Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter. J. does, and I think that her children will own him after her death.

A/N: Okay, I think I’ll make this a long A/N because I have lots of things to tell you. First of all, I wanted to thank all the readers that followed this story and its prequel, ‘I Will Remember You’. You have been all wonderful. Then, thanks to all the people that put this story in their Alerts list, in their Favourites list and in their C2s. And last, but not least, a very big thank you to all the people that reviewed my chapters, those reviews really made my day. Well, I hate to beg for reviews, but if I’ll say this I don’t think that it’s exactly begging. If you feel like leaving a review, and it’s about year 3000 and the aliens have invaded the Earth or Voldy has won the Battle against Harry Potter, leave it anyway, I swear that I’ll find the way to read it! And I’ll also reply at them (if you want me to!)! As a last thing (then you can go on reading the chapter), I wanted to let you know that I’ve written a story, which I think it’s better than these ones I’ve uploaded on if you want to have a look at it, you’ll find it on Fiction Alley, under my name (Ely-Baby), it’s called ‘But Thy Eternal Summer Shall Not Fade’. I think it’s pretty nice, so if you want to have a look at it, just check it out, although forget it. Again, thanks a lot to you all. Love you all.

To Danii: Thanks so much for all your encouraging comments. I’m really happy that you have been my beta-reader for this story. Thanks for all your hard work.

Out of Here, Forever with You

Harry tried to cover his amusement as he watched Hermione’s pale face staring out the window.

“Hermione, there’s no need to check our position on the ground,” he said, trying to sound serious. “I know how to get to Hogwarts.”

Hermione nodded, without speaking.

“Look,” said Harry after a while. “Hogwarts.”

“Already?” asked Hermione, glancing ahead at the castle.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe we were so quick because we didn’t mistake the way this time. And we didn’t stop anywhere.”

“Right,” said Hermione, as the car landed abruptly on the grounds in front of Hogwarts.

“Home, sweet home,” said Harry, getting out of the car. They walked towards the main door and tried to open it, just to find out that it was locked. Harry sighed. “Open up, Filch!” he shouted.

They heard locks sliding back and then the door opened. “What the – oh,” said Filch, disappointed. “It’s you.”

“Yes, it is. Aren’t you happy to see us?” asked Harry, pushing him away from the entrance and entering the hall.

“No!” said Filch truthfully. “I was getting used to the idea of being here alone again and then you come back.”

“We were only away a couple of days,” Harry pointed out.

“I adapt quickly,” snapped Filch. “How long will you stay here this time?”

“For a while,” said Harry slowly.

“No,” said Hermione hastily. “We’ll stay here just until we decide what to do.”

Harry looked at her. “What do you want to do?”

Hermione looked back at him, frustrated. “I don’t want to stay here. Let’s go somewhere where we can be useful to other people.”

“Do you mean the Ministry of Magic?” asked Harry horrified.

“No – yes – I don’t know,” said Hermione, looking away from him.

“Yes, yes,” said Filch. “The Ministry of Magic, what a good place. You should definitely go there.”

“Shut up,” snapped both Harry and Hermione. Filch snorted and walked away, muttering something like ‘respect for the old wizards’.

Hermione looked at Harry. “You are obsessed with the Ministry of Magic. There’s no need to go there, if you don’t want to.”

“But, you want to,” Harry pointed out.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “Not necessarily.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

“I just want to give some direction to my life again. Is that so difficult for you to understand?” she asked. “Just because you think there’s nothing to do out there, it doesn’t mean that it’s true.”

“Hermione, your life has direction,” he said slowly.

“Harry, do you remember when we were Aurors?” she asked him. Harry nodded.

“We used to help other people and we felt happy,” she said, while a smile spread across her face.

“There are no more good people to help, Hermione,” said Harry, sighing.

“I know, that’s what I told you last month,” she said matter-of-factly. “I simply can’t spend all my life in this place. I’m not like you. I couldn’t have lived at the Leaky Cauldron for five months.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “There’s only one thing that I don’t understand,” he said, “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” said Hermione, sighing.

“Well, when you’ve decided, come and look for me, will you? I’ll be in my bedroom,” he said, storming out of the Hall and climbing up the stairs to the seventh floor.

Hermione followed him with her gaze and shook her head. She heard the slow steps of Filch behind her and, since she wasn’t keen on having another discussion right at the moment, she climbed up the stairs as well and reached the entrance to the Head’s Office.

“Gryffindor,” she muttered to the gargoyle, which moved away and revealed the moving stairs. Hermione took at step and the stairs brought her on the top, directly in front of the door to the office.

She entered and walked towards the wall opposite the door.

“Good morning, professors,” she said. Dumbledore opened his eyes and looked at her from behind his spectacles.

“Ah, Miss Granger,” he said, smoothing his beard. “Are you back already?”

Hermione nodded.

“How was your trip? Entertaining?” he asked her, smiling.

“I can’t say that we were bored,” she said with a small smile.

“Did you find my tomb?” asked Professor McGonagall in a sleepy voice, stretching her arms above her head.

