A/N: So, here's chapter six with the twist I announced in some review replies. I know the cliffhanger is mean, but I promise I'll explain everything in the next chapter. Maybe some of you can guess what has happened. Whoever gets it right gets a kiss from either Harry or Hermione (depending on your gender and orientation ;) ).
Thanks a lot to my beta Maria (Marla1) for her help with this chapter. You're great!
Chapter 6
Hermione looked at her watch when she arrived at her parents' house. It was nearly 9 pm, which meant it was early morning in Australia. Her parents probably were not at the small house she had rented for them before she left for the Horcrux search. The false memory she had given her parents before leaving told them they were tourists who wanted to get away from their busy lives and enjoy the nature of Australia. Her parents had always been early raisers, which meant that they had probably already left the house. Hermione decided to apparate to their house nevertheless. So she could find out if they already lived there or if they had moved on to another place. Hermione really hoped they hadn't, Australia was very big and if they had decided to travel the country it would be very hard to find them.
Hermione quickly packed a backpack with a few clothes. She left Crookshanks with Harry and the neighbours were looking after the house, so there wasn't anything else to be organized. Before she left, she grabbed the canteen containing the potion she'd made a stock of before they left to search for the Horcruxes. Hermione took a sip and packed the canteen. She probably wouldn't need it, but better to be safe than sorry.
Hermione apparated to the secluded forest near the house and walked the rest of the way. She knocked on the front door to see if her parents were still home or if somebody else was living here by now. When nobody answered she unlocked the door with her wand and looked around. Hermione was relieved to see her parents' suitcases in the bedroom. That meant they were, obviously, still living here and wouldn't be gone for a long time. She could simply wait for them.
Hermione sat down on the couch and let her thoughts wander and it didn't take long until they landed on a certain raven haired wizard. Harry had been wrong with his assumption that she had never thought about kissing him or making love to him. When he had talked to her and Ron about his first kiss with Cho she couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to kiss Harry. Then last summer, when she had been one of the people who had transformed into fake Harrys by using Polyjuice potion, she had been more than curious about her best friend's body and had secretly been happy for the opportunity to see the parts of Harry's body she had never seen before. Hermione had been so frustrated when she found out that Harry's eyesight was so bad that she couldn't see anything clearly. She had silently cursed Moody for not giving her glasses before she was fully closed. Hermione hadn't seen as much as she wanted, but it had been enough to send her imagination into overdrive. Hermione had been able to tell how muscular and well endowed Harry was, leading to several weeks of heated dreams. Hermione had tried to banish these thoughts from her head, because Harry was her best friend and she wasn't supposed to feel about him like that, but the thought how it would be to be with Harry never completely left.
Hermione's thoughts drifted to her wedding night. With Ron, she had never gone further than kissing. Hermione knew that Ron had wanted to go further, but he never pushed her and Hermione had been thankful for that. For some reason she had never felt comfortable about going further with Ron. Surprisingly, she did not feel at all uncomfortable sleeping with Harry. She had been a little nervous because of the strange circumstances of their wedding night, but she'd never felt the urge to stop. Sleeping with Harry had felt so right, not only physically, but emotionally, as well. Although the sex had been better than Hermione had imagined possible, that hadn't been the best part of the night. The best part had been holding Harry afterwards. He had looked so happy and peaceful, Hermione loved the knowledge she had been the cause of his bliss. She felt so much love and tenderness during these precious moments. Was it possible to feel so much love for somebody without being in love with him? Hermione seriously doubted that.
She took the necklace off Harry had given her and pulled her wand out. Hermione spent the next hours watching memories of her and Harry. She had expected that Harry had put the important events they had experienced together into the necklace, but was surprised to find out how vividly Harry remembered the small moments that meant so much to her. Hermione watched her first meeting with Harry and saw him and Ron defend her from the Troll. She watched herself through Harry's eyes when she was petrified in first year and when she ran towards Harry during the feast after being revived. Hermione smiled at the memory. Harry had looked so happy to see her. Hermione decided to put her memory of Harry's face that day in the Pensieve, too before continuing to watch Harry's memories. She saw herself and Harry flying on Buckbeak's back and watched the training with Harry for the Triwizard Tournament and watched how she was hugging him before he had to face the dragon. Hermione saw herself through Harry's eyes when he first saw her at the Yule Ball. She watched herself being hit by Dolohov's curse during the battle at the ministry and heart the panic in Harry's voice when he saw her fall. She watched how she told Harry that she wouldn't let him go to search for the Horcruxes by himself. Harry hadn't put only the memories of those big moments in the Pensieve though. He had archived his memories of each hug and each kiss on the cheek he had received from her. Hermione found the memories of every single time Harry had awoken in the Hospital wing to find her sitting by his side and saw Harry open every single present she had gotten him in the seven years they had been friends.
