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It began at the little party thrown at Shell Cottage on Bill and Fleur's anniversary. Mrs. Weasley, flushed with joyful surprise at the news that she would be becoming a grandmother in the Spring, quickly whipped together a small cake, and Bill cracked a joke about Fleur not wanting to share her piece since she was now eating for two.
"Harry and Hermione can share," said Ron, causing the two friends in question to stare at him in surprise. He didn't return their looks, and seemingly didn't notice anything odd about his statement as he eagerly watched his mum cut the cake.
"Harry and I will share?" Hermione asked, her cheeks darkening a bit as she frowned.
"I mean, you don't have to, of course," Ron replied lightly, looking at her only briefly. "Just thought you might want to."
Hermione looked at Harry in confusion.
Harry's eyes darted back and forth between his two best friends. They hadn't, so far as he knew, had any discussion about them in the three months since their kiss during the battle. Then again, he and Ginny hadn't had that discussion yet, either. This summer had been about grief and memorials and rebuilding and restoring stability and hope to their society. Romance had been an afterthought for everyone, with the obvious exceptions of Bill and Fleur.
He had gone with Hermione to Australia to retrieve her parents. That had been a simple decision, a recognition that the Weasleys needed to grieve as a family and Hermione needed him by her side for her all important-quest, just as he needed her by his side throughout his own mission. The search dragged on for a bit and it was a very good thing that he was there with her, both as a comfort for her and as an escape from the harsh spotlight back home in the country he had just saved.
Still, nothing that happened there or anywhere else should have indicated to Ron that Harry and Hermione would sooner share with each other rather than with anyone else. Harry reasoned that this was simply Ron implying that he had no intention of sharing his own piece with Hermione or anyone else, not that that was surprising by any stretch.
He glanced at Ginny, who didn't look at all surprised or bothered in any way by what her brother said, and decided that he was simply overthinking this. In any event, Ron's speculation became moot when his mum began duplicating pieces to ensure that everyone could have their own.
But things got even stranger later, when Mrs. Weasley pulled Fleur aside for a women's discussion about the pregnancy and invited Hermione to join them. "You never know how soon you might be benefitting from this chat."
"Me?" Hermione asked deadpan.
Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry and then back at her. "You never know," she repeated suggestively, "you might decide that you wish to start a family sooner rather than later."
Hermione glanced bewilderedly at Harry, who quickly glanced at Ron, who had no reaction at all to what was said.
Nevertheless, Hermione decided to join the conversation with Mrs. Weasley and Fleur, probably out of intellectual curiosity.
Harry turned to Ginny. "You're not interested in that conversation?"
"About pregnancy?" Her expression suggested just how dumb she found his question to be. "Merlin, no. I don't plan to have children until I've had a nice, long quidditch career, regardless of what my mum says. And I'm not in any hurry to go out and find a father for those children yet, either."
He stared at her, stunned. He had thought that she expected them to... Or, at least, he had certainly expected that they would eventually get back together. It had felt inevitable, simply a fact of the path that they were walking through life now that he had miraculously survived the war.
But, to his surprise, he didn't feel at all upset to learn that she wasn't thinking the same. Ginny was an important part of his journey through Hogwarts, and the weeks that they spent together were a blissful escape from everything else that he had to deal with, but perhaps them getting back together in the end was never the foregone conclusion that he assumed it was. Perhaps she was simply too different now, in ways that he hadn't seen. Perhaps he was, too.
Still, she had given him a scattering of looks over the summer that he had thought meant she was thinking about them getting back together once the occasion rolled around.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Harry," she said, smiling wryly. "I'll find a love like yours someday. I'm not worried about it."
"Like mine?"
"Yeah. What you two have together, it's perfect. I mean, I knew things were headed in that direction all along, even if I tried to fight it at times."
Now he was utterly lost, and wished Hermione were here to make sense of Ginny's words. But Hermione was immersed in the conversation with Mrs. Weasley and Fleur. "Erm, right."
* * *
"D'you reckon they were all playing a prank on us?" he asked when he and Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place, where he'd invited her to stay the summer with him while her parents took time to resettle themselves in England. She'd wound up spending every night here since he asked.
"I've no idea." She shook her head. "Those were some of the strangest conversations of my life, and that's saying something."
