Love Potion #9

Chapter Fourteen: Hogwarts

MAY 2, 1998 – Hogwarts

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, blasting a Death Eater to bits and, much to his chagrin, destroying some of the foundation at Hogwarts.

The last several months had been something of a whirlwind, and Harry had had a front seat, or had been a part of the action, for all of it. First, Hermione had surprised Ron by planning an impromptu wedding ceremony, much to Ron's delight. The pair were married in the garden at the Burrow, like Bill and Fleur had been, on Valentine's Day earlier that year. Harry and Draco were the Best Men, Ginny was Maid of Honor, Neville, Dean, and Seamus were Groomsmen, and Luna, Gwen, and Dora were the Bridesmaids. It was an altogether lovely ceremony, but Harry had refused every dance that night, for Severus was away harvesting ingredients in the Swiss Alps and could not attend.

"Flipendo!" Harry yelled, shooting a Death Eater away from an unsuspecting Neville, who was locked in a battle, with Luna, and dueling Dolohov and Rebastian Lestrange.

The next thing had been Harry volunteering to housesit for Ron and Hermione during their weeklong honeymoon in April, for the Easter holidays, as it was the first time that the Aurors and Hermione's university program allowed them to get away. Harry stayed, with Hedwig and Jupiter, at Ron and Hermione's cottage in the Cotswold's, looking after Crookshanks, who enjoyed Hedwig's company, and tolerated Jupiter's. The cottage in Steeple Aston was a lovely abode for a couple just starting out, and had been the property that Hermione's parents had inherited from her paternal grandparents. Hermione, however, mentioned to Ron that she would like to utilize wizard space and make it their permanent home, which filled Ron with joy, as that meant adding a library, study, and extra bedrooms. The latter of which, of course, meant children, which Ron was very ecstatic to have one day with Hermione.

The nights with Severus were few and far between, due to Severus, Bill, and Fleur adding more and more protections to Hogwarts in their spare time from their research and commitments from Gringotts respectively. While Harry understood, he missed the man desperately, and there seemed to be a permanent ache which settled in his ribs when he was without him for such long periods of time. Harry, meanwhile, was training almost daily with Moody and Kingsley, who, to Harry's surprise, had been married for well over a decade, due to Harry walking in on them in a rough, yet passionate, embrace one day in Grimmauld's kitchen.

"It seems we have company, Alastor," came Kingsley's rich voice as he caught sight of Harry, who was currently standing, frozen, on the threshold of the kitchen.

"Something the matter, Harry?" Moody barked at him, in more surprise than in anger, his eye swiveling back and forth.

Harry immediately shook his head. "You two should know by now that I'm not a hypocrite," he said quickly, and Kingsley smiled at him. "Just... Well, I'm surprised, is all."

"A fair assessment," Moody growled, palming Kingsley's arse, but, judging by the flames on Harry's respective cheeks, the young wizard had seen, causing Moody to squeeze it one more time before letting the man go.

"Do not begrudge us our limited time together, Harry," Kingsley told Harry gently, and Harry looked over at him. "Alastor and I are merely celebrating our fifteenth anniversary. Although we work in the same department for the Ministry of Magic, we do not dictate our schedules, and so we have not as much time to be together as we would like."

Harry blinked. "Fifteen years?" he asked.

Moody nodded his head. "Yes, Harry. Not many people know. Other than Dumbledore, Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, Charlie, Minerva, Horace, Sirius, Gwen, Remus, and Dora..." He turned and looked over at his husband. "Who else knows about us?"

"Severus, of course," Kingsley said, grinning, and Harry flushed deeper at that, "along with Filius, Pomona, Poppy, Aberforth... I believe Fred and George suspect, and Alicia and Angelina know for sure, but we certainly haven't said anything to any of them."