When Hermione had watched all the memories tears were streaming down her face. She had never known how much all the small signs of affection from her had meant to Harry. Hermione realized that she remembered all these small moments as vividly as Harry. Like he, she was able to recall what Harry had gotten her for each birthday and Christmas and she remembered every hug they had shared. She remembered every time her heart had beaten faster because of a particular dangerous Quidditch manoeuvre. She remembered every time she had wanted to scold Harry for breaking rules or neglecting his school work, but hadn't because Harry had given her one of his disarming boyish grins. Each time Ron tried the same tactic he had been given a lecture, but she had never been half as strict with Harry, because she didn't have the heart to make his smile disappear.
There was no doubt: She was in love with Harry. She was head over heels in love with him and had been for a long time, she had just been delusional. Hermione looked at her left hand and smiled when she inspected her wedding band and the thin mark where she had been cut with the poniard during the ceremony. Hermione started to realize the full meaning of what had happened yesterday. Her's and Harry's lives had been linked for all eternity and nothing could ever undo this bound. Instead of scaring her this realization made Hermione feel safe and secure. The ceremony had only manifested a connection that had been there for a long time.
Hermione took her wand out once more and added two more memories to the Pensieve: her wedding and her wedding night. She wanted to cherish these memories forever and never forget even the smallest detail.
Hermione hadn't realized how much time had passed and was startled when she heard a key in the door. She hastily took her wedding band of and put it in her jean pocket. She had enough to tell her parents without informing them that she was magically married to a guy they barely knew. She would save that for another talk.
When Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place he didn't really know what to do. Ron had invited him to the burrow, but it was Sunday, what he meant that Fred and George would be home and Harry wasn't in the mood to hear innuendos about his wedding night. He wasn't keen on seeing Ginny either, so he had declined Ron's offer. He wasn't in the mood to sit alone in the big house either, so Harry decided to pay Gringotts a visit. The Wizarding bank had sent him a letter on his 17th birthday, asking him to come and claim his inheritance, but Harry had been too busy with Voldemort and the Horcruxes. Going to Gringotts would give him something to do and maybe he could stop by at Florish and Blotts and see if they had any books on renovating spells. During the train ride Harry had decided to stay at Grimmauld Place, at least for a while. He simply couldn't sell the house which Sirius had grown up in. It was the last connection he had to his godfather and it would be unfair towards Kreacher to sell his home to strangers. It had taken Kreacher some time to accept him, but now he considered Harry his new master. Harry didn't like to be treated like that by Kreacher, but he knew that the old house elf needed someone to care for. It was all he had ever done and depriving him of the opportunity would make him feel useless.
Harry quickly unpacked his trunk and apparated to Diagon Alley. He tried to ignore the stares and whispers of all the people he saw on his way to Gringotts. The news that he had defeated Voldemort had of course already reached everybody in the Wizarding world what meant he was attracting even more attention than usual. Harry was starting to regret that he had left the house. When Harry arrived at Gringotts he found the next Goblin.
"Hi, my name is Harry Potter and I came because of my inheritance. I couldn't make it sooner." The heads of everybody in hearing distance turned when Harry introduced himself, but he ignored the people staring at him. The goblin asked Harry to follow him and let him to a small office. "Mr. Potter, you are the sole heir of the Potter fortune and the main heir of the Black fortune. Miss Tonks and Mr. Lupin have already received their share of Mr. Black's inheritance, so all what's left in both vaults belongs to you. I only need you to sign a few documents before I'll give you the keys."
The goblin handed Harry a document and his eyes went wide when he read the amount on the parchment. "Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?" the goblin asked formally.
When Harry had found his voice back he asked "All this money belongs to me?"
The goblin looked surprised. "Of course, sir. You are James Potters only son and your father didn't have any siblings and as Mr. Black's godson you are his main heir."
