Harry Potter. Hermione X Male Reader Story

Skips in Time and The Last Rhyme

(Y/N)'s POV

Life after the battle of Hogwarts wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. The story doesn't end the second the bad guys are defeated. We were sent to spread the news after a day of rest. It was the worst week of my life.

For every relieved parent like Mr and Mrs Weasley, there was an Andromeda Tonks. I remember it vividly, walking towards the steps of her house, passing the charm that protected her as I had months before.

I could hear the baby crying before I even knocked, it was as if he knew. I took a breath and knocked slowly, timidly. She opened it cautiously, but with light in her eyes and a smile on her face.

Until she saw me there, the light behind her eyes seemed to dim, the fact it was me greeting her at the door was all she needed to know. "No...no..." she said in disbelief as I pulled her into an embrace.

"Not my baby. Not my girl..." she wept. We both collapsed to our knees, sharing in grief, and I can't recall how many times I reassured her that everything would be fine, despite knowing it would not.

She took me inside after she found the strength to, addressing the crying baby she was left to care for. That was the first time I saw Teddy in the flesh, it was at that moment that I realised that our lives would be intertwined forever.

He was beautiful. So fragile and pure, as I held him, I was scared to cause him any discomfort, but he settled into my arms and was asleep soon after. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed they were never the same colour twice.

Maybe it was because he was young, because he hadn't had the practice his mother had, but I found it simply remarkable. "You take after your Mummy little one" I said as I rocked him gently to sleep.

As Teddy slept in the next room, Andromeda and I sat and talked, about Tonks and Remus, about Ted. Skipping from one story to the next, bringing up the past so the future didn't look so empty. I swore to her on that day that I would help raise Teddy no matter what happened, and It was a promise I kept.

I had to visit at least ten others like this, each was just as hard as the last, I cried for people I never knew, names I had never heard were now etched into my heart. But I made sure to tell all their family members, how brave, selfless, and noble they had been.

I know they were inconsolable and there was a part of them that would be lost forever, but I aimed to bring some small comfort in dark times, to pay back their sacrifice. I think it hit me most at the funerals, I went to far too many funerals.

I spent some time in St. Mungo's after that, I was in my head, it all took a toll after seeing all those poor souls, I spent most of my time busying myself with helping the nurses and taking calming draught so I would stop jumping at loud noises, they had to confiscate my wand after a few incidents.

But the others visited me almost every day, I taught Ron how to make Wolfsbane, that was an experience, it was a wonder he even passed potions even with anyone's help. Let alone mine. But he got there eventually.

I'd have much rather stayed at Hogwarts. There I had things to do, tasks to complete that dulled the voices in my mind for a short time. Cleaning the halls, repairing the castle, just trying to get things back to normal, though it was a kick in the teeth that I was given the task of repairing the exploded bridge, but never blowing it up.

A few days into the repairs, Professor McGonagall came to the four of us with a proposal, considering Kingsley's new decree. That anyone who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts could pursue a career as an Auror with Ministry support.

Her offer was for any student who had taken this year of Hogwarts and wished to complete their education, essentially, due to all the dark nonsense that the Carrows taught, the whole year was getting a mulligan.