Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N:

Yes, I am back! I knooooowww! Three and a half years of hiatus. You all probably think I have improved. I have probably dwindled since I haven't written anything in 3 years. This chappies is a little preview. Sad to say, the story is still in progress. But I am going to sit down and finish it within the next month. Thank you to everyone who stuck around. I hope still have some readers. If not, I understand. It is frustrating. Now, I am only writing to finish what I have started and give an ending to those who've been loyal since the beginning. Enjoy!

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Hermione felt Harry's presence even before her eyes fluttered open. It was very powerful, dominating, intimidating. It had always had been strong, and will always be, she imagined. But for the very first time in two weeks, Hermione did not immediately close them, nor did she will herself back to sleep. He would speak to her even in her sleep, plead for forgiveness and promise future happiness. She wanted to cling to his words, but none of it mattered. Not as long as Voldemort was alive, there was no happiness, not even a future.

Her presence must have become as powerful to him as his was to her for as she turned her head to look outside, she heard him move

"Hermione," he rushed to her bed.

She refused to turn her head. "It's raining."

Harry sighed, for he knew how she would be. He expected she would be depressed and unwilling to talk. A little part of him still had hoped that in the last two weeks she had lain in bed, pretending to sleep while listening to him, she would have come to understand his reasons. He did not hold a grudge against her. How could he? She was, had been, a mother, even if it was only for the briefest of times. Nothing can compare with the love of a mother to her child.

"Perhaps we could talk."

A long pause.

"I hope by now, you have come to realize that what I did was to prevent more danger from befalling on you. You have to know that I never believed the child to be William's."

As soon as the word left his mouth, he flinched. The lie tasted bitter.

Hermione clearly knew that it was. Her lips thinned and she closed her eyes to calm herself. "My child is-is-dead. Do not insult his memory by falsifying your actions."

Harry took a deep breath. "Our child." He corrected firmly. "Be that as it may, please see it how I had. I could not be so confident, with everything that had taken place."

"What of trust?" Hermione whispered. "I have consistently proven my loyalty to you, Harry. But simple incidents, one of which I had nothing to do with, was enough to break you down."

"There are no words I could speak that would take away the pain I have caused you. I can never bring back our child. But I would build a family with you. We can start over. I love you and I know you still love me. Please do not let another stupid mistake get in the way of our happiness."

A tear slid down Hermione's cheek. "That road has been destroyed. We cannot rebuild from the remains."

"Then we will start somewhere else."

"And have Lord Riddle follow us there as well?" Hermione asked quietly. ""I am exhausted of having to run, or watch my back all the time. It is more frightening to know that my children will have to grow up, sheltered, constantly looking out for themselves. This will be a never-ending battle. Even when Lord Riddle dies, he will have his followers continue this madness for him."

It was the soft acquiescence in her voice that bothered him. Anger, disappointment, hatred...he'd take all these for he knew that somewhere beneath them was love. But the grim and calm way she spoke made him feel all was lost.

"I know you are distraught." Harry said, standing. "But that child was mine as much as he was yours. I feel the loss, Hermione. But I will not accept this kind of thinking."

He sat on the bed, his hips touching hers. He sighed as she still refused to look at him. He sensed she did not hate him, but he also felt she was not ready to welcome his affection just yet.

He took her hand in his and lifted it up to his lips. "I know you are tired from running. We do not have to run. Perhaps that is the problem. We keep running, hiding and hoping that Voldemort will give up. If you give me this one more chance, I swear to you that I will give you the life you should have had from the beginning. For as long as I am alive, I am devoted to your safety. Neither you, nor our children will ever have to suffer in his hands. I will do everything I can to make sure of that."

Hermione kept her silence as she willed herself not to be swayed by the words her husband released so resolutely. After a long suffered sigh, she finally found the courage to meet his gaze.

At that moment, her breath came swooshing out. The intensity in his gaze knocked the wind out of her. No matter what he said, she had made up her mind.

"No, Harry." She pulled her hand away from his grip. "I am ending this."

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Two months later...

It took Harry a moment to realize that the pounding on his head was actually the incessant knocking on his door. Summoning the strength to lift his head from his desk, Harry grunted. Through the blurred vision that has become the daily norm for him, he saw a man who was vaguely familiar stride into the room.

