An Effective Abstraction

An Effective Abstraction
By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 001 - Accommodate

Upon reaching the boot of the pewter colored sedan, Harry waited patiently while his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his whale of a cousin Dudley caught up with him. Even after the various members of the Order of the Phoenix and his friends had said their piece to the Dursley's while they were still at Platform 9 ¾, their good intentions could not completely erase the uneasiness and hollowness Harry felt. Part of him however, truly enjoyed the outpouring of love and support; still it was not enough to ease the overwhelming sense of dread he had begun to experience, because all he wanted to do now was to get back to his room on Privet Drive and remain there until he was released from his yearly prison sentence.

None of his friends or members of the Order had a full understanding of what life with the Dursley's was like. Sure, they kept him under nourished, kept him inundated with a list of chores longer then the eye could see, but what they did not know was about the abuse.

For as long as Harry could remember, he had been violated and abused both physically and mentally by Vernon Dursley and his son Dudley. They had both found great pleasure in taking turns to break the 'freak' (as they called him) and to finding the amount of pain and agony they could issue upon the scrawny whelp of a boy.

His Aunt Petunia had seem to not notice beatings, instead turning a blind eye to the fact that there were times that his 'clumsiness' caused him to break his glasses or fracture an arm. Harry had often wondered how she could just not see what was going on, believing that there must be some small part of her that was as kind and loving as his mother, Lily had once been. There was some conciliation in the fact that Petunia no matter how angry she was never raised a hand to Harry. She yelled at him, scolding him for not doing a simple chore correctly or hollered at him to wake up when he had inadvertently overslept.

For the most part, Petunia Evans Dursley seemed to be indifferent to what went on around her. She had trained Harry to do a great number of different chores and jobs around her home held to her own high standards and was awarded with the well polished home she now enjoyed. Her pride and joy was her son Dudley and had an almost compulsive desire to please her husband Vernon. She never spoke of her childhood, her parents or her late sister. Her only concern was Vernon and Dudley.

As Harry watched them walk over towards him, he took note of the rage building within Vernon's facial features. His normal lightly flushed skin was now a ruddy puce and his eyes bulged in silent rage. Harry could see the upcoming storm brewing within his Uncle Vernon's face; again, he wanted nothing more then to find shelter within the confines of his small bedroom.

Uncle Vernon opened the boot with deliberate force then left Harry to handle the placement of his belongings. Harry had quickly opened up Hedwig's cage and let her out to fly back to Privet Drive, allowing him to store the large gage within the confines of the new sedan. He gently closed the boot lid and saw in astonishment that all three of the Dursleys had gotten into the car without making much of a spectacle. Taking his place into the back seat behind Uncle Vernon, he felt the engine start up and they began to make the slow passage through the car park; heading back home to Little Whinging in Surrey.

He caught a fleeting glance of his best friend Hermione Granger as she reached the elegant car that belonged to her parents. They had made eye contact quickly and Harry was rewarded with a tender smile and a final wave farewell before other traffic had separated them from view. He sighed quietly letting his hand stay upon the window of the car as he had returned her wave.

"So who is she? Your girlfriend?" Dudley asked in a quiet yet sneering contemptuous tone, startled Harry with his questioning.

"Just my best friend" Harry said quietly with a gentle smile, still staring out the window where Hermione had just been, to which he heard Dudley silently mutter a scathingly vicious slam about him being a 'poof' as well as a 'freak'. Harry ignored this remark instead dwelling on what Dudley had said before.

The idea of Hermione and being his girlfriend was something that he had never contemplated before. Not because he thought she was not girlfriend material, she was beyond anything he could ever dream of in a girlfriend. He would never want to lose her friendship, because to him there was nothing more important then her being in his life and after his rather unfortunately disastrous and short-lived relationship with Cho Chang, Harry found that he did not ever want to jeopardize what he had with Hermione. She was too important to him and he needed her far more then to cross that invisible line.

He could only dream of someday living long enough to have a girlfriend who was half the woman that his Hermione had become. No other female in Harry's life had even come close in comparison to what he saw or felt with Hermione.

In Harry's mind, he had come to some conclusions since hearing about the prophecy and why Tom Riddle wanted Harry dead. He currently did not feel like he would live long enough to ever experience what a real kiss should be like; nor would he ever have the option of finding a girlfriend who would like him for just who he was inside; or for just being able to live his life being Harry… Just Harry.

The car moved slowly along the English countryside as Harry leaned his head against the window next to where he sat. The silence in the car was deafening and this caused Harry to close his eyes and the gentle movement of the car drew his mind into an uneasy slumber.

He was back inside the Department of Mysteries and watched horrified, as Hermione had taken a hit from a curse thrown by a silenced Anton Dolohov, leaving her to slump to the ground. He relived his terrifying fear that she had been killed then his relief when Neville had found a pulse and knew she would be all right. His heart leapt for joy leaving his mind light headed when suddenly he saw the scenes within his memory change.

Only one couple was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light He laughed, "Come on You can do better then that!" he yelled his voice still echoing around the cavernous room

The second jet of light hit him square on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died away from his face, but his eyes were wide in shock. Then as Sirius seemed to take ages to fall backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch Sirius' features turned into those of Hermione Jane Granger and she disappeared through the veil. All he could hear was the triumphant scream of Bellatrix Lestrange....

And Hermione's pitiful cries of "Harry save me."

Harry's head popped up, his heart pounding rapidly and he realized it was just a dream or was it. He knew some small part of what he had dreamed was real but why was Hermione included? Was it because he had been thinking about Hermione before he had drifted off to sleep? Was it because he had finally realized how important she was in his life? She had almost died because of him and that thought brought tears to his eyes, which he tried to hide.

Because of a damnable prophecy made before his birth by an abominable Divination Professor named Sibyll Trelawney, Harry Potter was now faced with what he believed an unbelievable situation. He had not the need to have as brilliant a mind as what Hermione possessed to comprehend that because of that prophetic utterance made more then sixteen years before, he had unwittingly become responsible for the deaths of not only his parents James and Lily Potter but also his beloved godfather Sirius Black.

He had very few memories of his parents Lily and James, what he did have came about because of Dementors or from pictures he had received of their life together. However, with Sirius, he had shared so many memories that ironically included Hermione Granger. Their shared memories included some that were bad and some that were very good, all of which were overshadowed by events that had happened just a few short days before.

Now in his grief and agony, he could only recall memories that were tragic and horrible images. His mind was plagued by the last few moments of Sirius Black's life and the torment and feelings towards the life that was lost of a brave and heroic man; his deep green eyes reflecting the sadness and sorrow that Harry felt of this tragic loss within his heart.

Now all that remained of the merry band of Marauders were his former Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Remus Lupin and the traitorous and presumably dead Peter Pettigrew - formerly the rat known as Scabbers. They along with Harry's father James Potter and his Godfather Sirius Black had caused mischief and mayhem during their time nearly 20 years previously at the very same school he currently attended with his two best friends Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jane Granger, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry silently cursed himself repeatedly for having saved the man's life from being killed by Remus and Sirius. Had he not done so and allowed the two men to kill Wormtail then the second of Trelawney's prophecies would not have come true causing the evilness known as Lord Voldemort to return in full force.

Despite what Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had said after the unfortunate incident at the Department of Mysteries, Harry bore a huge amount of agonizing guilt regarding the rebirth of Lord Voldemort. He had not only been the one who had saved Pettigrew's life, but also it had been his blood that had been used to help bring about the revivification of the man formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle.

As the sleek dark grey sedan made its way towards Privet Drive, Harry realized that his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were overly quiet on the ride home, as was Dudley. Aside from the comments, he had made early on in their trip from King's Cross Station he now sat with his massive body pressed as close to the car door, undoubtedly fearing that he would be Harry's next victim. Dudley had finally heard the whole story about the Triwizard cup outcome and about Cedric Diggory's death, he was positive he would be next. Dudley had quipped the previous summer that Cedric was Harry's boyfriend. Then the attack from the Dementors occurred and all thought of that incidental comment was wiped clean from Dudley's mind.

What torment Dudley's mind had suffered during the Dementor attack, Harry had no idea. Harry knew that the Dementors weapon was to suck the happiness out of you causing you to relive your worst memories. Harry was well aware of what memories he relived sadly enough but had no idea what possible memory could be so bad to Dudley other then being told to go on a diet.

As they pulled into the drive at Number 4 Privet Drive, the sight of the house was a welcome one to Harry. When the car came to a stop, he hurriedly jumped out to retrieve his belongings from the boot and head upstairs. Still nothing had been said to him by any of the Dursley's and he gratefully enclosed himself into his small sparse bedroom. Not bothering to unpack he lay back upon his small bed and closed his eyes trying to force the tears that were threatening again to cease.

"Harry? It's time for supper." Harry heard his Aunt Petunia's voice call to him through the bedroom door. He had no concept of how much time had past from when he had lain down and his aunt announcing dinner.

He quickly went and washed up then moved down to the dining room. His Uncle Vernon was already seated at the head of the table with Dudley next to him completely engrossed with a television program Harry did not recognize.

"You sit over here Harry." Aunt Petunia kindly said, directing him to a chair on her right side. Harry recalled that Aunt Marge had sat in same spot when she had been there 3 years previous.

"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry said quietly.

"Dudley and I are going to be going to Marge's for the next 3 weeks." Vernon announced to Harry. "Your Aunt Petunia has chosen to stay here to keep you out of trouble rather than be there with us in the country."

"Alright Uncle Vernon… if that is what you have decided." Harry quietly responded then added still in a quiet solemnity. "I really don't want to be an inconvenience to you Aunt Petunia. I'm sure that the Headmaster can arrange something so you can be with your family."

Petunia looked at Harry and saw sincerity in his eyes that she recognized. There was no disobedience in his tone or manner. He really did not want to be a burden to her or the family. She saw sadness amongst the shadows in his eyes.

"Actually it is all right Harry. I would prefer to stay here rather than go to Marge's home. Vernon and Dudley need a bit of father-son time as well. This is for the best." Aunt Petunia said directly to Harry, and then glanced over to Vernon making sure he understood everything she had said.

As they had finished their meal, Harry automatically got up from the table and began clearing the dishes. The startled look on Vernon's face showed that Harry had done this instinctively and not because it was forced upon him. After making sure that everything was cleaned up, Harry said good night and wandered back up the stairs.

He could hear his Uncle's voice saying "That was unexpected." Then heard his Aunt respond, "I am not sure what happened at that school of his this last term, but something has changed the boy. You can be sure I will find out exactly what has been going on there."

Shutting his bedroom door Harry laid back down upon his bed, not even bothering getting ready for bed and stared at the ceiling. As sleep took him, he began recalling the images he had seen earlier; replaying in his mind the last moments of his Godfather's life. He shot up out of bed when the dream ended the same way it had before with Hermione's pleas for help.

The clock on his desk showed that it was half past five in the morning. Going to his trunk, he pulled out clean clothes, then went and was showered and dressed for the day. Half-hour later, Harry went down stairs and put coffee on then began cooking breakfast for the family. He heard a noise in the hallway and realized that Aunt Petunia had gotten up. The eggs, toast and bacon were almost done so he poured a cup of coffee and held it out to his aunt.

"Breakfast will be ready momentarily Aunt Petunia." Harry said as he took a sip of his own cup of coffee.

Hedwig flew to the greenhouse window and sat on the ledge. Harry walked over to her and saw that she had a copy of the Daily Prophet for him. He gave her a bit of his toast and took the paper to the table. He saw her take wing to his bedroom window and disappear, most likely to get a long nap.

Internally he wanted to read the paper, to find out what else had happened in the Wizarding World, but knew that he would be yelled at for having such 'abnormality' in the house. Carefully he tucked the paper into his back pocket, went over to the stove, and finished preparing the morning meal.

"Your Uncle and Dudley will be leaving after breakfast," stated Aunt Petunia. "You know Harry, you did not have to get up so early to fix breakfast."

"I know, but I felt that I needed to do something to help out." Harry said sadly.

He could hear Uncle Vernon and Dudley coming down the stairs and by the sounds they were making they had their luggage with them. Harry got up and began plating the food for them so it would be waiting at their seats. Vernon and Dudley looked mildly surprised at seeing Harry serving their breakfast. Vernon walked over and kissed his wife upon the cheek. "Good morning dear."

"Good morning, you boys all packed and ready to go today?" Petunia said cheerfully.

"I don't know why we have to go so early." Dudley grumbled as he began eating his eggs.

"As I told you last night Dudders, it's so your father can beat the traffic."

Harry had poured himself another cup of coffee, and then refilled his aunts and uncle's cups. He then turned to Dudley and asked him if he would like a cup as well. Dudley stared at him and told him "No, I don't need coffee."

"When did you start drinking coffee Harry?" Uncle Vernon asked suspiciously.

"This past year at my school er… we were doing a great deal of late night studying for our um… exams." Harry stammered, trying desperately not to say anything in a magical sense to his uncle.

"Did you do well on your exams?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"We won't get our OWL… er… um exam results until middle of the month." Harry said, mentally scolding himself for saying OWL.

"Oh yes, I remember your mother saying something about the exams at the end of 5th year." Petunia remarked giving a warning looks at Vernon. "How do you think you did?"

"Umm, all right I suppose." Harry said slightly fidgeting. "We had to take them over two weeks… I think my best friend Hermione will get top marks for our year."

"Which one was she?" Vernon said suddenly.

"She's the one that was hugging Harry as we left." Dudley said between mouthfuls. Harry was suddenly reminded of Ron at the way he would talk and eat.

"She seems like a nice girl. What do her parents do?" Petunia said.

"Dentists. They were there at the station." Harry added.

Vernon looked mildly shocked at this announcement. "Dentists?"

"Yes, I'm not sure where their practice is, I think it is somewhere near London. They do quite well from what I understand."

"Really…" Vernon said then muttered, "didn't know your kind had dentists…"

"Hermione is Muggleborn." Harry muttered hoping that only Uncle Vernon had heard this.

"Perhaps you would like Hermione to visit this summer." Petunia asked.

Harry stared at his aunt in disbelief. Had she actually offered Harry a visit from one of his friends? "Umm that would be nice." He quickly got up from the table and began clearing things away. He could hear Uncle Vernon say something about "Look at the time… best be off Dudders." Then a great bustling as the Dursleys made their way into the hall and out to the car.

Clearing the remaining plates from the table he brushed the scrapes into a container to take up to Hedwig then began washing the dishes and pans. When Petunia had returned Harry could see that she had been a bit teary eyed.

"Aunt Petunia, you really didn't need to stay on my account. I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore could have arranged something for me… or I could have stayed at Mrs. Figg's house." Harry said.

"Actually Harry, you know how I am about the dogs… I really cannot stand the beasts. This is for the best, you have your protection and I can stay away from the 12 dogs at Marge's." Harry was positive that he saw his aunt cringe at the sight of being around 12 dogs all of which were just like Ripper.

"Oh… I hadn't thought about that."

"Now, one thing I want to make clear to you." Petunia said motioning Harry to sit down at the table with her, "I want you to feel comfortable while you're here. I understand that you may not feel comfortable talking to me given the way things have been since you started to live here and I will try to get over my own issues with your kind… I mean the W-wizarding World."

"Ok then… um… I'm going to take these scraps up to Hedwig then I'll go work in the garden." He said quickly quite uncomfortable at the changes around the house.

The old garden had been cared for by hired gardeners while Harry had been away at school, but even with his novice eye, he could tell that it had not been well kept. He quickly had gotten some hand tools out of the garden shed and set about working with the fragrant colorful roses.

A couple of hours had passed when Petunia had come out to check on his progress; quite surprised to find how well Harry had done with the garden. She had taken pride for many years over the beautiful garden; its stunning quality being one of the main reasons she and Vernon had bought this particular house nearly two decades before.

"Y-you work quite well with your hands Harry" Petunia stuttered with apprehension. After the earlier conversation that she had with Harry she had become uncomfortable herself at normal conversation.

Harry looked up into his aunt's horse-like face, the sun blazing low behind her. "Oh… thank you Aunt Petunia. I am curious about something." He said as he stood up and wiped his dirt-covered hands off on his worn out oversized denim trousers.

"W-what is that H-Harry?" She said handing him a glass of iced tea.

"Thank you" he responded taking the glass. "You and Uncle Vernon have hired gardener's over the years to take care of the yard and garden while I have been away at Ho… er… school, correct?"

"Y-yes, we hired the same company that has taken care of a number of the neighbors here. Why?" Petunia said sitting down on the wrought iron garden bench.

Harry took a long sip of the refreshing iced tea and then looked at his aunt, "I think they may be having one over on you… you may be over paying them."

"Why do you say that Harry? How would you know how much we are paying them?" Petunia said defensively.

"I study Herbology at school. It is not one of my better subjects but I have learned a few things about plants. Professor Sprout… uh… she's my Herbology instructor, has an amazing amount of greenhouses that are on our school grounds. Besides all of the different plants that we have to learn about for our er… other studies." He still found it uncomfortable speaking about the Wizarding world to his aunt and was trying to edit his own vocabulary to exclude all mention of what she had always termed his abnormality. It was not lost on him that he could tell Aunt Petunia was just as uncomfortable having a conversation with Harry. "She has an exquisite assortment of flora. My friend Neville has been helping her with the greenhouses and he is quite an exceptional gardener. He told me about some of the different diseases and infestations that he has had to help her treat some of the flowers."

Harry went on to explain about aphids as well as other indications of trouble with the roses that he had seen.

"You certainly have learned quite a lot about plants haven't you." Petunia said.

"I'm no where as good as Neville is, he's probably the best in our year." Harry said taking another long drink from his glass. "I want to apologize to you for any inconvenience that my living here has caused you and Uncle Vernon. I know that you don't like having me here."

Petunia looked at her nephew and saw a deep sadness radiating from his deep green eyes. "You have your mother's eyes… did you know that Harry?"

He chuckled slightly and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time. 'You look so much like James but you have Lily's eyes.' I only have a few pictures of them that were given to me by Hagrid when I left after…" he sighed, "Sorry. I know you don't want to hear about my school or anything. I don't want to make you anymore uncomfortable."

"Actually Harry, I will admit that hearing about all of that is a bit unsettling. However, you are a part of this family no matter what Vernon may say. I see a lot of my father in you… He and Lily used to always work together in the gardens back home even before she got her letter. In some ways… it was that closeness to Papa that began causing me to be jealous of her. She was always the pretty one, the smart one, she had all the talent." Petunia said wringing her hands slightly. "I've actually enjoyed talking to you just now. Dudley doesn't tell me all that he is getting on with these days, and it is nice to know that there is some things that I can actually talk to you about… like the garden."

"I understand what you must have gone through growing up with my Mum." Harry said with a knowing that came from growing up close to someone who had been showcased, while he had been locked away in a cupboard under the stairs.

As she turned and looked at her nephew she caught a glint of the sadness again, Petunia cautiously took hold of one of Harry's hands and held it. "Yes, I know you do understand. Harry, what is causing the sadness that I see in your eyes? Is it just because you are here with us or is there something else?"

Harry's hand started to tremble slightly with the emotion he had been bottling up inside of him. Petunia held tightly not wanting to let him go. She could see tears beginning to threaten those startling green eyes and quite suddenly, for the first time in his life she wrapped an arm around Harry and gave him a comforting hug. She could feel him stiffen beneath her touch.

Very softly she spoke again, "I know I have not been the mother that Lily would have been… but while it is just you and I here I will try and treat you more like the son that I should have all these years."

"I'm sorry to be such a burden to you and Uncle Vernon…" Harry said.

"Nonsense, honestly Harry, I know it is going to take us some time to get away from the past. I want to help you… talk to me… I know something happened to you this last year at school… I want you to talk to me and tell me what happened." Petunia said not letting him go from her embrace.

"I don't want anyone else to die because of me," whispered Harry tears starting to fall upon his cheeks.

"Come inside along Harry, we need to have a long talk." Petunia said showing more strength than Harry thought possible as she pulled him along with her by the hand.

After suggesting that Harry go and get cleaned up she fixed them a bite to eat and then sat down with him in the lounge.

"I know this will be difficult for you to talk about… I will admit that it will be hard for me to hear, however, I need to know what has been going on at that school of yours. From what it sounded like when you spoke to us last summer… It sounds like someone is trying to kill you."

"Lord Voldemort… he's the one that is trying to kill me… still trying to kill me that is." Harry said pointedly.

"Who died Harry? You said in the garden you didn't want anyone else to die because of you… what or whom did you mean?" Petunia's voice was a bit shaken speaking of death.

"When I was taking my History of Magic written exam I fell asleep… and Voldemort… he showed me my godfather being tortured…"

"What do you mean he showed you?"

Harry began explaining to her about how he was supposed to learn Occlumency to block Voldemort from his mind. He then began telling his aunt all about what had happened to him since the Dementors had attacked him and Dudley.

He spoke quite candidly about the lies that had been told about him by the Daily Prophet, abuse he suffered from Umbridge, his life-long banning from Quidditch… Harry kept going on not even aware of the affect his words had on Petunia. When he got to the part about the vision of Sirius being tortured, he his voice suddenly cracked from emotion.

"I should have listened to Hermione… I normally always do… I just thought I was right in trying to save Sirius's life. Hermione was right… she said I had a 'saving people thing'. I should have listened to her more." The tears that had threatened earlier now fell freely from his eyes. "Umbridge caught us using the floo in her office… Hermione and I that is… Madam Umbridge's inquisitorial squad caught Ron, Ginny, Luna and poor Neville outside in the halls… and dragged us all inside. Umbridge was going to use an unforgivable curse on me to find out who I was talking to… in my mind all I could think about was how Kreacher had told me that Sirius wouldn't be coming back… the damn house elf had lied to me and made me believe that Sirius had been captured by Voldemort…" Harry swiped a sleeve across his face to dry the tears that had fallen. "Hermione was brilliant though… she saw that Umbridge was going to curse me and Hermione came up with an excuse to stop her… I know what the curse is like… Voldemort used it on me during my 4th year… it's the worst pain… actually I've now discovered worse pain than that."

"How can your Headmaster allow these things to happen to you?" Petunia said angrily, when the phone rang she motioned to Harry that she would answer it and he wandered out to the back garden once again.

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Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc.

Author's Notes: Like any writer, I love to hear from my readers… that said if you review I will try as hard as possible to respond to your review… however, I won't beg (much anyway ;D)… I only will ask one thing… if you must criticize my work I ask that you do it constructively as any and all criticism is helpful to improve myself as a writer… For the most part this story is going to be PG 13… while I will attempt to keep it within that rating some of the language may be a bit rough…

As for Hogwarts and Beyond - Take 2, I regret that I am not able to complete work on it at this time… perhaps someday my muse will return and allow me to finish what had been my very first fan fiction… (I have since written many others.)
As Always,
Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."
@}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction
By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter Two – Informative

Petunia reached over to the telephone and picked up the receiver already on it’s third ring.

“Hello?” Petunia said.

“Oh Hello Mrs. Dursley, my name is Hermione Granger…”

“Yes Hermione, Harry has been just telling me what a wonderful person you are… what can I do for you?”

“Umm… I actually wanted to talk to Harry if at all possible. I’m in Little Whinging now and would like to see him.”

“By all means dear, do come over… I know Harry could use a friendly face, why don’t you come over and stay to dinner. He’s just been telling me about what happened last year…”

“Oh so you know what happened with Sirius?”

“Do you mean his godfather? No not all the details, he was just getting to that part… why don’t I let you come over and then he can talk to both of us alright.”

“I will be right there, and Thank you Mrs. Dursley.”

“No dear, it is you who I should be thanking… it sounds like you have done quite a bit for my nephew over the years… See you in a few minutes.”

Petunia hung up the phone then looked out onto the back yard to where Harry was sitting on the garden bench. From all appearances, he looked as if he had the weight of the world upon his shoulders. She stared out after him for several minutes when the doorbell rang.

Opening the door, she saw the young woman who had seemed so close to her nephew just the day before. “You must be Hermione… I’m Petunia Dursley. Come in, come in… Harry is out in the garden.”

“Thank you. I hope my visiting isn’t going to upset your husband at all, my being here that is.” Hermione said timidly.

“Vernon and Dudley have gone away for a few weeks to my sister-in-laws home… so it is just Harry and I here for a while. I think it is for the better, can I get you a cup of tea or coffee.” Petunia offered being the gracious hostess.

“Ah… coffee would be lovely. Where is Harry again?”

“He just out back, why don’t you go out to see him while I get us all some coffee then he can finish telling me about what happened.” Petunia said escorting Hermione out to the greenhouse door.

Harry sat for the longest time on the garden bench; his body slumped over in resolute submission to his future. He finally looked up after sensing someone staring at him. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him as he recognized the young woman standing not far from where he sat.

Hermione was dressed in a light sundress that was the same periwinkle blue that Harry remembered from her dress robes during the Yule Ball. Her hair was down and bushy as always; untamed and yet soft looking. He could hear a voice in his mind saying off handedly ‘oh and you should also tell her you think I’m ugly’ with which his mind replied ‘but I don’t think your ugly’.

No, he did not think she was ugly at all; to him she was beautiful and the dazzling smile she gave him just then lightened his heart. He stood up and began to walk over towards her. She met him half way and engulfed him a tight embrace, holding him and not wanting to let go.

“What are you doing here?” He whispered his voice still with the emotions from earlier.

Finally pulling back from the hug, she answered, “To see you silly. Honestly Harry, did you think I would not be here for you?”

Harry surprised her by hugging her once again. “Thank you… more than you will ever know.”

As Harry took her by the hand back into the lounge where Petunia sat patiently sipping a cup of coffee he then said, “I was just telling Aunt Petunia about what happened last week… it’s good you are here, I needed to tell you what happened after I got back to Hogwarts and I think now is the right time.”

Positioning them selves upon the sofa Harry looked at his aunt and smiled. “Aunt Petunia, talking about what has happened ever since I left last summer is helping me out in ways you have no idea how much. What I am going to say now is going to be news to Hermione as well…”

He began to tell about what happened when they got to the Department of Mysteries and what followed when Hermione was struck by the curse. As he reached that part telling about how he had felt seeing her collapsed on the floor Hermione took his hand gently in hers giving him a reaffirming squeeze.

“Oh my dear!” Petunia exclaimed looking over at Hermione with such a sincere concern for her welfare.

Then Harry went on to explain about Sirius. He kept his eyes focused upon the floor barely aware of the two women in the room. His voice cracked as he told of Sirius going through the veil of death and of his mad dash out past Dumbledore to go after Bellatrix Lestrange.

“I literally wanted to kill her… I hate that woman so much.” Harry said and then turning to look at Hermione’s face, which was damp with tears, he added “I used Crucio on her.” Harry was surprised when he saw a look of triumph appear upon Hermione’s face.

“Good, I’m glad you did that… the bitch deserved to be A-K’d for what she did to Sirius.” Hermione said scathingly, then turned to Petunia and paled, “Oh excuse my language Mrs. Dursley… but that woman…” she began seething with anger. “So why wasn’t she hauled off to Azkaban with Malfoy and the others?”

“I didn’t do it right… she said `You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain to enjoy it… then she told me righteous anger wouldn't hurt her for long. About that time she found out that the Prophecy had been destroyed and that’s when Voldemort showed up… He actually fired Avada Kedavra at me… Dumbledore had gotten there and saved me. There is no way I will ever be able to fight Voldemort the way that Dumbledore did…”

Harry paused for a moment as he remembered that feeling of possession. “After having been cursed by the Cruciartus myself I thought I knew what true pain was… but then it felt as if my scar burst open and I just knew I was dead; it was pain beyond imagining, pain past endurance… I felt like I was gone from the hall, that I was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, I knew this to be Voldemort… and we were so tightly bound that I didn’t know where my body ended and his began. In that moment, we were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape… I remember that Voldemort had spoken through me using my mouth to speak… I can remember that even through the agony I was saying `Kill me now, Dumbledore…' Every part of me was screaming for release… I felt as if I was blind and dying and then I could hear my voice say `If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…' and all I could think was ‘Let the pain stop, let him kill us… end it, Dumbledore… death is nothing compared to this… And I'll see Sirius again…’. As soon as I started thinking about Sirius and seeing him again I felt my heart fill up with so much love and emotion and then Voldemort loosened the coils he had on me and the pain was gone…”

Hermione’s arms wrapped around Harry and she sobbed uncontrollably. Aunt Petunia sat pale faced and shaking. “Shhh, I’m alright Hermione…”

“I cannot believe that you had to go through that Harry… Has every year been like this one?” Petunia said still in shock.

“Not quite… but my years have gone steadily worse than the year before. There is still more though.”

“What do you mean there’s still more? Wasn’t that enough to be going on with? What did Dumbledore do after you got back to Hogwarts?” Hermione said with just a touch of anger building up.

“You are brilliant Hermione… you picked up on the fact that Dumbledore had something to do with what else happened to me. After Fudge and all the ministry cronies got to the Atrium and witnessed Voldemort and Bellatrix escape… He created a portkey and sent me back to his office where I was not allowed to leave. Half an hour later he shows up and tells me that I’m not nearly as angry as I should be with him… I destroyed half his office… You’ve never been in there but he has tables of stuff… I shattered a lot of the junk.”