Hermione nodded. “Yes, professor and your name was written perfectly on it.”

“Did you find something strange in that place?” asked Dumbledore, already knowing the answer.

“Voldemort’s evil work was still there, but we managed to destroy it,” she replied.

“Wonderful,” said Dumbledore. “And may I ask how?”

Hermione smiled. “I’ll answer your question, Professor, if you’ll answer mine.”

Dumbledore smiled back. “Of course, Miss Granger.”

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall listened to Hermione’s story without interrupting her. When she finished, she found that most of the other portraits were staring at her, some with their mouths open.

“And that’s all,” she concluded, sighing.

“You have been very brave, Miss Granger, and very wise,” Professor McGonagall said.

Hermione blushed. “If it hadn’t been for Harry, I wouldn’t have remembered what Professor Dumbledore told us about burning Voldemort’s corpse.”

“Oh, of course you would have. You were just stressed,” said Dumbledore. “But now, may I know the question that you wanted to ask me, Miss Granger?”

Hermione lowered her eyes. “I just wanted to ask your advice,” she said.

“Go on, then,” said Dumbledore with a crooked smile.

“What would you do if you don’t want to waste your life, but there’s nothing to do on the Earth?” she asked quickly.

“Ah, Miss Granger,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “I am very happy to hear that you and Harry are going to wake up from this torpor into which you have fallen.”

Hermione flushed. “I – we – I didn’t mean-”

“I know,” said Dumbledore, “You have just regained your memory, you needed some time to understand everything again. But you cannot hide here forever.”

“That’s exactly what I told Harry,” mumbled Hermione.

“Very well,” said Dumbledore. “And you came here to find out if I would suggested you find something to do, correct?”

Hermione nodded.

“Miss Granger, on this Earth, you are not alone. You have Harry, and Harry has you,” he said, while Hermione looked at him with no comprehension. “I can’t suggest a place for you to go or something for you to do. You have to decide that together.”

“Harry doesn’t want to go anywhere,” she said slowly.

“You will die inside if you don’t leave this place,” stated Professor McGonagall.

“I know, and I don’t want that to happen.”

“Then just go. It doesn’t matter where, as long as you are together,” said Dumbledore wisely.

“But, I’m at the same point I was at before,” said Hermione, frustrated. “I have to convince Harry to go somewhere and he doesn’t want to. And I don’t even know where to go.”

“You have to look inside yourself to know where you can go,” said Dumbledore.

“But can’t you give me a clue about some place?”

Dumbledore sighed. “Miss Granger, I’m only a portrait.”

Hermione nodded. “I’m sorry, Professor. I think that I’d better go talk to Harry.”

“Good idea,” said Dumbledore. “Send us those Muggle things – how do they call them? – postwars?”

“Postcards?” asked Hermione, smiling.

“Exactly,” said Dumbledore cheerfully, before falling asleep again like Professor McGonagall.

“Goodbye, professors,” whispered Hermione, exiting the office. She sighed deeply and climbed down the stairs. She made her way slowly towards the Fat Lady.

“Good morning, Hermione,” she greeted her. “Welcome back.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said, looking at her. “Butterbeer.”

“Oh, I would love to have one,” said the Fat Lady as she swung open and let Hermione in. She looked around and noticed that Harry was there, sitting on an armchair next to the fire. He looked at her and smiled when she entered.

“Where have you been?” he asked her.

“I visited Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall,” she answered, sitting on the armchair facing his.

“Interesting,” said Harry.

“And what have you done?” she asked him.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. I stared at the fire for a while.”

“Harry, I want to live,” she said abruptly.

Harry looked at her with raised eyebrows. “You meant you want to leave?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, I meant what I said. I want to live, and to do that, we have to leave.”

“Aren’t we living well here?” he asked her, gesturing around. “We have a whole castle for us. How many people can claim something like that?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” she said. “But I want to feel like I felt once, before all these things happened to us.”

“We can’t, Hermione. The only things that haven’t been destroyed are you and me, and we are quite different from how we used to be.”

“Alright, the past can’t come back,” said Hermione, shrugging her shoulders. “I know that, but that doesn’t mean that we have to die inside here. That doesn’t mean we can’t have a future.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” said Harry, looking into the fire.

“You won’t lose me. We will stay together forever,” said Hermione earnestly.

“Forever?”

“Forever or until we start to hate each other,” she said, smiling.

Harry smiled back. “I don’t think that I could ever hate you.”

Hermione bent towards Harry and kissed him on his lips. “Same thing,” she murmured.

“So, where are we going?” asked Harry unexpectedly.

Hermione’s smile became wider. “What about visiting my parents and letting them know I’m alright?” she asked hopefully.

Harry seemed to think about it, then he knelt on the floor next to Hermione and placed his head on her lap, embracing her. “I think it’s a great idea,” he whispered.

Hermione placed her hands on his head and smiled, knowing that he would never leave her. Their life would start another time, and this time, they would be together forever. They knew there was no need to forget the past, but it was the future that stood in front of them and they had to live it. They had to live it with all their hearts.

- The End -