Not feeling ready to go to bed just yet, he settled himself on the couch in the drawing room with one of her books. She got ready for bed and then joined him, sitting beside him and leaning against his shoulder. "I can't believe it's been a year since the wedding."
"I know," he agreed. "But a lot's happened since then."
"You can say that again."
He glanced at the girl who had been by his side through all of it. "I never could have done it all without you."
She grinned. "You don't have to say things like that, Harry. I'm not going anywhere."
"Oh, you're certainly going places. I just hope that I get to keep being by your side through everything to come."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She lay her head on him, and he shifted to allow her to get more comfortable as he returned his attention to the book.
Still, what happened earlier nagged at him. "Did Ron's attitude today bother you at all?"
"No," she answered. "It was strange, but honestly a bit refreshing. I thought that he had expectations about... you know."
"I thought the same about Ginny. But she was totally different today."
"And you're not bothered about that."
"No, and you're not bothered about Ron."
"No, I'm not." She lifted her head again, pondering the twists. "I guess it makes sense. We all got a bit ahead of ourselves before, when there was so much danger everywhere. Our possibilities seemed limited to what was around us. But now, when we all know we'll get to live for a while longer, and get to meet loads of new people." She shrugged. "The world feels a lot bigger now than it did, and I guess they've realized that there could be better options out there for them."
"Yeah. That doesn't explain why they were suddenly all acting like you and I are..."
"I know. Maybe it was all a prank." She shrugged again. "The pregnancy conversation was enlightening, though. Mrs. Weasley had some excellent tips for when the time comes. Not that that'll be any time soon," she quickly added at his wry grin.
He laughed at her hasty addition. "But it's good to know you'll be prepared."
"I'm always prepared."
"You are that."
* * *
Ron flooed over the next morning, and was still at it with the prank. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked as he poked his head out of the kitchen, finding Harry and Hermione sitting at the dining table.
"Come off it," said Harry. "The joke is getting old."
"Oh come on. What you two lovebirds do in the privacy of your home is your business, but that doesn't mean I can't have a lark about it." He joined them at the table, sitting down beside Harry.
Harry and Hermione exchanged exasperated looks. "What are you doing here?" she asked Ron.
"McGonagall owled. She wants to talk to the three of us, so she's coming here this morning. I reckon she'll be here shortly."
"I imagine she wants to invite us to have a proper seventh year of education at the school."
Harry looked at Hermione and then down at the table, considering her words. Did he want to go back to being a student at Hogwarts? The idea felt strange. He felt like he had somehow outgrown the school, even though he hadn't taken his N.E.W.T.s. Like being a student at the castle was now part of a past era of his life, even if it was one without full closure.
"I dunno," Ron said quietly, echoing his thoughts. "What do you think?"
Before Hermione could answer that, there was a knock on the door. "That'll be her, I imagine."
Harry got up and went to answer the door, finding the old professor there. "Good morning, Mr. Potter."
"Good morning, Professor. Er, Ron and Hermione are inside." He led her back up to the dining room.
"Good morning, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Weasley," she greeted the other two, causing Harry to freeze in his tracks.
"Good morning, Professor," Ron replied, as though he hadn't noticed anything odd. Was McGonagall also in on the prank?
Harry exchanged bewildered looks with Hermione as he sat down beside her.
"I'm very pleased to see that the three of you are all doing well," McGonagall continued, drawing three envelopes out of a pocket of her robes. "I would like to extend invitations to you to return to Hogwarts for the coming year to complete your magical educations."
As she passed the letters to them, Harry fixated on the address on Hermione's envelope.
Mrs. Hermione Potter
12 Grimmauld Place, London
Hermione took the letter with a trembling hand, staring at the address.
"I will, of course, open access to the marriage quarters for the two of you," McGonagall added. "You will not be required to reside in separate dormitories with your peers."
Hermione looked hopelessly at Harry, who had no answers.
"Thank you," said Ron, opening his envelope but only briefly examining the letter inside, his expression uncertain. "Er, could we have time to think about it?"
"Of course, Mr. Weasley. I'm happy to answer any questions if you have them."
Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, but the pair still hadn't gotten past their surprise at the manner in which Hermione's letter was addressed. "Erm, I imagine we might come up with some."