"Beg your pardon, your grace, but I..."

A heavy thud followed by a crash brought a couple of footmen peering through the doorway followed by an overly curious and shocked maid .

They found their duke clutching the lapels of their lady's friend, a vision that nobody found surprising. The look of utter fear and shock on the other gentleman's face: THAT was unexpected.

"I did not mean to disturb you." He blanched, face white. "Please pardon me."

"Do not play gentleman with me, you son of a bitch!" Harry pulled the man up to his face, close enough to see the look of murder in his own eyes. "You must have a bloody death wish coming back here after what you did! After the hell you put us through, I would be more than willing to grant you that wish."

"What I did?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. His blood boiled even hotter. There was no way this man would come out of here alive. "Do not play innocent. I would throw you in the dungeons right now, if only I do not have the intent of making you suffer first, you conniving bastard!"

Clutching his hands fretfully, William desperately implored. "Please spare me. I do not know what you are talking about. If I have done anything to offend you, please accept my apologies. I realize that coming here uninvited was not proper. Perhaps I may return another time."

"I think it is too late for playing nice, Averley. You cannot fool me. You never did."

William's eyes turned from worry to confusion.

"I have not laid eyes on you until today," he whispered.

Harry's head whipped back. "Do not mock my intelligence."

"Only if I had a death wish, your grace."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Do you deny that you are William Averley?"

"No, your grace. I do not." William looked at him straight in the eye and for the very first time, Harry felt a sense of discomfort at what he saw. "But to have met you before today, that I will deny. Moreover, I do not recall any event that could have possibly made you despise me this much."

Harry shook his head and pulled back his arm, his fists clenched tightly.

"STOP!!!"

Before Harry could take a much-craved swing at the defenceless man, a young woman came bursting into the room. On her trail was a little boy of about five years of age, clutching the back of her skirts, looking so innocent and scared at the towering figure scowling at them both.

Uncaring of the violent display presented in front of the boy, Harry kept his grip on the man very much instrumental in destroying his relationship with the woman he loved.

"What madness is this? Who are you and who let you in?"

The young woman dropped on her knees beside William and clutched his shoulder desperately. She turned her face up to him, both courage and fear shining in her eyes.

"Please do not hurt him."

Despite his anger, Harry eased his hold on William.

But only the slightest bit.

"Who are you, madam?"

"My name is Eveline Averly."

"That name means nothing to me, my dear." Harry scoffed. "But your presence is unwarranted as his." Harry stepped away. He looked from her face to his. "Who is this man to you?"

"My husband."

Instead of being pacified as she probably thought Harry would be, Harry felt an insane amount of urge to pummel William until he was no more than ashes. Perhaps he would, just so his wife would feel even the slightest amount of pain that Hermione felt when she lost their child.

Controlling his instincts, Harry closed his eyes and tried to still his shaking fist. "I find it hard to believe anything about this man, madam. With all due respect, it does not make any sense to me." His hold slackened, and then released. He reached up and rubbed his temple as if suddenly exhausted. Drinking each night had deteriorated his senses and made him more susceptible to headaches. "Nothing makes sense."

Eveline swallowed, looked at Harry and then at William. Behind her, the little boy who was probably their son, peered from his mother's skirts and looked up at Harry.

Harry felt a twinge of jealousy seeing the young boy. It would have been years away before their child looked that way had he or she survived. It had been a couple of months, but the thought of what could have been still hurt. Hermione did not know but while she had been confined, Harry had gone to the spot he'd found her that night and officially put a gravestone in the baby's honor.

She had been too grim to talk to that he had not thought to mention anything to her.

By the time he thought she was ready, she had disappeared.

They were never able to name their child either.

If it would have been a son or a daughter, they would never know. Hermione had been too silent, so Harry simply chose a fitting name. It stung every time because the name reminded him of two important people whom he loved so dearly despite the misfortune of never having the chance to meet and be with them. Harry was certain Hermione would have liked the name James Robert.

"What is your name, boy?"

"Please do not hurt my papa," he said instead.

Harry almost smiled at the plea. He also almost reached over to caress the child.

"Your grace, please do not hurt me in front of my son." William's voice brought him back to reality.

