Chapter 3: Unraveling

The memories were beginning to fade already.

They slipped away slowly at first, almost without him noticing, then the more he tried to pull them out, the more they ran away from him. He noticed it last night just after the reception, when he had entered the house with Hermione and the girls. Little things haunted him as he looked around: had that vase always been there on that bookshelf? Had those pictures on the mantle always been what they were? Had the curtains always been that exact shade of robin�s egg blue? Ron felt as if he had just woken from a hazy dream, and he couldn�t quite sort out which of the images were real--the ones that were part of actual memories--and which were not, the ones had happened in another lifetime, one he hadn�t actually lived.

The only way to prove his sanity, he decided, to prove that what he was remembering were things he had indeed once seen and heard and experienced, was to funnel all of the memories into a pensieve.

He had waited until all the girls had gone to bed, after the excitement of the wedding had begun to die down and fatigue had set in, before he sneaked off to the study. Hermione had seen him, though, just as the girls were filing off up the stairs, saying their good nights, but he gestured for her not to say anything. Not yet. This wasn�t something he wanted to worry any of them about, though he had a feeling they had already sensed something was wrong anyway. Madeline and Caroline were old enough to pick up on the nuances of their parents� behavior, and even Elinor, who Ron still too frequently forgot was not so little anymore, was becoming more cognizant of the world around her all the time. Still, none of them had said anything, and for that, Ron was grateful.

He didn�t know how long he had stayed up last night staring into the pensieve. For hours, he watched countless images of his younger self, hoping to commit each one to memory, wondering if a time would come soon when they would be as foreign to him as those of another person�s past. The very thought of it chilled him to the core.

Hermione came in sometime later, gently shaking him awake when he had fallen asleep at the desk. He had followed her to bed without argument, not wanting to worry her further, but once she was sound asleep, he padded down the stairs again, pouring more of himself into the pensieve, watching more of the memories swirl around.

It was only when the sun had begun to poke through the clouds that Ron realized he had spent the entire night in the study. He rubbed the back of his neck, where the muscles were sore and knotted, then decided there was little more he could do here; he might as well rummage through the kitchen and fix breakfast for everyone, since they were sure to wake soon.

He heard Hermione�s footsteps not long after.

�Morning, beautiful,� he said, thinking that the more cheerful he tried to sound, the less likely she�d want to talk about last night. But his wife knew him too well.

�You didn�t stay in bed last night,� she said.

�Of course, I did. For a while, anyway-�

�Oh Ron, come off it,� she said. �Your pillow was cold. I knew you had gone sometime after I had fallen asleep, don�t even try to pretend otherwise.�

He smiled, hoping it would appease her. �All right, I won�t. You�re right, I didn�t sleep last night.�

She came closer, then reached a hand to brush away a lock that had fallen in his eyes, but he closed his hand over her wrist, and brought her hand down.

�I had a lot on my mind.�

After a while, she said softly, �Harry needs to know.�

He nodded, avoiding her eyes.

�You're right, I know,� he said. �But for God�s sake, this isn�t just something you blurt out, Hermione... How exactly am I supposed to tell a bloke that he may not exist for much longer because someone decided to tamper with history-�

�Stop it, this isn�t something to joke about-�

�I know that! Don�t you think I know that?�

�Ron...�

�Don�t you think I know how bloody serious this is, Hermione?� he said. �Everything we�ve ever known, every memory we�ve ever taken for granted, all the things we never thought could be robbed from us--they could all vanish like that!�

She reached out to caress his arm, then slowly slid her arms around his waist. He pulled her into him, wanting to feel her close, wanting to feel that she wouldn�t disappear like all the other things that could disappear without his knowledge, against his will.

�I�m here,� she said. It didn�t surprise him that she seemed to know exactly what he needed to hear at that moment. �I�m not going to vanish. Can�t get rid of me that easily...�

He closed his eyes and listened to her laugh, taking in the cadence of her voice, and everything that made her uniquely Hermione. Everything he loved about her. If he thought about her, if he thought about how she felt, so small and compact in his arms, maybe he could keep his mind from spinning right now.

�D�you know what I was thinking about last night?� he said, absently stroking her hair.

�What?�

�How I can barely even remember what everything was like before Harry Potter was in our lives.�

She didn�t say anything, only pressing her cheek against his chest.

�I know this has far-reaching consequences that my mind can�t even grasp at this point,� he said. �I know that everything could change drastically and that everything the wizarding world has ever known could be turned upside-down, but... all I keep thinking is... I might lose my best friend...�

At length, she pulled away just enough to look up at him again.