Hermione placed her letter face-down on the table, unopened, and cleared her throat. "Yes, we need time to think about it. In the meantime, can I get you anything, Professor?"
* * *
McGonagall lingered for a little while, and they chatted about anything other than the outstanding invitations and Harry and Hermione's apparently-uncertain marital status. Afterwards, Hermione walked her to the door, and Harry overheard the professor again refer to her as "Mrs. Potter" as she bid farewell.
Hermione returned to the dining room and locked eyes with Harry. "This doesn't make any sense."
"I don't think it's that surprising," said Ron. "You said yourself that she was going to invite us to return for a seventh year."
They both looked at him. "Ron," Hermione asked, "how long have Harry and I been married?"
"Erm." He furrowed his brow. "It's been about a year now, hasn't it? Happy anniversary, by the way."
"And do you remember our wedding?" Hermione pressed.
The furrow turned into a proper frown. "Don't reckon I remember it all that clearly." He said it like a confession. "I must have drunken too much. Sorry, guys."
Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance.
"But I'm sure it was perfect," Ron added. "It was you two, after all."
"Were you surprised to learn that Harry and I were getting married?"
He scoffed. "Hardly. It was obvious from the beginning how things were gonna go, wasn't it, what with how you two always were with each other? You'd been inseparable for years, always supporting each other when it mattered. I know I tried to deny it at times, but that was only because I was jealous. I wasn't ready for the trio to become a duo."
Harry recalled having those same feelings back in sixth year. "I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for, marrying the girl you love? Come off it, mate. It's not like I was ever really going to get in the way of you two."
Love? The word lingered in Harry's ears, and he swallowed around a sudden lump, looking at Hermione. She returned his look with a baffled expression.
"Anyway, I'll get out of your hair." Ron rose. "George wants me to help out around the shop, it'll be a busy month before the term starts. You two lovebirds can get back to doing whatever you were doing before I showed up."
"We were just talking," said Harry.
Ron winked at him. "Well then you can get back to whatever you were doing before the talking. But come by the shop later, yeah?"
"Sure," Harry mumbled, now carefully looking away from Hermione.
Ron returned to the floo in the kitchen and left, leaving his two best friends in heavy silence.
"I don't think it's a prank," Hermione said quietly.
"What else could it be?"
She turned over the envelope that was face-down on the table and stared at the address. "If we're visiting the shop later, we should stop by Gringotts. The goblins know more about Wizarding marital contracts than most wizards and witches do. Perhaps we did something accidentally."
"But how would everyone know about it but us?"
"I don't know." She sighed, putting her head in her hands.
"Hey, it's alright." He leant over and lightly rubbed her back. "Asking the goblins is a brilliant idea. You're always full of brilliant ideas."
"Thanks," she muttered.
"Besides, this is hardly the worst thing we've dealt with, isn't it? I, erm..." He trailed off as that word that Ron had used traipsed back into his brain. "I could have accidentally married someone far worse than you."
She scoffed. "You're not wrong about that."
"In fact..." He hesitated. "If it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you."
"But it didn't have to be anyone. Let's just figure out what happened and fix it."
* * *
They were shown into the office of a short, bearded goblin with beady eyes. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, welcome to Gringotts. My name is Rakelef."
"Pleased to meet you," said Hermione, taking one of the two chairs in front of the goblin's large desk. Harry sat down in the other one. "We understand that you're the one to talk to about the record of our marriage."
"I am indeed. Let's see." The goblin opened a heavy drawer in his desk far enough to make it clear that the drawer was magically extended. The space was crammed full of blue folders, but it took him no time at all to locate the correct file. "Here we are: Mr. Harry and Mrs. Hermione of the family Potter."
Harry glanced at Hermione, who was grimacing.
The goblin put his monocle in place and opened the file. "I see that the first anniversary of your marriage was yesterday. I congratulate you in accordance with your people's customs."
"Yesterday?" Harry asked. "But that was Bill and Fleur's anniversary."
"Are there any details about the wedding?" Hermione asked.
"The basic details are here," the goblin affirmed. "The wedding occurred at the legal residence of Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Molly of the Weasley family, in the presence of one hundred and sixty-seven guests."
