Desperate HouseWitches

 

By- MeiQueen

 

Disclaimer:   The characters belong to J. K. Rowling, the plot to ABC and their marvelously funny new series “Desperate Housewives”.  So, none of it is mine.

 

Author’s Note- I know the Prologue may seem like it moves extremely fast, but that is because the whole point of this story is to explore the married lives of four prominent modern-day Harry Potter characters.  Just bear with me, the fun will come.

 

Prologue

 

            Harry Potter stepped out of Dumbledore’s office at the end of 5^th year finally knowing why he was not made a Prefect, and bearing the full weight of his relationship with Voldemort.  When 6^th year began, now that Harry already knew of the prophecy, Dumbledore decided to make Harry the Gryffindor prefect alongside Hermione.  (Ron had not even realized in his past year as Prefect that he was capable of giving detentions, so Dumbledore decided Harry made a much more qualified candidate.)  His sixth year as Prefect went fairly smoothly, except for the odd attack from Voldemort here and there.

            It was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts that his world became so catastrophically different.  The battles became more and more frequent, and to no one’s surprise, it was Harry Potter and Hermione Granger selected to lead the school as Head Boy and Girl during the troubled and difficult wizarding times.  Voldemort began to gain more and more assertiveness, and became more and more arrogant.  It was not surprising that rumors began to circulate of an attack on Hogwarts, and indeed, this is just what Voldemort was planning.

            The attack had to pull off without a hitch, that much Voldemort knew…and he needed the right moment to attack.  “Dumbledore is the only one the Voldemort ever feared,” or so the common saying goes.  Many times Harry’s life had been endangered by Voldemort, Dumbledore may not have been alongside but was indirectly…with Quirrell by the Mirror of Erised which by no coincidence Dumbledore had taught Harry to operate, in the Chamber of Secrets with Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. But in the Ministry in fifth year, Dumbledore showed up at the last moment, right when Harry’s life was in serious danger.  The main point of this is that Dumbledore’s existence had become necessary to Harry for survival.   So, one chilly night in October, Harry’s heart seemed to drop in his chest when he was woken up with terrible news- Dumbledore was very ill, and could not get out of bed.  McGonagall had woken Harry and Hermione to get their opinions on what to do.  Harry remembered it vividly-

Harry woke up with a start, and realized he was being shook.

A familiar voice was whispering to him. “Harry, wake up!! Wake up!!”

“Hermione?” he asked groggily.

“Yes, now get up…GET UP!  We have a serious problem!”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you’ve woken me up because one of the first years have gotten beaten up by Malfoy, of the house-elves are being oppressed or some other crap like that,” he said irritably, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Well,” she shot back haughtily, “how would you like to be a house-elf and be bossed around by everyone?! They don’t get paid, Harry!”

Harry sighed and got out of bed.  “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, I’m sorry.  What did you wake me for?”

Hermione looked down.  “It’s bad, Harry. It’s really bad.”

Hermione led Harry into the Gryffindor Common Room where Professor McGonagall was perched on a chair dressed in her nightclothes. 

“Professor?” Harry asked softly.  “What is it?”

McGonagall turned to him, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with tears.  “Dumbledore is very sick, Harry.  We don’t know how long he can hold on.  But to make it worse, rumors have come up of You-Know-Who planning an attack on the castle.  With Dumbledore is his current state, we could be rendered defenseless.”

She said all this very bluntly, and waited for it to sink in.  Harry’s jaw dropped. 

Professor McGonagall continued.  “Please don’t tell anyone about this.  It’s bad enough that you two know, but as the Head Students, we thought you had a right.  Tell no one.  Not even Ronald.  If this gets out, we might as well start engraving the tombstones.

With that, McGonagall walked briskly out of the room.

Harry looked over at Hermione, whose eyes were as wide as if she had seen a ghost. 

“Don’t worry, ‘Mione…it will be okay.  If neither of us tell, Dumbledore will recover, and we’ll have nothing to worry about,” he said soothingly while hugging his friend.  She is just my friend, right?  Isn’t she? He asked himself.  Of course she is, he thought.  But why do I feel so protective of her all of a sudden? For that, his brain with seemingly multiple personalities could formulate no answer.

            Unfortunately, that’s not how it happened.  The news spread like wildfire.  Apparently some Hufflepuff had passed two teachers in the hall, who were whispering to one another about the situation, and soon enough, most of the surrounding villages knew.  And so did Voldemort.  The attack came when Dumbledore’s sickness had persevered for a week, and many people were beginning to realize that he would never recover.  It was the morning of the day set for the attack that Dumbledore called Harry to his bedside. 

“Harry,” he croaked weakly as Harry entered Dumbledore’s bedroom.

It seemed odd, almost alien, for Harry to be in his Headmaster’s bedroom, instead of in the office with Fawkes and all of Dumbledore’s many gadgets.

“Harry,” he said again. 

“Yes, Professor?” Harry asked softly.

“Harry…something is going to happen tonight,” Dumbledore replied.  “I can feel it.  Voldemort is planning a siege on the castle, and with me, if you pardon my saying, on my deathbed, it’s the perfect time.”