�He has to know, Ron,� she said quietly. �He has to hear it from you.�

He nodded, and waited for as long as he possibly could before he spoke. �What if I can�t fix this?� he said. �What happens then?�

�I don�t know...�

Neither did he.

The last thing Harry wanted to do at the moment was open his eyes. He didn�t know what time it was, but he knew it must have been morning, and late morning at that, because he could feel the sun beating down on his face, could see its faint orange tinge through his eyelids, though he kept them shut. Ginny shifted beside him; he heard the bed creak slightly when she shuffled closer to him and draped an arm over his chest, lacing her fingers with his.

He smelled strawberries--the scent of her hair--and instinctively tilted his face down towards the top of her head to capture more of the sweet fragrance. It was one of those lazy Sunday mornings he relished during the summer months, when it seemed as if he had all the time in the world and wasn�t running off to a lesson or Quidditch practice or a faculty meeting at Professor McGonagall�s office.

So it suited him just fine to stay here in bed, at least a little longer, and enjoy the luxury of not having to do anything productive. To enjoy having his wife curled up beside him, her hips curved perfectly over his.

She murmured, then he felt her shift again, and from the sound of her voice, he could tell she must have lifted her head to watch him as he hovered between sleep and waking. Her lips brushed against his forehead, across the length of his scar, and when he didn�t open his eyes, he heard her giggle and say, �Aren�t you going to wake yet, sleepyhead?�

His eyes flickered open, then narrowed to the size of slits when the brightness of the sun took him by surprise.

�Must I?�

She turned over so that she lay on her stomach, chin resting on one hand, with her elbow propped up, and the other hand tracing lazy circles on his chest.

�It�d be nice, yes,� she said, then she bent down and placed the gentlest of kisses on his mouth. �I�m starting to get a bit offended, if you want to know the truth.�

He laughed and forced his eyes open just a little more, and he was rewarded with the sight of her looking down on him, her hair deliciously ruffled by sleep (in all the right ways), her cheeks still flushed from their lovemaking last night.

�Well, that�s better,� she said, adjusting her position once more to rest her chin on his chest. She brushed away a stray lock from his eyes, then touched the back of her hand to his cheek. �You�re feeling a little warm, are you all right?�

He moved her hand to his lips and kissed it. �It does feel a bit hot in here,� he said. �That sunlight is really pouring in--and right on my side of the bed, no less.� He wriggled to try to get free of the patch of sun that was hitting him directly. �I�m fine though.�

She looked unconvinced. �You sure? You look awfully tired.�

He felt a particularly wicked grin coming on. �Mmm, and whose fault is that?� he said.

She blushed noticeably. He had to admit, he found this particular trait of hers endearing, that after all their years together, and the intimate way they knew each other�s bodies, he could still make her blush like this. He smiled at her and ran a finger up and down her arm. Her eyelids fluttered down in response to look at him, and she leaned in close until he could feel her breath on his face.

�Guilty as charged,� she said against his lips, and he closed his eyes as she kissed him, fully and without holding back, just the way he loved to be kissed by her. �But I refuse to take all of the blame. You were the one trying to seduce me, after all...�

�I�m glad it worked, then,� he said between kisses. �Really, though... do we actually have to get out of bed today?�

Ginny laughed and swatted him on the arm, no doubt a move she had picked up from Hermione over the years. He made a mental note to tell his best friend to stop doing that to Ron so much--at least in front of Ginny.

�Yes, Harry, we do,� she said. �It�s already after eleven-�

�After eleven!�

�-and don�t you remember? We promised Luke we�d take him to Hogsmeade today. Those new chocolate frogs came out last week, the ones with the new Wizard Cards. He�s convinced that Honeydukes will sell out soon if we don�t manage to swing by sometime this weekend.�

Harry groaned. �Remind me to kill Ron when I get the chance,� he muttered. �Getting our son addicted to those bloody things-�

�Oh and I suppose you never touch the stuff, do you?�

�I�ve outgrown them, for your information, unlike that brother of yours,� he said. �And besides...� He grinned, then reached up and slid his hand behind her neck, pulling her into him for a kiss. �I believe I�ve developed a taste for... other, far more delicious things...�

She whimpered into his mouth, but then somehow must have regained control of her senses (Harry had long capitulated to his) and pulled away, panting slightly, much to Harry�s amusement.

�Hogsmeade,� she breathed mindlessly, �come on...�

�Five more minutes?�

�No!� she laughed. She slid off the bed, slipping on a robe, then gently tugged him up. �No more dilly-dallying, you, let�s go...�

He sighed, following her lead and forcing himself to stand. Not surprisingly, what little sleep he did manage to get last night was not enough to wipe away the traces of fatigue he still felt from the wedding yesterday. In fact, he felt even more exhausted than before. It had been a while since he�d felt one hundred percent, now that he thought about it; the wedding had consumed his energy--consumed everyone�s energy--for the last few weeks now, and the frenzy had only grown as the big day actually approached. Harry didn�t remember being this wiped out in planning his own wedding, but then again, he had been looking forward to his.

