2. Picking Up The Pieces

Merlin's Familiar

Chapter 1

Picking up The Pieces

July 28th

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Night at the Dursley's

He was back at the Ministry of Magic. He was dueling against Sirius, across the room that wasn't right, he thought. They dueled back and forth, neither getting an upper hand, but then he got a spell through Sirius's defenses. Sirius' hands dropped to his side and he looked down to his chest. Looking up he pleaded, "Harry, why?" as he fell through the shroud.

Harry awoke with a start and a small moan. “Not again,” he thought. “I didn't kill him,” he repeated over and over again in his head while rubbing his eyes with shaking hands.

With a muffled crash, Uncle Vernon slammed the bedroom door open.

"Potter!" he hissed, "Shut your trap or I will shut it for you! If you wake up anyone else in this house again tonight, I will throw you out on your ear! Bargain or no!"

Uncle Vernon closed the door and re-locked the numerous bolts. With in minutes, Harry was graced by the sounds of a snoring Dursley family.

Harry was left in his room, shaking, sweating and crying silently, and utterly alone.

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The Burrow

Molly jolted up in bed, instantly awake.

“What?” Arthur asked as he too, awoke.

Sitting still for a second, Molly sighed.

“Go back to sleep, love, it's Ginny. I'll handle it.”

Slipping on her housecoat, Molly tucked her wand into a pocket and quietly slipped down the hall towards Ginny's room. Stopping outside her door, she listened carefully. Frowning, she heard the telltale sounds of distress from inside the room. She slowly and quietly opened the door.

“Ginny?”

Ginny's response was to bolt upright in bed, her wand trained on the door of her bedroom. Her eyes cleared and she sheepishly lowered her wand.

“Sorry, mum,” she squeaked quietly.

“Bad dreams dear?” Molly asked as she walked into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed.

“I'll be fine mum.”

Molly got Ginny to lie down after putting her wand back under her pillow, and tucked her in. She leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

“If you ever want to talk, you know that you can come to me, right?”

“I know, mum. Sorry I woke you.”

Patting her hand, Molly got up.

“Don't worry about it, go back to sleep.”

Molly quietly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. On her way back to her own bed, she stopped by her son's room and stuck her head in. Ron was completely out, sprawled onto his bed, and snoring. She shook her head and closed the door and went back to bed.

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The Granger residence

"Hermione?" a voice asked from the door. "Are you all right?"

"Yes mum, I just had a bad dream," she replied

Stepping into the bedroom, Hermione's mother stepped over to the bed and sat down. "Do you want to talk about it, honey?" her mother asked while wiping the cold sweat from Hermione's forehead.

"No mum, it was just a stupid dream. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Honey, I don't mind,” she responded with a smile. “What was your dream about? Was it about last year at school again?"

"I guess—it didn't really happen the way it did in my dream. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore said that they'd pass."

"Okay, honey. Go back to sleep for now, but tomorrow we're all going to sit down and have a talk." Kissing her forehead, Hermione's mother tucked her daughter back in bed and stepped out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her. “Don't forget, we're just down the hall if you need anything.”

Staring up at the familiar ceiling of her room, Hermione thought in her head, Sirius went through the veil, not Harry. Closing her eyes to try to keep the tears from falling, she kept thinking, not Harry.

Hermione's mother went back to bed and spoke with her husband.

"She's still having nightmares. Roger, I'm worried about her going back to that school. What are they going to let happen to her next year? I'm worried that we might lose her."

Gathering his wife in his arms, he coaxed her under the covers.

"If Hermione was not as gifted as she is," he said, placing a kiss on her head, "I wouldn't hesitate for a second to send her to a different school. At least we'd get to see her more often. As it is, she's stronger than ever and is turning into a great person. As far as the nightmares go, we'll just have to wait and see.”

"But dear,” she replied.

"Hush," he said placing his fingers on her lips. "We will talk about it in the morning. Try to go back to sleep."

Neither slept very well the rest of the night.

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The Lovegood Residence

Luna awoke suddenly but not unexpectedly. Sighing, she got out of bed and went to the loo and then to the kitchen for a drink of water.

“Luna?” a voice called from the dinning room. “Are you okay?”

Luna took her glass of water out into the dinning room where her father was working on his breakfast and editing the latest copy from the Quibbler. He looked up from his work and fixed her with a look.

“I'm fine dad. Just got thirsty.”

Not really looking convinced, he nodded.

“Go to bed, honey. It's way too early to be up for a young woman like yourself.”

Luna slammed her water, set the glass on the table, and kissed her father on the cheek.

“Good night, father.”

She retreated back to her bedroom and got into bed, but she did not lie down. She crossed her legs and started the centering exercises that she had learned several years ago in India. After a couple of minutes her breathing became shallow and slowed down.

Instead of the roar of spell fire, floating brains and injured friends, her mind was filled with the feeling of flight. In her mind's eye, she was exploring paths that very few would ever go down. She greeted fallen friends and those that had yet to be born.

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Longbottom Manor

Like most pure blood families, the Longbottoms had received training in the sword for generations. Neville's own instruction was cut short when he had inexplicably cut himself with a wooden training sword. His parents had decided to end his instruction at that time.

He had started training again, after the fight at the Ministry of Magic. Between studying, sword training and working in his beloved garden, most nights he could barely drag himself up to his room. But, on some nights, he could not sleep and came down to do some work in the exercise room.

Neville swept his sword through the disengagement at the end of his current exercise routine and came to a shuddering stop. Sweat dripped off his head and he could feel it running down his sides under his shirt. He walked with wobbly legs over to the weapon racks and cleaned the sword he was using before he placed it back with its brothers. He had been exercising for over an hour and he hurt in many different places. At least his nose didn't hurt anymore from when it broke during the fight at the ministry.

The thought of the Ministry brought back the reason for all of his work. The next time that his friends needed him, he would be ready, even if he worked himself into the ground.

“Neville, what in the name of Merlin are you doing up at this time of morning?” His Gran's disapproving voice called from the open door to the exercise room. Neville grabbed a bottle of water from a table next to the sword rack and looped a towel over his neck.

The man that turned back towards his grandmother still resembled the slightly overweight boy that started at Hogwarts what seemed like a lifetime ago but in reality, it had only been five years. In that time, his slightly bumbling nature had been washed away to reveal the man underneath. He was still a little heavy for his size, but a very solid core of courage and a strengthening body backed up the gaze that he gave her. In several years, it was a gaze that would strike terror into the hearts of those who would do the dark's bidding.

“I'm sorry Gran, I couldn't sleep,” he replied in a deep baritone as he walked towards the door. She stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm before he walked past her towards his room and a shower.

“Neville, I…” she broke off to gather her thoughts. “I want you to know that what you did with your friends at the ministry was completely unacceptable. There are others who could and should have gone to that battle. You should have told your instructors about it and left the situation in their capable hands.”

Neville visibly winced at this well-worn argument between them. He glanced down at her hand on his arm and then up to her face. What he saw there shocked him.

There was a warm smile on her face, the first one he could remember being directed to him since the start of school the year before. She gathered him in a hug; sweat stained clothes and all, which he slowly returned. She finally broke the hug and held him at arm's length.

“I am so proud of you,” she said with a tear in her eye. “You remind me of your parents so much that it hurts,” she sniffed and wrinkled her nose.

“Merlin, boy! You stink! Off with you, quit stinking up the house.”

Neville smiled and kissed her on the cheek before walking down the hallway, feeling better than he had in a long time. After he turned the corner, he heard his grandmother blow her nose. He was a little shocked by what he heard next.

“Merlin, please protect both of my boys.”

July 29th

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Morning at the Dursley's

"POTTER!" roared Uncle Vernon, "Get your no good arse down here!"

Folding his latest letters to Ron and Hermione and giving them to Hedwig, Harry released her out of the window and went down stairs. His uncle was sitting on a love seat in the living room next to the local constable and a plain-clothes detective.

"Yes sir?" Harry replied hesitatingly. "You called."

"Took your time getting down here, didn't you?" his uncle replied. "Any particular reason you took so long?" he asked sweetly.

"Just finishing some letters to my friends from school," Harry smirked, knowing this would irritate his uncle. Uncle Vernon still did not like to be reminded of the magic living under his roof or any of the things that came with it. This included owl post, which caused him to turn a funny shade of ruddy pink.

"Well, these gentlemen would like to ask you some questions," Vernon nodded at the detective.

The detective motioned to the constable and the constable disappeared up the stairs with his aunt in tow.