“Don’t say that, sir,” Harry protested.  “The doctors say you will recover-”

“My dear boy,” Dumbledore interrupted.  “We must not believe all that we hear.  The doctors are just trying to get our hopes up, you and I both know that.  At most, I have until tomorrow.  And that is if I am lucky.”

With a sigh, Dumbledore continued.  “This fight could mean many innocent lives, Harry.  Voldemort wants the castle for a base, more than likely.  He wants to recruit the young innocent minds that this school protects.  Harry, I need you to be strong and guide.  This battle could be catastrophic, and you and Hermione must lead this school to victory.”

Harry nodded weakly.

“Harry, you alone have the power to kill Voldemort.  Only you.  The Death Eaters are strong, but I believe that this school’s faculty and fine Defense Against the Dark Arts students can handle those.  You alone must seek out Voldemort, and do away with this persistent evil for good.  Do you understand?”

With that, Harry nodded, and said his dear good byes with Dumbledore.

            The battle that night was much as Professor Dumbledore anticipated.  The Death Eaters stormed the castle, and Voldemort followed.  Harry sought Voldemort out and had a battle with him in the Great Hall.  Curses were flying this way and that, and students uninvolved in the fight were trying to dodge the spells.  Harry’s “Expelliarmus” blew Voldemort’s wand across the hall, and just when Harry was about to deal the final blow to Voldemort, Voldemort did something completely unanticipated.

“Accio Hermione!” the cold rasp rang out over the Hall. 

The whole hall fell silent as the bushy-haired brunette flew overhead towards Voldemort.

Once Hermione got there, Voldemort tightly cinched an arm around her neck.  With no wand left to defend him, as he only just had enough bodily magic to summon Hermione, Voldemort was in a tight fix.  But he did have the one thing he needed to bargain for his life- he had leverage.

“Well, Harry, if you’re wondering what the words are…they’re Avada Kedavra,” he said in his smug evil hiss.

Harry’s eyes widened.  What do I do?! My best friend will die if I kill Voldemort right now!

“I know what you’re thinking!” Voldemort said triumphantly.  “Kill me, and kill the girl!” 

Hermione looked urgently at Harry and loosened Voldemort’s arm enough to speak.  “Kill him, Harry! Kill him while you can!”

“But, Hermione! I can’t! You’ll die, too!” Harry screamed back.

“I know! Kill him! Do it now, Harry, please!” Hermione screeched.

Harry closed his eyes for a bit of courage and said the fatal words, just as Ron burst in and screamed “Expelliarmus!” at Voldemort.  Since the only thing Voldemort was holding was Hermione, she flew up in the air and crashed against the back of the Hall while the killing curse hit Voldemort full-force.

Harry’s breath caught.  What just happened?  He only hit Voldemort, so Hermione might still be alive.

Sprinting to the back of the hall, Harry jumped over the disheveled chairs at the High Table to where Hermione lay bloody and bruised on the floor.  Her left leg seemed to be at an odd angle and definitely seemed broken, her body was twisted and her head was coated in blood.  She can’t possibly be alive, Harry thought with tears forming in his eyes.  Pulling her limp torso off the ground, Harry hugged her to himself while Ron looked on in horror. 

“Oh, Hermione, what I would give if you were alive!  You mean so much to me you know,” now that Harry had started he found it difficult to stop.  “Ever since I saw you on the train in first year, where you came in all pompous and asked if we had seen a toad, I knew there was just something about you.  And as the years have gone by, you’ve become one of my closest friends.  I don’t really even see any other girls but you because I know I don’t need to.  For the past two years, the entire Quidditch team has been calling me “gay” because I never date.  But that’s only because I…I love you…and I don’t want to see other girls, and I…just would give anything for you to be alive!” Harry murmured. 

Ron’s eyes widened.  I didn’t know any of that, he thought to himself in total awe.

“What an impassioned speech,” a familiar voice giggled.

Harry didn’t dare believe his eyes…but Ron was smiling too.  Hermione was most definitely alive, and she had just heard that whole speech. Great.

“I love you, Harry,” she said softly.

He smiled down at her and then looked accusingly at Ron.  “What bloody took you so long, anyway?!”

“Well,” he began, his whole body turning as red as his hair, “I spotted Luna Lovegood in a bit of trouble with a Death Eater, so I stopped to help.”

“Why are you blushing?” Hermione asked with a giggle.

“She repaid me with a bit of a kiss,” Ron said, turning even redder still.

From the final battle on, the three grew closer than ever before, especially Harry and Hermione.  Soon Harry asked Hermione to be his wife, and after Hogwarts was over, they were married.  Ron and Luna surprisingly, through their differences, became quite the couple, and decided to move in together after Hogwarts was done.  Harry and Hermione decided to move back to Godric’s Hollow, where Harry’s parents used to live, and built a house that replicated the one Voldemort had demolished seventeen years ago.  Ron and Luna missed the pair so much that they too, a year later, decided to move to Godric’s Hollow along with some old school chums.  Ginny, Luna, Hermione, and Parvati Patil all lived in the same area, and soon became best friends.