Harry Potter and the Beginning of an Era

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my website and a couple of box sets of Due South, Soap, and Dead like me. I sure as hell don't own this, if I did I would also have to own a swimming pool filled with money. But alas I do not. I intend no harm, only to my own mental health, and make no money from this. I'm actually losing money for this...

A/N: This is the sequel to Harry Potter and the End of an Era, if you haven't read that I STRONGLY recommend you read that first. If you have read 'Era,' as I so affectionately call it, I have a couple of things to say. One, to all of you that said that Harry couldn't be killed in his phoenix state, nice theory... a bit obvious, but nice. Also, highly wrong. Two, the last chapter, I was going for the fast chaotic feel... I promise I wont try that again. And I believe someone actually reviewed that they didn't believe it was funny, what I 'did to' Harry. I assure everyone that the last emotion I was going for with the last chapter was humor. Now that I've talked (or typed rather) too much, we'll move onto the fic.

* * *

Johnny sat up and looked over to his alarm clock. It was three thirty in the morning and he still hadn't gotten to sleep. Getting up he looked out the window to see the full moon staring at him, judging him. He looked back to his roommates who were all asleep. He often fought with them since most of their bulling of him occurred because he chose to help a little girl by the name of Evelia. It was one of the reasons he was sure he wasn't like them. Orphans, from their point of view, only looked out for themselves or their siblings. He had never felt that way, in fact, he felt almost all the time like he was missing something, something important. He was sure it was his family. He knew his parents must be looking for him at that moment. He looked into the moon and knew that he was not an orphan that his parents were out there right at that moment. And when the found him he would remember everything about his past, and how he got a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

* * *

“Johnny! Eve's teacher complained again. She said that skateboard of yours does not constitute public transportation and therefore should not be used to get Eve to school… Are you listening?”

“Don't worry Mrs. O'Connell, I wont do it again.” Johnny yelled across the house.

Johnny tied the rope that was connected to the handlebars of the scooter to the back of his belt and stepped onto his skateboard.

“Got your helmet on?”

“Yes.”

“And your pads?”

“Yes.”

“Ready to go to school?”

“No,” Eve held on tight as Johnny started to leave the driveway. After Johnny dropped off Eve He skated to the high school as fast as he could and again ended up late.

“Johnny, you're late.”

“Sorry Mrs. Edith.” Johnny sat down at a seat in the front of the class and opened up his English textbook.

“Now lets open our books to page three hundred and forty-eight. Does anyone know of any scenes from Macbeth?”

“Let the hell broth boil and bubble.” Johnny said without realizing it.

“What was that?” Mrs. Edith asked.

“I…”

“He called something a `hell broth,' he does get detention, right, for saying `hell.'” One of the popular girls who sat in the back row said.

“No, I wont give him detention, he just quoted Shakespeare. Do you remember anything else from the scene?”

“Fingers from a birth strangled babe, ditch delivered by a drab…” Johnny said.

“Very good. What Johnny just recited was a part from the play Macbeth, one of the more famous scenes. You may know a different part from that scene, `Double double, toil and trouble…”

* * *

“Hey Johnny English, do all brits just memorize Shakespeare?”

“I don't know, it might be just me…”

“Don't you know? All Australians say `crikey' and all Americans say `dude' and all brits know their Shakespeare.” A Goth girl said as she joined the two boys at the lunch table.

"Thanks for that stereotype, Kelly, that was quite enlightening," the blonde boy sitting next to Johnny said.

"You're welcome, Steve," she said as she took a bite of her hamburger.

"I heard you were late again," a girl sat next to Kelly.

This girl had big glasses and her messy black hair was in pigtails.

"Hey Indi, and yes I was late. Does everyone need to know my schedule around here?" Johnny said.

"Well on Shelia's new top twenty you did get number three, which for an unpopular like yourself is just plain impossible." Kelly held up the photocopy.

Indi snorted, "From one unpopular to another, congratulations!"

"So how does a mentally challenged person such as yourself remember excerpts from Shakespeare?" Kelly asked.

"Johnny is not mentally challenged," Indi said.

"What the fuck do you call people with amnesia then?"

"I don't quite know... I'll have to research that. And just because Johnny has amnesia doesn't mean he can't remember EVERYTHING. Motor responses, such as speech, are not lost on patients with said problem. Therefore, if Johnny had heard a certain scene from Macbeth over and over his motor skills would just kick in and make him answer a certain way."

They stared at her for a moment before they went back to discussing the day.

* * *

"Buyers," One of Johnny's roommates said as he entered.

Johnny looked out the door and saw a couple sitting in Mrs. O'Connell's office.

"Do you think they'll be disappointed when they learn there aren't any babies here?"

"I don't think they'll stay long enough so we could gauge their reaction."

* * *

Mrs. Winter looked down into the grounds of the orphanage.

"So you two don't want a baby?" the head of the orphanage asked.

"No," her husband said, "You see, I was orphaned by my parents when I was ten and I never got adopted. When we learnt my swimmers don't swim, we decided to adopt. We were going to, after we had a child of our own, so whomever we adopted, they wouldn't be alone."

"Well, what age range are you interested in?" Mrs. O'Connell went over to her file cabinet.

"Who's that?" Mrs. Winter asked pointing outside the window.

Mrs. O'Connell approached and sighed.

"That is Johnny, poor boy."

"What happened to him?" Mrs. Winter asked.

"The poor dear has amnesia. He was found on the street dying. No one knew what was wrong, and when he woke he didn't know who he was. After we searched everywhere for his parents he became an orphan here. He looks after another orphan here, Eve.... So, for the age, maybe around ten?"

Mrs. Winter looked to her husband who nodded.

She stopped Mrs. O'Connell, "Could we speak with him?"

* * *

Johnny sat down across the table from the couple he had seen hours earlier.

"Hey Johnny, this is my wife, Melissa, and I'm Greg."

"Hello."

"You know why we asked you here?" Melissa asked.

"Do you want me to tell you about the other kids here?"

"No. We were thinking about adopting; actually, we were thinking about adopting you."

"Me? Do you know how old I am?"

"Of course we do. You sound like a great kid, and well everybody deserves a chance at having a home, with a family."

"But what if I have a home? What would happen if my parents found me?"

"Then I would hope you would keep in touch with us," Melissa said.

"So you want to adopt me?"

"Right," Greg said.

"I don't know... I mean this is weird... and Eve- she's another orphan, I don't think-"

"We've already spoken with her, and she said she won't go anywhere without you, and vice versa."

* * *

SIX MONTHS LATER

Professor Snape walked along the muggle town with disgust in his heart. He had come here on Order business, and stayed for an entirely different reason. He looked into the muggle jewelry shop, but decided against buying her any jewelry.

A small dog came up to him and started to bark.

"Gotcha!" a familiar voice said.

Snape looked down to see a mop of messy black hair pick up the small dog.

"Sorry about that sir," a woman said as she came up to them out of breath, "Our dog just kinda got away from us, he is only a puppy after all."

"I told you we should have gotten the H-harness for Jareth," the same familiar voice said.

The boy stood and Snape saw the boy's lightning bolt scar and bright green eyes. The family seemed to take his glare as a 'get the hell away from me' look, and proceeded on their day.

Snape took the mirror out of his pocket and went into an alley.

"Dumbledore," he said.

"Yes, Severus?"

"I don't quite know how to say this, but I don't believe Potter is dead."

"I'll be right there."

* * *

Hermione stood at the entranceway to the infirmary. Madame Pomphrey looked over to her and sighed, Hermione could tell she wasn't expecting to see her this year.

"Miss Granger, are you attending this year?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore wants me to get a sleeping potion from you."

"Are you still not sleeping in the night?" She handed Hermione the potion.

"No, I'm sleeping. I just keep having... nightmares."

Madame Pomphery gave her a sympathetic look, and whenever that happened that was usually Hermione's cue to leave. She had no interest in anyone's sympathy, she just wanted to go to school and be done with it.

Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and sat on the chair near the fire. Most people were at the feast, watching the new first years get sorted. She had stuck around for about five minutes before the stares had gotten to her, then she went to see Madame Pomphrey.

