Unofficial Portkey Archive

9. Plotting a Course

Harry was soaring through the air on his Firebolt following behind Hedwig. The owl led him over a dense forest and down into a wide valley. Looming over them was a series of snowcapped peaks. Rising higher then he ever remembered flying before, Harry looked around and saw the mountains stretching off into the distance in either direction. He tried to focus his attention back on Hedwig, only to find she was no longer there, instead he was chasing after a golden snitch. The tiny ball darted back down towards the trees, Harry steadily closing in. After a series of dips, dives, and rolls he reached out and snatched it out of the air, but for some reason it didn't feel right. Harry slowed to a stop and opened his hand to examine what was causing the gentle tickling sensation in his palm. It was a snitch, but it was far smaller than it should have been, in fact, it seemed to be the same size as the one he knew was hanging around his neck.

With a blink of his eyes, Harry found himself face to face with a sleeping Hermione; he looked down at his hand and the tiny charm from her necklace fluttering up into the air. After releasing he snitch Harry removed the hair that had fallen over her face and tucked it behind her ear; he felt her arms tighten around him as his hand brushed her cheek. Unable to fight the urge, Harry lightly kissed Hermione, as soon as their lips touched her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning," he told her with a smile.

"Hi," she breathed back before covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, I haven't brushed my teeth; my breath must be horrible."

"There's nothing horrible about you," he replied before moving her hand and kissing her again. As she opened her lips to deepen the kiss, Harry finally remembered exactly where he was, and more importantly who was laying exactly six feet under them. "I'm sorry Hermione, I can't…" said Harry, urgently pulling back.

"What?" The confusion in her voice was mixed with a small amount of hurt.

"I'm sorry, just… not here," said Harry casting a meaningful glance towards his parents' headstone.

Her eyes widened with realization, "Right, of course."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?"

"I couldn't really get to sleep last night. When I saw you transfigure your shirt I figured this is where you would go. I was just going to make sure you were all right, but when I saw you… I just couldn't leave you all alone. I didn't have anything to make into a sleeping bag for myself, so I crawled in with you. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. There are plenty of worse things than waking up with a beautiful girl."

"You already have me Harry, there's no need to chat me up," said Hermione as her cheeks turned pink.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. Harry gently petted her hair, completely content for a moment until a deep growl drew their attention. Sitting off to the side from where they were laying was the same dog they had seen the day before, but now he seemed to be guarding them from an approaching Remus.

"What the blazes were the two of you thinking? You could have at least left a note!" the older man yelled; the dog merely growled louder in response.

Harry and Hermione both tried to jump to their feet, quite unsuccessfully do to the fact that the bag was zipped tight around them. After a few moments spent fumbling and untangling themselves they stood, both looking slightly ashamed.

"Sorry Remus, I wasn't think-"

"Of course you weren't thinking! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I was about to phone Hermione's parents to see if you had gone back to see them before I decided to check here!"

"You could've just called Dobby to find us," Harry tried to reason with him.

"I did! He told me you were safe, but refused to say where!" Remus took a step closer as he yelled which drew the dog to its feet, poised to attack. Harry slowly walked up behind it and tried petting its head to calm it, one hand on his wand just in case.

"Look Moony, I'm sorry, I really am. I couldn't fight the urge to be closer to my parents, and Hermione followed me here to make sure I was alright," said Harry, trying to pacify the werewolf in front of him while scratching the dog next to him. They both visibly relaxed.

"You still should've left a note," said Remus, his anger reduced to annoyance. "Let's go back and get cleaned up, then I'll show you the village." As Harry moved over to Remus to Apparate them both, Hedwig drifted down to Hermione from a tree where she had been watching the proceedings unnoticed.

Dobby was waiting with breakfast when they returned, and they took their turns showering. "As convenient as it is to have you bringing us our meals Dobby," Remus told the elf, "we should probably eat out occasionally while we're here. The locals might get a touch suspicious of the fact that we never seem to eat." Dobby looked slightly offended, but Harry had to admit Remus had a point. The last thing they needed was a curious employee peaking into their room and finding an owl on a golden perch, or an elf bouncing on the bed.

"We should probably make sure we actually walk out of town before we Apparate anywhere, just so they don't think we're hiding up here plotting to take over the world," Hermione added after coming back in the room.

"Right then, where do we go first?" Harry asked.

"We can Apparate back to the graveyard and walk down into the village, or if you'd like a better feel for the area we could fly in. I wish we had a way of checking on the store," said Remus.

"What store?"

Remus' brow knitted in confusion, "Your parents' store, surely someone's told you about it by now?"

"Harry, that must be the key Ragnok gave you," Hermione whispered.

Harry walked over to his trunk and fished around for the large brass key he'd received. "My parents owned a store," he asked in a far-away voice.

Remus sat down on the bed and let out a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry Harry, I've failed you in so many ways. Our instructions were quite clear: the one condition to your staying with your relatives was that they would have zero contact from the magical word at least until your Hogwarts letter arrived. The Order was in an uproar; the child of two of our members, who had just saved us all, was being sent off to live with quite possibly the worst Muggles anyone had ever laid eyes on. I've never seen Minerva as angry as she was that night. Apparently she had taken an entire day to observe the Dursleys, and was severely disappointed in what she saw. She raged at Albus for close to an hour before finally running out of steam.

"The Headmaster calmly sat back and waited for our outbursts to stop," Harry was a bit surprised to hear the bitterness in Remus' voice when he mentioned Dumbledore. "He eventually informed us about the blood bond you `needed' to keep you safe and said he was placing an `operative' nearby, if you could call Arabella that at all. I know that several Order members took it upon themselves to occasionally check in on you over the years, until Dedalus Diggle got caught snooping through your rubbish bins.

"Those first few years were the worst of my life. It took just two days for all the people I had truly cared for to vanish completely. When I finally stepped back from the edge, I decided it was about time look you up, Harry. I owed James that much. When I saw what had become of you, the way those people talked to you, forcing you to wear rags… it took every ounce of control I possessed to not tear their bloody heads off. I followed along, at a distance, as they took you to a zoo. When it looked as if you were talking to one of the snakes and your cousin and that other boy pushed you out of the way I vanished the glass to allow them a closer look, it's a pity it turned out to be harmless," a vague smile appeared on Remus' face as he remembered the pudgy boy nearly soiling himself.

"You did that? I got locked in my cupboard for a month over that!"

"Again, I'm sorry Harry. I waited until nightfall before I returned to your house with every intention of setting you free. As I was walking up to the door, Dumbledore appeared before me. He knew what I had done, and more importantly what I was planning on doing. It took him a couple of hours and a few well placed hexes to send me away."

"Why wouldn't Dumbledore let you do anything if he knew what was going on?" Harry asked with a shaky voice. Both men were too engrossed in their conversation to notice Hermione furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"His answers were never enough to completely satisfy me, but mostly he claimed in the end, it would be better for you to grow up there instead of in a place where you'd be treated with some form of mystical reverence."

"But they were horrible!"

"I know Harry, believe me I know. I confessed that I'd heard you speaking in Parseltounge and my fears as to what it could mean, but Albus kept reassuring me that you were being well looked-out-for and you'd be getting your Hogwarts letter soon. When Hagrid told me of the trouble he'd had in collecting you I stormed my way into the castle and confronted Dumbledore again. Our argument ended when my temper finally got the better of me and I snapped his wrist. I saw him reaching for his wand and lashed out before he could reach it, after that he… he paid me off to keep my distance." Remus closed his eyes while trying to cope with the shame. "He knew I'd been living for the last ten years off of the little money your parents left me in their will and offered me enough to get by on along with a promise that he'd keep me updated on your life."

Harry was unsure what to think about everything he was hearing. The idea that there had been someone hiding in the background fighting for him was shocking. "Remus, I never knew…"

"Of course you didn't! That was the point! Keep Harry in the dark, he doesn't need to know the truth! All those years he refused to tell anyone what his real reasons were for keeping you in that hellhole, and in the end Sirius had to die for him to finally come clean! After you'd opened the Chamber of Secrets he finally agreed to let me help you, but only as a professor, nothing more. Every time the topic of your parents or Sirius came up I could feel the bile rising in my throat as I fought the urge to not keep my promise to him.

"I backed off after you managed to rescue Sirius, knowing how important being your Godfather meant to him, only to end up fighting harder than ever when we took over Grimmauld Place. Tonks recently admitted to me her suspicions that I was sent away so often to make sure Sirius and I couldn't manage to corner Dumbledore together, but now I just can't stop myself from wondering what would have happened if we had managed to force the situation. Maybe if I wouldn't have walked away, Sirius and I could have gotten you out of that blasted tournament. We could have stopped so much suffering if we'd just managed to… Sirius could still be…" Remus finally lost the use of his voice and began weeping.

Harry looked down at the man in shock for a moment before pulling him up in an embrace. He was so familiar with most of the emotions washing over his former professor that he had to fight the urge to re-explore them. Those wounds were far from healed, but at least closed. Not exactly sure what to, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but the most she could offer up was a sorrowful smile. Remus' revelations were just as much a surprise to her.

Hermione pulled Dobby aside to give him some instructions while Harry helped Remus compose himself, then they set off for a secluded spot to begin the short flight to Godric's Hollow. From the air Remus pointed out the tiny village nestled between the many farms in the area. Off the southern edge of the town appeared to be a large clump of trees which they were told was actually where the Potters' house had stood; without hearing another word Harry darted off for it. Once there he discovered a large open area covered in grass. Harry touched down next to a small stream running across one side and completely oblivious to Hermione began wandering towards a small cluster of rocks in the center of the property.

A slight tingle passed through his entire body as he examined the stones, many of which seemed to be black on one side. "I'm afraid the house was destroyed when Voldemort attacked. I cleaned up most of the ruins over the years, but couldn't bring myself to get rid of everything. Those stones are what was left of the chimney," said Remus from behind Harry.

"You've been here, since that night?"

"I took it upon myself to keep the land here, and your parents' gravesite properly maintained. Every Halloween I've made a trip to both places," Remus softly told him. Harry muttered a weak "Thanks" before continuing his wandering of the property. He kept seeing flashes in his mind of simple things: being an infant and lying in the grass with his mother; riding a broom with his father and looking down at his Mum who was screaming at them to come back down, only to fly higher. Harry couldn't tell if he was remembering things, or simply imagining them and ended up deciding since they were all happy thoughts it didn't really matter either way.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked, tentatively putting an arm around his waist.

"Better," he replied before pulling her into an embrace. "Thank you for being here, it means… more than I can say."

"There's no place I'd rather be."

"Are you ready to move on, or would you like some more time," said Remus as he joined them.

"We can go now, but I'll be back."

Remus silently led the way as they walked down the road towards the rest of the village; as they rounded a corner they came upon an old farmhouse that had a white-haired old woman puttering around the flowerbeds. The woman looked up and blinked a few times before breaking out in a wide grin and walking up to greet them. Remus turned with a somewhat frantic expression, "Please, just don't ask questions and go along with anything I say." Harry couldn't help but notice he ended his sentence talking more to Hermione than himself.

"Well I say if that isn't Remus Lupin!"

"Mrs. Davis, what a pleasant surprise," said Remus with a hefty bit of false cheer.

"I'm the one that should be surprised, I've not seen you since that nasty business with the Po-" she stopped as her eyes fell on Harry.

"Ah, Isabel this, is Harry Potter-"

"Of course you are! You look so much like your father! It was such a tragedy what happened to them, thank the Lord you weren't home. It's a pleasure to have you back, and I assume this your young lady?" Isabel asked while eying their linked hands. Remus cut off Harry before he could respond.

"Mrs. Davis, I'd like to introduce you to Hermione… my daughter." Hermione's eyes widened slightly as her hand tightened almost painfully around Harry's.

"Why I had no idea you'd married," said Mrs. Davis looking quite crestfallen.

"Ah yes, Nymphadora and I have had sixteen glorious years together. I'm sorry if I seem terribly rude, but we must be getting on if we're to meet her for supper."

"Of course, it was a pleasure seeing you again Remus, Mr. Potter… Miss Lupin."

Once Remus had led them out of hearing distance Hermione broke the silence, "Care to explain that daddy?"

"I'm never going to hear the end of this," Lupin muttered. "Mrs. Davis has a daughter that developed a bit of a crush on me. James and Sirius amused themselves to no end by arranging it so we would end up together with them, Lily, and whomever Sirius was courting at the moment. Isabel saw my `mysteriousness' as something her daughter needed in her life and attempted to play matchmaker. I've had quite a few close calls on my subsequent trips here, but always managed to avoid them. Sirius accompanied me here during your fourth and fifth years, and as Padfoot managed to overhear the women reminiscing about what could have been between Annabel and I. I sincerely apologize for using you like that Hermione, but I'm sure after you tell Tonks about this I'll earn my comeuppance."

"I'm just amazed at how fast you thought up your little story," Hermione told him with a mischievous smile.

