Chapter 1179 - Ch: 7-8

Chapter 7 - Nuts?

Ron Weasley woke on Christmas morning to silence, not something he was accustomed to. This was his first Christmas away from home, and also his first without his parents' presence. His mum and dad had taken his young sister to visit their dragon handling brother in Romania, where they would all be spending the entire holidays. With all his dorm-mates away home for the Christmas holidays too, he had the entire dorm to himself. This resulted in the unusual silence, not something Ron was familiar with - either in Hogwarts or at the Burrow.

He had hoped Harry would be staying in Hogwarts too, instead both he and Granger had left the day before the express. Ron didn't even get a chance to wish him a Merry Christmas, and hopefully start to rebuild their once strong friendship. Ever since Granger got her hooks into Harry at Halloween, he was like a different person - a person who didn't need Ron Weasley in his life.

After having basked in the notoriety of being the boy-who-lived's best friend for two months, to have that snatched away from him in an instant was hard to take. What was even harder to take was his once best friend claiming he had no memories of those two months, or that close friendship they'd shared. Now Harry and Hermione were certainly a package deal, yesterday's Prophet announcing she was his intended made the entire country aware of that.

Harry had appeared to go out of his way since Halloween to make new friends, Ron was sure that certainly helped see this unbelievable news almost casually gain acceptance amongst their peers. Then again, most students' attentions were held by the fact Snape had changed his plea to guilty, and was therefore heading for Azkaban - ending once and for all any possibility of him ever returning to Hogwarts as a professor.

Having to ask his twin brothers for advice on anything was always going to be fraught with danger, their reputations for making mischief being well earned. Ron didn't see any other options open to him though. Fred and George were certainly people both Harry and his new intended counted as friends, he would need to ask the twins how they managed it. That would be for later since there were currently gifts to open. Ignoring what he guessed by shape and feel was another Weasley jumper, Ron made straight for those packages that might contain sweets or cakes.

-oOoOo-

Draco Malfoy was another first year student who wasn't having the Christmas he'd imagined, and again Harry Potter was at the centre of his troubles. The Malfoy Christmas Ball was normally the highlight of the British magical social calendar, but not this year. For the first time ever, owls had been busy delivering scroll after scroll offering invited guests' apologies - apologies that they wouldn't be able to attend. There had usually been the odd one or two, neither family emergencies nor ill health being unavoidable - even at Christmas. This year however over half of those invited were not going to be attending.

The scroll from the Minister of Magic, citing the lame excuse of a previous engagement, really had his father swearing. All three Malfoys knew that, in previous years, it would be the other engagement that would be receiving the excuse scroll. That the minister was suggesting there actually was another engagement worthy of his attendance tonight really brought home just how far their star had waned.

The Malfoy Annual Christmas Ball was usually such a success, with everyone who was anyone attending, no one would dare run another ball on the same evening. It wouldn't be until later tonight they would discover just where all their missing guests had gone.

-oOoOo-

Severus was spending his first, and hopefully last, Christmas as a guest in Azkaban. While he wasn't being held in the high security wing, this level was easily bad enough for the potions master. He would keep his head down and strive to become a model prisoner, there was no way he wanted to spend an additional two years in this place. Severus was still trying to get over the shock of being betrayed, both back in Hogwarts and again in that courtroom.

Dumbledore had effectively ended his career then, when Severus had tried to defend himself at the school board meeting, the headmaster played the Potter card to have him arrested. The sly old bastard even took it a step further, completing his betrayal in the most public fashion possible. As far as Severus was aware, only three people knew of the prophecy made that night. Dumbledore, himself and the Dark Lord.

That Dumbledore must have told Potter the prophecy was a shock, a shock that changed everything. Sitting in that courtroom, he couldn't take the chance that the old wizard hadn't told the Potter brat exactly how the Dark Lord came to know that prophecy. Staring into Potter's eyes in that courtroom, Severus couldn't get a read on the brat - other than that he meant business.

Knowing full well the boy-who-lived claiming Severus Snape was complice in the murder of his parents would mean an up close and personal visit from a dementor, he was backed into a corner and left with no other option but to change his plea to guilty.

The fact that he was guilty, and guilty of both crimes, didn't seem to register with Severus. His anger was focused on Dumbledore's betrayals, and of course the hated Potter brat. Apart from his obvious skills, there was one other thing Severus was exceptionally good at - holding a grudge. Since he still had another three hundred and sixty three days left to spend in this shithole, Severus was sure he had plenty of time to figure out how to get even with both Dumbledore and Potter.

-oOoOo-

Albus received the usual haul of books as Christmas presents from his friends, however there were a couple of packages that surprised him. A gift from Harry, though still books, certainly accomplished that. It wasn't the fact that they were muggle books that was surprising, but rather the apparent subject matter of those books. Glancing at the three books that obviously made up the set, he was struck by an image on the cover that appeared very similar to his own. Not only that, this image - which contained a powerful sorcerer with a long white beard - was completed by a young boy in the background. His interest piqued, Albus would be sure to make time and read the first in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, over the holidays.

The other package that surprised him was from Miss Granger, a dozen pair of warm wooly socks. That these socks were also made from wools that had been dyed every colour of the rainbow just endeared Albus all the more to them. He hoped the young couple liked their gifts from him as much as Albus appreciated theirs.

-oOoOo-

Wearing his housecoat over his pyjamas, Harry waited on Hermione collecting her own from her bedroom before they both headed down the stairs. Dan and Emma were there to greet them and all four decided breakfast would come before presents.

The happy and relaxed atmosphere around the table was what Harry's memories were telling him his Christmases usually were. After visiting Privet Drive yesterday, he now knew that was not the case. Hermione however seemed to read his mind, even without having to resort to entering it.

"All your memories will be real from here on in, and I promise you to try and make those memories as good as I can." With Harry's mood now saved from crashing, Hermione led them through to the living room - where the tree and presents were waiting.

There was much laughter, oh-ing and ah-ing over the gifts everyone received. Hermione couldn't help but smile as Harry opened a plain parcel and found a shimmering cloak inside.

"The message says this belonged to my father, but not who sent it. It's very nice, but not really my style. I can't see me wearing it…"

At that Hermione buckled with laughter, urging Harry to put it on so everyone would be in on the joke. Unlike Hermione though, none of the other three were laughing as Harry's disembodied head appeared to float in mid-air. Once he pulled the hood up and disappeared completely, Emma quickly stood and walked forward with her hands searchingly out. Watching her find and then hug an invisible Harry left the grin on Hermione's face in danger of becoming a permanent fixture.

"He's still here, just invisible…"

Pulling his hood down, a puzzled Harry asked Emma what he considered a stupid question. "Where did you think I had gone?"

"I just saw you vanish right in front of my eyes and was suddenly worried, I didn't know if you'd left us. You've just joined our family and we certainly want you to stay."

Seeing his wife and Harry moved by what happened, Dan tried to lighten the conversation. "Will that cloak work on anyone? I mean, do you have to be magical?"

"The magic's in the cloak, dad. I'm sure Harry will let you try it on."

Harry duly handed over the cloak, then Dan duly disappeared. "Hey, didn't it work?"

"Yes it worked, why wouldn't it?"

"I never got a hug…"

Quick as a flash, Emma was in there with a quip. "After you've seen one invisible man, they all look the same…"

This time everyone was in on the joke and it took a few moments for Hermione to stop laughing and notice there was one present left - a present that had her name on it. She opened the briefcase sized package to discover that's what it contained, but this was no ordinary case. There were instructions from Dumbledore on how to operate her new library trunk, earning a squeal from the young but already committed bibliophile. A quick glance at the instructions and Hermione was soon showing off the thirty or so books the professor had left in there for her. Adding and indexing her own collection of books to the system would be a bit more complicated but Hermione couldn't hide her glee at this gift.

She would probably have raved about it for the rest of the morning had not Dobby appeared with a letter for them.

"An owl just delivered this, Dobby recognised the handwriting and brought it straight here."

Harry and Hermione recognised the writing too, it was from Neville.

'Hi Harry and Hermione

Hope you're both having a wonderful Christmas and please know you gave most of the Hogwarts students their best present early - putting Snape in Azkaban. Really sorry about the short notice for this, my gran wanted to personally ask you both at the station when we got off the express, and we will understand if you have already made other plans. The Longbottoms are holding a Christmas Ball this evening, your invitation is also in this envelope. Knowing you don't have access to a floo, the invitation is also a portkey that you just have to tap with your wand and say 'Ball'. I do hope you both can make it but have a great holiday either way, you deserve it.'