"Please sit down, son,” the detective said. "Have you heard of the numerous thefts of gardening tools and the like in the neighborhood?"

"No, sir,” Harry replied honestly.

"Well we have received information that you may have been involved with some other young boys in stealing these items and then using them to vandalize other properties in the area. Any information that you can give me would be helpful."

Closing his eyes, Harry felt a rather nasty sinking weight in his abdomen. He knew what was happening. Dudley and his pack of bullies must have been committing the crimes and gotten caught by his uncle or aunt. Now they were going to place the blame on him for Dudley's crimes. Things never seem to change, he thought.

When Harry opened his eyes he noticed that the constable was back and was holding a few tools with a smirking Dudley right behind him.

"I found these right on top of his closet, sir. They seem to match some of the items that were listed as missing," the constable said.

Sighing, the detective turned back to Harry. "Son, you need to tell me who was with you and then I can leave you here in your uncle's custody."

"But I didn't do it!" Harry replied heatedly. He felt a black rage start to rise in his chest.

"Fine, if that is your final answer then I have no choice but to place you under arrest. You will need to come with us."

Standing, the detective thanked the Dursleys for their help. The Dursleys made noises about "helping to keep the neighborhood safe” and "civic virtues" as the constable took Harry by the arm and started to walk out him to the car. Harry dug his heels into the carpet.

“Wait,” Harry said harshly as the constable tried to shift him. “I didn't do a sodding thing!” He pointed his finger squarely at Dudley, who smirked nastily back. “It's him,” Harry said as evenly as he was able. “Him and his gang. He's been terrorizing the neighbourhood for years, but my sodding aunt and uncle, his parents, haven't seen fit to DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!” He didn't care anymore how this must look to the police. He'd had enough. “AND BECAUSE THEY'RE FUCKING STUCK UP BASTARDS, THEY'VE DECIDED TO BLAME IT ALL ON ME, JUST BECAUSE I'M A—” he managed to choke back the word `wizard'. He didn't think they'd understand. “Because I'm not their son,” he finished lamely. The constable slapped a pair of handcuffs over his wrists.

"I'd advise you, boy,” the constable said icily, “not to do that again.”

Harry's last sight of the Dursley's was the three of them smiling and waving good-bye to the police as they took Harry away.

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Morning at the Grangers

Hermione came downstairs from her room in her robe and walked into the kitchen with some trepidation. She had just finished her morning potions from Madam Pomfrey and she wasn't sure if it was nerves that were making her queasy, or the potions. She thought she knew what her mum and dad wanted to talk to her about, but she couldn't come up with a good argument to dissuade them of it. Her dad was dressed and looked ready to go to work but her mum was still in her robe. The only thing that she could think of was to take charge of the conversation and keep them away from the subject of her returning to Hogwarts.

"Good morning mum, dad,” she said cheerily. "Are you taking a day off mum?"

"Good morning to you too, dear," her father replied, looking up from his tea. "Don't you remember that you two are picking up that exchange student from the states today?"

Hermione grimaced. Great, just what I need for my nightmares, a larger audience, she thought to herself.

"No dad, I completely forgot."

"Well your mother is going to take you to the airport to pick her up." Turning to his wife he asked, "What was her name? Lori?"

"It's Lexius, honey. Lexius Ayers from Concrete, Washington. She is scheduled to get into the airport at 10:30 this morning." Looking at her husband with a smirk (the first one all day), "It's lucky that we have a receptionist to keep the names straight."

He snorted and then looked at Hermione. "Dear, sit down. We need to have a little talk." All three sat down at the dinning room table, Hermione on one side and her parents on the other.

"We know some of the things from your nightmares," her dad started. Hermione shot a questioning look at her mother but her mother just shook her head.

"Your mother didn't have anything to do with it. We received a letter from the Headmaster at the end of the year telling us a little of what happened." Reaching across the table he took her hand. "I understand what bad experiences can do to a person and I want you to know that you can always come to us. The biggest thing that you need to do is talk about them. Holding them inside will just make it all the worse."

Smiling uneasily, Hermione replied, "I know dad, but I'm getting over it. It'll just take some time."

"If you say so,” her father replied, unconvincingly. "Now for the less pleasant part of this little talk."

Oh, God! They're not going to let me go back to Hogwarts! She started to wilt in her chair.

"Hermione," her mum started, "We are really having second thoughts about you going back to school. Each year you seem to have a close scrape and last year, if your Headmaster is to be believed, you nearly died!"

"Mum..."

"No, your mother is right. It was very hard on both your mother and I after we got the letter telling us about your adventures."

Hermione was nearing tears now as she watched her entire world collapsing on her. She would never be able to see Ron, the teachers, Ginny or even Harry again. Seeing the distress on her daughter's face, Hermione's mother got up and walked around the table to give her a hug and hold her.

"Honey,” she said stroking her hair, "as hard as it is to send you back to school, that is what we are going to do."

Looking up into her Mother's face, Hermione realized what she had just said. "But why?"

"Three reasons really, well four when you get right down to it,” her father replied. Ticking the points off on his fingers he began to list them. "One, you have to take the exchange student to school this year. Not really a very good reason, but there it is. Two, you're growing up and we can't protect you for the rest of your life. Three, we've watched you turn from a self-conscious girl into a very confident and good-hearted young woman. We trust you to make the right decisions. This is the greatest reward any parent can really ask for."

By this time both Hermione and her mum were trying to hold back tears.

"Oh, dad, mum thank you," she replied. After calming down, Hermione turned to her Dad and asked, "You said that there are four reasons, you only said three. What was the last one?"

"Well," he started with an impish grin, "you've been talking a little in your sleep and the fourth reason is someone with green eyes…."

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3. Arrivals

Merlin's Familiar

Chapter 2

Arrivals

July 29th

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Granger household

Blushing slightly, Hermione excused herself from the table and went back upstairs to get ready to go to the airport.

“You're taking this pretty easy,” Jane stated, looking at her husband.

“I've just decided to bow to the inevitable,” Roger responded as he stared out the window into the back yard, sipping his tea. “He seems like a good young man,” his gaze hardened slightly. “I hope, for his sake, that he does not hurt her.”

Upstairs, Hermione pulled out a pair of jeans and a blue blouse. She then tried to tame her mass of hair and put some make-up on. Looking at herself in the mirror, she gave herself an appreciating glance. She was filling out in all of the right places to drive the guys crazy. Like Harry, she said. She stopped brushing her hair at that thought and then smiled to herself before continuing to get ready.

She was just putting her shoes on when she heard pecking at her window. Sitting outside her window are two owls. Putting her purse on her dresser, she opened the curtains and the window fully so she could get the letters from the owls. She recognized Hedwig immediately and took the letter addressed to her while giving her some owl treats that she had placed there for her regular deliveries. Giving Hedwig a quick pat she let her fly off with Ron's letter. She then relieved the other owl of its letter and it also flew off.

Looking at the two letters, she saw that one was from Harry but the other one did not have a return name attached to the envelope. She ripped open Harry's first.

Hermione,

How are you? I hope that you are all healed up from when we went to the ministry with the rest of the gang from the DA. You really scared me when you got hit in the fight. Please try to stay out of the line of fire. I do not know what I would do if you got hurt, or worse, expelled.

My uncle and aunt are being even more surly than normal so I can't wait to get out of here and head to Ron's in less than two days. Ron said that they're having a party after I get there and I hope you'll be able to attend. I can't wait to talk to you.

Stay safe,

Harry

Smiling, she put Harry's letter in her trunk with all of the others that she had exchanged with him over the years. It was quite a stack. The next envelope was addressed to her and the handwriting did look like Harry's so she opened the envelope. Inside the envelope was a simple charm anklet and a note that said "for protection from my enemies". The anklet looked like it was silver with some strange runes on it that she could only read a few. She recognized the Celtic rune for defense and the Egyptian pictograph representing what she thought was fealty or loyalty.

Hermione placed it on her left ankle and, hearing her mother calling her, she grabbed her purse and jacket. As she went down-stairs to leave, she missed seeing the note and envelope that contained the anklet, dissolve into a vapor and evaporate.

“Come on, dear,” her mother said. “We are already going to be late for the airport.” Both women got into the car and were off, one thinking of procedures and research and the other about a certain dark haired, green-eyed wizard.

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London Airport

Hermione and her mother arrived at the airport thirty minutes late. After rushing to find a parking spot, they dashed into the concourse for international arrivals. Hermione's mother went to the international desk and Hermione scanned the arrival area for anyone that looked to be out of place.