As his head turned back sharply towards William's direction, Harry felt, more than saw, the feisty defiance in the lady's demeanor as she quietly met his gaze head on. He knew whatever happened, he would have to deal with her too.

He perused William's clothing, his hair and his built. "You have a son now? How convenient for you." Harry turned his gaze back to Eveline. "And how much did he promise to pay you, my lady, for putting up this ruse?"

"I beg your pardon, your grace?" In her defense, Harry thought, she did look affronted. "We have been married for six years."

"That has not come to my knowledge, I assure you. Nor does it change how much I loathe your husband. I am surprised that you still choose to stay with him after all he did."

"I will not stand for being accused of something and not knowing what it is that I am accused of. What have I done, your grace, that I may be given the chance to admit or deny it."

Harry had had enough. He leaned on his knees and pushed himself up. Evelyn stood up as William did the same. He did not have the strength to converse with these people who were a bunch of liars but in all honesty seemed to be telling the truth.

"Get out."

"But..."

"GET OUT!"

"I will leave, but not until I speak with Hermione. I was told I could find her here."

"Hermione is not here." Even as he said the words, Harry could not quite contain the sense of shame and worry that washed over him. "As I am sure you are aware that your plan of driving us apart worked. She is at Ravenclaw Keep. I do not see the point of keeping it as you and Lord Voldemort most likely already know where she is."

William flinched at the sound of Lord Voldemort's name.

"Now leave."

William still refused to do as bid.

Harry shook his head. "You will not cause any more trouble. I suggest you leave now or I will have you thrown in prison. You forget, sir, that you are in my home, in my estate. I have power here, and I have power over Hogwarts. Leave or you will never see anything but walls again."

"I feel sorry for you but I do not know why." William shook his head. "I shall find my friend and do hope that she is in good state. I did not believe what I heard when I was told she had married you. The Hermione I grew up with will not stand for tyranny. Perhaps what happened between the two of you was deserved. She might not be willing to accept my comfort after our years apart, but I trust she'd welcome me more than she will welcome you."

Averley turned around to leave, but was almost immediately yanked back by Harry, who couldn't seem to put two and two together as quickly as his heart was beating and his head was pounding.

"Do you really believe that after what you did to her...to our son....she would even feel any affection towards you? Are you that desperate? Or are you just that dim-witted?! You may not have lain a hand on her, but believe me, you despicable excuse for a man, you just as good as killed him."

Eveline gasped in horror. She helplessly looked at her husband as their son's eyes widened and tears brimmed in them. She crouched down and embraced him, hoping to shield him from the madness all could see in Harry.

But he did not care at all.

William's shock turned to anger, and then almost as quickly, it turned into puzzlement. All of a sudden, his affronted look became that of genuine curiosity.

"Enlighten me, your grace," he began in a mocking voice, "When did I commit this murder?"

Harry gritted his teeth. That nagging feeling was again pulling him back, preventing from pulverizing the man in front of him into pulp. Then he realized that the nagging feeling was not a feeling at all, but the lack thereof. He did not feel menace coming from this man at all. There was also an absence of discomfort. A discomfort he had initially and always until then felt whenever William Averley had been around. It was almost as if they were two different people, evoking in him two different responses.

Harry stared at him for an eternity, his fists clenching and unclenching, his jaw mimicking the movement. His eyes darted then to Eveline and the boy. His instincts had never betrayed him. Perhaps depression had turned them rusty. But as the wheels turned in his head and his mind processed all the information, he breathed deeply.

"Please show Mrs. Averley and their son out."

The two footmen, who were standing agape, their presence thought forgotten, straightened and collided with each other to get through the door. Flustered, they each took an arm of the lady guest who tried to shrug it off.

"What are you going to do?"

"Please calm yourself, madam, I only wish to speak with your husband alone." He turned to William. "I give you my word no harm --- more than what was done --- shall come to him."

Pacified by his word, although trusting Harry to keep it was the last thing he himself would have advised anyone, the woman majestically turned around and walked towards the door, clutching the boy's hand as if her life depended on it.

"I decided to spare your wife and your son these image for I think no child should see their father on their knees, begging for his life."

"No such person can demean me, your grace. Not after what I have been through." William stood brushed off the dirt on his knees. "Perhaps you would care to tell me now what I have allegedly done."