After reading the letter out loud, Harry looked to Hermione but she appeared just as puzzled. "Neither of us have ever been to Neville's house, so this certainly didn't happen the last time. You and Ron both spent this Christmas holiday in Hogwarts…" She had no intention of mentioning what they were trying to research, or Harry finding the Mirror of Erised.

"I've never been to a ball before..."

"Actually, you have. End of our fourth year..."

"Did I take you?"

"No..."

"How the hell did you ever fall in love with the other Harry? He sounds like a bloody idiot to me. I want you to know I will ask you to be my date for anything that comes up in the future, but I vote we give this one a miss."

It was Emma who responded first to that. "Why would you not go?"

"Where do I start? Apart from having no suitable clothes, and not being able to dance a step, I get the feeling it's the boy-who-lived who's being invited - not me."

This confused Emma further. "I thought you were the boy-who-lived?"

"I'm just Harry, Emma, someone who likes his books and loves his intended. I get the feeling that's not who they're inviting. Neville knows me as Harry but this invitation is from his grandmother, who I've never met. Besides, Hermione and I already have a previous engagement. I was invited to spend Christmas with her parents. I can assure you, I would much rather be here with you than somewhere else - and being stared at by a bunch of strangers. We had more than enough of that at Snape's trial. What do you think, Hermione?"

"Do I want to go to a ball with you - yes. Should we race about trying to get organised for tonight, and also squeeze some dancing practice in there too - no. This is our Christmas and I agree with you, it should be spent here. If I know Dobby, he will have spent ages working on our Christmas dinner. I want the five of us to sit down as a family and enjoy it together, without the two of us fretting about having to get ready for a ball we knew nothing about until ten minutes ago. It took me bloody ages to get dressed for the last one."

"Please tell me you didn't go with Ron?"

"While I hoped you would ask me, I didn't think that was going to happen. A boy from a visiting school asked me so I went with him. You and Ron waited until the last minute then went with the Patil twins..."

"That Harry was an arse. This Harry would rather be with you than anyone else. If you're happy with spending our evening here, I'll write back and offer our apologies."

Dan then wanted to ensure they were making this choice for the right reasons, and not because they were worried he and Emma would be upset if they went.

Hermione quickly allayed her father's fears while Harry then put those fears to bed. "I have only two months worth of memories of the magical world and, apart from Hermione, I've yet to find anything that would keep me there. I would much rather spend Christmas here, and can't thank you enough for inviting me."

After Harry penned a quick letter offering their apologies, they all settled back to enjoy their first Christmas together.

-oOoOo-

After the festive feast at Hogwarts, Minerva and Albus had flooed to Longbottom Manor, mainly to show their support for the stance Augusta was taking here. Deliberately holding a ball on the same evening the Malfoys traditionally did was practically a declaration of war in social terms.

Spotting her friend, Minerva congratulated Augusta on what was a well-attended ball. "Thank you, Minerva. I was rather disappointed though that Harry Potter refused my invitation. At least I have the consolation of knowing he's not attending the Malfoys event."

"I'm just relieved they're returning to Hogwarts after the holidays. Anything else is a bonus."

Augusta's eyes had been roving over her guests as Minerva spoke, the Hogwarts' Deputy now had her undivided attention with that remark.

"And why wouldn't he be returning?"

"I asked him the same question, he turned that question back on me. To understand, you need to know that accident Harry suffered at Halloween caused him permanent memory loss. He didn't know he was a wizard, anything about Hogwarts or even how he got there. The only person he remembered was his girlfriend, now intended, Miss Granger."

"I assume you've had the boy examined?"

"Poppy checked him over medically before, with Harry's permission, Albus visited his mind. Both confirm that, while he is now fine, those memories are gone. Harry has only known about him being a wizard since being told so on Halloween evening. In the proceeding couple of months after being given that news, he's been attacked by a troll, had an illegal spell cast at him by a member of staff, continually had his mother and intended referred to as mudbloods and twice been attacked by students - the last one being organised by a head of house. Given that background, how could I honestly say staying at Hogwarts was in his best interest?"

The matriarch of the Longbottom family was an extremely shrewd witch, Augusta soon put a few things that had been puzzling her together. "The mystery of why Albus finally hung Snape out to dry is now explained. Faced with a choice of losing one of them, Albus chose to retain Harry Potter."

"You may be right, I know Albus spoke at length with both Harry and Hermione to convince them to stay. Don't let their ages fool you either, those two are very much a couple. Harry is actually spending the holidays with Miss Grangers' parents. I may be wrong but I got the sense he could hardly wait to be back in the world he was familiar with. I would say that, rather than any slight on your invitation, is probably the main reason neither of them are here tonight. Having Harry raised in the muggle world may have kept him safe, it leaves him though questioning everything we take for granted. In every way but one, he's as much a muggle born as his intended."

This left the eldest Longbottom shaking her head. "Neville seemed to be half expecting our invitation to be refused, he also didn't appear to be in any way upset about it. I'm beginning to understand his attitude at the matter a bit better now. I've long argued there should be introductory courses to our society for muggle borns, I just could never get any support from the rest of the school board. Trying to get them to allocate resources specifically for muggle borns was never a popular proposal. Would you mind if I used Harry Potter's situation to revisit this at the next school board meeting?"

"I wouldn't mind, and you'll certainly have my vote. I think that idea should be put to Harry first though, rather than just using his name without his permission."

Dumbledore and Fudge arrived in time to catch the end of their conversation, leading to a fuller explanation being offered. The minister was then left looking to the headmaster for some reassurances - Albus didn't have any to give.

"With Harry only having those few months worth of memories pertaining to magic and Hogwarts, I managed to convince both of them they should stay a little longer before making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. Both agreed to continue at Hogwarts until the summer, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were using these holidays to research just what other options they have available to them."

Thinking of the public and political outcry Harry Potter leaving Hogwarts would cause, Cornelius only had one thing to say. "Anything me or my ministry can do to prevent Harry Potter leaving Hogwarts, you only have to ask."

While Albus stoically proclaimed he would do his best, inside he was smiling broadly. He had no idea what the two time travellers had planned next, Cornelius though had just given Albus a way to get ministerial backing for it.

-oOoOo-

Dan shot up in bed, the loud shouting and swearing that had woken him however came to an abrupt halt. This didn't stop him though, he headed straight to where he knew the disturbance had been coming from - Emma now right behind him. Opening Harry's bedroom door saw the instant return of the shouting, the silencing spell Hermione had hastily erected being negated when her parents walked into the room.

An agitated Harry was standing in a corner of the room, an expression of horror and disgust worn on his face. This was the source of all the shouting, and Harry soon gave them the reason behind it.

"I killed a man when still eleven, and you know what those stupid bastards did? They gave me fucking house points, a pat on the head and then sent me home to this version of the Dursleys for the summer. Crazy, they're all fucking nuts..."

"Harry, please..."

"Hermione, I killed someone. Who's to say I won't do it again? Perhaps you'd better stay away..."

"Harry James Potter, that's not an option. Not now, not ever. What you did was pure self defence. An evil man was trying to kill you, he was so evil even the touch of someone as good as you was too much for him to bear. That's all you did, Harry, you put your hands up to protect yourself - nothing more. Dad, mum, sorry about disturbing you. I started to tell Harry about our past, he obviously wasn't ready to hear that bit. Come here, love..."

Hermione held her arms open and Harry slowly made his way into them, only then did the situation calm enough to where Dan felt it was okay to speak.

"This is clearly going to be a lot harder on you both than you first though, Hermione. You don't have to go through this alone though..." Holding out his hands in the universal sign of stop, Dan headed off his daughter's argument. "You are going to tell me that Dumbledore will be able to read our thoughts, but he won't be able to if we're not here. Your mum and I will be elsewhere when he comes to install these shield things, then we probably will never see him again."

His intended holding him had considerably calmed Harry. "With your mum and dad there, maybe I won't be as quick to fly off the handle. Hey, I hope that phrase is not a quidditch reference?"