Most wizards are easy to spot in a muggle place like this airport, she thought. After a few minutes of searching, she noticed that there were only three people that looked to be the right age. One boy and two older gentlemen looked like muggles, therefore there was nothing she could do but wait until Lexius revealed herself. During this time Hermione's mom was talking to the person at the information kiosk where the exchange student was paged.

"Attention please. Will Lexius Ayers please meet your party at the International Arrivals Information Desk? Lexius Ayers, please come to the International Arrivals Information Desk. Thank You."

Hermione walked over to her mother to wait for the exchange student's arrival.

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London Airport, 2 hours earlier

A long line of people was queued up to pass through the customs control point.

“Passport please,” a bored agent asked.

I passed my passport over and just kind of looked around. My first impression of England is that it looks just like the Seattle airport's arrival lounge. Dreary, boring and in dire need of a serious makeover. Sis would love to get a contract for a place like this, I thought. It was not a fair comparison, but first impressions hardly ever were.

“Purpose of your visit?” the agent asked.

Even though I was tempted to tell him that I wanted to run over to the palace and marry the Prince, I figured that the agent was one of these people who was born without a sense of humor, so I played it straight.

“I am enrolled in a boarding school in Scotland and will be staying through till June.” He could have gotten the same information from the visa that was staring him in the face.

“Are you carrying any food or livestock?”

“No, Sir.” The cow and pig are in my checked baggage, moron.

“Are you currently wanted in any locales for criminal charges?”

This is starting to get stupid. I have a really low threshold for stupidity, but I bit my tongue.

“No, Sir.” Sure, I am wanted by half the population of the planet.

“Any dangerous items in your possession?”

Must bite tongue, HARD.

“No, Sir.” I left the tactical nuke and nerve gas in my other coat.

The agent must have liked what he didn't hear and he stamped my passport for entry. He handed my passport back and was already forgetting my existence. “Next please.”

Walking through the control point, I noticed the police officers with body armor and sub-machine guns slung on their shoulders. Kind of makes me glad that I played it straight. You're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. The next area was the baggage claim area. Since I carried everything I needed on the plane in my backpack, I bypassed the area and went to the Agricultural screening area. My “Antique Lock and key” garnered a raised eyebrow and they had to look at my backpack to ensure that I was not `holding' anything. They couldn't find anything, therefore I was finally finished with the British government's red tape for the day.

I found a money exchange and changed some of American dollars for British currency. Since the airplane was over two hours early, I figured that I could hit the closest restaurant, (Hoorah! A McDonalds!) to get a bite and then hang out at the arrival lounge to wait for my sponsor family. I found a place to get a bite to eat and made my way over to the arrival lounge in less than thirty minutes. My knee was starting to stiffen up on me, so I needed to find a place to stretch out and relax.

I found a place that was in sight of the arrival lounges outside doors and the information kiosk. I knew that if I nodded off, I would never hear any announcements so I got out my book (Hogwart's: A history) and settled in for a bit of a wait.

People came and went. I was blazing through my book (I can't get enough of history), just having to re-adjust my knee every so often (all the healing magic in the world and I still have bad days). After sitting there for over an hour the local security folks started to take an interest in me. Teenage Americans sitting in the Arrival lounge must not have been an everyday occurrence. I hope my sponsor family gets here soon. I am not in the mood for any more red-tape questions (“So, are you just visiting?” “No, I like to hang out in airports so I can answer stupid questions.”).

About this time, I noticed a mother and daughter (I think) walk into the arrival lounge. The mother looked around and made a beeline for the information kiosk. The daughter stopped near the door to the lounge and looked around like she was trying to spot someone.

Attractive young woman, I thought. Brown hair, very curly, and pulled back into a ponytail. Easy on the cosmetics. She didn't look like she needed much of anything. Blue jeans, blue shirt and a black purse. Round about 5'6” tall and maybe 100 lbs (probably a little too high). Great curves.

I guessed that she couldn't find who she was looking for and went over to her mother. About that time there was another announcement.

"Attention please. Will Lexi Ayers please meet your party at the International Arrivals Information Desk. Lexi Ayers, please come to the International Arrivals Information Desk. Thank You."

I looked around and no one seemed to be moving. They were all going back to their magazines or books since the announcement. Looks like there is no Lexi Ayers here.

A few minutes later there was another announcement.

"Attention please. Will a Lexius L. Ayers please meet your party at the International Arrivals Information desk. Lexius L. Ayers, please come to the International Arrivals Information Desk. Thank You."

That sounded pretty close to my name so I figure that I should go up and check. I needed to get up and stretch and the security guys were getting antsy with me just sitting there. I got up, put my book back in my pack, grabbed my coat and headed over to the kiosk.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said to get the attention of the kiosk attendant. “What was the name that was just called?”

“Lexius L. Ayers, I believe.”

“I think that's for me. Who asked for me?”

He pointed me over to the mother daughter team. I stiffly walked over to them, I really need to work out to loosen up, I thought

“Are you Mrs. Granger?” I asked the mother.

“Yes. But my name is Jane, and you are?” She asked in response. About this time, the daughter turned my direction and she was even more stunning in close proximity. Brown hair, a bit on the bushy side was gathered into a ponytail that reached somewhere below her shoulders. While she did not yet have the classic `hourglass' figure, the future promise was there. Her most marked feature is her eyes.

Brown eyes were apprising him very frankly. They seemed to have deep hidden depths and what I would give to be able to stare into them for a prolonged time. Just being in her presence was intoxicating.

Oh, crap, was the only thought that I could get out. Complete brain lock. Remembering whom else was present, I tore my eyes away from the daughter, but not before I started to blush, and addressed the mother.

“My name is Alexius Ludwig Ayers from Concrete, Washington, USA.” I said offering her my hand. “Call me Alex.” This is going to be an interesting trip, I thought to myself.

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Surrey Police Station

Harry was bundled into the police station and was subjected to being fingerprinted and photographed. He was then led into a small room for a more vigorous series of questioning. The police were acting like broken records. They kept asking the same questions over and over, only changing the order sometimes for the sake of variety. Harry kept telling them the same thing.

“I didn't do it” and “I don't know.”

This went on for what Harry figured was about eight hours. At the end of the day, the lead detective addressed him.

“Mr. Potter. You have not been very helpful and right now I'm not inclined to be very helpful to you. We are going to process the evidence that we retrieved from your bedroom and when we match the fingerprints with you and your friends, we will file charges against you. According to your uncle, you have done things like this in the past and I am surprised that he has not reported these things to us before. I can promise you that this time you will be spending several months in a correctional institute that will make your current reform school look like a pleasant day.” Turning to the uniformed constable, he said, “Get him out of here.”

Harry was led down to the holding cells. He was subjected to a strip search and was issued his jail coveralls, and flip-flops. All of his clothes were bagged for his release or for evidence before he was led to his own cell. The only thing Harry could do was hope that the Order or his friends might notice that he was missing and start sniffing around. It might take a few days, but they should find him. The only problem with this plan was that they might realize he was gone after his planned birthday party at Ron's place. Figures.

Crawling under the thin blanket, Harry tried to sleep while ignoring the tears in his eyes.

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The Granger's Car

Hermione wasn't sure what to make of her situation. On one hand, she was excited that she was hosting an exchange student from another country. On the other hand, her exchange student was a boy. She did not have a big problem with this, but by the set of her mother's shoulders, it was a big problem for her. Her dad would also have a problem with it once he heard about it.

I wish they trusted me. If he tried anything, I could easily take the wind out of his sails, she thought bitterly.

Alexius, or “Just Alex,” was in the back seat wearing jeans, a t-shirt naming some singer or other and a leather flight jacket. The only thing that he was carrying was his backpack. He was nodding off because he said that his body still thought it was 3am.

Turning to her mother, Hermione asked, “Mum, what's the problem?”

Glancing to her left, her mother responded, “Honey, we were told that we would be hosting a girl, not a boy. This is not acceptable. You need to write to the school and get this sorted out.”

“Don't you trust me?”

Glancing over at her daughter, she responded, “It's not you dear. I know how young men are. I trust you to not make any rash decisions; it's him that I'm a little concerned with.”

“I can take care of myself, mum. I can use magic to defend myself.”

Noting the tone of her mother's voice, she knew that the only thing she could do is write the school and hope that her dad was a little calmer about the whole situation.

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The police station later that night.

Harry was running down a stone hallway chasing after someone. It looked like a corridor from Hogwarts. He was not sure who he was chasing, but he knew that he needed to stop them. Rounding a corner, he heard someone cast a stunning spell and at the same time he heard someone say something he couldn't understand. “YASUMERU!” The scene changed suddenly to Hermione lying on a bed with her hands on her stomach, her face pasty white. He knew she was dead.