"But that was Bill and Fleur's wedding," Harry pointed out.
"All appropriate Wizarding customs were observed," the goblin continued, "and the two of you were declared Bonded for Life with all the correct runes in place to ensure the bond's permanence."
"Bonded for life?" Hermione whispered, her face falling.
"But that's what happened to Bill and Fleur," Harry insisted, "not to us."
Hermione looked at him, and he flashed back to a year ago, her teary eyes as she beamed at him as Bill and Fleur were declared bonded for life.
"You looked at me," he said quietly.
"And you looked back."
"Well of course I did, that's what you do when someone looks at you, isn't it?"
She looked down.
"But none of those silver stars circled around us," Harry pointed out hopefully, turning to the goblin.
"That is not required," Rakelef replied mildly.
"But that can't be all there is to it!" Hermione blurted. "Otherwise there would be loads of accidental marriages, wouldn't there? People look at each other during weddings, especially when they're fond of each other!" She quickly closed her mouth, her cheeks coloring. "As friends, I mean," she added belatedly.
"Of course it isn't that simple, Mrs. Potter. You were bound by the runes that were in place in addition to the declaration of the clerk, which would not have happened had you not intended to be married."
"But we didn't intend to be married!"
Rakelef looked skeptical. "You say that you did not intend to pledge yourselves to each other, to commit your greatest care and effort to each other's well-being, to stand by each other through the best and worst of fortunes, to support each other through all endeavors and challenges you might encounter in your lives?"
Harry fixed his gaze on the floor.
"Well," Hermione said slowly, "given what we were about to do at the time..."
Harry felt the need to quickly move past that topic. "So why did everyone but us suddenly know about it starting yesterday?"
Rakelef stroked his beard. "I am guessing, considering your ignorance of your marital state, that you never elected to physically consummate your bond."
Harry's eyes widened, and he looked at Hermione, whose cheeks went bright pink. "No, we never... did that," she replied.
"In that case, the bond would not have been fully ratified until some later demonstration of your commitment. Did you reside under the same roof each night throughout your first year of marriage?"
Harry thought back, but it wasn't hard to figure out the answer. He and Hermione had been together almost constantly over the past year, and never apart for more than a few hours at a time except when they were sleeping in different rooms of the same house or castle. "Yes."
"Then the bond is now fully settled and imperishable, and magic has made everyone aware of it to ensure that none but the most troublesome individuals will endeavor to sway you away from each other."
A few seconds of thick silence followed the goblin's pronouncement. "So everyone knows?" Hermione asked softly.
"Well," Rakelef hedged, "I should say, everyone with whom magic interacts on a conscious level. Muggles will remain unaware of the change until they are separately informed."
"Great, so I still have to explain this to my parents."
Harry looked at her, wondering if she wouldn't sooner want to undo this than explain it to her family.
She met his gaze, her uncertain expression telling him that they needed to discuss this privately. "Thank you for the information," he told Rakelef.
"You are welcome, Mr. Potter. If there is anything else I may do to be of service..."
* * *
"We're married." She said it softly, still in disbelief.
They had decided to simply go home instead of continuing on to the shop. They would make excuses to Ron and George next time they saw them, but right now, they needed to process this in quiet privacy.
"Yeah," Harry muttered, "but we'll figure out how to fix it." He was wracked with guilt, and kept thinking about how he could have done things differently over the past year to stop this from happening. If he hadn't gone with her to Australia, or even if he had simply suggested that she spend a night at her parents' new place instead of inviting her to spend all her time here at Grimmauld... not that he didn't want her here all the time.
"I don't know if we can. We're bonded for life, just like Bill and Fleur are. Rakelef said that the bond is imperishable now."
"But there must be something we can do!" Harry blurted.
Hermione winced and looked down at the table between them.
"I'm not saying that you're wrong," he added quickly, knowing how much she hated that.
"I'm sorry. The last thing I would want to do is trap you in something like this."
"Trap me? You're the one who deserves far better than to be trapped in something like this. I feel terrible."
"You shouldn't," she said quickly. "This isn't your fault. It isn't either of our faults, I guess."
"Yeah, but..." His eyes fell on the envelope left behind earlier, the one that bore her new, legal name.
