Lily trailed off, shooting a look at poor James.
"Don't worry, Flower. Old Snivelly won't be hexed by the next young Potter for a while," Sirius tried to reassure her, but Lily just groaned. The whole bunch laughed at this.
"You know what? I think I can see bits of all of us in him. Hermione and I, obviously… but that smart look in his eyes belongs to Remus for sure, God knows he's the only intelligent person in this room. The slightly nervous fidgeting would be Pete's. He's just basking in all the attention, which equals pure Padfoot. And Lil, that's your violet tempers there," James smirked as little Harry tried to bite Hermione's finger.
"Give him a few years and the Malfoy sneers and smirks will be down to pat," added Draco, smirking for effect. As soon as he saw this, little Harry tried to imitate. That only caused in another round of laughter amongst the group of friends.
"But you're right, Draco. I can see bits of all of us in him," Sirius had an uncharacteristically serious look upon him and was scratching his chin thoughtfully. Hermione beamed at the comment; there was nothing better than being surrounded by these people, her friends and family. Yes, before them, there was her mum and dad, not to mention Harry and Ron. But the Marauders, Lily and even Draco… well, their bond was truly something else, something equally special.
Things were going to be different this time around. Harry James Potter would grow up without stunning emerald eyes, but instead, warm caramel ones, full of brightness, love and inquisition. Perhaps emerald ones would be passed down later, with someone else. But Harry would grow up with both of his parents, as well as their close-knit group of friends. Sirius was the Potters' secret-keeper once more, and this time he would remain that way. Pete was learning and seeing things differently, taking another path, without lies and by his friends. All of them had joined the Order. Lily wanted to be a Healer. James and Sirius were already on their Auror training. Draco was being an arrogant Malfoy bastard as always, but living without his father. Pete was undecided as of yet, but had a job at the Ministry that could turn into something bigger later on. Remus would've gladly gone anywhere that would have accepted him, but for now was just helping Dumbledore with the Order, unfortunately unemployed. Marlene was on her way to being an Unspeakable, but taking a break due to the birth of her child.
But Hermione… for now, she just wanted to be a mother. A mother to the boy that could have been Lily's. The one that would've been her best friend. But things turned out differently, and now he was her son. A completely different person, with a real family. Harry and Ron would probably still meet one day, and maybe even become the best friends they had been in a different world.
"So now it begins all over again," Hermione whispered in Harry's ear, holding him close. James gave her a look that only people in love could share as he scooted closer to his wife.
"It will be different now," he said, very quietly. He leaned over, kissed Harry's forehead again and pecked Hermione's cheek. The wizarding world wasn't at the brink of disaster anymore; dark times were still here, but the Potters were alive, their son was healthy and the battle lived on. But who knew what would happen? There was no future anymore, no fate but what they made of it.
In another ward, same hospital and not too far away, Molly and Arthur Weasley had come in with their baby son, Ronald Weasley, for a quick check-up. With them, had come their oldest son, Bill Weasley, who was looking very impatient.
"Everything seems fine with young Ron, then?" Arthur asked, smiling as Molly cooed at the newborn.
"Mum, dad, can't I please go, look around?" he whined.
"Fine, Bill, but don't get lost and don't take too long," Arthur replied quickly, re-focusing on Ron again. Bill smiled with glee and ran out of the room. It didn't take him long to overhear some familiar voices.
"Sirius? Remus? Is that you?" he asked curiously, skidding to a stop in front of an open door. Inside he could make out a group of people, closest to him appearing to be Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, 2 former students of Hogwarts. Bill still remembered the time Sirius, Remus, Pete, James and Mi rescued him from some Slytherins. Both Sirius and Remus turned around at the sound of their names being said.
"Er… Bill… Weasley?" Sirius asked, scrunching up his face in an effort to remember. Bill nodded and entered the room. To his great surprise, he also saw Lily Evans, Pete Pettigrew and that Hunter Brown. No, wait, it was Draco… Draco Malfoy?
"Who's there?" called out a faint voice from behind them. The others moved away to show James Potter and his wife, who had married straight after Hogwarts. Or so Bill had heard. Hermione, or Mi as she was known, was now a Potter.
"Hello James, Mi," he greeted them with a friendly smile. Both beamed at Bill.
"Bill, great to see you. How's your baby brother?" James asked cheerfully. Bill smiled also, thinking of Ron.
"He's great. But who's that?" Bill asked in shock, just noticing that Mi had a bundle of blankets in her hands, with a baby's head just visible.
"Our newest nephew," Pete answered, grinning.
"Congratulati-" Bill began, but was cut off.
"Bill! We've been looking every where!" Molly had just entered and began scolding Bill, until she noticed the people around her.
"Oh, James and Hermione Potter! Dumbledore told us that you were expecting a baby… how precious!" Molly gasped, beaming herself at the happily couple who grinned back.
"Bill, Molly, meet Harry James Potter," she said proudly, leaning forward to show Bill her son. Bill watched with great excitement. Molly smiled again, pushing Bill out slightly.
