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All four of them had lost track of the days as they passed, celebrating Hermione's birthday on the 19th of September was the last date they were absolutely sure of.
With a crack, they appeared in the snow-covered road of Godric's Hollow, wind gently brushing snowflakes against the exposed skin of their faces.
"I still think we should have used Polyjuice Potion." Hermione muttered, looking nervously at the house that lined the street.
"No," Harry replied, "this is where I was born. I'm not returning as someone else."
A bell tolled in the distance, echoing out across the village. One of the doors opened ahead of them, a man cheerily waving at them before bustling out of sight.
"Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve." she said, the four of them listening to the gentle singing that resonated from the church.
Harry's eyes fell on the graveyard next to it, "Do you think they'd be in there? My mum and dad?"
She nodded beside him, "Yeah, I think they would."
Scanning tombstones, the four of them slowly proceeded up each aisle of the dead, occasionally having to wipe the stone clean to read a name.
Hermione's voice echoed quietly, "Hey, Harry?"
The two girls smiled sadly as Harry stared down at one stone, unmoving as they moved next to him. Hermione crouched, slowly drawing a bouquet of white flowers into existence with her wand and laying it against the Potters' grave.
"Merry Christmas." Harry smiled, Hermione leaning her head on his shoulder as Cedric joined them.
He bent down to whisper to them, "Guys, I think there's someone watching us. By the church."
"I think I know who that is."
*
Bathilda Bagshot, renowned historian, lived in as close to squalor as one could get, total darkness bathing her barely furnished house.
Cedric knelt down by the empty hearth, unused for what seemed like decades as a thick coating of dust had settled over all the kindling, "Incendio."
Flames burst into life, crackling happily as Bathilda led Harry upstairs.
"What are you doing?" Lori asked with her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
Smirking up at her, he replied, "Fire message."
She was crouching beside him in an instant, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "Ced, you are brilliant!"
He muttered another spell, both placing their heads, somewhat reluctantly, into the fire. Pleasantly surprised when their flesh remained intact, a small cottage morphed in front of their eyes.
Someone was bustling around in the kitchen, stifling a yawn with the back of their hand. They turned, confused as to why the fire had suddenly burst into life and bent in front of it.
"Lori, Cedric?" a tired Lupin smiled, "I must admit, it's good to see you. Your families have been going out of their mind with worry."
Lupin suddenly shouted for Tonks, his wife kneeling beside the fire with a large grin moments later, her hair now aquamarine blue.
"How's things your end?" Tonks chipped.
Cedric continued sadly, "Ron's gone solo, we've got no idea where he is. That was about a week back."
Lupin and Tonks both nodded, as his hand settled on her slightly swollen middle, "We've got a name for little one: Teddy."
Lori cooed, leaning against Cedric, "Aww, that sounds perfect! How's everything else?"
"Arrests and disappearances have become much more common," Lupin admitted, "the Ministry is intercepting more owls than ever, it's almost impossible to get word around the Order."
"How are our families?" Cedric asked, resting a hand on Lori's knee, his other fiddling with a small ring in his pocket.
"They're all fine. Molly's been missing the both of you." Tonks told them, "Just tell me one thing. Are you all safe?"
Hermione shrieked loudly, both Lori and Cedric diving out of the flames, the fire dying into embers instantly. The three of them raced up the steep stairs, noticing Bathilda's clothes first, then Nagini wrapped tightly around Harry's middle.
The snake reared as Harry extracted himself, launching forwards before Hermione's spell shoved her down the stairs. She edged forwards, grabbing Harry's wand before she joined the others.
The silence was palpable as they all stood, Nagini shooting up from the stairwell, cutting Cedric off from the others.
"Go!" he yelled, backing up as the snake followed him, "I'll buy you some time!" Lori leapt forward to grab him, before Hermione's hand latched around her wrist.
"Remember I love you." he smiled.
With a crack, they were gone, taking half the window with them. Snow covered grass warped in front of their eyes, the three of them landing with a soft crunch.
*
Lori hadn't said a word since they had arrived in the Forest of Dean, taking the first watch and leaning numbly against a tree, her head rested against the icy bark.
Smiling sadly, Hermione crouched beside her, handing her a mug of steaming tea, "Mum always said this was the way to solve any problem."
Feeling the heat already seeping into her fingers as she accepted it, Lori chuckled, "Mine was the same. Always had a pot at the ready."
Hermione noticed the necklace Lori was clutching tightly, the broom and lion charms dancing in her fingertips, "That was the one Cedric gave to you, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," she sniffed, "for my sixteenth. I guess it's been another year since then." She sighed, wiping her eyes with her cuff, "I was gonna tell him tonight, as well."
"Tell him what?"
Lori smiled slightly, "That I wanted to start a family with him."
Hermione pulled her into a hug, sobs wracking Lori's body as she sobbed onto her shoulder, burying her head in the crook of her neck.
"And you will," she reassured, wiping away the tears on Lori's cheeks, "because if anyone could survive that, it's Cedric."
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