Harry Potter and the Year After

Chapter Twelve: Jars of Blue Flames

Chapter 12: Jars of Blue Flames

Harry's vision returned. He was lying in a large, canopied bed. A gold wedding band hung loosely on his finger. Sitting up, he saw that the room was huge. A fire blazed in the fireplace. The floor was an intricate design of flagstone. The door was heavy and engraved.

He was nervous. It was his wedding night.

The door creaked open slightly.

"Promise you won't laugh," she said, still hidden behind the door.

"I've never. I promise." He tucked his legs up so his forearms rested on his knees. He hoped he looked more relaxed than he was.

"Okay," she said. The door swung open the rest of the way. Hermione stood before him, her hair still in its neat twist on her head. He'd wished she'd worn her hair loose like she'd always done. But he supposed she looked nice, if not normal.

She wore a white negligée. It was mostly lace. Harry felt his mouth fall open.

Glancing back up at her face, he saw that she was blushing furiously.

"Come here," he said quietly. They'd had their wedding in a castle in Scotland, not far from Hogwarts. Ginny and Neville (her boyfriend) had come as had Ron and Luna and their twin sons. It was nice to see everyone, but this moment was what Harry had been most looking forward to. After all, this would be their first night together.

Hermione hurried over to the bed and jumped up next to Harry. He smiled at her.

"You are lovely," he said, "But will you do me a favor?"

"What?" she asked quickly.

"Will you let your hair down?"

"Only if you take off your glasses."

"Then how will I see you?"

And Harry came back to reality. He was conscious before he could see for a second or two, which was a little disorienting. But when he came-to, Ron was staring at him.

"What?" Harry asked. He felt guilty. There was no way he'd be sharing this Fate with Ron.

"I was married to Luna," Ron said. He was pale. "And we were happy. It was bizarre. You were married to Hermione. We went to your wedding with our twin sons. Named Lysander and Lorcan. I feel like someone had played a prank on me."

"Aw, come on, Luna's not so bad," Harry said.

"And you and Hermione..." Ron said. He finally met Harry's eyes.

"Yeah," Harry said, looking down, "Maybe it was a joke. Maybe if you smoke the same blunt more than once then it starts to go a bit funny?"

"Yeah," Ron said, swallowing and nodding, "Yeah that's probably it."

The door opened downstairs and there was a clunking sound, like a box falling. This was followed shortly by the portrait of Sirius' mother shouting something about, "Mudblood scum" and "besmirching the house of her fathers." Ron and Harry hurried downstairs and together shut her up.

Hermione was back, toting Ron's magically enlarged box. It was on its side on the floor and an inordinate amount of books had toppled out of it.

Ron and Harry both wordlessly helped her shove the books back in the box.

"Oh, it's okay, really, I can get it," Hermione said, shaking her head. Tears were running down her face. Ron slid an arm around her.

"You alright?" he asked her. Harry felt himself clenching his jaw and forced himself to relax it. The Fates had gotten him confused, like alcohol, he realized. He wasn't in love with Hermione. Not that way. How could he be annoyed with Ron? They were the ones who were in love.