“Why would he say that you weren’t as angry as you should be with him? What did he tell you?” Hermione said her voice on edge.

“Remember after first year I asked Dumbledore why Voldemort tried to kill me.” Harry questioned.

“Yes, you told me that he wouldn’t… Oh he didn’t… Not after Sirius had just been killed… He couldn’t… OH DAMN HIM!” Hermione shouted.

“He told me the Prophecy…” Harry said taking Hermione’s hand to calm her down.

“The one that was destroyed? He’s known it all along…” Hermione seethed with anger again. “So he felt justified to tell you not an hour after your Godfather had been killed why Voldemort has always tried to kill you… Well Harry… you may not be angry at Dumbledore but I am furious…”

“Trust me Hermione… Dumbledore is not one of my favorite people right now… he ranks right up there with Pettigrew and Snape!” Harry remarked, “I know the entire contents of the Prophecy and why my parents were murdered and he told me the real reason that I am here at the Dursley’s and why he had refused to allow Sirius to take me the night my parents died.

“I’ve always known that I was here because Petunia is my mother’s sister… and that I would be protected living here… What I didn’t know was the blood protection that had been infused when my mother’s love saved my life… That was the real reason why Dumbledore wouldn’t let Sirius take me… besides the fact that at the time he thought Sirius had betrayed my parents. It’s the Prophecy that triggers it all though…

“After I had screamed and yelled and broken up his office he began telling me that sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog's Head inn he had gone to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher…”

“Sibyll Trelawney” injected Hermione bitterly.

“Oh yes… You’ll like this part… he thought it was against his inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all. He then explained that this applicant, however, was the great great granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer and he thought it only common politeness to meet with her. Dumbledore said he was disappointed that it seemed that she had not a trace of the gift herself.”

“Well that was obvious having been in her class.” Hermione snapped.

“He then told her that he did not think she would be suitable for the post and then as he turned to leave she began saying something in a very strange voice…”

“The Prophecy… Harry, are you going to tell me what it says?” asked Hermione quietly.

“I don’t want this shared with too many people… I trust you Hermione far beyond anyone else I know… I also felt that Aunt Petunia should hear the real reason her sister was killed and she was stuck with me. Ok… here goes…” Harry paused and took a deep breath and then recited from memory, “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”

Hermione’s hand flew up to her mouth in a look of horror. “No… you couldn’t be the only one that this is about…”

“Actually you’re right… originally I wasn’t the only one this prophecy could have pertained to. Neville Longbottom was the other boy that had been figured to be part of the prophecy… at least according to Dumbledore.” Harry said as he got up and put an arm around his Aunt Petunia’s shaking frame.

“But why you?” Petunia said shakily.

“Apparently, when Voldemort attacked that Halloween night and killed mum and dad he only knew of the first part of the prophecy… the part about when I would be born. But when he left me with this scar he marked me as his equal… equal to what I still haven’t got the faintest clue.”

“So he tried to kill you and not the pureblood… that makes sense.” Hermione began to reason. “But what power do you have… I need to figure this out…”

Harry surprised both the ladies by beginning to laugh. “That’s my Hermione… have a problem go to the library to figure it out.”

“Honestly Harry, you make it sound like I… Ok so maybe I do go to the library when ever I need to study new things… but this is important.”

“I know it’s important… why do you think I was so quiet all last week. It wasn’t just about Sirius dying… Dumbledore dropped this on me just at the time I was most vulnerable. I will NEVER forgive him.”

“I don’t blame you Harry… He’s not the man I thought he was.” Hermione said with conviction. “Oh Merlin, what’s Ron going to say about the Prophecy?”

“To tell the truth, I sort of don’t want to tell him right now. I don’t need him getting all jealous or have all kinds of issues right now. Besides, he’s still suffering from that brain attack…” then smirking he added, “Not that he hasn’t been attacked by a brain before eh? Hermione?”

Hermione gave a slight snort and then added, “I’m not the one that picks ALL the fights with him you know.”

Petunia stood up and hugged Harry again, “Why don’t you kids go out into the garden while I fix dinner.”

“All right” they said together and began to walk outside.

The air was beginning to not be as warm as it was earlier and Hermione gave a slight shiver. “You cold?” Harry asked.

“Sort of but not really…”

“Come over here and sit down.” Harry said and then wrapped his arm around her for warmth “better?”

Chuckling Hermione said, “Yeah” then leaning against his shoulder she added with a smirk, “Nice way to cozy up to a girl there Potter.”

“Oh like you weren’t hinting at all…” smirked Harry who was on the receiving end of a soft punch to his side. “Hey now that tickles.”

They both started laughing, relaxing after the intense emotional roller coaster they had both been riding. Harry finally relaxed enough to rest his head against the top of Hermione’s as she lay against his shoulder. He could smell a fragrance of flora and berries wafting in the air and after a few moments realized that it was coming from her… She had the aroma of sweetness and sunshine… Closing his eyes he just enjoyed the feeling for a few minutes.

How long they had been sitting out there Harry had no idea but the sound of Aunt Petunia’s voice stirred in his senses. He could feel Hermione still tucked up against his shoulder quietly dozing, he smiled and looked over at his Aunt.

“Dinner is almost ready Harry… why don’t you both get cleaned up and come to dinner.” She said almost reverently trying not to wake up Hermione.

Harry nodded and then placed his mouth close to Hermione’s ear and whispered, “Hey there time to wake up.”

“Hmm?”

“Hermione… time to wake up. Dinner’s ready.”

“Comfortable… don’t want to move…” murmured Hermione softly.

Harry chuckled softly “But then we won’t have dinner and it will hurt Aunt Petunia’s feelings.”

Hermione’s eyes snapped open and stared intensely at the bright green eyes staring at her. “Oh… umm… I guess I feel asleep.”

“We both did… Dinner’s ready, let’s get cleaned up and eat.” Harry said giving her a hand to help her up to her feet. Hermione swayed slightly still light headed from just waking up, “You alright there?” He said as he steadied her.

“Umm yeah… sorry, I guess I was a bit more drowsy then I thought.” She yawned.

“Will you be alright to drive home?” Harry asked as they walked inside.

Hermione’s eyes were fighting to stay open… “Tell you the truth I’m not sure. Let’s see how I am after dinner. If nothing else I can take the Knight Bus and leave my car here.”

“Or you can just stay here in our guest room Hermione.” Petunia said having overheard the exchange with Harry.

“I wouldn’t want to put you out.” Hermione said suddenly.

“Nonsense, it’s just Harry and I here right now and I’m enjoying your company… as I am sure my nephew is as well.”

Harry gave a slight grin as he suddenly blushed.

“Let me give my folks a call and let them know that I will be staying before it gets too late.” Hermione said picking up her purse and pulling out her mobile. She walked into the hallway as Harry went over to help his aunt.

“That was very nice of you to offer her a place for the night Aunt Petunia.” Harry said gathering plates to set the table.

“I meant what I said Harry, I am enjoying her company… I don’t think that you could have told me all of what happened last week with out her assistance. She’s a very nice girl and very bright as well.” Petunia said placing a covered dish on the table. “In some ways she reminds me of Lily.”

Harry chuckled again, “Yeah… both Sirius and Remus described mum and Hermione using the same exact words… ‘She is the cleverest witch of her age.’ Usually it’s right before or right after they have reminded me of looking ‘Just like James’.”

Hermione walked back in “Where can I go wash up for supper?”

“I’ll show you.” Harry said leading her up the stairs. “So how are you parents?”

“They’re fine… surprised I won’t be home this evening but then I explained that we had been discussing this last year with your aunt – which given what happened yesterday at the station, they were even more surprised but pleased that things are a great deal ‘healthier’ as my mum put it for you.”

Harry pointed out the guest room and the washroom then went into his room while Hermione cleaned up. He walked over to Hedwig, petting her gently. He made sure she still had food and water in her cage and then noticed an overly thick envelope on his desk. Picking it up he saw that the envelope bore the seal for Gringott’s Bank.

Hermione passed by his door at that moment and knocked gently. “Did our OWL results come already?” She said noticing the thick envelope.

“Umm no… here.” Harry said handing the envelope to Hermione. He passed by her, then went to wash up for supper before starting to head down the stairs; his very own diversion to avoid opening the envelope.

Hermione stared at the seal and then after noticing Harry’s reaction brought the envelope downstairs with her as they gathered in the dining room for dinner.

Petunia noticed the quiet demeanor that Harry displayed once they had sat down to dinner. She had fixed a nice pork loin with roasted potatoes and sweet garden peas accented with pearl onions. Although Harry spoke hardly at all Petunia took the opportunity to get to know Hermione a bit more by asking her questions about her childhood as well as her academic achievements.

“Harry told me earlier he felt that you would receive top marks for your year.” Petunia commented.

“Oh I’m not sure… I wasn’t able to finish our Astronomy practical… all that business with Umbridge and all… Then in ancient runes, I mistranslated ehwaz. It means partnership, not defense; I mixed it up with eihwaz. Quite silly to make that mistake now that I think on it.” Hermione said modestly, although she knew that when she had done it she had been furious with herself.

“Sounds like a very easy mistake to make… Lily had taken Ancient Runes herself and made that same exact mistake.” Petunia remembered. “If you had not said you had done that I would probably never have remembered Lily’s mistake on her OWL’s.”

Hermione was quite surprised at how easily it was for Petunia to speak of Lily and of the memory from their childhood.

“What other classes did Lily take do you recall?” Hermione asked hoping that discussion about Harry’s mother might draw him out of his self induced silence.

“Hmm, let’s see there was something called Arithmancy… the way she described it sounded an awful lot like numerology… That was something that even I understood back in the mid-70’s. Then there was her spell classes… she also had some sort of potion falderal. Oh and I do recall that she also took that course that Harry was talking about earlier… Divination.”

“Well Divination has always seemed a wooly practice if you ask me. I adore Arithmancy it’s probably my favorite class. Sounds like she had the same class schedule that I have, although I did walk out of Divination during our 3rd year… There is a real Centaur that teaches the subject now.”

As they finished with their meal, Harry automatically got up from the table and began clearing the plates and dishes. He continued to do this in silence as Petunia and Hermione both watched him carefully. When he was done Harry walked over and kissed his aunt on the cheek thanking her for dinner and then as he was about to say goodnight to Hermione she held up the envelope from upstairs.

“You forgetting something Harry?” Hermione said with the threatening missive in her fingers.

The look on Harry’s face was surreal. He showed the same amount of grief that he had shown earlier when talking about Sirius’s death.

“What is that dear?” Petunia asked.

“Harry received a letter from Gringott’s the Wizarding Bank today… He’s avoiding opening it.” Hermione stated still watching Harry’s expression.

“I don’t WANT to open it!” Harry shouted turning to run upstairs.

Hermione looked over at Petunia and sighed. “It could be something about Sirius, I’ll take this to him and see if I can get him to open it. Thank you so much for dinner.”

“It was my pleasure… I’m glad I finally got to really meet one of Harry’s friends… I will let you in on little family secret. One of the reasons why Vernon has always been so against anything to do with the Wizarding world is because his grandparents were Squibs… They never talked about the Wizarding world per say but his father, God rest him, used to be a very bigoted man, condemning all that he saw that was different. It was the way that Vernon was raised and then given that my sister and her husband were magical… well it didn’t help matters that I was extremely jealous of Lily.”

Hermione walked over and gave Petunia a hug, “Thank you for sharing that with me… it means a lot that you trusted me with that information.”

“I’ve seen how you look at my nephew… I can see that you care for him deeply.”

Blushing Hermione answered, “Yes, I love him very much… it just eats me up knowing he is in so much danger. I will do anything I can to protect him.”

“I can see why you mistook partnership for defense…” Petunia said with a smile as Hermione blushed even deeper. “Don’t worry my dear, your secret is safe with me. Go see if you can help Harry now… You have a good nights sleep.”

Hermione turned towards the stairs and as she approached the top she could hear Harry’s soft sobs of grief. She didn’t even bother to knock on the door, she walked in quietly and put her arms around him rocking him gently as he had earlier for her.

“It’s alright Harry… everything is going to be alright.” She said quietly.

“Why did he have to come? He was there at Grimmauld when I tried to floo… Kreacher lied to me and it’s all my fault that I got you hurt and Sirius died…”

“Harry look at me…” she said trying to get him to focus on her eyes. “It’s not your fault… We did what we thought was in Sirius’s best interest… Voldemort tricked us… all of us.”

“But if I had only listened to you…”

“You did listen to me… you tried to make sure that he wasn’t there… you couldn’t help it that Kreacher lied…” she had to bring his face back around to face her as he had turned away in shame, “Harry, if we hadn’t gone then Voldemort would have gotten the Prophecy. He had his death eaters there… he was there… He would have gotten it for himself if you hadn’t been the one to pick it up off the shelf. Sometimes, bad things happen for a reason…”

“But why does the bad things always have to involve the ones I love?” Harry said.

“Voldemort is evil Harry… When I think about what you said earlier about when he possessed you… He couldn’t keep possessing you when you were thinking about Sirius… He can’t handle GOOD emotions… like love… I think this is the power that he doesn’t have… your power to love.”

“Dumbledore said something like that…”

“Well then he’s not as big a fool as I am believing him to be at the moment then.” Hermione said cuttingly causing a chuckle out of Harry.

“You really are angry at him aren’t you?” Harry said still with a wave of disbelief at Hermione’s words.

“Well aren’t you? I mean think about all the SHITE that man has gone and involved us in… I mean really all that stuff with the Philosopher’s Stone in our 1st year… He KNEW we were aware of what was going on and yet he still let all three of us risk our lives to keep it from Voldemort. I’m sure he knew more about the Chamber of Secrets then he let on and let’s not forget how he manipulated us in 3rd year to rescue Buckbeak and Sirius… I mean really who sends a 13 year old wizard and a 14 year old witch out on a hair brain scheme like that!” Hermione was beginning to pick up her pace at her ranting about Albus Dumbledore. “How could he NOT know that Moody wasn’t Moody? I mean seriously… He’s supposed to be a fucking Legilimens and yet he couldn’t tell he was being lied to over an entire school year? My GOD he has got to be the biggest fucking idiot in the world!”

Harry stared at his best friend with a look of complete shock on his face. “That’s some language you have there Miss Granger.” Then he started laughing softly.

“Well I’m pissed off at the old bugger.” Hermione said huffily.

“You’ve been thinking about this for longer then my just telling you about the prophecy.”

“Yes I have… I stated thinking about it after your name was pulled out of the Goblet of Fire and Dumbledore still let you be involved… I understand all about wizarding contracts and all that shite but by Merlin, Harry you could have been killed.” Hermione said with a slight panic to her voice.

“But I wasn’t… Cedric died but I didn’t.” Harry said sadly.

“That’s the point though isn’t it… Cedric died and THAT is Dumbledore’s fault too… Everything that has happened to you over the last 5 years can be blamed directly on Albus fucking Dumbledore. If he had told you about the Prophecy… or hell even told Petunia about it, you would NOT have lived the life you have! I’ll be damned if I let anyone manipulate you like that again.” Hermione said with solid resolve.

“You now know the prophecy… so you know how dangerous it is to be close to me…”

“Oh don’t give me that shite Harry Potter… you are NOT going to push me out of your life just to try and protect me. I won’t have any of that. I am in this for the long haul and the first thing we need to do is figure out how you will defeat Voldemort.”

“You are serious about this aren’t you.”

“Damn straight. You saved my life more times that I can remember… I know that if you hadn’t remembered I was in the girls restroom crying I would be dead… I also know that if it wasn’t for you I would not be friends with Ronald… I am here for you Harry… nobody else. The moment that you both saved me from that Troll I swore to myself that I would stay by your sides… I’m not as close to Ron as I am to you… you are my best friend in every sense, and I will gladly do everything in my power to help you and support your actions… if you are doing something wrong… I’m not afraid to tell you to go stuff it… I’ll also make sure that you have an advocate to make sure that every decision you make is the correct one.”

Harry was overwhelmed at the amount of support and loyalty that Hermione was proving to him at that moment. He had always known she was brilliant, that she had a clever mind and was loyal to him but this went beyond the call of duty.

“I don’t know what to say Hermione… I’ve never had anyone be so determined to protect me and support me as you have…”

“Well, first thing you are going to do is open this fucking envelope.”

Harry laughed again at her choice of language. “You do have a way with words.”

“Yes, and if you even breath a word of what I said to Ron I will make sure that Voldemort has nothing left of you to try and destroy… understood?” she said with a smirk that would be worthy of Malfoy which caused Harry to laugh even harder. “Actually to tell you the truth… I’ve sort of toned down the real me for Hogwarts… I’m all books and cleverness yes… but I have a mean streak that you don’t want to mess with.”

“I do recall seeing that mean streak when you slapped Draco Malfoy in 3rd year. As we have always said ‘you’re scary… brilliant, but scary!’” Harry said taking the envelope out of her hands and slitting the seal on the envelope. Just as Hermione began to move closer to Harry so she could read the document as well her mobile rang and she hastened to the hallway to respond.

Harry watched her leave and then looked down at the parchment.

Gringott’s Wizarding Bank

2 July 1996

Mr. Harry James Potter
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey

Dear Sir,

As the sole surviving heir to the Prestigious Potter Estate

You are required to be in our offices at 10am 3 July 1996.

Also required to attend with you is:

Petunia Evans Dursley (your legal Muggle Guardian)

As well as the following individuals::

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Cornelius Oswald Fudge
Hermione Jane Granger
Rubius Hagrid
Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Remus John Lupin
Narcissa Black Malfoy
Draco Lucius Malfoy
Peter Pettigrew
Severus Snape
Andromeda Black Tonks
Nymphadora Tonks
Arthur & Molly Weasley
William Arthur Weasley
Charles Prewett Weasley
Fredrick Gideon Weasley
George Fabian Weasley
Ronald Bilius Weasley
Ginevra Molly Weasley

Please be prompt – Anyone not able to attend please contact our office immediately.

Sincerely,

Monshekgarb
Goblin Liaison for House of Black

Banhabarlic
Goblin Liaison Prestigious Potter Estate

Harry stared down at the letter and read it over several times. He knew just by the names on the letter what this would pertain to… Sirius Black’s will. Harry hung his head willing the tears to flow, but they were betraying him now as well.

When Hermione walked back into the room she was ashen faced. “Was that requesting our presence at Gringott’s tomorrow morning?” She quietly inquired.

“How did you know?” Harry asked handing her the letter.

“That was my mum on the mobile… she wanted to let me know I had just received a letter from Gringott’s… I told her to open it and read it…” She scanned the letter Harry had handed her and nodded, “Same as what I received except mine didn’t have all the obvious information about the Potter Estates. Let’s go downstairs and talk to your aunt.”

Harry went over to his desk and jotted a note and then went to Hedwig's cage "Hey girl, take this to Hermione's mum for me alright?" He asked her quietly. Hermione was rereading the letter and had not paid attention to what Harry had said or done.

When they had gone into the lounge Harry saw that his aunt was sitting in her favorite chair holding a parchment similar to the one he held in his hands. “Ah, I see you received it as well.” Harry said.

“I have no idea how to even get to this Gringott’s Bank…” Petunia said nervously.

“Don’t worry, Hermione and I will show you how to get there. As you can see we both have to attend as well.”

“What’s all this about the Prestigious Potter Estates? Vernon always told me that your family had no money.” Petunia questioned.

“I do have a vault at Gringott’s that had some Wizarding Gold that paid for all of my books and supplies the last 5 years… I have no idea what this Estates business is… Hell, nobody has even told me where my parents are buried let alone where their house was except for the fact that it was in Godric’s Hollow and that is supposedly in Wales.”

“Unfortunately Harry, I know very little about the Potter Family… All I had heard from Lily the last year she was at home with mama and papa was that he came from a pureblood wizarding family and that he was a very popular young man. I had been invited to the wedding but by then I had married Vernon and he had refused to allow me to attend. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more about that side of your family. I guess I never even told you about the Evans side of your family either. You were very little when my mother passed on…” she had tears in her eyes as she realized how unjust she had made Harry’s younger life. “Someday Harry I hope to redeem some of my earlier transgressions against you… I hope someday you will be able to forgive me.”

Harry walked over to his aunt and knelt down beside her, taking her hand in his “Just the fact that you are saying this now is enough for me to forgive you… I always knew that somewhere deep inside there was a person who was worthy enough to be my mum’s sister. No matter how much I tried to fight it I have always held a special place in my heart for you. I hope someday that Vernon and Dudley can also find out how special a woman you are and not abuse your memory that I hold.”

“Oh Harry… after all the things that Vernon and Dudley have done to you… you still have compassion enough for me… You truly are your mother’s son.” Petunia wept as Harry wrapped an arm around her and held her.

Hermione sobbed as she witnessed the exchange between Harry and his aunt. Soon Harry escorted his aunt up stairs and led her towards her bedroom, kissing her softly on the cheek and said good night.

“That was a very nice thing you did for her Harry.” Hermione said quietly.

“No matter what else, when she and Vernon agreed to take me into their home she had agreed to become a surrogate mother to me and that alone is cause for compassion. I may not appreciate Vernon nor Dudley, but she has never raised a hand against me.” Harry whispered as he walked Hermione to the guest room quarters. “We will be leaving fairly early in the morning… I’ll have breakfast ready when you get up.”

“Tomorrow is going to be difficult for both of us. I loved Sirius very much. He will always have a special place in my heart.” Hermione said with quiet conviction. She wrapped her arms around Harry to hug him goodnight. As she turned to kiss him on the cheek he had done the same and their lips met accidentally. Both pulled away from the other and said a hasty ‘good night’ as heat rose in their cheeks.

When Harry had been on the other side of his bedroom door he flopped down upon his bed; confused at what had just happened. Had he really just kissed Hermione? With everything he knew about the Prophecy and what his future had to hold, he questioned himself on his original desire to not have a girlfriend until Voldemort was dead…

Then why when every fiber of his being was telling him otherwise… did he want to kiss her again?

---

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc.

Author's Notes: Many parts of this chapter were taken directly from the text within JKR's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... some of it I adjusted for POV or for dialogue purposes. I still don't make any claims to being able to write all of those books! *grin* That said, I have had a bit of an issue with the formatting of these chapters for Portkey... I think I finally resolved that so I have reloaded Chapter 1 and just because I am such a nice person I have decided to not make you wait an entire week for this chapter to come out! Go ME! *grin* I have a good start going on Chapter 3 and hope to have it out by next week... If you have any questions about the story, or concerns about how I am writing the characters please feel free to leave those in the review section and I will address them there...

As Always,

Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."

@}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction

By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter Three - A Time to Mourn (Part A)

Hermione slept poorly the entire night. Not only was her mind in a whirl regarding (as she referred to it) the bloody damn Prophecy, but also about their forthcoming trip to Gringott's Bank and then last but not least on her mind was the accidental kiss…

She felt her cheeks flush as she thought about the kiss. Yes, she did realize that it was accidental… but if she was to be honest with herself… and she normally was; She wanted the kiss to happen as much as she would like it to happen again.

At almost 17 years of age, Hermione Granger had not had much experience with relationships; save her ill-suited friendship with the famous Viktor Krum or being best friends with Ron and Harry. She was conscious of the fact that Ron still to this day disliked her companionship with Viktor Krum, probably because Ron had a crush on her… However, Hermione knew deep down that there was no way that she would ever become romantically involved with her red haired best friend. Ironically, Viktor had given her an idea about how to deal with Ron.

In a long letter that Hermione had written to Viktor just before Christmas Eve, she had gone into a detailed account of her friendship with Ron, Harry, and discussing the bouts of jealousy that Ron had shown towards her. The brief response that she had received from Viktor had been his recommendation as to how to handle said 'attention' from the Gryffindor Keeper. He had told her that should Ron finally gather the nerve to ask Hermione out for a date that she should accept, but make sure that by the end of said rendezvous that Ron should be aware of her true desires and for the youngest Weasley son to not solicit any further attention.

In addition, Viktor recommended to her that she stop deceiving herself in regards to Harry Potter. She had laughed when Viktor had been straightforward and told her that since she was in love with young Potter she should go ahead and pursue her heart's desire. Admittedly she still denied her heart however, after watching time and again Harry's life be threatened and all forms of hostility against him by the wizarding press she realized that she would do anything to make his life easier… even if she had to deny her love for the raven haired Wizard.

She looked out the window and could see the first hints of dawn approaching. She swung her legs over the edge of the comfortable bed and sat there with her head in her hands. When it had been decided that she would be staying the night Harry had sent Hedwig off to retrieve a change of clothing from her mum. By the time Hedwig had arrived at the Granger's home the notice about her requirement to attend the meeting that day.

Taking care to wash and change into the clothing her mum had sent the night before, Hermione began thinking about the letter from Gringott's. Upon dressing, she went back into the guest room and picked up the letter and re-read who would be attending.

Gringott’s Wizarding Bank

2 July 1996

Mr. Harry James Potter
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey

Dear Sir,

As the sole surviving heir to the Prestigious Potter Estate

You are required to be in our offices at 10am 3 July 1996.

Also required to attend with you is:

Petunia Evans Dursley (your legal Muggle Guardian)

As well as the following individuals::

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Cornelius Oswald Fudge
Hermione Jane Granger
Rubius Hagrid
Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Remus John Lupin
Narcissa Black Malfoy
Draco Lucius Malfoy
Peter Pettigrew
Severus Snape
Andromeda Black Tonks
Nymphadora Tonks
Arthur & Molly Weasley
William Arthur Weasley
Charles Prewett Weasley
Fredrick Gideon Weasley
George Fabian Weasley
Ronald Bilius Weasley
Ginevra Molly Weasley

Please be prompt – Anyone not able to attend please contact our office immediately.

Sincerely,

Monshekgarb
Goblin Liaison for House of Black

Banhabarlic
Goblin Liaison Prestigious Potter Estate

She laughed to herself seeing Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew on the list of 'attendees'. The fact that Peter Pettigrew was supposedly dead, (if you chose to believe the magic community, which she did not!)

However, the fact that they were both Death Eaters… running within Lord Voldemort’s inner circle. They would both have to be either extremely greedy, be completely mental or (and this part scared Hermione desperately) overcome with such a desire to see Harry dead and try to kill him at Gringott’s. Especially with at least one Auror – Nymphadora Tonks, the Minister for Magic - Cornelius Fudge as well the only one that Lord Voldemort was known to fear - Albus Dumbledore.

What puzzled her was that Severus Snape was included in the list.

She knew that all three of the Black sisters were expected, even though Bellatrix was also wanted for escaping Azkaban, however, Hermione dreaded seeing Draco Malfoy as she recalled the last time she had seen him was being stuffed into an overhead compartment after suffering a number of hexes and curses thanks to members of Dumbledore's Army. She sincerely doubted that he would show any type of retribution in front of the Headmaster but knowing what a dullard, Malfoy could be she also wouldn't put it past him.

Soon she became aware of sounds emanating from the kitchen below, so Hermione began making her way downstairs. Checking her watch, she saw that it was only just past six in the morning.

Harry stood before the stove turning the bacon and attending to the eggs that were in another pan. The percolator had already finished brewing the coffee and he had already placed orange juice on the dining room table.

Hermione stood at the entrance to the kitchen amazed at the fact that Harry could cook. Noting that someone was watching him, Harry turned to see Hermione standing there dressed in a simple black skirt and a floral silk blouse.

"Good morning Hermione." Harry said trying to show a lighter exterior than the night before. “You look very nice today. I’m glad Hedwig was able to make it back in time.”

"Oh Harry! Yes, good morning to you as well, although I am a bit surprised to see you up so early." Hermione said giving Harry one of her dazzling smiles.

"I don't sleep well during the summer." Harry stated honestly.

Hermione rushed to his side and quickly asked "Your scar isn't hurting is it Harry, because that would be very bad."

"I'm not having any pain from my scar… I just keep having nightmares…"

"About Sirius's death…" she finished.

"Am I that predictable?" Harry asked as he began plating up the eggs and bacon.

Hermione walked to Harry's side and laid a hand upon his arm. "No Harry, not predictable, just expected. I have to admit that I too have been having … er… dreams regarding Sirius… Remembering how we rescued him; time I spent with him at Grimmauld last summer."

Harry felt a hint of jealousy at the fact that she had spent more time with Sirius than he had the previous summer. Hermione sensed his emotions and gasped "Oh I'm sorry Harry… I didn't mean…"

"It's alright Hermione. There are always going to be people who have spent more time with Sirius as well as those who spent time with my parents. There isn't anything I could do about it…” he shrugged then said, “I guess I just need to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize that I can't have everything the way I want."

As Hermione took her seat at the table, taking the cup of coffee he extended she asked "What do you want Harry?"

"Anything that I want is merely wishful dreams at this point; not even worth bothering to mention." He said as he sat in his seat, filling his plate up.

"You don't actually believe that Harry… you just can't." Hermione said near tearfully.

