Chapter 4: Tír na nÓg
******Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts 0900 28 June 1994******
"What do you mean you have no idea where he his?"
Auror Dawlish swallowed thickly. The almost hissed question from the Headmaster changed the man's demeanor in an instant. Gone was the genial old man and in his place was a man who had led Magical Britain to victory in the Second World War. The old man's blue eyes narrowed and he said, "Explain yourself, Auror Dawlish."
Dawlish swallowed again and said "The owls that we had following Potter stopped in transit and returned to us. The only explanation that I have is that Potter is dead. Even with a misdirection spell, the owls would continue, but the intended recipient's position would shift every few minutes. I'm at a loss, sir. We have six Witches working on scrying for him. They still are getting no response."
Dumbledore nodded at that. For some unknown reason, all attempts at scrying for Potter, Granger or the both of them together failed. The Witches performing the scrying would get indications that the teens were alive but no indication where the target was located. "So we have the owls indicating that Potter and Granger are dead, but the Scryers indicate that they are alive at an unknown location" the headmaster summed up in a flat tone before steepling his fingers and resting his chin on his chest. "Thank you Auror Dawlish, that will be all" he said from his concentrating pose.
Dawlish took his cue and scurried from the office. This morning he had contemplated which department he'd want to be transferred to since he had such mixed news for the Headmaster. He sighed in relief and flooed away.
Dumbledore sat there for quite some time, running the facts repeatedly in his mind. He has no family to take him in. Other than Granger, he has no one who cares about him. He has nowhere to go. So where is he? He slapped his hand down on the desk in frustration. Scowling he stood and went to the side table and refilled his teacup. While stirring the milk in, he saw the tea change color from black to tan. Black. He's with Black and maybe Lupin. However, where are they? He hurried back to his fireplace to floo Dawlish. They had new targets to scry. This is getting ridiculous, when I get him back; I'm going to have to take him in hand. The old man flooed the Auror in charge of the search and then went back to his desk and sat down. After a few moments of thought, his eyes lit up and with a smile, he reached for parchment and quill. There was a little note he needed to write to Cornelius.
******Dian Cecht's Dell, Tír na nÓg, Late Afternoon******
The four humans and the goddess found themselves in a clearing on the edge of a hardwood forest. It was a large dell and on the northern edge, there was a spring that fed a small pool. The grass was surprisingly thick for growing in a wooded area that was usually shielded from sunlight yet flowers of yellow, red and white liberally sprinkled the area. Two things made an immediate impression on the teens; sound and smell. The only sounds to be heard were the chirping of birds and the far away running of a river through rapids; it was seemingly silent after the background noise that accompanies `civilization'. Harry and Hermione felt as if they should whisper, so as not to disturb the blissful silence. The smell was intoxicating. The scent of the flowers was unlike any they had ever smelled and the forest itself seemed to exude a scent of sweet calmness. There was a smell of freshness and new life.
Hermione let Crookshanks out of his carrier while Harry looked around. Through the trees he could see a bright field and saw the glint of a river not too far away. He was brought back to the present by Sirius breaking out in a racking cough again. By the time he caught his breath, Sirius' face was dark red and he was bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
Silently a woman glided into the clearing. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes, but was otherwise a twin of Brigid. The woman deliberately walked up to Sirius and placed a hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest. Sirius responded as if he were moving through water and looked to her with questioning hope in his eyes. She smiled slightly and helped him into a sitting position then, with a glance and gentle push, invited him to lie down. He was lying there in the grass when this woman placed both hands on his chest and took a deep breath. Sirius seemed to relax into himself and let out a deep, clear sigh of relief. A moment later, he was asleep. She ran her hands around his head; like she was washing his hair and Sirius seemed to settle deeper in his sleep.
The woman straightened with a smile and looked to Remus. He looked back at her, questioning before she said "It is your turn to be healed Remus Lupin. The Curse of Airetech has no room here. There is no disease or death, here in the Undying Lands."