"Well, once a Marauder…"

They made their way to the center of the village where Remus pointed out the tavern and general store before walking up to a small brick building. "It's been magically sealed since your parents went into hiding, but I believe now that you have the key we should be able to open it up again."

As Harry unlocked the door and entered the same tingle passed through his body as had earlier, unbeknownst to him for the second time that day a folder at Gringotts updated itself as to who the property holder was. The inside of the shop was empty except for a thick coat of dust, "Remus, what sort of shop was this?"

"I suppose you could call it a wizards' version of a general store. There was always a healthy supply of potion ingredients, magazines, and books… James even managed to get Lilly to allow him to stock a few brooms. As I'm sure the goblins informed you they were quite wealthy, so they didn't need to worry much about how well they did, which in turned helped them to do quite well. Between your mother's knowledge and James'… inquisitiveness, they could find just about anything you needed. This store was the premier location for someone in search of rare objects, and through their clients and contacts your parents supplied much of the Order's intelligence."

Hermione sneezed violently before waving her wand to clear away the dust, "Did they deal… dark things," she asked gently, not sure what Harry's reaction would be.

"Absolutely not," Remus told them both. "Just as Sirius and I told you before Harry, your father hated the Dark Arts. A few people in the Order asked him at one point if he would consider selling some questionable artifacts, thinking it might lure in some Death Eaters, but he vehemently refused."

"Why is there nothing in here?" Harry asked as he ran a hand along the empty counter.

"No one was sure how long they would have to be underground, so your parents sold everything off before sealing the building."

They all wandered around the shop for a bit. Harry found a framed picture of himself with his parents under the counter, which he pocketed, while Remus found a boggart lurking in the back room. When they entered the local tavern for lunch a few of the villagers came over to their table to welcome Harry back and congratulate Remus on his "marriage."

"Apparently Mrs. Davis is as much of a gossip as ever," Remus muttered under his breath.

"You know Tonks will insist on coming back in here once she hears this story," Harry remarked.

Remus let out a little groan and shook his head, "I'm done for. On another matter, have you given any thought on how long you wish to stay in the area, Harry?"

In fact he had been thinking about it from the moment he had touched down that morning, "There is something about it here that just feels… right. I don't really want to leave, and with the Weasley's still at Grimmauld, there's not many other options, but I don't know if we want to keep spending fifty pounds a night for that inn."

"We could go back to Mum and Dad's," said Hermione, rolling her eyes when Harry cast a quick glance at Remus. "You know what I mean, and we could always Apparate back here if you wanted to visit."

"Yeah, but as much as I like your parents, I'd rather not impose myself on them."

"There is another option," Remus informed them. "I phoned a man last week about a cottage he has in the village, and it is available to rent. It has four rooms, since you mentioned something about not wanting to share with Ron, and the fact that I wasn't going to let you three wander off without me, I thought it sounded good. It would probably be wise to put some magical protections up wherever we stay, so I was thinking we could rent it out for the remainder of the summer and properly ward it, unless you'd like to go back to London before then."

"That sound fantastic, and without Ron it gives Dobby a room to himself," said Harry with a smile before turning to Hermione. "Your parents wouldn't mind if you stayed up here with us, would they?"

"They already know I plan on staying with you, all they ask is that we check in from time to time, and maybe stop in for supper occasionally. If you'd like, I can nip in the loo to call and let them know."

Harry passed Hermione his mirror under the table and she excused herself. She had been gone for a minute when a pleasant looking woman walked up to the table and Remus choked on his beverage when she said his name.

"Annabel, how lovely to see you again," he said with a false smile.

"I was wondering if we might meet by chance when I heard you were back in town," she said, but Harry got the distinct feeling she had been looking for them. "And this must be Harry, but I heard you had a young lady with you as well."

"Ah yes," said Remus as his ears slowly turned red, "my daughter Hermione just stepped away for a moment."

"Hermione? Wherever did you come up with that name?" Annabel asked with a sickly sweet smile.

"It's from Shakespeare," Harry spoke up when he saw the lost look on Remus' face. "Her Mum always liked `A Winter's Tale.'"

"Well, she certainly sounds like the intelligent sort," said Annabel with a slightly smaller smile.

"Yeah, she's the smartest girl in my class," said Harry.

"I think she was referring to Nymphadora, Harry," Remus broke in, the redness migrating from his ears to his face.

"Nymphadora? My you do find people with the most interesting names, so when do I get to meet this wife of yours?"

Harry saw Hermione coming back towards them with a mischievous smile as Remus was floundering with his reply. "Sorry Dad, but Mum said she won't be able to meet us for supper," she said after taking the seat next to Remus.

"Oh, pity," he replied while looking clearly relieved. "Hermione, this is Mrs. Davis' daughter Annabel."

"Pleasure to meet you," Hermione said brightly.

"Yes, well, I must be going. It was so nice seeing you again Remus," said Annabel before walking away dejectedly.

"She seems nice enough, why are you so afraid of her?" Hermione asked Remus after switching back to the seat next to Harry.

"Besides the fact that you're a pretty grumpy bugger once a month," Harry added when Remus opened his mouth.

Remus' face went white and he shook his head a few times. When he saw the concerned looks he was getting he told them, "I'm sorry it's just, James and Lilly asked me those exact same questions in this tavern when we were younger. Annabel was told stories, mostly by Sirius, about how I was some secret government operative. It only got worse after Lilly took James, Sirius, and I to see a spy movie before Harry was born. James loved the fact that the spy had the same name as him, and Sirius used the story as inspiration for what he was telling Annabel. During one of my transformations James was forced to pointedly restrain me from some teenagers out for the night. Sirius told her that I'd been shot on one of my `missions' and after that she fawned over me whenever she had the chance," said Remus while fingering a small round scar on his neck.

"That does get pretty annoying," said Harry remembering the way some of the girls at Hogwarts had been treating him the past year. "Did you talk to your parents Hermione?"

"Mum was with a patient, but Dad said everything was fine as long as Remus was still going to be with us. He also asked if you'd bring your invisibility cloak over whenever we visit. Honestly, he nearly gave Mum a heart attack sneaking up on her when you were asleep the other day."

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After lunch they went to see about the cottage. The landlord was a plump old man named Mr. Crookshanks, which amused Hermione more than anyone. As Remus was negotiating the rent, Harry and Hermione wandered around the cottage. There was a large living area and kitchen combined with the bedrooms and bathroom all off from it. Out back was a large crab apple tree sitting by a stream that Harry guessed to be the same one running through his family property. They would have everything they needed here, Harry thought, to make it a base of sorts while they searched for the remaining two Horcruxes; the problem was he had no idea how long that would take. After a quick word with Hermione, Harry walked back inside and asked if they could move in the next day and how much he would want for rent for the rest of the year, total. Mr. Crookshanks stuttered for a minute before giving Harry the amount which Harry promised to have by morning, after all it was just a quick trip to Gringotts.

They casually made their way down the road to a secluded spot so they could Apparate to Diagon Alley. "I can't believe my dad and Sirius just accepted the fact that you can't Apparate," said Harry after Side-Alonging Remus.

"Well it's not as if they didn't try to teach me. I remember one instance where Sirius `dropped me off' on a rock at the bottom of a cliff and told me how long I had until the tide came in."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked.

"The only thing I could do, I climbed the cliff, then nearly threw Sirius over it."

Hermione went to go check on Fred and George while Remus and Harry went to Gringotts; Harry was once again ushered away as soon as he entered.

"Mr. Potter, what a pleasant surprise," said Ragnok as they were shown into the office. The goblin narrowed his eyes slightly, closely surveying Harry and Remus, "And I see you've brought someone new with you today."

"Yes, this is my friend Remus Lupin," Harry replied, feeling a little uneasy with the way he was being looked at.

"Ah yes Mr. Lupin, young Mr. Weasley speaks quite highly of you. Now it seems Mr. Potter that earlier today you claimed the last two of your properties."

"I did?" Harry blurted out.

"Did you not visit at some point this morning both of the properties in Godric's Hollow we discussed in our last meeting?"

"Yes, Remus showed me where they are. Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all, it is simply our duty to inform you whenever a part of your portfolio changes hands. In this case the deeds were transferred from the Potter Estate to your own name."

"What about the land in Bristol?" Remus' head turned sharply to Harry at his question.

"That was transferred directly to you, not the estate. Is there any other business you wish to conduct today?"

"Well, I came here today for some Muggle money, but I was also wondering what the procedure was for drawing up a will."

Ragnok flipped through the folder in front of him, "At the moment should anything happen to you all of your holdings would go to one Petunia Dursley. I take it you wish to change this?"

Harry took a moment to imagine what his aunt's reaction would be if a goblin showed up on her doorstep, "That definitely needs to be changed."

"Have you had a chance to study the materials I gave you previously?"

"Err, no I haven't. Sorry…"

"I would recommend you take a chance to examine your holdings before deciding how you want it divided. Once you have done that we can prepare all of the necessary papers. About the Muggle money," said Ragnok while scribbling on a piece of parchment, "the goblin outside the door can escort you to the exchange desk, and this note should save you a trip to your vaults, just fill in the amount you require."

"Thank you very much," said Harry as he took the note and led Remus back to the lobby. Harry took out double of what he needed figuring he'd have to be acting like a Muggle while they stayed in the village.

"James always said the goblins were more helpful to their wealthier customers, but I must admit I never really believed it," said Remus as they walked down the steps of the bank.

"Ragnok seems pretty nice. He gave me a whole ledger of stuff to look over a couple days ago so I can know exactly what I have, and he told me about all of the properties I own. I had never even heard about my parents' store until he told me I owned the building. I also got some property in Bristol from Sirius; do you know what that was? He said the house on it was destroyed."

Remus stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes, "That's my fault, Harry."

"What's your fault?"

"The house. Sirius' house, I destroyed it. After your parents, then believing Sirius had killed Peter and the meltdown in the Order, I snapped. I had lost everything and it seemed Sirius was to blame. There was nothing I could do about him, being in Azkaban, so I released my rage on his house. I've apologized far to many times, so I'll just tell you that when I confessed to Sirius what I'd done he actually laughed."

"He thought it was funny that you wrecked his house?"

"Quite. He spent years telling me I needed to stop being so passive. A proper werewolf, according to Sirius, should feel the need to bite people more than once a month. He also thanked me for saving him the trouble of having to pack, then took me out for a drink," said Remus with a vague smile.

"But, it was his house!"

"Material things. All he cared was that he was free, and he had a chance to get to know you." Remus saw the sorrowful look on Harry's face, "And he was thankful for everyday of that freedom because you gave it to him."

Harry was about to say, "Until I took it away," but stopped himself knowing Remus was only trying to help. When the two men made their way into the twins shop they found their assistant Verity trying to attend to a hoard of children. "Are they in back?" Harry called over the voices but immediately regretted it as every head turned to him. Some of the children's' eyes popped open, a few had their mouths open, and one little girl started edging her way towards the love potions. Verity sighed and nodded so Harry quickly strode through the shop.

In the back room Fred and George were hunched over laughing as Hermione sat reading a copy of Witch Weekly. "Well, if it isn't the bachelor himself," said George with pride.

"Oh yes, and just look how those `darling green eyes just sparkle,'" Fred added.

"Oh Harry, why don't you turn around and give us a view of that `Quidditch-tuned bum,'" said Hermione with a glare.

Harry's face was burning so hot he was sure it had to be steaming, "What are you two doing with a copy of that?"

"You see oh eligible one-"

"We placed an ad for some of our products that are targeted for female use-"

"So they were kind enough to send us a copy-"

"But apparently not kind enough to place us on their little list. They only take those that are young-"

"Heroic-"

"And have," George snatched the magazine from Hermione to examine it, "`alarming handsome smiles.'"

"Or have the name `Harry Potter,'" said Remus.

"That is not helping," Harry told the older man through clenched teeth.

"Don't worry about them Harry, they're just jealous," said Hermione before walking over to him, jerking his head down almost violently, and ramming her tongue into his mouth. She let out a pleasant little noise when Harry's arms instinctively went around her and pulled her close, meanwhile the twins were making retching sounds in the background. They were broken apart by a jet of water from Remus' wand.

"Moony! What the hell was that for?" Harry shouted.

"Tisk tisk, Harry," George chided him.

"What would your adoring fans think if they heard that language," added Fred while waving his wand to dry them off.

"Don't worry about them Harry, they're just jealous I've stolen you away from them," said Hermione with an air of confidence. "And you," she added while looking to Remus, "have nothing to complain about after that little show you put on with Tonks at the train station."

"Well, after the position I found you two in this morning."

"Oh, what's this? Do tell Remus," one of the twins prompted.

"Or maybe we could talk about Remus' friend we met at lunch?" Harry retaliated.

"Maybe we should be getting back," Remus muttered. The twins couldn't decide whom they wanted to question more.

"Bye guys," said Hermione with a cheery wave before grabbing Remus' arm and disappearing.

"So Harry, can we have your autograph?" Fred asked while holding open the magazine. Taking up one entire page was a picture of Harry from one of his Quidditch matches last year with a large number three in the corner.