Luna was sitting on the couch of the Gryffindor common room and seemed to not notice Hermione's entrance. Luna had joined the Gryffindors this past year after she and Ron married, which for a first Ron's mother insisted he do. Luna's pregnancy became apparent about two months after Harry's death, she had been distracted as they all had been, and when she realized she hadn't had her period in months she told Ron who fainted. After Ron's fainting they told their parents and Mrs. Weasley decided that the only right thing would be for Ron to marry Luna, even though they still were in school. Hermione had been 'best man' while Ginny was the maid of honor, and after the simple ceremony Luna had become a Gryffindor and they had taken over the Head Boy room in the Gryffindor tower.

Ron had been the only one to try and comfort Hermione, after repeated failed attempts by many they decided that he would be the one who had the ability to help her. His attempts to comfort her were few and far between the farther and farther they got away from Harry's day of death. Hermione was glad for it, she didn't want to feel better, she was never going to get over Harry's death.

But she realized, the reason Ron wasn't comforting her as much anymore was, that he had been slowly getting over Harry's death. She knew Ron was not aware of it, but with Luna, and the prospect of a child, he was missing Harry less and less and loving the fact that a future lied a head of him more and more.

Of all the things Hermione felt, happiness was at the top of the list. She was happy that he found what he needed to go on. She was happy that he wasn't stuck in a state of limbo such as herself.

She felt as if she were some sort of rag doll. To be placed and manipulated until they got tired of her. They tried, through Ron, to tell her how to feel, how to act now that Harry was gone. But in the end she felt like giving up. That was when it happened.

Hermione Granger tried to commit suicide.

Even about committing suicide Hermione was the diligent student. She knew enough about the ways, and the one way that wouldn't leave a mess for whoever found her was to take pills... pain pills to be more precise. It was easier than she would have thought; her parents were dentists after all. But in the end they found her in time. And for that she was grateful.

The first thing she said when she came out of it was, "Harry would have never forgave me if it worked."

And that was all she allowed said on the matter. Her parents were cautious at first, not knowing if she would try it again, but after that Hermione started to treat her body like a temple. She did everything she could to stay as healthy as she could, so she knew Harry wouldn't be mad at her.

Now all she was doing was waiting. Waiting until she could see Harry again.

"Don't you want to see the first years? They heard about last year, and are terribly afraid of you." Luna finally spoke.

"I don't take joy in scaring children... That's Professor Snape."

"You know I heard the oddest thing. I heard from Ronald; He's head boy so he's privied to this information you know," Luna said proudly, "He said that Draco Malfoy was no longer on the roster for Slytherin."

"Even I don't blame him for dropping out. All those Slytherin's, and almost all of their parents are in Azkaban." Hermione said uninterested.

"That's the odd thing, he didn't drop out. He apparently made arrangements last year, during that last feast, he's a Hufflepuff now."

Hermione sighed, "I'm surprised they'd take the little ferret."

Luna hummphed, "That's the same thing Ronald said. But of course his language was more vulgar."

"I should go to... I'll see you." Neville said from the entranceway. Hermione turned to see both he and Ginny almost gitty. He waved goodbye and ran up to the dorms.

Hermione had to repress a smile. After the night of their initial... recognition of each other's fondness of the other, they had decided to take it slow. Actually Neville decided they should, or he was likely to die of either a heart attack, or her father's hand, which ever came first. And as for 'going slow' Hermione hadn't seen them do anything above holding hands, and that was few and far between. Especially this past summer, where either her father, or his grandmother, was near.

Neville had become a lot more sure of himself in the past few months. That didn't stop his insecurities around Ginny though.

Neville's shyness seemed to rub off on Ginny. For a girl who was only too happy to flirt and flaunt everything in front of everyone, she had calmed down. Neville would say she looked nice and her cheeks would actually redden. Hermione thought perhaps it could be the fact that Ginny knew for a fact that Neville wasn't going anywhere. Not only because it would be 'un-Neville-like' to do so, but she didn't want him to. He wasn't some random guy she'd get over in a week, and Ginny wanted him in her life.

Hermione was about to think of an excuse to get herself up the stairs as fast as Neville, when Professor McGonagall came into the common room out of breath.

She motioned to Hermione, obviously not able to talk while trying to catch her breath. Hermione got up and dutifully followed the deputy-Headmistress. They made it to the Gargoyle outside of Professor Dumbledore's office.

Hermione said, "Chocolate Frogs," and the statue moved.

Hermione slowly walked up the stairs, and when Professor McGonagall felt she was going too slow she shoved her up the stairs and practically into the door. Hermione knocked calmly and did not need to wait above half a second, the door swung open to reveal two stone like blue eyes.

"What's happened?" Hermione felt the numbness subside and a brick fall into her stomach.

"I don't know how to tell you this Miss Granger... I just know that what I'm about to tell you is truth, although I don't know how it could be."

"What is it?" Hermione's heart began to race, Voldemort wasn't dead. She just knew it. He was alive and Harry had died, it was all in that stupid prophecy.

"Harry is alive."

She meant to ask, 'What?' She meant to discuss everything clearly and rationally. She meant to ask everything she could ever think of asking. But all that came out were two long breaths cut off abruptly, then she sobbed. The kind of sobs that shook her entire body as tears flowed from her face.

She didn't know why she was crying, she just couldn't stop it no matter how much she tried.

"He's been adopted by a family, we've convinced them all to come to England. Miss Granger... Harry doesn't remember a thing about his life. He is now called Johnny, and doesn't have any knowledge of magic, or you."

Hermione couldn't allow herself to be sad, her Harry was alive.

"Since the redecoration of Grimmauld Place, it now is all muggle, save the fedilus charm. We will take that off, and Harry and his family will stay there. We were hoping someone of his past could come there to stay with them, and try to get his memory back."

"I will." Hermione said as she cried.

Hermione stopped crying altogether, the entire room seemed to freeze.

"She will give the one who conquers the Dark Lord a gift..."

The prophecy kept running along in her mind at what seemed to be a mile a minute.

“My prophecy…” Hermione said quietly as she took a seat near Dumbledore's desk.

“What about it?” McGonagall stood over Hermione.

“He has a family now… Is he happy?”

“Yes.” Dumbledore said not registering any emotion.

“My prophecy said I would be the one to give him a gift, I thought it was… but now… He's happy.”

“What are you trying to say?” McGonagall said in a rather squeaky voice.

“This is my gift, to leave him be happy for the first time in his life.” Hermione tried with all her might to hold in her tears.

“Hermione,” Dumbledore said softly, “You are his gift.”

“I'll pack my bags.”

* * *

A/N: Just let me say my knowledge of the life of orphans goes very little beyond `Annie,' know that everything in there was put in with no assumptions that any of the situations were `real.'

-->

Johnny turned the metal knob on the door and slightly moved the door ajar. The door creaked as it opened to reveal a hallway. The house looked warm and inviting, the sun shone inside which caused the natural light to lighten up all the rooms considerably. The house was so quiet Johnny felt as if his own breath was deafening, but considering they were supposed to meet someone here it seemed too quiet.

Johnny tried to imagine growing up here, going down this hallway to catch the bus every day, but his mind turned up a blank.

"Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Potter?" Greg Winter called out into the big house from behind Johnny.

"Greg!"

"What?"

"The Principal at Johnny's old school said we were to meet one person here, what if they're divorced?"

"You're the brains of this outfit, I'm just pretty..." He whispered to his wife.

They stood there for a moment, then deciding not to stand out in the cold anymore they walked in and found their way to the living room.

"Johnny," Eve whispered, "There's no TV."

This seemed to be troubling the girl, and not the fact that they were in someone else's home while it seemed no one was home.

"I'm sure it's just in another room." Johnny said as they sat down.

They sat in silence for a while until the sound of footsteps startled them. All eyes were turned to the doorway, none of them speaking, as the noise got louder and louder.

A young girl, around Johnny's age, was walking across the doorway with a book in her hand. She dropped her book and gasped once she saw them.

"We're sorry, we were looking for the person that lives here, we were supposed to-"

"I live here..." She said never taking her eyes off Johnny.

Johnny didn't know what to do; this girl was burning holes through him with the intensity of her stare.