Harry even attempting humour told Hermione he was back in control, though still not over the shock. "I'm sure it means something like an axe or hammer flying off its handle. That temper of yours however will get you into trouble someday." Hermione was smiling as she said that, both knowing that's exactly what brought them to here.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. It was a hell of a thing to find out about yourself though. You know I wasn't angry at you?"

"Yes I know, you practically ran away from me..."

"I felt dirty, tainted, unworthy..."

As he said the last one, Hermione gently pecked him on the lips. "Quite the opposite, Harry. Dad, mum, we would love to take you up on your offer. I'm warning you now however, you won't like most of it."

That was why the five of them were sitting in the living room, spending the night hearing about the horrors of the alternative past. There were a few bright spots, freeing Dobby and Harry discovering he had a godfather being a few of them. Hermione's tale though just kept getting darker and darker, proving her right - Dan and Emma hated most of it. Hearing that Dobby had prevented Hermione from being at least sexually assaulted during her fifth year saw Emma wrap the elf in a hug and kiss the top of his head in gratitude.

Hermione ended her story with all three Grangers saying goodbye at Niece Airport, she had no intention of mentioning what she and Harry had done as nineteen and eighteen year olds.

Dan was now the one on his feet, Harry had planted his head in his hands twenty minutes ago and not moved since.

"Hermione, I want to thank you for trusting us with this. Did we know these details the last time?"

"I told you and mum everything after they took Harry away. Neither of you wanted me to return to Hogwarts but we figured that would be our safest option at that time. When things started going downhill fast, Dumbledore got you both out of Britain and intensified my lessons with him. The writing was on the wall however and it wouldn't have been safe for me to sit my N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts. He arranged my transfer to Beauxbatons too."

"You may not want to hear this but your mum and I are going to need some very strong reasons to let you both return to Hogwarts. A move to Australia is looking better and better to me." Rather than that demand being unpopular, Dan found himself with an unexpected supporter.

"Dan, I've been saying that since Halloween. I keep waiting on the situation to improve but keep getting stuck on one recurring theme - they're all bloody nuts! Hermione, how could Dumbledore sit back and let some of those things happen to me? He could have quashed most of them simply by acting as he does now."

"When he approached me in fifth year, that was the first thing I asked him. He actually broke down in tears, mumbling about how he'd now failed you too. Dumbledore is very much a 'big picture' player. With that philosophy though, sometimes individuals can get trampled. He's smart and powerful but not infallible, he also hoards information like a miser. The Dumbledore you know understands he must have made some massive mistakes, and that fact is actually helping us this time. Whatever grand plan Dumbledore had set for you, us arriving back in time told him those plans were fatally flawed. That is why he's changed so much from the headmaster I remember - otherwise I would instantly be taking dad up on his offer and dragging you off to Australia with us."

Shocked by most of what she'd heard here, Emma was in a 'taking no prisoners' mood. "That's all well and good, Hermione, but I never heard your father's question being answered there. This evil wizard is not only alive but in Hogwarts at the moment, possessing one of your professors. Thankfully Harry has no memory of what happened the last time, I won't sit here and let him go through that horror again..."

"Not a chance, mum. So not happening. I've already told Harry we won't be anywhere near that chamber, or Quirrell when he makes his move." Hermione then told all of them how she intended to handle that situation, leading to her parents wearing their first smiles of the night and Harry looking at her in awe.

"We're only committing to Hogwarts until the summer, then we can sit and have this discussion again. You're placing a lot of trust in me and Harry and I would prefer there to be no secrets between us. Dobby will be able to pop between Hogwarts and Crawley, keeping you up to date with exactly what's going on..."

"Dobby will be popping home to serve his family dinner, Dobby can pass on any messages then..."

"No Dobby, you will sit down to dinner with Dan and I and we can all catch up with the happenings of the day." Nodding enthusiastically in Emma's direction, Dobby readily agreed to that.

"Hermione, my godfather?"

"When you were taken from us, Sirius went ballistic. I thought he was going to attack Dumbledore when the headmaster walked into Sirius' house with Ron's dad and not you. I cried all night and headed back home the following day. As I said goodbye to Sirius he told me he was leaving Britain again, and that he would stay in touch. He said the number of people who cared for the real Harry Potter were few and far between and we needed to stick together. I did keep in contact, right up until I came back for you."

She smiled at their little friend. "Dobby of course counts Sirius as family too so could always find him to deliver my letter. Your godfather is a smart man, I think he guessed what I was going to attempt. He gave Dobby unrestricted access to his home, allowing us the run of the Black Family library - some of those books were invaluable to the success of our attempt. In Sirius' last letter, he told me to take my time and get things right - and also not to worry about him. He was telling me not to rush things, Sirius had survived in Azkaban before and would again."

"But he's innocent!"

"I know, Harry. I want him out of Azkaban as much as you do, and this time I hope we can get him a trial too. We've got Dumbledore, Amelia Bones and now the Minister of Magic in our corner. There's no Snape to say we were confounded, this time we may be able to pull it off."

He slid over and wrapped his intended in a hug. "How have you coped with knowing all this since Halloween? I've just found out about it and want to run amuck with all that information."

Kissing his cheek, Hermione told all of them how she'd managed not to do that. "The old version of Dumbledore made a very convincing case for changing very little. The more you change, the less your knowledge of future events is worth..."

It was her father though who was first to express his disbelief at that view. "What's the point in having all that knowledge if you don't use it?"

"Couldn't agree more, dad. You also have to take into account we came back in time for a reason. To either stop things going bad again or, at the very least, to get us all to safety before it happens. The dilemma is how to get things done without revealing we have knowledge that's impossible for us to know."

Sharing a look, Emma's nod saw Dan give their opinion on the matter. "Your mum and I will certainly have more questions in the coming days but, at the moment, we're not going to object if you want to go back to Hogwarts. We reserve the right to reverse that decision if something changes, and that permission is only for this term. We will be having another long discussion over the summer, though hopefully not at four a.m."

Exchanging hugs, the weary family all headed back to their beds. Tomorrow would certainly be a lie-in day.

-oOoOo-

The following day started with brunch. The household rose too late for breakfast yet it was still a bit early for lunch. A ball of flame suddenly appearing beside them led to a few screams before Hermione took charge.

"Relax, it's only Fawkes - Dumbledore's phoenix. Hello Fawkes, is that a message from the headmaster?"

Harry, Emma and Dan were all in awe of the beautiful bird who'd emerged from the flames. It seemed to trill an answer to Hermione before handing over the scroll clutched in his claw. As Hermione was reading the message, Harry hesitantly found his voice. "Is this the bird that.."

Not wanting her intended to give anything away, she cut him off there. "Yes, Harry..." Hermione then had a thought and decided just to ask. "Fawkes, you know Harry has lost his memories? Is there any way your tears could heal him?"

You didn't need to speak phoenix to know the beautiful bird was answering in the negative, the mournful tones were followed by some head-shaking.

"That's okay, Fawkes, I reckoned the professor probably asked you that question too. Tell him tomorrow at that time is fine with us."

After another burst of flame they were once more alone.

"Can that bird actually communicate with Dumbledore? That's why you stopped me saying too much..."

"I'm not certain but didn't want to take a chance. Dumbledore is going to be here tomorrow at noon to install the wards."

"Your mum and I will make ourselves scarce. What about you, Harry, are you going to be able to act normal around Dumbledore?"

Answering Dan with a shrug of his shoulders, Harry then tried to explain how he felt about that. "When I came back with Hermione, she was the only person I knew. She deliberately didn't tell me anything about the people I would meet, wanting me to form my own opinions. Everyone started with a blank slate, even that arse Draco. This Dumbledore has been nothing but helpful to us, I can't really hold him responsible for what happened in another reality or timeline."

An arm slid around Harry as Hermione rested her head on his upper arm. "That version of Dumbledore also thought you had to die in order to defeat Voldemort. A lot of his energy and planning went into trying to find a way around that - and he actually thought he may have succeeded..."

"Harry will not be standing there and letting anyone kill him!"

"Mum, that was only a theory the other Dumbledore had - one that is now defunct since Harry's scar is just a scar. Dobby will help keep us out of trouble and I'll be training Harry on how to deal with any that gets past our little friend."

"Just how good are you..." Dan regretted starting to ask that question as he barely saw his daughter move before he found his body frozen stiff as a board. Dan was then floated above the table before Hermione added a bit of spin to her spell.