"Who were the top two?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Oh look Fred, Harry's jealous." Harry snatched the magazine and flipped back. Myron Wagtail, the lead singer from the Weird Sisters was number two, and number one was…

"Lockhart?"

Both the twins rolled their eyes, "Ah, those old witches just can't get enough of the bloke."

"They don't even bother mentioning that he's completely nutters," said Fred.

Harry tried to smile about the memory of Ron's wand backfiring, but his recent attitude towards Harry held it back. "So, you two alright?"

The twins' look turned somber, "We're better," George told him.

"We were a bit bothered by Ron turning into the worlds greatest prat and keeping you and Hermione away from the funeral-"

"But Dad told us about you being there anyway-"

"Then Percy said something about how it was Mum's and Dad's fault for not expecting trouble-"

"So he got the title back from Ron-"

"Along with two black eyes-"

"A bloody nose-"

"A bloody lip-"

"A few cracked ribs-"

"A concussion-"

"And a curse Bill said in gobbledygook."

"It wasn't pleasant," they finished in unison.

"I'm sorry guys… that I couldn't-"

"Harry, it's no more your fault than ours," Fred told him.

"So don't go beating yourself up over this-"

"Or you'll never get the chance to stop that wanker."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled. "How's Ron?"

"We think he's over blaming you for Mum-"

"Helping to pummel Percy seems to have done wonders for his disposition-"

"But he still turns all red whenever someone mentions Hermione, so he's better-"

"But still a prat."

"Guys," said Verity, poking her head into the room.

"Ah, Verity, do you need us for something?"

"Actually," she said over the noise from the other room, "they want Harry."

Harry and the twins peaked out around the door, and as soon as Harry's face was visible the chatter turned to excited yelling. They quickly slammed the door. "Bugger," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Wow, you could be good for business-"

"If we could convince the little buggers to buy something while they're gawking."

"I need to go," Harry slowly told them.

"Alright, just don't be shy-"

"And bring your fan club by whenever you get the chance."

"We'll try to pull Ron's head out of his arse for you."

"Thanks guys," said Harry before Disapparating.

><><><><><><

To say Dobby was ecstatic when he heard they'd be moving to a house the next morning would be an understatement. The fact that he would now have a proper kitchen to make their meals, and not have to return to Grimmauld Place overnight to sleep brightened his life. By the time they had finished dinner the elf had laid out all of their clothes for the next day and packed everything else.

"Remus, do you know how to apply a Fidelius Charm?" Hermione asked as they were relaxing before bed.

"The only person I know of that can perform it anymore is Filius."

"Do you think it would be a good idea to put one on the cottage?" Harry asked them both.

"If we can manage to do that, and maybe make it temporarily unplottable, it would have the highest level of protection we could give it," Remus answered.

"But won't Mr. Crookshanks be a bit upset at us for making his property disappear?" Hermione asked.

"Well, if we don't tell him about it, he won't even remember he owns it," said Remus.

"But when it comes time to pay rent he would have no idea what we were trying to pay him for," said Hermione.

"I did get enough money to pay him for the rest of the year. We pay it all up front, and if we decide to stay longer we can either drop the protection or tell him the secret," Harry told her.

"And you'd have to decide who you want to keep the secret," Remus softly said.

Their conversation sank into silence for a while before Hermione spoke up, "Well, we can just worry about that after we find out if Professor Flitwick can help us cast it. Dobby, can you find the professor?"

"Of course Miss Hermy, would you like Dobby to go to him now?"

"Let me just write him a quick note, and you can ask him to owl us back as soon as he can," she replied.

Harry let Hedwig out for the night after Dobby had gone and as they all were going to bed Hermione couldn't stop herself from saying "'Night Dad." Remus' grumbling kept Harry awake for quite a while.

A quiet muttering woke Harry up the next morning. He rolled over to look at Remus facing the wall on the other side of the bed and was about to assume the werewolf was having a nightmare when he began talking in his sleep.

"Not now Nym… The others will be here any moment…" Harry jumped out of bed, jerking the covers with him, which caused Remus to flop unceremoniously on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Hermione shouted as she sprung up from her bed.

"Why am I on the floor?" Remus called from the other side of the room.

"You were talking in your sleep," Harry told them both.

Remus' head poked up over the bed, "And what was I saying?"

"You seemed to be having a rather… pleasant dream about Tonks." Remus' face erupted red before vanishing back out of view while Hermione snickered at Harry's side.

"She is going to so disappointed she missed all of this," Hermione commented.

"Well, I'm sure you'll manage to fill her in completely," came a snide voice from floor level.

Hermione, Remus, and Dobby waited behind to check out as Harry went to see Mr. Crookshanks. The landlord looked concerned when Harry handed him a wad of hundred pound notes. "Sorry, I don't have a checking account," Harry lamely explained.

"Of course. Well, if you need anything Remus knows where to find me. Enjoy your time here," he told Harry before shaking his hand and walking away with an amused smile.

Hedwig flew down to join Harry as he walked inside. "Well, welcome home girl. For now at least." Dobby popped in with their luggage a minute before Hermione and Remus showed up.

"Where would Harry Potter sir like his trunks to go?" Dobby asked.

"All the rooms are pretty much the same, so why don't you pick a room for yourself then put the rest of the trunks wherever," said Harry.

Dobby snapped his fingers, flinging open the doors to all the rooms, before levitating Remus' trunk into a room on one side of the cottage, and Harry and Hermione's to the rooms on the other. With another snap a bag with a pair of knitting needles sticking out the top appeared which Dobby took into the last room. They all parted ways to unpack; Harry placed Hedwig's perch by the window in his room, which he charmed to open at will for her before unloading his clothes into his dresser. When he got to the bottom of his trunk he found the disabled Horcruxes along side Gryffindor's sword. "Damn, what am I gonna do with this thing," Harry mumbled to himself as he picked up the sword, and then leaned it up against the wall by his bed. He carefully stepped around the room until he found a floorboard loose enough to pull up; just as he was wrapping up the Horcruxes in one of Dudley's old shirts to hide them away Remus came into the room.

"Are you already destroying the place?"

"I have this feeling we should keep these with us for some reason, instead of in a vault somewhere, but I'm not going to leave them sitting around for anyone to find either," Harry told him before replacing the board and stomping it down.

"And the sword?"

"I completely forgot to give it to McGonagall when we were at Grimmauld Place. I think I'll have one of the elves take it to her later." After placing a few books of top of his dresser Harry slid his now-empty trunk underneath his bed.

"What's in the other trunk?"

Harry faltered for a moment before answering, "It was transferred to my vault from Sirius, I haven't opened it yet. I thought you might like to see it too…"

"Do you know was that trunk in Sirius' vault, or the Black family one?" Remus asked slightly wide-eyed.

"Sirius' why?"

Remus sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, "I don't know much about what happened that night, but I do know that after Hagrid collected you from the ruins Sirius went back and salvaged what he could, for you. He took the trunk to Gringotts before setting off to find Peter, but after his arrest they took away his vault key. He wanted you to have this so badly, he even got Tonks to try and find the key so I could at least go in and retrieve it, but it seems the key managed to vanish over the course of the years."

"Are you saying everything in this trunk once belonged to my parents, not Sirius?" Harry weakly asked.

Remus nodded before starting to move out of the room, "I'll leave you to it."

"No! Could you stay, please?"

They both sat on the floor in front of the trunk as Harry flipped open the lid. Inside there was a mess of assorted things. Scattered over the top were several broken dishes all bearing the same crest, which Remus told him was the Potter family's; they carefully repaired the china and set it aside. Dozens of framed pictures, most of which had an infant Harry in them were pilled on top of several rows of neatly stacked books, and in the bottom corner was a long, thin box containing two wands and a golden bracelet that Harry slipped in his pocket so it wouldn't get lost in the clutter. Harry remembered Mr. Ollivander's descriptions from when he was younger and quickly identified whose wands they were.

"Sirius mentioned that after he moved the… bodies, there wasn't much left to save. Apparently the study had taken the least amount of damage," said Remus in a hollow voice while examining a book on household charms that was slightly charred around the edges.

"Harry?" Hermione tentatively called from the doorway.

"Hermione, come look! These were my parents things!" Harry's voice sounded like a small child come Christmas morning.

"Wherever did they come from?" she asked as she sat down on Harry's other side.

"Sirius saved them before the house burnt down and put it all in his Gringotts vault, but the Aurors stole his key and he could get back in. This was the trunk they transferred from his vault to mine."

"This is wonderful," she said while inspecting a picture of a baby Harry cuddled up sleeping with Padfoot. Every so often the dog's eyes would open as he checked on the child before going back to sleep.

"Remus, what's this?" Harry asked holding up a photo of what appeared to be a reindeer with a bright red nose prancing through the air.

Remus cradled the frame as if it were something precious while chuckling softly, "This was the Christmas before you were born. Sirius and I had the brilliant idea of having James transform so we could add the nose and levitate him over the village. The local children couldn't talk about anything other than the fact that they'd seen `Rudolph' for months afterwards, but unfortunately we were a bit… inebriated and cancelled the charm a little too soon, your father dropped the last thirty feet to the ground when we'd returned. Lilly said it was only fitting when she transfigured our presents to coal."

"Harry, these are all of your mother's notebooks from when she was at Hogwarts!" said Hermione, having moved on to the stack of books. "Cor! There's even more from after school. These are brilliant!"

Harry felt an enormous swell of pride in the fact that Hermione, the smartest person he knew, was impressed by his mother's intelligence. He picked up another of the notebooks and was surprised to find handwriting very similar to his own. Flipping quickly through he had to ask, "Remus, is this all about how my dad learned to be an Animagus?"

"Yes; James always did good in his classes, but when it came to his `side-projects' he made sure to always thoroughly check his research."

A brief pang of regret shot through Harry, if he'd gotten all of this sooner he might have been able to learn how to transform just like his father, but now he needed to concentrate on other things.

"Did you know your mother was working on a charm that would universally translate any spoken language? Apparently she got quite close with it, except for a few Muggle languages that kept sounding like mermish," said Hermione as she excitedly flipped through another journal.

Harry and Remus sorted through the pictures while Hermione read on. Some went on each of their nightstands, while the majority of them were placed on the bookshelves and mantle of the main room. Dobby took the china to the kitchen while the others shelved the books (Harry put the wands in a dresser drawer), and soon enough lunch was ready, so Harry called in Winky to join them and see where they were going to be living.

After their meal (and Dobby scolding Harry for trying to clean up after himself), Winky snapped her fingers and a block of letters landed on the table, "Winky has been collecting all of the owls for Harry Potter sir and Miss Hermy, along with Wolfie," Harry and Hermione both looked to Remus who was barely holding in a growl.

"Winky, I don't think Remus likes being called `Wolfie,'" Hermione gently told the elf, who looked quite stricken.

"It's all right, Hermione. Tonks told her to call me that," said Remus.

"Winky, why are some of these letters burnt?" Harry asked while sorting through the pile.

"A bad witch sent a red letter. She called Miss Hermy a nasty name and said Harry Potter should not waste time saving her."

Harry sent Hermione an apologetic look, but she simply shrugged, "It's okay Harry. There's always going to be people that think that."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Winky," said Harry.

"Does Harry Potter want Winky to make the red letters go away?"

"You can do that?"

"Winky can return them to the senders before they are delivered, if Harry Potter wishes."

"That'd be great, thanks. You can do it for any Hermione gets as well," he told her causing Winky to smile for the first time since Harry had yelled at the elves in the Grangers' kitchen. "And you don't have to wait for me to call you. If we get any post, or even if you just want to stop by, feel free." Winky tensed up a bit at the word free, but nodded her understanding before popping away.

Harry passed a letter to Remus or Hermione occasionally, but most of what Winky brought appeared to be fan mail which was set aside for another time, the bottom of the stack, however, had two Hogwarts letters. Harry handed Hermione hers before ripping his open and turning it over. Two badges clattered along the table, one was a new captain badge, and the other was a large silver badge with "HB" on it. "What is McGonagall trying to pull here? I wasn't even a prefect!" said Harry while eyeing the badge.

"Neither was James, but he was still Head Boy," Remus pointed out.

Harry looked over to Hermione who was sadly looking down at her new Head Girl badge and took a moment to realize just how long she'd been hoping to receive it; how she was giving up a part of her dreams for him, "Hermione-"

"I'm staying with you, Harry," she firmly told him.

"What if we both went back? McGonagall would probably let us leave whenever we need to, if we asked. And you would still have access to the library-"

"It wouldn't be right. Accepting these badges is a huge responsibility, and with what we're trying to do we wouldn't have time to do any of the required duties. We'd be cheating the school of something it needs. If we ever want to finish this quest we need to be completely committed to it. Going back to Hogwarts would make it just another nighttime project."

"But this is everything to you. You've had your eye on that badge since first year, and I know that you've been studying for N.E.W.T.S. since the middle of fifth year."