Harry woke with a start. He looked around and then remembered where he was. The dream was different from the others in the sense that it was short and very vivid. Burying his head in the pillow, he tried to go back to sleep.

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The Granger house

After dinner, Hermione sat at her desk to write letters to her friends before she went to bed. She decided to write Ginny first.

“Ginny,” she wrote

“This has been a very strange day (and from a Hogwarts student, that is an understatement). We picked up the exchange student from America at the airport and she was a he. My mum and dad were really not happy about that, especially since they are both going to be working. Now they're worried that they shouldn't leave the two of us to fend for ourselves at home. “

“I think they're more worried about Alex than they are about me. I don't see why they should worry; even without magic I could easily flatten him if he tried anything. He's probably a nice guy, but he seems to be terminally shy. He was almost stuttering and was really blushing once he saw me when we picked him up at the airport. I have already sent a letter to the new DADA teacher so that we can figure out where he can stay for the rest of the summer.”

Anyway, his name is Alex and he's from the States. He's pretty plain looking and really shy. He has a bit of a limp because he broke his left leg when he was about seven. He has an eagle back home named Driscoll that he uses like our Owl Post., his mother is a secretary at a muggle school and his father is a firefighter. He has a stepsister, Jenny, from when his father re-married.”

“When we picked him up, he was only carrying a small backpack and I figured that he could not have carried all of the things that he needs for the year in it but he has a magical trunk. It's really neat! You put the key in the lock and turn it a special way and the trunk disappears with only the lock and key remaining. Great for traveling. He got it from a family friend when he heard that he had been selected to be an exchange student.”

“Like I said earlier, he is really shy but he loves books. When we picked him up at the airport he was halfway through Hogwart's: A History. He seems to like reading books as much as I do. Tomorrow, we're going to go to the Mall with mum to get some things for the upcoming year. I will see you on the 31^st for the party.”

“Hermione”

Sealing the letter, she placed it on the windowsill so that she would remember to send it off in the morning. Gathering another piece of paper, she began to write to Harry.

“Harry,”

“How are things? I hear that Ron's parents are going to be picking you up tomorrow. I'm going to be at the party and will see you there. Thank you for the gift. I really love the thought. Are you still having nightmares? I am. They're getting better but they still wake me up at night.”

“Stay safe and I will see you at the party,”

“Hermione”

Smiling, she sealed up the letter and placed it on the windowsill beside the other one. Anticipating the party, she went to sleep with a smile.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry for the long time since my first up-load. I had to take a second job to get ready for a move in a couple months and it is really dragging my time down. Let me know what you think.

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4. Introductions

A/N - Thank you for all of your patience with me. I am in the process of moving and working 2 jobs so things have gotten really weird. I want to also thank Mabel and John, my Beta readers. They keep me from making too many glaring mistakes.

Merlin's Familiar

Chapter 3

Introductions

July 30th

-----------------------

Surrey Police Station

Harry was awakened in the morning by a guard. He got up and walked with the guard back to the interrogation room. The same detective was there along with his clothes. The detective started in rather embarrassed rush.

“Mr. Potter. It seems that the information that we got from your uncle was incorrect. We caught your cousin and some of his friends using some of the stolen property to destroy a small playground a couple of blocks from your house. After processing the items that we recovered from your room, we discovered that your prints did not match, but your cousin and aunt's did. I am sorry that we put you through yesterday but I have been authorized to release you immediately. Get dressed and you will be released. Please accept my sincerest apologies; someone is here to escort you home.” The detective then left the room and closed the door behind him.

Harry, emotionally exhausted from the last couple of months and especially from the last 24 hours, mechanically gathered up his clothing and began to dress. As he was finishing, a female constable came into the room. She guided him out of the interrogation room and to the Sergeant's desk. Waiting at the desk was Prof. McGonnagal.

“Professor?” Harry asked.

“Silence, Mr. Potter,” she replied imperiously. “Follow me.”

They walked out of the police station and went around the corner into an alley before stopping behind a dumpster. Out of her bag, she pulled a small scroll that she handed to Harry.

“Mr. Potter…Harry” she said kindly, “This is a summons to the Ministry. I do not know what it is, but we need to go right now.”

“How do we get there?” Harry asked.

“The scroll is a portkey. Take my hand and then speak your name and we shall go.”

Nodding, he took her hand and said his name before he felt the familiar pull on his navel and they were gone.

-------

The Granger House

The next morning, Hermione got up and tossed on her robe. Alex and her were supposed to go shopping. Unfortunately, they could not go to Diagon alley as neither of her parents could spend the day with them so they would have to go to the local mall. It should be safer than Diagon alley due to the still heavily enforced laws about underage magic.

She went down to the kitchen, where both her parents were up and dressed for the day at the office. Both sipping their coffee, her dad reading the paper and her mom reading a dental journal on the use of lasers in dental care.

Hermione gave both of them kisses and went over to pour herself some juice. She then joined them at the table.

“So,” her Dad asked from behind his paper, “Did you contact the school?”

“I sent the owl off last night.” She replied sipping her orange juice. “I should have an answer today.”

“Don't forget your medicine, dear.” Her mom added distractedly, while highlighting a passage in her dental journal. They could both hear her grumbling about `proof reading' and `bone-headed editors' under her breath.

Both Hermione and her dad shared a look and grin at her mother's apparent distraction.

“I can hear you thinking, dear.” Jane replied to her husband who quickly dropped his smile and busied himself behind his paper. She looked up with a smile for her husband.

“Who? Me?” Roger responded from behind his paper. He was trying for innocence but failed miserably.

“You are playing against a stacked deck dear. I am a mother so I have eyes in the back of my head and women are proven to be better at multi-tasking, whereas men are better at…” she trailed off.

“Killing spiders and moving heavy objects?” Hermione added into the normal morning banter at the Granger table.

“Oh, I like that one.” Jane added, grinning at her daughter.

Roger, finally getting fed up and dropped his paper to the table top and scrunched his eyebrows into a single line over his eyes and tensed all of his facial muscles into what he used to call his “caveman” face.

“Ugh, me man. Me move heavy objects. Ugh Ugh.”

This set both women off into a spate of giggles. He got up from the table and walked like a gorilla over behind his wife. He wiggled his eyebrows as he snuggled his face into his wife's neck.

“Me also have other uses. Ugh.” He mumbled into her neck. Jane squeaked and half-heartedly tried to get away from Roger.

“Please get a room you two.” Hermione added, amused by the utter normalcy of another morning at home. As she got older, she noticed how her parents acted around each other. They still held hands as they walked in public. They were never shy in teasing each other no matter where they were.

Most of her other friends parents (what few she had) never seemed to do this. Even Ron's parents never seemed to be into holding hands. Then again, Molly and Arthur always seemed to be trying to run herd on all the kids in the clan. Maybe since she was an only child and was almost 17, her parents did not need to hold her hand and they could hold each other.

`I wonder if, after 20 years, Harry will still…' Hermione rapidly put the brakes on that train of thought. Taking a drink from her glass, Hermione tried to calm her racing thoughts.

`Settle down Granger. Harry is a friend, a great friend but not a boyfriend. Just because of his quidditch trained muscles (and those uniforms!), his unruly raven hair and that special look that can melt your insides. WHOA GIRL!'

“Are you alright, dear” her mother asked as Hermione coughed a bit as orange juice went down the wrong pipe. Hermione, still coughing, waved to her mom, telling her she was all right. Her dad, with his face right by Jane's ear whispered “emeralds.” to which Jane just nodded.

Hermione caught the exchange and started blushing even before her coughing fit had ended. Roger stood up and trailed his finger up Jane's neck as he headed back to the master bedroom. She shivered a little in response. He just grinned as she responded with an amused/indignant “Roger!”

“That man,” Jane grumbled as she tried to find the passage she was reading in her journal “is going to drive me spare someday.” Her smile showed that she really did not mean it.

“Ah, mom.”

“Yes dear.”

“Your journal would be easier to read if it wasn't upside down.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Jane shook her head and closed her journal. She got up from the table, grabbed hers and Roger's cups and walked to the sink to wash them. Hermione got up, and without asking helped her mother by drying the cups and two plates that her parents had used this morning.

“Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Sure dear.” Jane replied while her hands were immersed in the wash water.

“How do you know you are in love?”

Jane's hands stilled while rinsing one of the cups. She then continued to moving her hands, but much slower, as if she was gathering her thoughts. She finally answered after she handed the cup to Hermione.