"Yes, I know. I just... I had no idea how rich my parents and Sirius were." Harry still couldn't take his eyes from the piece of parchment in front of him. His parents had left him nearly 9 million Galleons and Sirius more than 7 million. Harry couldn't believe that he suddenly had more money than he could spend in a lifetime. When Harry was over the initial shock he noticed another line on the document. "There's mentioned something about 'personal belongings' of my parents. What kind of belongings?" Harry asked. He was ecstatic about another possible link to the parents he had nearly no memory of.
"Mainly family jewellery, as far as I know. You can have the key now and look for yourself if you want to." The goblin offered and Harry nodded eagerly. When Harry entered his parents' vault he was amazed by all the galleons there, but what really caught his eye was a corner in the room where he saw a trunk.
When Harry opened the trunk, the first thing that caught his eye was a Wizarding painting of him and his parents. The painting must have been produced only a few months before their deaths. "Mum, Dad?" Harry asked the two adults who were smiling at him.
"Oh, Harry, you look so grown up." His mother said affectionately.
"Hallo, Harry." His father greeted him with a smile.
"It's so great to see you!" Harry answered, overwhelmed by the possibility to talk to his parents. "I had no idea that this painting existed."
"We ordered it shortly after your first birthday. The war was escalating and we wanted you to have a memory of us if we didn't survive. Considering that you're here today obviously means that this is what happened, isn't it?" James asked.
"You died three months after this portrait was made, on Halloween. I'm so sorry." Harry answered sadly.
"It's alright, Harry. We knew that this could happen and we were ready to go. I'm just sad that we had to leave you alone so young." Lily answered.
"... and that this probably ruined Halloween for you." James added with a half smile. "It was always my favourite Holiday. It's a great opportunity to have a party and on Halloween you are less likely to get in trouble for a prank. Even the teachers cut you some slack on Halloween." James explained, earning him a strict look from his wife.
Harry smiled. His parents were exactly how he had imagined them from Sirius' and Lupin's stories. "It's true, I always think of you on Halloween, but I have many good memories to connect with Halloween, too. My first Halloween in Hogwarts was the day I became friends with the most amazing girl in the world and that's one of my favourite memories."
"The most amazing girl in the world? Tell us about her, I want to know everything." Lily demanded.
Harry told his parents about Hermione. How they had become friends, how loyal she had been during all those years, how kind, courageous and brilliant she was. Eventually, Harry told them about the final fight and the aftermath, including the wedding and soul bounding. "I love her more than anything and I know she loves me, but I don't know if she loves me as a friend or more." Harry concluded.
"After what you just told us, Hermione probably doesn't know that herself. Give her time, she'll come and talk to you when she is ready." Lily advised.
"Yes, but you know son it can't hurt to use the infamous Potter charm to help her make the right decision." James said.
"If the Potter charm is so infamous, why did it take you three years to get me to accept a date with you?" Harry's mother asked her husband.
"You did agree, didn't you? And after three more years, you became my wife, so I must have done something right." James countered.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Your father is awfully sure of himself. Though a little bit of his self-esteem would do you good. You're a great young man Harry and this girl is very lucky."
"Thanks, Mom." Harry answered. "Hermione said something similar to me."
"See, she loves you. She just needs a little time to figure that out." James reassured Harry.
"We have something for you to give to Hermione whenever she is ready for it. Look into my jewellery box. There must be a small red box in it." Lily told her son.
Harry opened the elegant mahogany chest and soon found what he was looking for. When he opened the small velvet box Harry saw the most beautiful diamond ring he had ever seen. It was a perfect and quite large round diamond with two smaller rubies on either side. The ring was beautifully carved and looked old.
"It's the engagement ring I gave your mother; it has been in the family for four generations. I always wanted you to give it to the woman you love." James explained.
Harry thanked his parents and placed the ring in his pocket. He wanted Hermione to have it, no matter what her decision would be. He couldn't imagine giving his mother's ring to any other woman. After that, Harry shrunk the painting and carefully put it in his pocket, too. Then he filled his purse with galleons and got some of them changed into Muggle money before he left Gringotts.