"It's not everything, Harry," said Hermione looking deep into his eyes. "And I've already checked about taking N.E.W.T.S. at the ministry. There'll be plenty of time to study once Voldemort's dead. I know you're just thinking of me, and I appreciate it, but we're not going back." She took one last look at the badge before sliding it back into the envelope and setting it gently on the table.

"You might want to keep your booklist, just for reference," said Remus from across the table. Harry and Hermione both pulled out their lists and set the rest to the side.

"Oh, Professor Flitwick's written back," said Hermione as she went back to the rest of her letters. "He's says he'd be happy to help in whatever we need, just contact him at the castle."

"Dobby, could you take these two envelopes back to Professor McGonagall and tell her that Hermione and I are very sorry, but we can't attend Hogwarts this year, then find Professor Flitwick and ask him if he'd like to come by for dinner? He can pick the time, and I'll meet him at the Three Broomsticks to show him the way." Dobby just gave a solemn nod in reply before popping away.

Hermione excused herself and went over to the sofa where Crookshanks was lounging. Remus asked to borrow Harry's mirror to call Tonks and retreated to his room after nudging Harry towards the sofa. He sat down close to Hermione and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not giving up my dreams for you, Harry," Hermione voiced his thoughts.

"You're not?"

"Well, not just for you, but also for myself, and Mum and Dad, and every other person out there that's in danger. You remember the Weasley's clock last summer, no one's safe right now; the sooner we end this the better. For everyone," she told him as she snuggled up to him.

"I'll do everything I can to get you back in time to take your N.E.W.T.S.," Harry promised her.

"`We' Harry. You're the one that told me you're not letting go. We're going to finish what we've started together, then take the tests together," she smiled sweetly at his grimace.

Harry felt Hermione starting to drift off and not wanting to move and wake her, he flipped on the television. Most of the news was about something in Hong Kong, so he searched around until he found a weather forecast wondering if tomorrow would be a good day to go flying. Half paying attention to the weatherman he took out the bracelet he'd found in his parents trunk and absent-mindedly twirled it around a finger. The sun glinting off of the gold brought Hermione out of her reverie.

"Harry!" she shouted, grabbing his wrist, "Where did you get that?"

"It was in with my parents things, why?"

Hermione dumped Crookshanks in Harry's lap and dashed off to her room, only to come streaking back with one of the books she'd picked up with Remus. She quickly flipped through the book until she found the page she was looking for, "That bracelet, it was a gift from Godric Gryffindor to his wife on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It's been thought lost since the last goblin revolution, here look!"

She shoved the book at Harry and he saw the drawing inside, it had the same Celtic patterns all around it and the runes etched around each end seemed to match exactly, "Do you think this is a…?"

"There's only way to find out."

Harry set the bracelet down on the coffee table in front of them and preformed the prior Incantato spell on it, with no result. "What does that mean?" asked Harry.

Hermione picked up the bracelet and chewed her lip in thought for a minute, "Have you ever seen any evidence that this belonged to your mother?"

"She didn't seem to wear any jewelry in any of the pictures I've seen, but it was in the trunk of things Sirius got from their house."

"I think that maybe… Voldemort might have brought this with him the night he attacked you."

"And that that was going to be the last Horcrux?"

"Only he couldn't take with him after he'd lost his body, so when it came time to make another he substituted the snake for this."

Harry impulsively kissed her, "You're brilliant."

"Oh, well… thanks," she muttered as her face flushed. "But that still doesn't put us any closer to finding the other two."

"Tomorrow, we should get Neville up here and go over the books you bought with him and Remus. We need to look for anything that was thought lost. He found this; he could have found something else. After that we dissect his life from when he was still Tom Riddle. He's already hidden two in places he went before becoming Voldemort, maybe we'll get lucky and find another."

"And what do we do about the bracelet? We have to keep it somewhere safe."

Harry took it back from her and tried to think of the safest place he could imagine. As secure as Gringotts appeared he wasn't sure if it was good enough. He could place it under the floorboard in his room, but he would feel the need to take it with him when he left, just in case. Harry gently lifted Hermione's arm and slid the bracelet over her hand where it magically sized itself to her wrist.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"It just gives me one more reason to keep you safe, not that I need it."

"What if someone sees it?"

"Only Voldemort knows what it is, so if he's gonna be around, wear long sleeves. We probably shouldn't tell anyone other than Remus and Neville what that actually is."

"Agreed."

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby's voice made them both jump.

"Yes Dobby?"

"The tiny Professor says he will meet you in one hour."

"Thanks Dobby," said Harry, but the elf's eyes were no longer on him. Dobby stood hypnotized by the television screen in front of him, the start of an addiction that would plague him for the rest of his life.

><><><><><>

Just under an hour later, Harry stood waiting outside the Three Broomsticks underneath his invisibility cloak, having left Hermione and Remus teaching Dobby how to use the remote control. He spotted the professor making his way up the road and went to greet him.

"Professor Flitwick," said Harry as he pulled of his cloak.

"Oh! Mr. Potter, I'm an old man, you shouldn't be scaring me like that," Flitwick replied.

"Sorry Professor, I had an unfortunate run-in with a flock of children earlier so I decided to hide myself. Err, so do you just want me to guide you to where we're going?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be the best course of action," the tiny man said as he reached up to take Harry's hand. A second later they appeared just behind their rented cottage. "What a charming little place, is it yours?"

"Well, we've rented it for the remainder of the year."

"I was under the impression that the house in London I visited was owned by you."

"It is, but it's being used for… other activities, and I wanted to be closer to where my parents are buried."

"We're in Godric's Hollow then? Your elf didn't offer any specifics."

"Yes Dobby is good at keeping secrets," said Harry with a smile before leading the smaller man inside.

Hermione and Remus both greeted Flitwick warmly while Dobby sat next to Crookshanks on the sofa jabbing at the remote. Hermione quickly led the conversation to charms and pulled down one of Lilly's notebooks, which Flitwick found at least equally as fascinating as she did.

"Dobby," said Harry after walking up behind the elf, "are you going to make supper, or take the night off to watch the telly?"

"I's terribly sorry Harry Potter, Dobby is being a bad House-Elf and will start the meal right away!"

"Are you sure, I can cook if you'd rather not." The elf look mortified and ran to the kitchen leaving Harry to shut off the television. "What I am gonna do about him?" Harry asked Crookshanks who jumped up to the back of the sofa to be pet in lieu of response.

Walking back over to Hermione and Flitwick Harry found the professor holding a picture of a young James and Lilly with a somber expression.

"They were so young…" he squeaked out.

Harry shuffled uncomfortably for a second before asking, "Would you like to… see their grave?" Flitwick chocked back a sob and nodded, so Harry and Hermione led him hand in hand to the graveyard.

The dog was again lying under the tree as they approached and as the teens gave their professor some time alone to grieve it walked over and sat next to Harry. "I think he likes you," Hermione quietly told him.

"Maybe we should take him home," he chuckled.

"I don't know if that would be the responsible choice. What if we're drawn away for an extended period?"

"Ignoring the fact that he seems to be getting along fine on his own here, we do happen to have the highest paid House-Elf in history-"

"For all we know he could belong to one of the villagers."

Harry knelt down and felt around the dog's neck, "He doesn't have any tags. Can we keep him?" he asked in a childlike voice.

Hermione looked between Harry and the dog who were both looking up at her with pleading eyes, "Oh I suppose. As long as Crookshanks approves," she added as Harry's grin widened.

"I see you've made a friend," said Professor Flitwick as he rejoined them with slightly reddened eyes. The dog carefully sniffed the professor before running his slobbery tongue across his face. Flitwick giggled a bit and asked if they'd given it a name.

"He looks an awful lot like someone we knew, so I think we should wait until Remus has a say," Harry carefully replied. "Besides, Hermione's cat still needs to approve."

"I have something here for the both of you," Flitwick said as they made their way back to the cottage, the dog happily trotting alongside Harry. "We were in the middle of a meeting to decide the new head of Gryffindor house when your elf arrived in Hogwarts and tried to return these," he held open his hands with one of their badges in each palm. Harry thought they looked surprisingly big in the tiny man's hands.

"I'm sorry Professor, but as I'm sure you're at lest vaguely aware, Harry and I have more pressing matters to attend to than attending school," said Hermione.

"Yes, I understand. Minerva wondered aloud what Mr. Potter had to say to convince you to not return until your friend Dobby informed us all that you were the one to convince Mr. Potter to stay away," Flitwick eyed Hermione curiously as he spoke.

"She didn't have to convince me to stay away, I just offered to go back for her," answered Harry.

"Oh, I will have to have a word with Horace. He was most disappointed in you, Hermione, though I suspect his reasons had little to do with school," said Flitwick.

"Yes, I'm afraid he's lost the opportunity to place Harry among his other trophies," Hermione smirked.

The professor let out an indignant noise, "Slug Club indeed. But anyway, the Headmistress insists you keep these badges. Regardless of your decision to return, the fact that you were selected is something to be proud of. Your replacements have been selected and shall be informed tomorrow."

"Who has she selected, Professor?" asked Hermione as they pocketed their badges.

"Well, the new Head Girl is Padma Patil, and Minerva is taking a chance, seeing as how his letter didn't arrive with your own, at letting Ron Weasley be Head Boy."

Harry was surprised and a little saddened at the news. Ron shouldn't have even had the opportunity to be Head Boy if things had gone according to plan, but he did clearly remember what Ron had seen in the Mirror of Erised first year. Without Harry he did have the most experience on the Quidditch team, almost insuring the captaincy. "What's so funny about Ron getting the badge?" Harry asked when Hermione started to snicker at his side.

"Oh, it's just… Parvati told me last year, when Ron was vacuuming out Lavender's mouth, that Padma's still a bit upset about his refusal to even look at her during the Yule Ball. Now they're going to have to share the Head's suite."

"That was years ago, how could she still be upset? Does that mean Parvati hates me too?"

"Does Parvati's approval mean something to you?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes.

"No! Just… I mean… She seemed fine last year-"

"Oh! So you were watching Parvati?"

"Not like that! It's just, you were always off researching something, and every time she and Lavender came around Ron and I it was either watch the two of them snog or talk to her…" Harry could feel himself starting to sweat as the professor laughed next to him.

Hermione's lips twisted into a shrewd smile, which Harry was pretty sure meant she had only been teasing him, "Very well. No, Parvati's not upset with you. She understands now, thanks to me, that you were merely bored by the dance and not her. Ron, on the other hand, completely ignored his date in favor of glaring at the both of us, Neville, and Viktor."

"Me?"

"Well, he might still have been a touch jealous of the attention you were getting, but he was doing his best to get past it."

"And Padma?

Hermione sighed, "No girl wants to feel unwanted, which is exactly how Ron made her feel without ever trying to apologize for it."

"So you think Ron needs to apologize?"

"I doubt it would help, besides the fact that Ron's dreadfully inexperienced in giving out apologies. She'll probably just make the first month or so of his year as uncomfortable as she can before moving on," Hermione smiled satisfactorily.

"Is this something I will need to keep an eye on?" Flitwick asked as he conjured a stick for the dog to fetch. The dog seemed more interested in the stick he was holding than the one he threw.

"Oh no, Padma is far too intelligent to let something like this affect her position," Hermione told the professor who smiled happily.

"Of course she is, she is in Ravenclaw after all," Flitwick's voice was full of pride. "I've always wondered what out chances for the house cup would have been if you had been sorted into my house, Hermione."

"Well you almost had your wish, but the hat changed its mind at the last second," she replied.

"What, am I not smart enough to have been in your house?" Harry asked in a mock-hurt voice.

"You most certainly are, when you apply yourself, but anyone who knew your parents would have been shocked if you'd been anything other than a Gryffindor." Harry refrained from telling Flitwick about his conversations with the sorting hat.

"Have you picked a new head for Gryffindor yet?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Hagrid has been selected for that. I believe he was going out tonight to celebrate, so I'm sure the entire village of Hogsmeade knows by now."

"We'll have to stop by and congratulate him sometime," said Harry.

"I'm sure he would greatly appreciate that," said Flitwick as they reached the cottage.

"Harry, can you hold the dog back for a second," Hermione asked before running inside and returning with Crookshanks. She set the cat down and he carefully walked around the dog before rubbing his head affectionately against one of its legs and looking back up to Hermione.

"Okay, Harry. You can keep him."

"Excellent!" squeaked the professor before waving his wand at the door creating a flap big enough for the animal to enter, which it did, closely followed by Crookshanks.

The conversation through dinner was mostly about how Hagrid would fair as a head of house until Dobby brought over the cherry sundaes he had made for dessert, which brought out another happy squeal from Flitwick, "I must say, you certainly know how to entertain, Mr. Potter!"

The idea that this was his home, even temporarily, was slow to sink into Harry's head, "Actually, you're the first person we've had over."

Remus used the topic as a springboard into the charms they were planning on adding to the property. "Making the property unplottable will require a special powder which I know the apothecary in Diagon Alley keeps a supply of, do you have a person selected to be your Secret-Keeper?"

Harry looked around the room apprehensively, "Does the Secret-Keeper have to be human?" Hermione gave him a very satisfied smile.