“I would guess that it is different for everyone.” Turning her gaze on her daughter, she fired off her own question. “Why do you ask?”

Now it was Hermione's turn to pay way too much attention to the cup she was drying. She tried to think of a response. In an almost clinical tone, Hermione finally replied.

“Well, Ron's parents seem to bicker, in a playful way, but still bicker. They never seem to hold hands like you and Dad or show much affection in public. There are times when you catch one of them looking at the other with this expression and you know the love is there.”

“Dear, everyone displays their affection in different ways. Your father and I are a little unique in that we still act like newlyweds even though we have been married for nearly 20 years. When you are in love, you will know.”

“How did you know with Dad?”

As they were talking, they both finished the dishes and moved back to the table. Jane sat and got a dreamy and far away look to her face as she peered back through time to the first day in university.

“I remember seeing your father for the first time in my first class at university. All I remember is that they must have been hurting for students because they are letting anyone in. He just looked like he was uncomfortable in class and was not paying attention. I imagined that he was a lager swilling Neanderthal that the college had brought in under scholarship to bring up the rugby team. He was a very imposing looking guy complete with the military haircut and huge hands. My second thought after I took a look at him is there was no way he was going to be able to operate inside someone's mouth with hands that big.”

Jane stopped for a second to re-live some of those old, good times.

“I saw him around the campus for the next three years but we never really ran into each other. I figured he was out with the other jocks, swilling themselves under the bar each night and crawling into class the next day. I spent most of my time in the library, studying and helping out those who asked. I even placed my name in the tutor pools.”

“So, one night I am sitting in the library and this rather nice looking bloke, named Tom comes up to where I was sitting and asks for me by name. I checked my watch and I was scheduled to meet someone that evening but Tom was about 15 minutes early. So we introduced ourselves and we started to work on his essay on complex extractions. I had to get up and go back into the stacks to get a reference book after about 10 minutes into the session. As I was climbing down off the ladder to get the book off the top shelf, this guy walked into the row where I was but I let him know that I had the book and we could head back out to the table. It seemed that he had other ideas.”

“He backed me into the stack and I hit him with the book in my hand. All it did was anger him. He tried to kiss me and when all he could get was the side of my face he reared his hand back to slap me.”

Hermione had never heard this before from her mother. She was at once disgusted that her mother was attacked and yet she was on the edge of her seat.

“About that time a shadow fell over us and this huge man grabbed Tom's hand and held it in mid stroke. He brought his other hand and grabbed this guy by the front of his jumper and lifted him away from me and brought him nose to nose. Your father just asked me “Problem, ma'am?” all the while glaring at Tom. I do not think I said anything coherent but that Tom wheezed something about his girlfriend liking it rough. I could shake my head and did so. That is all that was needed and your father seemed to disappear with the bloke still suspended in mid-air by the front of his jumper.”

“What happened to him?”

“I explained to him the difference between `No' and `Yes' in a very distinct way.” Her father replied from the door to the kitchen. Her dad walked over and seated himself at the table.

“After my explanation I called the police and the ambulance had to treat the guy there before the police arrested us both. We were charged with disorderly conduct, fined by the judge that night and released. I spent the next day in the dean's office while he got the report on what happened. The other guy was expelled from the university and I was about to get expelled when this crazy little bird darn near kicks the door in and convinces the dean that I was defending his fiancé and that she would make his remaining time at the university a living hell. The dean did the only thing he could and lifted my expulsion, wished us luck on our marriage and sent us on our way.”

Hermione looked from her mother to her father, fascinated by their story. While not up to the level of her adventures at Hogwarts, it was an incredible glimpse into a life she never even imagined that her parents had. Jane took her husband's hand and continued the story.

“I finally pulled myself together about 20 minutes and ran outside just in time to see your father and this other guy being put into the cars by the constables. I sat up the entire night with some girlfriends and skipped class the next day. I then hung out at the administration building until I figured out what was happening. When I heard that they were both getting expelled, I ran over to the Dean's office and was able to convince him that what your father had done was for my benefit. Since the Dean knew me, he was a little taken aback that I was engaged but he accepted my story and wished us luck. So I took your fathers hand and led him out of administration building. As soon as we got out of the building, he said…”

“I seemed to have forgotten the marriage license, honey. What was your name again?” Roger stated. Both of her parents broke out into laughter and Hermione finally got the joke and broke into laughter herself.

“And things have gone down hill from there.” Roger stated, which earned him a swat in the arm from Jane.

“Hey!” He stated rubbing his arm as if in pain.

“Wimp.”

“Actually, have you seen my watch? I thought I left it on the dresser.” Roger asked as he got up from the table.

“Look behind the dresser. I think Crookshanks might have been up there and knocked it off.” Jane replied. Roger kissed Jane and went back to look for his watch.

“So is that when you knew you loved Dad?” Hermione prompted.

“What? Oh no, that was about a week later. We had just finished studying oral surgery when I caught myself looking at the one other couple in our study group and how they seemed to hold hands all the time and I wondered if your Dad would do the same thing with me in a few years. It was like a part of my sub-conscious broke through and intruded into my day. I ignored it for a couple of weeks and then your Dad proposed. It seemed that he had felt the same way and I accepted. It just felt right. I do not know how to explain it. It is like being struck by lightning, you can not deny it and everyone around you usually knows way before you do.”

“The hardest thing for me to do was to follow my heart and not my head. My head knew that it would never work out as we had only really known each other for a couple of weeks and we seemed to be opposites. I was a bookworm and he seemed to be an average student but mostly spent time by himself. My head said it was a mistake, my family said it was a mistake but I ignored them all. I am glad that I did.”

“So am I Mom.”

Jane seemed to gather herself mentally and got up from the table. As she was heading back to the master bedroom, she called over her shoulder.

“Be a dear and wake Alex up. We want to go over some ground rules before we head to work.”

Hermione walked up to the spare bedroom and knocked on the door.

“Alex?” she called. There was no answer.

She knocked again and called out to him. Still, no answer. Hermione debated with herself for a few seconds and then turned the doorknob and peeked in. Alex was not there. His coat was hung up on the chair by the desk. Some books were spread about the desk and Alex's trunk was sitting at the foot of the bed, locked. The bed looked like it had been slept in but that was the only sign that he had been there.

Hermione entered the room and walked over to the desk to look at the title of the books. `Wards, Traps And Devious Devices; Detection And Safeing by Lefty Jacobs' and `Wondrous Healing With Potions by Jacob Pomfrey' were open but the one that really caught her eye was `Distractions And Illusions For Fun And Profit by Alan Smithe'.

`Interesting.' She thought to herself as she paged through the illusions book. Inside there were some simple spells to entertain people with small magical balls and also how to cast glamour on one's self and others. The more disturbing entry was the detailed instructions in creating a semi-permanent glamour spell that is enchanted to an object that the recipient wore. It would give the recipient the look of someone else for a short period of time or could be used to subtly change his or her own appearance for longer periods of time.

And while the book warned about using the enchantment to break the law, Hermione could immediately see the possibilities and dangers that such an enchanted device could bring.

“That is a good book but the enchantments for that talisman are way off base.”

Hermione slammed the book closed and spun around to face Alex who was leaning against the doorframe. He was dressed in trainers, shorts and a t-shirt and it looked like he had just finished working out as he was still perspiring. Alex pushed off the doorframe and walked to her, favoring his left leg a bit with his hand outstretched.

“Do you mind if I get that back?” he asked in a neutral tone. Hermione guiltily handed it over.

“Alex, I am so sorry. I wanted to wake you up and then you were not here and..” She said in a rush, embarrassed by her snooping through his room.

“You saw that book and could not help yourself?” He added for her in a more friendly tone of voice. He finally cracked a grin at her. “Your Dad warned me last night that you were a bookworm. Don't worry about it. So am I.”

Realizing she had been let off the hook, Hermione visibly relaxed. She handed the book to Alex who looked at it, shrugged and handed it back.

“Here, you can borrow it as I am almost done with it anyways.” Alex went to his trunk and started opening it and started to get out some clothes for the day. As he leaned over to get into the trunk, Hermione heard his knee crack and Alex grunted.

“Alex, are you alright?”

Wincing a bit, Alex pulled out two small vials from the lid of his trunk.

“I will be in a bit.” He replied through gritted teeth. He quickly uncapped the vial with a purple colored liquid in it and downed it in one gulp. After he swallowed it he made a face.

“Blargh. Wonderful stuff.” He stated as he uncorked the final vial with a clear liquid inside and up-ended the vial into his mouth. He sloshed the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing it. He locked his trunk and stood up and popped his back.