"If I have to be honest with myself, I will be honest with you in this matter as well… Of course I believe that. According to the Prophecy, either I am the only one that can kill Voldemort or he is going to kill me… How am I supposed to defeat a dark wizard who has had 40 years more experience and training than I… not to mention the fact that he has a load of Death Eaters who make it their life’s work to do nothing else but make havoc with everything surrounding my life. All, just to see if they can make me break."

Harry slowly sipped his hot cup of coffee and then added, "No matter what I do Hermione, I honestly don't think it will ever be enough. But at what cost! My parents, Cedric, Sirius… they are all dead because of me” he said showing more of the angry edge that he had spoke with the evening before “Who's going to be next… How in the name of Merlin am I supposed to handle it if anything happened to the Weasley’s. I already know I wouldn’t be able to handle it if something should happen to you… I nearly lost you a couple of weeks ago… I don't want to go through that again."

Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, his aunt walked into the dining room, overhearing everything Harry had said. Quickly Petunia walked over to him, wrapping her arms lovingly around him, and held him tight.

"I have never known anyone who has endured as much as you have and survived… You Harry, my dear boy, will endure to the end… I have no doubt about that. And know this, from everything that both you and Hermione here have told me, and I am sure there is a great deal more you haven’t” she looked deep into the reflection of her sister’s eyes and with a deep sincerity that comes from being a mother she added, “you are not to blame for anyone’s death in this war… You are an unfortunate victim in someone else's deadly game of power…" Petunia said earnestly, “I may not have been the mother to you I should have been these last 15 years… but know this Harry, I may not be magical… but I will protect you as only a mother could. I may not be Lily, but you have made me see myself through your eyes the last day or so… I am ashamed to have been that person.”

Harry stared disbelieving his aunt. She sounded sincere, yet deep down he couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t acted like this last year after both he and Dudley were nearly ‘kissed’ by the Dementors. “Aunt Petunia, I appreciate what you have said to me… but I am not going to expect you to change once Uncle Vernon and Dudley come back. That is only asking for trouble… and I know full well how painful that trouble can be.”

“After learning all that you have endured Harry, I refuse to allow that type of abuse to go on any longer. You are my family Harry, just as much as Vernon and Dudley and I will not let them cast you out just because you do not fit into Vernon’s bigoted preconceived mold.” Petunia patted Harry’s hand and went over to sit at her normal seat. “Now, we will deal with the Dursley men when they return… for now we have this marvelous breakfast that you have prepared and a new adventure for myself… I haven’t been to Gringott’s Bank before but I remember when mama and papa took Lily, I waited with mama in Diagon alley while they were in the bank making some sort of an exchange… That experience scared me to death. Nevertheless, I am older now and I will have you both with me… I’m sure I will find it all the more interesting this time around.” She gave Harry and Hermione probably the most honest smile of her life.

Hermione started to tell her first adventures in Diagon Alley and all about how her parents who are both Muggles reacted to the place. Her description of her mum sounded very much the same as Petunia. “My dad sort of bonded with Mr. Weasley… he has this strange compulsion to all things Muggle.”

“Oh yes! I remember him… of course I was terrified when he and his boys blew up our fire grate… Then my poor Dudders got a hold of that sweet from the twins and well I am sure you heard all about it from Harry here…” she gave a slight shiver at the memory, “I’m sure that I will have a proper introduction to them today… I’m actually looking forward to meeting Mrs. Weasley, she seems like a very nice woman and appears to be rather fond of Harry.”

Hermione gave a slight chuckle “Well, if you must know she does tend to think of Harry as her 7^th son… she has the 6 boys and then Ginny who is the youngest… but the way she dotes on Harry…”

“Smothers me more like” Harry said softly, a blush rising on his cheeks.

Petunia looked at him with a touch of her own embarrassment. “Well dear, someone needed to given the way I treated you in the past.” She gave a quirk of a grin and said; “So you will just have to make do with having two women who dote on you…” a quick glance at Hermione made her pause as she mentally corrected her statement and thought three women who dote on you.

The humor was not lost on Harry and he did finally give a smirk of a grin as he finished eating his breakfast and within an hour they had finished their meal, cleaned up and were in the car on their way. They had chosen to take Hermione’s car since it would be easier than to navigate the confusing distance to Diagon Alley.

It was only half past nine, when finally they arrived at a car park a short walk from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry could see that his aunt was a bit on edge and lent her his arm for support as they walked into the dark tavern. Tom, the bar-keep was his usually welcoming self as Hermione, Harry and Petunia walked into the pub. Some how Tom always knew everyone that had been there before by name and he made a point of making this known.

“Ah welcome, welcome Miss Granger, it’s been awhile… Oh and Mr. Potter, such an honor in deed. It’s been years since you have come to my humble establishment… what can I get for you all today.” Tom said jovially.

“Nothing right now Tom, we are just coming through with my aunt for some business. If we have time we will see you on our way out.” Harry said feeling Petunia’s grasp clench his arm a bit tighter. He glanced over at her and she had a nervous smile.

“Not a problem dear boy, this must be Lily’s sister… I could tell she has the same smile.” Tom said causing Petunia to gasp at his description of her. No one had ever compared a resemblance to her late sister before, causing Petunia to blush at his statement. He turned to Hermione and added, “I’m surprised not to see your parents with you Miss Granger… I hope they are doing well.”

“Oh yes, I will be sure to let them know that you asked after them… my dad especially enjoyed the butter beer last time he was here.” She grinned, her mother had been shocked at how easily her father had gotten along with everyone; well except Lucius Malfoy but then Arthur Weasley had been fighting with him on that occasion. “They would have come with me today, however they did have patients to attend to… If we come to pick up our school supplies I will make sure that my parents come with me.”

They walked out into the back alley and Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks in the very familiar order. Both he and Hermione took pleasure at watching his aunt’s face as the portal opened. “I didn’t see that happen last time I was here…” she gave an embarrassed smile, “although before, I sort of kept my eyes shut afraid that I was having a nightmare.”

“Well, I hope you keep your eyes open this time Mrs. Dursley, if you are planning to be more a part of Harry’s life you will need to get accustomed to some of our…” she chose a word just for Petunia, “’abnormalities’ although I prefer to describe them as colorful characteristics…” She smiled at Petunia and patted her on the arm.

As Petunia took a good honest look around at Diagon Alley she could see why Hermione would make that description. There were many people in all forms of dress walking the street, visiting the various shops and discussing their daily lives with each other. Her first thought was that this must have been what Victorian England was like, then chuckled to herself and said aloud, “Yes… colorful indeed. My word, I had no idea!”

Harry felt his aunt’s slight nervous shiver and bent slightly to Petunia’s ear, whispering he said, “Is everything alright Aunt Petunia? Do you need to sit down?”

Petunia patted his arm and said, “I’m fine Harry, just a tad nervous is all. Weren’t you a bit nervous your first time here?”

“Well, I had Hagrid with me that first time and that was an adventure all in itself, I’ll tell you… We came by way of the underground. Today is the first time I have been here by anything you would call normal. I don’t think I have arrived here the same way twice!” He said with a laugh as he went on to tell her about his eventful arrival by floo and then his subsequent last trip by way of the Knight Bus. She questioned him about the Knight bus and that brought a number of comments from both himself and Hermione about the quirky triple-decked, massively purple Wizarding form of transportation.

Upon seeing the white building of Gringott’s Petunia gasped as she exclaimed, “My Lord, however does that thing stand up?”

Both Harry and Hermione chimed together, “By magic!” Then Harry added, “If you think this is a bit wonky looking, you should see the Burrow… That place has so many dodgy bits to it, it seems to have magic written all over it. It is the Weasley’s home and I think it’s brilliant.” He added proudly.

They were just coming up when they were spotted by Molly Weasley.

“Oh Harry dear, so good to see you” she said with her zealous mothering charm, giving him a crushing hug. “Everything going alright for you dear?” Not noticing Petunia presence she added, “Getting enough to eat dear?”

“Yes Mrs. Weasley… I would like you to meet my aunt… Petunia Dursley, this is Molly Weasley.” Harry introduced, noticing for the first time a stiffening of Mrs. Weasley’s posture.

Mrs. Weasley timidly shook Petunia’s hand. “Ah… er… yes, we’ve seen each other before but never been formally introduced.”

Harry noticed that Petunia had steeled herself and her resolve as she smiled at the red haired woman, “Yes, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs. Weasley. Harry has just begun telling me all about you and your wonderful family.” The honesty in her eyes was apparent to Mrs. Weasley as her countenance softened. “I wanted to thank you personally for all the love and support you have given my nephew these last few years… He and I have come to an understanding and I am sure as a mother you will agree that he does need a bit more looking after.” Her smirking grin was not lost on Harry.

He groaned causing them all to laugh.

“Hermione my dear, always a pleasure… where are your parents? I know Arthur will be most disappointed.” Molly said giving Hermione an equally crushing hug.

“They had patients scheduled today… this meeting didn’t give us much notice, so they couldn’t cancel. I’m sure they will see you and Mr. Weasley at some point this summer.”

“We’d like that… I must say that it has been nice being back at the Burrow.” By this time seven additional Weasley’s had joined them and Harry held onto his aunt supporting her at the overwhelming commotion. She was proving to be quite the trouper as she held herself proudly amongst so many who had been aware of Harry’s mistreatments over the years.

In all honesty Harry was impressed at the apparent consorted effort all of the Weasley’s as well as Remus Lupin who had joined them were trying to make Petunia feel as welcome as Harry was. Soon they were joined by Tonks and her mother Andromeda and then all became hushed when Narcissa and Draco Malfoy arrived.

Harry could feel a seething emanating from both Hermione and Ron reminding him of the loathing that the trio had always felt for the pureblood Slytherin. They took this appearance of the Malfoy’s as a silent signal to begin walking into Gringott’s and find the Goblin liaisons. Harry had never before been witness to any type of legal Wizarding matters and was finding it all very informative.

An overly large goblin walked directly up to Harry and introduced himself as Monshekgarb, the Goblin Liaison for the Nobel House of Black.

“It is a pleasure to actually meet you Mr. Potter,” said Monshekgarb, who did show the same pretense that the other Goblin’s he had associated with over the years had shown. Harry deduced that it was based upon his placement within the Wizarding bank. “We have a great deal to cover today and then we will be joined by Banhabarlic, who as you know is the Goblin Liaison to the Prestigious Potter Estate. But that will all come about after certain parties” he said with distain, looking directly at Narcissa and Draco Malfoy “have left our presence.” The overly large Goblin then turned to Petunia who gave an unconscious shutter at being acknowledged, “Mrs. Dursley, Thank you so much for coming with your nephew on such short notice. We will endeavor to make this as comfortable for you as possible. We are just awaiting the arrival of just a couple more…” Looking up he noticed the timely arrival of the last few who were actually expected to appear. “Ah, here they are now. We will be meeting in the Attestation Chambers down the hall.”

Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge and Severus Snape had just arrived followed closely by Rubius Hagrid who had immediately come over to Harry and gave him a one armed hug.

“Tis good ta see ya ‘arry!” Hagrid said cheerfully.

“It’s good to see you too Hagrid.” Harry said muffled somewhat by the heavy coat he wore.

“Now if you will all follow me we will have this done in no time.” Monshekgarb said, unwittingly cutting short any type of interaction between Harry and the three others who had just joined them.

When they had arrived at the Attestation Chamber, Harry was surprised at the interior of the room. It’s walls were rather a deep slate gray marble conveying a somber tone in appearance yet exuded elegance in style. Arranged in rows, Harry and Petunia were directed towards the front with Hermione who had been clasped by the hand by Petunia to a series of large, comfortable looking over-stuffed chairs, which were upholstered, in a plush velvety fabric the same color as the somber walls.

Harry noticed a supercilious glare from Narcissa Malfoy at the superior treatment that the young Potter was being shown. He rolled his eyes as he sat down Ron seated to his right and his Aunt Petunia sitting between himself and Hermione. He did not notice that the rest of the Weasley’s had placed themselves behind his row, but had noted that Remus Lupin had been directed to sit next to Hermione on their row.

In front of them sat a large black marble desk that was veined in gold and silver. Monshekgarb had seated himself behind this impressive desk; taking a moment to begin removing what Harry had suddenly noticed was a black velvet sheet from a rather large painting, hanging serenely behind Monshekgarb’s desk.

The gasp from Hermione caused Harry to look again at the painting. There smiling down at them all was Sirius Black. Harry could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes and he willed himself not to show such overt emotion in front of Draco and Narcissa. He did hear from somewhere behind him Molly Weasley’s silent sobs and understood that despite all the displeasure that she had shown Sirius while at Grimmauld Place, she too felt grief at the death of the late Marauder.

“What is the meaning of all this?” Shouted Fudge angrily. It became apparent to Harry that Minister Fudge had not been told a full disclosure in regards to the reason why they had been chosen to arrive.

Monshekgarb glared at the Minister for Magic for his outburst. “You were required to attend to this disclosure of the disposition to the Noble House of Black for a reason Minister Fudge. Now, if there are no further disturbances we will proceed.

“As many in the Wizarding world know, there are only a couple of ways to disclose the contents of a pureblood family’s estate. There is also many muggle methods that are sometimes employed, but very rarely are those used by anyone within the Magical community.

“The method that my client has chosen is one that has been successful for several generations and one that he felt would be the most honest form of memoriam for his loved ones.” Monshekgarb stopped at this and looked at Harry, directing his wording to him at the moment. “When a loved one passes on it is a difficult time for all involved, more so when their life is cut short due to… extenuating circumstances. Mr. Black wished for you Mr. Potter to have a lasting memory of him as well as a way to handle his family’s fortune.”

Harry nodded at this acknowledging the care that Sirius had taken in regards to the House of Black. Monshekgarb continued addressing all in attendance, “The portrait you see behind me” Harry suddenly noticed that besides Sirius smiling down there was another presence in the portrait. Sitting regally to the side was none other than Phineas Nigellus, Sirius's great-great-grandfather who had been the least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had.

“…was painted with the use of Verity Varnish, a type of paint that is used in all Wizarding portraits. It is the use of this type of paint that enables the artistic creation to infuse the life time of memories along with interaction with others for long after the subject has pass on…”

Harry looked at the deep grey eyes of his late Godfather and saw them twinkle with delight. A wide mischievous grin creased the familiar features and Harry felt almost of laughing aloud awaiting to hear what final prank the late Marauder had chosen to play.

“Now, as for the final disposition of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, I turn the time over to Sirius Nigellus Black.”

The deep baritone voice that Harry could recognize anywhere began to speak. Sirius began to address everyone separately.

“Moony, it’s good to see you…”

“Good to see you again Padfoot… it would have been nice for you to tell me that you were planning to do this.”

“What and spoil the entire surprise… not on your life… But we will talk about that later…” The image of Sirius said giving a smirk and a unmistakable mischievous wink at the surviving Marauder, which caused Fred and George to chuckle unabashed.

“Well, I see that Bella and Peter didn’t show up… I knew they wouldn’t… to busy kissing Voldemort’s arse… but I do see that Narcissa showed up along with her evil spawn.” The mention of Voldemort’s name caused many in the room to shutter and the description of Draco caused Narcissa to stand up and shout at Sirius.

“We did NOT come here to be insulted!” Narcissa shouted angrily, pure contempt was evident upon her pale features.

“No Narcissa… You came to see how much money I was going to leave you… especially since that Death Eater you married is now housed in Azkaban…” his words caused her to bluster even more. “Well my dear cousin…” he said the word as if he had sworn, “I will tell you now so that you can leave us in peace… you and your filthy spawn of evil there will receive 1 knut… and NOT a bit more… if you wish to contest this you won’t even receive that!”

“You BASTARD!” Narcissa screamed, “I have always been an honorable member to the Noble House of Black! Unlike you who have turned your back on our heritage by consorting with muggles” she words dripped with distain.

“That is where you are wrong Narcissa… You are the one who caused our family to be dishonored by aligning yourself with Lord Voldemort” he emphasized the last name to watch her squirm in discomfort. “We may have been a proud pureblood family at one time, but your husband’s actions and yours as well being Death Eaters is enough to cause you to be cut out of the Black Family for ever. You can also inform Bella that she to will also receive the same as you!” His eyes flashed the deepest black showing his hatred for the woman.

“Why are Potter, the Weasley’s and that Mudblood here?” Draco asked. “They’re not even a part of the House of Black!” Harry could feel his Aunt Petunia flinch at this question by Malfoy.

“You will SHUT YOUR MOUTH unless spoken to Draco Malfoy. As to the reason they are here, they have been more family to me than my own blood and you will learn to keep a civil tongue in your mouth and NOT speak out of turn. You and your Death Eater family are through with these proceedings… You may now LEAVE” he growled the last part so loudly his voice reverberated around the room and with such viciousness that he had caused Draco to shake in fear.

Harry could hear Ron sitting next to him snickering at the way Sirius had spoken to Draco. Fred and George were also showing signs of great merriment at the treatment of the Malfoy’s as both Narcissa and Draco had left the room in disgust.

“Now SEE here Black, you can not treat a respectable woman…” Minister Fudge started to say, but was cut off by an even louder response from Sirius.

“SHUT THE BLOODY FUCK UP!”

There was a gasp of shock at the language by Molly Weasley; a louder guffaw from Ron, Fred and George; a whimper of fear from Petunia Weasley; and what could only amount as an audible sneer by Severus Snape.

“Well I never…” Fudge started again.

“It is time for you to hear the REASON you pompous bastard why you were called to this deposition.”

“Why should I listen to you Black? You are a liar and a murderer!” Fudge asked.

“You were told the truth at the end of Harry’s 3^rd Year at Hogwarts, but you refused to admit the truth then… Then you were told the TRUTH again at the end of his 4^th year of Lord Voldemort’s return and still you allowed the arrogance of your position to hear the truth! One of the main reasons for my placing the deposition of the House of Black in this manner is because my painting cannot lie when constructed with the Verity Varnish… AS YOU WELL KNOW!” His voice seethed with the contempt that he felt for this man.

He watched for a moment as Cornelius Fudge fidgeted at the realization of the truth.

“Now then… James and Lily Potter were my dearest friends; I loved James like a brother – because that is how his family had treated me; as part of the Potter family.” The eyes reflecting off the painting held firm upon Fudge’s blustering face as he continued. “You had only been aware that I was supposed to be the Potter’s secret keeper, but we had chosen at the last moment to use me as a decoy and use Peter Pettigrew as the actual secret keeper. What James, Lily and I were unaware of was that it was not Remus who was betraying us but Peter Pettigrew… for that assumption I am forever sorry.” His eyes moved towards Remus, “I’m so sorry again Moony…”

“We’ve been through all this Padfoot, you have apologized to me too many times to count… you don’t need to apologize again.” Remus said tenderly.

“But YOU still murdered all those muggles and Peter Pettigrew!” Fudge shouted causing the image of Sirius to turn his attention back to the contemptuous Minister for Magic.

“I did NOT do that! Peter Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus as were James Potter and myself. When I was thrown into Azkaban without a trial this information was not known by anyone other than three surviving people… Peter Pettigrew was a rat, James used to transform into a large stag and myself into a large black dog. The only other two people that knew were Lily Potter, who had been killed by Voldemort the night before and Remus Lupin. Now, before you start wetting yourself with excitement with the prospect of convicting Moony for withholding evidence from the ministry, let me remind you that you held an innocent man without benefit of a trial in Azkaban for 12 years!”

“I wasn’t responsible for that!” Fudge said floundering… he had ignored the truth for over two years and did nothing to correct that obvious lie.

“It’s so easy to fall back into your old habit of blaming your position in the ministry isn’t it… you were one of the first people to arrive, and you showed the same incompetence in being Junior Minister for the Department of Magical Catastrophes as you show to this day as Minister for Magic. You took all the evidence that you had before you and disregarded it… YOU did what was EASY not what was right! Did it ever occur to you that there was a reason why there was only one finger left when his robes were still there but not his body? Can you THINK of a spell that could cause that much devastation and yet keep his finger… where was his wand Minister?” He continued to glare at the pompous idiot and said, “You wonder why I laughed? Peter Pettigrew staged his own murder because he thought that any Death Eaters would think that HE had betrayed Lord Voldemort that night in Godric’s Hollow…

“Do you know where he was for 12 years afterwards? He was hiding out as a young boys pet RAT named Scabbers in a Wizarding Family that he KNEW would never have any connection to Lord Voldemort but was associated with the Ministry… Do you remember that day when you saw me in Azkaban, I asked you for the crossword puzzle? There on the front page of the Daily Prophet was Wormtail sitting on Ronald Weasley’s shoulder.” Sirius paused as he looked at Ron and smiled “I do not blame the Weasley’s at all for what happened. They had no idea that the simple looking garden rat that their son Percy had befriended so many years before and had given to his brother Ron when he started at Hogwarts was the actual murderer of all those muggles and he alone was responsible for betraying James and Lily.”

Sirius went on to explain how he had escaped by use of his animagus form and how he had searched for Wormtail. He went into surprising detail about what he had learned about the night of the third task of the Tri-Wizarding Tournament.

“All the information that Barty Crouch, Jr. had held within his mind about Lord Voldemort and Wormtail, YOU Minister, allowed to be lost when you brought the Dementors in and allowed them to give young Barty the KISS. It’s a wonder that you are still Minister with that kind of incompetence. I am sure that if the public was ever aware of the real details and not this hogwash that you have been feeding the press, there would be a vote of no-confidence against you so fast it would make your head swim.” Sirius’s image had a self-satisfied grin upon his face. “Oh and one last thing before I dismiss you as well… you should know that the convicted Hippogriff named Buckbeak has been in my possession for the last two years. He is also innocent of the crimes he was convicted of and I suggest that you remove any bounty that you have upon his head as well… Now Minister Fudge, are there any questions you would like to ask of me?” He asked with an evil sounding sweetness.

“No” Fudge said quietly.

“Good, be off with you, I have more important people to attend to.” Sirius said turning and winking at Harry who cracked a smile at the visual impertinence. After Cornelius Fudge swept out of the room the image of Sirius Black scanned the room and his eyes fell upon a spec on the wall. “You can leave now too Skeeter… I hope you got all that.” He said with a cheeky grin as a very familiar beetle had suddenly taken flight and flew out the door.

“Oh My God!” Hermione exclaimed, “You knew she was here the whole time?”

“Yup… sorry I didn’t tell you Hermione, but it was just too much fun!” Sirius said proudly.

Harry’s imagination was flooded with ideas of what Rita Skeeter would write about these proceedings.

“How can you allow her to write about what you just disclosed? She is always lying!” Hermione snapped.

“She didn’t lie about what Harry told her last year, but to ease your mind I will let you know…” His eyes twinkled with delight again. “I’ve bribed her… I have allowed her to be part of these proceedings as you called them with the condition that if she leave when I told her to, printed only what I had said to Fudge and if she chose what I said to Narcissa and Draco, she would receive 100,000 galleons for the exclusive… If she failed to do as I requested,” he smiled again and said “She would be denounced as an illegal animagus which would also cause her to be unemployable in her current profession.”

“A little known fact about Journalists in the wizarding world is that if the news is reported by anyone who is an animagus; they as an animagus must be registered or they are not and cannot be employed… Why do you think it was so easy for her to comply with your threats last year… umm?”

“But what is stopping her from registering?” Ginny asked.

“The fact that she has been working as an illegal animagus for so many years… Too many of her ‘scoops’ as she would call them were under her disguise… Even now, if she prints this article, and I have no doubt that she will, it could call into question how she got the details… This way she can say she heard it directly from my portrait and nobody will think she was here… She could have gotten the interview after the proceedings are over… Which believe it or not, I would have granted her if for no other reason than to see Fudge get his just rewards.”

“I always knew my great-great-grandson was a scamp, all that nonsense that you go up to at Hogwarts used to make my blood boil, but my word this has been fun.” The other image in the portrait of Phineas Nigellus said with what looked like the closest thing to a smile that had ever graced his face.

“I’m just glad that I had the good sense to have my mother” he uttered the last word with an abhorrence that was born from his continual loathing of the woman, “banned from this portrait.”

“I suppose I should be grateful that you allow me here” Phineas said with a sneer.

“Now, why on earth would I ever ban you?” Sirius said cheekily, “Actually, I figured that the Headmaster would appreciate another image for you to be able to go to.” He said looking over at Albus Dumbledore and receiving a slight nod.

Monshekgarb snapped his fingers and a tray of tea and biscuits appeared upon the desk. “The rest of this will be handled a bit differently than before. Each of you will be called up to my desk and Mr. Black will explain your part of the Estate. Then you can either stay or go, that will be your choice.”

As the tea and biscuits were handed around the room Harry watched as Andromeda and Tonks went up towards the portrait. They were each handed a piece of parchment by Monshekgarb and Sirius spoke softly to them. Harry couldn’t make out any of what they were saying, so he turned to his aunt who was shakily trying to drink her tea.

“How are you holding up?” Harry asked her softly.

Petunia sat for a moment pondering his question, and then responded, “I have never been a part of a stranger situation, but other than my normal discomfiture I believe I am doing fairly well.” Hermione gave Petunia’s hand a gentle squeeze with which she returned a smile.

Ron looked at this interaction and stared at Harry. “Uh, mate? What’s up with all of this?”

“Everything is fine Ron, Aunt Petunia and I had a very long talk yesterday after my Uncle Vernon and Dudley left to go to Aunt Marge’s for a few weeks.” Harry didn’t bother to mention that Hermione had been there as well since he didn’t want to answer a bunch more questions but decided to add, “Hermione drove us here today and she and my aunt have had a chance to talk.”

“Oy, that’s scary.” Ron said thinking about what an embarrassment to would be for Hermione to have a long discussion with his Mum and then thought that Harry might not appreciate his dislike to the idea, so he added quickly, “Hermione driving that is.” The last thing wanted right at that moment was the chance that he says something idiotic that would cause some sort of bickering to begin… especially between himself and Hermione.

“She’s actually a pretty good driver.” Harry said then smirked and said, “At least she didn’t land us in the Whomping Willow.” This got a smack on the arm from Ron and brought a chuckle out of Harry.

After a few minutes more, Harry saw that both Tonks and her mother were walking away from the portrait and after Tonks gave a brief squeeze to Remus’s shoulder, they left the room. Hagrid was the next to walk up to Sirius, and the gentle half giant was blubbering away. While he could still not hear all that was said Harry watched as Sirius would say something and Hagrid would nod or then blush a bit. Their discussion was much briefer than the one he had seen with Tonks and her mum. Hagrid left the room after that as well.

Monshekgarb directed Severus Snape to come forward to which the man, who reigned over the Hogwarts dungeons, swept up the aisle, his robes billowing out in normal fashion. What had started out much the same with Monshekgarb handing a sheet of parchment to Snape turned into a screaming match between the potion master and the late Marauder.

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Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc

Author’s Notes: When I originally wrote Chapter 3, it came out to be just over 13,000 words without the disclaimer or the author’s notes… After posting the original chapter 3 on my Yahoogroup Muirnin's Musings, I decided to split the chapter into half…Now came the big problem… Just where to split it… I chose this part because we had already had a couple of confrontations that had been rather fun to write… However, I wanted to leave you with wondering. What Sirius would give our resident Potion Master…Well, you will find out in part B.

Now many of you had questions and concerns that I tried to answer you in my review replies… If anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to leave them in the reviews as you have done already… I will generally answer or respond to MOST reviews… However, please if you are going to leave anything… at least have the good sense to not leave it in any form of Net speak… I detest that and I will ignore your review and not send you a response… I think I am intelligent enough to be able to figure out what you are exactly trying to say… Even readers whose first language is not English have left better reviews… Ok, enough of that rant…

Let me know what you think…You are also welcome to contact me by owl... Melendra is very good... Take care all…

As Always,

Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."

@}>---'---,---

And now as promised... here is:

Chapter Three - A Time to Mourn (Part B)

Monshekgarb then directed Severus Snape to come forward to which the man who reigned over the Hogwarts dungeons, swept up the aisle, his robes billowing out in normal fashion. What had started out much the same with Monshekgarb handing a sheet of parchment to Snape turned into a screaming match between the potion master and the late Marauder.

“NO! I refuse to be a party to this!” Snape bellowed back at Sirius image.

“It’s a fucking apology you sniveling idiot!” sneered back Sirius.

“You think you can buy forgiveness is that it? Well THINK again” seethed Snape.

“No I don’t think you can buy forgiveness! But fine, be that way. I am at least TRYING to make amends… You couldn’t even get over the fact that Harry isn’t James so you have to make his life HELL… well you know what ‘Snivellus’… FUCK YOU, I’ll see how you like it when you get to experience hell first hand!”

“You don’t know what hell is Black!”

“Oh trust me Snape I do know what real hell is like… Growing up in that monstrosity with parents like mine… twelve years in Azkaban and then dealing with the likes of you for the last two years has given me quite the insight into what is normally called ‘Hell on Earth’. Fine, you won’t take any money… that’s your loss. I ask one thing of you and one thing only… Treat Harry for who he actually is and not the demented memory that you have of James; Harry’s a good kid, he could be an excellent student in potions as well… but give him a chance rather than trying to destroy him before your Dark Lord has a chance!”

“How I treat Potter is my business and none of yours especially now that you are DEAD… Do not tell me how I should treat my students.” Snape sneered again at the portrait then added, “He is NOT my Dark Lord!”