"Well the only requirement is that they have a soul, so I suppose not," said Flitwick.

"Dobby, do you understand what the Fidelius Charm is?" The elf shook his head, so they carefully explained what would be required of him; when they were finished he was crying tears of joy.

"The powder flares quite brightly when it is activated, and the Fidelius requires several fiery runes, so it would be best to wait until night when the Muggles are asleep," Flitwick informed them. As Dobby was out getting the supplies and Hermione was once again going through Lilly's notebooks with Flitwick, Harry had a word with Remus about their new pet.

"Have you picked a name for him yet?" Remus asked.

"No, I wanted to have a word with you first, since he looks so much like…"

"Padfoot, yes. When I first saw him in the graveyard I forced myself to shake off the thought, but when he was there again the next morning I couldn't help but try the Animagus reversal spell on him."

"Why do you suppose he was there again?"

"I can't be sure, but the charms I've been applying to the area would keep it clean, dry, and warm. Any stray dog coming across a spot like that during the winter would quickly learn to like it."

"Why didn't he try to attack Hermione and I that morning like he did you?"

"Animals, even non-magical ones, have a certain sense about them. He might have sensed your connection to your parents and the fact that you were wrapped up with Hermione would have excused her, meanwhile I stormed up the path and fired a spell at him. One could say his reaction was understandable."

"And about the name?"

"I think I knew Sirius well enough to say he would find it highly amusing we named a dog after him, but I don't know how well I would deal with calling him Padfoot given the resemblance," Remus said with a slightly queasy look.

"What if we call him Sirius?"

Remus eyed the dog sadly for minute before slightly nodding, "Sirius it is."

"Are you quite happy with your jacket?" Professor Flitwick asked as Harry slipped it on to go outside and spread the powder Dobby had bought.

"It's fantastic, and it was nice to get a present from Hagrid that didn't try to bite me."

"When he first asked me to charm the pockets I thought it would be a simple job. Imagine my surprise when he actually showed me how many he had added," Flitwick said with a laugh.

"You did a great job, thanks. They've been pretty handy for smuggling my owl and Hermione's cat around the Muggles."

"I'd wondered if he had that in mind when he put a perch inside one. He told me he'd have another one for Miss Granger for me to work on in a day or two," he added in a whisper so she couldn't hear.

"I'm sure she'll love it."

Under cover of night Harry and Remus spread the powder in a line around the edges of the property as Hermione followed Flitwick, watching him draw bright orange runes with his wand every few feet near the line and taking notes. When both pairs had finished their circuit Flitwick chanted something that made the end of his wand glow bright purple before he touched it to the powder line causing a flare of purple fire to shoot out in either direction impossibly fast.

"The runes will wait for up to an hour for the completion of the charm," Flitwick told Hermione as they walked inside. Harry, Hermione, Remus, Flitwick and Winky gathered themselves in a circle around Dobby. "Do you remember what you must say Dobby?" he asked the elf. Dobby nodded vigorously, having been coached on this part for nearly an hour. "Just remember, as soon as everything turns dark, speak your secret, and you will seal the charm."

Flitwick wiggled his wand about in an incredibly long, confusing manner before pointing it directly at Dobby at shouting "FIDELIO!" As if a sheet had been tightly wrapped around Harry's head, the world turned black; the only things he was sure of was the fact that he was standing up and holding Hermione's hand, everything else seemed to be suffocating in darkness.

Dobby's voice cut through the dead silence, "Harry Potter sir and his friends live at number nine, Mill Street, in Godric's Hollow!" A bright, golden light formed around Dobby, then spread outward to the edges of the runes leaving everything in its wake just as it had been before the charm had been cast.

"Well," Flitwick said with a happy little sigh, "everything seems to be in order here. Of course should you need any further help, you know where to find me." Everyone thanked him profusely before he left.

After the others had gone off to their rooms, Harry walked over to the fireplace and stared at a picture of his parents sitting on the grounds of Hogwarts. He allowed himself a brief moment of regret thinking his chances of having a carefree moment like the one he was viewing were slim, at least anytime soon. He took the Head Boy badge from his pocket and placed it next to his father before heading for his new room.

><><><><><><

Harry was the last one to wake the next morning which unfortunately meant he was forced to take a cold shower, something he was used to with the Dursleys, but since he could now use magic he pulled down his parents book on household charms intent on finding something to keep the water warm.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked him as he sat on the opposite side of the sofa from her (Dobby was between them jabbing at the remote again).

"You and Remus ran out all the hot water like the Dursleys always used to, and I don't want either of you to have to suffer through a cold shower, so I'm looking for a magical solution."

"I'm sorry," she stiffly apologized before setting down the book she was reading and going over to the table. After jotting a quick note she looked at Dobby before reconsidering and calling for Winky. The elf took away Hermione's note, and popped back in with a reply before she could even sit back down on the sofa.

"What's all that about?" Harry mischievously asked.

"Nothing," Hermione quickly replied while trying to stuff the note in her pocket, but Harry reached in front of Dobby (who made an annoyed little noise) to snatch it from her.

Forget phase one, move to phase two

-H

Phase one already complete, phase two tonight

-F&G

"Are you plotting something with Fred and George?"

"Harry, please don't be mad," Hermione nervously told him. "Something had to be done, but you're just too kind. We weren't going to tell you, at least not anytime soon…"

"Hermione, what have you done?" Harry asked with genuine concern.

"It was such a good idea. They would get what they deserved, and it would help the twins get past their grief-"

"Hermione, the point? What is this phase one rubbish?"

"Phase one was - Oh, the twins are pranking the Dursleys."

"What? Why bother?"

"Because they shouldn't be able to just get away with the way they treated you! I know you'll never admit it but given what I already knew and after what Remus said the other day it's fairly obvious that growing up there must have been hell for you. You may be able to forget about it but I refuse to. Do you realize they've been getting paid all of these years to take care of you?" Hermione asked nearly in tears.

"It - What? What would make you think that?"

"Ragnok mentioned something about it. While you were sleeping at Mum and Dad's I took the ledger he gave you out of your trunk and had Mum help me look through it, since she deals with all of their offices' financial matters. She said it wasn't a lot of money, but definitely enough for them to have been able to buy decent clothes and feed you properly. It's painfully obvious to anyone who takes the time to really know you that they never bothered."

"It's really nothing to worry about anymore, besides, I'm sure the twins have more important things on their minds."

"George and Fred needed something to lift their spirits, but I did make them promise not to do anything permanent," Hermione quickly said.

"What are these `phases?'"

"Apparently last night they went in and did a bit of moving. Right now, if they're lucky, your aunt and uncle should be standing in the hall trying to figure out how they ended up in your old room with all of the locks fastened and your cousin is probably still trying to find a way to move after being stuffed in that cupboard," Hermione had a slightly evil grin as she explained. "Starting tomorrow those people will begin finding it a bit hard to enjoy their meals as every time they try and use a dish or cup the food will disappear on contact. They can still eat, but they'll be forced to either use their hands or replace everything."

"And how long will that last?" Harry slowly asked as a picture of himself desperately trying to fill a goblet for Dumbledore flashed in his mind.

"Until they take off the jinx, which they said they'd do on your birthday at the latest."

"How is it that the girl that used to chastise me over every little rule I broke has suddenly teamed up with two people that believe every rule is meant to be broke?"

"Well, I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I casually ignored anyone hurting you," Hermione told him in a very prim voice before returning to her book.

It was the first time either of them had given any sort of title to their relationship and it took Harry completely by surprise. Emboldened by her declaration, Harry first moved Dobby from his seat on the sofa to a nearby chair, then the book from Hermione's hands, and kissed her thoroughly.

Remus had taken a morning walk to the store to pickup some proper dog food even though he was pretty sure Dobby would continue preparing an extra plate of whatever they were eating since he didn't know any better. Walking back into the cottage he nearly dropped the bag he was carrying when he saw his two "roommates" kissing with enough enthusiasm to make him blush. Harry was stretched out on the sofa with Hermione lying on top of him, their legs were tightly wound together and the only hand that could be identified was one of Harry's, stuck underneath the back of her shirt. Sirius trotted out of the bathroom with a dripping-wet muzzle, saw Remus standing by the door and barked happily.

The teens detached their faces and looked up to their former teacher, making no effort to disentangle themselves. "Well, I suppose that's better than a jet of water, but you really need to work on your timing Moony," Harry calmly told him.

"Yes, I appear to be too late," the werewolf cheekily replied.

Harry sighed, "Just because your girlfriend is out of town doesn't mean I'm not allowed to give mine some well-deserved attention."

"Might I remind you both that the Grangers were happy to know I would be accompanying-"

"My parents were happy to know we wouldn't be alone for our safety, it had nothing to do with needing a chaperone. Their rules for… this type of situation were made quite clear to me, and I have no intention of breaking them," Hermione cut him off sweetly before turning back to lay a series of kisses along Harry's neck.

"We could go find Annabel if you're feeling a bit lonely," Harry added while trying to retain his composure. Between Hermione's mouth on his neck and her hands stroking his chest beneath his shirt he was having a hard time paying any attention to Remus.

"I'd tell you two to at least go to one of your rooms, but I seriously doubt I'd see you for days and you're the ones who said there are things we need to do today," Remus coolly replied before going to the kitchen to take care of the dog food.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled a minute later. "That's gonna leave a mark," he muttered as she jumped up from the sofa covering her mouth to hold in the laughter, and went over to the table where Remus having a cup of tea and trying not to smile.

Once Harry joined them at the table rubbing a spot on his neck and muttering something about how Hermione had turned into a Vampire overnight they informed Remus everything they were planning on researching that day. It took Hermione going over and unplugging the television to get Dobby to realize they were talking to him, he quickly apologized and popped away to tell Neville his secret so he could join them. A minute later Harry recognized the tingling feeling on the back of his neck and stood up to catch Neville before he crashed to the ground.

"Thanks Harr- What happened to your neck?" Neville asked.

"Nothing," Harry mumbled while shooting Hermione a glare.

"Well, now that we're all here why don't Hermione and I begin researching Rowena while you and Neville spend your time with Gryffindor," said Remus.

"Trying to keep us apart Remus?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I doubt Neville wants to spend his afternoon seeing what other ways you plan on marking Harry as your own."

Hermione huffed indignantly before gathering her books and flopping down in a chair next to Remus. They spent several hours pouring over all of the information they had and making a list of possible artifacts, then sent Dobby to Gringotts to retrieve the box of memories.

While Harry was showing Remus through the series of memories containing a young Voldemort, Dobby figured out how to plug in the television and when Harry and Remus returned to the room they found Neville and the elf sitting wide-eyed on the sofa.

In the end Harry had to order Dobby to make dinner and physically pull Neville back to the table to continue. "So where do we think these last two Horcruxes could be?" Harry asked.

"From what we know of his past, he seems to have selected places that he was closely tied to, but not in a pleasant way," said Hermione. "He was angered by who his true family turned out to be and leaving a piece of himself there was not so much acknowledging his kinship, but marking the place he took his revenge. Whatever he did to those two children in that cave was probably one of his greatest memories for him to honor the location as he did. Both places seem to have been somewhere that he'd taken a greater, more pleasurable step into the dark. Where else has he committed an evil great enough to enjoy it?"

"The only other places we know he murdered someone at are Saldie's Mum's place and Hogwarts, right?" Neville asked.

"There were also a few Order members we believe he killed personally, but they were all close to the time that he fell, so I would assume he would have had the first five already in place," said Remus.

"Could he have hidden one in Hogwarts? Maybe stored somewhere in the Chamber?" Neville asked.

Harry shook his head, "That might have been part of the reason he tried to get the teaching post. He couldn't risk going back into it after he'd killed Myrtle. If he was a professor he would have had unfettered access to the school and maybe then he would have put the diary in the Chamber, believing no one else would be able to enter. Eventually he gave it to Malfoy for safe keeping only telling him that it would open the Chamber, not what it really was."

"Why do you suppose he chose Lucius?" Remus asked.

"He might have realized he was the least likely of his Death Eaters to be imprisoned," Hermione guessed. "If there was one person who'd be able to worm his way out of punishment it would be Malfoy."

"To bad that excuse only works once," Harry said with a slight grin. "And for some reason I doubt he wanted Lucius to keep the diary, it might have been his eventual plan to use him or even Draco to get it back into Hogwarts."

"Do you think he would have hidden one in the orphanage that he grew up in?" Neville asked.

"That is possible," Hermione agreed. "It was the place he first discovered his powers and used them to terrify the other children."

"There's not one there," Harry answered.

"Why would you think that?" Remus asked.

"First, I'm sure Dumbledore checked, it's too likely a place for him to have not."

"And second?" Hermione prompted.

"He hated the place. Whatever little bits of joy he found in harassing the other people there it wouldn't have been enough to cover that fact. There has to be a place nearby that he went to be alone, a park or something. That might even be where he found out he could control animals. If he wanted something near the orphanage, it'd be there."

"How can you be sure? I mean we're talking about finding a park in the middle of Muggle London, right?" Neville asked.

