Emerald Eyes
Harry Potter and Scarlett O'Hara came from different worlds, set at different times, but when Hermione comes up with a crazy plan to find the Golden Trio soulmates, these barriers shatter spectacularly. Despite recently beating Voldemort, Harry's about to meet his greatest challenge in the 16 year old Southern belle who's pining away for Ashley Wilkes. HPxScarlett, HGxRB, RWxSuellen.
A/N: I've been reading a lot of GWTW fanfiction lately and in a fit of inspiration, came up with the following crossover idea – what if Scarlett O'Hara meets Harry Potter and not only that, but what if she was also actually a muggleborn witch? As an FYI, I'll be sticking to the movie version of the story as it's been forever since I read the book. I'll get back to my other HP story soon, but this one jumped up at me and I have to get it started. Hope you all enjoy!
Now for the disclaimer...I don't own GWTW or Harry Potter, they belong to their respective creators, nor do I seek to make any money off this story. I'm writing this for entertainment only and because mixing up characters can be a lot of fun.
Chapter 1: Hermione's Brilliant Plan
Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived Twice and Defeater of Voldemort, sat restlessly in Hogwart's library trying to finish his last assignment for the week. McGonagall had made the small returning 8th year class practice transfiguring large items, such as desks, into similarly-sized items like cushioned chairs, then wanted a roll of parchment on the process. For Harry, the actual process wasn't too hard, but he could do without the actual writing about it. Hermione, now that the war was over, refused to let he or Ron copy off her anymore so he had to do things the hard way. She, of course, had already finished, was now running around the bookshelves looking for new material to study and he was waiting, curious to see what she would find next. Ron, who was back in the common room playing chess with Seamus, was not.
As usual, Ron's report wasn't even started and like clockwork, Hermione would be down his throat come Sunday night. It was due Monday so of course he would start to think about it right after dinner. He could picture it now...Uh, Hermione. You finished the Transfiguration assignment, right? Can you let me look at it? After which she would snappishly reply, Ronald! I told you I'm not letting you copy off me anymore! You need to learn for yourself! He could then imagine she would storm off to the library where she knew he wouldn't follow. Once that avenue was cut off, Ron would then turn to Harry and ask, Hey mate! Can I take a look at yours? Of course he would give in as some things would never change.
That's why it really wasn't a surprise when his two best friends only lasted a month together after the war. Once the initial adrenaline wore off, so did their romantic feelings, which left them back to being friends. There was still an air of awkwardness between them, but it was getting better. Harry's relationship issues, however, were not.
After the war, he tried again with Ginny, but after a few months he realized she was more in love with his hero persona than she was with him as a person. She soaked up all the attention she could get as the Boy Who Lived's girlfriend and only wanted to spend time in the spotlight. Knowing he had a significant amount of funds stored up in Gringott's, she tried to manipulate him into buying her all sorts of trinkets as she claimed they would show off her status as his future lady. He had no desire to get married anytime soon and the constant pressure coming from her towards that end forced him to bring the relationship to an end instead. So after throwing the biggest temper tantrum known to man, she turned her back and is still to this day ignoring him. The last he knew, she was setting her sights on Neville, the brave leader of Dumbledore's Army and slayer of Nagini. As far as Harry was concerned, if he wanted her, she's all his.
Shaking off his mental detour, Harry again tried to focus on his essay and just as he was about to start the last paragraph, an excited Hermione suddenly drops a book down in front of him. After coughing due to the tremendous amount of dust released from the ancient book, he looks at his best friend who smiles sheepishly.
"Sorry, Harry. I was so overcome with excitement, I didn't think to dust it off. Oh, I can't believe I found this in the restricted section!"
Harry, arched an eyebrow at her in response and she kept babbling away.
"I'd have thought this book would be banned as it could be potentially dangerous, but the results would be amazing! I'm going to give it a try." Harry was confused as to what could be so bad that it was still available in the Hogwart's library.
"Hermione, slow down. What did you find?" After a quick charm to remove the remaining dust, she sat down and opened the book up to a specific page.
"Look at this and tell me what you see." Harry scanned the page and at the top he saw the following phrase in latin - Finis est Amour Veri. Curious, he kept reading.