“You should have listened to Albus to put away your hatred of James before you opened Harry’s mind up even more to Voldemort” which caused Snape to flinch, “If you had taught Harry Occlumency the way he was supposed to be taught we wouldn’t be here today!”

A sudden gasp from Petunia caused Harry to turn away from the verbal display. He watched his aunt hand her cup and saucer to Hermione, stand up and storm over towards Severus Snape with a look of pure hatred upon her face. Once she approached him there was a resounding ‘SMACK’ heard throughout the chamber.

“You were the one!” Petunia shouted at the potion master, “How dare you call yourself a teacher after the way you mentally abused my nephew!”

“YOUR Nephew, refused to study what I was teaching him…” Snape said to Petunia, Sirius’s image was one of complete shock at the reaction to the muggle woman.

“He told me how you invaded his mind, leaving him in pain and open to your Lord Voldemort’s mental torture. I may not know much about your Wizarding World, but I do know that you are an evil, hateful man.”

“And what gives you that impression.” Snape asked.

“Lily!” Petunia stated, causing Snape to actually flinch again at her late sisters name.

“What do you know about anything to do with our world?” Snape asked again vehemently.

“I may have cut myself off from all things magical years ago, but I do have a very GOOD memory about my sister and who her friends were. She spoke of them often so I heard the name Severus Snape… you used to be a good friend of hers until you decided to betray her and call her a mudblood when she was 15 years old! I over heard her talking to our parents about it and how hateful you had become, all because of nonsense that had been done by her other friend Remus Lupin and his group of friends. She was brilliant and beautiful and she trusted you… and you betrayed that trust when you lowered yourself to the same level as what she called those pitiful, evil Slytherin minions. You had your choice to keep yourself above the typical Slytherin stereotype but the moment you uttered those foul words you became just as low and degrading as those that serve YOUR DARK LORD!”

Harry heard a brief “whoa” from Ron in response to his aunt’s tirade. He watched Snape’s reaction and he could actually see an emotion seep out that was not loathing or hatred but what appeared to be regret. The silence in the chamber was deafening, Snape just stood there staring at this diminutive woman. Harry wondered what was going through Snape’s mind when he heard Sirius’s voice finally break the silence.

“You are truly Lily’s sister Petunia, you are more like her than you will ever realized… Bless you!”

“I’m sorry for interrupting these… this… whatever it is…” she stammered looking for words, “But I couldn’t let this man get away without my giving him a piece of my mind. I had a very long discussion with Harry and Hermione yesterday regarding everything that happened last year at Hogwarts and they explained to me about this so called Occlumency that you were supposed to be teaching Harry… Had it never occurred to you Mr. Snape that perhaps you weren’t actually teaching Harry when he had not learned as quickly as you would have liked? I know I used to be just like you taking out my jealousy of Lily against him. But I also know that he is not stupid, he’s anything but; for the last 15 years I stood by and allowed my husband to” she gulped as she admitted publicly, “abuse my nephew, however, he is still a loving, forgiving, compassionate young man and is very much like Lily was with a brilliant mind when taught properly.”

Harry walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around his aunt. He knew just how much that had taken out of her to admit to Vernon’s treatment over the years. He heard a triple response of ‘whoa’ from Ron, Fred and George as well as silent sobbing from Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.

“I think there is a bit of Gryffindor bravery in you after all Petunia. That was a very brave thing you just did to admit what your husband and I’m also guessing here but your son” he saw her nod ever so slightly, “as well had done to Harry.” Sirius’s voice was gentle; he showed neither dislike, nor hatred to the woman who had raised his godson. “I always knew there was more to what was going on at your home than what Harry would admit to me… Nevertheless, as I can see that Harry has forgiven you for that mistreatment, know also this that I hold no judgment over you. This is Harry’s matter to forgive or not forgive and that is what is at issue concerning your husband and son.”

The proceedings had taken on an even more somber tone as everyone watched in silence as Severus Snape left the room. He made no comment upon what Petunia had said, or on any other topic that had been mentioned. Sirius looked around the room at the last assembled there.

“Well since the rest of us are here and I have a great deal to discuss with Harry and Petunia, I will forgo the private interviews since that went so helpfully well,” He said sarcastically as Harry and Petunia made to sit down again. Petunia was shaking a bit more than she was before owing to post stress of the situation.

“Sirius, what is my family doing here?” Arthur finally asking the question that had been on a great number of minds that day.

“Quite frankly, the Weasley portion of the Black Estate.” Sirius said with sincerity. “First and foremost Arthur, you and Molly along with the majority of your children have been a second family to me as well as Harry and Hermione. Being as you are part of my family you also get apart of my estate; not a big portion but enough that each and everyone of you will be comfortable.” He quickly directed Monshekgarb to give each of the Weasley’s a sheet of parchment that held their name and subsequent figures. A gasp was heard from Molly.

“Sirius we can’t accept this… it’s too much!” she pleaded.

“Molly, I know you are uncomfortable in discussing money. Merlin knows that we have had that discussion numerous times while at Grimmauld Place. However, part of this inheritance you are receiving is also part of an endowment I have made to the members of the Order of the Phoenix.” Sirius nodded his head and Monshekgarb handed Albus Dumbledore another slip of parchment as well as one to Hermione and then to Remus.

“Now I don’t care how you spend the money, hell you can give it all away for all I care. You deserve this money for all that you and your family have done for Harry and I.”

Harry glanced over at a speechless Ron and then looked down at the sheet of parchment and read:

To Arthur & Molly Weasley I have made a deposit into your joint Gringott's account and I leave you with 1,000,000 galleons each, which includes the 50,000 galleon endowment to each of the Order Members.

To William Arthur Weasley and Charles Prewett Weasley – I have made a deposit directly into both of your accounts here at Gringott's and I leave you with 500,000 galleons each, which includes the endowment funds that are left to each of the Order Members

To Fredrick Gideon Weasley and George Fabian Weasley – I leave you each with 500,000 galleons which has already been deposited into your own separate accounts... as well as an additional 50,000 galleons each into your business account, that is to be used as an investment for Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes. I also want to personally tell you that I am very proud of the Mischief you both have managed over the years and hope to see more in the years to come. Your subsequent departure from Hogwarts last year was in true Marauder fashion and I am most honored to have you be part of the next generation of Marauders. Do us all proud.

To Ronald Bilius Weasley – I have opened a Gringott's account in your name and have have deposited your inheritance... You can retrieve your key from my Goblin Liaison. I leave you 1,000,000 galleons along with my great thanks for the great friendship you have shown my godson Harry James Potter. I realize it is only money, but I am eternally grateful to you for befriending Harry.

To Ginevra Molly Weasley – I have also opened a Gringott's vault in your name along with making a deposit for your inheritance... You can also receive your key from my Goblin Liaison. I leave you with 750,000 galleons and my intense desire to see you fulfill the potential that you have inside; you are a truly gifted witch.

Harry looked up at Ron’s face and saw that it was as red as his hair. Ron was utterly speechless at what he had found out about the inheritance. “You alright there Ron?” Harry finally asked.

“Yeah… I just can’t believe it…” Ron said in shock. Had the situation not been as depressing as what it had become, Harry might have just laughed.

Harry saw that the twins had gone over to Sirius’s portrait for a small chat and were excitedly informing him of one new product they had come up with. Harry heard Sirius’s voice say “You need to let the others know right now.” Sirius’s voice got much louder as he announced, “Can I have everyone’s attention please? Alright, Fred and George have just informed me of a new product that they conceived and I want them to tell you all.”

“Right then, thanks Sirius” started George.

“We began thinking of what we could do” added Fred.

“That would have beneficial aspects as well”

“Not just pranks Mum.” Assured Fred.

“Then we thought about”

“Remus Lupin and wondered”

“What we could do to help”

“Him during his monthly change.”

“We umm…” stalled George

“Acquired” responded Fred

“Excellent word there Fred… we acquired the Wolfsbane potion recipe”

“And have converted it into an easy to digest,”

“Handy sweet.” added George

“Now of course, we only know one werewolf,”

“But we felt that perhaps just this once”

“You might indulge us and become our test subject.”

“If this works then we can work on patenting it”

“For use by other werewolves”

“Such as yourself.”

“What say Moony? You up for a bit of guinea pig treatment?” Sirius asked with a wide grin.

Remus looked at the twins who were grinning broadly and then at Sirius who had a very similar grin. “Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. If we can help even one who has my affliction; you boys have done a very admirable thing indeed.” He said as he shook both of their hands as Arthur announced that all the Weasley’s would be leaving then.

Saying good byes to the assembled red heads went quickly enough until there was just Remus, Hermione, Petunia, Harry and Albus Dumbledore who was addressed first by Sirius.

“I’ll make this brief Albus. Grimmauld Place is yours… you can keep it for the Order… sell it… burn the place down for all I care. Anything that is left in there except for the library and my personal belongings in my old room is fair game. If you wish you could give all the silver to Dung, he’d like that. Make sure that each of the members receives their 50,000 Galleon endowment. There is also an additional 100,000 Galleons to acquire additional materials such as more invisibility cloaks.” Albus nodded in acknowledgement to Sirius. “Oh and one last thing before you leave. I am not happy with you right now Albus. Your timing of telling Harry that information right after my death was inexcusable. I will leave whatever punishment I would have thought to give you for such a heartless act to my godson, who I know has not forgiven you. Good day Headmaster.” Sirius said dismissing the elderly man.

After the silent dismissal of Albus Dumbledore, Sirius looked at the last four in the room. He then gave a look to Phineas that told the old Headmaster that he was free to leave as well. Phineas shrugged and left the painting. When Sirius was certain that he had no eavesdroppers in his portrait he looked to his best friend Remus who was looking at Sirius with an unasked question.

“Go ahead and say it Moony, I know you are aching to… You think I was too harsh on the old man.” Sirius said.

“I just don’t understand Padfoot, first there is this” waving a piece of parchment “that says my inheritance will be discussed after everyone had left and then the way you basically tossed Albus out of here without a thought to what he must be feeling.”

“You know… it may have sounded harsh, but Albus did something that I will never forgive” he saw Hermione nodding her head in agreement. “Oh Harry told you about it did he?” She nodded again with tears in her eyes. “And do you agree with my assessment?”

“Yes I do Sirius… my views of Professor Dumbledore have been changed forever.”

“What the hell did he do that was so bad?” Remus bemused.

“Not an hour after I had gone through the veil, our dear old headmaster” Sirius seethed the phrase “had the audacity to inform Harry of the entire contents of the Prophecy.”

Remus looked shocked which slowly turned too livid as reality of the situation set in. Both had discussed the partial Prophecy many times over the previous two years and had come to the conclusion that what ever the rest of the Prophecy said, Harry must be more involved than what Dumbledore was letting on. Sirius looked over at his Goblin Liaison and requested that the four of them be left alone with his portrait and for the silencing charms to be activated.

Once they were alone, Sirius looked at Harry and said, “It’s up to you Harry if you wish to disclose the Prophecy to Remus. I know the details about what you saw in the pensieve up in the old man’s office.”

“I’ve already told Aunt Petunia and Hermione, so I see no harm in telling Professor Lupin as well.” Harry said with a touch of relief.

“Harry how many times have I told you to call me Remus or Moony… I haven’t been your Professor for 3 years now.” He turned to look at Hermione and added, “That goes for you as well young lady.”

They both responded with “Yes sir.” And Remus along with Sirius both laughed.

“I don’t know… Sir is almost as painful to be called then Professor!” Remus chuckled. “Ok Harry, let me hear it.” He added quite seriously.

Petunia gave a soft whimper at the thought of hearing those words again. Both at the same time, Harry and Hermione took hold of each of her hands, reaffirming their desire to be there for her. She took a quavering breath and then nodded for Harry to proceed.

Taking his own cleansing breath Harry spoke, “From what Dumbledore told me the night Sirius died the first part of the Prophecy the Order members knew ‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…’ However, the part that the order didn’t know was; ‘and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…’ That is the entire Prophecy. The headmaster also explained into more detail about the matter of the blood protection I have with Aunt Petunia. She only understood a little bit about it, but he made sure I knew it all.”

“Did he explain to you why he waited until just that moment to tell you about the Prophecy?” Remus asked.

“I had asked him when I was 11 just after the ordeal with the Philosopher’s Stone, but he felt I was too young to have such knowledge told to me. Then every year after that he had the same excuse although he said he came close after the Tri-Wizard Tournament… but he felt I had been through too much at that moment. He even said the reason I was not given the prefects badge last summer was because as he put it ‘I had enough to be going on with’.” He turned and looked at Hermione and muttered, “Don’t let Ron in on that bit… he might not like that at all.”

“I always knew you should have gotten the prefects badge… I really was shocked that Ron got it… But that doesn’t excuse the fact that you might not have been having so many ordeals if Dumbledore would have just told you about the Prophecy in the first place.” Hermione said lividly.

“True, so true. But what can we do now.” Harry said dejectedly.

“I’ll tell you what we can do” Sirius said, “We can start getting you trained up… but we will discuss that later. For right now let’s finish with this estate because I know that the Goblin’s hate to wait too long. Alright, Moony… I have a surprise for you…” He said with his returned spark of mischief. Remus gave him a companion responsive look of ‘Oh what did you do now Padfoot’ while he remained quiet. “Right after we graduated Hogwarts I purchased a few pieces of property. One of them is ‘The Shrieking Shack’, I was planning on having it completely torn down and rebuilt to be renamed the Marauder’s Manor… So you and I would both have a permanent place to live, but then trouble came so quickly and then after James and Lily… well, I never got around to letting you know. So the Manor is yours… One of the other properties I had purchased was that small house in Godric’s Hollow not far from the Potter Ancestral Estate.” He turned and looked at Harry and added, “You will learn about that later. Anyway, that house is yours as well. There is also a monetary amount attached to your inheritance that you can do with as you may…”

“Sirius, why do I get the feeling that it’s going to be obscene? How much?”

“All total your inheritance property included is about 5,000,000 Galleons, give or take.” Sirius said with a grin, “And before you start pulling a Molly on me let me tell you… If I had not been in Azkaban, you would have been helping me spend my entire inheritance… but because everything was tied up due to the Azkaban deal, I only had my own money to spend and that was still a fair bit of change. So take it and enjoy…”

“I can’t believe you did this Sirius…” Remus muttered.

“Now Moony, you can stay and be a good boy while I talk to Hermione, Petunia and Harry or you can go… your choice but I would love it if you stayed.”

“I’ll stay…”

“Good…” Sirius turned his attention to the final three. “Petunia, the reason you were asked to attend today is because I had some documents that I need you to sign as well as ask for your forgiveness.”

“Why on earth for… You have never done anything wrong to me.” Petunia said in a scandalized tone.

“Actually, I never informed you or your husband about the fund that James and Lily had set up in event of their death. If Dumbledore would have allowed me to take Harry that night and then told me about the Blood protection a lot of things would have been different. Namely, I would not have gone after Wormtail and ended up in Azkaban… James and Lily had discussed this with me after they named me Harry’s godfather. They had set up a trust fund for Harry to handle all of his living expenses for the years before he would go off to Hogwarts. It was set up at the Bank of London and I am turning it over to you and your husband.”

“Why didn’t Dumbledore tell us about this account?” Petunia asked as Monshekgarb had mysteriously reappeared within the Chamber and handed both Remus and Petunia separate documents. Remus’s had a complete detailed list of all his inheritance included, two properties, several hundred rare books and a total of funds that was 3,800,000 Galleons. Petunia’s copy showed a bank statement drawn on the Bank of London that gave the final balance as £ 5,834,632.53. Petunia’s eyes went wide at the amount; she had always believed Vernon when he had claimed that the Potter’s were unemployed and penniless. “Oh my Lord, Vernon is not going to believe this when I show him…”

“Well the Potter’s were rather wealthy… not as obscenely as what the Black family was, but they had a fair chunk of change. That amount you see there Petunia includes all the interest and I already had the Goblin’s transfer that amount into your joint account. I just hope that this will help solve some of the issues your husband has had with Harry and will allow him a bit more good will.”

“If not, then Vernon Dursley is an idiot.” Petunia said offhandedly.

“Now that sounded like something Lily might have said.” Remus said with a grin and they all laughed.

Sirius stopped and stared at Harry and Hermione. Harry was his godson, so no matter what he love the lad like his own son. However, with Hermione it was a different matter. She had risked life and limb to save his live two years previously and from then on; he had developed a special bond with the girl. “My how the time has flown…” Sirius said looking directly at Hermione. “The night that you and Harry came and rescued me on Buckbeak…” his voice broke just a touch at the memory causing tears to fall on Hermione’s cheeks.

“Ok, let me try this again. Hermione you have been Harry’s closest and dearest friend especially since I met you two years ago. I actually think that had I had a daughter I would have wanted her to be exactly like you… no changes. You have developed into an exceptionally wonderful young woman, and I will always treasure the times that we shared while you were at Grimmauld Place last summer and over the holidays. I also understand your desire to help people who need it and so I have left two accounts for you. One is for you personally as your inheritance from me… The other account you can think of as a base account for future endowment… foundations you wish to create. I have left these to you because I know you will make a success in any endeavor you put your heart and mind into… whether it be within the muggle or the wizarding world.”

Monshekgarb took that moment to hand Hermione another slip of parchment with two separate columns upon it. Hermione looked at the paper and gasped. There under Foundations was a total of over 6,000,000 Galleons. However, under the personal inheritance she started to cry again.

“Now don’t go all Molly on me girl, you know I can’t handle it when you cry.” Sirius said in a half joking tone.

“But Sirius… this personal inheritance is so much…” Hermione said.

The paper read in full:

To Hermione Jane Granger:

My dear Hermione,

You are the daughter I would have loved to have. Your presence in my life enriched me more than I could ever tell you. I won’t quibble with the fact that you have shown more friendship and loyalty to my beloved godson than anyone else in his life… You are receiving this on your own merit…

There is a property also located in Godric’s Hollow that I wish you to have. It was part of the parcel that was included with the property I have given Remus. That property is secluded within the magical protections that are upon the Potter Family Estate.

Within that property, you will find a vast library that includes 5,000 titles both Muggle and Wizarding; including educational as well as reference books. The books themselves were actually a birthday present that I had been plotting for Lily when she turned 25 however; she was killed a few years before that auspicious occasion… so now they are yours to do with as you please.

The bulk of your inheritance is a monetary sum for you to use to do with any way you like, I am going to guess that part of it will include furthering your education… but that is just a guess. I have opened a vault here at Gringott’s in the amount of 7,500,000 Galleons.

Now don’t cry any more, I want you to be happy. Take care of my godson and always remember how much I loved you both…

Love from Snuffles.

“Oh Sirius…” Hermione began but her voice broke. Taking a deep breath she looked up at the painting and said with a loving smile, “Thank you…”

“You are more than welcome my dear…” turning towards Harry he looked down at his godson. “I’m having a difficult time with words right now Harry… good thing I remembered to write it all down for you eh?” He said with a twist of that familiar grin.

Monshekgarb preceded to hand Harry a paper and then handed a second sheet to Petunia. “Now Harry, before you read we need to handle that paper that Petunia has just been handed. It’s an Order of Emancipation for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds… The only drawbacks are that in the muggle world, you will not be able to drink alcohol nor will you be able to buy tobacco until you are 18 years of age. The reason I have requested the Order of Emancipation for you at this time is so that you can begin your training in full. I find it completely underhanded of Albus for not doing something in this vein to help you in regards to doing magic outside of school. You will not have to leave the Dursley’s if you choose not to, however, Petunia being his legal guardian it is your choice whether or not to sign the document. Because of the magical importance of this form, it would be processed immediately with no time wasted in the Muggle courts.”

“Sirius, I know what Harry must do, and I agree with you 100%. Where’s the pen and I will sign.” Petunia said determinedly. Monshekgarb came over with a self-inking quill and she scrawled her signature across the page. Monshekgarb took both the Order of Emancipation as well as the quill back from Petunia and left the room.

“Thank you, I was a bit afraid I would have to do more convincing; I see that having had that long discussion with Harry yesterday was exactly what was needed for you to see my desire to escalate his status in the world.” Sirius smiled with satisfaction. “Alright Harry, you can look at the contents of your Black Inheritance now.”

Harry’s hands shook slightly as he turned the parchment over. He could see that it had been written in a letter similar to Hermione’s in Sirius’s familiar handwriting.

To Harry James Potter:

My dearest Harry,

It seems like only yesterday that James was setting you into my arms after you had been born. I was given the opportunity to be the first person other than your parents to hold you… and that fact has never been lost on me. I know you are grieving over my death… you most likely witnessed it and for that I am so truly sorry.

I have always thought of you as more my son than my Godson… Even before your parents were killed, I would refer to you as ‘My Boy’ if for no other reason than to goad James. You were truly loved by your parents as well as by Remus and me. As I ponder the details of this missive to you, I think about the greatest regrets that I have faced, and the greatest one is that I was not able to be there for you growing up, nor was I able to be around after I left Azkaban.

I always would dream of someday living with you in a house that I had purchased years ago in Godric’s Hollow… That seemed to be the perfect place to live so now you will have the chance to find out…

Part of your inheritance from me actually comes from your parents. At the time of James and Lily’s deaths, a portion of your Potter inheritance was left in trust to me for when you graduated from Hogwarts. All of that as well as the bulk of the Prestigious Potter Estate will be discussed after we have dealt with the Most Blackest Estate I could imagine!

All right then, From the Noble House of Black, I leave to you my beloved godson My motorbike… yeah the one that can fly. I spoke with Hagrid at these proceedings so he should be getting it to you shortly, you will probably have to fly Buckbeak to him or if you choose you can hide Buckbeak for him at your Ancestral home. That is your choice to make with Hagrid.

I divided the properties I owned but there were a couple I had not given away. One included a small tropical island off the coast of Tahiti. It is unplottable much the same way Grimmauld was and has a number of the self-same wizarding security measures. The largest difference is that there is no Fidelius at work there, but I sincerely doubt you would need that on the island. It is also totally hidden away from the Magical community. I had received this as well as some galleons that I had lived off from my old Uncle Alphard Black.

Because I had known what the bulk of your Potter Inheritance was, I chose to give most of the Black fortune away to the Weasley’s and the Tonks. I’m sure you are aware by now how I took care of most everyone… however, you will receive a complete detailed account of what everyone was scheduled to receive.

That just leaves the money. I’m so sorry Harry that I had to leave you at a time when you needed me most. I am sure that you would have traded all the galleons that this letter will inform you of just to have me back… of course, I could be wrong – but I honestly don’t think I am.

The amount of your Black inheritance that has been added into your vault is 12,321,459 Galleons and a fair few Sickles and Knuts thrown in for good measure. I did try to give most of it away, but unfortunately because it was tied up here at Gringott’s while I was on the run I couldn’t use it to buy my freedom, which knowing Fudge, he would have jumped at the chance to proclaim my innocence if I handed over a few million galleons. He is such an idiot!

Because you, Remus and Hermione mean the most to me I chose to give the majority of my wealth to you three.

Son I love you very much and always will. This portrait that you see will also be for you. You will understand more later. Not a day has gone by since I left Azkaban that I do not think of you in some way… You are truly the son I wish I had – the son I would have loved to share my life with.

Take care of yourself and keep an eye out for Hermione… she is rather special to me as you know. If not for you and her, I would probably never have had the time I had to spend with you. You are a very special young man… Be strong…

Love from Snuffles.

Tears were streaming down Harry’s cheeks unabashedly. According to the wizarding world, he was now considered an adult, but in his heart he only wanted to be a little boy… who had no use for the cares of the adult world. He had told Dumbledore that he didn’t want this life, didn’t want to be human… What he wouldn’t give for one more day with Sirius in the flesh.

He wiped the tears away from his face and looked up into the paintings eyes. “Thank you Sirius.” He gave a half quirky smile and added, “I know you tried to give away more… I’ll do my best to give more away as well.”

Sirius laughed hard, “Well son, if you wish you can give it to Hermione to use for the Foundations she is going to create!”

“That’s not a bad idea… Anyway, so is that it?” Harry asked.

“Well that’s it for me… but not for you. Hold on I’ll be right back.” Sirius said as he slipped from the frame leaving the canvas blank.

Harry turned and looked at Hermione and Petunia who both were showing equal concern for him. “This is the letter Sirius wrote to me.” He said as he handed it to Petunia who read it over with Hermione doing the same. Not any of the three of them were paying any attention to Sirius’s canvas when a startled gasp from Remus caused them all to look up.

“Mum…” being all that Harry was able to utter. Suddenly, the world went black and he slipped into unconsciousness.

---

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc

Author’s Notes: Did I leave a decent enough cliffhanger this time? I have been shirking my duties and my skills as the Queen Mum for the Royal Family of Cliffies…. Well there you have it…the second half of a very long chapter…But as you can see… things are not over yet for young Mr. Potter… not by a long shot.

If anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to leave them in the reviews… I do respond to the reviews, usually quicker than not. I hope that you are enjoying this story so far… I still have a very long way to go and actually expected to be into the main story telling by now. Boy was I wrong. I do post in advance to Muirnin's Musings. I am currently working on Chapter 4 as well as compiling ideas for use in later chapters...I do promise that I will not leave you more than 2 weeks between chapters... I am going to attempt to have a planned day of the week that I will post chapters...

Let me know what you think…You are also welcome to contact me by owl... Melendra is very good... Take care all…

As Always,

Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."

@}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction

By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 4 – More Galleons, More Grief

The darkness swept over him, blanketing him from the world around him. When his mind stopped ingesting all that it had up to that moment, he vaguely heard his own voice say “Mum”…

A torrent of emotions, numerous images floated around in his mind… but for how long were he unconscious? His eyes still shut he tried to explain to himself what he knew he would have to tell the others who were in the Attestation Chamber awaiting the disclosure of the Potter Estate. His internal clock had figured it was just about an hour that he had been gone… but to where…

“Harry?” He heard his Aunt Petunia’s voice calling to him.

His eyes still closed to the light in the room he answered, “I’m fine… sorry to have been out so long.”

“Harry” He heard Hermione say in a voice that held a bemusement he had rarely heard from her. “You were out for only a couple of seconds.”

Emerald green eyes snapped open at this pronouncement. “What?” Harry’s mind was in a whirlwind again. “It felt like I was out for an hour… I do not underst… Owww!” He cried out clutching his scar in pain. “He’s overjoyed…” he gasped, “happy that something is going along with his plans…” Tears leaked from his eyes as he relayed this information.

Petunia stared in disbelief at the assault that was happening on her nephew right before her eyes. She looked over at Hermione and asked, “Does this happen often?”

“Often enough.” Hermione responded quietly moving over closer to where Harry lay.

“Harry, do you know what his plans are?” Remus quietly asked.

Harry shook his head no, muttering, “Damn it, why can’t the bastard leave me alone.”

Hermione took her hand and laid it gently upon Harry’s forehead, its coolness penetrating the heat of his skin. “You’re burning up, do we need to call…” she hesitated then said, “a healer?” Harry felt certain that she was about to say Dumbledore or at the very least Madam Pomfrey.

Again he shook his head no, “What ever you did stopped the pain… Thanks Hermione.” He carefully rose from the floor and moved back into his chair. Looking up at the portrait he saw along with his godfather’s image, James and Lily Potter. “Mum? Dad? How… I don’t understand…”

“Hello son” the image of James Potter said in a deep authoritative “It’s good to finally see you. I’m sure you are wondering why we did not seek you out before now.”

“Ah, yeah that thought did cross my mind… It would have been nice talking to you over the years.” Harry said slightly irritable that his parents painting had not been visible to him all these years.

“Sweetheart, we weren’t able to… not until the disclosure of the Potter Estate. Had Sirius not died, you would not have seen us for another two years until you graduated from Hogwarts.” His mother Lily said softly, looking as beautiful as Harry had always imagined her to look. “Hello Peta… I’m so glad to see you as well.” Lily said addressing Petunia, who was weeping at the sight of her long lost sister. Hermione had placed an arm around Harry’s aunt and tried to calm her down.

“I’m s-so s-sorry about h-how we r-raised H-Harry… L-Lily…” Petunia sobbed.

Lily looked down at the teary eyed woman and said quietly, “If Harry has forgiven you… so have James and I.” Both the images of James and Sirius were standing behind her nodding in confirmation of Lily’s statement.

After a couple more moments, Petunia was calm again. James looked at Remus “Hey Moony… bite anyone lately?” His smirk and Sirius’s bark of laughter caused Lily to swat both of them on the arm, leaving the majority of the room in laughter.

Harry watched the playful antics of the Marauders and his mother and felt his eyes water, swallowing hard, he fought back the tears that threatened to come forth. He noticed a small Goblin begin making her way up the aisle. He looked surprised, as he had never seen a female Goblin before.

“My name is Banhabarlic and I am the Liaison with Gringott’s handling the Prestigious Potter Estate.” She was very petite, but her voice was strong. She extended her hand in greeting as muggles would upon introduction.

“Umm, it’s a pleasure to meet you… I’ve never seen a female Goblin before.” Harry said honestly, taking note of the firm handshake that she gave. “Nice grip…” he muttered to himself.