�I don�t hear any banging about downstairs,� Ginny said. �I s�pose our little man is still sleeping, then.�

�After the way he was running around yesterday, I can�t say I�m surprised,� Harry said, yawning as he pulled on his pajama bottoms.

�It�s not like him not to be up by now, though...� She turned back to Harry. �I think I�ll go check on him.�

�I s�pose I�ll go and start breakfast, then. He�s bound to be starved after all that energy he worked off yesterday.�

He kissed her forehead, then made his way out the door and was halfway down the staircase when he heard their voices coming from Luke�s room.

�I don�t feel too well, Mum...�

�What�s the matter, sweetheart?�

There was a pause, then something in Ginny�s voice when she next spoke grabbed him immediately, and he climbed back up the stairs.

�Oh God, you�re burning up... Does anything hurt? Can you sit up?

�Nothing hurts... I just don�t feel well...�

�That�s it, come on...�

�What�s going on?� Harry said.

Ginny turned back to look at him and he recognized a slight panic in her eyes, though he could tell she was trying to keep her cool so as not to upset Luke.

�He�s running a fever,� she said. �Could you get the thermometer, love?�

Harry retrieved it from the medicine cabinet and handed it to her, watching in silence as she put it in Luke�s mouth.

�40 degrees Celsius,� she said, her voice wavering a little. She looked up at Harry, and he knew she was doing everything possible not to let her armor crack. She stood, then said in a voice low enough so that Luke wouldn�t hear, �Stay with him, I need to get the fever potion...�

Harry nodded, giving her hand a small squeeze before she left.

�I�m sorry, Dad,� Luke said weakly.

�Whatever for?�

He sat down on Luke�s bed, reaching a hand down to brush away the locks plastered on his forehead. He almost pulled his hand back in shock when he felt just how hot the little boy�s skin was.

�For running around all night, even though you told me not to,� he said. �D�you think I got sick from that?�

�You were doing what every child your age does,� he said. �There�s nothing to apologize for.�

Ginny came in moments later, carrying a small cup with her with a steaming liquid inside. Harry couldn�t help but smile in spite of himself when he saw Luke wrinkle his nose at the sight of it.

�No complaints out of you,� she said. �It�s going to make you better, so I expect you to take it.�

�It tastes like sweat,� Luke muttered, taking a few sips, his face contorted in the agony of having to swallow the foul-tasting potion.

Ginny laughed and sat down beside Harry. �Are you sure nothing�s hurting?� she said. �You don�t have a sore throat? A headache? Your stomach doesn�t feel funny?�

Luke shook his head. �No, just tired... And hot. Really hot.� He kicked at blankets, which tangled at his feet.

�Well, the potion should take care of that pretty soon, sweetheart,� Ginny said.

Harry reached down to touch Luke�s forehead. It was still burning, and showing no signs of cooling down. Ginny was watching him intently, as if waiting for the potion to take its effect; Harry knew it would have normally done its job by now.

�Tell you what,� he said, �how about I put together a nice breakfast for you-� His eyes caught sight of the small clock on Luke�s nightstand. �-or lunch, rather. And then when you�re feeling up to it, we�ll catch a carriage over to Hogsmeade and get you those chocolate frogs, all right?�

Luke didn�t say anything, only nodding somewhat listlessly. Ginny looked at Harry, and he offered her a reassuring smile. He�ll be all right, he mouthed, but she didn�t look convinced. Come to think of it, he wasn�t sure he was too convinced either.

She came down to the kitchen moments later, clutching the cup she�d brought up earlier; it was empty.

�He drank the whole potion already?�

�His fever�s not coming down, Harry,� she said. �I don�t understand it... This potion works every time--even adults don�t have to take more than a few sips before it takes their temperature down...� She laid the cup into the sink and turned around to lean back against it. �As far as I can tell he�s not ill, either. He�s got no symptoms that are out of the ordinary... just... this fever...�

�All right, after he gets something to eat, we�ll take him in to see Madam Pomfrey-�

There was a knock at the door. Harry threw a questioning look at Ginny, but she didn�t seem to be expecting anyone at that moment either. The knock came again, this time a little more urgent.

�Whoever it is has got impeccable timing, I see,� Harry muttered, then he swung the door and was surprised to see Ron and Hermione standing there.

But the surprise gave way to worry in the next instant, when he saw the looks on their faces.

�What�s wrong?�

He had a feeling he was not going to like the answer.