Finis est amour veri. Love is our true destiny. Before you continue, please heed this warning. By completing the following ritual, you risk much. To find your soulmate, you must first be willing to not only transport yourself to another place, but also to another time. It is not guaranteed that your soulmate will be alive in your current era, as they could either exist sometime in the past or have yet to be born. Knowledge can be a powerful tool, but in the hands of the unprepared, it can cause much pain as how many are willing to make such a sacrifice? To find your soulmate, you must be willing to give up much to gain much more. If you are certain, proceed cautiously as this ritual will first allow you to see your soulmate and inform you exactly when and where they are. If they are in the past, you must decide if changing events is worth the risk to be with them. Be aware that bad things can happen to those who alter time. If they are in the present, you run the risk of knowing they may be a child or elderly, or may have even passed away, necessitating a trip to the past. If they are in the future, the only way to meet them is to allow yourself to age accordingly as there is no known way to transport yourself to the future, ritual or not. To know of your soulmate and not meet them will bring great and lasting emotional pain to the caster. If you are willing to risk all for love, follow the ritual and follow your destiny. You have been warned.
"Uh, Hermione. What made you look this up? I mean I know you and Ron didn't work out, but this seems really risky." Hermione turned her sad eyes to him, her face smudged with dirt from the stacks and her outrageously curly hair looking even more frizzed than normal.
"Oh, I starting doing some research on love seeing as it was such a powerful defense against Voldemort. I was curious to know how your mum protected you like she did so I started in the restricted section and found this book. As I was flipping through pages, I discovered this ritual and thought maybe I could go through with it. I haven't a family here anymore and thought maybe finding my soulmate would help me, especially after I leave Hogwarts."
Harry pondered this and sighed. She had given up so much to help him, what with erasing her parents' memories and shipping them off to Australia knowing it would be irreversible. He also had no family, really, because to him the Dursley's didn't count and the idea of finding someone who'd love him unconditionally was extremely appealing. He could see why she would want to try.
"Okay, I understand that as I'm in a similar boat, but are you willing to risk time travel? I know you had all that experience in third year, but are you ready to move to a different time if your soulmate is in the past? What if we both did the ritual and ended up in different time periods? I would miss my sister too much."
Hermione's sad eyes watered, but lit up knowing how much Harry cared for her, even if it was in the familal sense. She had always felt the same way about him.
"Well, we could do the first part of the ritual to find out, who, where, and when. Maybe if we are lucky we will end up together with our soulmates. Do you want to try?"
Harry, being the Gryffindor he was, made the impulsive decision to follow after Hermione and see what the could find out from the initial part. Maybe, just maybe, he could leave all this Boy Who Lived business behind and start over fresh in a new place, and maybe in a completely different time. The implications of this were huge. He grinned.
"So, who's going to tell Ron?"
"Bloody hell, you want to do WHAT!"
Hermione repeated herself, as she knew she'd need to because Ron's reaction really was predictable. The trio had taken up a remote corner of the Gryffindor common room and with a quick muffliato spell they could keep their conversation private.
"Harry and I want to conduct a ritual to see our soulmates, regardless of when or where they are. If we choose to complete the second part, we would actually be transported to them, which could mean time travel. How no one knows about this, I can't say, but it looked like the book had been sitting on the shelf in the restricted section since the time of the founders."
Ron scratched his head. "So how do you know we'd all end up together?" Harry grinned at him and slapped him on the back.
"That's the spirit, mate! We figured we'd do the first part of the ritual together and see if we'll end up in the same timeframe, then we could do the second part."
Hermione, usually the voice of reason for the trio, agreed with Harry. "Ronald, Harry and I don't have the same attachments here that you do, so we're willing to go, but you've got your family and I can't see Molly letting you out of her sight forever."
Ron thought for a moment then apparently came to a conclusion. "I believe she would if it had to do with true love. After losing Fred, I don't think she would try to keep me from finding happiness, even if it meant I couldn't come back, but if we could find a way to communicate back and forth, that would probably help."
The idea obviously sparked something in Hermione's mind and she lit up immediately. "Ron, that's brilliant! I think there is a way to possibly rig up a pair of mirrors like the ones Sirius had, but could also compensate for any distance and time constraints. Let me research this and if I can get my hands on a time turner, I'll be able to test my theory. But in the meantime, when do we want to proceed with stage one of the ritual? I can get everything together and start brewing the necessary potion right away. It only takes a week, but it must be used immediately."
Harry was all for starting as soon as possible, but wanted to know how Ron felt. He turned his gaze towards his friend who was clearly still churning everything over in his mind. In a sudden move, he put his arms around his two best friends shoulders.