"We must get going, but it was wonderful to see you all. I must come down for a visit with my Ron; it would be good for them to spend some time with other infants. I'm so sorry, but I must dash," And with that, both Molly and Bill left the room. So maybe now there was a bigger chance that those 2 newborns would be friends one day. Perhaps they would be enemies. But they didn't know; there was no fate yet.
There were 2 other wards, 2 that should have been occupied, but were not. Both in different hospitals from here; one would have held the Malfoys and no doubt would have been the finest medical centre. Draco Hunter Malfoy would have already been born to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Draco Hunter Malfoy would already be in this world, the heir to the Malfoy fortune, already being shaped and molded by his father. Already on the list of future Voldemort supporters. But that ward was empty now, due to the death of Lucius Malfoy. Now the only known Malfoy was indeed Narcissa, a widowed wife that had turned to the light side and now fought with Dumbledore. So there was no young Draco. But there was a not-so-young Draco.
The other ward was also empty; this one would have held Hermione Granger, nicknamed by her father as Mi. This would have been at a middle-class, muggle hospital in London where Mrs. Granger would be getting a check-up about her pregnancy. But that ward was empty and the Grangers had never gotten to that ward, destined for them. A miscarriage had been the end of what would have been a little girl with bushy hair and inquisitive eyes. But there was no young Hermione either, just an older one.
But Harry James Potter was alive, with both parents and their friends.
Ronald Weasley was a healthy baby with already 5 older brothers and a sister that was well on her way.
While Draco's and Hermione's parents thought they never had the chance to live, Hermione and Draco knew better. They had just begun before it was their expected time. They had started, but gone to a different universe. But they both existed, and maybe one day, Narcissa Malfoy would know she had a grown up son not too far from her age. And even if she didn't know him as her son, he could easily pass of as a relative of Lucius, for Draco's father was not there to correct the mistake. And maybe the Grangers would know they had a married daughter and a grandson that could've have been the savior of a different world. But for now, they did not know.
And maybe, one day, they would have restarted. Maybe, one day, the Grangers will have another child, possibly a boy or a girl. She or he may or may not be magical. The baby might inherit the father's blue eyes, instead of the mother's caramel ones. It might get straight blonde locks, not bushy brown ones. It might be a fan of the outdoors instead of books.
Maybe Narcissa would re-marry, have a son or daughter. One that she would raise lovingly and one that she would truly care for. Maybe that child would get a different name, Narcissa's naturally blue eyes or someone else's hair. Maybe it would grow up on the light side, a magical baby that would be sorted to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin.
There was still time, for they had no fate planned out for them all.
Epilogue is done and Just Too Tempting is over. Don't know whether to be sad or happy, to be honest!
There will be no sequel as of yet. The plot for one is there, but I don't think I could do it; that may change in the future, but for now I have too much on my plate. I had some plans for it, focusing on the children of the new generation. There would in total be about 6 kids I was going to focus on (Harry, Draco and Marlene's kid, etc.), plus some from canon (Luna, Ginny). We'll see, I guess.
By the way, congrats to the people who guessed what would happen, although I think there was only one or two (I know SlytherinBeauty was one). Yes, the boy that Hermione saw in the enchanted mirror Remus gave her was Harry. Note that I said that his head was down and his eyes were not visible. Basically, Hermione was seeing her future son Harry, not her past best friend Harry.
Oh, if you review this, please do me a favour and tell me which chapter was your favourite. If you liked the portrayal of certain person, or line that I used or anything really, please add that too. Thanks so much.
If anyone has any queries or whatnot about this story, the sequel, or random crap, don't hesitate to e-mail me at avadne at hotmail dot com. Don't be disheartened if I don't reply hastily because as ya'll know I have very bad internet access at this stage. But I will try!
Christine, well no one ever said that I was normal! Lol. Thanks. I appreciate your insight, and I'm not going to deny that this is a little unrealistic, and so forth. But then again, a beautiful American exchange student coming to Hogwarts? not so realistic either. Thank you nonetheless!
Kerri, here's the wrap up! I hope you liked it hun! Thanks loads.
SlytherinBeauty, as you can see it al worked out and I'm so glad you liked it! I don't agree with fanfiction's policy about no-song fics. I have songs in this story, and I think that you should be able to do whatever you want with it, including songs. But the thing is, banning lyrics wasn't just the Admin being assholes. It is actually a LEGAL matter, I believe. However, that doesn't mean I agree! Anyway, I put my email above, so if you need any help, just holler!
monkeystarz, as you can see, I didn't really deal with Voldemort at all. My move was a bit… disorientated, but thanks anyway. Glad you liked the presents :D
Gwynn-Potter, as you can see, they are together! Hmm…as I said above, I'm not sure about the sequel, but I'm not making any definite decisions. If you have any queries about it, just email me at avadne at hotmail dot com. Thanks!
Thank you all so much!
Avadne