Remus' face was wide open in shock. The young woman slowly approached him, gently took his hand and led him to the small pool on the edge of the clearing. Harry and Hermione looked on in stunned wonder as she bade him immerse himself in the pool. After he kicked off his shoes and was waist deep in the water, she took a stone cup, filled it with water from the bubbling pool and poured it over his head and shoulders, thoroughly wetting him. Remus staggered for a moment and was led out of the pool, stumbling a bit. The woman helped him lie down next to his best friend and he too was soon sleeping deeply.
The woman approached Hermione and stopped before her. She looked over Hermione critically to the point where Hermione blushed and looked away. The woman smiled, glanced at Brigid, and then said to Hermione "Well met, Daughter of Fire." She passed her hand over Hermione's back and then said, "You have no real need of healing." With a smile, she continued "You will grow into your teeth, child, do not fret yourself. However, since you are so worried" and she passed her hand in front of Hermione's mouth. When it came away, the teen's teeth were the same size, but straightened and her front teeth no longer protruded. Hermione touched her teeth, face in wonder, and said softly "Thank you."
The woman turned to Harry and looked him over the same way she had inspected Hermione. She frowned and put her hand on his forehead, only to pull it back as if burned. She hissed as if she was in pain and scowled. "I am sorry, Son of Air. I can do nothing for your injury" and she pointed at his forehead. "It is a magical scar that binds you to your foe. When he dared attack a chosen one of the gods that night on the feast of Samhain, he could never have guessed at his mistake." She smoothed his hair causing ripples of calmness and relief to run down his body. The woman shook her head as she ran her hands over old wounds from his guardians and said aloud "They have paid the price." After a moment, she said to Harry and Hermione "You are healed of all your hurts, save one" and she nodded at Harry. "When you have destroyed your foe, you will be completely healed."
The woman now turned to Brigid and smiled broadly. The flame haired goddess approached her and said "Well met, cousin" and they embraced. Moments later, they parted and Brigid said to Harry and Hermione "This is mine cousin, Aine, goddess of Healing and Fertility."
Aine smiled at her sister and said "I know who they are, are you glad to have another apprentice, cousin?"
Hermione's eyes widened and she said "Apprentice?"
Brigid laughed her rippling laugh and said "Yes, child. I will teach you how to harness and use the element of Fire. I cannot teach you how to manipulate our element, for I understand Fire very differently than you will; therefore, you must become one with Fire. I can teach you how to commune with, discover and develop your ability."
Harry smiled at his girlfriend, happy for her, but at the same time, a bit jealous. He liked Brigid and hoped that she would be helping him as well. She was the first adult - Ok, goddess - to treat him as an equal and not a child and he treasured that. Brigid turned to Harry, smiled and said "Son of Air, have no fear, I have not forgotten you. Mine brother, Nuada, shall be your master for your short time here. He is the King of the Tuatha De Danann, so he is occupied right now, but we shall see him after we sup. Come."
When both teens looked at Sirius and Remus, asleep on the grass, Aine said "Worry not, they will sleep until the morrow and will then be well. Nothing will harm them here."
Harry and Hermione linked hands almost unconsciously and followed the goddesses through the woods to another clearing not too far away. In it was a small house next to a bubbling brook. The house had a thatched roof and mud-brick walls with many windows. To their surprise, they saw that Crookshanks had already made himself at home and was lying on a window ledge, sunning himself. Brigid turned to them and said "This is where you will stay while in Tír na nÓg. Go in, bathe, and change your clothes. You are free to do any magic you wish here so long as you harm no one." She smiled and said, "Someone will come to get you for dinner" and walked away arm in arm with her cousin.
The teens stood there, watching the goddesses walk away when Harry turned to his girlfriend and said, "Are you as overwhelmed with the last twenty four hours as I am?"
Hermione gave a short ironic laugh and said "Oh, yeah." She looked up at him seriously, but with a hint of shyness "But I'm glad that you're the one that I was fated for."