Harry sat down. He looked at William ever so intently. "I'm afraid speaking of it only brings out my hatred and no matter how much I would like to beat you to death, I do not think that is punishment enough. As it is, I still do not think you are as innocent as you are claiming to be. You, of all people, should remember what you did. Have you had a recent accident?"

"No."

"You have a clear memory of what transpired in your life two months ago?"

"Of course."

"Then, maybe you can enlighten me where you were and what you had been doing?"

"I was on a ship, your grace. Along with my wife and son. On our way here to see Hermione."

"If you were on a ship two months ago, then how do you explain your presence here at Godric's Hollow, your presence accounted for by myself, Hermione and the rest of our staff? We are not daft, William. Unless you are a sorcerer conjuring an entity that looked so much and talked a lot like you, I do not believe you."

"Perhaps not a sorcerer, your grace," William said, his eyes alight. "Perhaps a twin."

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"Would you like some tea, my lady?"

Hermione looked up from the spread of green grass she was staring at through the drawing room window. It had been years since she'd looked out from inside of Ravenclaw Keep. It was a weird sensation. She thought she would be a stranger looking out onto foreign place for the first time, but instead, she felt like a bird who'd come home to its nest for comfort.

"No, thank you." She forced herself to look and give the servant girl the smile she was expecting. Hermione warily eyed the pot of tea the young lady was holding in her work-roughened hands. Despite her troubled state, she knew she was not a welcomed guest.

Her stepmother would do anything to keep her reign over Ravenclaw Keep and so Hermione did not trust her stepmother now any more than she did years ago. She trusted too much and got hurt because of that. She vowed never to do so again.

So why return to the place she loathed so much?

Because there was unfinished business to be dealt with.

Hermione nodded the maid's dismissal and waited for her to leave before sitting down.

Ravenclaw Keep, no matter what her stepmother thought, was hers to claim. She might have been too weak in the beginning, fleeing when she could have defended her right, but she knew now her true place in the system, understood it better, and was more confident of her authority.

On top of finally claiming what was hers, she also needed to get away.

Quickly.

Living with Harry past those days of mourning had been pure torture. Every time she looked at him, it reminded her of the child she'd lost, what he or she would have looked like. It tore her more that she could not visit the memorial anymore, a memorial that Harry did not realize she was aware of.

There had been love lost for a little while. Her grief over-taking her sensibilities. She would be lying if she said she did not initially blame him for their child's death. But after much thought, she realized that she never held herself accountable for anything that happened between her and Harry.

She was appalled with herself - for being too weak, for always relying on him, for not thinking for herself. She had been selfish, letting him take the rein and carry the burden on his shoulders.

That was when she realized she could not be with him.

Not right now at least.

Their meeting had been purely by chance. They became entrapped under a spell of hero and damsel in distress, of a heroine who tamed the beast. It was exhilarating and overpowering. But, in the end, they will have no happy ending with such evil coveting power.

The string of mishaps had not been enough to open her eyes. It had to end with a deep tragedy before she realized that she should take control of her own destiny. That loving someone did not mean to relinquish control, but to have more strength and a reason to continue.

She left Godric's Hollow, not because she hated Harry.

But because she loved him.

And because she loved him that she did not tell him the reason that she was risking it all to stay in Ravenclaw Keep.

The less he knew, the better.

To everyone's eyes, she and Harry were no longer together. He was safe in Godric's Hollow, and she, the broken-hearted wife and mother, was back in her childhood home.

To recover.

To forget.

To heal.

Hermione smiled, despite the half-truths.

Not really...

She was here to end a war.

To find the key that will decide the fate of Hogwarts and the outcome of this useless battle between good and evil.

Harry had saved her so many times.

It was time she saved him, and herself.

This needed to end.

And this time, it needed her to end it.

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Harry felt the strength had come back into his body, power seeping from the end of his toes to the tips of his fingers.

It was too good to be true, this new knowledge that had come through his door merely three days ago. But it was enough to make him hope for a better ending, more so a new beginning.

He didn't care whether or not this was a new ploy of William Averley and Tom Riddle. He would take anything he could to have a reason to see Hermione.

The night she disappeared, he but all turned over all the tables in Godric's Hollow to find her. He was ready to journey out to Scotland when a messenger finally arrived to tell him that Hermione had taken residence at Ravenclaw Keep.