Harry's next stop was Florish and Blotts. He had soon found a good book on renovating spells and was about to pay and leave when he remembered that his library could use some add on. Most of the books there were about Dark Arts and Quidditch and he wanted to have a good collection of books Hermione would like. If she decided to move in with him he wanted her to have a library she would love and even if she decided to just stay friends he still wanted her to feel at home in his house. Harry ended up buying every book of which he thought Hermione might like it, from the newest edition of "Hogwarts - a history" over several books on Wizarding history, elves, charms, potions, runes and arithmancy to a huge selection of Wizarding novels. The surprised employee packed all his purchases in huge box and charmed it to be feather light before shrinking it to fit into Harry's pocket. Harry decided to visit another bookstore in Muggle London before heading home, where he bought Shakespeare's collected works along with several other classics, some books about cats and another bunch of novels.
When Harry arrived home, he decided to put the renovating book to good use. Kreacher had kept the house perfectly clean and even told Harry how to remove the elf heads on the walls. As a reward Harry had allowed Kreacher to keep Mrs. Blacks portrait in his room, if he knew how to remove it. Kreacher knew, of course and both he and Harry were very happy with the new place for the portrait.
The house still appeared a little dull and Harry hoped that some fresh colours would make it more inviting. Harry decided to start with the library. The room looked rather dark with the heavy oak shelves on three sides of the room, so Harry decided on a friendly, pale yellow for the walls. After that, Harry charmed the dull brown coaches and armchairs and dull grey curtains and carpets in a warm purple tone. Harry put his new books away with a flick of his wand and hung the portrait of his parents above the fireplace before he moved on to the living room.
He decided to decorate the living room in the style of the Gryffindor common room, where he had always felt at home, with the walls, cushions and curtains in an inviting scarlet tone.
He chose a bright yellow for the kitchen, where he would probably take most of his meals. There was a table for six people and he would rarely have more than five guests. There were two more rooms in the basement, a big dining room and a formal salon, intended for dinner parties. Harry doubted he would ever need those rooms, so he simply painted them in a neutral white.
On the second floor were three bedrooms, a bathroom and two offices. The bedrooms were the ones he, Ron and Hermione had used during their stay at Grimmauld Place last year and Harry decided to leave it like that. He wanted Ron and Hermione to always have a room in his house. Harry of course wished that Hermione would share his room, but he wanted her to know that there would always be a place in his house for her, no matter what she decided.
Harry painted his room in Gryffindor red. He didn't have to think long about Ron's room, he painted it in a bright orange, the colour of Ron's favourite Quidditch team. Hermione's room was more difficult. He knew her favourite colour was midnight blue, but that would make the room appear too dark, especially with the dark furniture. Harry eventually decided on a soft peach colour.
Harry painted both offices in a bright yellow tone, deciding that someone who had a job that required them to continue working on evenings and weekends would need some cheering up. On the third floor were five more bedrooms and a second bathroom. Harry decided to leave the rooms of Sirius, Regulus and Mrs. Black like they were and painted the remaining guestrooms in cream and beige.
The house looked a lot better after Harry was done with painting, but the walls still looked a little bleak. Maybe he should get some of his photos framed to give the house a more personal note. Harry had just started to go through his selection of photos, when he felt a rush of fear out of a sudden and the cut from the poniard started to burn. Hermione! Harry thought immediately. Hermione was in trouble!
Harry's first impulse was to just apparate to the address in Australia Hermione had given him, but he knew that he better didn't go there on his own. If Hermione was being attacked by a large group he should get as many people as possible. Harry quickly apparated to the Weasleys. He knew Ron, Ginny, the twins and Mrs. Weasley would probably be at home on a Sunday afternoon.
Harry quickly apparated to the Burrow and found the five Weasleys together in the living room. "Hermione, she's in trouble, we have to help her!" Harry screamed frantically.
"What happened?!" Ron asked. He looked nearly as panicked as Harry felt.
"I don't know, but she's afraid! We have to help her now!" Harry yelled impatiently.
"Ginny, floo your father, he'll get the rest of the order. The rest of us are coming with you, Harry. You know the address?" Mrs Weasley asked. Harry quickly gave them the address of the house in Australia Hermione had given him and a second later Harry and the four Weasleys arrived in Australia.
Hermione had just finished the most difficult talk she had ever had with her parents, after giving them their memory back. The Grangers had been shocked to learn that their own daughter had hexed them and sent them to another country. They had been even more aghast when Hermione told them about all the dangers she and her friends had faced during the previous year. Hermione's parents were still trying to progress the fact that they had lost a year of their lives while her daughter had nearly been killed several times, when the door of the small house suddenly burst and at least seven people in black robes and with wands in their hands entered.