Harry smiled at her and said "Me too" and pulled her into a firm hug. When they broke apart, he retook her hand and giving it a little tug said "Come on, I really need a shower and to change out of these clothes." They went inside and they both threw their knapsacks on the only bed provided, Harry grabbed his shower kit and went in search of the loo as Hermione began unpacking their things.
She heard Harry cry out "Hermione? I think I found the loo, but there's no shower. No bath tub either."
She shook her head, smiled softly at her boyfriend, and went looking for him. She found him in a small room that had a toilet of sorts, but that was it. She frowned and noticed Harry was looking out the window. They went outside and found a small rock pool in the brook. Harry tested it with his toe and smiled, saying, "It's warm."
Hermione looked at him, somewhat alarmed and he said, "Look" and took her in his arms. "When we bathe, the other person will just stay inside and not look out the windows on this side, Ok." He got an impish smile and said, "Someday, I'm sure we'll bathe together" to which she smiled and faux smacked his arm, "But that isn't today. Now, run inside so I can wash off this grime." She turned to go and he patted her firmly on her bum saying, "Go on, you" with a smile. She flashed him a sultry little smile and wiggled her hips as she went inside, hearing Harry laughing the while.
After they had bathed and changed into clean clothes, they lay down for a short nap, with Crookshanks at their feet. As he lay there, Hermione in his arms, he felt contentedness that he never knew was possible and rejoiced. The whole idea of being immortal really didn't mean anything yet, except that if he didn't screw up, he'd be able to hold this slip of a girl, no young woman, like this for all eternity. The thought made him smile broadly as he dropped off.
******Ministry of Magic, Legal Department 1230 30 June 1994******
Simon Cresswell was bored out of his mind. When he graduated from Hogwarts (Ravenclaw class of '87) he saw great things on his horizon. He had been Head Boy and achieved 10 outstanding OWLs along with 9 Outstanding NEWTs with 1 Exceeds Expectation NEWT (Care of Magical Creatures, really why even bother?). The Apothecary firms had recruited him heavily as his Potions scores had been incredible, especially under Severus Snape. After much debate with his family and his girlfriend, Lucinda, he had chosen a Ministry career. He felt that once he had been promoted rapidly because of his spectacular performance, he would have either an excellent position or excellent references that would catapult him into real superstardom in the commercial sector.
Seven years later, he was still in his entry-level position. His supervisor, a bitter old man with an unfaithful wife, had resented his brilliance and routinely assigned him to menial and worthless tasking. Simon was currently trying to reestablish his ties in the Apothecary profession with a series of articles he wrote in his off time, hoping that they would provide a lifeline out of his dreary existence. Lucinda was long gone, when he'd been passed over for his first promotion, her reaction was "Oh" and he never saw her again.
These thoughts and more plagued him as he processed the parchment work in front of him. Everything was filled out properly, had the correct endorsements and the Minister himself had given it high priority status. Double-checking the names of the persons involved, he understood why. After treble checking that everything was in order, he cast the notary spell on the parchment and Albus Dumbledore became the legal guardian of Harry James Potter.
******Home of Harry and Hermione, Tír na nÓg, Suppertime******
Harry awoke to a loud "CAW" coming from the foot of the bed. Reaching for his glasses, he blearily looked toward the footboard where he saw the largest crow he had ever seen, watching him and Hermione. He watched it watching him and was drawn to its eyes. Realizing that nothing here in Tír na nÓg was as it appeared he inspected the birds perfectly black plumage, smooth legs and talons. He was only somewhat surprised when the bird made a slight hopping motion backward and shape changed into a beautiful woman. It was different from Sirius or Professor McGonagall's Animagus change, or even Remus' lycanthropic change. It was more smooth, graceful even. At any rate, he was now looking at a black haired woman with dark brown, maybe even black eyes with pale skin. They watched each other until the woman's eyes flicked to Hermione's sleeping form and raised a serious eyebrow. Harry nodded and gently shook her awake saying "Hey there, it's time to get going."
Hermione stretched and groaned then threw her arms around Harry saying "Don't wanna; just wanna stay here with you."
Harry looked back at the raven tressed woman before saying, "Come on, someone's here."