"We mean the adult." Greg said. He wanted to ask her who she was, but considering she lived here he guessed she was his son's sister. That thought made his heart sink into his stomach. His son was no longer his own, he was their son; he was never more jealous of anyone in his entire life.

"I'm the only one who lives here... Harry..." Her eyes began to water, and without any warning she practically ran and hugged him tightly.

"I know how weird this seems, but you were dead, and now you're here and I just have to." the girl said in-between sobs.

Johnny patted her back and tried to stop her from crying but it was all in vain. Her sobs slowly subsided and she backed away visually stopping herself from hugging him further.

"I hate to be the jerk here, but we were given very little information, just that this was Johnny's home and the person who lived her could help us."

"That's exactly what Professor Dumbledore would do. This is Harry's home, and I've been instructed that I am to help return his memory in any way I can, within reason of course."

"Within reason? Why don't I trust that? What do you mean 'within reason?'" Greg asked and was promptly kicked in the shin by his wife.

"Everyone has their secrets. I will not compromise what I know is best, for a curious mind," She said.

"Are you Johnny's sister?" Melissa asked sweetly.

The girl laughed and shook her head, "My name is Hermione Granger. Harry and I go to school together."

"So you're my friend?" Johnny asked.

"Best friend, yes."

"What's my best friend doing in my house? I'm sorry, I guess I just expected my mum or dad."

Hermione's eyes went to the floor.

"Of course you haven't been told... Harry, your parents are dead."

Johnny felt numb, "They're dead?"

"Yes, they died... Your guardian is in the hospital right now; he has a chronic illness... I'm so sorry Harry,"

"I feel really stupid, I always thought they were alive..."

"I can show you around if you like."

Johnny was floored by her. She didn't try to get him to talk about what was bothering him, but tried to give him a tour of his own house.

He had to admit he didn't want to talk about any of it, but did she know that was what he wanted?

After the tour they were assured they were allowed to go everywhere in the house save the basement and the library.

Johnny knocked lightly on the door and waited for a few seconds before it opened and Hermione smiled for him to come in.

"Hello." He said because he simply didn't know what else to say.

"Hi." she said as she sat on her bed and patted for him to join her.

"I'm not allowed to sit on a girl's bed unless it's my sisters." He said sheepishly.

"Your parents are great." She got up and sat on a chair near the fire and motioned for him to follow.

"That's not the response I would have thought..."

"Lilly and James Potter would have liked them, they would have liked them because they are able to give you something they can't anymore."

She paused and turned to face the fire, wiped something from her cheek and looked to him again.

"How did they die?"

"They were killed when you were one."

Johnny asked, "Who killed them?"

"A very bad man... An evil man. They died saving your life."

Johnny tried not to cry and rolled his eyes.

"Don't you dare think it wasn't worth it."

Her words startled him; he wondered how she could have known what he was thinking for the second time that day.

"Harry, I know all of this must be... exhausting, but I also know you, you wont rest until you know all you can."

"What about the stuff you aren't allowed to tell me, if you know I wont rest-"

"It's what's best for you."

"How would you know what's best for me?" Johnny felt the anger flair within him, "You don't know what it's like to feel like this!"

"I may not know how it feels, but I'm the only one in this house that knows you."

"I may not remember my past, but that doesn't mean I don't who I am inside."

"Harry," She said calmly which infuriated him further, "You ride a skateboard, right?"

"Yes." He said through gritted teeth.

"And when you're doing a trick or whatever they're called, and you're in the air you feel free, feel as if there is no world, just you and the wind... Am I right."

"Yes." He said still not unclenching his jaw.

"You may think you're aware of who you are but let me be the first to set things straight; you don't know anything, at this moment I know you better than you know yourself."

"I... I just want to learn everything I can, it's infuriating that you know exactly what I want to know and wont say a word."

Hermione smiled, “Welcome back Harry Potter.”

-->

A/N: There may be some confusion as to what has happened. Harry was not in America when he was with his family and new friends. I did not name a specific country because I wanted to leave it open for personal interpretation. JKR said that she would not go to America, ever, and I tried to stay true to that. If they sound, through slang, that they are from America, it's because I'm from North America. Now that I've said too much, on with the story.

Johnny lie in his bed watching as the ceiling did noting, and found he could not sleep. He tried for three hours but nothing was happening.

He then heard the front door open, which was followed by voices; including Hermione's. He pulled the covers off himself and put the slippers next to his bed on and crept out of his room. As he slowly crept down the stairs he could actually make out what the people were saying.

"How's he been this past week, Hermione dear?" A woman's voice sounded.

"Fine, he's healthy, happy, and hasn't remembered a single thing about his life."

"I'm sure that you're making improvements, there might be some work before the break through. Has he..." A male voice said.

"No Mr. Weasley, the only thing he has ever asked about is his scar, I've still only told him as little as I could on that. I feel so awful lying to him..."

"This is a delicate time Hermione, it’s crucial that he doesn't find out that..."

"What? That the reason he has no memory is because the people who supposedly love him so dearly wanted to manipulate him into a weapon because they were to scared to do their own dirty work? Yes, I agree, very important indeed."

"Hermione," The woman's voice could only be called scolding.

"Ever since I thought Harry was dead I decided I wasn't going to hold back my feelings. They cost me before and that will *not* happen again."

"You seem to forget that you came into all of this quite willingly, the blame is not to be placed on us alone..." A man, different from the first, said.

"Yes, but the lot of you are grown people, Harry and I were kids. You had the responsibility to look out for us and instead you put us both in the front lines. We should have never had to make the choices we did."

"How many people do you want to die for your own happiness to be obtained? Let us just look at the facts, one life for hundreds isn't all that bad an exchange." the second man said.

"Harry saved all of you, especially you, don't you dare talk about what is a fair exchange. You don't seem to see the price of your freedom. You have it and you just want to bathe in it, forget how it's obtained and forget what is sacrificed for it, just as long as that tattoo on your arm doesn't twinge any more eh?"

"There's no big deal here, he's alive isn't he?"

"That man sleeping up there has no recollection of himself, he's lost because he doesn't know who he is and I can't tell him. He's going to be in a permanent state of limbo because you deem him unworthy of knowing the truth. And because of all of this we have no way of knowing what happened to him and why for heaven's sake he's still alive."

"Are you willing to tell him the truth? Tell him all you are guilty of?" The second man asked.

"Truth, above all else, is what matters." Hermione said.

"Even if he decides he hates you most of all of us?" The second man asked.

"Why should I stop him from having the pleasure, I've been doing it since he left."

Johnny heard shuffling and took that as his cue to head up stairs as fast, and quietly as he could.

Once he was in his bed again he was no longer as tired as he was before. His mind was racing at optimum speed. How could one human being be a weapon? A better question is how could he be a weapon? He couldn't get to class on time; he had no way of being a weapon.

He heard quite footsteps going up the stairs and tried to stay as still as he possibly could. His door opened and he held his breath as light enveloped the room.

"After you heard what you did, did you remember anything?" Hermione asked.

Johnny sat up and put his glasses back on, "How did you-"

"I know you, remember? Did you remember anything?"

"No." Johnny shook his head.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

"I thought you were supposed to keep all that stuff secret, I thought you weren't going to threaten something just for my curiosity..."

"That's what they told me to tell you, that was the only way I could come here, if I told you that, and kept everything quite. I kept my promise to them, *I* didn't tell you a word. Good night."

And with that she left him by himself trying to figure out everything he had just heard.

* * *

"What is it Johnny?" His parents asked as they were led into his room.

"I overheard some people talking last night, they were talking about me, about what happened to me before; they said I was a weapon."

They looked at each other then back at him.

"Johnny, one teenager can't be a weapon..."

"They seem to think so. It's the truth, Hermione made sure I heard it."

"She did? How?" his mother asked sitting on the bed and patting it so he would too.

"Well I heard them come in, so I went downstairs, then I came back up here. I was trying to pretend I was asleep so I wouldn't be caught, and she knew I was there, she knew I was going to go down there."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because these people are forcing her not to tell me what went on, what happened, so to keep her promise to them and tell me what she thought I needed to know she made sure I'd hear the door open."