“It is true, there are far too few females of my race that work in the public. Most are kept at home tending to the male and rearing their children. However, your mother was an extremely liberated woman for her species and felt it unjust that only men allowed handling this type of affairs… Gringott’s feared they may lose the Potter accounts to Muggle institutions so they hired me and I have handled your family’s affairs ever since.” Banhabarlic said. Harry noted that she held herself much more regally than any other Goblin’s he had seen. She showed pride in the position she held.

Harry turned and noted a large grin spread over Hermione’s face as she had heard what Lily had done for the ‘advancement’ of the Goblins. He rolled his eyes slightly imagining a new campaign to go along with S.P.E.W. Hermione turned and looked at Harry and flushed slightly as she realized that he probably knew what she was thinking.

It did not help matters that Sirius let out a bark of laughter once again and said, “Hermione you have years ahead of you before you start thinking about new foundations!” This only caused Hermione to blush with embarrassment even redder.

“That’s alright dear… you will do marvellously with the foundations.” Lily proclaimed, “I for one can’t wait to see what you do with them… Sirius has been telling us what you have done for the House-elves…” she gave a grin and added, “None of the Potter elves are owned… they are all paid!”

This caused James, Sirius and Remus to laugh at the proud statement and James added, “Yeah they’re all paid only because Lily threatened to clothe them if they didn’t take pay… although they haven’t had much to do for quite a long time…”

Banhabarlic turned to the portrait “I do believe we have business to attend to… then you can finish with your reunion.” She tersely arranged some documents upon the marble desk as she waited for the disclosure to begin.

“Of course you are so right Banhab… we should get on with this…” James said using a shortened form of the Goblin’s name causing her to glare at him.

“James, be good.” Lily reprimanded to which James meekly lowered his head.

“The reason we are all here,” began James “is to disclose the entire Estate to you, our only heir Harry James Potter.” Harry nodded unconsciously not letting his mind wander to the few minutes before when he had blacked out with what he determined had been Voldemort’s assistance.

“Over the next two months you will learn more about the Potter bloodline than you ever thought you would know. There is a great and proud history that goes along with the Potter heritage…” He turned and saw Banhabarlic giving him another glare and he added, “but that amount of detail would be too much for this SHORT visit… so Banhabarlic if you will hand Harry the condensed document.”

TO: Harry James Potter

Dear Son,

Your mother and I are so very sorry that you are receiving this at this time. We knew that with Lord Voldemort after our family, we needed to prepare. Obviously, if you are reading this particular letter now it means that we have died sometime before you graduate Hogwarts and that Sirius Black, your godfather has also died.

As most likely Sirius has explained to you regarding the different accounts that have been set up, I am sure you are somewhat surprised at the amount of capital we had amassed. It is true that most of the money came from your Grandfather Edward Potter and passed down to him through generations of Potters before him. You have a great legacy Harry, in time you will learn the full details.

First off, if you have not notified about the Caretaker's Trust, please contact Banhabarlic at Gringott's Bank to arrange the transfer of funds from the Bank of London account to whomever your Caretaker after Sirius passed has been.

Your Hogwarts Trust fund has been in place since before you were born. I do hope that it will be enough, however I have made Banhabarlic aware that she is to check the levels from time to time and keep them monetarily sound until you take over account.

The liquid assets involved as of 3 July 1996

Caretaker's Trust account - Bank of London £ 5,834,632.53
HJP Hogwarts Trust account - Gringott's Wizarding Bank of London 831,273 Galleons
Potter Corp Investments - Bank of London £ 22,232,726.61
Prestigious Potter Estate Vault - Gringott's Wizarding Bank of London 9,315,579 Galleons

Investment Properties -
Carreg Cylcho Hudlath, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Colon Carreg Pant Pentre Sinema, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Dewiniaidd Llaid, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Budrllew Tafarn, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Buarth Llestr Gwneuthuriad, Godric's Hollow, Wales
The land beneath entire Village of Godric's Hollow, Wales (Owned originally by Godric Gryffindor and Haramond y Llestr Gwneuthurwr (Haramond the Dish Maker later anglicise to Haramond the Potter or Haramond Potter) which was to be passed on to his heirs only.)

Personal Real Estate -
Potter Plasty, Godric's Hollow, Wales
(Building destroyed October 31, 1981 - Land still owned by Potter Corp Investments)

The following properties are all within the boundaries of the Calon Carreg Cylcho; all magically warded in the manner laid down by Haramond the Potter and Godric Gryffindor.
Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn, Godric's Hollow, Wales (Potter Ancestral Home)
HJP Bwthyn (Carwr's yn Canlyn Castell), Godric's Hollow, Wales
(The Cottage - Built in 1980, for Harry James Potter; for use as his own personal home upon his graduation from Hogwarts.)
Haramond's Buarth, Godric's Hollow, Wales

As you can see son, we owned a considerable amount of property and businesses, besides partial ownership in many others in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England. The full list of assorted properties will be in the portfolio that you will receive after we are done here today.

Your total property worth from just the Potter Estate is £ 28,664,831.43. As you can see, we had more muggle investments than wizarding investments... not all of the Muggle properties you see are fully muggle however. Carreg Cylcho Hudlath is actually a Wand maker shop and Apothecary (full stocks for all potion needs) Budrllew Tafarn is not just a Pub, but also carries Wizarding drinks and foods as well.

There will be a great deal you will learn about Godric's Hollow, as it is the only fully integrated Muggle and Wizarding Village in Britain. As Hogsmeade is fully a Wizarding community, Godric's Hollow has found a way to be open in both Muggle and Wizard standards. The only property in the area that exudes any magical qualities is the Calon Carreg Cylcho and that area is repellent from study as so many archaeologists are prone to look deep into the Mysterious Stone Circles that abound in Great Britain.

I know that this is very overwhelming my young Buck, but understand that if we had been able to raise you; none of this would have been a shock. You will have the opportunity to study in full any subject that you need once you arrive at the Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn.

Your mother and I love you very much and we will talk to you in more detail when you arrive at the Mansiwn.

Love always your father,
James Edward Potter

Harry stared at the words upon the parchment. This all seemed like a huge dream that he could not believe. Nevertheless, there it was in blue and cream the full monetary wealth of the boy who lived… He felt nauseous; he just knew that it would be another reason for people to idolize him. He felt a hand on his arm and looked over to see Hermione sitting where Ron had been previously that morning.

“Are you alright Harry?” she asked in a quiet tone.

“It’s just too much…” he said handing her the sheet of parchment. He looked up at his mum and dad in the portrait. “Why was I never told about this?”

“I believe dear that is mostly my fault.” His mother answered looking apologetically at both Harry and Petunia. “You see, I was somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect of so much wealth that I never told mama, papa or even my sister about how much James’ family was worth. I didn’t think they would believe me, especially since we lived as practically muggle and always lived rather meagrely.”

“Son, your mum and I had planned to make things easier on you growing up after Lord Voldemort was vanquished. From what Sirius has recently told me, I understand that you are the one the Prophecy spoke of… who will do the vanquishing.” James said with sadness in his eyes. “We will need to get you trained up a bit.”

“But how? I don’t really have any place I can go to do any magical training and studying, I mean I live in a muggle neighbourhood.” Harry said as Banhabarlic handed him a large sheaf of parchments that was nearly an inch think. Harry couldn’t even begin to think about looking at the documents yet.

“Peta, I understand that you and Harry are by yourselves for the next 3 weeks… might I suggest you both take a holiday to Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn and enjoy yourselves. You may even invite some friends if you wish Harry…” she started to say. Petunia looked up at her sister’s portrait, nodded then smiled.

“That’s if the old man will let Pup go…” Sirius grumbled.

“Well, why shouldn’t they be able to go? The mansion is fully warded, Peta will be there for the blood protection and Harry WILL be able to learn more about his Potter heritage and start his training.” Lily snapped.

“Why don’t we send a message with your ‘Gramps’ Padfoot and see what Albus has to say… I mean we have to let him know about the Emancipation Order anyway…” James suggested as he watched Sirius nod to him and scurry off the side of the painting.

“Excuse me Mr. Potter… why did Sirius have the Emancipation Order if Harry has to stay with his Aunt and Uncle anyway?” Hermione asked politely.

“First, I’m not Mister Potter… that was my father. You can call me James or Prongs… or even Hey You…” he chuckled softly and gave a very mischievous grin, “secondly, the only reason for the Emancipation was so Buck could USE magic without interference from the Ministry. As I understand it they are keeping such a close eye on Buck in regards to underage magic use, they couldn’t even tell the difference between his doing magic and a house-elf using a hovering charm… yeah, I heard about that one.”

“That makes sense, I mean before I went to Hogwarts, I had tried a bunch of charms and I never once got a notice regarding under-age magic use… nor reprimands for using magic in front of Muggles, which my parents definitely are. I always wondered why… now it’s making sense to me.” Hermione said.

“So is that it then?” Harry questioned. “Do we need to do anything else now?”

“What’s the hurry Buck?” James asked, as he was about to start teasing his son about his impatience when he saw the look of dread upon Harry’s features.

“Er… it’s that attack that I had earlier… you know with my scar… I guess I am just paranoid about what could have made Voldemort so happy.”

“Did you see anything when you were unconscious?” Hermione asked, “You did think you had been out for about an hour.”

Harry rubbed his scar in frustration, “I was starting to remember and then I got that burst of emotion from Voldemort. I just remember seeing lots of people and rocks and slight rolling hills.” He said quietly to Hermione. He really didn’t want to discuss this with his parents and Sirius just yet; talking it over with Hermione seemed to be the smartest thing for him since she always had the answers for everything.”

“But those images that you saw were in no relation to what was going on with Voldemort. Is that correct?”

“Yeah… it’s like I know this place and as I said I spent about an hour there, yet you only said I was out for a second or two…” bemused Harry.

“That is very strange indeed.” Hermione said perplexed then noticed that Sirius had returned to the painting. “Oh look there’s Sirius.”

Harry looked up and saw that Sirius was whispering something to both Lily and James, Lily gasped and stared down at her sister. Petunia got a confused look upon her face as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“Harry, Professor Dumbledore will be joining us momentarily.” Sirius said cautiously.

“What didn’t he give an answer to Phineas?” Harry asked, not really in the mood to have a confrontation with the old Headmaster.

“Actually he did, but he needs to have a word with you.” Sirius said bluntly.

Harry rolled his eyes. Not known for his patience, he wanted to leave and not be around too many people. It was the same feeling he had while his friends were still in hospital and he would go visit them. He would just get there and then feel the urge to leave. His impatience must have been showing because Hermione laid a hand on Harry’s arm again and he began to calm down.

“We won’t have to stay around the Headmaster too long Harry. I know how little you think of him just now.” Hermione’s voice was calm and pleasing to him.

“I cant’ shake this feeling that I have inside… something is wrong… very wrong” Harry said with conviction.

Just then Albus Dumbledore stepped in the Attestation Chamber. He strode masterfully over towards where Petunia, Hermione and Harry were seated. He waived his hand as he levitated one of the chairs around to face them and sat down.

“What happened now Professor” Harry said with a biting edge to his voice.

“At shortly after 11 this morning, there were several Muggle related bombings that occurred…” he started, but Harry cut him off.

“What do muggle bombings have to do with us?” Harry said sharply.

“There were several muggle deaths….” Albus’ voice said gravely, he turned to Petunia and Hermione first. “Your sister-in-laws home was destroyed killing all inside… as was your parent’s dental practice… again there were no survivors.”

Hermione paled at the news and began to shake. Harry snaked an arm around her, held her tight, and then glanced over at his aunt who had gone quite rigid and pale. He reached out with his other hand and held onto her hand tightly.

“Professor, what I don’t understand is why are saying Muggle related bombings and yet these particular people were umm… killed…” He tried not to think of the deaths… of his Uncle Vernon and Dudley as dead yet… it was too hard to believe and yet Hermione’s parents were dead as well.

“Eyewitnesses at the location of your parent's Dental Practice gave excellent descriptions of the company name on the side of the delivery lorry and the carrier that had delivered the packages… There are several squibs that work within the Muggle law enforcement and they were able to relay the information to us... they contacted the shipping company and showed that there were actually four packages that had been delivered at the same time… with the same return address...”

“And whose was the return address?” Harry asked.

“It was Tom Riddle – Little Hangleton”

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters. This is an original plot, based on characters created by J K Rowling. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc. Some parts may be of an adult nature that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

A/N: This version of Godric’s Hollow is not Canon… I have created my own based upon the events in my story. I am not trying to keep to canon on everything, as that would make me JKR… I am not she… Just as some believe that Hogwarts is in Scotland, I am under the belief that Godric’s Hollow is in Wales… To the best of my creative mind, I would tend to place it on the west side of the Combrion Mountains just south of Devil’s Bridge. My Welsh is very poor (as in non existent!), but here are the translations as they respond to the wonderful real estate that Harry has just inherited.

Carreg Cylcho Hudlath = Heart Stone Magic Wand
Colon Carreg Pant Pentre Sinema = Heart Stone Hollow Village Cinema
Dewiniaidd Llaid = Magical Mud
Budrllew Tafarn = Dirty Lion Pub
Buarth Llestr Gwneuthuriad = Farmyard Dish Making
Haramond y Llestr Gwneuthurwr = Haramond the Dish Maker (later anglicise to Haramond the Potter or Haramond Potter) which was to be passed on to his heirs only.)
Potter Plasty = Potter Mansion
Calon Carreg Cylcho = Heart Stone Circle
Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn = Heart Stone Mansion
HJP Bwthyn = HJP Cottage
Carwr's yn Canlyn Castell = Lover's Courting Castle
Haramond's Buarth = Haramond's Farmyard

If anyone can see errors with my translations, please let me know. I am using a Freelang Dictionary (I have Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Latin and American/English Word lists). I do not profess myself a linguist as I can barely hold my own with Potter, Computer, Trek and American. I do however, love languages and endeavour to integrate them into my writing when needed. Also, any brit pickers out there… Have at me… I know my spelling is off on a few words. No matter how many times I put Word 2000 on UK Dictionary for Spell-check, it still comes up with the US spellings. Nevertheless, I am attempting to make sure that I am using the correct words. Half the time the words I spell are the UK and not the US such as Dialogue (that is how I NORMALLY spell it and that is UK – the US spell it dialog)

I am humbly just an American writer…but I have family from the UK and Canada… and my brilliant beautiful babes do NOT say Merry Christmas, to them it is Happy Christmas… Therefore, I am trying to train them properly!

Thanks for taking the time to read this story, and I hope that you will take a few moments to feed my review addiction…it is healthier than drugs and does not cost you a dime. J

Take care and have a good week!

Peace - As Always,

Muirnin - who firmly believes "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..." @}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction

By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 5 – Retaliation and Retribution

"And whose was the return address?" Harry asked.

"It was Tom Riddle - Little Hangleton"

At this pronouncement, Hermione gave a painful whimper that soon became uncontrollable wracking sobs. Petunia had stayed uncommonly and strangely silent in her sudden grief and Harry feared the worse for both of the women.

"Professor, you said there were four packages that were delivered..." said Harry leaving the last bit unsaid as he struggled to calm Hermione down. Dumbledore pulled out a small bottle and handed it to Harry to have Hermione drink.

"It's a calming draught, it should help her." Dumbledore said as he watched Harry administer the potion to his best friend. Her pitiful whimpering lessened and she became silent resting her head against Harry's shoulder. "Yes indeed there were two additional packages that had been delivered. One was to your own home at Privet Drive. The other was to a home in Ottery St. Catchpole - the Burrow."

A jolt of fear shot through his belly at the thought that something had happened to the Weasley's and their home. "Th-th-they're not…"

"No Harry, the Weasley's are all fine… Unfortunately for the currier, he was unable to find the Burrow and the package exploded in his lorry. The package that was delivered to your residence did explode, however it was less damage than would have occurred had the package actually detonated with in the house. I spoke with Arabella and she reported seeing the package left on your doorstep. All four packages blew-up at the same moment. There are some factions various muggle terrorist organizations that seem to be claiming responsibility, however we know this to be incorrect."

"Will we be able to go back to our house tonight?" Harry asked stoically.

"While there wasn't sufficient damage done to your home, there will need to be some repair work done before it will be habitable again. You three can go to Grimmauld…"

"NO!" Harry snapped, "I will never step foot in that place again. Fine, if we can't go back to Privet Drive than we will get three rooms at the Leaky Cauldron."

"It won't be safe for you Harry..." Professor Dumbledore started, but the glare from Harry's refusal shown evident that Harry made his decision.

"You received my order of Emancipation today, you know I can defend myself without conflict with the Ministry… I refuse to go to Grimmauld Place… especially in the emotional state that my aunt and Hermione are in… If necessary I will have us put up in a muggle hotel,” he paused considering then said, “which actually would be a better idea given my aunt's current condition." He looked at his aunt who had a glazed and haunted look about her face. He turned and looked at Remus Lupin who had been up speaking with James, Lily and Sirius. "Moony, can you go book us a suite of rooms over at that hotel we passed not far from here. We are going to need it for about a week. You can have Banhabarlic give you the currency for it to pay in advance. We are also going to need some clothing and…" he shook his head as the reality of the situation started to set in on him as well. "Just get us what we will need. Once Hermione is able to, she can contact her relatives and I will contact the funeral director regarding Uncle Vernon and Dudley… Oh and I guess Aunt Marge as well."

"If you would like Harry I could see to the arrangements for you." Professor Dumbledore said respectfully.

Harry turned and glared at the Headmaster and said "No sir. This is my family that we are dealing with and you look less than muggle as the situation calls. I would prefer to have Moony handle this… at least then I will know where some of my family is buried."

A small gasp was heard from Lily in the portrait, "What do you mean Harry?"

"I mean mum, that I have no idea where your graves are located. Hell, I don’t even know if there was enough left after the attack and if there are even graves at all. With all the people in the Wizarding world who had known both of you, I was told virtually nothing about you except by what I was told from Sirius and Remus; neither of them told me where you were buried either. Oh sure Snape would always go on about how Dad strutted around the castle… he would compare me to him, you know. Everyone kept secrets from me about anything of importance in my life.

"The fact that they did so was supposedly for my best interests to allow me to be 'normal'" he seethed. "However, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall never actually said much about either one of you to me… and THAT is not fair; that's not normal. Growing up, all I heard about either of you was that you were unemployed and a drunk. I even believed that my scar was the result of the car accident that killed you both." He sighed then said, "At least Hagrid told me the truth about who I was, how I got my scar, and about Voldemort killing you... at least he told me that you had been head boy and girl in your time. Nevertheless, none of them told me about where you were buried or any other details about your lives… it was as if you existed but not lived."

Harry spoke in quiet sombreness; his next words punctuated the graveness of the situation. "Uncle Vernon and Dudley were not very nice people to me, however, I want to make sure that their arrangements will be respectful and honourable. The same goes for Aunt Marge… at least I am guessing that all three of them were in the house when it exploded." He saw the Headmaster nod and then said, "Find out where I need to go to identify the bodies so that I may have them released to the mortuary. I think it would be better that I go rather than Aunt Petunia."

He pulled Hermione closer towards him, so she was sitting on his lap. He could feel her silent tears leaving wet tracks along his shirt. "It's going to be alright Hermione…" he laid his head against the top of hers and took a deep breath. "Do you have a problem with the arrangements I made for us?"

He felt her shake her head no. "We can call your Grandmother later today…" he whispered to her. He looked up at the portrait of his parents and Sirius. "We are going to need to have the portraits taken to Godric's Hollow… After the funerals, I am going to have Aunt Petunia come there with me. If the Weasley's will allow, I want Ron there as well." He looked down to where Hermione's head rested and added, "I'm not sure about anyone else at this time."

"Don't worry about it Buck, we will have the mansion ready for you when you arrive. The house-elves do marvellous work and they actually listen to us." James said.

"Yeah at least they won't lie and get someone killed…" Harry mumbled under his breath and then felt Hermione tense and he immediately apologized. "I'm sorry… I'm just angry and I am saying all the wrong things…"

"Not wrong… just bad timing" she paused, "And Harry, not everything you are saying is wrong." Hermione said her tone softening. "Thank you Harry for refusing to go to Grimmauld; I don't think I could have handled that situation."

"I know… neither could I." He could see the effects from the earlier potion taking affect from the depths of her chocolate brown eyes. "Is there anything you need Remus to do for you while he is out seeing to our accommodations?" Harry asked softly. She shook her head no; he gave a silent nod to Remus who immediately left to see about the arrangements.

"I'll need to go and identify my parents bodies and then have them released to the funeral home… I have my address book in my bag so I have everyone's telephone numbers. I just do not know how I am going to tell Nana… She doesn't even know about my being a witch." she paused, "I can't imagine how I am going to explain this…" she sighed, then seeing Petunia sitting stone-faced and unmoving she asked, "How's your aunt doing?"

"She hasn't said a word yet, but she has a grip on my hand that puts yours to shame." A small smile tugged at the edge of his lips as he told Hermione this. "Are you going to be able to walk or do I need to carry you?"

"I can walk" she blushed, "but don't stray too far from me, I don't want to be alone." Hermione said reddening further as she realized for the first time where she had ended up and hurriedly muttered "Sorry..." as she got up from his lap; Harry grinned.

"No worries, here can you take this." Harry handed her the sheaf of parchments to place in her bag; standing up he willed his aunt to respond to his request. She stood up still clutching his hand tightly; as she looked at his face tears welled up in her eyes and Harry willingly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Her slight body, wracked with sobbing, as she held onto her nephew.

Hermione calmly rubbed Petunia's back to comfort her as well. By the time, that Remus had returned Petunia was sufficiently calm down.

Remus handed Harry a set of keys, "When I spoke to Banhabarlic she informed me of an apartment building that was included in the properties you inherited here in London. Professor Dumbledore has allowed Dobby to assist you and he will see to all of your needs. By the time you arrive, the place should be sufficiently stocked with food, clothing" he looked at Hermione and gave a partial grin, "and any books and study materials you will require. You should be relatively comfortable; much higher quality than the Leaky Cauldron." Harry saw glimmer of amusement upon the face of his former teacher.

"Thanks Moony" said Harry as he looked at the address of the flat, "I guess I am going to need to go over all of the paperwork that I got today just to find out what else I need to know."

"That would probably be a good thing to do, from what I understand there is a number of matters that you will need to handle." Remus looked at Harry with an unspoken desire to speak with him privately. Harry nodded and left Petunia in Hermione's gentle care.

They walked over towards where the painting still stood behind the marble desk and Remus cast a silence shell around them both and the portrait.

"A bit extreme isn't that Moony?" James said.

"I needed to pass on to Harry information we acquired from the investigation around the murders." Remus said.

"Why couldn't you say this in front of them?" Harry asked concernedly.

Remus handed a slip of parchment to Harry, "I'm not sure how much you know about Muggle Law Enforcement Harry, but we have squibs as well as trained Auror's who work and live within the Muggle world. As you know, the Prime Minister, as well as a select few government officials, is aware of the Wizarding World. We do have some Auror's whose only job is to work within Scotland Yard and establish secrecy of our existence to the Muggles."

"I figured that much out when they were searching for Sirius... what does that have to do with this." Harry bemused.

"When they began to get the information regarding Tom Riddle, all that the constabulary was able to figure out was that he had died along with his elderly parents about 50 years ago. They also found out that their deaths were considered suspicious and at one time held a man for the murders, but had to release him when they could show no sign of how the murders were committed."

"Frank Bryce never killed them!” Harry said aggressively, causing Remus to look surprised. “Voldemort killed his father and grandparents, that was his father's death not his..." Harry puzzled, "I don't understand why Voldemort and his Death Eaters would go to muggle means to kill my family or Hermione's... It just doesn’t' make sense."

"Our intelligence within Voldemort's organization" Remus started to say.

"Snape you mean..." Harry said briskly

A raised eyebrow was all the reaction Remus gave at this, "Found out that Voldemort wanted to kill those closest to you and also wanted to have retribution for the loss of so many of his followers after the incident at the Ministry."

"But his followers don't know that he's a half blood... so they wouldn't know who Tom Riddle actually was..." argued Harry.

"From what our intelligence..."

"Oh just say Snape... Great Merlin's Ghost! All this secrecy around him is full of shit!" Harry shouted.

"Harry language!" Lily's voice snapped resulting in "Sorry Mum...." murmured Harry.

"Not all intelligence we receive about Voldemort is from Severus, Harry." responded Remus "As I was saying... from what you told us after the incident at the Cemetery in Little Hangleton, you were standing upon the grave of Tom Riddle..."

"Bound to it more like... but go ahead" Harry added irritably.

"That detail was not missed by some of the Death Eaters... and was relayed in part to some of their families about the bounding to Tom Riddle's gravestone.... They of course overlooked the part where you had defeated Voldemort again..." Remus said.

"More like barely survived..." Harry distinguished.

"These interjections of yours are not helping you get this information Harry." James reprimanded.

"Sorry Dad, but if we're going to be accurate about details... let's get them right!" Harry said sharply.

"He's got a point Prongs..." Sirius added with a slight smirk, which rewarded him with a verbal "Shut it Padfoot!" from James, Lily and Remus.

"Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted... We found out that someone within Voldemort's operation told certain details to members of his family... These members decided to take matters into their own hands and dispose of your families because they wanted to get you back as it were for getting their father's sent to Azkaban..."

"You mean Malfoy."

"We don't know the specifics, but we do know from the investigation from Scotland Yard that the young men were a bit anxious that the packages all arrive at the same time... They explained to the clerk at the currier they were gifts for the families... saying that they were part of the party preparations or some such nonsense."

"But how did they find out where I lived... I thought Dumbledore kept that information quiet... I didn't think any of the Slytherins knew about the Dursley's."

"Remember the notification you received regarding today's events." Harry nodded as Remus continued handing Harry his "As you can see it shows nothing about who was to be here for your Potter deposition but it does have in detail who was to be here for the Black Estate..."

Harry glanced down at the list in question and saw that rather than alphabetises as his was, directly under Harry's name was 'Petunia Dursley'. No mention of her being Harry's legal guardian, but the name Dursley stood out like a beacon to him.

"So because they saw the name Dursley; they automatically assumed that she had some connection to me and..."

"Found two listings one for a Vernon Dursley and one for a M. Dursley. They had no way of knowing which address connected back to you so they targeted them both... As for the Grangers, they knew that Hermione was going to be at the reading of the Will and given the time they found the Granger's Dental practice." Remus explained.

"But that doesn't explain why they chose Tom Riddle's name nor why they used muggle means to kill."

"Think about it Harry... If you wanted to pass a message on to a specific person you would want use something that would have significant memory for you. Now, just suppose if you could use that information, but you could not do magic what would you do?" Lily asked having gathered some conclusions of her own.

"I would figure out the best method to use whatever was available in the Muggle world..." Harry realized and sighed deeply. "But why send me a message… that makes no sense and then why go to all the trouble of muggle bombs in the first place."

"I can only assume that it was more a point to hurt you in some way. I do not have all the answer's Harry. The young men were the ones responsible for sending off the packages; that they were acting on behalf for someone else. They had specifically told the clerk they needed to send off these packages for a friend of theirs who is throwing a party; and as I said before these were described as gifts to the families."

Harry looked down at the intelligence report again and saw the descriptions of the two young men who had gone to the currier. He shook his head in disbelief. The details listed were identical to Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Harry thought about this and realized, both Crabbe and Malfoy’s fathers were present at the Department of Mysteries attack. "I'm going to kill them..."

"Now Harry, you don't want to do anything rash. I know you recognize the descriptions, but honestly Harry,” Remus said, "killing Crabbe and Goyle is not going to bring back those that were killed... I do believe that Professor Dumbledore may use whatever powers he has as their Headmaster to see that they are punished."

"He's not going to expel them... I can tell you that... I don't see how getting detentions and writing lines is going to do anything to punish either of them... and what of Malfoy? He is as guilty as the two of them... He's the ONLY way they would have seen this list of names." Harry said stoically.

"All I know is that he has turned over what evidence he has received to Madam Bones and she is using her connections within Scotland Yard... It is very possible that at least Crabbe and Goyle could end up in a muggle prison for their involvement... if they tell about Malfoy, then it could be all three."

"Or in case the secrecy for the wizarding world is in jeopardy they will just hush the whole thing up..." Harry added.

"That is a valid point... but at any rate, being who you are with in the Wizarding world, I do not foresee Madam Bones not at least doing something in the form of punishment against them." Sirius added, "Harry you know as well as I do that no matter what the Wizarding World was lead to believe last year times have changed... you are once again 'The Boy Who Lived'. No matter how much you detest the attention... It could help the situation greatly."

"Harry promise me that you won't do anything against these boys." Lily pleaded. "Its one thing for you to be ABLE to use magic outside school now, but please, don't..."

"I won't mum... I had already decided that the only time I use magic outside school is for training. I will need to learn to apparate as well."

"All in good time Buck... Once you and Petunia get to Calon Carreg, you will find all you need to be able to train... and train you will. I for one want you to always be 'The Boy Who Lived' for a very long time." James said proudly.

"I'm not immortal Dad... no matter how close to death I have come... I can still be killed." Harry said gravely.