Hermione immediately woke up at that, saw the woman standing there, rubbed her face quickly, and said apologetically "I'm sorry. Thank you for waking us, our journey has been tiring."
The serious looking woman nodded and said to them both "Well met, I am Morrigan, follow me."
The teens needed to hurry to catch up to Morrigan's long strides and while they hurried, Hermione said, "Harry, she's Morrigan!" At Harry's befuddled expression, she continued, "She's Brigid's mother and the wife, or maybe sometimes consort of the Dagda. The legends get confusing. Depending on which book you read you get a different story, but anyway, she's supposed to be the goddess of War amongst many other things. A very important goddess, even more so than Brigid or Aine, who are very high up there."
Morrigan halted her progress and turned, saying, "The Dagda is my husband." She smiled with a bit of a smirk underneath saying "He knows it would be unwise to have others than me." Reasserting her serious mien, she said, "I am the goddess of War, though." Looking back and forth between the two she said, "You two will be going forth from here, most likely into war. We have much to discuss later. I will arrange with my son and daughter so that they make time for you to come to me. Now, come, you must be hungry" she finished with the first hint of a smile.
The stunned teens followed the war goddess through the wood to the edge of the field that Harry had seen when they first arrived. Under the intertwined boughs of the trees, a long table had seats for maybe thirty people. Milling around were small knots of what Harry could only assume were gods and goddesses. Wearing a stunned look on his face, he said out of the side of his mouth to Hermione, "I said earlier that I was overwhelmed. I was wrong. Now I'm overwhelmed" to which Hermione nodded.
Morrigan strode up to a tall lean man with long white hair, spoke a few words and he glanced over at Harry and Hermione. Morrigan moved off and the man looked at Harry and Hermione and smiled as he approached. "Well met, Son of Air and Daughter of Fire. I am Nuada" looking at Harry, he said, "I will be your Master while you stay here with us." With a small laugh, he waved his hand in an inviting gesture, saying "But for now, let us sup. Please sit with me" and they moved to the head of the table with Brigid sitting next to Hermione.
Most of the persons had taken their seats when a very large, hairy man approached the table from the fields carrying an enormous cauldron. With a delicacy that belied his looks and size, he reached into the cauldron and pulled out a vast quantity and variety of foods for the meal. Harry heard Brigid lean into Hermione and say, "Our father, the Dagda. His cauldron is similar to what you know as a cornucopia. One of the gifts of the gods." Hermione nodded in understanding and then elbowed Harry in the ribs.
He rubbed his bruised area and said, "What was that for?"
She hissed at him "Have you noticed that we are the only mortals, or rather, non-gods at the table and none of them have even blinked?"
Harry had noticed the behavior of the gods. All the deities probably knew of their arrival earlier in the day, but there were no questions or even odd looks. Deciding to go to the top, he turned to Nuada who had been watching the teens interact with a small smile. "Yes, my child, we all know who and more importantly what you are. As Elementals, you have a place at this table at any time, not quite a peer, but close. In addition, we all know of your valor to date. None here could have single handedly defeated a basilisk of that age and size." A throat was cleared halfway down the table to which Nuada smiled and said, "Except for my mother of course, she could have sliced it to bits" and nodded to Morrigan.
Nuada's face fell perceptibly and he chewed on a piece of bread for a moment. Harry drank deeply of the water goblet in front of him. It was sweet like honey, but refreshing like spring water. Eventually, Nuada spoke again "And there is the matter of Marduk."
Harry glanced at Hermione who, he saw, had a worried expression that reflected his own feelings. Nuada shook his head, as if clearing a thought and saw the pensieve looks on the young immortals "Fear not young ones, when you are more trained, you will be capable of destroying a demon such as Marduk." He half-smiled and said, "Not easily, of course, but you will be able to defeat him. However, for now, we feast. The Dagda has blessed our table and we have many of our brethren who are not normally with us" and he indicated the length of the table with his hand.