He had huffed, puffed and smashed everything in his way. After a couple of days stewing, he rode Hedwig towards Ravenclaw Keep, fueled by strength of intoxication and more importantly, passion. He tried barging in through her doors at, only to be stopped by her guards. He had waited for hours and had been forced to do the walk of shame when no one had come out to welcome him inside.

Then finally, after a full month of trying, he gave up. He had grown too weary of his messengers' look of pity every time they brought him her resounding no. After which, he had turned to his parents' cellar and spent his nights emptying bottles.

Harry knew bringing "William" to Hermione was playing rather unfairly. But, maybe he was a genius in this regard.

"I shall take you to Hermione," he had said to William after the revelation. "As I have told you that you seek her presence where it is not."

William had then looked relieved and even excited, albeit sorrowful upon learning what had transpired. "Forgive my enthusiasm, your grace. I understand now that it has been difficult, but you see, I have been looking forward to re-acquainting with her. She was my best friend."

Harry had nodded in acceptance. But his lips had thinned into a grim line. "I am pressed to warn you however tempting it is not to..."

William's small smile disappeared. Realization dawning.

"Thread carefully when you see her. I am certain however unreceptive she will be to me, tenfold shall be directed to you."

With his new profound hope however came worry. Somewhere out there, Voldemort and the other Averley were most likely mulling over their next step. No one was safe. Ravenclaw Keep was not the best haven for his wife, no matter how much that was home for her. She should have gone to Scotland again. It's a little farther so she'd be safer.

Why would she even go back there?

A place she hated so much.

Trying to co-exist with a woman she despised more than he.

Despite the circumstance, he knew her hatred towards him had passed.

And her grief...it had to end sometime.

End...

Something caused his heart to beat fast...and then faster.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

"I am ending this."

Those were her last words to him before she disappeared.

"Fool!"

He had been too distraught, thinking that she was too far for him to reach, that he just took her words in face value.

This was not their relations!

This was their war.

Damnation!

He should not have let the separation persist! He thought it was because of their child and that she needed to be apart for him to heal. But even so, he should have stopped her. If he let her leave every time they fought, they would be spending more time apart than together.

Damn the woman.

But no matter. He was through wasting time. It was of the essence that they leave soon.

He slammed the door closed from his bedchambers just in time to see William emerge from his and Evelyn's.

He strode over to the man, who was the villain in his life two months ago, but could now be his champion. He eyed him threateningly; animosity still winning over any possibility that he was as innocent as his lifeless baby.

"Prepare yourself, Averley, there will be more than one battle to fight once we get there."

With that, he swung his cloak over his shoulder and tapped the pistol he was carrying for reassurance. He nodded towards Evelyn who was looking at him and her husband with such troubled eyes and made his way down the staircase.

After a few words of goodbye, William followed Harry's determined stride.

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Miles away, Sirius and Remus disregarded the half-finished game of chess they were playing as they prepared to leave that very same night.

With haste, they packed weaponry and saddled their horses themselves, not bothering to wait for the stable boys to do it. Instead, Sirius handed each one a note containing the very same message he had received merely an hour before. He watched with weary eyes as they rode in separate directions, carrying out the instructions he'd given.

As Sirius and Remus traveled by horse and disappeared beyond the gates of the Black Manor, Sirius could not help but dwell on the missive he received from his godson. It laid still on his desk, with five simple words of which significance was understood more than a thousand words could portray.

"Make haste for Ravenclaw Keep."

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A/N:

I hope you guys liked it. It's still raw and might seem rushed, which is so unlike me. I might do some editing later on. But for now, I just wanted to take this baby out of it's "Paused" status. Plus, I was inspired by Batman and Superman: Dawn of Justice to continue the story. Lois Lane and Superman inspired the cupid in me and made my heart flutter with romantic ideas again. After this, I think I'm going to write one about them. LOL! I know, I know. Finish one first then aspire for the next.

Anyhow, please forgive some inconsistencies as I have been writing chapters too long in between and kinda forgot what was already mentioned and what was not. I am still trying to figure out what my original plot was and might have to start from scratch. But really, thank you for dropping encouraging words consistently through the years I've been on hiatus. I never forgot this story.

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