"Not if I have anything to say about it..." Sirius added. "I know that Prongs and I joke about whose son you are..." he smirked, "But you truly are the son I never had, I'm proud of you... I know you will defeat Voldemort once and for all... and he will NOT be coming back the next time."

"There's times I honestly wish I had not stopped you and Moony from killing Wormtail."

"I'm glad you did..." James stated, "Buck you were right, I wouldn't want my best friends to become murderers. I understand your destiny son... however, killing Voldemort will not make you a murderer."

"Well what do you call it when I am told I have to kill Voldemort."

"Justice." Lily said with conviction. "Sweetheart, there are some who believe that capitol punishment is wrong... there are others who see it as a biblical truth... an eye for an eye and all that. You will be trained to eradicate an evil that has destroyed more lives than any other Dark Lord has. Fear is how the Dark Lord fights... he wants the Wizarding world to fear him, I believe that what you felt when your scar started hurting earlier was his joy at seeing how more feared him, by finding ways to destroy you..."

"Darling have you been listening in to the Headmaster's office?" James asked his wife.

She smirked "Maybe..." she responded sweetly.

"I just can't believe that anyone with the mental capacity of Crabbe and Goyle could have constructed 4 package bombs in less then 12 hours. It doesn't seem possible." He looked over to where Hermione and Petunia were sitting, both quietly sipping cups of tea that had been brought to them. "Listen we will discuss this later, I think it's best that I get them back so they can rest."

"How are you holding up?"

"Actually, I feel a lot stronger emotionally than I thought I would. You didn't see me after Sirius was killed, I sort of walked around in a fog and didn't speak to anyone."

"That was the shock from my death and from Albus' stupidity..." Sirius growled.

"I think that being able to talk to you again... that has helped me. I am still not thrilled about the Prophecy, but at least I know what is waiting for me. There is still a part of me that is quite angry with the Headmaster, but it is more resentful at his excluding the secrets he has always known about me... I do not like secrets... I understand when they are in my best interest, but his keeping the knowledge of the prophecy away from me for so long hurts. He also had prior knowledge about Voldemort being able to get inside my head... Dumbledore could have started training me for Occlumency years ago and saved me years of pain and anguish... but he did not. Instead, he has allowed me to end up nearly killing my best friends time after time..." ranted Harry, "I've had enough of his deceptions... I am going to take my life into my own hands for once and learn everything I can to survive, but it will not be with his help. I don't want Dumbledore to take any credit for anything I do from now on..."

"Understandable Harry... Now, we will continue this when you get to the Mansion. Remus, take the silencing off so I can say good bye to my sister please." Lily said.

Hermione looked at Harry and Remus as they began to make their way back. She gave a questioning look to Harry as to what was involved in the 'private' conversation, but a single look from Harry was all it took to let her know that he would inform her... later.

Harry watched as their was a quiet conversation between Lily and Petunia, even James and Sirius had moved over to the other side of the frame and were in deep conversation with each other not causing a disturbance to the two Evans women.

He handed Hermione the slip of paper with the address upon it, "Do you know how to get there or would you rather Remus drive us over."

"I know where this is... Mum used to take me shopping at Harrods and that is close by to this..." she said as her eyes saddened even more, "We should get going... I'm not sure how much is already known to the Wizarding world, but I don't think I could take anyone staring at me right now."

"Undoubtedly, from what Remus said, there isn't much that has been publicized yet to our world." Harry said, "but I do know that I will feel a whole lot better once we get to where we are staying...."

"So will I, I am so tired right now Harry... I never knew so much emotion could wear a person down." Hermione said with tired eyes.

"Why don't we let Remus drive us to the flat, that way you can rest a bit." Harry said noting her exhaustion. "By the way, I wanted to apologize for just presuming that you would rather not go back to your house... You still can you know..."

"I am grateful that you presumed so much... I would rather not be back there just yet. Too many memories, I would not be able to concentrate on what I need to for my parent's funerals. Afterwards, I can take the time to go back... but not now." She explained, "Come on, let's get out of here. It looks like Professor Lupin is going to help your aunt to the car."

Harry saw as Petunia had taken Remus' arm and was slowly walking towards them. Harry nodded at them both and said a quick good bye to the portrait and he led the way, determined to get them to the car as quickly as possible.

As they began to immerge into the bright summer sunlight, Harry could hear recognizable voices close ahead. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Hermione, Remus and Petunia were not far behind him. Looking over to where he had heard the voices of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"Great work Goyle... you really learned a lot from your father about muggle bomb making..."

"He is great at it, likes to keep his hands into all areas of Muggles just to learn how to bait them and hurt them for when the Dark Lord needs him." Goyle said.

"I can't imagine anyone liking Muggle Studies." Crabbe said.

"You need to know your enemy... even if you don't like them... Not like that Muggle-lover blood traitor Weasley... He gives all purebloods a bad name. It's too bad that the mudblood wasn't with her parents at their office, but there was quite a few muggles there at the time so I guess it wasn't too bad." Malfoy said with a sneer.

"I just wonder if we were able to get any of Potter's family..." Goyle said

"Right before you arrived, I saw Dumbledore hurry inside and then he left again not shortly after the werewolf... I am sure he told them..." Malfoy sneered as he added, "I can't wait to see the mudbloods face after hearing her parents are dead!"

Harry could feel the presence of the three behind him and realized that they had overheard the junior death eaters’ conversation. The look on Hermione's face showed the combination of anger, shock and resentment. However, what surprised him the most was his Aunt Petunia.

Her face was a mask of pure fury....

At that moment, Draco Malfoy and his pair of goons noticed the group coming towards them as they left the bank. Malfoy sneered viciously as he looked at Hermione.

"Ah if it isn't the MUDBLOOD... off to go plan your parent's funeral are you? No doubt, Potter can help you out although he has no memory of THEIR funeral... Too bad you weren't with your parents when they met their end... I would have loved to see your mudblood arse splattered all over the..." Suddenly a zipper appeared upon Malfoy's mouth, sealing it shut and not allowing him to speak anymore.

"Hermione!" Harry said assuming she had done the magic involved.

"It wasn't me Harry..." Hermione said pleadingly. "But who?"

A resounding gasp drew their attention as they turned to look at Petunia whose eyes had gone wild and had clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Aunt Petunia?"

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters. This is an original plot, based on characters created by J K Rowling. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc. Some parts may be of an adult nature that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

A/N: As the Queen Mother of the Royal Family of Cliffies, I have found myself not doing my job properly if I had NOT left you with even the slightest hint of a cliffhanger… Now, before anyone asks… I do take some of my ideas from quotes that J. K. Rowling has said in past interviews. To paraphrase in an early interview she said that someone would show signs of magic late in life…That said, you understand the implications as to where THAT little piece of trivia can lead…If this chapter has NOT answered all of your questions and concerns, please let me know…

I apologize for not responding to some of your reviews… I felt that it would be unnecessary after this chapter was written…I will still be responding to reviews, but it will take a bit of time. I also have an excuse; I spent an entire day in hospital dealing with some issues that have affected my health lately. I will not go into details as to why I went, but just understand that I am still concerned, as my health issues had not been handled at all...

Thanks for taking the time to read this story, and I hope that you will take a few moments to feed my review addiction…it is healthier than drugs and does not cost you a dime. Take care and have a good week!

Peace - As Always,

Muirnin - who firmly believes "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..." @}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction

By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 6 - Plentyn O Dewiniaeth

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"I d-d-didn't m-m-mean to d-d-do it,” she stammered through a hand clasped in front of her mouth.

"What do you mean? Did you do that to Malfoy?" Harry questioned his bright green eyes wide in shock.

Petunia nodded as tears fell from her eyes and left trails of wet down the back of her hand.

"Harry, I think we should just get her out of here." Remus said quietly to Harry. "The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad will be here anytime now to sort him out."

"We just heard their confession to the..." he glanced over at Hermione and saw her eyes filling with tears. "Shouldn't we tell the Ministry what we heard?" Harry said as he felt Hermione's hand grasp hold of his in need of protection.

"If the Ministry or anyone else needs to discuss this with you; they can reach you by owl. I think perhaps, it would be a good idea for your aunt not be subjected to anything else... at just this time." Remus said as he began leading Petunia away.

Harry nodded as they began walking towards the barrier that would take them back to the Leaky Cauldron. Remus tapped the stones to open the portal once more to make their way through so they could go back to the car park. Before stepping through, Harry looked back and saw several wizards apparate in, trying to restrain a very irritable Draco Malfoy and his pair of thugs who appeared to not be able to do much of anything to help their comrade.

After placing Aunt Petunia in the front seat next to Remus who was driving, Harry and Hermione sat in the back. None of them had spoken since the incident at Diagon Alley; an unspoken question hung in the air... How could Petunia actually do accidental magic?

Harry had never heard of such a thing... but then, he was not known for paying attention in class. Although he had only been to London on only a couple of occasions, and the vistas they were passing were splendid; he felt no desire to see the areas they were passing through as they drove. Unconsciously he felt Hermione's hand, once again, interlock with his and the comforting effect that this slight action held for him caused his fingers to entwine tightly with hers.

Time held no meaning for Harry as he sat in the back seat, his head laying back and his eyes shut. The emotional vortex that he had experienced the last few days had finally caught up with him and he found himself quite exhausted. Having gone so long dissimulating his fears, the reality of his own strength of emotion had finally consumed him.

"Harry..." he felt as someone gently shook his shoulder, "Harry?"

The voice seemed to be more insistent as he slowly opened his eyes. "Umm... we here already?" It had seemed to Harry that time had moved in the blink of an eye, having just closed his eyes.

"We were driving for about a half hour..." Hermione said quietly. Harry looked around and saw that Remus had already taken Petunia inside the building. A valet and a door attendant were both waiting for Harry and Hermione to remove them from the car.

"Oh... I guess we better go in." Hurriedly extracting himself from the car he found himself standing in front of a tall marble building. The trim details were not too extravagant, yet luxurious to say the least. The gilded red and golden sign over the door to the building read 'Plentyn O Dewiniaeth'.

"Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." A well-dressed man in his mid fifties walked up towards them and extended his hand. "Welcome to ‘The Tower’, I am Benjamin Gray and I am the manager here... Please let me extend to you both my most heart-felt condolences upon your losses. Everyone here at the Tower will do everything to make your time with us as worry free as we can."

"Uh, Thank you Mr. Gray." Harry said and then looked again at the large gilded sign "You called this 'The Tower'?" He asked as they began walking into the building. He was conscious of the fact that Hermione was holding onto his hand, desperate to get away from everything.

"Yes Mr. Potter... As you can see by our signage, the actual name of the building is 'Plentyn O Dewiniaeth' as is spoken in Welsh or translated into English 'Children of Magic'. There is a great history regarding this establishment..."

"I will admit that I am curious about the history of this building, but I find the name very unusual for a business here in London." Harry said as they made their way towards the lifts.

Everything that he saw spoke of an opulence he had never been accustomed to in his life. The lobby was resplendent with deep reds and gilded embellishments, from the lush carpet to the elegant velvet draperies. Marble and Mahogany were the materials of choice in all the finish work around them.

"While this building itself has not been in existence for more than 50 years, the establishment has been around for over 800 years." Mr. Gray said with a smile. "Squibs are what many in the Wizarding world long ago had been ashamed of and in most cases were ostracised. In reality, we are the children of magic."

"Are you are a Squib?" Harry said with a bit of shock.

"Yes Mr. Potter, as are many of the residence here... it is part of the reason why this complex was created so long ago, to give us a place where we were accepted and also connected to those who were magical." Mr. Gray explained as he led them out of the lift on the 12th floor and towards the only suite on the floor. "Well, we are here sir, if there is anything I can do for you, please contact me immediately. You will find everything stocked and ready for your use."

"I would like to continue this history lesson once I take care of some other business." Harry said shaking Benjamin's hand.

"With pleasure sir... I do hope that you and your Aunt as well as Miss Granger will be comfortable here, I am aware of how trying a time it has been today for all of you... Again, please accept my condolences upon your losses and know that my family is here to serve you in any way we can."

After so few years within the Wizarding world, even within this seemingly Muggle environment, Harry was less surprised than he should have been at the fact that they were still surrounded by those who knew of who he was but also who and what he and Hermione were.

Petunia was sitting in the lounge with a hot cup of tea talking quietly to Remus Lupin. She appeared to be less upset than she had earlier and Harry could only guess what was added to her tea to calm her so.

"Ah Harry, Hermione... Dobby has made some tea and biscuits for both of you." Remus said as the pair came and joined them in the lounge. Once Harry and Hermione were seated in comfortable chairs, Remus began to speak to them both again. "If you are both up to the task, you can take care of all the arrangements tomorrow morning. I took the liberty to have your school things brought here Harry and if you would like I can also do the same for you Hermione."

Hermione looked up at this and nodded. "I need to make some phone calls..." she started.

"Yes, there is a private extension in your room which is down the hall and second door to the right. Harry, your room is at the end of the hall next to Hermione's room. Your aunt will be in the first room... Each has their own amenities and has access to the balcony that surrounds this suite of rooms. Your personal wardrobes has been stocked and if you need for anything, just let Dobby know... He will have lunch ready for you all in half an hour."

"You aren't staying." Harry said suddenly realizing that he would be left with two very emotional women.

"Not right now Harry" Remus said then added, "I had other arrangements for this afternoon and would rather not cancel out on them."

Harry gave Remus a quizzical look then in a sudden mischievousness asked, "Hot date have you?"

Remus blushed uncharacteristically, "Um... yes... I have plans for tonight with Dora." He said quietly.

Harry looked over at Remus with a quirked eyebrow and then looked at Hermione who for the first time in quite awhile had a slight grin on her face.

"Please tell Tonks hello for us..." Hermione said to Remus, whose face flushed even further.

"I didn't know you and Tonks were dating..." Harry said astounded at this revelation.

Remus sighed, "I don't know how you knew I was talking about Tonks Hermione... I have always known you were the cleverest witch of your age... but really... That was some deduction there." Causing Hermione to blush slightly, he turned and looked at Harry admitting, "Yes, we started working together quite often within the Order and then after... well you know after, she helped me quite a lot to work out the pain of losing Sirius..."

"I'm happy for you Moony, I really am..." Harry said with a smile. "If anyone deserves to find some happiness in life it is definitely you."

"Well, enough about that... If you would like we can come over in the morning to assist both you and Hermione. Molly and Arabella will be over tomorrow morning as well to be with Petunia while you are both out..." Remus said and then added, "I've already discussed this with your aunt Harry."

"Moony, I don't know how to thank you enough for all you have done..." Harry said sincerely.

"Since the day you were born Harry, I have always thought of you as family... Sirius and James always joked about 'whose' son you actually were... however, to me... you were always Lily's son..." Remus started and then said softly, "that just made you even more special to me... Anyway... I best be off." He said as he got up from the sofa, he began heading towards the door.

Harry got up to follow him out. "Moony..."

"Yes Harry..."

"I know how difficult today has been for you as well..."

"It surprised me to talk to Padfoot again, but to see Prongs and well... to see your mother again..." his voice cracked again.

"You loved her didn't you?"

"Your mother was one of the most special people I have ever known... When we were both in school, we were both Prefects... she always regarded me differently than the way she did Sirius and James... She actually discovered about my being a werewolf long before the Marauder's did, but she kept my secret... She and I became best friends; different from what I was with James, Sirius and Peter... we talked and studied together quite frequently... I knew she was sweet on James but she hid that so well... James was enamoured by her; from the moment, he laid eyes on her. She was beautiful and a very dear and beloved friend to me..." Remus paused then confessed, "yes Harry, I did love your mother deeply... but knowing how James felt about her and how she felt about your dad... I knew that she and I would always only be best friends... every woman I have met after Lily, I have always compared to her..."

"Is that why you started dating Tonks?" Harry asked.

Remus looked at Harry and chuckled. "Dora is not like Lily. At least not gracefully," they both laughed at that, "scholastically not even close... but there is just something that reminds me of Lily when I look at Dora... and I have seen her in her natural state... not the metamorphic that she can become... but for who she truly is and yes, her heart is very much like Lily."

"Thank you Moony... you didn't need to tell me all that you did... I guess I always knew that there was more to what you had told me in 3rd year about my mum..."

"I know I can never take James' or Sirius' place, but I am always there for you... Now, I must be going..." Remus paused with his hand on the door knob, "Take care of Hermione Harry... she's going to need your friendship, strength and..." he sighed, "Oh Harry, I know what Lily and Petunia went through when their parents were killed before our 7th year... just be there for her..."

Harry nodded his head as Remus left. He stood by the closed door and thought about what Remus had said regarding his mum... He turned back towards the lounge and saw Hermione and his aunt talking quietly. He could see that what ever Aunt Petunia was saying to Hermione had a profound affect upon his best friend.

As he stood there just watching them, he thought about what Remus had said regarding his mum. He knew it was foolish but in some ways he too compared every girl he met at school by some means to Hermione. After his experience at the Department of Mysteries and his own reaction to seeing her hurt by that mysterious curse, he could not ignore the fact that no other person in his life held a higher position to him than Hermione.

Certainly, his feelings for Ron held a similar regard; yet, there was just something different about Hermione. He knew that people comparable to Cho would always feel threatened by his close friendship with Hermione, but he figured it was always just a form of jealousy.

Looking at her now, he began to feel the same fluttering he had felt after their lips had met the night before. He silently chastised himself at the prospect of those kinds of feelings for his best friend. He admitted to himself that he missed the feel of her hand in his, the comforting affect that simple action held. Shaking his head, he began to walk back to the lounge.

Dobby popped suddenly next to him, silent so that he did not disturb the others. “Harry Potter sir” Dobby said softly. “Lunch is in the dining room when you are ready sir.”

“Oh Dobby,” Harry surprised at the silent approach of the house-elf. “Thank you, I will let them know.”

“I is so sorry for your loss Harry Potter sir…” Dobby said solemnly. “Dobby knows how bad your family treated you but knows that you are sad by their deaths. Dobby is frightfully sad for Harry Potter’s My-own-knee and her parents death, she is very sad as well.”

“That’s very understanding of you Dobby.” Harry said looking at the wide green eyes that stared at him with sincerity.

“Dobby did not wish to disturb Harry Potter’s Aunt nor his My-own-knee, but wanted to make sure that you were fed Harry Potter sir.”

“Thank you Dobby, follow me in there and we can tell them together.” Harry said as he began to walk back into the lounge.

Dobby cringed behind Harry’s leg and clung to his trouser leg, “Oh no Harry Potter sir… I is a good house-elf and should not be seen by muggles.”

“It’s alright Dobby, my aunt will need to get used to seeing you anyway… besides, and I think that Hermione would like to say hello to you.”

Dobby nodded, but continued to follow Harry rather closely. His awkward gait did not go unnoticed by either of the women.

“Harry is something wrong why are you walking strange…” Hermione said then noting Dobby smiled, “Oh Hello Dobby.”

Petunia’s eyes widened at the sight of the diminutive creature clutching her nephew’s leg.

“Don’t be frightened Aunt Petunia, this is Dobby. He is a house-elf and will be taking care of us while we are here.” Harry said as he tried to pull Dobby out to face his aunt. “Say hello Dobby.”

“Hello Harry Potter’s Aunt… I is very sorry for your loss ma’am.” He said shakily, his large green eyes filled with tears as he looked at Hermione and said “I is also very sad at your loss too, Harry Potter’s My-own-knee…” she gave him a sad smile as he added “I is telling Harry Potter sir that I have lunch ready in the dining room… I is thinking that you both should eat something Miss.”

“That is very kind of you er… Dobby” Petunia said kindly, causing Dobby to dash back behind Harry’s legs.

“I is a good house-elf no matter what other house-elves say… I is taking care of Harry Potter sir and his family.” Dobby squeaked, then popped out of the room.

Harry escorted his aunt and Hermione into the dining room. He felt his aunt stagger slightly upon seeing the amount of food that was laid out upon the table.

“We’re not expecting Ron for lunch are we?” Hermione said teasingly.

“No, Ron’s not coming to lunch” Harry chuckled, “Don’t worry Aunt Petunia, we aren’t expected to eat everything.”

“Good Lord, this looks like a feast!” Petunia exclaimed.

As they sat down Hermione explained to Petunia, “When you are fed by house-elves they tend to make sure that there is plenty to eat… We usually have something like this at every meal while at school… only on a grander scale.”

“And you said Dobby did all of this?” Petunia asked.

“Yes, he did and he will for every meal I’m afraid.” Harry said as he started to dish up some of the steak and kidney pie. He noticed that both Hermione and his aunt were barely touching any of the food. “Hermione,” he cautioned, “You don’t want Dobby to be upset that you aren’t eating now do you?”

“Oh Harry… I just…”

“I know, but you do need to keep your strength up,” He gave a sidelong look at his aunt to let her know that he was also speaking to her as well. “But you know how Dobby is… he doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“Of course your right…” she said taking a small helping of roast beef and potatoes, “I just don’t feel like eating much right now.”

“Well try and eat something… please.” Harry pleaded, noting that his aunt had also started eating just a touch more than what she had originally intended.

“Do all wizards have House-elves?” Petunia asked.

“No, not all Wizard families do… most of the wealthier Pureblood families have them… but some families like the Weasley’s even though they are purebloods don’t have house-elves… Although I think Mrs. Weasley does a superb job cooking like she does… I’ve seen her put out a spread like this for the whole family.”

Lunch was rather quiet, with just a small spattering of questions from Petunia in regards to the Wizarding world. Her knowledge from when Lily had been alive was sparse but enough that she did understand a few things.

As lunch ended, Hermione excused herself and went in her room to call her grandmother. Petunia and Harry went back into the lounge and sat down on the sofa.

Both of them were a bit nervous, Harry knowing what Aunt Petunia would ask him and his not knowing what to say… Petunia still upset at the entire set of incidents that had befallen them earlier as well as her own guilt at what she had apparently done to that boy outside the bank.

Harry finally broke the silence. “Aunt Petunia, do you want to explain to me what happened outside of Gringott’s today?”

Petunia sat twisting her hands in her lap as she thought for a moment. “I heard that boy… I think you called him Malfoy. He was saying such awful things. The more he spoke the angrier I became… All I could think of was ‘I just wish he would zip his lip’… and then it happened.”

“I sort of understand why it happened, but not HOW it happened… I have never heard of anyone who was not magical being able to do that.” Harry looked at his aunt and could see her discomfort. “I’m sure that there is some explanation for all of this… Do you remember when I was younger how my emotions would sometimes cause things to happen?”

“But you’re a wizard… you are able to do magic.”

A knock at the front door caused them both to stop suddenly. Harry got up to head towards the door when Dobby appeared in front of him. “Headmaster Dumbledore is there; do you want me to answer it?”

“No Dobby, that is alright… I’ll get it, but thanks” Harry said watching the house-elf pop silently out of sight again. Opening the door he was surprised to see Albus Dumbledore standing there in a finely tailored three-piece suit.

“Hello Harry. I thought I would have a word with you and your aunt regarding what happened outside of Gringott’s today.” Dumbledore said.

“We were just discussing that when you came, please come in…”

Harry led the headmaster back to where his aunt was sitting. He was uncomfortable being in Dumbledore’s presence but also knew he needed to know what had happened with his aunt. He chose to sit quietly and just listen to what they discussed.

“Hello Petunia… I am so sorry to be bothering you at this time.”

“Not at all sir… We were just discussing what I did earlier to that Malfoy boy… We heard him and his friends talking about causing the explosions…” her voice cracked suddenly as tears began to fall to her cheeks.

Dumbledore took hold of Petunia’s hand and patted it gently, “I know it is difficult my dear… you have suffered a great loss today. I also know you have some questions and that is why I have come.”

Petunia sniffled, “Yes, I want to know how I was able to do that to him…”

“I understand that your husband’s grandparents were Squibs… is that correct?” Dumbledore asked kindly.

“Yes… I don’t think that Vernon” she wept again, “ever knew what they were… He never spoke of them, but he always hated anything magical…” she said. “My mother in law was the one who told me shortly before her death… I had confided in her about Lily and about how we came to have Harry. That was when she told me about Vernon’s family…”

Dumbledore nodded and his blue eyes twinkled as he thought about what she had just said. “I believe Petunia that even though you were not born magical like Lily had been, you are not a muggle as we had originally thought but you are indeed a witch.”

“What? That’s not possible!” Petunia sputtered, “I never got a letter… I’ve never done anything magical before…”

“Let me explain… When a magical child is born into our world, their names automatically appear into our ledgers… It is a way for us to tell who is going into Hogwarts or any other magical academy around the world. Lily’s name appeared after she was born, but yours was not… at the time of your birth. However, shortly after the explosion that took your husbands life, your name magically appeared in our records.”

“Professor, that doesn’t make sense.” Harry finally said seeing the shocked look upon his aunt’s face. “I have never heard of someone becoming magical later in life.”

“While it is not a common occurrence Harry, it has happened on a few rare occasions.” Dumbledore said, “I know that it is difficult to understand, but your Aunt is now a witch… without proper training.”

“How does this tie into Vernon’s death though? It seems like too much of a coincidence.” Petunia remarked.

“We will be investigating this I promise, but if I was to hazard a guess it would be that some how your magic was blocked and when Vernon died, it released the block to your magic. Given what you have told me about Vernon’s parents… their prejudice against the Wizarding World and his hatred towards all things magical, I would assume that someone most likely from Vernon’s family decided to make sure you had no chance of becoming magical.”

“That just doesn’t make sense Albus. If I wasn’t born magical why on earth would anyone assume that I may become magical… especially after you have told me that it is not a common occurrence.” Petunia said still very perplexed.

“Just as there are within the magical community groups whose philosophies differ than others, the same is said for those who are Squibs. Some, like those who have long been associated with the Potter family find places to keep touch with both magical and non-magical aspects of their lives. Others completely cut themselves off from all things magical and those who stay within only the Wizarding World. Then there are those like your husbands family who want to destroy all things magical; they have found ways to bind a wizard’s magic and in essence make them ‘muggle’. From what I have discovered over my lifetime, just as there are dark wizards out to destroy everything that is not purebloods, there are also dark squibs.”

“What could they use to bind the magic? If that was the case why didn’t Uncle Vernon do the same thing to me?” Harry asked.

“Well as your Aunt Petunia has said, he probably didn’t know his grandparent’s were Squibs… but his parents did know… I am guessing here, that his father probably gave Petunia some sort of binding potion early on in hers and Vernon’s relationship. It is quite uncommon, but not completely unknown… Especially to those of us who associate with Squibs on a regular basis.”

Harry was going to ask more questions but noticed that Hermione was waving him over. He excused himself and walked over to where Hermione stood and then followed her out onto the balcony outside her room.

“Nana is coming over…” Hermione said quickly. “I told her about mum and dad’s deaths and she already knew. Apparently, someone contacted her and she wants to see me immediately. I am so sorry Harry, I just couldn’t say no to her.”

“It’s alright Hermione… I have no problem with your Grandmother coming to visit… If needs be we can have Dobby fix up the other bedroom for her and she can stay here.”

“Oh no Harry, she just wants to see me… she said she would only be visiting for a little bit and then would see me at the memorial.” Harry could see how nervous this was making Hermione and took hold of her hand.

“Hey, what’s got you so wound up about your grandmother?”

Hermione’s eyes started to fill with tears “Damn… I am never this emotional…” she paused trying to collect her thoughts and gain control of her emotions. “It’s just… I do not know how to tell her about my being a witch… Mum might have told her, but I do not know. Nana is a bit eccentric… I should just warn you now, she is very affectionate.”

Harry gave her a smirk “Not unlike her granddaughter?”

She playfully smacked his shoulder with her hand, “No… not like me… well not exactly anyway. Mary Sullivan is a very complicated woman… I adore her… she is quite the character. It is funny, in some ways Hagrid reminds me of her… very kind and loving and full of energy… but you don’t want to get her mad. She’s a fireball.”

“Not unlike her granddaughter…” He smirked again receiving another smack on the arm.

“Oh Harry, I’m nothing like that…” Hermione said then quickly changed the subject. “So what is Professor Dumbledore doing here?”

Harry went on to explain what he had over heard from Petunia and Dumbledore’s discussion. He explained about the different factions of Squibs in the world as well as the possibility that a potion of some sort had bound Petunia’s magical powers many years ago.

“How’s she handling the information?” Hermione asked.

“Alright I guess. Shall we go back out there?” Harry asked. He could see that she was not enthusiastic about being in Dumbledore’s presence again and added, “I’ve thought a lot about what he told me after Sirius’s death… I know I still have some unresolved issues with him, but that should not reflect upon your…”

“He pisses me off Harry… I’m sorry, but I know there is no good reason for me to be angry with the Headmaster, but I am… what he has done to you… actually to us all these years just irritates the bloody hell out of me. I guess this has been coming for a long time now… I’ve hid it well but I am tired of having this façade that everyone sees and expects me to just bow down to their decisions… I don’t know how you put up with it over the years. I also understand WHY you were so angry last summer when you got to Grimmauld.”