"Run to the backdoor!" Hermione screamed at her parents.
She knew her parents wouldn't have a chance to escape if the death eaters were really interested in them, but she also knew that she was more important to them. There were too many, Hermione knew she didn't have a chance against them, but maybe she could distract them long enough that her parents could escape. Hermione destroyed all lamps in the room and closed the blinds with a flick of her wand, turning the room in nearly complete darkness. She knew the death eaters could simply cast as Lumos, but that wouldn't illuminate the whole room and the time they would need to spot her could give her parents the crucial few seconds they needed.
Two of the death eaters reacted quicker than their mates; a second after Hermione had destroyed the lamps two rays of light illuminated the room, giving away the positions of the wizards behind them. Hermione managed to knock the first one out with a shock charm and aimed at the second. He sent a shock charm in her direction, but Hermione quickly responded with a shielding charm and knocked him out, too. Now all other death eaters had used the lumos spell, too and the room was brightly lit by six rays of light. Hermione knew she didn't have a chance against such a superior number, but she wouldn't give up without a fight. Hermione noticed that her parents had managed to escape and that none of the death eaters went after them. They wanted her.
All the remaining death eaters aimed their wands at her at the same time and one of them hit her with another shock charm. The next thing Hermione knew was that she was woken up and two of the death eaters held her arms and legs. A third one, who she recognized as Mulciber, kneeled above her, holding a small vial. "We know how stubborn you are, mudblood, that's why we didn't expect you to willingly tell us where your friend Potter is. I'm sure a few hours of torture would lose your tongue, but I'm not a patient man, so we have to delay the torturing and killing you part. I think that's even better; this way Potter can watch us having our fun with you before we kill him for what he did to our Master. You see, there are many arguments for making this short, that's why we organized some Veritas serum."
One of the bystanders forced Hermione's mouth open and the one who had spoken to her emptied the vial's content in her mouth. Thank god I took the potion I made before I came here was Hermione's last coherent thought before everything went fuzzy.
Where am I? Who are these men? They look like death eaters, the followers of Lord Voldemort, but what could they possibly want from me? I am just a student after all. Hermione wondered.
"Where is Harry Potter?" one of the black clothed men asked her. Hermione was confused. She didn't know a person named Harry Potter.
"Who is Harry Potter?" Hermione asked.
The man who had asked her looked confused and angry. "What does this mean, Yaxley? I thought this potion always works!"
"I have no idea why it isn't working! I swear I did everything right!" the man called Yaxley justified himself.
"You obviously didn't! All right, than we have to try good old torture." The man who had asked her about this Harry Potter answered and pointed his wand at her. Hermione knew what was about to come: the Cruciatus curse. It was supposed to hurt very badly. Why didn't these men believe her that she had no idea who this Harry Potter was?
Before the man could start to torture her the door burst open and five people she didn't know entered the room. The four men who looked like they were about her age and a middle aged woman burst into the room, pointing their wands at the death eaters.
"Let go of her!" the black haired man ordered. He sounded very angry.
"Potter, how nice of you to spare us the trouble of finding you." The unknown man who had spoken with Yaxley said.
The young man who seemed to be Harry Potter raised his wand and nearly hit the death eater with a stunning spell, but he managed to shield himself. Meanwhile his friends were fighting with the other death eaters. Hermione quickly searched for her wand and found it laying a few inches away from her. She didn't know who these people were, but they were obviously enemies of the people who had just tried to torture her, so Hermione assumed they were on her side.
Hermione quickly stunned the death eater who was fighting with the man who had to be Harry Potter. Potter used the opportunity to stun the death eater who was fighting with one of the red haired men. Potter, Hermione and the young redhead quickly stunned the men who were fighting with the woman and the red haired twins and so the fight was over within a few minutes.
"Hermione, are you all right?" Harry Potter asked and ran over to her. He sounded very worried.
"I'm alright, but how do you know my name? And why were those men after you? They asked me about you, they seemed to think I know you." Hermione explained, but Harry Potter looked at her as if she had grown a second head.
"Hermione, don't you recognize me? It's me, Harry!" the young man said, sounding desperate.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you." Hermione said, now thoroughly confused.
"Oh no! Harry, I think I know what happened." The red-haired man who was not one of the twins, said.