In Hiding

                                    

                                          
  The stairs creaked under Harry's feet as he took them two at a time. It had been three weeks since the wedding, and so far there had been little to no contact with the outside world.  Harry was sure that now that the ministry had fallen, he would be their number one target. 
  He made it into the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione and Ron were sitting around the table looking at the one newspaper they had risked going out for, three days ago. 
  "Sorry, didn't mean to sleep in." Harry said as they looked up.
  "It's quite all right. Not much to do anyways." Hermione replied, giving him a quick peck on the lips.
  They had agreed to refrain from too much PDA in front of Ron, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, they didn't want to be known as that couple. They had set up a room for each person, Ron in Regulus' old room, Hermione in a guest room, and Harry in Sirius' room. They had spent the first few days cleaning up the place, making it livable. 
  After a quick breakfast, made by Kreacher who was slowly coming around to them after they were kind to him, Harry walked back into the main foyer. He slowly walked up the stairs, examining every inch of the house. He had never really felt fond of the house. When the Order had used it, it was a scary and dark place. After Sirius died, it was a powerful reminder of him and how much he had hated it. Now that they were forced to stay here, it had begun to represent something new to Harry. The future. 
  Did Harry want Number 12 Grimmauld Place to be his future home? Absolutely not. But he did want a home one day, and he wanted to share it with someone, specifically Hermione. Every time he thought about this, he scolded himself. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about the future, that it wasn't fair to him or Hermione, his chances of surviving were very low. But, he had too. It kept him from losing hope, from going insane. It gave him something to fight for.
  Hermione stood by his side. "Whatcha doing?"
  "I'm thinking. I keep having ideas and visions of life after."
  "After what?"
  "The War. I know it sounds crazy, I mean what are the chances we make it out of this alive? But, I cant help thinking about a house, and a family."
  "I don't think it's crazy at all." Hermione assured.
  Harry smiled at her, "You're beautiful, you know that?"
  "I hope so." She replied, "So, what all do you imagine?"
  "I imagine having a job, something at the ministry probably, although I would love to try to play quidditch. I have a nice home, nothing to huge, but big enough to have children one day, and I imagine........ you being by my side."
  "Really? I'm a part of the future you imagine?"
  "Yes, that is the one element that I am certain of."
  Hermione blushed, suddenly realizing how serious Harry took their relationship. Not that she didn't take it serious herself, she just wasn't that far in the planning process. She still hoped to go back to Hogwarts and finish her education. The idea of settling down scared her. But she couldn't let Harry know that right now, he needed any hope he could get. She cupped his face and placed a light kiss on his lips.
  "Good" She said.
                          
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A bit of a shorter chapter, just keeping it short and simple with this one.
Big announcement coming soon!
                          
As always, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment any ideas or just to interact with the story, it keeps me motivated😊.
Until Next Time,
-JRich