Chapter the Penultimate - Restoration
(A/N - Sorry if you feel this is "too short" of a chapter, but after 49 chapters averaging over 5,000 words each at this point I guess I deserve a small break.)
The four of them went outside on the front porch, since it wouldn't do to have a stranger show up in the middle of the Granger living room uninvited. As they looked out on the eerily quiet, battle-scarred neighborhood, 'Miss Puckle' said, "Normally I'd say take care of Crookshanks and Hedwig for me, but I guess that isn't necessary since I won't be gone long at all, will I?", as she set the dial on the Time Turner to the correct indications. See you in a flash!" And, firmly grasping the handle of her trunk, she released the catch on the side of the time turner and it began to spin rapidly.
As she faded quickly from sight, Albus closed the door and ushered the Grangers inside to the kitchen. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, we won't have to wait all that long." He reached into his robes and pulled out his twelve-handed pocket watch. After studying it intently for a few minutes, a smile slowly crept across his face. "Ah…that's much better…at Kings Cross already…now they are moving again…Oh…that makes perfect sense. I have a good idea what's going to happen next."
Mr. Granger asked anxiously, "What? What is going to happen?"
"Something wonderful. Why don't we adjourn to your study now and you can see for yourself."
They entered the study and looked out the now undamaged picture window …to see a very familiar landscape of well-groomed lawns, children playing, and most importantly, no Dark Mark in the skies.
"Does that mean…she's done it?" Mrs. Granger said. "She's put things right, has she? That's our girl! But, do you know if she's okay? And what about Harry?"
He indicated the pocket watch he was still observing carefully. "Marvelous instrument, this is…it was made by the same wizard craftsman that created my wedding present to the Weasleys so many years ago…here, see for yourself."
And he showed them his wonderful watch, one hand of which was labeled in very small print - HJG, and another was initialed HJP. They caught a quick glimpse of hands marked with MM, RH, FF, SS, and a few others they couldn't quite make out, but they soon forgot about that as they finally noticed just where the first hands were pointing - to the words "Privet Drive" They watched closely for about 30 minutes, seated in the study. Suddenly, the hands moved to indicate "Traveling by Portkey" and then they spun rapidly until they stopped on the word "Home".
At the sound of someone's knuckles rapping smartly on the front door, Mrs. Granger rushed excitedly to open it as an unfamiliar male voice called out, "Hello…Is this the Granger residence? There's someone here who very much wants to see you!"
The door flew open, and Albus saw what could best be described as a brown-haired blur rushed in and wrapped the Grangers up in a hug while Crookshanks meowed an obvious greeting from the hallway. "Mum…Dad…I'm back! And look who I brought along with me!"
Still embracing her parents as Crookshanks rubbed up against her legs, she looked back over her shoulder at the young man she had risked everything to save, now standing alone in the doorway. Harry smiled at her for a moment, and it looked to Albus as if they were engaged in a silent conversation. Finally, Harry took a step into the house, extending his hand towards Mr. Granger. "You must be Hermione's father. We've never been formally introduced. I'm Harry Potter, and I'm pleased to meet you." They shook hands, and then he turned to Mrs. Granger. He paused for a second as he looked at her, and then said "…and you, of course, are her mother. Except for your hair color, you look very much like…well, someone else we knew. Now I know where Hermione got her good looks from….and her tendency to be embarrassed at compliments," he added as Mrs. Granger blushed.
Harry then turned towards the other occupant of the room, nodded slightly in recognition and said, coolly, "Professor Dumbledore, sir."
The headmaster, while not expecting a warm embrace, was slightly confused at the apparent rebuff from his student, but he quickly realized what could have caused it. "I take it, Harry, from your reaction to me now, that you've had some differences with the time loop reflection of me?
Harry's expression was neutral as he appeared to be deep in thought again. Hermione, who had been still embracing her parents, walked over to him. She took both his hands in hers and looked directly into his sparkling green eyes. Not a word was spoken for a good minute, but finally, Harry sighed loudly as he wrapped his left arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him as they faced Albus together.
Drawing a deep breath, he then spoke directly to Albus, "As Hermione has reminded me, you are not the same person I have known over the past five years and I should not hold you accountable, especially for his recent actions - recent to us, anyway. She has also pointed out that without that other person's guidance and intervention, we would not be having this reunion under such happy circumstances. I apologize for my behavior just now."
Hermione relaxed as he finished speaking. Harry slowly reached out his right hand towards his headmaster. Albus's eyes twinkled merrily as he returned the handshake warmly as he asked, "Hermione, Harry, would you mind sharing with us what happened? It has been only a few minutes to the three of us, but I'm sure your perception has been quite different."
Harry and Hermione nodded and they all sat down in the study. They were immediately joined by Hedwig, who flew right to Harry's shoulder as he sat down and nipped at Harry's cheek with affection. Albus and the Grangers spent the rest of the evening and into the night listening intently to their story. Since Hermione had all of "Harmony's" memories to recount also, they were treated to a unique perspective of events from two points of view. Finally, near midnight, they finished their story. Dumbledore stood and solemnly shook Hermione's hand. "Welcome back…welcome back! I am so glad to see that you were successful in keeping your promise, eh, 'Miss Puckle'? I assume you don't mind me calling you that? As we have just seen, she is still very much a part of you, you know."
"Yes sir. But, please remind me to never make a binding wizarding promise like that again…I'm not sure I want to go through anything like that ever again in my life."
"Oh, Miss Granger, I'm sure you don't mean that." Albus said, his eyes twinkling with pleasure. "Based on what you've told me about your recent commitment to each other, I have a feeling you'll be making another binding promise to someone in a few years…after you've finished your schooling, that is. Binding promises of that nature can be a very good thing."