Harry shrugged a little, "When someone doesn't have any family they need a place to call their own. Somewhere they can feel special. He couldn't have found that in a place where everyone thought he was a freak." Both Hermione's and Remus' expressions turned stony.

"I think that's about enough for today," said Remus. "Tonks should be back in about a week, I would suggest that we wait for her before we begin scouring our way through London, just in case we run into trouble. She knows not to ask questions as to what we're looking for."

"That sounds good," Harry told him before looking to Hermione. "That's not going to mess up anything with the Wolfsbane, is it?"

"No, I have to start it on Tuesday, but it's little steps throughout the week, all at night, so as long as we come home everyday it will be fine."

"It would probably be best for one of you to bring me back to Grimmauld Place for my transformation," Remus sadly told them. "There's a room there that's been reinforced for my use, and if anything… adverse should happen, we would be closer to the hospital. Not that I don't trust you, Hermione," he added quickly after catching Harry's glare.

><><><><>>

The rest of the week past quickly for Harry. He spent a good deal of time sifting through his thoughts in his Pensieve, which was now permanently setup in the middle of their kitchen table. Whenever he would get frustrated with his lack of progress in uncovering some forgotten piece of knowledge he would either take Sirius for a walk with Hermione, or they would Apparate over to his parents' property where Harry would try to out-fly Hedwig while Hermione sat in the sun reading. Remus, for his part, tended to avoid the village at all costs; he told them he might chance a trip whenever his "wife" returned.

Hermione had found out that Dobby's birthday was the coming Saturday, so they decided to throw the elf a small party. On Friday Harry, Hermione, and Remus traveled to Hogsmeade with Harry having quickly picked up his father's habit of complaining about being Remus' "ride." Harry bought an assortment of garments in Gladrags Wizardwear that were sure to clash no matter how you arranged them; Alicia Spinnet was once again working the counter and let out a high-pitched squeal when she saw Harry and Hermione's linked hands before attacking them both with hugs.

While in Honeydukes Harry asked if they should get Hermione's father some wizard candy seeing as how he seemed to enjoy himself playing around with Harry's cloak. She told him that, being dentists, they tended to stay away from sweets, but Harry couldn't be stopped from filling one of his massive pockets with a variety of things. Remus told the teens to go see Hagrid while he ran a few more errands.

Their half-giant friend was decidedly not in any state to entertain when they arrived, having spent the days and nights since his appointment as head of Gryffindor house celebrating. Even after he downed a massive cupful of the extra-strong tea Harry made for him all he could muster was a few jumbled sentences and a not-so-gentle pat on the back for each of them, though he was barely coherent enough to present Hermione with her own Manticore-hide jacket, complete with built in litter box. They forced the man into his bed, fed Fang and left to find Remus.

The next morning Harry and Hermione had Dobby accompany them to the Granger's. They had told the elf it was simply to tell them his secret, but really as soon as they had left Remus and Winky began setting up for the small birthday party they were arranging. Stalling for time was easy, since Dan and Emma's television was a good deal larger than the one in their cottage, and when it was time to go Dobby grudgingly followed them all home. When they arrived the only thing that seemed to matter to the elf was that Harry Potter was giving him a party, complete with a sock-shaped cake.

Dobby took most the fun out of the presents by simply snapping his fingers to vanish all of the wrapping paper, thus the party was over quite quickly. Having been ordered to take the rest of the day off, he planted himself on the floor just a few feet from the television.

"Dobby, you really shouldn't sit so close," Emma Granger tried to reason with him. "You could really hurt your eyes."

"Dobby can always get glasses like Harry Potter sir, Mrs. Grangey," the elf replied without looking.

"Mum, what can we do about him?" Hermione asked, clearly frustrated.

"I don't know… Whenever we asked you to turn off the telly, you just went to your room and read."

"What's this thing?" Dan asked pointing at the Pensieve on the table.

Harry quickly explained and then entertained the Grangers by showing them a ghostly image of an eleven-year-old Hermione telling him off for trying to sneak out after curfew.

"How do you remember all of these trivial things, but when it comes exam time you can hardly tell the difference between a Niffler and a nullifier?" Hermione asked over her parents' laughter.

"Ah, Hermione, a man's mind is built for nonsense, not facts," her father told her.

They spent some time viewing some simpler memories from outside the Pensieve, not really sure what would happen if a Muggle would try to enter it. The Grangers got to watch Harry and Hermione be sorted, the Quidditch match from their second year when Dobby got Harry's arm broken, the journey to get the philosophers stone, the first tri-wizard task from Hermione's point of view in the stands, and just for fun their meeting with Mrs. Davis. Dan and Emma were amused; Remus was not.

It was later when Harry was showing Emma the various pictures they had placed around that he noticed something different on the mantle. The picture that he had set his Head Boy badge next to now had a Head Girl badge sitting on the other side, next to his mother. Harry wasn't really sure what to think as he noted the two people in the picture were wearing identical badges.

"If you guys are really going to be staying here a while, you should get some pictures of yourselves up here with the rest," Emma told Harry, breaking his train of thought.

"Precisely what I thought," Remus said from behind them before handing Harry a small wrapped package. Under the plain brown paper Harry found a framed picture of himself, Hermione, and Crookshanks cuddled up sleeping, with Hedwig alternately looking between the scenery passing by the window and Remus, who had taken the picture on their train ride a few days ago. There was another of Harry and Hermione on his Firebolt flying through the air alongside the owl with Crookshanks' ginger-head occasionally popping up from neck of Harry's jacket. The teens had very content smiles in both photos. "I had a friend help me develop them while you were visiting Hagrid yesterday, and I also had some copies made for you and Dan," Lupin added, pulling out another package from inside his robes and passing it to Emma.

"Thanks Remus," Harry softly told the man as he placed them on the mantle.

"And since we're in the mood for decorating," Remus said before waving his wand towards his room. A large frame soared into his hand and he tapped its back before placing it on the wall above the fireplace. Harry looked up sadly at the glowering picture of Sirius Black in the Prophet issue that announced his escape from Azkaban. "Oh, stop giving us that look, you're not scaring anyone here," Remus told the picture; amazingly, the Sirius looking down on them winked at Remus before smirking.

Harry turned away to watch Dan trying to get Dobby to spend more than half a second on each station when an image from the television sent a jolt through his mind. "Dobby stop, go back." The elf obediently flipped the channel back down and they saw a broad panning shot of a range of mountains before the scene changed to a reporter standing in a run-down city. "Where's that?" Harry asked Dan.

"It looks like another report on the riots in Albania. Their economy's almost completely collapsed as of late and it's drawn the country close to civil war. I had a patient a few days ago with some family there and he thinks their government is about to slip into the hands of the socialists," Dan grimly replied.

"That scene they showed, those mountains, they're in Albania too?"

"I would assume so. There's not much of a point to showing the scenery of another country than the one you're reporting on," Dan said with a shrug.

Harry slowly made his way back to the table deep in thought. Earlier, when he was showing the Grangers his memory of saving the stone they had been a bit preoccupied with the idea that one of his professors had a second face sticking out the back of his head, but Harry had been listening to what Quirrell had told him. I met him when I traveled around the world. Would it have been possible for Voldemort to return to the same place that Quirrell had found him? He faintly remembered Percy and Mr. Weasley saying something about Bertha Jorkins being lost on vacation in Albania. Bagman had suggested she got it confused with Australia.

Quirrell had some vague connections to Vampires, according to several people at Hogwarts his first year, and really Translyvania was close enough to Albania for a person to conceivably visit both on one trip, but why would Voldemort go to Albania? There had to be something there, either something he wanted protected or something that he thought could give him his body back. What if it was a Horcrux? He would have picked the furthest one away from England, knowing that Dumbledore and the Aurors were still looking for him, then sat waiting for someone to come along and help him use it.

But then why didn't Quirrell use it to bring him back then? Hermione's voice asked from the back of his mind.

The stone. Quirrell had known about the stone. They had tried to steal it a full month before the school year had started; the same day Harry met him. Hagrid seemed surprised to see the man, so he must have just returned from his trip. Voldemort would have only used a Horcrux if there were no other option to resurrect himself, and Quirrell gave him a perfectly good alternative. With the stone destroyed, Voldemort would have gone back to his next-best plan, waiting. He needed a wizard's help to activate a Horcrux, so he waited until Wormtail found him.

And why didn't he just activate the bloody thing? The voice asked again.

"Because he wasn't alone," Harry said aloud, staring so intently at the swirling mist inside his Pensieve that he didn't notice the others coming over to him. Bertha Jorkins was with Wormtail. Voldemort wrecked her mind and body squeezing information from her to make his next plan. Harry put his wand to his temple and extracted his memory from the graveyard beginning with the skeletal figure of Voldemort rising from the cauldron.

Harry forced himself to listen intently to what Voldemort was saying, looking for some sort of verification. He went on about his family, about taking his revenge against his father. The Death Eaters arrived and he taunted and tortured them. Moving on with his tale, Voldemort finally arrived on his time with Quirrell, speaking of bending his will only to fail in the end. I returned to my hiding place far away… When he heard those words a triumphant surge went through Harry, but the memory continued. His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in the Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them…

Not even bothering to notice that he almost knocked over Remus, Harry quickly walked over to Dobby on the sofa, "Dobby, go to the Hogwarts library and bring me back an atlas, and any books they have on Albania." The elf was only gone a few seconds before he popping back with two tomes: one massive atlas, and a skinny book on wizarding history in Albania.

Flipping madly through the history book for anything to do with a large forest near mountains Harry quickly found a picture that made his heart skip a beat.

Mount Korab, the highest peak in Albania, has been used since ancient times as a location for many sacred rituals. Some time in recent years a great dark force has been rumored to have inhabited the area causing many unexplained disappearances.

Harry went back and checked the publication date. Nineteen eighty-four. This was it, there had to be a Horcrux hidden there and it was either the object itself, or perhaps whatever was guarding it that had caused the disappearances.

"Hermione, I think I've found one," Harry excitedly said, but no one was listening. Hermione, Remus, Dan and Emma were all still watching his memory of the graveyard. Remus' face had turned a chalky-white while Hermione's parents looked like they were going to be sick. He heard himself Accio the cup and knew it was over, slowly their faces turned to him, the high of his discovery fading fast.

"Oh, you poor boy," Emma sobbed out before slamming him into an embrace that knocked the wind from him. "How did you ever manage to go on after that?"

After a few failed attempts at replying Harry finally croaked out, "I didn't really have a choice. Hermione had to put up with me being quite an arse for a while after that, but in the end she put me in my place and helped me through it."

Emma sniffed violently and turned to her daughter, "Hermione Jane Granger, don't you dare ever give this young man a hard time about what he's been put through!"

"Really, it's okay, I deserved it. Every time she tried to have an honest conversation with me I ended up shouting at her," Harry pleaded.

"I can't believe I'm actually glad my daughter dropped out of school," said Dan as he draped an arm across Hermione's shoulders. "Anyplace that would allow a fourteen-year-old to be so obviously used as bait should have its doors barred shut."

"There are some good people there too," said Harry.

"Of all people Harry, you are the last one that should feel the need to defend Hogwarts. From the time you were eleven you've been dumped from one life-threatening situation to another," said Remus.

"No Remus," Harry said while shaking his head, "I wasn't dumped into anything. I walked into it all by myself, and what's worse is that I led others with me. I should have had more help from some of the staff; I still can't believe Dumbledore didn't notice Voldemort growing out of one of his teacher's head. That aside, Hogwarts isn't to blame for anything. The school has its own spirit, like a magical presence. It's a tangible thing that you can feel the first time you walk inside, at least once the shock wears off, or even the first time you sneak into the kitchens and see the elves happily going about their lives. That spirit is just as alive now as it ever has been, even when Tom Riddle was there with his pet snake. Any place that has enough magic in it to allow an orphan to feel at home no matter how many times he's nearly croaked there, well, that's a place worth protecting, which is exactly what I'm going to do. By going to Albania…" Harry placed the book on the table opened up to the picture he had found. The resulting silence was only broken by Crookshanks and Sirius coming inside from their exploration of the area.

<><>><><<><>

"Harry, are you sure about all of this?" Hermione asked as she sat on the end of his bed. She and Remus had made him go over exactly what his reasoning was several times before warming up to the possibility that he was right. The fact that it all spurned from a dream of his made them (understandably) both quite weary.

"Did I ever tell you what I dreamed about my first night in Hogwarts?" She shook her head. "I was wearing Quirrell's turban and I kept hearing Voldemort's voice, even though I didn't know it at the time, telling me I should be a Slytherin. He said it was my destiny. Malfoy was there, then Snape. They both laughed at me as I tried to pull the thing off my head."

"Harry, you know I don't believe in Divination," said Hermione.

"I know. Don't think much of it myself, but I'm sure there's been times where you've thought or remembered of something that you had no logical way of knowing. Do you ever wonder if maybe… Maybe there was somebody out there trying to help you? I mean; I had this dream the night we slept over my parents' grave. Do you think maybe they could be trying to help me?"