"I am a fully qualified witch who studied under one of the greatest wizards in the world for a year, before then graduating with top honours from Beauxbatons. I may be only twelve at the moment but I have all of my knowledge and most of my magic to call upon. Harry doesn't have his memories but his magic is even more powerful than mine. He's also a very quick learner, soaking up what I'm teaching him like a sponge."

A giggling Emma stood as her helpless husband slowly rotated toward her. She reached out her hands and pulled his face gently forward to meet her lips. "I think we have to concede our little girl can look after herself." More giggling from the Granger girls followed as Dan was lowered to the ground and had the body bind lifted.

"Those were a couple of the gentler spells, and Harry can already cast them too."

Dan found himself unable to disagree with his wife, Hermione could certainly look after herself.

-oOoOo-

It had been a stressful couple of days for Dan and Emma, a drive then stopping somewhere for lunch was exactly what they needed to help them get a handle on the changes in their lives. Those changes might be in the shape of an eleven year old boy and a house elf but their impact far outweighed their size.

The more Dan got to know Harry, the more he liked the boy. Emma appeared to have bypassed all of that, going straight to accepting him as a member of their family. Neither parent could doubt their daughter's deep feelings for the lad, feelings they were glad to see Harry reciprocated. It was also obvious to each of them the entire 'when Harry met Hermione' episode was being glossed over by the young couple. Seeing how devoted they were to each other, the parents could guess how that meeting had gone.

Dobby's impact on their lives was growing too. They'd just eaten a lunch that the little guy would have prepared better and, unlike the restaurant, his service was exceptional. It was in his role as bodyguard and now go-between that his real worth lay though. They were now aware of the dangers both kids were facing inside that Scottish castle. That Dobby was going to help keep the kids safe, and pop to Crawley every night to let them know Hermione and Harry actually were safe, was simply priceless to a couple of worried parents.

Pulling into the driveway, Dan turned to his wife. "I didn't feel anything different. Do you suppose the headmaster isn't finished installing them yet?"

"Oh I do hope so. I would hate to give anything away."

They entered the house and found no one, that was until Dobby popped beside them.

"Headmaster has erected the wards and left. Wards also hide magic being done. Harry and Hermione are in garden practicing magic."

Dobby popped away as the curious pair headed for the kitchen and beyond. Standing at the back door was enough for them to see what the kids were up to. Hermione was firing these blasts of light at Harry which were bouncing off an invisible shield he was using to protect himself. As they took a break, Emma made their presence known. "Hermione, won't the neighbours see that?"

"Hi mum, hi dad, did you have a nice lunch? Professor Dumbledore had the wards up in no time. Even although Harry and I have magical exemption licences, we can't perform magic where it could be seen. These wards hide that magic from the neighbours."

"Those spells you were using look a lot different to the ones you used on me?"

"I would never fire these at you, dad. I wouldn't be firing them at Harry if he didn't need to know how to deal with them."

It was then Emma put her foot down. "Hermione, I don't mimd you practicing magic with Harry - but not all the time. This is a holiday, I want you both to enjoy it as such."

"Harry said he doesn't know how to dance, I had planned to teach him that too. Is that fun enough?"

Dan came at it from a different angle. "At least you would be inside, you must be bloody freezing out here..." The spell left his daughter's wand and Dan felt warmth spreading throughout his body. "What was that?"

"A charm to keep you warm, I cast one on Harry and me before we came out here..."

Harry doing the same to Emma had a wide smile on her face. "Magic is so much fun, I'm glad you can at least show us what you're learning - or have been taught."

-oOoOo-

Hermione was limping slightly as she climbed into bed beside Harry.

"I'm sorry, I told you I wasn't much of a dancer. Two left feet doesn't quite cover it."

"It's fine, Harry, though I wouldn't say no to a foot massage."

This saw Harry sitting at the foot of the bed, slowly and tenderly massaging Hermione's foot. After almost twenty minutes she was practically purring as he lifted her foot up and kissed her toes. "Does it feel better now?"

"Mmmm... Not really. That's the wrong foot you were massaging. You were doing such a good job though, I just couldn't bring myself to tell you."

A smiling Harry just picked up her other foot and started again, much to Hermione's delight. They both fell asleep with contented smiles on there faces, Hermione promising more lessons if that was going to be her reward.

-oOoOo-

On the car trip back to King's Cross, Emma noticed in her rear view mirror that Harry appeared pensive. "What's the matter, Harry? You look as if you don't want to return to Hogwarts."

"In all honesty, after enjoying a brilliant two weeks of 'normality' I'm not looking forward to returning to the madness. Even today is nuts. We traveled from Hogwarts to London in minutes by floo the last time. Now, we've got to sit on a train all day to make the same journey. Some witches and wizards will even use the floo on their trip to King's Cross so they can then catch the train to Scotland - bloody nuts."

It was just something about Harry's tone that had both Granger ladies laughing at that. Dan was holding down the fort at work so it was Emma who hugged both of them at the station before sending them off to walk through a brick wall. She found herself agreeing with Harry, sometimes nuts was the only description that fitted magical Britain.

Chapter 8 - Catch the Snitch...

Harry was tempted to use his favourite word to describe witches and wizards again before something dawned on him, he was actually at least four years older than anyone else currently in the room. He still had to say something though.

"Oliver, do you hope to have a career in professional quidditch after you leave Hogwarts?"

"That would be a dream come true, why?"

"Oh, it just seems to me your seeker dying in his first match, your first match as captain too, might put a dent in those dreams."

Both twins were trying to hold their laughter while the team captain attempted to explain himself. "Eh, I was actually hoping you would choose the other option. You know, catch the snitch."

"Ah, so 'catch the snitch - or die trying' is supposed to be motivational. You really don't want me to die trying then?"

The serious Scot that was Oliver Wood didn't really know how to respond to that, Harry wasn't finished though. "Ollie, I'm eleven, Katie is twelve. The rest of the team are thirteen while you're only fourteen. This is not the premier league, or whatever league it is your quidditch professional teams compete in. We're a bunch of kids playing an inter-house game in our school. It's supposed to be FUN!"

Harry was now shaking his head in disbelief at his captain's attitude. "We're easily the youngest team of the four this year, which takes the pressure right off us. We don't need our captain trying to pile it back on - right before the actual match too. Let's go out there and do our best, we all want that, but we also have to enjoy playing too. Otherwise, what's the bloody point? I will do my best to catch the snitch but you can forget all about this 'die trying' shit. Hermione would kill me herself if I bought into that."

This was too much for Fred and George, they couldn't hold back their laughter at that image. This also set the girls laughing too, so it was a team of smiling Gryffindors who eventually left the changing room - all except Oliver. He'd put a lot of work into his first captain's speech, being laughed at was not the reaction he'd expected. Oliver would see how the team performed, and then get ready to rip them apart if Gryffindor lost.

Hermione was sitting right at the front of the stand, more in case she needed to use her wand than for the view of the match. She was surrounded by the rest of the first year Gryffindors, though it was Dumbledore sitting in the stand opposite who provided the support she was hoping for. A certain possessed professor really would have to be nuts to attempt anything with Dumbledore watching, a sure way to draw attention to Tom hiding behind the turban. Lee's commentary blasted out the arrival of the teams onto the pitch, Hermione though only had eyes for one player. She would be watching Harry closely for the entire match.

The teams lined up facing each other, standing there with nothing to do while Madam Hooch lectured both team captains about what type of game she expected from them today. Taking a step forward brought Harry to the player opposite, he stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter. Hope you have a good game today."

His opposite number eyed the offered hand suspiciously before accepting and mumbling a response. "Cedric Diggory. Eh, you too..."

Satisfied with that, Harry smiled and moved on to the next player in the line. He repeated his gesture and received another handshake.

Katie Bell was a muggle born and quite used to seeing this type of behaviour at sporting events. This was her first quidditch match too. Following Harry's lead, she stepped forward and introduced herself to Cedric as well. The smile and warm handshake she was greeted with encouraged her to follow Harry up the line. With a few glances toward each other, the four remaining Gryffindor players decided to join in as well.