"What exactly are you saying you think is going on here?" His mother asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but my guess is that anyone beyond Hermione we can't really trust..."

Johnny's father shook his head, "I don't like the sound of any of this. We should get you out of here, memory be damned."

"Dad, I have to figure out who I was, you're the one who always says that... Without our history we cannot be who we are."

Greg Winter sighed, "Why can't you be a normal child and not listen to a word we say."

Johnny shook his head, "I've got no idea, that's what I'm trying to figure out."

* * *

Johnny stood outside the west wing, the wing he was not allowed to go into. He was sure that Hermione would not turn him in if he went in here.

He tried the door handle but the door would not turn. He should have figured that it would be locked. As he gave up he banged his fist on the door showing his resentment towards the chunk of wood.

"You shouldn't be here,” the second man's voice sounded.

Johnny turned to see someone he barely remembered. It was the odd man he ran into when he was chasing Jareth.

"I should say the same for you, I don't know you, what are you doing here?" Johnny said with as much force as he could muster.

"I'm keeping an eye on you."

* * *

Johnny and his parents sat at the kitchen table in silence.

Eve would slurp ever so often, then stared at by her family and would mumble an apology.

The entire room seemed to feel the tension between the people at the table. It had been a week since the strange man’s threat and Johnny finding out that apparently his past wasn’t happy at all. The night’s tension grew because the Winters asked Johnny to try and get more information from Hermione, and he declined knowing full well she couldn’t and he would have to search on his own. Of course his pace was lacking any type of speed which made his parents more and more impatient and more and more willing to leave; the sooner the better.

Johnny understood their feelings, but couldn’t leave until he found out who he was.

The trouble with that was that every time he went to investigate his own personal history, one of the strange people would show up and escort Johnny away from his desired destination.

"Johnny, we're prisoners here. I don't like this. Not for you or your sister," Johnny's mother whispered, "Sweetheart, I just want what's best for you. And no matter what you find out you wont be happy with the result. Ignorance is bliss..."

"I don't care about being happy, I care about the truth. If something all that bad really did happen to me here then what's stopping these people from doing it to someone else? If we find out what happened, maybe we can stop it from happening to another kid. And what about Hermione? She's a prisoner too you know." Johnny let the spoon fall into his bowl.

Johnny's parents shared a look then his father said cautiously, "Johnny, what if... Have you ever considered the fact that she may just be a good actress?"

"No!" Johnny yelled, then was shushed by everyone at the table, including Eve, "Why then would she let me hear that little meeting?"

Johnny's father leaned towards Johnny, "maybe it was just to keep you curious, that way you'd stay. Answer truthfully Johnny, if you hadn't found out what you did, you'd tell us you want to go back home by now."

Johnny searched for an answer, "I want to trust her. Something inside my soul is telling me to trust her. I can't explain it, maybe it's the old me, stuck in my brain somewhere, yelling to me."

"Johnny," his mother gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "What if he was deceived by her too?"

For some reason Johnny felt sick to his stomach. The thought of her willful betrayal, and him being blind to it, made him want to leave the house even more than his parents wanted to.

"One more try." Johnny said as he got up and went out into the living room where he knew Hermione would be. Every night when the family went to dinner she would go into the living room and read some mysterious book.

But tonight was different, she was gone. Johnny heard a faint noise coming from upstairs and went to go see what it could be.

He peered into one of the rooms at the top of the stairs and heard a music box playing a haunting melody.

On the floor sat the music box, but the walls were covered with pictures. Pictures of red headed people laughing, playing, growing up and old. At the end of the room one picture grabbed his attention, most likely because it was not in a frame like all the others. It was of he and Hermione; they were wearing odd clothing and seemed quite happy.

He smiled and tried to remember when or where the picture was taken, but couldn't. He looked closer to the clothing and saw that both of, what looked like, cloaks had a crest on them.

Johnny took the picture from the wall, and started to make his way down stairs. He heard voices but drowned most of it out as he looked over the picture. When he got into the living room he looked up to see the red headed couple from the pictures upstairs and the weird man and they all looked as if they were scolding Hermione.

"What's this?" Johnny said as he held up the picture.

They all turned to see him and the woman looked at him as if she were about to cry.

"Harry dear never mind that," She came towards him and tried to grab the picture but he moved too quickly for her.

"Stop that! I'm sick and tired of hearing that I need to be protected. If I need to be protected so much then why the hell was I used as some type of weapon!"

"Who told you that Harry?" The red haired man asked.

"You all did! I heard you come over here and talk about me! I want to know the truth, now!"

"Look Potter, you aren't ready to know the truth. Just go back to mummy and daddy and-"

"Oh shut it you overbearing arse!" Hermione yelled, "Tell him the truth!"

The man walked closer to Hermione and said, "Listen here little girl, you will start listening to me and-"

Johnny could take no more; he walked in front of Hermione and pushed the man away. He did this while saying, "You stay away from her!" and as he pushed he could feel something from deep inside his gut course through his body and out his hands, which caused a bright light to come from what seemed to be his hands and the light pushed the man to the wall.

Johnny looked at his hands numbly, then at the people who surrounded him. The two red haired people looked as if they were scared, and Hermione looked of all things apologetic. He turned to see his parents looking at him with shock and fear while Eve; Eve stood behind them and looked at him as though she were both horrified and disgusted.

He couldn't take those looks from the people he loved; he slowly backed away to the stairs.

Hermione grabbed his arm and said through the tears that stained her face, "I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

She knew all the time that something was terribly wrong with him.

His father was right about her, she did betray him.

When the back of his heel hit the first step Johnny turned and ran up the stairs.

* * *

Johnny sat in his room, his mind blank, just staring at torn up pieces of the picture of Hermione and himself.

The pieces swirled at the floor then put themselves back into the original form of the picture. It floated from above the ground to his hand. He took it and looked up to see an old man with a long white beard dressed as if he were coming from some sort of renaissance fair.

"Harry, how I've missed you." The man smiled and swished the stick in his hand to make Johnny's trunk into a comfy chair.

After Johnny was silent for a few moments he spoke again, "This was not how it was supposed to happen. I gave the Weasleys strict instructions to tell you once you entered the house. Their hearts were in the right place Harry. They thought if they kept you from your past you would no longer hold the burden you once did."

"I'm a freak." Johnny said wiping a tear from his eye.

"Well, from one freak to another, it's not such a bad lot in life. You just have to learn control. Although what happened to you today is not at all your fault, well at least not entirely. I see even a loss of memory can't cool that temper of yours."

"It was all my fault, I killed that man..."

The older man laughed heartily, "No, no; his ego and back were bruised but there was no permanent damage."

Johnny sighed in relief.

"You may be wondering what made you do that. That will come in time of course; right now we need to talk about what kind of freak you are. Harry James Potter, you're a wizard. Spells, wands, cauldrons, it's all real and you play an enormous part in it."

Johnny thought about it a moment, "Broomsticks?"

"Only for sport." the man said.

"Who are you then?"

"I am the headmaster at your school, Professor Albus Dumbledore. You go to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Johnny gave him a disgusted look.

"I'm not the one who named it."

"So if it wasn't entirely me that made that thing happen, what did?" Johnny looked up at the man waiting for an answer.

"Ah, now we get to it. Well a bit more than a year ago you and Miss Granger did a spell together, one that would force one to protect the other if one was in danger. You thought she was in danger tonight and the spell did it's work."

Johnny nodded, but then stopped suddenly, "why would we need protection? Is it because of the weapon thing?"

The man furrowed his eyebrows then asked, "what weapon thing?"

"I over heard them saying that I was used as some sort of weapon... Did... Did I kill people?"

"You are not a weapon Harry, you are a human being, no matter how far from normal." Professor Albus Dumbledore gave a long sigh, "To tell you the truth about that I'm going to have to tell you a long story."

"What else do I have to do?" Johnny said.

"Once upon a time there was this prince among men. His name was Harry James Potter. His parents, King James and Queen Lily loved him very much. They loved him so much that when they heard from an advisor that an evil knight wanted their only son they ran away with him far far away where no one could find them. They called one of their most trusted knights, and wanted to keep the secret of where they were with him.