Now it was Harry's turn to blush as he considered what Albus was saying. "Well, yes sir…I was thinking that very thing myself."
Albus smiled and nodded in agreement, then continued. "And now, Mr. Potter…there is another issue we have to address - since I assume from your recent adventures at Privet Drive that you are most likely considered persona non grata at your Aunt and Uncles' house, do you think that you and Miss Granger could see yourself spending time both here and at Order Headquarters, at least for the rest of this summer? In the mean time, I will be seeing if there is any way the protections can be established once again, or if it is even advisable to do so."
<Wait a minute - did Dumbledore just say what I thought he said? We're going to be staying here, AND at Grimmauld Place…until we go back to Hogwarts in September? Is that okay with your parents?>
She turned to them and said, "Mum…Dad…Harry wanted to know…is what the Headmaster said correct? Are you okay with Harry staying here - with me...and at Order Headquarters?"
Mr. Granger spoke first. "Of course we are, my dear…as long as Albus promises to keep those chaperones around at all times, that is!"
Mrs. Granger pretended to hit her husband on the shoulder and laughed. "Yes, 'Mione…we really do want to get to know your Harry, you know. After what you've told us, I have a feeling he's going to be around here for quite some time so we had better get used to him."
Harry grinned at the two of them, then at Hermione. "Well, now I suppose we've got some business to take care of - business that involves Tom Riddle." As he looked lovingly at Hermione, he continued, "Thanks to his and Bella's timeline meddling, I now understand just what the 'power that he knows not' is, and, according to the prophecy, I am sure that will be his downfall." Still looking deeply into her eyes, he said, "You know, sir, I think that Tom has a tendency to underestimate his opposition."
*****End of YEAR FIVE…****
(A/N - Well, that ends it…until HBP comes out. And, I apologize to anyone who didn't like the way I wrote the resolution of the time loop in these last two chapters. Yes, some of you may think I used a cliché plot device to "reset the timeline"…but if you look back over the story, I gave you plenty of warning! I mean, that was a major reason Hermione went back in time to begin with - to set the timeline right again. (Well, that, and to rescue Harry!) I knew that for her to be successful it would have to result in the time loop ending and the original timeline restored - just like JKR herself did in POA. Honestly, my intent all along was to 1) give everyone who read KAP an excuse to re-read all the books if they wanted to follow along with my version, and 2) leave things so that Book 6 and Book 7 comprise the 'sequel' to KAP - unless, of course, after reading HBP I feel there is a need to "fix things". For example, if by the end of HBP - or book 7 - Harry and/or Hermione are dead, Harry is settled down with Ginny, or Ron is married to Hermione, I may HAVE to make an exception.
By the way, in case you were wondering, all of the canon quotes (both long and short) in this story were typed by me directly from the printed novels. I did NOT use unauthorized e-books as a source that I could cut and paste from. I know that JKR has not permitted any Potter books to be released in electronic form, not even during the peak of the e-book craze a few years ago, and I respect her wishes.
Now, I want to thank a few people specifically for their support during the writing of this 'little plot bunny that grew…' First, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife (*Hi, honey! *) for putting up with me over the past 6 months or so saying 'Just one more paragraph, dear…' while graciously serving as one of my betas. She caught many grammar/spelling problems, and helped with some of the dialogue - not to mention that she was an inspiration for many of the H/Hr 'fluff' scenes. (We actually have been known to finish each other's sentences and hear each other's voice in our heads from time to time, so those scenes were pretty easy for me to write.) Anyway, since I owe her big-time, I am going to be somewhat 'incognito' on Portkey for a while - I have to catch up on some 'honey-do' tasks, along with hopefully spending some time together, just the two of us.
Same goes for my family…I'm sure they are going to be glad to not have to say "Dad's on the computer working on his story" when someone asks. My daughter, Renaiya880727 and one of my sons have also helped as betas from time to time, and my daughter is now off on her own 'Portkey career' as a well-reviewed author (and my son may end up writing a story someday too! The last I heard he wanted to do something in the R/L arena.)
Now, on to the other thanks… to all of you who have been regular reviewers, especially those of you who have followed up with emails - THANKS! (Since they know who they are, I won't mention them by name…with the exception of IronChefOR - thanks again for the DVD!) It has really made my day to get emails and reviews from the Portkey community. Sometimes when I got a mini-writer's block, I would just read some of your encouraging comments, sigh, take a deep breath, and get back at it again.
Finally, I want to once again acknowledge and fully credit the original kind words, encouragement and support from my first "Portkey friend" - the amazing danielerin. It really is all her fault that I took that giant step to submit my application to the ficmods back in November of 2004. So, if you don't like the story, I guess you should blame her… *grin*.
By the way, I couldn't leave this story without including one more quote from a somewhat obscure sci-fi movie. I will be VERY surprised if anyone actually figures it out! HINT - It's very near the beginning of the chapter.
What does the future hold for me? Well, I have a few in-depth reviews I've promised a few of you; and some beta work that I'm still involved with. Then, after I finish reading and analyzing HBP, my next project will most likely be an essay for the Forums side of Portkey. I've been working on it here and there during lulls in writing KAP, but I need to check how HBP turns out before I can confirm my suspicions. By the way, most likely this will not be a Harry/Hermione related essay - it will probably be in the General Discussion section, if someone else doesn't beat me to the idea I have.
Thanks again for the support you've given me. You've been a great group of readers! (And yes, I KNOW that the Author's notes are almost as long as the chapter…:rolleyes: )