"I - I don't know. Almost everything I thought when I was younger turned out to be either wrong or completely insignificant as I learned more and more of the wizarding world. Of course I accept the possibly, but really I think it comes down to what you personally believe. I also avoid getting up on a soapbox and lecturing people on the spirit of Hogwarts, when I can help it," she said with a slight chuckle.

Harry felt the heat coming off his own cheeks, "Sorry about that. Are you're parents going to think I'm completely mad now?"

"They've always thought you a bit mad. Really, how many eleven-year-olds go running off to fight trolls? However I know just how mad you are, and if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have you any other way." Hermione stretched out on the bed next to him, laying a small kiss on his cheek.

"Isn't this breaking any of your parents' rules?" Harry asked her with raised eyebrows.

"There really is only one rule, and I have no intention of breaking it. After all I really am almost eighteen and for all intents and purposes have moved out of their house."

"What's their rule?"

Hermione seemed to be determined to not look him in the eye as she answered, "That they have a son-in-law at least nine months before a grandchild."

"Right, well… We won't let them down," Harry got out once his coughing fit ended.

"I'm sorry for doubting you earlier," Hermione yawned out.

"That's okay," Harry replied in kind. "We all need to be sure about everything we do."

"I'm sure," Hermione mumbled as she snuggled up to him.

><><><><><><>

"Harry, come with me a moment," Remus said the next morning.

Harry opened his eyes to discover Hermione still sleeping on top of the bed cuddled up next to him, both of them (luckily) still fully clothed. He carefully disentangled himself before following Remus to the kitchen.

"I just thought we might need to have a bit of a chat," Remus started quite uncomfortably, "seeing as how you've had a severe lack of any type of fatherly figure in your life. Of course I'm not trying to put myself there, but there are without a doubt some questions every young man needs to ask…"

Harry's memory flashed back to a nearly unbearable conversation he'd had with Sirius in the days before Christmas in his fifth year. "Really Remus, it's okay. We don't need to do this."

"Oh really?"

With a sigh, Harry took his wand and dropped the memory into the Pensieve on the table. After his gesture, Remus submerged himself into it. Watching over top Harry saw the scene in the kitchen; Ron happily gorging himself while Harry and Hermione were having a quiet conversation about what to do with the DA after the break. Sirius was seated at the other end of the table watching the two close enough to make Harry wonder now if he'd seen something between the two of them that he still couldn't pick up. When he saw himself get pulled away from the table and led up to Sirius' room Harry decided to go back to his bed, knowing full well that Remus would be back in about forty-five minutes, and probably laughing his head off.

Harry was proven quite correct when he heard the man slumping to the ground and howling loud enough to wake Hermione through the closed door.

"Is something wrong with Remus," she groggily asked.

"No, just do yourself a favor. For the next couple of days, if you see him reaching for a frying pan, leave the room." Thankfully she didn't ask.

><><><><><>

Tonks returned to England the following Thursday, and after Harry and Dobby had collected her from Grimmauld Place they all sat down breakfast. Hermione eventually correctly guessed that she had been sent to Hong Kong as part of a security detail for the Prince. To no one's surprise Voldemort had been threatening the royal family, thus Tonks had been spending the last week and a half disguised as an Asian ambassador during the hand over.

The look on Tonks' face made Harry suspect she wanted some time alone with Remus, so he sent Dobby to Grimmauld for the day, reminded them to feed Sirius and Crookshanks, and told them they'd be back after dark so Hermione could continue on the Wolfsbane potion. Once he and Hermione had Apparated to his families land the thought struck him that they really had nothing to do for an entire day. They had put off planning for any trips waiting for Tonks, but he wasn't about to interrupt what he was pretty sure as going on by now in the cottage.

"Well, we can always have dinner with Mum and Dad, but they probably won't be home from work for another six or seven hours," Hermione responded when he voiced their dilemma.

"Right, want to go flying for a bit?" he habitually asked her, even though she never took him up on the offer.

"No thanks. They way you fly when you just do it simply for fun is a bit too much for me."

She conjured a blanket to lie on while he took to the sky. Hedwig soon joined him and they took to their normal competition. Harry never felt bad about losing since he wasn't the one born with wings. As he neared the bottom of a dangerously fast dive Harry felt a familiar tingle on his neck and tried to level himself out as soon as possible. About ten feet from the ground Neville appeared in midair next to him and sent them both crashing to the ground.

"What in the world were you thinking!"

Harry was vaguely aware of Hermione screaming as she pulled him to his feet. Luckily he was able to kick his Firebolt away as he fell to the ground, but that didn't help cushion his landing at all.

"I'm sorry!" Neville stammered back. "I just wanted to talk to Harry! I didn't think he'd be up in the air!"

"See what happens when you don't think!" Hermione screamed back and smacked him on the shoulder. "You could have sent an owl, or even Saldie to see if we were busy!"

"Hermione, please stop shouting," Harry winced out.

"Oh Harry, are you all right?" she asked while yanking him into an embrace.

"I'm fine really, just a headache."

"You are not fine! You landed on your head!" she whimpered out before rounding on Neville again. "You could have broken his neck, what's wrong with you!"

"I'm sorry," Neville muttered out in a timid voice Harry hadn't heard since first year. "I'll go-"

"No Neville you don't have to go anywhere," Harry quickly put in. "I'm okay, Hermione's just overreacting."

"OVERREACTING? You landed on your HEAD! We have to take you to the hospital!"

"I'm fine, really! It's just a bump, it wasn't that high of a fall," Harry told them both while massaging the back of his head where he could feel a lump forming. "The last thing we need right now is to show up at St. Mungo's because of a little broom accident."

"You need to have somebody take a look at you, if not the hospital then maybe Tonks-"

"We both know that's not an option."

"Fine! Then I'm taking you to Mum and Dad's office. They both know enough medicine to tell if you have a concussion."

"I'm sure they're busy, we'll see them tonight," Harry tried to reason.

"No! We're going now, and since this is your fault you're coming too," she added glaring at Neville. She quickly stashed Harry's broom and grabbed Neville by the arm hard enough to make him wince. "Use your necklace Harry, just to be safe," she said in a much softer voice before disappearing.

"Hedwig," Harry called over to his owl, "why don't you go back to the cottage and make sure Remus and Tonks don't… do anything in either of our rooms." She bobbed her head in reply before taking back to the air.

The crack of Harry's arrival was loud enough to quickly draw Dan into his office, "Is everything all right? Hermione, why do you look so upset?"

"Because this lump," she replied with another swat at Neville, "decided to come along and knock Harry off his broom. He claims he's fine, but he landed on his head!"

"Well, shouldn't you have taken him to the hospital?" Dan asked in confusion.

Hermione huffed a little, "He refuses to go, but I think he at least needs to be checked over for a concussion."

"Really, I'm okay. We only fell ten feet, and I broke Neville's fall."

Dan refused to let Harry slide either because he really wanted to make sure his was okay, or to calm Hermione down. After a quick exam he retrieved an ice pack for him and told his daughter he'd be fine.

"What is this place," Neville asked while looking at a cross-sectioned model of a tooth.

"We're in my Mum and Dad's practice. You remember I told you they were dentists?"

"Right, you said they drill holes in people's faces," Neville replied looking a little queasy.

"Well, we do a bit more than that," Dan said while looking oddly at Hermione. "Have any of your friends ever been to see a dentist?"

"Most magical families just use charms to take care of their teeth," Hermione told the carpet.

"Oh, like when Madam Pomfrey had to charm your teeth smaller in fourth year?" Neville put in, finally understanding what the Grangers dealt with.

"What was that?" Dan sharply asked.

Hermione stammered out an explanation that contained an apology roughly every five words, much to her relief it drew a chuckle instead of an outburst from her father. Dan then pulled Neville into an exam room and gave Harry and Hermione some money to go to a nearby café to get lunch for them all. When they returned Neville was proudly showing off his new toothbrush to Emma.

"Have you gotten anymore planning done on this trip you intend to take?" Emma asked as Hermione passed around the sandwiches they'd bought.

"Nothing concrete," Hermione replied. "Remus suggested it might be safest to travel as Muggles, which we all agreed to, but that lengthens our travel time considerably. I'll be finishing with his potion Saturday night, but it still needs to simmer through next week. If we left as soon as it's ready that would mean he'd most likely have to undergo one of his transformations on the road, an idea he's quite uncomfortable with."

"Where are you going?" Neville asked.

Harry quickly brought him up to date. "As much as he doesn't like the idea, Remus agrees he probably shouldn't come along at all. We're not really keen on going by ourselves and thought we might ask Tonks or even Bill Weasley to come along-"

"But they both have careers to tend to. The Aurors are quite busy apparently, and I'd almost be afraid to ask what the goblins have Bill doing," Hermione finished.

"I'll come," Neville told them. "Gran might not like it, but you both know that I'm in this no matter what."

"I really appreciate that Nev, but I realized this morning who might just be the perfect person, if he's feeling better that is," said Harry.

"Who Ron?" Hermione scoffed.

"No, he still needs to make the first move there," Harry sadly told her. "I think we should talk to Hagrid."

Hermione brightened up, "He'd be perfect! He's already traveled most of the same terrain while looking for the giants, and I'd bet he'll be a great help if we come across anything dangerous in the forests."

"How dangerous are you talking about," Dan nervously asked.

"You never know what magical creatures you could come across in the wilderness," Hermione told him, "and Hagrid is the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. He almost lives in the forbidden forest and is used to dealing with everything there."

"Not to mention the fact that he's nearly twelve feet tall and could pound any of us flat if he wanted," Neville added looking a little relieved.

"We just have to check and see if McGonagall will let him go on another trip. Hopefully we'll have him back in time," said Harry.

Hermione suddenly looked concerned, "Harry, how much do you think we'll have to tell him to make him agree to come along? We both know he's not the best at keeping secrets."

"It's just like the plan to bring Tonks into London. We tell him we're looking for something but we can't say what. Hagrid's a lot smarter than most people give him credit for, even if he does talk too much. We already have a pretty specific area to check out first, if that doesn't turn up anything and we have to widen our search we might have to tell him a bit more, but really we need somebody to help us get there more than anything else. Hagrid knows how serious things are, and now with Dumbledore dead I'll bet he's willing to do anything to stop Voldemort. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd asked to be obliviated afterwards."

"Be what?" Emma asked in alarm.

"Obliviated. It's a magical removal of one's memory," Hermione told her.

"What's this about London," Dan asked.

"Voldemort grew up in an orphanage in London. They think there's a chance he might have left… something in the area," Harry replied.

"You disagree?" Emma asked.

"I accept the possibility," Harry slowly told her, "but I don't really think he'd leave it there. We've just been waiting for Tonks to get back before we tried to find the place."

"Do you know where in London this place is?" Dan asked.

"No," Hermione replied. "We have a memory of Dumbledore walking there, so our best option is splitting up and trying to find some landmarks from it."

"Your father did grow up in London, could you show him in that bowl?" Emma asked.

Hermione squeaked, "Why didn't I think of that! Harry and I were planning on coming over for dinner, we could try to bring it along."

"Couldn't you just pop over to your cottage and get it now?" Neville asked.

"We've sort of evicted ourselves for the day to give Remus and Tonks some time to… catch up," said Harry.

"Well, if you need a place to relax, you can always go to our house," Dan told them while Emma snickered at his side.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her mother, "That would be lovely, but first Harry and I need to do a bit of shopping. Neither of us is very equipped to spend an extended period of time in the wilderness. I suppose Neville will be coming with us, unless either of you need to practice anything that involves a drill…"

"I said I was sorry!" Neville stammered out. "I just wanted to talk to Harry a bit and maybe watch that tell-me-vision again!"

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"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked Neville as Hermione searched the racks of a sporting goods store near her parents' house.

"I got an owl today from Fred and George. They invited me to dinner in the town near the Burrow. They also made it a point to mentioned Katie'd be there."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know. When I got back home the day after the wedding she seemed happy to see me, but it might have been just because she wanted to get away from Gran. I haven't heard from her since," Neville said with a furrowed brow.

"Are you afraid that she doesn't want to see you again? She might have been waiting for you to get in touch with her you know. Really I think that's what most girls expect. As much as I would have liked to sit back and let luck take over I actually had to step up and do something the morning after the wedding. Knowing the results, I'd do it over again in a heartbeat."

"Do you think it could just be the twins trying to trick me? I don't really fancy the idea of spending the evening as a canary."

"Don't worry Neville," Hermione told him after coming up and dropping a load of clothes in Harry's arms, "they got most of their pent-up mischief out of their system last week. And if my opinion matters I think you should go. Katie's a lovely girl who's been seriously devoid of friends this summer," she added before shooing Harry over to a dressing room.

"What do you think about getting a tent? I'm not really sure Hagrid will fit inside a normal one," Harry asked once inside.

"There's no chance on that. Maybe we could borrow one of the ones Mr. Weasley had for the world cup?" Hermione called back.

"He borrowed them from that old guy he used to work with, maybe he could get one again. Hopefully the one you stayed in, ours smelled like cats."