"If he kept the secret a strong magic would be formed and no one would be able to find them. Their knight told them to trust a different knight with this most sacred secret, that he would be expected to know the secret and this other knight could hold the secret with no one knowing the wiser. They did not want to at first, but so trusted was this knight that they agreed. And after the secret was given the second knight gave it to the evil knight.

"The evil knight came to the secret castle and killed King James and Queen Lily. And when he tried to kill the young prince he failed. The young prince lived with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead, and the evil knight's body failed him. So the evil knight was forced to live off of others."

"This is great, but I'm not five." Johnny rubbed his temples.

Albus Dumbledore laughed, "You may not be but considering the next part of the story it is quite a bit easier for me to tell it this way. For you see the advisor was the headmaster of the wizarding school the young prince was destined to go to, and he was given the task of finding a place to have the young prince grow up. He decided that since it was unlikely that the evil knight were truly dead, he would have to place him where a strong magic could protect him. The one place the advisor could place him for that to work, was the barons, the Dursley's, where the prince's blood aunt lived.

"But you see Harry these Barons were horrible people. So the question was, should the advisor place the young prince where he was loved, with his godmother, or with these barons? But the choice wasn't as easy as it seems because the godmother was cursed, and every full moon would cause harm to themselves and possibly with others. The young prince, no matter how much the godmother would try, could never be as safe as he would be with the barons. So the advisor sent him there.

"You may be asking why the prince was in such danger, why the evil knight wanted him dead, the reason is because there was a soothsayer, and she told the advisor that there was one person that could stop the evil knight, and that was over heard by someone who worked for the evil knight, so he went after the prince and his parents. So the safety of the young prince was of great importance. You see the advisor tried to look at the situation without feeling, he tried not to care that the prince was just a baby and wasn't ready for such a responsibility, he just tried to remind himself of what the prince was to do and that would be the extent of his involvement of the boy.

"Where was I... Oh, yes. When the barons took him in they forced him to live under the stairs, in a cupboard. They treated him as a servant, and made him cook and clean, never bought him anything not even clothes, and did just about everything they could to hurt the prince."

Dumbledore came close to Johnny and said in a low tone, "Enough to make anyone a mean, unforgiving person."

Dumbledore leaned back and continued with his story, "They soon found out that the prince was special, that when he was angry, or humiliated, he could make things happen."

"What sort of things?" Johnny asked.

"Oh, well when he got his hair cut and he didn't like it he could grow his hair back to what it was over night... Nothing really bad. Well, when the prince turned eleven he was invited to a school for people who could do extraordinary things, like himself, but the young prince almost didn't go. You see the Barons did not want him to go to the school, so when the invitations came, they would burn and tear them, that was when the advisor sent Lord Hagrid to bring the prince to school. For you see Lord Hagrid was quite a big man, and at first glance may seem a bit scary. And at first the prince was scared of him, but after a few minutes of meeting Lord Hagrid the prince was able to see that he may be big, but lord Hagrid had an even bigger heart.

"When the prince came to the school, and the advisor saw him, he though he might have been a bit too skinny, but overall the prince looked rather well. The advisor found out that year that the prince was not bitter and cross as he expected, but he was curious and gallant if not a bit shy.

"And that year the prince met his two best friends, Sir Ron and Lady Hermione. Now Sir Ron-"

"Please," Johnny rubbed his temples; " you're giving me a headache, could you just tell me straight out what happened?"

Dumbledore sighed, "If you wish. Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. You met them you first year... you might want to ask Hermione for a more detailed answer than that, and they became your best friends. The three of you developed an appetite for getting in trouble for all the right reasons. Your first year at Hogwarts you learned that someone might want to steal something from the school, and you went in search of it for yourselves. You see, it was the Philosopher’s Stone, a stone made by an alchemist, a rather good friend of mine, and it could create the elixir of life. That means it could make the person drinking it live longer, and if used by Voldemort, our evil knight, it could help bring him back to power. The three of you learned the power it had and you wanted to find it, not to get the power yourselves, but to stop someone who would do bad with it from getting it.

"I was not ready for you three. I was expecting something quite different from each one of you, but you joined together as if you knew you were destined to, I have never seen such a strong immediate bond. Of course over the years you've had your share of rows, and rather big ones I might add, but you were always there when it really mattered."

"What did you expect from us?"

"I thought you would resent me, hate me, I thought you would be a stubborn stoic sorrowful child, and when you came through the doors, you were smiling. You were smiling and talking to the youngest Weasley as if you had known him for years. I knew the hell I must have put you through, and yet you smiled. I knew then that you weren't just any powerful wizard, you are extraordinary.

"And young Mr. Weasley, I knew he would compete with his older siblings, I thought he would be some sort of snot nosed defiant youth, trying to prove himself to his older brothers. What I was faced with was quite different, while Mr. Weasley happens to be opinionated, and ready to tell the world what he thinks, he is brave to a fault. You know his biggest fear is spiders and in your second year you made him go into a hollow that was filled with them, they were bigger than me, and he went because he knew if he didn't than someone could get killed. To face your biggest fear takes something, something that not many are born with."

"I must admit that Miss Granger had not really grabbed my attention at first. To share a secret, I try to learn as much as I can about students before they come to Hogwarts, to see who I might be dealing with, but with Miss Granger I did not know much and I did not expect much more of her. She was smarter than all the other children, true, but most students I see that are like that either end up at St. Mungo's, that's one of our hospitals, for well insanity, or off trying to mate a blasted ended skrewit with a hippogriff. But then something happened that I didn't expect, she was sorted into your house; Gryffindor. Gryffindor is for the students who are brave, and bold, I didn't think she belonged. But the year went by and even when you didn't want her there she hung onto you and Mr. Weasley as if some spell had been preformed. I never took into account that despite the appearance of a bossy little know it all, on the inside she was screaming inside for a friend. Now, she still may be quite a bit bossy, and a bit of a know it all, but she's your, Mr. Weasley and yours, little know it all. And over time not only has she become one of your most loyal friends, but she has learned through time to love, with all of her heart. I realized, too late, that at the beginning that was all she wanted."

"What do you mean love with all of-"

"Ah, that is private, I think we should just not question any further on that score."

Dumbledore sat there for a while, smiling at Johnny, and Johnny felt his headache come back.

"So what happened... Why can't I remember anything?"

"That's a mystery to us. We know it can't be the Sempetutela spell, and it had nothing to do with what happened to you and Voldemort at Hogwarts... It's very peculiar that you should loose your memory and appear out of the country for what seems to be no reason at all. Were you taken into the orphanage with anything, anything they found unusual?"

Johnny shook his head.

Dumbledore sat there thinking for a moment while Johnny felt as if he would fall from his seat.

"Okay, well are you going to explain why these people think I'm a weapon or not?"

Dumbledore shook himself and chuckled, "Sorry Harry, I completely forgot. The reason I've told you all of that is to show you how extraordinary you were, and how hard it became for me to think of you just as any other child. I knew you were to face Voldemort, and I decided that I should think of you just as the pupil that needs to learn to destroy the darkest wizard for a century. But you came and were not what I planned, and you became human, you became more than human.

"I wanted to see that smile for as long as I could, so when I knew I should have told you the truth, I didn't. I did that for four years, until your fifth year. Your fifth year I told you the truth. That you were to be the one and only person that could kill Voldemort, or he would kill you. Then your sixth year came around and something happened; you were preparing to defend yourself. You did not try to find any strategies to kill him, only to stop yourself from getting killed. And you did everything you could to protect your friends. Then at the end of the year Hermione came up to you with a way to kill Voldemort. It sunk in then what you were supposed to do to protect your friends and you wanted so hard for it to go away. You aren't a weapon Harry because no one pointed and fired you, you didn't even want to do it."

"Then why did I, I mean I killed him, right? So why did I do it?" Johnny said barely above a whisper.

"Because he threatened everything you held dear. Harry, you've never been one to care much about your own life, but when it came to your friends and family it was always a top priority."

* * *

Johnny entered Hermione's room and stood a couple of feet behind her, watching as she packed her trunk. This went on for a couple of minutes until she sighed and threw her clothes on the bed.

"I'm so sorry Harry."

The only response he could think of was, "How come Ron's not here?"