“The first potion was a pain killer but what was the second potion?” Hermione asked.

“A very diluted version of Skele-Gro and strengthening potion for my leg.” Alex replied while gathering his clothes and heading towards the guest bathroom.

Hermione was about to ask him something else when they heard her parents calling from the kitchen.

“Hermione, Alex! Could you two come to the kitchen?” Roger called out

Hermione and Alex both walked into the kitchen. She sat at the table with her parents while he propped himself up against the doorframe.

“Come sit down at the table, son.” Rodger directed.

“If it is all the same to you, sir, I would like to stand here. I am still cooling off from my run.” Alex replied politely. Rodger nodded in response.

After a quick discussion about the ground rules (mostly for Alex) from her parents, Hermione walked her parents to the door and saw them off to work while Alex went to take a shower.

“Are you going to be OK today dear?” Jane asked Hermione.

“No worries Mom.” She replied giving her mom a kiss on the cheek. “We will be at the Mall all day and you will be back before us.”

“Even so,” her father said, as he got into the car, “Call us if anything happens.”

“I will Dad.” Hermione said as they started the car and headed to work. Hermione walked back into the house and she heard the shower running in the upstairs bathroom. Hermione went to her room to get dressed for the day.

After getting ready for the day, Hermione went back to the kitchen to take her potions and maybe get something substantial to eat before they left for the day. Alex was already sitting at the table, drinking a glass of water and looking over her father's paper.

Hermione opened up a cabinet and got the three vials out that she needed to take this morning. She had started with 5 different potions in the morning but her body was healing and she had been cut down to just three of them to ensure that the organ damage was repaired. She carried the vials to the table put them down and then went to make herself some toast.

“You know that you are supposed to take at least one of these on an empty stomach?” Alex asked.

Not turning around from the toast she was buttering, Hermione replied.

“I tired that but then I was not able to eat the rest of the day. If I eat something first, it makes them easier to take.”

“Liver, lung and kidney damage? What did you do? Troll wrestling?” Alex replied as he identified the potions.

Hermione sat down at the table and started to eat her toast. She also started to tell him some of what happened a couple of weeks ago at the end of the school year. Alex just sat mesmerized by her re-telling of the fight at the Ministry.

“After that, you will have to ask Harry or Neville as I was out for the rest of the fight.” She finished nonchalantly. Alex looked visibly stunned.

“ Wow. I must be leading a really sheltered life. I have nothing to compare to that.”

“Be thankful.” Hermione replied. “Adventure may be fun, but this is almost a war.” Hermione shook herself a bit and then decided to change the topic.

“I noticed that you don't seem to be tongue-tied around me anymore. You could hardly form a sentence yesterday at the airport.” Hermione observed with a grin.

“Well, you caught me when my body thought it was about 2:00 AM and it was a bit unexpected.” Alex studied his glass a little more than before. “When I saw you, all I could think is that there was no way I was going to be that lucky to be hosted by a beautiful girl and her family for the summer.”

Hermione was a little taken aback by Alex's comments. They both sat there for a few seconds when Alex finally got up from the table, breaking the tension. He walked over to the sink and deposited his glass into it.

“I am going to go find my shoes and such. When do we catch the bus?”

The comments snapped Hermione back to the here and now.

“The bus stop is just 2 blocks over and it will be here at 9:15.”

Alex pointed at the kitchen clock.

“That only gives us about 20 minutes.”

Hermione squeaked when she realized that there was very little time left. While she gunned down her potions, Alex retreated to his room to get ready for the day. As soon as Hermione finished her medicine, she placed her plate in the sink and she bolted to her room to finish getting ready.

Hermione quickly brushed through her wild hair a couple of times before she bolted out the door of her room and she and Alex jogged all the way to the bus stop. They arrived with 20 seconds to spare.

----------------------------------------

The Ministry of Magic

Professor McGonnagal and Harry arrived inside the reception area for the Wizengamot. They discovered that Harry still had thirty minutes or so before he was called before the court.

“Professor, do you have any idea why I got the summons?”

“I am sorry Harry. I have no idea.” She replied sadly. “Wait here and I will see what I can find out.”

Professor McGonnagal got up and went into the court clerk's office to try to get some answers, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. As he sat there, outside the court, he noticed that the foot traffic had picked up some. More and more people were coming by but he did not think of it until he started to hear snippets of comments made by some of them.

“It's the Chosen One.”

“Mad as a hatter, that one.”

“I heard that he was being committed today…”

“The Minister said that he might be working with You-Know-Who…”

Their comments started to make him uncomfortable but it was when someone snapped his picture that he had enough. Harry got up from the bench and tried to get into the clerk's office but the door was barred. All that happened when he jiggled the handle was that the comments questioning his mental state picked up in frequency. Feeling like he was starting to loose his temper, Harry stalked off down the corridor.

He did not care really where he went, as long as it was away from the courtroom and all the people starring at him like a novel new animal at the zoo. He had never asked for notoriety and he cursed the day when a madman, bent on gaining power, had interfered with his life. If people could really know what it was like to have lost your entire family and have the ones that you care for the most be injured and killed, notoriety and fame would soon lose it's luster.

Tom Riddle had cost him a childhood, his mother and father and now his godfather. He caused Harry to have to stay with his only other blood relatives, who had despised him for what his parents were and heaped abuse and indignity upon him from the very start. He would gladly trade all the gold in Gringott's to have his parents back and be done with Tom and his minions. He would even give up magic for some peace.

The few things that he had that were good were his friends, Ron and Hermione.

Ron, steadfast and reliable. His brother in all that counted but blood. The one person who he could rely on to help him through his dark days with a smile or a swift kick in the pants, as needed. Emotional range of a teaspoon or not, Ron was the one that pulled him through some tight spots. Solid as a rock came to his mind as Harry rounded another corner in the ministry. As long as spiders were not involved.

Hermione, with her smarts and determination, she had kept him from failing out of school. First it was with bullying but it had started to change last year and he had needed less prompting to get the schoolwork done. He did not want to disappoint her. He could not stand to see her disappointed with him.

She was the only witch or wizard that he had ever met that could make up enchantments and spells on the fly. Not even Professor Dumbledore had shown that ability. What had Ron called Hermione that first year? `Scary, brilliant but scary.' Gaining her ire was something most people avoided. Those that did tried to not do it again.

Something had changed last year though. Something subtle and unexpected. He felt the change between the three of them last year, as if the tension was slowly ramping up. Whatever it was, he could not be bothered because of all the other things going on in his life, but it did make him uneasy. There was only one time that it was brought to the fore and that was during the disastrous fight at the ministry.

Harry had reached the atrium by this time and while the foot traffic was greater, people seemed to be in a greater hurry and seemed to be less inclined to paying attention to a young wizard, sitting by the enchanted fountain. So he took a seat on its rim to gather his thoughts. Memories of the fight here in the ministry seemed to take on a life of it's own and he started to relive portions of the fight.

Getting into the ministry had been easy, way too easy. Ron had looked like he had wanted to say something about it but Harry would not hear of it. Harry was like a runaway locomotive, barreling down the tracks and taking everyone with him. He was focused on only one thing and that was saving Sirius, all other considerations be damned. It had almost cost them dearly. Unnoticed by Harry, his respiration had picked up and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

After grabbing the prophecy, things had come totally apart. Hermione had kept her head and had once again thought of a way out. Harry had blazed the way once the path had become clear and Ron had covered their escape with Luna. After that things were a blur of images and half remembered spells. People dodging spells and hexes, the room with the planets, which Luna blew up with a well executed Reducto.

Ron being attacked by the floating brains, laughing all the wile until the brain had a good hold of him. His pleading eyes on Harry as the battle swept them apart, unable to help his friend. If anything, that was the start of his nightmares, being within 10 feet of his friend and not being able to help him, to save him. It infuriated Harry to think he was such a powerful wizard but he had been powerless to help when it counted.

Harry snarled to himself and slammed his fist down on the rim of the fountain with the memory. The rim of the fountain, 4” think marble, cracked under the blow. A wizard passing nearby noticed Harry's snarl and made a hissing sound as he went by, but the masses seemed to not notice anything different.

Even with Ron being injured, or possibly killed, Harry continued to fight on. His thoughts had been with his friend but he had been able to continue on. It was when Hermione had been brought down that he had lost what was left of his composure. Until Neville had been able to find her pulse, his life with her had flashed before his eyes and he had lost all ability to concentrate.