“And this is an example of why not to get Hermione mad… just like her grandmother” He smirked again and then pulled her into a hug. “I know it’s hard to let go of the anger… Merlin knows I’m not doing so well with it… but I think together we can get through this… all right. Come on, let’s go out and wait for your grandmother to show up…”

They walked back into the apartment and headed into the lounge. They could over hear some of what Dumbledore was telling Petunia. Dobby popped in front of Harry and Hermione.

“Harry Potter sir, a woman is coming up in the lift to here.”

“Thanks Dobby, you best stay hidden for awhile… just ring a bell or something when dinner is ready.”

“Oh I will Harry Potter sir…” he popped back out as silently as he had come in.

The chime on the door alerted him to the visitor. Harry walked over to the door and taking a deep breath opened it to greet Hermione’s grandmother.

Whatever impression Hermione might have given about Hagrid reminding her of Mary Sullivan was completely off compared to what his impression was of her.

When he opened the door he was immediately embraced by a sprightly woman dressed all in black that stood two heads shorter than Harry did.

“You must be Harry dear…” she said giving him a squeeze then grasping the sides of his face she added, “And such a cute boy you are as well…” She then pushed him aside and headed straight for Hermione. “Oh Herja! My dear…” engulfing her in a hug, patting her on the back “It will be all right my Herja…” she rocked her back and forth.

Harry closed the door and headed over to where Hermione’s grandmother still hugged her.

“I’m fine Nana… I’m fine.” Hermione said in mild exasperation. She loved her grandmother, but Mary Sullivan’s over exuberance was tiring at times.

By this time, Petunia and Dumbledore had risen from their seats and had come over to greet the new arrival. As soon as Mary Sullivan saw Petunia, she immediately engulfed her in a tight embrace causing Petunia’s eyes to widen in shock.

“Oh my dear… my dear… So sad for your loss…” Mary Sullivan gushed. “Oh how silly of me, you don’t know me from Adam and here I am consoling you on your loss… I’m Mary Sullivan, and you are Harry’s aunt.”

“Er… yes, I’m Petunia Dursley… ah…”

Surprising everyone in the room Mary Sullivan turned and embraced Albus Dumbledore. “Oh Albus it’s been so many years… how are you dear!”

“Quite fine Mary… Quite fine indeed.” Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling at the complete and utter confusion expressed on the faces of Harry and Hermione.

“I’m guessing that my Herja is attending your school… How is she doing? Alexeve never told me a thing about her school except that it was up in Scotland and it was very special… but I know my Herja… she is a special girl…”

“She’s top of her class in all areas…” Albus said, “But looking at Miss Granger and Mr. Potter’s faces I would venture to guess they are unaware of your knowledge.” He grinned.

“Nana? What do you know about my school?” Hermione finally managed to ask.

Mary Sullivan came over to her granddaughter and took her hand patting it gently. “My Herja… Your Headmaster was a dear friend to my first husband who was a wizard… I of course am a muggle just like your grandfather and your parent’s were… Nevertheless, I knew that you were special. I could just tell…” She smiled up at her granddaughter, “Even though your mum, my dear sweet Alexeve never told me specifically, I knew all about your being a witch… My Alexeve would tell me about all sorts of delightful tales when you were a small girl, how you turned a teachers hair blue, or how you ended up in a tree that had no way to climb up… Ah yes, My Sweet Herja, you are a special girl.”

Hermione sat down heavily upon the sofa, shocked at the sudden impact of information she had received. “What happened to your first husband… if you don’t mind me asking Nana?”

Sitting down beside her granddaughter, Mary Sullivan took her hand again, patting it ever so gently. “My Herja… I know this is all a shock to you… Especially after what happened to my Alexeve and your dad today… My first husband was murdered many years ago…” She turned to look at Albus, “Do they know about…”

Albus nodded his head, “Unfortunately they do… Especially Harry here.”

“No… don’t tell me that!” Hermione said jerking her hand away, she got up forcefully from the sofa and ran into her room, slamming the door. Harry could hear her sobbing. He wanted to go to her desperately to consol her but knew that he needed to know what had happened.

“Mrs. Sullivan, are you saying that your first husband was murdered by Lord Voldemort?” Harry asked cautiously.

"Well at the time practically nobody knew him by that name… My husband was a solicitor who dealt with both the Muggle and Wizarding world... Although due to the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, he had to keep quite a bit of what he did secret from the Non-Magical community. It was in 1942 that Malcolm first met Albus… but that’s a tale for another time… You want to know about Riddle… When Malcolm met Tom Marvolo Riddle, it was shortly after Albus here had defeated Grindelwald in 1945. Riddle had contacted my husband in regards to recovering his father's estate.

“Apparently there were some issues regarding his father who had refused to acknowledge the younger Riddle’s existence. From what I learned later, his mother had died in childbirth after Tom Riddle had deserted her and young Mr. Riddle placed in an Orphanage. Supposedly, his father and his grandparents both died very suspiciously and at one point their gardener had been arrested but then the charges were dropped when they could not find probable cause to their deaths… I am not sure to this day, why Riddle had sought out my husband but he had heard of Tom Marvolo Riddle from Albus a few years before. Albus here, had kept an eye on him for many years but shortly after he had defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, Riddle decided to try and wipe out the possibility of Half-bloods and Muggleborns. My beloved Malcolm was one of his first victims.”

Harry knew better as he knew that Moaning Myrtle had been killed by Riddle, as had his father and grandparents. Harry shook his head in disgust. “Thank you for telling me that… er… I am going to go check on Hermione to make sure she is all right.”

“Yes, you do that dear… make sure my Herja is not too upset. It has been a very trying day for all of us…”

He reached Hermione’s door and knocked softly with a muffled “Come in” in response. Opening the door he saw that Hermione, curled up on the bed, her face wet with tears.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he leaned over and with his thumb brushed away the last of her tears. “How are you doing?”

“How do you think I’m doing?” She said with a sarcastic tone.

“I’m thinking that you are sick and tired of dealing with this façade that you are strong and able to handle everything… that you can’t believe how many people’s lives have been fucked up by Voldemort and you feel powerless to do anything about that…” Harry said putting his head in his hands.

“That’s very perceptive of you Mr. Potter…” Hermione said swinging around and sitting on the edge of the bed next to Harry. “You got that pretty much on target… except for one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“You’re not alone…” Hermione said getting up off the bed and walking back out onto the balcony. She stood there looking out over the city, but not really seeing anything. Her hands were against the railing and she just held on, not wanting to let go for need of the security that holding on brought to her.

Harry got up and walked over to where she stood and standing behind her, he placed his hands on either side of hers. He felt her body relax against his and he wrapped his arms around her.

“So did he?” Hermione asked softly.

“Uh huh… Voldemort killed your grandmother’s first husband…” Harry said resting his chin on top of her head.

“You want to bet that Dumbledore told Nana about my parent’s deaths before he told us…” Hermione whispered.

“Who do I look like, Ludo Bagman? That’s a sucker’s bet if I ever heard one.” He chuckled softly.

“I should probably go back in there and talk to Nana…” Hermione said quietly.

“Not just yet… Let’s stay here… I don’t feel like being around anyone else at the moment.” Harry said holding on to her a bit tighter.

“Me neither… There is a part of me that wants to just deal with the reality that we will face in the morning and get it over with… but there is a larger part of me that just wants to stay right here and just forget about everything and not think anymore.”

“That’s where I am right now… right here and trying to forget about everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks.” Harry said softly.

“Last week when we were still at school, I kept wanting to talk to you about Sirius… but Ron kept telling me not to…”

“Ron doesn’t understand what this is like. He was never as close to Sirius as what you and I have been… he hasn’t really lost anyone in this war.” Harry said, “His mum lost her brothers before my folks were killed but that isn’t the same thing. You and I have always had a closer connection to each other than what we have had with Ron… It’s sad in a way since he is our best friend but he will never quite understand what we are going through or what we know…”

“When I first met you both on the train, I knew I would be friends with you…Don’t ask me how I knew I just did… but if it wasn’t for you Harry, I would probably not be as close to Ron as I am now…” Hermione said honestly. “You have saved my life so many times…”

“You’ve saved mine too you know… I could never have gotten through half of what I have without you.” Harry said with an even softer tone, “I thought I lost you at the Ministry… I could not face even looking at you after you were hit… I just held on to your shoulder and prayed that you were not dead. If Neville hadn’t told me that he felt your pulse… I don’t know what I would have done.” He tightened his hold on her “I felt like a part of me had died right then.”

“Oh Harry,” she sobbed he loosened his hold and she twisting her body around to face him, then she wrapped her arms around him. They held each other in a tight embrace not wanting to let go, both shedding tears and releasing their sorrows. Once the tears subsided, they just held each other with Hermione’s head resting against Harry’s chest.

Harry could see the trails that her tears had left and gently ran his thumb over her wet cheeks. She looked up into his emerald green eyes and saw a look that she had never seen from him before. It was more than just sincerity that she saw…

Their eyes locked for what seemed an eternity and what Harry saw shining back at him from her eyes of dark honey brown was hope…

Slowly in a silent joint affirmation, Harry lowered his head towards Hermione’s upturned face and their lips inched closer…

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I at any time owned any of the Harry Potter characters. This is an original plot, based on characters created by J. K. Rowling. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J. K. Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc. Some parts may be of an adult nature that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

A/N: First off I want to apologize to everyone on the lateness of this chapter... As I was writing I encountered what some may know as the blue screen of death... *sigh* I lost a great deal of this chapter and had to rewrite and while I am not as happy with this chapter as I had been previously, I did have a few things happen that just sort of wrote themselves (again...) I had not intended to on this chapter but as the Queen Mother of the Royal Family of Cliffies, I would have been remiss if I had NOT left you with even the slightest hint of a cliff hanger…

Thanks for taking the time to read this story, and I hope that you will take a few moments to feed my review addiction…it is healthier than drugs and does not cost you a dime. Take care and have a good week!

Peace - As Always,

Muirnin - who firmly believes "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..." @}>---'---,---

An Effective Abstraction

By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 7 – Ashes to Ashes

“Oh Harry,” she sobbed he loosened his hold and she twisting her body around to face him, then she wrapped her arms around him. They held each other in a tight embrace not wanting to let go, both shedding tears and releasing their sorrows. Once the tears subsided, they just held each other with Hermione’s head resting against Harry’s chest.

Harry could see the trails that her tears had left and gently ran his thumb over her wet cheeks. She looked up into his emerald green eyes and saw a look that she had never seen from him before. It was more than just sincerity that she saw…

Their eyes locked for what seemed an eternity and what Harry saw shining back at him from her eyes of dark honey brown was hope…

Slowly in a silent joint affirmation, Harry lowered his head towards Hermione’s upturned face and their lips inched closer…

A bell rang suddenly, startling them both causing them to stop their forward momentum, Hermione dropping her forehead down upon Harry’s chest and beginning to giggle, which only made Harry laugh as well.

“What the hell was that?” Hermione asked through his chest.

Harry chuckled some more than said “Dobby announcing supper… I guess he took my suggestion quite literally.”

“You told him to ring a bell.” Hermione said bubbling with laughter still not taking her eyes off his chest.

“You got it in one… I figured with your Grandmother here, it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to be seen, so I sort of suggested to ring a bell or something to get my attention for dinner…” Harry said unwrapping his arms from around Hermione. “Come on, we probably should get in there. I hadn’t realised we had been gone so long… We have been out here quite a long time.”

“Harry, can you do me a favour and promise me one thing…” Hermione said as she began to walk back into her bedroom.

“What’s that?” Harry asked.

“If Professor Dumbledore is still out there, please do not let me lose my temper.” Hermione pleaded.

“Only if you promise me the same thing.” He said with a gentle smile. “Today has been quite emotional for all of us and I am trying my hardest not to let my temper get the better of me. However, besides all of the emotions and after everything else that man has put me through, I’m afraid I may break.” Harry said sincerely.

“It’s a …” Hermione started to say when there was a knock at the bedroom door.

“Herja” Came the voice of Mary Sullivan through the door. “Herja, I think that you and Harry need to come eat something… it is not good to starve yourselves when you are grieving.”

“Be right out Nana…” Hermione said obligingly.

“Ok, Curiosity is getting the best of me... I have to ask… what is this Herja she keeps calling you.” Harry asked as he saw Hermione begin to blush with his question.

“Umm it’s my nickname that she gave me when I was a baby… It is a shortened version of my name… Hermione Jane… Herja…” She said with a slight twist of her mouth. “She did the same thing with my mum… Her name was Alexandria Evelynda Sullivan Granger… Alexeve for short…”

Harry looked at her for a couple of seconds for clarity to set in “Duh… I feel so stupid, that makes perfect sense. I guess I just never think about a nickname for you… because to me you are just Hermione… all though I do like how Dobby calls you… Mione…”

“No… you have that wrong,” she said with a wink as she headed towards the door, “its Harry Potter’s Mione.”

Harry reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her back… “And are you?” he said softly his inner feelings beginning to surface once again.

Hermione looked up into his eyes once again and said tenderly, “Am I what?”

“Are you Harry Potter’s Mione?” He asked, his eyes burning into hers.

“That is who I am…” she scooted closer towards him and felt him wrap his arms around her once more, “I have always only been yours…” she added even softer.

Not wasting a second Harry lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, relaying all of the buried feelings that he held for this special woman. The gasp from Hermione at his actions did not stop her from returning the kiss in kind.

The kiss was gentle and sincere, relaying only the feelings buried deep within their hearts. They let the kiss linger until another call from Mary Sullivan reminding them to come to supper finally broke them apart.

“You know Nana really has bad timing…” Hermione said softly with a chuckle.

“Actually I think her timing isn’t too bad… Not that I don’t want to kiss you more, but we do have other things to deal with right now.” Harry said as he took her hand in his and led her towards the door.

“I know Harry… my heart is telling me to never stop kissing you… which by the way you are a great kisser for my first kiss.” Hermione said with a grin, “Anyway” she blushed, “The logical side of me where my brain is in command… it keeps telling me that we kissed because of the emotional roller coaster we have been on all day…”

“I will tell you this Mione,” he said with a tender smile. “In my heart… you are my first kiss.”

“What about Cho?” Hermione asked as they headed slowly towards the dining room.

“As I told you the night it happened… I never would have tried to kiss her… she just came at me… I will admit she was a crush… but she never once held my heart.” Harry said honestly.

“That’s good to know…”

The table was laden with a huge assortment of food, enough to feed an army… or a very hungry Ronald Weasley. Professor Dumbledore stayed to eat with them but did little to initiate a conversation with Harry or Hermione. They listened to Mary Sullivan regale them with stories about her youth and her time with her first husband Malcolm, leading into more discussions about the Wizarding World. With desserts served, they took their coffee into the lounge. Petunia was in a deep conversation with Mary Sullivan, discussing about losing a spouse to the Dark Lord’s manipulations.

Dumbledore separated himself with his two students; feeling that there were unanswered questions that they most likely held. His long-term knowledge of both Harry and Hermione informed him that they were holding in a deep anger towards him, nevertheless he also knew that he had matters to discuss with them.

“It is getting rather late, however I do want to ask both of you if you need me to take care of any details as I offered before.” Dumbledore addressed both Harry and Hermione.

“No sir, that is quite all right. Remus was able to get the information that we required and I have started a mental list of things we need to do and who we need to contact tomorrow.” Harry said.

“If there is anything…”

“Sir, I understand that… however, this is something that” Harry paused and looked at Hermione before he continued, “that we need to do on our own. I am taking this burden off Aunt Petunia because it is my responsibility… I am now the man of the family… and I am assisting Hermione because it is also my duty as her best friend.”

“Professor Dumbledore, please understand Harry and I need to do this as a way of closure for our losses.” Hermione said with an unknown edge to her voice, holding back caustic remarks about how Dumbledore had handled the death and services of Harry’s parents and how he had deposited Harry as a baby into the home of people who did not care or love him the way they should have.

For a few moments, Albus Dumbledore did nothing but stared intently at Hermione, while she refused to break his stare. “I see, all right Miss Granger, I understand.”

“Professor, I do have a question for you…” Harry said trying to break the staring contest going on between Hermione and the Headmaster.

“What is that Harry?”

“Four of us heard the confessions of Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe admitting to sending the bombs that killed a great many people.” Harry glared intently at the Headmaster asking pointedly, “What is the Wizengamont going to do about them?”

“Your confessions will be addressed before the Wizengamont,” Dumbledore started, “However, we also have to remember that we are dealing with crimes within the Non-Magical world and because of that we have the Statute of Secrecy…”

“You can just fuck the Statute of Secrecy… My parent’s are dead” Hermione seethed. “Mrs. Dursley’s husband, only son and sister-in-law are also dead … not to mention the partners in my parent’s dental clinic their patients… From what I can see, those bloody bastards are going to walk away without even a slap on the wrist!”

Hermione angrily stood up from her seat, went over to her Grandmother and said a tearful goodnight then, stormed out of the lounge. Harry took a deep breath and than glared back at Dumbledore.

“So as you were saying, we have the statute of secrecy that will keep the Slytherin trio silent from the Muggles.” Harry spoke with resoluteness, “Let me guess, Scotland Yard cannot do anything because of the confessions heard in Diagon Alley… Therefore, my family and Hermione’s family… and the families of all those others who were murdered; justice will not be served… Do I understand you correctly SIR?” Harry growled, his voice was sharp and intense, with an even intense glare he continued without letting the Headmaster talk. “It was all right to throw Sirius into Azkaban without a trial based your incorrect averment that he was the secret keeper and on muggle eye witness accounts… muggles who were oblivated after they gave their accounts… but because in this instance, it is a MALFOY involved, so the Ministry won’t do that again, because he would deserve a trial.”

“Harry, we are going to do everything we can…”

“It’s NOT enough!” seethed Harry; “I already lost many valuable years with my Godfather because of the Ministries duplicitous laws… I do not trust the Ministry to handle this at all…” Harry declared eyeing the Headmaster directly, “I will promise you this… one way or another justice will be served… if not by the Ministry and not by Scotland Yard then by ME…” His voice lowered to a dangerous level, “You have already told me that I have to kill Voldemort in order to pull the Wizarding world out of the shite it’s in and if needs be, I will make damn sure that those three do not live happily ever after.”

“Harry, please do not do anything rash…” Dumbledore pleaded.

“Sir, I believe that this conversation is over,” still carrying the emotional threat as before he asked, “How do YOU expect me to believe that the Ministries laws will help when they wanted to throw me into Azkaban for saving my cousin’s life last year?” Harry stood up and glared, his irritability mounting “No sir, I will NOT listen to anything more you have to say! Good night, you can see yourself to the door.” Harry raged out of the room.

Harry headed straight to his bedroom slamming the door behind him. He angrily paced about the room kicking furniture. He tore off the shirt and tie he still wore from earlier and stripped down to his boxers. His intention was just to go straight to bed, his breathing heavy, his heart pounding; he was still so wound up that he stomped out onto the balcony and leaned heavily against the railing.

“FUCK…” he muttered angrily to himself.

“We did a fine job of keeping our tempers with the Headmaster didn’t we…” the soft voice of Hermione said as she wandered from her position on the balcony to where Harry was standing.

“I shouldn’t have asked that fucking question… I knew the answer already.” Harry said berating himself for his lack of control.

“No Harry, you did need to ask that question… Dumbledore cannot conceal this within the shroud of Ministry ambiguity. Too many lives were lost…”

“I still should have waited…” Harry’s voice cracked as his deeper emotions of grief and sorrow began to surface. “I hated the Dursley’s… even though they were my family, I didn’t want them dead… and all for what… so some sycophants can please an egomaniacal bastard just to get retaliation against me… all because I am the fucking boy who lived…”

“It’s not your fault Harry… none of it…” Hermione said wrapping her arms around Harry, and pulling him close. She too had gotten ready for bed having changed into a deep royal blue satin nightdress that hung provocatively against her creamy skin.

“Mione, your parents are dead because those fucking arseholes wanted to make me pay for their father’s being in prison…”

“You heard Malfoy… he wanted me dead… because to him I am nothing but a Mudblood… my bloodline has nothing to do with you… it is who I am…” her voice softened, “it wasn’t just because I am your best friend that Malfoy and his goons decided to make both of us suffer…. Have you not figured it out yet Harry? It is not YOU who is to blame for any of it…”

“I know it’s Voldemort’s fault… same as it was for Sirius… but I can’t help blaming myself for all of these deaths…” Harry mournfully whispered. “There are times I wish that bastard would just finish me off and get it over with.”

“NO!” Hermione cried out as tears began to fall from her eyes, “This is exactly what Voldemort wants! He thrives on the fears and hopeless ness in others… Don’t you see Harry, this is what he wants you to do… he wants you to give up so HE can win… I won’t let you do this to yourself….” She turned him to face her, showing how strong she really is “I can’t let you give up like that… I just can’t… Don’t you see? If you give up because of Voldemort… I lose you! I can’t live without you!” wrapping her arms around him once more and sobbing into his shoulder. “I can’t lose you…” she muttered repeatedly.

“I don’t want to lose you either Mione… You are all I have to live for… the only thing worth living for…”

They held onto each other, crying together over the realities that faced their young lives. Finally, Hermione spoke again softly but with resolve, “We just have to find a way to make sure that you live…”

“How? How am I supposed to defeat a Dark Wizard who has decades more experience than I? It’s rather hopeless you know…”

“It’s only hopeless if you think that way… You thought the same thing before the Tri Wizard Tournament… Harry, we will find a way… once we get to Godric’s Hollow we will go through the books that Sirius left me… we will find answers there… I will not stop looking until we have found a way to train you so you can kill Voldemort finally. I told you last night; I have to figure out that Prophecy… I need to study it… I won’t rest until I find away to keep you alive.”

“Mione, we have so little time before we are back in school…” Harry countered dejectedly.

“All of the achievements that I had hoped to have while at Hogwarts died when Voldemort’s little parasites killed my parents… At this moment… I don’t care if I never set foot in that castle again.” Hermione said laying her head against Harry’s shoulder.

“You don’t mean that do you… You love school, you love to study… it is what you are so great at” Harry said.

“As I said, at this moment… Harry don’t you see, my only concern…” she paused, “My only desire is to insure that you live… beyond that, I don’t care about anything…”

Harry gave a look that held more intensity than he ever had shown to her before, “Is that your only desire Mione?”

“Mr. Potter, I do believe you are flirting with me,” she said teasingly.

“Now why on earth would I do something like that?” he responded in kind, then turned serious, “Mione, you are my best friend…”

“Mine as well, and what ever this is that we have between us…” she said, “what ever it can become… it is my desire as well…”

Harry smoothed her hair away from her face where the slight breeze had displaced the strands. He cupped her cheek and said softly, “Sometimes… best friends can become something more…”

“I certainly hope so… in our case.” She whispered back reaching up to the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down until it engulfed hers.

This kiss held far more than the one before, where that previous kiss had been gentle, this kiss bestowed all the passion that both of them felt…

Finally, when the kiss ended Harry rested his forehead against Hermione’s and sighed. “I cannot believe that it was only last night…”

“… when we accidentally kissed…” Hermione finished.

“… and look at us now.” Harry added as he sighed. “My mind is going as fast as my heart is pounding…”

“Mine too.” Hermione agreed. “Do you think…”

“… that we are going too fast?” Harry completed her thought. “You know how you were talking earlier of your heart and mind being opposing forces… that’s how I am right now.” Harry said gently, absently tracing circles with his fingers along her bareback. “I feel like we have been building up to this moment for nearly six years… yet, even though everything seems so right…”

“I know Harry…” Hermione concurred. “In the next few days we are going to be having to make some extremely difficult decisions…” she gave a sudden shiver at the acceptance of this knowledge.

“Perhaps we should continue this inside, it’s getting a bit cold out here.” Harry said suddenly aware at how little he was wearing at that moment.

Hermione nodded to Harry as they entered his bedroom; she looked at him and asked “Do you mind if I sleep in here with you tonight, I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Of course Mione… I just hope that my nightmares won’t disturb you.” Harry said wearily as he pulled back the duvet and motioned Hermione to get in on the other side of the large bed.

She crawled into bed and snuggled up against Harry feeling safe within his arms. “I keep thinking of everything we need to plan for the funerals…”

“I know, so have I” Harry sighed as he held Hermione close. “After I go through and handle the identifications, I am going to contact some of Dudley’s friends to ask them to be pallbearers. I probably should see if I can get a few of the guys from school as well…”

“Do you think that Ron will be coming tomorrow with is mum?” Hermione asked tentatively.

“I have no idea… I probably should have sent an owl to him earlier and asked him to join us… I just didn’t know how he would handle this whole thing.”

“Do you mean about you and me?”

Harry gave a slight chuckle, “Actually no… although that is a good point… I probably should talk to him about how I feel about you.”

“About both of our feelings…” Hermione corrected then added, “We should talk to him together about that.”

“Yes, you do bring up good points…” Harry smiled then clarified, “What I was thinking is I would like him with me when I go to identify the bodies, but I wasn’t sure if he could handle that kind of situation, with the deaths and all…”

“Harry, it is a reality in life that he is going to have to face at one time or another… Best if he doesn’t have to handle it for himself the first time he has to deal with it…” she said, “Besides, he is your best mate… I am sure that he would want to be there for you.”

“But who is going to be there for you? We are going to two separate locations to view the bodies… I hate that I am not going to be with you for that. Would you like me to go with you first and then I can take care of the Dursley’s?”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course love… I don’t know why I didn’t think about it sooner…” Harry said, suddenly getting out of bed and heading over to where Hedwig rested upon a perch in his room.

“Harry, what are you doing out of bed?” Hermione asked perplexed.

“I’m going to send Ron a note asking him to come with his mum in the morning…”

“Good idea, but don’t forget to tell him to dress like a muggle.” Hermione reminded.

Harry nodded and quickly wrote a note to Ron. Tying the note to Hedwig’s leg he said quietly to her “Ok I need you to get this to Ron immediately, make sure he reads it tonight alright?”

Hedwig gave a quiet hoot and after affectionately nipping his finger, she took wing and was gone.

“Well that’s done…” Harry said climbing back into bed, allowing Hermione to lie within his arms once more. He kissed her on the top of her head, “Let’s get some sleep, hopefully he will be able to come in the morning… I’m sure if he doesn’t have anything proper to wear I can transfigure some of what I have to fit him.”

Hermione yawned, “I keep forgetting you can do magic out of school now…” she giggled softly.

“Yeah and here you thought you would be the first of us… Poor Ron has to wait until next March.” Harry said with a quiet chuckle.

“I am just a little bit jealous that you can do magic now and I can’t…” she said sleepily, “But come Christmas, we will be able to do all kinds of magic…” She yawned again through closed eyes, “Good night Harry…”

“Good night love…” Harry said softly, removing his glasses to the bedside table, as his eyelids finally succumbed to his exhaustion, thinking about how much his life changed in just the last day.

When daylight had broken through the French doors of his room, for the first time in as long as Harry could remember, his dreams held none of the violence and dread he had come to expect. Contently, Harry smiled as he remembered the vivid dreams he had experienced from the night before. The graphic dreams consisted of the woman curled up against his body and a future that he wanted to share…

Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, he saw that it was just after six in the morning. Hedwig swooped in at that moment and fluttered over to where she saw that Harry was awake and held out her leg for him to take the note from her. Untying the parchment, he quickly put on his glasses and read the note.

Dear Harry,

Mum had told us at Dinner what happened to yours and Hermione’s families… I am so sorry this has happened to you both. I got permission from mum to let me come with her so I will be there about half past 8 in the morning… Ginny was bugging mum about letting her come with, but Mum said no… I sort of didn’t want her tagging along either truth be told. Mum has been baking all night; I think this has upset her more than normal…

See ya,

Ron

Harry set the note down, looked at the sleeping figure next to him, and smiled. Hermione looked like an angel, not wanting to disturb her sleep he got out of bed, gathered some clothing to wear and went in to shower and get ready for the day.

He had chosen to wear one of the muggle suits that he had found in the wardrobe. The suit he chose was a finely tailored, summer worsted woollen in a double-breasted cut, of deep charcoal grey. He had chosen a silk tie of dark burgundy with a deep gold pinstripe that reminded him slightly of his house colours at Hogwarts.

By the time he had returned to his room he noted that it was already just past seven. He looked over at his bed where he found Hermione still sound asleep. She had kicked the duvet from her body while he had been gone and had gathered his pillow up into her arms where she cuddled it close to her body. He distractedly took in the pleasing shape of her body as she slept and smiled appreciatively at knowing her feelings for him as well.

Having wasted enough time staring at her, he quietly walked over and sat down on the side of the bed, leaning down and kissed her softly on her cheek.

“Mione,” he whispered into her ear, “Time to get up love, it’s after seven… Ron will be here in a bit.”

She groaned in protest, “Don’t want to…” she murmured… “Want to sleep…”

“Come on love… it’s time to get up…” Harry said as he placed gentle kisses along her earlobe and her neck.

“You keep that up and I’ll force you back into this bed…” Hermione purred, stretching contently at the new sensations his kisses were causing her body to react.

He chuckled, “too late, I am already showered, dressed and…” he kissed her lips, “if you force me to, I will pick you up and toss you into the shower…” He laughed at her reaction to this latest pronouncement.