As was customary at these occasions, both team captains were ignoring the instructions coming from Madam Hooch in favour of staring daggers at each other. This little scene was blown apart by an eleven year old boy introducing himself. As a Hufflepuff, the captain was shaking that hand before he noticed what was happening with the rest of his team. The little girl then holding her hand out left him with no other option but to accept it. His mind though was wondering just what the hell the Gryffindors were up to. Harry's next move worried him even more.

"Madam Hooch, I'd like to thank you for giving up your Saturday morning to referee this match. Without your efforts, quidditch in Hogwarts simply wouldn't happen. Thank you so much for giving us all this opportunity to play."

Accepting the offered hand, the surprise was obvious from the world-weary flying instructor. "Mister Potter, I have been doing this since your grandfather was a student here - yet you are the first student ever to acknowledge my part in the process. Thank you for that, it is always nice to be appreciated."

Katie Bell soon became the second player to thank her, with the rest of the Gryffindors following suit. Not to be outdone, Cedric joined the end of the line and became the first Hufflepuff to thank their referee, the rest of the team wearing yellow and black taking up his example and doing so too.

It was a rather flushed Madam Hooch who eventually got the match underway. She was far more used to being shouted at than thanked.

Harry had only ever seen one quidditch match, the rescheduled Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. It was a dour, tactical match where each player appeared terrified of making a mistake. Fourteen kids on brooms should be all about having fun, and that was exactly what he intended to do.

Noticing that Cedric had taken up the standard seeker search pattern, high above the play and methodically covering the pitch, Harry used his own tactics. He appeared to randomly vary his hight and direction but always seemed to be going flat out while doing so.

The Hufflepuff chasers had been unsettled with what happened before the match, now they had a rogue seeker to deal with too. Potter kept appearing from any direction and interrupting their plays, sometimes zigzagging right across their path. The boy's own captain had no control over him so what chance did they have of predicting what he would do next.

This eventually proved too much for the quidditch aficionado, Ronald Weasley. He would give his left nut for the opportunity to play quidditch on his house team while still a first year. Harry Potter was bloody gifted that opportunity - with a Nimbus 2000 thrown in for free - yet was pissing it away in front of the entire school. He couldn't get a hold of Harry at the moment to give him a piece of his mind so Ron had to settle for venting his anger on the next best thing.

"Granger, your intended is a disgrace. They changed the entire quidditch schedule to suit him and now he's just arsing around out there. He's letting the entire team, and his house, down..."

Hermione didn't respond right away as Harry seemed to lose control of his broom for a second. She though had the advantage of having watched him in every match he had ever played, not forgetting his arial battle with that bloody dragon, so Hermione soon recognised what he was doing. Harry was in a tailspin dive that saw him shoot right through the outer left Hufflepuff hoop, seconds before Katie fired the quaffle past the distracted keeper and through the outer right to score her first ever goal.

As Oliver called a time-out, Hermione then turned to answer Ron's accusations. "Harry is searching for the snitch just as effectively as Diggory, he also just helped Katie score. He's disrupting Hufflepuff's chasers while searching too - so much so that Wood has only had one shot to save in the match. Before you open your mouth and let your belly rumble, just check the scoreboard..."

Ron's mouth was moving but there was no sound coming out as he searched for words to fall back on. Unable to refute any of those points, he had to settle for hurling insults. "Don't stand there and pretend you know anything about quidditch. Reading books about the subject doesn't mean you actually have any knowledge..."

"How the hell would you know? When was the last time you read a book?"

Ron was again left floundering for an answer as Hermione turned her back on him to concentrate once more on what was happening on the pitch.

Harry was facing those same accusations from his captain, and his reasoning wasn't going down any better than Hermione's had. "I told you to shadow Diggory, learn from him how it's done. If he sees the snitch, your lighter and on a faster broom - giving you a chance to steal it. That strategy will be useless though if you're messing around at the other side of the pitch..."

"That has me doing nothing but sit on their seeker's bristles and hope I can get in front when the snitch makes an appearance. What we're doing is working. We're all enjoying ourselves, our house is on their feet screaming their lungs out and Hufflepuff hadn't a clue how to handle us - at least until you called a time out."

"So you know better than me now?"

"No, I never said that. I told you I would do my best but I was gonna have some fun too. Staring at Diggory's back for the entire game is not my idea of fun. We're fifty points up and you've only had one save to make - we were murdering them so I don't see what your problem is."

"We'll have a major problem if you get injured with those stunts you're pulling."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted me to die trying to win us the game..."

Their argument ended when Madam Hooch called both teams to resume playing, with Harry going right back to what he'd been doing. He actually zipped right around the pitch, at the level of the spectator stands, with Hermione leaning over to high-five him as he flew past. This drew a cheer from those Gryffindors around Hermione, except for a now livid Ron.

The time-out had allowed Hufflepuff to reorganise slightly but they still couldn't cope with Gryffindor. The trio of red and gold chasers were on fire. With everything they tried coming off their confidence was high. Fred and George were also having an inspired game, hitting those bludgers with incredible accuracy and exactly where they would do the most damage.

With the score at one hundred and ten to twenty in Gryffindor's favour, Harry's tactics proved their worth as he spotted the snitch first. He was after it at top speed, his right hand reaching out to grab the elusive winged golden ball. It was zipping along about eight inches from his fingertips when Harry suddenly realised he had a very big problem. Cedric was bearing down on the snitch at his top speed too, but from the totally opposite direction.

Harry had to grab onto his broom with both hands and roll upside down to avoid colliding with the much bigger boy - at a combined speed that must have easily exceeded a hundred miles per hour. The buffeting alone nearly had him off his broom as he flew past barely inches under the larger player. Harry quickly regained control, spinning around to see Cedric in some distress and struggling to remain seated. Harry was at his side in a second, with all thoughts of the snitch now forgotten as he guided Cedric and his broom safely to the ground.

Cedric was on his knees on the pitch, almost as if he was trying to throw up. Noticing that he was having trouble breathing, Harry finally figured out Cedric was choking. When a few hard slaps to his back didn't solve the problem, Harry prepared to administer an abdominal thrust.

Just then the Hufflepuff captain arrived and grabbed Harry by the shoulders.

"Potter, get away from him."

Dragging Harry back provided more impetus to his clench fist held tightly under Cedric's ribcage. The air in Cedric's lungs was rapidly displaced, and there was only one place for it to go - straight up his windpipe. With a loud and rather wet plop, a saliva coated golden snitch flopped onto the grass pitch. Madam Hooch's whistle signalled the end of the game as, with a clearly audible groan, Lee Jordan informed everyone in the stadium of what had just happened.

"Diggory has the snitch, Hufflepuff win - one hundred and seventy to one hundred and ten."

Cedric was now on his feet as his teammates tried to congratulate him, he was pushing them aside though to reach Harry.

"Potter, I'm sorry. I was so focused on the snitch that I nearly got the both of us killed. I didn't even catch the thing. I was screaming in fright at how close we had come when it flew right in my mouth. I wanted Hufflepuff to win, but not like this. It feels as if I cheated..."

"You didn't cheat, Cedric, It was just one of those things that could happen to anyone. Congratulations on a good game." Cedric gratefully shook Harry's offered hand.

Turning to face his own captain, it was no surprise to Harry that Wood was livid. "If you had followed my instructions we would have won that match..."

"...and if my broom had wheels it would be a bicycle. Look Ollie, I told you I had no intention of dying trying to catch the snitch, I also told you I was going to have fun. This obviously doesn't fit into your plans for the team, and you are the captain, so I guess this is a parting of the ways."

Handing Oliver his broom, Harry once more shocked the quidditch captain. "I'm sure Professor McGonagall bought this broom for the team, rather than me personally. Pass it on to your new seeker, it really is a fantastic ride. Thanks for letting me play today, Ollie. I did my best, but sometimes you just have to admit your best wasn't good enough to win. Then it's time to congratulate the person who beat you."

Harry walked off to the stand that had held Hermione, intending to head back to the castle with her. Unfortunately Ron had been in the same stand and exited right behind Hermione. He was also every bit as angry as Wood had just been.

As Harry took Hermione's hand, Ron exploded.

"Your cowardice cost us that match. A true Gryffindor would have taken the hit and caught the snitch. Madam Pomfrey would have fixed you right up..."