Then Sirius went through the veil. Harry struggled to keep the tears at bay as he remembered his godfather's expression as he was hit and fell back through the veil. He remembered freezing as he watched the scene again, in his mind. There must have been something that he could have done to prevent it.

He was the all-powerful Harry Potter. The Chosen One. Surely he could have used something, cast some spell that would have pulled Sirius away from the veil. He slammed his hand down again on the rim of the fountain, this time a shard of marble fell away from the inner face of the fountain and slid to the bottom of the pool.

He remembered running after Lestrange with murder in his heart. She was going to pay. She was going to pay for all of the horrors in his life. He remembered being so enraged that he actually cast an Unforgivable curse and hit her with it. Her response was like getting hit with a bucket of cold water.

“The Crucio, baby Potter? You really have to mean it to make that work. You have to enjoy giving pain. Shall I demonstrate?” She had said.

She had been right. All that held him back was his own conscious. He would not become another Tom Riddle. That included not killing those who would think nothing of doing the same to him or those he would call friends and family. He did not want to disappoint Hermione… and Ron.

When Professor McGonnagal came out of the clerk's office and was unable to find Harry, she quickly sought out whomever she could trust to help her look for him. One of those she found was Remus Lupin. After a quick conversation, Professor McGonnagal agreed to stay by the courtroom and Remus would search the public places for Harry.

Remus almost missed him in the hustle and bustle of the Atrium. He had already passed the fountain when he glanced over his shoulder and saw him sitting there. He turned around and walked against the flow of traffic to get to Harry.

Remus slowed as he got near Harry. As he got closer, Remus could see that Harry's right hand was balled into a fist and it looked like he had cracked the rim of the fountain with it. Harry was breathing rapidly and sweat was pouring off him, as if he was running a race and not sitting quietly with his eyes closed. Remus stopped an arm length away and kneeled down right in front of him.

“Harry? Are you alright?” Remus asked in a soothing voice. Harry continued to sit quietly with his eyes closed. He showed no sign of hearing Remus at all.

“Harry.” Remus called in a more normal voice. Still no response. Harry was still lost in thought. Remus sighed and decided to try something a little more direct.

“Potter! Pay Attention!” Remus barked out. That broke through to Harry and Remus had to stifle his reaction to scramble back away from him. Where his normally vivid green eyes were, two red glowing coals sat. Not unlike Voldemort in their appearance. Remus almost thought that Voldemort had triumphed and had taken possession of Harry. Slowly they faded back to normal and Harry greeted his former professor. His respiration also slowed down to a more normal rate and sweat no longer seemed to be running down his face as fast.

“Hello Professor Lupin.”

“Harry, are you OK? You look a little pale.”

Harry shook himself a bit and wiped his hand across his brow, it came away wet. His hand was also shaking a bit.

“I am not feeling my best right now, but I will be OK. Are you here to take me to court?”

Remus was a little taken aback but he just improvised.

“Yes. We do have to go as I believe that you are a little late.” Both Remus and Harry got up from the fountain and walked towards the passageway leading to the courtroom. Remus put his left arm around Harry's shoulder and guided him. It broke Remus's heart to feel Harry shaking like a leaf.

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High Street, Winchester

Hermione and Alex got off bus #7 on High Street. Alex looked around a bit, just taking in the scenery. The bus let them off on the northern area of the High Street shopping area. Stretched out before them was a large pedestrian area with brightly painted shops on either side of the street. The sun was finally peeking its head out of the high clouds and the day promised to be warm and comfortable.

“God, this is a wonderful area. I would love to play tourist today.” He said while stretching his arms out wide.

Hermione looked around. It was home to her but she supposed that to someone new to the area, it did look inviting. Familiarity had muted its impact on her.

“We have a couple of options. We could shop High Street or we can go over one block and go to Brooks Center, the local indoor mall.”

“Well, what would you suggest?” Alex asked.

Alex was pretty well prepared for the upcoming school year but Hermione needed some various sundries.

`Socks, underwear, a new dress for Harry's party', she thought. Thinking of Harry brought a smile to her face.

“I think we need to head to Brooks. It has a wonderful book store and the owner knows my family well.”

At the mention of a bookstore, Alex's eyes lit up.

“Bookstore! Well lead on!”

Hermione and Alex arrived at Brooks Centre and he held the door open for her. He was trying to be a perfect gentleman, “of the old school” as he called it. They talked and wandered about the mall. Most of the time windows shopping but sometimes stopping in shops to take a closer look at things.

The bookstore was a big hit for each of them. Hermione was a well-known patron and the storeowner greeted her by name. Introductions were made and Alex wandered off to the Science Fiction section while Hermione wandered over to the mysteries. When she thought that Alex was not looking she did nip on over to the romance section and pick up some books there. They both laughed at some of the fantasy books. Together, they both bought about a dozen books between themselves and spent over an hour in that store alone.

After the bookstore, the two teens made their way over to a restaurant and they sat down and ate lunch. Alex found himself on the receiving end of Hermione's questing nature and most of the time they talked about him and his friends from the states. She found out that his best friend, Jerry Graybear, invited him to become an honorary member of the Swinomish tribe in Washington. Jerry was supposed to be going to Hogwarts this year, but he didn't know what family he would be staying with.

He tried to teach her some simple words in Jerry's native language but she decided that it was not a good time to take up that type of project. She had messed a simple greeting phrase with a phrase that asked if the person would like to wear a salmon. Hermione blushed over that while Alex had a good laugh.

“Don't worry about it.” Alex said. “Even after two years, Jerry has to translate some of the things that Grandfather says.”

Hermione tried to teach Alex what little French she knew, with similar results.

They finished their lunch and as they exited the restaurant, Hermione noticed a group of teens hanging out near the entrance of the restaurant. She noticed that while a couple of them were leering at her, a couple had more calculating looks. Their entire demeanor gave her the creeps. Alex sensed something also and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shot a nasty look at the group.

As they continued walking Hermione asked quietly, “Are they following us?”

Alex, nonchalantly replied, “Nope. That is the second time I have seen those guys but I think it is just bad luck running into them twice. We should be OK because you would have to be really dense to start something out here in public.” Alex removed his arm from her shoulder, after giving it a quick squeeze.

“Just relax. You do what you do best and let me do what I do best. We should be just fine.” Hermione thought that was a little strange to say.

The next store that they stopped at, Hermione had to get some things in the Lingerie section. Alex, blushing, offered to wait outside on a bench. Smiling, she took him up on the offer. She noticed that at times he was bold as hell and at others, he seemed to be painfully shy.

After picking up her items, Hermione went back outside and joined Alex. As they continued down the mall she finally came to the clothing store that she liked and she was picking out a dress for Harry's birthday party. Alex was not much of a help as he had the “fashion sense of a house elf”. She did know she had a winner when she finally settled on a cotton dress that Alex said some guy was going be very lucky seeing her in.

He did seem a little distracted and she followed his gaze and she thought she caught sight of one of the boys in that group that were looking them over earlier. When she asked him, he just said he thought he had seen someone but he was mistaken. He did suggest that they should probably head back to the bus stop so that they could get back home, on time.

On the way out, they didn't see the group of boys. She had to go to the loo and he said that he had to go as well. They found the closest one to the door they needed to go out to the bus stop and decided to use it, even though it was down about a 20' hall way.

After splitting up and completing her business she walked out and right into the same group of boys that were following her. She tried to re-enter the bathroom but one of them blocked her path.

“Hey cutie,” the apparent leader said. “What do you have in the bag?”

Deciding to bull her way out, she replied hauntingly, “Nothing for you, now I need to go catch my bus.”

“Not so fast, you might have something else that we might like,” he said while making a show of looking at her from head to toe. The other four just chuckled.

“You had better get out of my way before my friend comes back,” she was starting to get worried. She was even thinking of a spell that she could use to defend herself with even though it was against wizarding law.

“Are you talking about the gimp? Some of the boys are speaking to him right now.” More chuckles from the goon squad.

The leader started to approach her and when he laid his hands on her shoulders her left knee ran up into his crotch. He folded immediately and she tried to run past them but they grabbed her and covered her mouth.

“Cunt,” the leader wheezed from the ground as he slowly stood up. “You are really going to regret that.” He pulled a switchblade from out of his pocket and approached her again.

“We call that a bad career move from where I am from.” said a voice from behind the leader. The leader of the group looked over his shoulder.

Standing about fifteen feet away was Alex. He was standing very relaxed, but also very focused on the proceedings. Alex took in the scene in front of him.