Hermione turned and faced him, her hands were shaking, "You remember him?"

"No."

Hermione's hands dropped to her sides and she exhaled heavily.

"The head of the school just talked to me about him. He said the day I met him we talked as if we had known each other forever, why are you here instead of him?"

Hermione was silent for a moment, then sat on her bed next to her trunk, "To protect you, and him."

"I don't understand."

Hermione brushed her cheek with her hand then cleared her throat.

"You need to be protected because Ron is one of those people who are rash and need things to be resolved quickly. He could never handle knowing who you are, and even if he were able to tell you what happened, he still wouldn't be able to handle your not knowing. He still doesn't know you're alive. We haven't told him because he needs to be protected from the heartache. He was devastated when you died, and when he was ready to stop grieving you he did. Instead he celebrated the time he was allowed to have with you. He's married right now and they are expecting a baby. If he knew and we failed to convince you to stay, it would break him."

Johnny nodded.

Feeling hurt and not being able to hide it he said, "So you just don't care as much as he does?"

Hermione tried to talk but twice all she was able to do was inhale and exhale slowly.

"That could never be true. I just... I died the day you did. With me, we had really nothing to loose."

Johnny wanted to comfort her in any way he could, he approached her and tried to hug her, but she pushed him away.

"Don't" She said weakly, "You look and seem so much like Harry, but you aren't. That's the only thing that has kept me half sane and if you touch me and you never regain your memory I'll be lost forever."

"So that's it, everything rests on me and the one person who'll get hurt the most is you, did I get the jyst of it? You are the martyr here, right?"

"I'm not a martyr. I just want to be here to do what's best for you. If the Weasley's get their way you'll stay here and your new parents won't be able to get you back. If your new parents get their way you'll leave and you wont be able to learn anything about yourself. I have a prophecy; it says that I'll give the person who conquers the dark lord a gift. I don't really know what that is right now but I'm going to be damned if I let them push and pull you around like some sort of rag doll."

Johnny looked at her for a moment, "Then why are you packing?"

Hermione shook her head as she placed a shirt in her bag, "After you knowing what you do; well if I were you I wouldn't want me here either."

"I want you to stay." Harry said quickly.

The two locked eyes for a moment.

"I want you to stay," Johnny repeated slower, "because something inside me is telling me to trust you. And you're the only one who can tell me more about... me."

They both laughed lightly at that and Hermione threw her bags into the closet.

A loud noise came from beneath them, and without a thought both went down the stairs.

Johnny watched as a man who was pale and scarred was carried into the living room by a woman with brightly coloured hair and a woman wearing a very out of style dress.

"Have you gained some weight?" The bright haired woman asked.

"I miss the days you were thin and sickly, now you're just fat and sickly." The other woman chimed in.

She then looked up and saw Johnny; she froze and said, "Oh my dear god."

The man looked over at her then over to Johnny.

"Harry?" he croaked out.

Johnny looked silently at the man, not knowing how to answer him.

"Professor Lupin," Hermione said rather quietly, "Harry has no memory of himself... but this is indeed Harry."

"What happened?"

"We don't know."

Lupin's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his entire body went limp. Johnny was worried he did something again, but the woman with the bright hair said, as if to herself, "Don't worry, he always does that ever couple of hours."

* * *

Harry and Hermione sat in her room, both on the floor near the bed.

"So my parents named *him* my godmother?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, "from what we've learned about your parents over the years, well all I can say is they're a trip."

“But you called him Professor…” Johnny said.

“Well he was a teacher at our school; he still is, he’s just been on sick leave.”

“Why’s he so sick?”

Hermione cleared her throat, “He’s a werewolf Harry…”

“A werewolf?”

Hermione nodded, “That’s why he was in the hospital for so long, someone tried to kill him because of what he was.”

Johnny’s brow furrowed, “That’s horrible.”

Hermione watched him for a moment, then smiled to herself.

"So what was the last thing we laughed about... I mean before my memory loss." Johnny asked.

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Well if we were laughing at a crippled person, I'll know what type of person I am." Johnny shrugged.

Hermione paused for a second, looking at the floor of the bedroom, then shook her head, "I can't remember."

"Have you seen me cry?"

Hermione looked up to see he was serious and she nodded slowly.

"Well, name something I cried about."

"Well the last time I cried, near you, you gave me your mother's wedding ring," She put her hand on his arm, "Don't worry, it wasn't like that. You were going off to fight Voldemort. You kept your father's ring and told me to take your mother's, that way you'd have to come back for it."

Hermione thought about it for a second, then felt as if she were focusing on Harry's hand, and him putting his father's ring on his finger. Then she remembered the phoenix set a blaze by Voldemort.

"Your mother's good at charms." She said in a monotone voice.

Johnny waved his hand in front of her face trying to get her to stop staring into nothingness.

"Earth to Hermione."

Hermione quickly focused on him then took his wrist in her hand, "If you loved someone with every ounce of your being, and knew they couldn't be happy if you died, what would you do?"

"I'm thinking about getting you professional help."

"You'd ensure their happiness."

Hermione got up and did not let go of Johnny's wrist making him get up and follow her, "We're going to the library, I have to look something up."

* * *

Chapter 6: Hate, the tie that binds.

A/N: The reason as to why I'm still calling him Johnny is that, that’s the way he sees himself. He doesn't know this Harry Potter person and therefore wont refer to himself as such. If he regains his memory I'll call him Harry, but not now.

Johnny watched as Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and waved it to the door and said something he just couldn't understand. The large door then opened and Johnny, for the first time, saw his library.

He was not one to really care about books all that much, but looking at these books, the only way he could describe it was impressive. The walls seemed to be made of books, books on top of books.

He turned his attention away from the old volumes and back to Hermione who had already walked over to a stack and grabbed what she wanted.

"You're mother's wand was good for charms." She said flipping through the pages, "It just never dawned on me until now..."

"The wand?" Johnny asked.

"No, that your memory loss was intended."

Johnny's heart sunk, then what seemed like the next moment it felt as though it could fly.

"You mean that she did a spell on me?"

Hermione stopped looking through the book and shelved it, then brought another large volume towards him.

"Not exactly. I think she combined charms... I think she meant for your father to loose his memory."

"Isn't a divorce easier?" Johnny asked.

Hermione flipped to what seemed to be her desired page, then sat on the floor with the book in her hands. Johnny followed suit, and waited for her to answer him.

"She didn't want to divorce him... She loved him more than almost anything in this world." Hermione said her eyes never leaving the page.

"Almost anything?"

Hermione looked over to him, "You Harry, she loved you even more than her husband."

Johnny shook his head, "you can't know that."

"She didn't give up her life for his. She sacrificed herself for you." She moved her eyes away from his, but not reading the text, "Anyway, she charmed the ring to have a sort of delayed memory charm. She also charmed it to become a portkey, and transport the wearer to a certain location. The catalyst for both charms was a spell that would kill the wearer. She must have done it after they found out about the prophecy. She thought your father would duel Voldemort... He's the one you..."

"I know who he is." Johnny said quietly, "But why? Why do any of it?"

Hermione had chosen a certain spot on the floor to stare at, and was now playing with the hem of her skirt, "She loved him. She wanted more for him... I'm sure she knew that he wouldn't be able to really live if she died... The only way for him to move on, the only way she could save him, was to take herself... The memory of her, away from him," she paused, and looked to Johnny.

He could then see the tears start to fall down her face, "Oh God Harry, what have I done?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you get your memory back, you'll be in hell. Harry, you've had a hard life, and here you are saved from it all... And I take all that happiness away."

"I'm lost."

Hermione looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not 'happy,' I'm lost and alone. And, afraid really. I'm not a real person, because I don't have anything. I'm hallow inside because everything is gone... And you... you tell me that you can fill that all up for me. I don't really care with what anymore, just as long as I can truly feel something. It's just stupid to measure how much you've given a person in 'happiness' because in the end being happy isn't what makes us who we are."

Hermione smiled through her tear stained face, "How long have you been holding that in?"

"Since before we came here I think," Johnny sadly smiled back.

There was a long pause between the two, Johnny's attention turned back to the books on the shelves, and where Hermione had grabbed the large volume earlier. There seemed to be something glass behind the books, he went to it, and took out a bottle.