"I have no intention of ending up in the infirmary to win a stupid school game. If you are so keen to do so Wood now has a vacancy for a seeker. Then again, that would involve having the ability to match what comes out your mouth. It's easy to be a great player sitting in the stands, Weasley. Get your arse on a broom and let the entire school see how good you are at quidditch - then I might listen to your advice..."

McGonagall was also in the same stand, she exited right into the argument and quickly made her presence known. "Mister Potter, that was a fantastic move you pulled to avoid that collision. Fifty points to Gryffindor for your timely intervention with Mister Diggory too. I will be having words with Wood about what happened after..."

"Professor, please don't. He's the captain and, like Ron here, he expects me to put catching the snitch before my health and wellbeing. I'm sorry but I'm not prepared to do that, it would seem I'm not cut out for this game. There are things in my life that are far more important to me than quidditch. If this means I'm not a Gryffindor then I'm sorry. I don't even remember how I ended up in Gryffindor House in the first place."

With McGonagall present, nothing else was said against Harry as he and Hermione headed back to the castle.

-oOoOo-

The atmosphere as Minerva entered the Gryffindor dressing room reminded her of a funeral, leading her to begin with a question. "Who died?"

"We lost, Professor."

"Yes, Mister Wood, I was a spectator in the stadium and do remember the score. I'll ask again, who died?"

"No one..."

"Exactly, no one died. It was a close call at the end there between Potter and Diggory though. We really could have had a fatality on our hands, but for Potter's brilliant flying. Speaking of which, I thought our team was excellent today. Gryffindor were easily the better team and I was very proud of every one of you."

"But Professor, we lost..."

"Wood, sometimes it's just not your day. I've been watching quidditch on that pitch for more years than I care to admit to, I've never seen that happen before. We are a young team, this was always going to be a rebuilding year. What I saw out there today was a team with the potential to monopolise the Quidditch Cup in the coming years. Then I discover that the best Gryffindor seeker since Charlie Weasley only lasted one game. I want to hear from my team how that happened?"

With all eyes upon him, Wood told the story. "Potter simply refused to follow my orders, and we lost. Potter confirmed he wouldn't follow my orders in future games either, so handed me his broom and resigned from the team."

Katie Bell was almost in tears as she rounded on her captain. "You told him to catch the snitch, or die trying. I wouldn't have followed that order either, I'm sitting hear wondering if I want to play again too..."

"You told an eleven year old boy that?"

"No...yes, that's not the order he disobeyed. We sorted that out before we left the dressing room. I ordered him to follow Diggory, using his faster broom and lighter frame to get to the snitch first. That's standard procedure with a novice seeker."

"Yes, but when have you ever seen a novice seeker who could fly like that?"

McGonagall had asked a rhetorical question but found it being answered. "I've never seen anyone fly like that..."

"Exactly, Miss Spinnet. Things continually change during quidditch matches, from weather conditions to personnel being injured. A team can't leave their dressing room with one plan, a plan that they then stick rigidly to for the entire match. We had Hufflepuff where they didn't know which way was up or down, why did we call a timeout?"

"Potter wasn't doing what I had ordered him to do..."

Having already suspected as much, though been too far away from their team huddle to be sure, Minerva was slowly counting to ten before she said anything else.

"As a leader, one of the hardest things to learn is when you've made a mistake. Before the match started I was worried that I had made a mistake by deciding on a fourth year captain, who was then surrounded by and an even younger team. Ten minutes into a match I thoroughly enjoyed, I was busily congratulating myself for getting it right. Now I'm not so sure I did. We've gone from a team that I thought played brilliantly today to one that is sitting here in danger of falling apart - with a match to be played against Ravenclaw in three weeks. Mister Wood, you have until Monday after classes to come to me with your plans for moving forward from here. I don't want anyone in this dressing room to leave here thinking they let Gryffindor down, I was proud of how every single one of you played today."

McGonagall left the dressing room wondering if her initial thoughts may just have been right. A funeral atmosphere was perhaps appropriate, since it would appear she just witnessed the death of, potentially, one of the best Gryffindor quidditch teams in decades.

-oOoOo-

Petunia Dursley was dressed to impress as she made her way along Piccadilly. One simply did not refuse an invitation to afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason's, even if the unappetising topic of her nephew was certain to be on the menu too. Petunia had the added assurance of knowing that this Emma Granger was just like her, perfectly normal.

Making sure she was on time, Petunia was soon being led to the table beside the elegant grand piano - only to discover the dentist was already there. She then found herself shaking hands with a woman who looked as if she belonged in these rather opulent surroundings.

After the introductions, they decided to order their tea first. Twin silver teapots of Earl Grey were quickly delivered, the milk jug, sugar bowl and tongs being of the same material and design as the gorgeous teapots. A stand each of exquisite, yet tiny, cakes and sandwiches accompanied the refreshments, and was the main reason this was Petunia's first visit to the most famous tea room in London. Had these cakes and sandwiches been served to either of the men in her life, there would have been a loud and violent riot - especially if Vernon ever laid eyes on the bill.

Lifting a tiny sandwich onto her plate, Petunia thought she might as well get the unpleasantness over with. She then might be able to enjoy this treat.

"How did you get on with my nephew staying with you over the holidays?"

"Oh we loved having Harry stay. He's such a delightful young man, our Hermione is certainly very taken with him. Then again, it's easy to see why."

"I don't know what he's told you about us..."

Emma stopped Petunia before she could say anymore. "Didn't you read Harry's letter? He was in a bad accident at school, Harry was actually injured saving Hermione's life. That injury scrambled his memories, it's really remarkable how well he's coped since. The memories he has now of his earlier childhood are all muddled. Harry thinks you and your husband have been loving parents to him since his own were murdered. He looks to your son more as a brother than a cousin. Harry was reduced to tears when he left your house on Christmas Eve."

Petunia hadn't known what to expect this afternoon, this news though totally floored her. She sat there, not knowing what to say, so Emma just continued speaking.

"As I said, having Harry stay with us was a delight, and something we certainly won't have a problem repeating. He is though quite a stubborn young man. You see, to him the Dursleys are all the family he has - all the family he's ever known. Harry wants that family back, even though it might only really exist in his head. I wanted to meet with you today, mother to mother, to see if we can take the first steps down that road."

Finally finding her voice did Petunia no good. "I don't really know what to say. How do you answer that?"

"As a mother it's simple, you do what is best for your family." Petunia nodded in agreement, at least with the sentiment. She was just waiting on being told how having Potter back at Privet Drive would be the best thing for her family. Emma didn't keep her waiting.

"Harry is not just a special person to us, that whole world holds him special too. He and Hermione met their equivalent of the Prime Minister, who granted them both licences to perform magic outside their school. It was wonderful for us to see what they were learning."

Wonderful was not the word Petunia would have chosen to describe magic. Just hearing that specific word said aloud seemed to cast a spell on the sandwich she was currently eating, turning its once delicious filling to ash.

"Their headmaster even came to our house, he erected special defences around our home. It would seem the madness that saw your sister murdered has not gone away, but you don't have to worry about that. Your home has had these defences ever since the night Harry arrived."

Petunia needed a drink of tea after hearing that, and not just to wash her sandwich down. This was beyond anything she had feared. Something about those defences brought a memory to the front of her mind though. "Doesn't Potter need to stay in our house for those defences to work?"

A smiling Emma knew she had her now. "Almost right, Harry has to stay there, and also think of it as home. They calculated living with your family for ten days during the summer would recharge those defences for the year, we'll even let you chose which ten days you want them there..."

"Them?"

"Oh, I was just coming to that. You have a guest bedroom, and Hermione was planing staying there while Harry is with you. I'm afraid that's simply non-negotiable. You see they're a couple, and were so before Harry had his accident. Harry had obviously talked about his home life prior to his head injury, though Hermione refuses to tell anyone what was said. She did say however that she knew enough to ensure we would win any custody battle that went to court, though that is certainly something that none of us want. What Harry really wants is his family back, Hermione is determined to help with that - and neither of them know I'm here."

Taking a risk, Emma took a folder out of her bag and passed it to Petunia. "Open that carefully, we don't want anyone else here to see it."

Her nosey nature meant Petunia was always going to look. What she saw there was shocking, and not just because the pictures in the Prophet moved. "His intended?"