The leader was holding a small knife towards Hermione in a threatening manner and she was being held by another teen with pockmarks on his nose. Alex labeled him Pitts and the leader, Dolt. The other three he labeled Muscles (The biggest of the bunch), Lefty and Righty (due to where they were standing around Muscles).

“Go away. We're having some fun”

Taking a step closer to the group, Alex closed his eyes and took in a large lungful of air and evenly released it. With that, his entire carriage changed. Gone was the small limp and his eyes and face lost all expression. The first thing that came to Hermione's mind was that he looked like a shark, just before it struck its victim. The next thing he said, and the way he said it, brought chills to her spine.

“Put the knife away, let her go and you can walk away. That is your only warning.” It was not given in the bluster of a threat or the hope of a promise. It was said as if it was written in stone.

Some of the group started to waver until the leader spoke up.

“Come on, he's only one guy. Go get him,” leader said.

Lefty, Righty and Muscles left the circle around Hermione and approached Alex.

“You're outnumbered little man. Run home now,” Muscles opinioned. As he flexed his large muscular shoulders, in an overly theatrical way that had intimidated many before Alex.

Alex continued to stand stock still at the comment.

Muscles stopped within striking distance of Alex and decided to silence the `little man' in front of him. As soon as he had brought his hand up to strike, Alex's right hand stuck out like a snake and hit Muscles in the shoulder. His arm instantly went numb. Before he could readjust to his arm's apparent lack of control, Alex's other hand struck again to the goon's other shoulder. With both arms out of the fight the goon tried to back off but Alex tripped him with a quick foot hook. All of this happened so fast that Hermione only saw the goon moving his arms slowly up and then he was falling backwards.

The movement stopped the other two goons as they tried to re-adjust their tactics, but by that time, Alex exploded into action. Alex downed Lefty with a quick jab to the solar plexus. Righty tried to punch Alex in the head but Alex seized his hand and spun him into the wall, where the Righty left a small trail of blood from his broken nose. He did not seem inclined to get back up again.

Alex started to walk towards the Dolt and the Pitts holding Hermione. Dolt surveyed the scene behind Alex and knew he should have never accepted this deal. His main 3 fighters lay bleeding or gasping for breath behind the little limping man that was slowly walking towards him.

Dolt wavered and then made the wrong decision, he decided to step up. He took two steps towards Alex and swung the knife towards his face. Instead of falling back, Alex blocked the goon's knife hand with his forearm, forcing Dolt to take a step back.

The leader lunged at Alex again. This time, Alex stepped to the left and tripped him. Dolt sprawled on the floor and lost his knife. He scrambled over to it.

Snarling, he picked himself off the ground and lunged again. This time Alex didn't try to get out of his way. Alex grabbed the Dolt's knife arm and it looked like he folded over backwards and the goon was lifted off his feet and ran head first into the wall behind Alex.

Alex then turned back to where Pitts was holding Hermione, but he was nursing a bloody nose from Hermione's palm strike. Nodding to her, he turned back to the leader and got his attention by stepping on his knife hand. Alex pocketed the said knife and then leaned down to be closer to his head.

The leader still tried to talk tough. Since he had just ran head first into a wall, all he got out were some things that a drunk might make. Alex quieted him with a backhand. He leaned down towards the leader's face and said something that Hermione could not hear. What ever it was made the leader's face pale and all he could do was nod.

The leader whimpered and nodded. Alex got up and walked over to where Hermione was standing, still in a bit of a daze. A wand fight was really different from a street fight.

“Ready to go home?” Alex asked in his dead voice while picking up her bags.

“Yes, lets go!” she replied a little shakily. Both teens walked out the door and caught their bus. The timing was perfect as they did not need to even wait 10 seconds before they were off.

As the bunch of goons picked themselves off the floor, one of them commented. “This was supposed to be easy.”

On the bus, Alex got Hermione seated beside the window while he took the aisle seat.

“Hermione, are you OK?” Alex asked. His tone of voice coming back to normal.

“Yes.” She replied shakily. Gathering herself she replied with a more substantial “I am fine.”

“Good. Now if you don't mind, I am going to pass out.” Alex placed his head down between his knees and took several deep breaths, trying to save himself from falling out in the aisle of the bus.

Hermione was not sure what to do so she just placed her hand on his back and rubbed it in small circles. Her shaking hand showed how bothered she was by the attack but someone else needed help so she put her feelings aside.

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The Ministry of Magic

With a sense of foreboding, Harry slowly walked into the courtroom. Remus Lupin had to wait outside. Inside, only Amelia Bones was in attendance with a scribe. The scribe and Judge Bones sat at a table on the other side of the gallery rail. She beckoned Harry down to the table. He sat down on the opposite side of the judge and scribe.

“Mr. Potter,” Judge Bones said, “The court has asked for your presence today to right a wrong that was committed in this very courtroom nearly 16 years ago.”

Reaching into her robes, the Judge Bones produced a rolled piece of parchment and handed it to Harry.

“This is an official pardon and apology from the court for the charges against your godfather. I know this is a little late in coming but it was all that we could do.” She said with some sympathy.

Looking over the scroll, Harry noticed that Percy Weasly and not the minister himself signed the line for the Ministry of Magic. He questioned the judge about this.

“Minister Fudge had his aide sign in his stead.” Judge Bones explained. She then started to write on a piece of parchment that was in place in front of her.

“Cornelius is a friggin idiot. This young man is going to kick him into next week if he pulls anymore crap.” Harry heard from Judge Bones. Harry was a little taken aback. He could not believe that a judge had just said that in front of the scribe or himself.

“Your Honor?” Judge Bones looked up from a piece of parchment that she was annotating.

“Yes Mr. Potter.”

“What did you just say?” Judge Bones looked at the scribe, who just shrugged.

“I said that the Minister had his aide sign the pardon in his place.” She eyed him a little strangely.

“No, after that.”

“I have not said anything else, Mr. Potter. Are you feeling alright?”

Harry scoured his face with his hands. Replacing his glasses, he said, “I thought you said the Minister was an idiot.” Judge Bones started at that and then continued in a more stern tone.

“I would never say anything like that Mr. Potter. I hold the Minister of Magic in great esteem and I will ask you to not put words into my mouth.”

“Poor young fool has gone nutters. Delores will want to hear about this.” Harry heard this from the scribe, but since he was looking at him, he knew that the scribe's mouth did not move. This was starting to unsettle Harry.

`What the hell is going on?' Harry thought to himself. It was starting to bother him and he was getting fed up with all of the mysteries in his life. It was starting to piss him off. He clamped down on his anger as hard as he could as Judge Bones pulled out an envelope that she handed to Harry.

“Mr. Potter, this is a notice about your Godfather's will. I am told that it will be read at Gringott's on the 2^nd of August. You are invited along with some others.”

“Mr. Potter, I would also like to pass on the congratulations and thanks of all of the court to you and your friends in facing the Death Eaters here in the Ministry. At the next full meeting, we anticipate a special commendation being awarded to all of the those who participated that night.” Standing up, the judge bid Harry goodbye and walked out with the scribe in tow.

Harry sat at the witness table for several minutes, completely stunned. He was emotionally overwhelmed. When he took stock, he was surprised that he had maintained some sense of sanity. Cedric's death at the end of his fourth year, being the target of the Ministry's official and unofficial smear campaign to discredit him, Sirius's death at the Department of Mysteries and his inability to exact vengeance against his murder, his false arrest and incarceration for crimes that his cousin and his friends committed, having to deal with his remaining family for the last two months, along with the various nightmares since his godfather's death was just too much. And now this. He had to be strong his entire life and he was reaching the end of his rope.

In a sudden fit of rage that surprised even him, Harry grabbed the table in front of him and up-ended it. He then threw the chair he was sitting on against the wall. It only fueled his rage when the chair hit and didn't break. Running over to the chair, he seized it again and hurled it at the opposite wall. This time he made sure it broke.

Totally in the grip of his rage and pain, he then seized the table and started to lift it over his head. Small sounds filled his ears, but all that mattered to him was to destroy a little part of the world that seemed to be doing its level best to destroy him. He didn't notice that he had an audience even when a stunner hit him on his left shoulder blade. He was still able to pick the table up and throw it towards the observer gallery. The table broke the railing there with a satisfying crack. Harry was then hit with a second stunner and finally collapsed; not from the spells but from his rage being sated for the time being.

Harry lay on the floor of the court chambers and his last memory in the courtroom was of Professor McGonnagal and Remus Lupin looking down at him with concern and not a small amount of apprehension.

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Merlin’s Familiar

1. Prologue

2. Picking Up The Pieces

3. Arrivals

4. Introductions