“Oh you wouldn’t dare…” Hermione said staring at Harry who cocked his eyebrow at her and grinned mischievously. Her eyes widened in shock as she realised he wasn’t kidding; he made to pick her up from where she lay.

“Dare is one of those four letter words, that I am bound by my Marauder blood to abide by…”

“HARRY!” Hermione squealed as he picked her up in his arms, “Put me down!” she gasped in mock fear.

“Only if you will get up now…” he shrugged, “Otherwise, I will have to toss you into the shower… possibly involving icy cold water… fully clothed…”

“I promise… I promise…” she begged, then felt her self being thrown playfully back onto the bed where she bounced and collapsed back into giggles.

“Merlin, you are beautiful Mione…” Harry said as he looked at the helpless woman on his bed, he leaned down and captured her lips, kissing her with deepest affection. “Now that is the way I would have rather woken up this morning… Good morning my love…” his voice deep and throaty.

“Hmmm good morning to you…” Hermione responded. “That is a much better way of waking up…” she sighed, “I guess there is no point in my delaying what’s to come…”

“Unfortunately no… we have a list of things to do and Ron will be here shortly with his mum… I have a feeling that Dobby has breakfast ready, so while you are getting showered and dressed, I am going to go check on Aunt Petunia and see about getting some coffee.”

“That sounds good” Hermione said as she got out of bed and stretched, blushing after catching the look upon Harry’s face. “Er… so how did you sleep last night, any nightmares?”

“Nary a one…” Harry said and then with a sly grin added, “I could get used to having you in my bed. The dreams I did have were very…” he winked, “pleasant indeed.”

“Oh you don’t say…” she teased, “Perhaps we should compare notes some day…”

“Now that would be a very interesting discussion.” Harry agreed, “Go on now and get dressed… I will see you in the dining room when you are ready.” He said kissing her softly and then watched as she went back out onto the balcony and headed towards her room.

Harry sighed happily as he thought about the dreams from the night before, a small part of him hoped that Voldemort had tried to peer into his head… If what Dumbledore had said about Love being the power that the Dark Lord knew not was true, Harry could only imagine what kind of damage his imaginative dreams had caused the evil bastard.

Walking into the dining room Harry noticed that he was not alone. Both Remus and Tonks were sitting at the table eating breakfast and talking softly. “Good morning to both of you… I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or two.” Harry said as he sat down, filling his mug with hot coffee then fixed his plate of food.

“Well we wanted to get Hermione’s things from her house so she would have them here…” Tonks said brightly and then with a wicked grin added, “Imagine my surprise when I found her bed empty this morning…”

“Er… she stayed in my room last night… but nothing happened.” Harry explained as he absently munched a slice of bacon.

Tonks winked “Yes, I know where she stayed… I checked on you to make sure you were alright and I found her curled up with a pillow upon your bed…”

“Dora…” Remus warned. “I am sure that Harry and Hermione have a logical explanation for last night.”

“She didn’t want to be alone…” Harry said, “You told me yourself yesterday Moony to take care of her and I did…”

“No doubt…” Tonks added causing Harry to glare at her for her accusations.

“Nothing happened…” Harry tensed, “I care far too much for Hermione to ever do anything like what you are suggesting… I do not take advantage of my friends.”

“I’m only teasing Harry…” Tonks apologised. “Merlin’s beard, you are tense…”

“Well I do have a FEW things on my mind.” Harry growled, taking a sip of his coffee “Ron will be coming with Mrs. Weasley in a bit. We wrote to him last night to join us. He and I will be going with Hermione first then we will go and identify the Dursley’s bodies…”

“That’s fine Harry,” Remus said “I believe that Arabella Figg will be here about that same time… Professor Dumbledore was arranging for her transportation over here. I wanted to ask you have you thought about pall bearers for the funeral.”

“Well, I’m not really sure how many we will need, but I am going to contact a few of Dudley’s friends… if necessary I can ask the Weasley’s as well as some of the boys from the DA. I figured that it would be easier on Aunt Petunia if we just had the one funeral for all three of them rather than have separate ceremonies…”

“You can pretty much figure that you will need 6 – 8 pall bearers for each casket… Of course, if you chose to you could also just have a graveside service instead… It’s all a matter of what you want to do…” Remus explained in his patented instructor mode.

“I think I need to talk that part over with Aunt Petunia… is she up yet.”

“When I checked on you this morning, I also checked on your aunt… She is still in bed, but I did speak with her and she told me that it was rather late when Hermione’s grandmother left last night…” Tonks said.

“I’m not sure what time she left… Hermione and I both got rather upset last night…” Harry stated.

“I’ve heard all about it from Albus already Harry…” Remus said, “I agree with what caused you to be upset… I don’t trust the Ministry as far as I could throw them… and being a werewolf I do have some strength behind my throws… but it is still not good enough. I think this is going to be more of a wait and see situation then an on going investigation.” Remus began to explain, “What I heard this morning from the Muggle news, their reports have some very interesting theories regarding the bombings. It seems that the most favourable theory is one that this was a revenge tactic involving rival rugby teams.” Remus paused then said, “The most shocking detail that they announced, and of course I am quoting here, was that one of the victims Mr. Vernon Dursley has an only nephew. They named one Harry James Potter and his best friend Ronald Weasley, another reported apparent target. They added that you are both players for one of the rival Rugby teams. The reports then added that their best friend is Hermione Granger, whose parent’s were both killed in a separate explosion and the three of them are being reported as students at what they called an elite preparatory college in Northern Scotland…”

“How did they connect us? I mean seriously…” Harry queried. “I can guess that they knew about the last names of Weasley and Granger from the shipping company… but not my name… There is no way they could have gotten Ron’s first name from a package that got destroyed.” Harry reasoned.

“I have no idea Harry, unless there was some sort of anonymous tip to Scotland Yard or to the media… but somehow they got your names…” Tonks added.

“Shite… this is even more damaging because of the Statute of Secrecy…” Harry muttered, “Malfoy will never be convicted for anything.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that Harry” Tonks said with a sly grin, “Apparently, Madam Bones is rather angry with all of these boys’ manipulations in the wizarding press. It seems that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle have been making wild statements to the Daily Prophet and evidently, Minister Fudge is rather embarrassed especially since the murders affect” she added dramatically, “‘The Boy Who Lived’. It seems that there is a great many people who are seeking a dementors kiss for the Slytherin Trio…”

“Seeing as how you had been telling the truth about Voldemort’s return, and the added fact that Malfoy and some of his cronies are locked up in prison as being Death Eaters… it would appear that the junior death eaters are not taking extra precautions… they are getting careless.” Remus said with an equally sly grin, “Their rather vocal utterances that were overheard by us yesterday… it seems that we weren’t the only ones that caught their comments.”

“Dumbledore didn’t tell me that last night!” Harry said in shock.

“He didn’t know… There were quite a few Aurors as well as Order members that were all over the place yesterday afternoon…” Tonks confirmed, “I have a feeling that when the Wizengamont has an opportunity they are going to filet Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle into tiny little Slytherin steaks and roast them over an open pit! The Malfoy name is not as welcome in the Ministry of Magic as it once was… I also heard that the School Governors are petitioning to have all three boys expelled because of their involvement with known Death Eaters as well as their blatant disregard over the Statute of Secrecy… it’s all rather comical with how much they have fucked up lately!”

“Snape will never expel them… not if he wants to keep his cover with Voldemort.” Harry stated.

“Their expulsion would be by order of the School Governors… Professor Snape will have no say in the matter…” Remus said with a grin, causing Harry to realise that part of his glee was from the fact that Snape had been the one who let slip about his being Lycanthrope.

“It’s about time that he gets his…” Hermione voice said as she entered the dining room. She was dressed in an oriental style black silk dress that had a mandarin collar. Her normally bushy brown hair had been swept back into an elegant twist at the back of her head.

“How much did you hear?” Harry asked, silently in awe at the beauty he beheld.

“Well when I found my school trunk in my room, I figured that Moony or Tonks was here so…” Hermione started to say as she pulled out a long flesh coloured string that Harry knew as an exclusive Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes Extendable Ear, “I grabbed this from my trunk and eavesdropped while I took my shower and got dressed… I heard it all!” she blushed.

“Rather clever of you to do so Miss Granger.” Remus grinned broadly. “At least now we know we don’t have to repeat this again. I will add one thing since you are here now. Do you remember that little bug on the wall in the Attestation Chamber yesterday?” Hermione nodded, “It seems that Cornelius Fudge was contacted yesterday afternoon about an article that is being written for the Daily Prophet.” Remus grinned even wider, “and somehow there is even more leverage going on with the Minister’s office with demands of expedience for justice. So, the article is being delayed, that of course is until all of the investigations into the bombings are done.”

“Excellent!” Hermione exclaimed.

“It seems that Rita Skeeter is feeling rather magnanimous at the moment, along with a certain desire in assisting that your parent’s murderers meet their combined fates.”

“She’s probably wanting an exclusive…” Harry said gloomily.

“If she pulls this off, she will GET an exclusive from me for a job well done.” Hermione stated. “She has done exactly what we have asked and has now gone beyond the call to duty.”

“Do you really want to give her an interview after all the shite she has put us through in the past?” Harry asked.

“I have no problem with that if it means that my parent’s killers are convicted… We will deal with Rita later…” Hermione said looking at her watch, “We have about half hour before Ron and the others are here.”

Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Mrs. Figg joined the foursome in the dining room as they finished their breakfasts. Harry had taken Ron back to his room to help him find a muggle suit to wear rather than the trousers and buttoned shirt he was wearing. The suits were magically charmed to adjust to the wearers’ size and a deep blue suit was chosen for Ron.

“My goodness you boys look dapper today…” Mrs. Weasley said as she fussed at straitening Ron’s light blue silk tie. “And Hermione, that dress suits you so well…”

Harry saw Hermione look at him and grinned as he gave her a secretive wink in admiration of her look.

“Mr. Gray has kindly arranged for a car and driver to take us where we need to go today. I agreed with him that with the five of us Hermione’s car would be a tight squeeze.” Remus mentioned.

“That makes sense, at least this way we won’t have to drive ourselves.” Harry commented.

“Harry, I can’t believe how grown up you look in that suit… It seems like only yesterday that you were just a little boy sitting on my sofa reminiscing with me about my cats…” Mrs. Figg said with a sudden sadness to her tone.

“Sometimes it does feel like it was only yesterday,” he said.

After travelling to where Hermione needed to identify her parent’s bodies, two hours had passed and so with weariness, they headed to the location for the Dursley’s identifications. Harry had suggested to Hermione that she stay out in the car with Remus and Tonks, he did not wish her to further vulnerability of another viewing.

Hermione refused, partially because she had grasped hold of his hand and refused to let it go. Ron had eyed this attachment to Harry; however, he remained silent in this regard. As the trio stood waiting for the coroner to bring the gurneys out of the cold storage Harry felt a prickling at his scar. His hand tensed upon Hermione’s and she looked at him with concern.

“He is angry for some reason… probably heard about what a bunch of fuck ups that Malfoy and his gang have been.” He whispered quickly to Hermione.

“No doubt…” she stated, “Are you going to be alright?”

Harry nodded and then after releasing her hand walked over to the three gurneys. The sheet pulled back from the first and Harry identified the body as being his Uncle’s sister Marjorie Dursley. Repeating the routine for the second body, Harry confirmed that this was his uncle Vernon Dursley. When the coroner had then repeated the task for the third and last time, Harry was unprepared.

“This isn’t my cousin… I don’t know who this man is!” Harry said suddenly as he looked at the body of an older man in his late 60’s. “Are you sure that these are the only bodies that had been at Aunt Marge’s home?”

“These were the only bodies found at the scene… Let me check the fingerprints for this body.” After several tense moments he came back and said “We normally will run fingerprints on all bodies that come through here, then if nobody comes to claim them, we have a name to go with the corpse… this one matched with someone named ‘Fubster’. Are you familiar with that name?”

Harry thought for a moment and remembered something from Aunt Marge’s last visit. “Yeah, he sometimes manages her dogs… but usually only when she is out of town… I know they are friends but I have no other knowledge about his family or anything. Sir, where is my cousin Dudley?”

“These were the only bodies found at the scene… if he somehow managed to survive the blast, I am surprised that none of our investigators found him wandering around. You may want to check with some of his friends to see if they know anything.”

Harry agreed and then signed the documents to have the bodies of Vernon and Marge released to the Mortuary. The three of them started to leave the building, when caught unawares by a voice that said, “Harry?”

“Oh my God, DUDLEY!” Harry shouted, surprisingly hugging the bulk of his stunned cousin. “Where have you been? Your mum and I thought you had died with Aunt Marge and your dad…”

“W-w-what happened Harry? W-w-where’s m-m-mum?” Dudley stammered. His appearance was bedraggled with torn clothing; he looked exhausted and filthy, covered with mud and soot.

“She’s fine, she is at an apartment that I own… Come on; let us get you back there; My God, she will be so glad to know you are not dead… Why are you not dead?” Harry asked still stunned himself at the appearance of his cousin.

Dudley still had not answered Harry’s question, but followed him back to the waiting car. Nobody said anything on the drive back to the Towers. Remus had called ahead to alert Mrs. Weasley about Dudley’s appearance, so to prepare Petunia for the surprise.

Surprise was an understatement when Petunia saw her son, alive and apparently well. He still had not explained how he had survived the explosion. Harry had quickly ordered Dobby to fix up the fourth bedroom for Dudley’s use. After showing Dudley his new room, Harry suggested to Dobby that perhaps a good meal was in order. Harry then told Dudley to get showered, showed him where he could find some new clothing; that thankfully were magically charmed so that they would size to fit and left him to go seek solace with Ron and Hermione.

The three of them had gathered on Harry’s portion of the wraparound balcony. “I just don’t understand how he lived through that…” Harry said with shock.

“Did you see how relieved your Aunt was Harry?” Ron said with a grin. “I know that Lupin had felly toned ahead, but she was still in shock.”

“It’s telephoned… not felly… oh never mind… she still lost her husband because of all of this…” scolded Hermione. She lay a hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Are you going to be all right Harry?” Her voice was soft and comforting to him.

He nodded then turned and looked at Hermione, silently asking her if they should talk to Ron right then. She nodded in agreement; then he quirked an eyebrow at her, begging her to start the conversation. She rolled her eyes at him in understanding and with the knowledge that he was a bit afraid to bring up the topic.

“Ron, I think it is time for us to have a talk about something…” Hermione started, not quite sure how exactly she was going to say what needed to be said.

“About what Hermione… planning on getting Dudley to join S.P.E.W.?” He joked.

“This isn’t a joking matter Ron. It’s about...” she sighed, “Ron you are our best friend… but you need to understand that my relationship with Harry has changed.”

“What do you mean it’s changed?” Ron’s voice tensed with a hint of hidden rage. “What are you hiding from me now?

“Ron…” Harry started, “What we are trying to tell you is that Hermione and I have feelings for each other…”

“Oh and like my feelings for her don’t matter?” Ron shouted. “Sure, go ahead… forget about the fact that I liked her first!”

“When have you EVER told me you liked me?” Hermione countered, “Never once have you shown me that you had any type of romantic feelings for me…”

“I’ve shown you plenty of times… I got you perfume for Christmas last year!” Ron fumed.

“Oh please… that’s not showing romantic interest… that’s barely showing me that you know I’m a girl! Ron…”

“Just because he is Harry bleeding Potter isn’t it…” Ron growled.

“You still don’t see it do you… I care about you as only a friend… but I am in love with Harry!” Hermione shouted back.

“And I love her Ron…” Harry added quietly, trying desperately to keep his temper under control. “When I thought she had died at the Department of Mysteries, I thought my life was over… If she died, I would die along with her… You may be my best mate Ron, but she is my life…”

“Why couldn’t you love me?” Ron whined to Hermione, ignoring what Harry had said. “Why couldn’t you love me?”

“I’m sorry Ron, but it’s always been Harry… Just Harry for me… I do not care about his fame or fortune… I have always loved him… This may sound strange to you, but from the moment, I saw him that first day on the train… I just knew, he was a part of my life forever.”

“I’ve got to get out of here…” Ron said suddenly not able to look at either of them in the eyes.

“Ron, please do not go away mad at us…” Harry pleaded, “We need you…”

“It’s not fair… I’ve liked her for so long and you swoop in and steal her from me.” Ron said angrily with tears in his eyes.

“He couldn’t steal what you never had Ron…” Hermione said bluntly. “I do care about you deeply Ron, but our personalities have never meshed… we would never have been a couple, because one or the other would have had to change drastically… that’s not how a relationship works. There needs to be mutual understanding and Harry understands me in ways you never could. There also needs to be respect of and for each other, but you do not respect me. You even accused me of betraying Harry to Viktor. That hurt me more then you will ever realise.”

Harry gave Hermione a look that told her to let him talk to Ron privately, so she nodded and headed back to the other room. As he looked at his best friend he realised that Ron had tears falling to his cheeks.

“I am sorry I did not get a chance to talk to you about this before all this happened. When Sirius died, I was in shock and I did not want to be around anyone. It was very difficult the last couple of days when I found that the feelings that I had been holding inside of me actually meant something deeper than I have ever experienced before.” Harry said quietly, “Ron, I had no idea that you liked Hermione… I want to be able to say that had I known I would have stepped aside and let you have your chance, but to be completely honest… I know that most likely would not have happened.”

“I thought I had it all worked out… I would have Hermione, you would have Ginny, and we would be all part of the same family,” Ron said sadly.

“But don’t you see Ron, we are all part of the same family… you and Hermione are MY family. You are my brother in everyway but blood. You know this for fact… we are closer than you are to some of your own blood kin. I could never have gotten into a relationship with Ginny… she is my little sister” Harry said, “I was relieved when she finally got over her crush on me… it made being around her very difficult because I never could see her as anything other than a little sister. Do you mind if I make a bit of an observation here Ron?”

“What now…” Ron asked dryly.

“You treat Hermione the same way that you treat Ginny… as more of a sister than anything else. That is why it would never work for you and Hermione. I do know she cares about you… as the brother she has never had.” Harry said sagely then pausing he cautioned, “Please do not make me have to choose between you and Hermione… if you ever do that, well, I do not think you will like my choice. I will always love you as my brother…”

“Yeah our replacement for Percy…” Ron quipped.

“Nah, Percy will come around someday,” he stated then paused, “Well maybe not…” they both laughed.

“You are the Weasley brother without red hair.” Ron joked sadly again, “I really thought I loved her.”

“I don’t doubt that you do love her… but you are not in love with her. There is a big difference with that. She is the air that I breathe, my reason for living… Ron, I really meant it when I said a part of me died when I thought she died… that is what finally made me realise what she means to me. She has always been special to me, been a part of me in ways that has only grown stronger over the years. This whole thing with the killings of our families has only made our feelings more intense than they had been…” Harry said honestly.

“It’s going to take some time to get used to this you know…” Ron finally admitted.

Harry looked at his best friend, “I know there is someone out there for you… and she is special and wise in her own way… you just have to open your eyes and see her for who she truly is.”

“And does this girl have a name?” Ron asked.

“Yes… not that I know it at this time, but then even if I did, that is not for me to tell you… you have to find her the hard way, just as I found the love of my life. Each of us has to find our own loves connection.” Harry said in a softer tone, “so are we all ok now? You still consider me your best mate?”

“Yeah, we are okay…” Ron agreed

“Good… listen, I inherited some property from my folks… I want you and your family to come join me there in a couple of weeks.” Harry invited, “Oh and by the way… just so you know” he cringed a tiny bit, “Part of my inheritance from Sirius was my emancipation… so I can practice magic outside of school. So I can train up quite a bit.”

“Oh Bloody Hell… You mean I am going to be the last one of us three to get to do magic outside of school.” Ron said in disbelief.

“Sorry mate… but if I have to kill Voldemort… Oh please would you stop tweaking every time I say his name.” Harry reprimanded, “I know that I am destined to kill him and the only way I will be able to is if I can practice, that’s part of why I want you to join me at my ancestral home. I got quite a few surprises after you and your family left yesterday… you know that portrait of Sirius… well after he was done with his portion of the proceedings, my mum and dad joined him.”

“You got to talk to your mum and dad. That is great!” Ron stated with excitement. “So what all did you get.”

“Honestly? A lot of headaches… This building here is only part of my Potter estate… I’ll learn more once I get to Godric’s Hollow, but there is a huge assortment of businesses both muggle and wizarding that I have an investment in or that I actually own outright. With all the stuff going on with the funerals, I have not even had the chance to go through all of the paperwork.”

“I don’t envy you there mate… I am sure that Hermione will be itching to help you with all the paperwork… she lives for that stuff.” Ron commented.

“No doubt… However, she has already told me that she is going to be looking in all the books that are in my library at the mansion. You know how she gets when there is the chance to study something… she is probably planning to leave no stone unturned… which in a way I am very glad to have her on my side.”

They talked for a few more moments and then went into the other room to join the others. Dobby had put out a huge spread of food, which Ron was very appreciative. Dudley had eaten very little but then went back into his bedroom.

Harry’s thoughts kept going back to his cousin’s rather shocking appearance and found he could not just ignore the unanswered questions. He told Hermione and Ron that he would go talk to Dudley and see if he could find out more privately. They agreed with that assessment and let him go to the other boy.

Dudley was sitting in one of the wicker chairs outside on the balcony attached to his room. He sat with his head in his hands, solemnly taking long drags from a cigarette he was smoking.

“Does you mum know you took up smoking Dud?” Harry asked quietly as he joined him in one of the other chairs.

“What’s it to you what I do…” Dudley said harshly.

“I’m not here to pick a fight with you Dudley… when I found out about the explosion, and thought that you had died along with Uncle Vernon… it did upset me. I have lost so many people who I cared about and I realised that no matter what, you are my family and as crazy as it may seem, I never wanted to see you both dead.” Harry said eyeing his cousin to see if he was paying attention to what he was saying. “And here you are still alive and I have to say, I’m glad because we now have a second chance.”

“Colonel Fubster caught me smoking out behind Aunt Marge’s barn yesterday morning… He told my dad and Aunt Marge. I was so mad at him and then Dad got really mad at me… we had a huge yelling match we said a bunch of stuff… I finally had enough and I took off, praying to God that they would just go away and leave me alone… I didn’t want to go to Aunt Marge’s in the first place…I told Dad that… after that I saw the house blow up with all of them inside… I went in and saw all three of them and they were d-d-dead.” Dudley said, “I got really afraid then that someone would think I did that, so I ran away… I tried to call mum, but there was no answer at the house… So I figured I would try to see her when she claimed Dad’s body… Then I saw you instead… I knew you had to know where mum was… I had no idea that she had been told I had died too…”

“We were at the Wizarding Bank yesterday morning in regards to my inheritances from my Godfather’s and my parent’s estates…” Harry explained. “If I had known you hadn’t died too, I would have made sure you got back with your mum… All we were told was they had found three bodies… I just assumed… I am so sorry that this happened Dudley…”

“It’s not your fault Harry, it’s mine… I had prayed that Dad would just let me be… my prayer came true.”

Harry looked sadly at his cousin understanding how he could feel such guilt for his dad’s death. “That’s not the way that prayers work Dud… You know that… besides, you didn’t send the bombs… that was done by three kids from my school in retaliation for my getting their father’s sent to prison…” Harry took a deep breath, “I know all about feeling guilty for someone dying… Both of my best friends were also targeted… you saw them earlier… My…Hermione… her parent’s also died from a separate explosion.” His voice cracked a touch relaying this information.

“Oh shite…” Dudley said, “So why did you and Mum come here rather than going home?”

“From what my Headmaster told us yesterday, there had been four bombs that had been sent out…” Harry went on to relate all the details that he had regarding the murders. He then explained to Dudley about the discussions he had with Petunia as well as the newest revelation about her being a Witch.

“Dad would have had a fucking coronary if he knew that Mum was a witch.” Dudley said in surprise.

“I’m surprised he didn’t have one already to tell the truth… He sure hated me because of my being a wizard.” Harry said.

“This doesn’t mean I am going to turn magic or anything does it…” Dudley asked fearfully.

“That’s not how it works Dud… your mum is a special case… but I can pretty much guess that you are pure muggle…”

“Well that’s good…” Dudley said with relief, “Er… I mean…”

Harry laughed, “That’s okay Dud… I understand… you should have seen the look on your mum’s face though when she accidentally ‘zipped Malfoy’s lip’ literally… a big ol’ zipper appeared and shut his mouth up good.”

“Sounds like something you would see in a cartoon…” Dudley laughed.

“You would be amazed at some of the shite I have seen…” Harry started, and then proceeded to give some comical antidotes from his past years at school… including the amazing bouncing ferret!

The comradeship that had developed between Harry and Dudley that evening continued on the rest of the week. Dudley contacted some of his friends and was genuinely surprised that none of them would help in regards to the funeral. Harry tried to reassure him that not everyone was able to handle the pressures of being a pallbearer and after contacting the Weasley’s as well as many members of the DA; he was able to assemble the needed pallbearers.

Friday morning had dawned rather gloomy, setting forth the mood for the entire day. They had all gathered in the morning for the double funerals of Andrew Michael Granger and his wife Alexandria Evelynda Sullivan Granger. Harry had stayed close to Hermione, willing his strength to her as she watched the final moments of the burial that was taking place.

Mary Sullivan stood solemnly next to her only granddaughter, saddened by the knowledge that no parent should ever have to watch their child precede them in death.

Scheduled that afternoon was only a double graveside service for both Vernon and Marge, since neither of them had been staunch Anglicans. Harry listened to the words; In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brother Vernon and our sister Marjorie; and we commit their bodies to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless them and keep them, the Lord make his face to shine upon them and be gracious unto them and give them peace. Amen.

Harry sat to the left of his aunt with Hermione seated on his right. Dudley sat on the other side of his mum, very silent. Harry felt tears sting his eyes and glanced quickly at his Aunt Petunia, who was weeping uncontrollably. He felt Hermione squeeze his hand and looked over at her. She too was crying, not out of loss for Vernon Dursley, but out of the tragedy that had befallen all of them.

Once the services were over, they all gathered back at the Towers. Harry had heard of a wake before, but had never been to one and felt oddly out of place and very alone even in the midst of all the people gathered. Many of Vernon’s employees from Grunnings had come and were spending most of their time talking to Petunia and Dudley. The Weasley’s had done a great deal for Harry’s family in making sure everything was lacking in magic for the afternoon.

Many of the Granger’s friends had also gathered, aware of the ties between Harry and Hermione. Students from Hogwarts had also joined them and though many of them had tried to reach out to Harry, he had preferred to close himself off and adjourned to the balcony. The overwhelming weight of the emotions from the past week besieged them again.

Try as Harry might he could only think of one thing… no matter what he would not stop until he had destroyed Lord Voldemort and his minions.

Author’s Notes:

As I continue to write this chapter, I am filled with many thoughts of the exceptionally brilliant and beautiful woman who raised me and of the many things she taught me, for you see, today February 23, 2005 marks the 19^th anniversary of my mother’s death. Many of the thoughts and feelings that I have written in this chapter come straight from my own experience of that particular event in my life…so very complex the mind and how it tends to cast blame and consumes one with guilt… I am a firm believer that prayer works…I do believe in God… and God (or for those of you who have a disbelief of such a being – the higher power whomever or whatever you choose him or her to be) does answer prayers…you may not get the answers you really wanted… but he does answer all of them. Even the insane prayers you offer up when you are praying you will win the $65million in Lotto… (Sometimes the answer is a clear and concise NO…)

I won’t go into all of the details as to what has caused me to come to this understanding… I have so many stories that I could relate to you giving a vast assortment of ‘proof’… I just felt that I should let you know why this chapter has meant so much to me, and why I chose not to break up this large chapter…As I write this Author’s note I haven’t finished the chapter… it is already over 9,000 words long. I can’t say at the moment that there will be no cliff hanger – that would be foolish since I am still writing it…I will say that I am trying to make sure that I post this chapter today… Computer willing that is…I find my system is not allowing me to log on at the moment. :rolls eyes:

I do want to say that I really do want to thank you for taking the time to read this story. I hate begging for review; I find it does something to a writer’s credibility, however, I will admit to you that I get a profound sense of joy… when I read and reply to each and every one. They are my drugs of choice…I am also hopelessly addicted to the reviews I get and I hope that you will take a few moments to feed my review addiction…it is healthier than drugs and does not cost you a dime. Take care and have a good week!

Peace - As Always,

Muirnin - who firmly believes "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..." @}>---'---,---

Disclaimer: Why I write this is for my own guilty pleasure! I do not now, nor have I at any time owned any of the Harry Potter characters. This is an original plot from my own insane imagination, however some of the plot points may have already been used before – I can’t guarantee that kind of originality. There are too many written works out in the vast universe…each of my words in some for or another has been used before… However, by no means is this plagiarism.

It is based on characters created by J. K. Rowling. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J. K. Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc. Some parts may be of an adult nature that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

If after I have spelled it out to you like this you still feel that I am trying to be J. K. Rowling, I will ask you for the name of a good Literary Agent who will represent me in my own professional writing and thank you very much.