It Began with You, Daddy

Untitled Part 1

The marble stone read "Wendell Wilkins - beloved husband. Death cannot separate our love". It was how his wife would remember him.

She remained in the back of the mass of mourners, her normally unruly hair tied up and under a large brimmed black hat. At her sides were two of the most important people in her life: Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.

Harry kept handing her handkerchief after handkerchief. It would be weird for an unknown woman to be crying at a man's funeral. People would ask questions. People would talk.

She couldn't do that to her mother. Not today of all days.

She didn't know what happened; she didn't have a chance to change the outcome. She barely heard that the funeral was today from a connection she had made in the Ministry of Magic. She could only grab her best friends and rush across the globe to say goodbye. But it was too late; she would never see his eyes twinkling with mischief as he handed her a bowl of ice cream with an extra scoop. She would never have the chance to yell at the telly with him when their favorite football team scores a goal. She would never have him walk her down the aisle of her wedding. He would never meet his grandchildren. He would always be part of her, but for the last year plus she was not a part of him.

"'Mione, I'm -"

Her eyes remain straight ahead flowing like a dripping faucet. She watches her mum greet fellow mourners: friends, colleagues, neighbors. Her tears should be telling the redhead beside her, but he doesn't know what else to say or do. "Don't Ron. Just don't. Not today of all days. I didn't make it in time. I didn't get to see him. I didn't get to say how much I miss him. I didn't get to say goodbye. You don't get to say anything right now."

Harry just held her close to him, letting her tears flow freely. He gave up wiping them away, just making sure that her nose doesn't run like a leaky faucet. He understood, even though he was too young to remember his parents. He had Sirius, and then he was gone. Hermione had her dad; now he is gone too. They understood each other. He would be here for her, through this and through everything.

Ron tried to understand. He kept saying "I lost a brother, I know." It took Harry pulling him aside the previous night and explaining that Ron has lots of brothers, Hermione only had one father. Still, he tried to understand her pain. He was close to his brother. He knew she was close to her father. So it was the same, wasn't it?

Ron didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Fred, either. They were in the middle of a battle - it was life or death all around them. Then when the fog of war cleared, he was gone. Like so many. So many friends that were close enough to be family, but he was family. Ron knew that pain. Part of him died that day with Fred albeit a small part, it was still a part of him.

Seeing Hermione so stoic, inside her head, not the girl he knows and loves hurts him. Seeing her today hurts him like the day of the battle hurt him.

Harry sends a glare his way. Ron will try and wiggle his way into Hermione's day. Today should be about Hermione and her pain; he understands. She was there, but still giving him space, after Sirius. Someone that was as close of a father that he would know. Yes, Mr. Weasley is something of a parent-figure, but not to Harry. Sirius could tell him about his own father, his mother, what their plans were, what their life was like.

Hermione had a dad. Now he's gone and Harry feels bad for her, she's been researching on how to reverse her own spell that she placed on him when she lost him. Lost him for good this time. She was never able to give him back his life as Atticus Ptolemy Granger. He was the man who proudly stated that he named his only child - named her for the history and literature that he loved. He loved that he shared that and their historical and literary names, and he only would roll his eyes when she would complain about how no one could say it.

He was the dad that spoiled his little girl, told her that boys were bad but silently planned for the day he would walk her down the aisle and hand her to a man that would never love her like he does. He was a dad that instilled his unquenchable thirst for knowledge in his daughter, be it taking her to museums and the theater on her breaks, or when she was young reading 'just one more story, daddy' every night. He was the dad that taught her to ride a bike, tried to teach her to drive the family car but gave up on that impossible quest. He stayed by her hospital bed when she had appendicitis and her mom was just a bunch of nerves. He was the man that held their family together, who taught her how to love by showing her mum love every day. He taught her how to stay young and in love, even after 30 years together.

Hermione's eyes went from the casket in front of the marble slab to her mum's eyes. The eyes that she shared with the woman that continued to thank people for coming. Hermione was torn, she should be standing next to her mum. She should be at home with her tonight as they cried until they could not cry anymore, looking over the hundreds of family pictures, remembering the man they both loved completely.

When the crowd left and all that remained were three young people that remained in the shadows of the large Moreton Bay fig tree, hiding amongst the vine-like roots. "Hermione," Harry said softly, "it's time."

She nodded solemnly. She took out her wand and approached the piece of marble, kneeling before the open ground.

"Daddy, I'm sorry," she said barely over a whisper on the wind. "I'm sorry I couldn't come back sooner. I'm sorry I couldn't do more. I'm sorry that I couldn't stop this. Daddy, I miss you. I've missed you every day. I miss our time together. I miss the hugs and kisses you would give your princess. I miss everything." A new round of tears falls like a downpour into the redded ground. "Know this daddy: It all began with you. You taught me how to be strong. You taught me it was okay to be weak. You taught me how to love, and never hate. You taught me to love learning. You taught me so much, I just wish I could have you remember."

With a swish of the wand that defeated the Dark Lord, Harry Potter added the following to the headstone: Atticus Ptolemy Granger - beloved father and lover of knowledge. It began with you, daddy.