"Yes I know, hell of a shock for Dan, that's my husband, and me too. We sat them down, talked it over and then relaxed. You must have noticed those rings they were wearing, that signifies they are each other's intended. Should they change their minds, they simply have to take those rings off. It's just a way of offering Hermione some legal protection in their other world, which Harry keeps saying is nuts. Getting to know him over the holidays certainly eased any worries Dan and I had over their relationship. Yes they're certainly still very young but neither of us would be surprised if they ended up getting married to each other in the future."

"I knew this man, Snape, when Lily and I were children. It says here he was sent to prison?"

"Yes, he hated Harry, and took that hatred too far. He broke the law and was tried just before Christmas."

"Good, I never liked him. I will need to talk with my husband over the both of them staying, I've got your address so can drop you a letter..."

Taking back the folder that contained a magical newspaper, Emma then pulled out a business card and wrote their home phone number on the back. "This way you'll be able to contact us anytime. Who knows, one day we might even be related..."

If they were one day related, then afternoons like this may become the norm. That thought alone allowed Petunia to relax and enjoy her second cup of tea, and some quite delicious cakes.

-oOoOo-

The atmosphere at the Gryffindor table was poisonous. Ron had called Harry a coward, in front of many witnesses, and that accusation hadn't been denied. If anything, their former seeker had actually confirmed it. Ron was claiming the fact that Harry point-blank refused to take that hit to catch the snitch, and had since retired from the team, was evidence that proved his point. Harry Potter was a coward, and therefor shouldn't be a Gryffindor.

For the first time since he stopped being Potter's best friend, Ron was being listened to. This was heady stuff for the youngest male Weasley and spurred him on. Potter would regret ending their friendship as if it was nothing.

Harry and Hermione were soon disgusted by the reception they were receiving from their own house in the great hall, so going back to the Gryffindor common room was simply not an option they considered. A walk around the castle's many corridors was how they chose to spent the remainder of their day.

"Do they honestly expect me to risk my life trying to catch a little flying golden ball in a school game?"

"The other Harry would have. You were in the infirmary so often, Madam Pomfrey was threatening to name one of the beds as yours."

Taking a minute or so to think as they walked, Harry wondered if he'd come up with the answer to that mystery. "The other me was raised by this version of the Dursleys. He would have arrived at Hogwarts friendless, unloved and alone. I can see a child like that trying anything to be accepted, willing to go the extra mile to fit in. Going for that snitch today might have made me a hero - but for how long? Assuming Madam Pomfery was able to get me fit enough to play in time for our next match, would I have to do it all over again to remain popular? Fuck that!"

"You just pretty much described your other time in Hogwarts. It was constant pendulum where you were either the hero or the villain. We also spent a lot of time visiting each other in the infirmary. Personally, I'd much rather spend that time doing this…"

Pulling Harry into an empty classroom, she soon had her betrothed in her arms.

"Hermione, don't we need music to dance?"

"The way you dance, Harry, it doesn't really matter."

Being in Hermione's arms and having to concentrate on the dance moves really calmed Harry. He was beginning to enjoy this. So much so, he actually started to hear the music.

"Professor Dumbledore, we didn't see you there."

"Sorry to startle you, Miss Granger. I thought dancing required music, so I provided you with some."

The rather ornate music box did indeed provide a very pleasant tune to dance to. "Thank you, Professor. I'm teaching Harry to dance and he's picking it up quite well…"

"That's not what you told me."

This led to Albus chuckling, and getting to the real reason why he was here. "I couldn't help thinking I failed you somehow today…"

Hermione wasn't having any of that. "Oh no, Sir. Just you being there helped enormously. You won't have to worry about the other games though, since Harry no longer plays for Gryffindor."

"I heard that from Professor McGonagall, both she and I were most disappointed at your decision. The Gryffindor team really played a thrilling match today."

"Thank you for that, Sir, but I won't be changing my mind. Ollie is the captain and I wouldn't follow his orders, there really wasn't a lot of choice after we lost. I wasn't deliberately trying to undermine his authority, I just thought playing quidditch should be fun. You can't have one player in the team just doing what he wants though so I left - before getting pushed out."

"That was Professor McGonagall's reading of the situation too. She appointed Wood captain, she then has to let him do his job."

"Sir, there's no hard feelings between me and the rest of the team. I gave quidditch a try, and my best shot, but it just didn't work out. Gryffindor is disappointed they didn't win today - they'll get over it. This will also give me more time to practice my dancing, rather than spending hours flying about with Wood shouting at me."

"A very wise attitude to take, Harry. Since you will be practicing more, you may keep the music box. It's a conjured item but should last until at least the summer."

They resumed dancing as Dumbledore left, Hermione's smile though told Harry there was more going on here than he realised. "Okay, genius, I obviously missed something there. Care to take pity on we poor dummies and tell me what it was that passed over my head?"

"Oh Dumbledore was just supplying us with a way to get past Fluffy."

"I know I'm going to regret this but who or what is Fluffy?"

"The giant Cerberus that's guarding the third floor…"

"Who in their right mind… Wait, I know. Hagrid."

"Aw shit, I just thought of something. Hagrid hatches a baby dragon in his hut. It was us who convinced him he couldn't keep it, and arranged its transfer to a dragon reserve."

"A man who lives in a wooden house hatches a dragon egg, and then a bunch of eleven year olds have to help him do what - smuggle it out the castle? That makes perfect sense to me - not - though I would like to see a baby dragon."

"You'd like Norbert. It bit Ron and put him in the infirmary. The problem we've got is it was Ron who arranged for Norbet to be picked up - since it's his brother, Charlie, who works on a dragon reserve. I can't see Ron helping us this time."

"Hermione, saying Hagrid is a grown man is a massive understatement. He's also exceedingly knowledgable about all kinds of animals. If he can't see just how much of a really bad idea him hatching that egg would be, it shouldn't be down to a couple of first years' to pull his arse out of a dragon induced fire. As I see it, our only decision is whether we go to Dumbledore or McGonagall with this problem - at the appropriate time of course."

Hermione stopped dancing for a moment, stared at Harry and then kissed him. "I keep telling you we're not here to solve everyone's problems, then I go and fall into the same trap all over again. At least this time I've got you to talk me out of it, rather than your usual behaviour of leading the charge."

"Just why did Dumbledore leave us a means to get past that giant three headed dog? I refuse to call such an animal Fluffy."

"Like today, Dumbledore has no idea what he's supposed to be doing to help us. If things play out like we hope then we should be able to sit down with him come September and start working together. I don't know how he would react to some of the things we're intending to do - so it's probably better if he finds out about them when it's too late to change anything."

Ron was also trying to get some changes made, and finding himself with a receptive audience - the rest of the Gryffindor first years.

"Potter showed himself as a coward, in front of the entire school too. He also refused to investigate what's on the third floor, hardly displaying Gryffindor tendencies there either. He sits with Granger all the time in the common room, reading through a mountain of books. Then, when he comes upstairs, climbs into bed and pulls his curtains."

"Hermione does the same too.."

"Exactly Lavender, it's like they don't want to know the rest of us…"

"She's his intended, Ron. Even you must see…"

"Shut-it Neville. Nobody cares what you have to say. You're hardly a shining example of a Gryffindor either. I say we take this to Percy. He'll know what we can do about this…"

-oOoOo-

Harry and Hermione were leisurely making their way down to breakfast only to find their head of house intercepting them. McGonagall appeared in a rage but apparently not at them.

"Mister Potter could you please accompany me to my office. Miss Granger, since this will certainly affect you too, please come along as well."

Entering McGonagall's office, they were bade to take a seat as she lifted a piece of parchment off her desk before joining them. "I was presented with this first thing this morning, it fairly ruined my Sunday. It would seem a group of Gryffindor first years approached Percy Weasley about Mister Potter here apparently not being Gryffindor enough for their liking - and wanted the sorting hat to confirm your placement in their house. Instead of just bringing this matter to me as he's supposed to, our youngest male prefect decided he knew exactly how the situation should be handled."