Hermione smiled and a small laugh came from her mouth, "I'd forgotten we left that here."

"What is it?"

"Firewiskey. It's an alcoholic drink, we had to use it one night some Death Eaters attacked... For our wounds of course."

Johnny looked to the bottle then to her, "Have I ever been sloshed?"

Hermione nodded, "twice."

Johnny looked to the bottle again, "Do you think I should try for three?"

"I don't know..."

"Come on, I think we deserve congratulations; we have figured out why I have no memory."

Hermione's eyes went wide, "We have to go tell them, the order, your parents-"

"They can wait. They think they know what's best for me, but I know; I need to get drunk."

Hermione smiled, but shook her head, and just as she was about to say something more the door to the library clicked open.

Johnny and Hermione took the Firewhiskey then quickly rushed behind one of the shelves.

Johnny didn't know exactly why they were hiding, after all this was his library, but stood next to Hermione all the same. Shoes shuffling could be heard, from what seemed like more than one person, but no one was talking.

Johnny looked to Hermione who was listening intently, he waited for some sort of recognition, but she still looked as puzzled as he was.

"He's been alive this entire time, you knew about it, and you didn't say anything?" A female voice screeched. It was the dark haired woman that was carrying his godmother earlier, he recognized the voice.

"You were the one who wanted to refrain from talking to me." A man's voice said in a rather sly tone.

Johnny knew that voice, that was the weird man he had over heard before.

"You want me to sit and drink tea with you? I hate everything you are, I hate everything you stand for. But I deserve to know the truth. Hell, forget about me, the Weasleys deserve to know, Neville deserves to know. What in the hell were you doing? What were you thinking?"

"Miss Granger wished for them to not find out and-"

"You're doing what an eighteen year old is telling you to? I can see why you were a Death Eater, you take orders _very_ well."

"Miss Granger said she would not come here unless we did as she said, and before you insult me a second time I would remind you to think about who exactly you are insulting."

"I know exactly who I'm insulting. It's a vile, wretched, ignorant, sadistic asshole, who gets his jollies off by believing he is in some way superior to every other being on this planet because he's a pureblood."

"And you are connected to this vile sadistic asshole for all eternity. I have tried my patience to try to connect to you Samantha, but if you choose to think of me as this.... I don't know what to do anymore. Go on hating me, in the end all you are doing is hating yourself. I have done what _I_ felt was best for Potter, as I always have, but that will never be good enough for you. Nothing ever will. I can't make up for what was done to him or his parents, and in many ways I've become INDIFFERENT to what happened to them. In the end the only thing I would ever change about my life is what I did to you; but it's too late. You'll never forgive me and I don't think I want forgiveness from a person like you."

Loud footsteps exited the library followed moments later by quieter ones. The door shut and Johnny and Hermione exited from their hiding place.

Hermione looked as if she were shocked, shook her head and turned to Johnny.

"You up for that drink?" She asked as she took the bottle and chugged some down.

DISCLAIMER: I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned underage drinking. Just thought I'd add that.

A/N: just because I don't condone underage drinking doesn't mean I wont write about it. Just as I'm sure JKR doesn't approve of murder (I know I'm assuming here but I'd like to think of it as a safe assumption) yet that wont stop her from writing about people getting killed. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and here's the next chapter.

"So their names were Professor Snape, and Dr. Sam?" Johnny asked as he took the firewhiskey from Hermione and took the last drink, emptying the bottle.

Hermione nodded, "There's something weird between them... Can't put my foot on it... And, I don't think I want to."

Hermione smiled brightly and put her arms around Johnny's neck, "congratulations, to you Harry... for number three."

Johnny's face flushed hot and ever nerve on his skin seemed to become quite sensitive at that moment. He looked over Hermione and began to notice things like her cheeks were a bright pink colour, The hem of her skirt was a bit frayed, but in certain places... probably because she would scratch at it when she was nervous, and her eyes. They were nothing special, the dullest colour of brown, but there was a pain in those dull brown eyes, something that ran deep and he knew he could never be able to repair with a dumb joke. And even though the pain was evident in her eyes, she was smiling, and it was genuine. Johnny wondered how anyone could contain such conflicting emotions.

He hugged her, something he had wanted to do for the longest time, and it felt good. Not because every nerve on his body seemed to be magnified so any contact felt quite good, and not because he was a boy and she was a girl, but because somehow it made all the evilness of the past month go away. It was just a hug, nothing more, nothing less. He was thinking no romantic thoughts at all, just that... for some reason, in some small way... this contact seemed to heal his soul.

"Hermione?"

She mumbled something that seemed like 'uh huh' so Johnny continued, "How can you make the world go away?"

He had no other way of describing it, that's what it felt like. She let go of him a little, so they could look each other in the eyes.

She smiled and said, "Magic."

Her face got much closer to his. He was sure she could feel how hard his heart was beating. He felt his whole body move to the rhythm of it, but she didn't seem to notice. In the next second, rather it seemed like hours later, she put her head to his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He put his arms around her and laid his chin on top of her head.

This was getting weird.

* * *

Johnny woke to the sound of his mother saying his full name. He sat up and realized that he and Hermione had fallen asleep on the library floor.

His mother picked up the bottle, and smelled it.

"You get to your room right now, and you stay there until we get up there, you have a LOT of explaining to do."

Johnny did as he was told, but not as quickly as he could because he kept looking back to see if Hermione was alright. She was being helped up by the woman he now knew as Dr. Sam, and she didn't look at all angry, she looked rather indifferent.

Once Johnny was up in his room he took his pillow and laid it on the foot of his bed and stretched his body across the bed.

The door swung open and his mother and father entered and shut the door behind them. Johnny sat up and looked at both of his parents.

"What on earth were you thinking?" His mother asked as she held up the bottle, "Were you even thinking?"

Johnny could do nothing but shake his head. He didn't know what to feel at the moment.

Part of him was ashamed at what he did and part of him just knew that he felt so much better because of what happened so he didn't feel as badly as he knew she wanted him to.

"And what about Evie? What if she found you before we did?" His mother asked.

Now Johnny felt horrible. He didn't want her to do any of that, he didn't want her to think it was cool, or all right, he knew he wasn't setting a good example.

He was also so caught up in himself and what was happening to him he forgot about her, about what all of this might be doing to her...

"Johnny, we trusted you to make good decisions, it's as if you don't care anymore." His father said.

And that was what killed him. His father wasn't angry, just disappointed, which was a hundred times worse than angry.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about anything. I just... She said that I had done it before, I thought it would be something familiar, I thought I might have gotten my memory back. And I... well things had been hard and I just wanted not to deal with it for a while. It was stupid... I was stupid..."

His mother dropped the bottle in the waste bin and went over and hugged him.

"We feel as if we're loosing you. The more you learn about your old self the more that you push us away and we... we'll never be the Potters, but we want to be your parents, we love you so much and every day it feels as if we're loosing you. It doesn't matter if you remember or not, just please never forget your our son in every sense of the word, and we love you very much, no matter what name you go by."

Johnny nodded and squeezed his mother to him. His dad walked across the room and hugged them both.

* * *

Hermione and Evie were in the middle of playing a game when Johnny came down into the living room the next morning.

"Johnny, you've got to see this! It's like clue, but you give the person that kills the bad guy a parade! And EVERYTHING moves!"

Johnny looked down to see indeed, a miniature version of himself was given a parade by all the other figures.

"That looks really cool." Johnny smiled.

Evie turned to Hermione and said, "Can Johnny play with us next game?"

Hermione suppressed a smile and looked over to Johnny, then back to Evie, "I don't know. He is all right, for a boy, but he might have cooties... most boys do. WE wouldn't want to catch any."

Evie seemed to think about it for a second, "True, he is a boy, but he's also my brother. I'm sure our parents had him decontaminated."

"That's good thinking," Hermione said, "I guess we can let him play with us."

"Who are these people?" Johnny asked as he looked at the other pieces on the board.

"Those over there are all the professors at Hogwarts, and these are our friends. The object of the game is to figure out who killed Voldemort, then give them a parade."

Johnny looked quizzically at her, "That's the game?"