"I wish that I could free you from this," she told him. "You deserve to be able to make choices, for once in your life."
"And you deserve to be with someone who's far better for you than I am."
"Oh don't be ridiculous."
"How much danger have I put you through over the past seven years?"
"None at all," she replied stubbornly. "I went with you quite willingly through all of it."
"Well, you should be with someone who's as smart as you are."
"Why, so we can exacerbate silly debates when we're both convinced that we're right? I need someone who compensates for my flaws, not who matches them."
"Your brilliance is not a flaw."
"My obstinance is."
"Agree to disagree."
She huffed. "All of this is beside the point. We deserve for this to be our choice, not something irreversible that we never intended."
He grimaced, staring again at her name on the envelope. Unbidden, Ron's earlier words again surfaced in his head. "What are you apologizing for, marrying the girl you love?"
"What if we were to give this a chance?" he asked quietly.
"What?"
"I mean, we don't have to suddenly act like we're married, but..." He shrugged. "What if we were to date?"
He raised his eyes and met her stare. "You've always been off-limits for me, partially because of Ron and partially because I knew I wasn't good enough for you. I never let myself think about... But what if we were to give it a try?"
She stared at him through several silent, tense seconds. "I would like that," she said finally.
* * *
3 Years Later:
"Leave it to the Boy-Who-Lived to marry his wife twice before the rest of us can even make it to the altar once," Ginny drawled, grinning at the again-newlyweds.
Harry and Hermione beamed at each other, their hands clasped comfortably as their friends and family celebrated around them.
Everything had gone swimmingly since that day they decided to give dating a try, since that day that they began choosing each other rather than letting this be something that was forced upon them. They continued to choose each other every day since, immersing themselves in an increasingly blissful relationship that everyone else apparently thought had been expected all along.
Now, getting to have a proper wedding with their friends and family all around them, even if it had no legal significance in magical society, they were happier than they had ever been before.
"So when is your turn?" Harry asked Ginny, casting a knowing glance at where Neville was hovering by her side.
She glanced from Harry to her boyfriend and back. "I've told you, I'm in no hurry."
Neville grinned at Harry and, making sure Ginny wasn't looking, patted the pocket of his suit. Harry winked at him.
Luna caught the gesture as she wandered over. "Oh, are we discussing who will get married next?" To her credit, she deliberately exaggerated her dreamy and vague air so as to not let on to Ginny that she was thinking of anything specific.
"Yes," Ginny replied knowingly, "we were speculating about whom Ron might wind up with once he finally pulls his head out of his arse."
"What's that?" Ron, hearing his name, turned away from where he'd been sharing a laugh with Dean and Seamus nearby. "Are you talking about me?"
"Yes, Ronald," Luna replied as he came up beside her, "we were just wondering whom you might decide to marry once you're ready to settle down."
He shrugged. "How should I know?"
She mirrored his shrug. "You never know," she said patiently, "you might realize that the right witch has been right under your nose all along. That's what worked for Harry, after all."
Harry grinned at his wife. "To be fair, it was a little more complicated than that."
"Only because you both were oblivious," said Ginny.
"Touché."
The band began playing a rather lovely tune, and Luna promptly seized the opportunity. "Would you care to dance with me, Ronald?"
"Er, sure." He let her lead him onto the dance floor.
"Shall we?" Neville asked Ginny, who promptly took his hand and pulled him away.
Harry turned to his wife. "Would you care to dance, my love?"
"Are you sure? You're going to spend your whole life dancing with me. I wouldn't want you to get tired of it on Day One."
"I'll never get tired of it. Besides, we've already been married for four years, remember?"
"True." She led him onto the floor, and they began moving together with well-practiced ease.
"I'm the luckiest man in the world," he whispered, staring at her.
"I'd say we're both pretty darn lucky."
He grinned. "And to think, all this is because you decided to look at me all those years ago as Bill and Fleur were bound."
"An excellent decision on my part."
"Yes, you have remarkable foresight."
"I wouldn't go that far. I may be brilliant, but I've never been good at divination."
"Nonsense, you're amazing at everything."
"Now you're just being silly."
"No, I'm praising my wife." He kissed her. "And I'll keep praising her for the rest of our lives."