McGonagall's exasperation with the situation was now somewhat explained, at least the bit where she wasn't angry at them. "Rather than bringing the problem to me, Percy Weasley chose to initiate an act of censure. This is what I was presented with this morning, thus forcing me to undertake an action I certainly don't want to - offer Mister Potter here the opportunity to be resorted…"

"If they want rid of Harry, then there is no way I'm staying there with that shower of…"

Hermione's angry rant was interrupted by a knock at the door. McGonagall rose to answer it, and found a nervous Neville Longbottom standing there. He may have been nervous but Neville was also determined to get what he came here for off his chest. "Professor, I am disgusted with the way my housemates are treating Harry. If he is forced to leave Gryffindor then I certainly don't want to stay. Is there any procedure that would allow me to be resorted too, or do I just need to annoy Ron enough to get him to go to Percy about me?" Neville had been practicing exactly what he wanted to say, spouting it all out while still standing in the corridor.

Opening the door fully to invite her student in allowed Neville to see Harry and Hermione already sitting there. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Neville, and for letting me know exactly who is responsible for this."

Turning his attention to McGonagall, Harry made his thoughts on the matter crystal clear. "Professor, I have no intention of staying where I'm not wanted. Whether that means resorting into another house or us leaving for another school, we'll wait and see what our options are."

"I was required to approach you with this first, even though I was fairly certain what your answer would be. I now need to go and spoil the headmaster's Sunday too. If we can decide right now on going forward with a resorting, we could arrange to carry out the procedure at lunchtime. As your intended, circumstances being what they are, Miss Granger would easily qualify for the procedure too."

"What about me, Professor?"

"My prefect effectively taking the law into his own hands looks like losing Gryffindor two of its best students. I'd hate for that to become three, Mister Longbottom. Those actions also cost that prefect his badge. This matter should have been brought to me first. Then a meeting could be held to hear everyone's views on this matter, not just one side of the argument - that's the way the system is supposed to work. By putting their complaint in the form of this censure document, and with over half your house year-group signing it, my hands were effectively tied. I have to represent all Gryffindors, though I will be making sure my views on this matter are understood at the house meeting I'm calling for after lunch."

"Professor, you yourself told us our house was our family. That family is now trying to throw two of its members out, while I was told my objections counted for nothing. That's not a family I want to be a part of. Ron already treats me as some kind of joke. I'm not prepared to accept that for the next six years. I am prepared to contact my grandmother about me switching to another school if I have to."

"I would truly be sorry to lose you, Mister Longbottom, from Gryffindor let alone Hogwarts. All I can do is present your case to the headmaster, the final decision on the matter is of course his."

Neville nodded his acceptance and then the professor practically shooed them out of her office. All three understood her urgency however, she would now need to meet with Professor Dumbledore.

"I tried to talk sense into them, Harry, but sense and Ron don't seem to know each other very well."

This actually drew a chuckle from the couple as they made their way to a late breakfast. "Thanks for at least trying, doesn't look as if anyone else did. Would you really leave Hogwarts?"

Neville looked embarrassed but answered truthfully. "My gran confided in me that you two were thinking about it. I was hoping if you left..."

A smiling Hermione just made Neville's morning. "If we leave Hogwarts, we would be delighted if you came with us. Starting a new school is scary, having friends with you can make all the difference."

That took a weight of the young wizard's shoulders. Neville knew him even suggesting leaving Hogwarts would see his gran explode - but not if he was leaving with Harry and attending the same school. They would just have to wait and see how things played out.

-oOoOo-

The atmosphere at lunchtime was strange, and very tense. The staff table was full yet the professors all just sat there and stared at the students entering the great hall. Ron Weasley was heard bemoaning loudly about their being no food on the tables, and 'someone' should do something about it. Harry, Hermione and Neville were sitting at the very end of the Gryffindor table - the end nearest the staff.

When Albus judged over three quarters of the students were now present, and all the main players already here, he stood and solemnly made his way to the podium to address the great hall.

"The more astute amongst you will have noticed something is different today. What is different is that I now feel ashamed to have once been sorted into Gryffindor house."

This drew gasps of astonishment from three of the four houses, the Gryffindors could only look on in disbelief. "Yesterday, like most people here, I enjoyed watching a most exciting quidditch match. I watched the youngest seeker in over a hundred years pull of a quite amazing piece of flying to avoid the worst outcome possible for a quidditch player - a head on collision at speed with another player. I thought Mister Potter's actions as he then assisted his opposing seeker, and even congratulated him for winning the match, was sportsmanship worthy of my old house. I was apparently wrong. Some members of that house thought this was an act of cowardice, and initiated an act of house censure against Mister Potter..."

Albus was quite pleased to see Harry's former teammates all shoot to their feet, shouting words in defence of their seeker. He held his hand up to placate them. "I spoke to Mister Potter after the match and am well aware of what happened. He confirmed what I assume you all want to tell me. There was no animosity between any of you regarding his departure from the team."

With everyone staring daggers at him, Oliver was compelled to get his point across for the whole school to hear. "Headmaster, this is the first we've heard of an act of censure. It certainly didn't come from any of his teammates, none of us thought that of Harry. Some of his flying yesterday scared the life out of me, and probably the Hufflepuff team too."

Nodding at that, Albus continued. "Harry made his position on this matter clear to his teammates and captain. He then publicly repeated that opinion to Professor McGonagall and later me. In repeatedly and publicly standing up for his convictions, Mister Potter showed nothing but courage - not cowardice. His accusers though never even gave him the chance to answer for himself, but moved straight to an act of censure. This left Professor McGonagall no other option but to offer Mister Potter an opportunity to be resorted - an offer he has accepted. Mister Potter, please step forward."

As Harry stood and left the Gryffindor table for the last time, there were loud groans and cries of 'no' ringing in his ears. Dumbledore wasn't finished though. "For obvious reasons, those involved in this despicable plot against someone in their own house never approached Miss Granger for her opinions on this matter. For those same obvious reasons, Miss Granger didn't want to remain in a house that would treat her intended in this manner. She asked to be resorted too, and I couldn't in all honesty refuse her perfectly understandable request. Miss Granger, please step forward."

A now shocked great hall watched as Hermione joined her intended. Albus had a few more shocks for them yet. "In the so-called 'house of the brave', only one person had the courage to speak out against this travesty. That lone voice was ridiculed and then ignored, leading the last true Gryffindor now left in first year to request a resorting too. It is a request I have reluctantly decided to grant. Mister Longbottom, please step forward."

Hermione stepping forward after Harry was easily explained, once you took a minute to think about it. Neville doing so too was another shock. "My initial reaction was to leave these three true Gryffindors where they so obviously belong and resort the students who forced this procedure through. This however would not have been fair to the other three houses, encumbering them with these students. As far as I'm concerned, Gryffindor now has no first year students."

As the seriousness of their actions began to sink in, Parvati and Lavender were both in tears. Dumbledore then added to their woes. "Since Gryffindors chose this vile route to remove fellow students from their house, the house points these students have gained within Hogwarts should also be rejected..."

All eyes were then focused on the Gryffindor points monitor which seemed to be losing rubies at an alarming rate. It eventually stopped at just above half of its original volume, effectively ending any chance Gryffindor had of winning the House Cup.

"As you can now see, these are three students who should be welcomed into whichever house the sorting hat places them. Professor McGonagall, I'm afraid this sad duty falls to you."

As she walked forward with the stool and hat, Minerva made her feelings on this matter known. "This is not something I wanted, and it's already blindingly obvious this is a move that will be detrimental to Gryffindor house. I will be explaining my views in greater detail at the emergency Gryffindor house meeting being held directly after lunch. Mister Potter, could you step forward and be resorted please."

Neville may have been shaking like a leaf but Harry was calmly cracking jokes as he sat on the stool. "Hermione told me all you had to do to be sorted was wear an old hat, I thought she was playing a prank on me. Since I've already wrestled a troll though, I wasn't too bothered."

Having heard all about their original sorting from Hermione, Harry saw that barb hit his accuser of cowardice hard - just before the hat was lowered onto his head. He then heard a strange voice speaking to him about 'this will never do' before Harry's painful screams pierced every corner of the great hall.

A/N. I know - we all hate cliffhangers. This one though is different. The reason for that difference is, with this cliffhanger, even the author doesn't know what's going to happen next. My original idea for this story had the sorting hat eventually restoring Harry's memories but I have grown to like this version of Harry Potter. I must have changed my mind at least a dozen times on this issue while leading up to this scene, making good arguments with myself for both outcomes. Your opinions on this matter would be appreciated - and might help me finally decide on how to proceed. As usual, I haven't one word of the next chapter written yet.

With school spring break over on Monday, I will once again be very busy - and resuming a fortnightly posting schedule.