During the dinner, Nuada and Harry kept up a running conversation. Nuada wanted to know everything about Harry that the teen could remember. Harry told him what he knew of his parents and their murder by Voldemort. He vaguely told the King of the Dursleys, during which the white haired god's pale blue eyes drooped and he seemed on the verge of tears. Harry told him of Hogwarts and the feeling of home he had there. Of meeting his Hermione. Of his strong feelings for her.
Halfway through the conversation, the thought occurred to Harry that Nuada knew all or even most of this already, but wanted to hear it from Harry, from his perspective. To his right, Harry heard Hermione and Brigid having a similar conversation. Harry decided that he liked the white haired King of the Tuatha De Danann. It turned out that Nuada was a god of the Air, subordinate only to the Dagda, who seemed to be the most powerful god of them all. Nuada gestured to the foot of the table where a strikingly good-looking woman with honey blond hair with bright yellow eyes sat talking to a man with pale green hair. "That is mine wife, Grian, sister of Aine and goddess of the sun. She was instrumental in our sending Brigid to you."
Harry was so overwhelmed with feelings that he almost laughed aloud. Amazingly, he felt accepted at the table of the gods. He felt wanted and while not yet loved by all, Harry knew that he could come to love these beings. For now, he felt love from his right, from his own fire goddess. He wanted to laugh because he had never felt so comfortable, so at peace in himself and he found it in a heretofore mythical land, sitting with heretofore mythical gods and goddesses. Shaking his head with a smile, he finished his excellent meal.
Toward the end of the meal, Brigid caught the attention of both the teens "You may have noticed that you are behaving a bit…differently than you did not even last week, yes?" After a few moments of consideration, both Harry and Hermione nodded their concurrence and the flame haired goddess continued, "This is part of the accelerated maturation that I mentioned on our trip to the Lia Fail. Soon, you will begin to grow at an accelerated rate as well. Do not be disturbed if you start to feel and act like an adult, for it has already started to happen. This transition period can be a bit unsettling until you get used to it. All the Elementals that I have worked with have gone through this and all have adjusted quickly. You will start to want to do adult activities and begin to leave your childish ways behind, as well as, physically growing up."
After the meal ended, Harry and Nuada rose and ambled away from the table, continuing their talk. Harry could see Hermione and Brigid doing the same in the other direction. Finally, Nuada said to Harry, "What can you do with the Air young one?"
Harry told him about the encounter with Marduk and then said, "To be honest, sir, we haven't had time for a sit down meal until now. I haven't had time to really explore this new ability."
Nuada nodded and said, "That is fair. What I want you to do is take the next few days and wander in the wood and the field, be prepared to talk about what you see beyond the obvious. I want to go beyond just seeing, though. I want you to feel our element. Be able to become one with Air and have the thunderstorm pound in your chest while the gentle breeze ruffles your hair. Have the gale tear at your skin while the sleet and snow freeze your bones." He looked Harry in the eye, while Harry contemplated what the god had said.
Silent for a few minutes, Harry eventually looked to the god of Air and nodded in understanding. Nuada shook his hand the old-fashioned way, grasping Harry's forearm and then moved off into the forest.
Harry wandered a bit, stopping every so often to feel the breezes as Nuada had encouraged. He closed his eyes and tried to reach out with his emotions and this new power and he found that he could feel the wind just as one could see water ebbing and flowing in a stream. It was like discovering a completely new sense and it was a bit disorienting at first. He sat down heavily on a rock to let himself adjust. For now, he had to concentrate on experiencing his element; he had a strong feeling that in the future it would be a natural extension of him, like seeing or hearing.
He struck out in the direction of Dian Cecht's Dell where they had left Sirius and Remus earlier in the day. Remembering what Aine had said about the Marauders safety, he still wanted to see them with his own eyes to make sure. As he entered the clearing and saw the two sleeping men on the other side, a noise to his left caught his attention. There, winging through the trees as if she was on an Olympic slalom course was Hedwig.