"We were trying to make fun of something, to make it less painful." Hermione said rather quietly.

Johnny nodded and they continued playing. The Winters gave them something to eat and sat on the sofa, trying to read, but ending up watching the game instead. Johnny kept taking Hermione's little figurine and not letting her play it at all, while Evie kept playing Hagrid. Probably because if you touched the figurine's stomach he would let out a belly laugh.

"It's true."

Everyone turned to see who was the one that said that. Three figures were in the walkway, Johnny recognized from the pictures around the house two of them as Ginny and Ron, the other was a round faced boy.

"Ron..." Hermione said getting up, "How... How did you find out?"

"Dr. Sam told us. Funny, I expected to at least hear of it from you."

He looked angry, while the other two looked sad and a bit frightened to say the least.

"Ron I-"

"Should go." Ron finished for her.

"What?"

"Hermione, I think it's time for you to pack." Ron said looking at the floor.

"Like hell I will!"

"Hermione, it's what’s best."

"What are you talking about? What's wrong with you!? Your best friend, who you thought was dead is standing here, and all you can think to say is to order me to pack my things?"

"That's not my friend. Our friend is dead, he's just wearing his skin, you've wasted your time here and it's enough. "

"No!" Tears began to flow from her eyes, and she looked to the others for support, "Ginny? Neville?"

"We'll help you pack your bags." The round-faced boy, who was probably called Neville, said.

Hermione was ushered out and Johnny didn't understand why she didn't fight back, why she didn't insist on staying, why she didn't stand her ground. Johnny stood up to Ron, ready to fight him if he insisted on taking Hermione somewhere she didn't want to go.

"Could Harry and I talk alone?"

"Johnny?" His father asked.

Johnny nodded and the Winter family, minus Johnny, walked out. Ron stepped into the room and closed the doors.

"When you defeated you-know-who last year-"

"Who?"

Ron let out an exasperated 'agg' then continued, "The last time I saw you, the last time you had your memory you asked me to do something. You asked me to promise you something. You told me I had to protect her. I know she signed up to do this, and normally she's able to make her own decisions, hell she'll make my decisions for ME, that’s Hermione. But I'm still going to protect her- even from you."

Johnny shook his head, "I'm not some kind of murder, I would never do anything to hurt her."

"I know that." Ron nodded, "But you'll never get better. I talked to Snape, he said there was no way to reverse the charm without the original caster, and your mother's been dead for seventeen years. You're presence in her life is going to drive her insane. The thing is that you're not bad. If she hated you, this version of you, it would be easier to give up on the thought that Harry may return. But you're nice, just like you always were, and she's going to commit her life to the past, to what she had, hoping the thing that's wearing her boyfriend's face will turn back into her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, obviously she forgot to tell you that bit."

'I died the day you did.' Her words wrung in his head repeatedly, he had been so blind to everything.

"So, to keep her safe, I've got to bring her back to Hogwarts. It may be too late all ready."

"Too late?" Johnny asked.

"When we thought you were dead she... She tried to kill herself. To make her go through that again, your death again... But I've got to take her now, while there's still a chance."

Johnny nodded and did not move as Ron made his way out of the room and up the stairs.

* * *

"We've all been teaching DADA, that's how I found it." Ginny said as she folded one of Hermione's Hogwarts skirts in her trunk.

"Found what?" Hermione asked numbly.

Just then, the door opened and Johnny walked through the door, paused for a moment, then took some clothes from the closet and put them next to the trunk.

"The teacher roster." Neville finished for Ginny.

"Apparently Dr. Sam's full name is Doctor Samantha Snape. She's his daughter! No wonder she hates his slimy guts." Ginny shivered.

Hermione crinkled her nose, but it was short lived when Johnny took another pile of clothes and put them next to her trunk.

"You agree with this?" Hermione asked Johnny.

"It's the only way." Johnny said.

He didn't want her to go, he wanted her to stay there with him, and help him fill up those empty spots in his soul. But it would never happen. He would have to face facts and just give up, go back home, to the Winter family home.

"Don't help." She said shortly as she tore the clothes from his hand, "Get the hell out of my room."

He did as she said and went into the hallway closing the door behind him. As he walked to his room he reminded himself that it was for the best. That he would never get his memory back anyway. That he was glad for the time that he could have spent with her, and even though knowing he could never see her again would leave a bigger hole in his soul than the loss of his memory seemed to, he would get over it. He would get over that final look she gave him, the last look she'd ever give him.

Johnny fell to the floor of his room, passed out.

* * *

Lily Potter was a very clever witch. Clever enough to know even her best spell may backfire on her. That is why she put the third charm on her husband's ring. The third charm was in case she herself lived the attack of Voldemort. A slim chance, but one all the same, she decided no to tempt the fates. The third charm would lift all charms from the ring. The only way, and she made sure it was the only way, was if the wearer of said ring fell back in love with the person they had been in love with before the charms were cast. Capturing James Potter's heart a second time seemed as if it would be easy so, she put the charm in place.

Lily Potter was indeed a clever witch.

And that was the reason why, as he got up off the floor, the memory of his former life as Harry Potter came steadily back to him, and why his father's ring re-appeared on his finger.

When the world seemed to stop spinning at such high speeds he tried to get up to establish his bearings. When he realized the ring was now back on his finger and what it must have done, he tore it off and threw it across the room.

Something was happening, something bad... he remembered; Hermione was supposed to leave. Or she had already left.

He couldn't let her go, he had to get to her, he had to see her again.

He walked down the hall, Grasping at the wall for support, and opened the door to her room to see nothing inside. He went down the stairs and watched as Lupin was trying to fall up them.

"Is Hermione gone?"

"They're just about to leave, why?"

"I remember everything."

Lupin paused as they neared each other at the bottom of the steps, "How do I know you're not just saying that?"

Harry put both his hands on Lupin's shoulders, "You're my Mummy and I love you."

"We better hurry." Lupin put one arm around Harry and they both tried to walk fast.

But both were weak, and it looked rather like a bad three-legged race.

"Oh my god, she's his daughter?" Harry said finally realizing all the disgust that added to that thought.

"How do you think I feel? I'm twice her age and I-"

"Down boy. Not really wanting to hear it right now." Harry said as they neared the stairs to the basement.

"They went down there?" Harry asked.

"Yup." Lupin said.

"They can't just make this easy, can they..." Harry said as he held onto the railing for dear life. Lupin did the same on his right and they clumsily made their way down together.

They got half way down , but then both tripped and fell down the rest of the steps banging into the Fawks/Order door.

"Who's there?" Ron's voice sounded from the other side.

"Girl Scouts, would you like some thin mints?" Harry said as he and Lupin tried to detangle themselves from each other.

Ron opened the door and helped Lupin to his feet, then helped Harry.

"Look, we've discussed this." Ron began, "If you want to say good bye than go ahead, but I think it would be best if you-"

Harry was just about to talk to Hermione, but turned back to Ron, "When did you turn into Hermione?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What's with the being responsible bit?"

"I'm plenty responsible, I'm going to be a dad soon."

"You knock Luna up and that makes you responsible?" Harry waved it off and turned to Hermione, "You can't go."

"It's what's best, remember?" She said turning away from him.

"That was then."

"An hour makes that much difference?"

"In this case, yes. Hermione, I remember. I remember everything. I remember what side of the bed you like to sleep on, I remember the way you hit Malfoy, I remember how much you hate it when I do that thing with my mouth."

The entire room silenced and Hermione said barely above a whisper, "Harry?"

Harry nodded and she dropped the bag from her shoulder, which made many braking noises, ran and hugged him so tight Harry knew she cracked some ribs.

He had never felt better his entire life.

"My prophecy said I would give you a gift... I don't know-"

Harry put his hand over her mouth, "Don't be an idiot Hermione; you are my gift. It was worth it."

Harry and Hermione kissed, and they all lived happily ever after.

Except for Snape, but he was always a miserable git.

THE END

No, really I mean it this time.

Seriously.

Look out for the sequel coming soon.

Just joshin’ you.

Really.

This is it.

The End.

A/N: Just like to thank everyone that has read this story, and especially everyone that has reviewed. Thanks a bunch guys.

~Laurie