"Do you think we should get some hiking boots while we're here?" Hermione's voice came through the door.

"Muggle boots?" Neville answered, perhaps a little too loud. "They had dragon skin ones in Gladrags, why not get those?"

"Yes, but those are quite expensive," Hermione replied.

"You know I can afford it, Hermione," Harry called back. "Why do these have pockets at the knees?"

"They're cargo pockets Harry, so you can carry more things, and I don't like you spending all your money on me, so normal boots are fine."

Harry poked his head out to reply, but only saw Neville who gestured to the next door down from him. "Then who's paying for what you're trying on now?"

"I have enough money to buy a few things for myself," she quickly replied.

"Like I'm going to let you spend it," Harry murmured back. "And we're going to Hogsmeade from here."

Harry paid for their clothes, two new sleeping bags, and some cooking equipment before they all Apparated to Gladrags. Alicia Spinnet was once again working inside, and being visited by Katie Bell. Seeing the opportunity for what it was Harry called out, "Hermione and I need some new boots, can you show us some?" With a not-to-subtle nudge Harry left Neville at the counter.

Hermione was unable to talk him out of the deep scarlet Chinese Fireball boots he found. She kept going on about how black was a much more practical color for boots until he found a pearly, iridescent pair for her. The conflict brewing within her was evident as she ran a hand over the shimmering material.

"That's Opaleye hide," Alicia told them. "Don't see much of it around here, mostly because the stuff's so expensive."

"Excellent. We'll take these," Harry told her while handing over both the pearl and scarlet boots. "Do you think they've had enough time alone up there yet?"

Apparently they had. As soon as they got back to the counter Neville and Katie both announced they needed to go get ready for dinner. "That's a strange thing to tell someone at two o'clock on a Thursday," Hermione observed as they walked out of the store not quite touching each other.

"Really it's about time. Now Katie can stop bugging me about what to do about him," said Alicia.

"Harry, you really shouldn't keep buying me things," Hermione tried one last time as he went to pay.

Harry leaned in close to her ear to whisper, "You've seen my vault, do you really think it matters?" She shook her head slightly. "Then why does it really bother you?"

"Harry, I haven't even been your girlfriend for two weeks. What have I ever done to deserve this?"

"I'll never be able to pay you back for all the help you've given me through the years-"

"I would never ask for any kind of repayment, you know that-"

"Oh enough already," Alicia broke in. "Harry pay up, Hermione quit whining and learn to enjoy being pampered, and both of you get out of here before I'm forced to tell George how obnoxiously cute you're being."

A very short time later they arrived at the Granger's house. Hermione made Harry change out of the cast-off clothes he'd been wearing and burn them in the barbeque out back before they went to relax in the sitting room. As she went to the sofa saying something about how they should surprise her parents and cook them dinner, Harry once again found himself staring. She was wearing a khaki pair of shorts that seemed have shrunk as she sat down and now the smooth expanse of her crossed legs nearly made him sweat. How did I not notice her growing those? He asked himself.

"Growing what?" Hermione asked, looking up to meet his eyes. The visible snitch around her neck began flapping furiously.

Harry inwardly cursed his mouth for acting on its own before shoving aside as much of his nervousness as possible and kneeling in front of her. "These," he replied as evenly as possible while running his fingertips slowly along her thigh and down her calf to her bare toes. It wasn't the first time he'd touched her there, but something told him this time would be a lot more memorable.

"Well, I suppose the point is that you noticed, not when," she replied, but if the constant tickle under his shirt was any indicator, she was forcing her voice as much as he was. Hermione kneeled on the floor facing him and slid her hands up underneath his shirt. The feeling of her fingers slowly running down his chest and across his stomach made his muscles involuntarily contract. "The time I saw you without your shirt through my mirror I had to force myself not to look. I kept finding myself wondering what this would feel like." One of her fingers traced its way through the small trail of hair leading down from his belly button causing him to squirm. "I'm sorry, if that's not okay," she quickly said as her cheeks turned pink.

"It's okay," he quietly told her. "It just tickled."

"I really thought I was going mad at first. We'd been just friends for so long then suddenly I get this urge to just…" she silently put her hands around his back and pulled them through the dips between his ribs. "And it didn't go away. Every time we saw each other after that I kept wondering. I must have been driving Mum up the wall, constantly badgering her about what to do. I even asked Fleur for advice. She seemed to think that if I'd just come out and kiss you everything would work out fine, but then Tonks showed up and I completely lost my nerve. The next day I couldn't find a way to say what I wanted, then Katie up and kissed you and I swear if you'd have only stayed awake another minute you would've called me beautiful-"

"Really? What would have happened if I did?"

"Well if you think you would have woken up with me in your bed instead of sitting on it you're sorely mistaken," Hermione quipped while lightly tickling his sides. "If you hadn't taken Dad to the Burrow as early as you did I probably wouldn't have had the chance to talk to Mum as much as I did. I was so confused and unloaded it all onto her. That's why she was so down at the wedding. She was convinced I was going to give up and that you'd never notice. She was also quite upset with you."

"I don't even remember the wedding. I was kind of… staring… at you the whole time."

"A lot of things went wrong that night, but there is one thing I can be happy about," Hermione told him before giving him a soft kiss. Harry's hands drifted under her shirt to rest on her sides.

"Yeah, the cake was pretty good."

Hermione made to shove Harry down, but he brought her with him landing just as entangled as the morning Remus found them on the sofa. Things were different this time, slower, more sincere.

"Are you happy about taking your chance?" Hermione asked as she rubbed her cheek across his.

Harry couldn't stop himself from tucking her hair back and nibbling her earlobe. "I think I can honestly say this is one of the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Just one of?" she asked with a playful little pout.

"Well, I'd say your main competition would be the memory of Hagrid telling me about Hogwarts."

Harry could feel her eyes boring into his as she took in what he said. "You're serious, aren't you? After everything you've done, you really think this is…"

"Don't you?" he asked with a touch of sadness.

"Of course I do, but Harry, you've had such an amazing life-"

"No more than yours really, and you've been through most of it with me."

"Just so you're aware, these things you keep telling me tend to make me forget the concept of rational thought," she told him before kissing him softly again.

A few bumps with her nose led Hermione to remove Harry's glasses. Her hands continued to roam between gripping his hair and massaging the back of his neck. For his part Harry's tended to drift between her shoulder blades all the way down to the bottom of her shorts. The first few times they passed over the back of her bra or her bum she released a pleasant little gasp into his mouth. He carefully rolled them over hoping she wouldn't hesitate to tell him if his weight was too much. As their tongues slowly circled each other Harry repeatedly felt his way from the waistband of her shorts back up to her shoulder; each time they journeyed down they migrated closer together until his thumbs were running along the stiff piece of wire in her undergarment. He gently lifted her shirt, unintentionally cupping her breasts, to bare her stomach before breaking their kiss.

"Harry what… ohhh…" Hermione's head fell back as he began kissing the exposed skin of her midriff. He wasn't really sure what made him want to do this, but he was definitely pleased with the reaction it brought out of her. When he had slid his body down their legs had untangled themselves and now he slowly found himself making his way back up directly between hers. Harry pushed up a bit more of her shirt as he kissed his way along the edge of her rib cage staring wondrously at the pale-blue fabric of her bra; he noticed her arms stretched out over her head, almost as if she was waiting for him to fully remove the garment that was now mostly pooled around her neck.

Her hips squirmed in a way that pleased them both as Harry's mouth continued its trail along the upper edges of the blue fabric and the spots where her obviously hard nipples were pressing against it. Harry shifted himself back to the position he rolled them over in and her legs compulsively wrapped around him, holding him tightly down. There was no doubt in his mind that she could feel his reaction to her movements. Continuing his trail up her breastbone towards her face Harry gathered up as much of her shirt as he could fill his hands with, Hermione lifted her shoulders off the ground to aid in his removal of the article just as a car door closed outside the house.

Hermione jerked her shirt down as she scrambled to her feet while Harry frantically searched for his glasses. Once his vision was cleared he saw her desperately trying to smooth the wrinkles from her clothes. With a quick flick of his wand Harry set both of their outfits right, luckily he'd taken notice of the charm while searching for a solution to the cold shower water. Harry's eyes widened as he simultaneously heard the door unlocking and noticed the two points protruding from Hermione's t-shirt. She followed his gaze and noticed just in time to cross her arms over her chest as her parents entered the house. Harry quickly sat down, joined instantly by Hermione clutching a pillow in front of herself.

"Ah, you are here, and my aren't those boots red," Dan said as he entered the sitting room.

Hermione weakly chuckled, "I tried to talk him into a black pair, but he just wouldn't listen."

"And you stopped trying once I found you a pair," Harry retorted.

Seeing the look on her father's face Hermione picked her wand up from the table and gave it a little flick. The boots almost collided with Emma as they both entered the room. "What in the world are those?"

"Harry decided we both had to have dragon hide boots," Hermione rolled her eyes as she caught them. "I didn't really want him to pay for them, but they are rather beautiful, aren't they."

"Yes quite, good show Harry," said Emma.

"Have you two been waiting long?" Dan asked.

"Just a short while really," Hermione struggled out. "I made Harry burns those rags of his cousin's out back after we returned. You seem to be home rather early, is everything alright?"

"Well, we knew you didn't have anywhere else to go and since there's not an awful lot around the house to keep yourselves occupied with we thought we'd come home a bit early," Emma casually replied causing a massive lump to form in Harry's throat. He hoped more than anything he wasn't blushing too badly.

"So, who's up for eating out?" Dan asked after a slightly uncomfortable silence.

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Following supper they returned to the Granger's house where Harry asked Dobby to retrieve his Pensieve "As quickly and quietly as you can." The elf looked somewhat disturbed when he reappeared. Hermione and her father went over the memory of Dumbledore walking to Tom Riddle's orphanage while Harry pulled Emma aside.

"Hermione said something about how you handle the bookkeeping for you office and I was wondering if you could help me make some sense of this?" he asked producing the ledger he'd received from Gringotts.

"She asked me to take a peak at this before, what exactly are you trying to learn?"

"Ragnok, the goblin who gave me this, said he'd help me make a will, but he strongly suggested I read this over first."

"Does Hermione know you're drawing up a will?" He shook his head. "Be careful how you tell her. The last things she needs on her mind is the thought that you might…"

"I understand."

Emma tried to ease him through the ledger but since he hadn't taken a math class since he was ten and the closest thing Hogwarts offered was measuring potion ingredients, Harry was quickly lost. It took her five attempts at giving him a very rough total before it started to sink in and she could move on to how most wills were setup and some other well-meaning financial advice while they waited for Hermione and Dan to finish in the kitchen.

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Hagrid,

Hermione and I are wondering if you'd be available to help us out in a rather important matter. It would involve you leaving Hogwarts, perhaps as early as next week, but if everything goes well you shouldn't have to worry about getting back in time for your classes.

We can meet you at your cabin tomorrow if you want to talk, but unfortunately like at the house much of what we are doing needs to remain secret. Dobby will await your reply.

Harry

Once Dobby was on his way to Hagrid's Harry turned to watch Hermione carefully going through this evenings steps for Remus' potion. Remus and Tonks had not emerged from his room, but the occasional giggle made their presence known to all. Hedwig, Crookshanks, and Sirius were all sitting between Harry and Hermione's rooms glaring at him. They'd obviously heard more than they would have liked to that day.

"I really don't understand why this potion is supposed to be so difficult," Hermione said as she cleaned up her work area. "Sure there are a lot of steps, but as long as you follow the directions there's nothing to worry about."

Harry walked up and embraced her from behind; "Are you that sure you've done it correctly?" he asked and laid a small kiss on the base of her neck.

"Are you doubting me?" She turned in his arms with her eyebrows raised.

"Not at all," came his easy reply, "but bragging is usually best left until after you've finished."

"The only people I would really brag to would be you, Mum, and Dad."

"Speaking of your parents. Do you think they know?"

"No," she quickly told him. "They'd be delusional not to suspect, but if they knew Mum in particular would have teased us all through supper."

"I'm sorry if I…" Harry blurted out. "I mean, I think I got a bit carried away."

"I think we both did," Hermione replied with a little smile. "Not that it wasn't nice, it's just…"

"I don't want to push you into anything, just so you know."

"I wouldn't let you do anything I didn't want Harry, but I just don't think I'm ready for… that."

"I know."

Hermione continued on without hearing him, "We've shared so much with each other but now everything's changed, and don't get me wrong I think it's a very good change just-"

"I understand, really," he firmly told her.

Hermione gave him a warm smile and a deep kiss. "Good night, Harry."

Harry admired the view as she sauntered off to her room not recalling any other time he'd seen her walk in that matter. Smiling to himself, Harry walked to his room and crawled into bed. He heard Sirius make his way over to the blankets he'd set down below his window at the same time he felt Crookshanks claim the other pillow on his bed. Hedwig clicked her beak in annoyance when the sounds of Tonks giggling carried through the open door. We should have gotten a bigger cottage.

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