Harry smiled and turned toward her. As she pulled up to land, he mischievously commanded a small puff of air to rise from under her and pop her up in the air a foot or so. She squawked and her eyes went wide before she settled on his forearm. If looks could kill, Harry would have been spitted and rotating over an open fire by the looks his familiar was shooting at him while he laughed. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry Hedwig, I couldn't resist." Stroking her breast with his free hand he said, "How did you find us here?" to which the owl only bumped her head into his hand, looking for some rubs on her head.
Shrugging, he transferred her to his shoulder and he continued on his way to check on Remus and Sirius. Bending low over his Godfather, Harry was relieved to hear the man's breath coming clear and easy and Sirius seemed to be comfortably resting on the grass. Remus had curled up on his side and was snoring softly as he slept, causing Harry to chuckle a bit as he made his way back to his and Hermione's temporary home.
The next morning, they woke up at dawn with the birds chirping. Hermione said something that sounded like "Turn them off" before pulling the covers over her head. Harry smiled and got out of bed to get cleaned up. He wanted to get down to the Dell to be there when Sirius and Remus awoke.
Striding into the kitchen, he saw that the larder had been stocked while they slept. He magically boiled some water and settled down for a quick porridge breakfast. Writing a note for Hermione telling her where he'd gone, he set off for Dian Cecht's Dell, hoping that he wasn't too late and they were already awake and probably very confused.
He arrived at the Dell just as Sirius and then Remus started to stir. Sitting down near them, he watched them slowly awaken with all the associated yawns, scratches and other assorted stretches. Finally, Sirius looked up, saw Harry and smiled, "Hey kiddo, how's things?"
Harry snorted and said, "I think we all are more interested in how you feel, Mr. Padfoot."
Sirius smiled and tentatively took some deep breaths, smiling when he'd done it a few times without coughing. "Looks like I'm as good as new" he said and rubbed his chest in a combination of relief, gratitude and appreciation. He turned to Remus, who was propped on an elbow by now and said, "What did she heal you from…" and trailed off with a hopeful tone and raised eyebrows.
Remus nodded with a big smile and said "Sorry, Padfoot, no more Moony."
Sirius bounded to his feet like a five year old and tackled his best friend in a bear hug. The two wrestled a bit and then stood, Sirius saying "I'm starved, where do we get fed here?"
Harry rolled his eyes and said "Well, since you stink, I think a bath is in order first, then food. Come on" and waved his hand as he headed back to his home with Hermione.
As they walked, Harry filled the older men in on what had happened and who they had met after the Marauders where healed and went to sleep the day before. Harry took them to the rock pool and at the downhearted faces of the older men; he smiled and said, "It's warm. I'll get you some towels, but try and be quiet, Hermione is still sleeping."
After tossing the men there towels, he went inside to wake his girlfriend. He found her somewhat awake, staring at the ceiling. Smiling at her, he told her of Remus and Sirius' awakening and their healing. "I'm happy for them, especially Professor Lupin" said the bushy haired girl. Cuddling up to Harry for a minute, they chatted about nothing and then she gave him a quick peck and headed to the loo to get ready for the day.
As the other three finished up a Harry made breakfast with extra bacon for Hedwig and Crookshanks, Sirius leaned back in his chair and said "Harry, I don't want to delay telling you this any longer." Harry sat up straighter and reached out for Hermione's hand.
Sirius began to relate about a night in June, when Lily and James had pulled him into their parlor and with tears on their faces, told him about the prophecy made before Harry was born. The prophecy that entwined his fate with Voldemort.
Harry sat there stunned and didn't say anything for a full minute. The other three watched him carefully waiting for a reaction. Finally, he seemed to break out of a trance, said "Oh", and began to busy himself clearing the table.
Sirius looked on with disbelief and a touch of anger. "Oh? That's all you have to say?" before Hermione silenced him with a touch and a shake of her head.
She said quietly "He needs to think about it for a bit before he can react. You have to admit, the past few days have been quite amazing and this is one more huge thing to accept." Sirius paused and then nodded in understanding while Hermione rose and approached her boyfriend.
He had a bit of a lost expression on his face when he turned away from the sink at her approach. "Hermione?" was all he could squeak out before his face crumpled and he was enveloped in her arms. They stood there for two full minutes, not saying anything or moving, eventually, Harry gently broke the embrace and returned to the table, wiping his face with a towel.
Sitting back in his chair with Hermione scooting up closer to him, he said with a hint of anger, "So, this is another reason you two don't trust the Headmaster? Because he hasn't told me this or prepared me in any way whatsoever?"
Remus and Sirius nodded in unison and then Remus continued, "Also, remember what I said yesterday about why would Dumbledore keep Sirius in prison?"
Hermione immediately gasped and said in an undertone, "He wouldn't!" After a pause, she said "Would he?"
Remus nodded and then shrugged, conveying that anything was possible. Harry finally caught on, his face turned red, and he spat "He kept you in prison so he could control me?"
Sirius looked back at the angry teen with a blank expression, "I don't know that as a fact, but it is a pretty sound conclusion. I doubt very much that he was unaware of my lack of trial or Veritaserum questioning. So what's left? He wanted control of the boy-who-lived, the child of prophecy." He paused and then said, "I may be wrong, but I doubt it."
Harry stood and strode through the door, slamming it behind him as he left. In a comic moment, the older men looked to the young witch for guidance and she said "Let him be for a bit. I'll go after him in a few minutes. Can you two please finish clearing up?"
When the two men rose to clean up, she went to their bedroom and changed clothes before setting out down the path he had taken. After a few hundred yards she turned to a fluttering sound and saw Hedwig soaring to her. Hermione paused and the Snowy Owl landed on her shoulder. After Hedwig settled, Hermione said "Us girls have to keep our man in line, don't we Hedwig?" and they moved on down the path. About a mile into the woods, Hermione found Harry, panting heavily, as he leaned on the largest tree she'd ever seen. She stopped and waited for him to acknowledge her.
Harry had been running through the forest, and had actually gone quite further down the trail before turning back. He was resting and didn't turn when he heard Hermione enter the small clearing. Finally, he had enough wind and said, "That old bastard left me with the Dursleys. He knew I lived in the cupboard, my first Hogwarts letter was addressed so. That fucker…"
Hermione just stood there and let her man rant. Now was not the time to chastise bad language, but rather it was a time to ventilate all the poison from his soul. After a few more minutes and more condemnation of the Headmaster from Harry, she slowly approached him and wrapped him up in a hug. Now he began to quietly cry and said "They're dead because of me." At Hermione's confused look he said "My parents."
Hermione's face softened and said, "They're dead because of Voldemort. You were a little baby, not even close to being responsible. It all falls on the shoulders of that reprehensible excuse for a human. Not you. Never you."
Harry looked in her eyes with desperate hope "Hermione, I think I love you."
She smiled a watery smile through her tears and said "I love you too" and gave him a small kiss before pulling his head to her chest to hold him for a bit. Her man. He was her man.
A/N
I own nothing
2. Ok, here's my understanding (and with a little meddling of the old stories to fit my story's needs). I will only list the areas that the gods own that are pertinent to the story, as most have many areas they are responsible for/have power over.
The Dagda (god of Air, Earth, Fertility…pretty much everything) is married to Morrigan (Triune goddess of War, Prophecy and many more areas)
They produced Nuada Argetlam (King of the Tuatha De Danann, Air) and Brigid Honeymouth (Fire, High Places and High Pursuits)
The Dagda is on the same level of power with Manannan Mac Lir (Lord of the Sea) who is married to Fand (unknown) and they produced Aine (Love, Fertility and Healing) and Grian (Sun)
Airitech is an Irish creature of the Otherworld whose three daughters took on the shape of werewolves who were eventually killed by the warrior Cas Corach
Pronounciations:
Nuada: noo-ah-da
Aine: ahn-ya
Grian: greye-ahn
Airitech: air-a-tek
3. I make the attack at Godric's Hollow by Voldemort past Midnight, therefore, on November first, Samhain.
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