"Let's do it! The Golden Trio has to end up together, anything else is just ridiculous. I hope that wherever we end up, they have good food as I'm still a growing boy you know." He grinned.
Hermione rolled her eyes and slapped him on the back of the head. "Only you can think of food when the prospect of finding your soulmate is right in front of you."
Ron just looked at her and replied, "Well if she's my soulmate, you know she'll appreciate a good meal as much as I do."
"Yes, Ronald, I think anything less would be catastrophic. So does this mean we're all in? I'll get the potion going and let you know when it's ready and in the meantime I'll work on the mirror situation and try to get a time turner through McGonagall. I'll have to tell her the part about building the mirrors, but I won't tell her exactly why the idea came to be, sorry Ron, but I'll make sure you get credit after the fact."
Ron was a bit surprised at that gesture. "No worries, Hermione. Just get them working and we'll do the ritual to see what happens." He started laughing. "I can't wait to see what we'll be up against next. After taking down Old Snakeface, it's getting kind of dull around here, don't ya think?"
Harry cringed a bit. "Yeah, well, I'm kinda hoping for a calm life with the girl of my dreams by my side. No offense that the girl wasn't Ginny, right mate?" Ron sighed.
"As much as I wanted to be your brother officially, unoffically, I think Ginny has lost her damn mind! How she pushed you as far as she did was seriously mental. Maybe Mum should have her checked over at Mungo's to make sure that the diary didn't mess with her more than we thought."
Harry shook his head sadly. "Perhaps you're right or maybe she's just always been mental when it comes to Harry Potter, the hero. Either way, I do think she should get some type of help, but I'll let you bring that up."
"Yeah, I can see how that'll go over well with Mum. Oh, by the way, I'm going to time travel to find my soulmate and I can never come back, but I think I'll be able to chat with you over a mirror. And Mum, you need to get Ginny checked out by a mind healer because we think she's mental."
Hermione interjected, "Well, let me get things going and I'll keep you both updated daily. When were ready for the ritual, we'll know better what we're dealing with, yes?"
Both boys chimed in unison, "Yes!"
As promised, Hermione was able to brew the potion during the following week and had informed Harry and Ron that is would be ready that evening. They all decided that since they were almost to the end of their tenure at Hogwart's, conducting the ritual's first part now wouldn't be too bad as they would only need to wait until graduation to complete part two. It was amazing that Hermione had enough time to fit in her extracurricular reseach as NEWTs were rapidly approaching.
"So, I figured we could perform the ritual in a little known deserted classroom on the fifth floor in a part of the castle that has long since been abandoned. I've been brewing the potion there and I've never seen a single person around. It's never even been part of our patrols as prefects." Of course, she was Head Girl this year, but everyone knew that would happen.
Harry nodded while absorbing that this was actually happening tonight. "Okay, so what do we need to do exactly? You mentioned the potion, but what else do we need to do?"
"Well, I'll divide the potion into three equal portions and then we each need to add three drops of our blood to our individual cauldrons. I will show you the incantation, which you need to chant while stirring three times clockwise. Once that's done, the surface of the liquid should turn into a mirror of sorts that will show us our soulmate and when the image clears, we can take a bit of the potion and drop it onto a piece of parchment. The name of the person and the exact time and place that we would travel to should show up as text. As soon as we have that, we can plan what to do next."
Ron shrugged. "Sounds easy. What's the downside to all this?" Hermione cringed a bit.
"Well, once we see our soulmate in the cauldron, we will have a strong pull to complete the second part, but we need to fight it, at least until after graduation. This pull will last for the rest of our lives until we can actually meet them in person so if anyone wants to back out, now's the time to speak up."
"Blimey, Hermione! You couldn't have told us that before! Harry, mate, are you sure you want to do this?"
Harry turned to his best friend with hopeful eyes. "Yes. I want to find her and if this is the only way to do it, that's what I'll do. I'm sorry, but I have a strong feeling that I need to do this and my gut reactions tend to be right, even when they seem wrong." Ron knew this to be true after being friends with Harry for so many years and he really couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life without his best mate.
"I'm with you, Harry. You, too, Hermione." She breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Alright. I need to run to Arithmancy now, but I'll meet up with you at dinner and then we'll sneak out tonight under your cloak, Harry. See you both, later."
Hermione headed off to class while the boys decided to spend their free period on the Quidditch pitch. They had one last match against Slytherin set for the following week so they decided to practice some new plays Harry came up with. He was seriously itching to outmaneuver Draco again and triumph over the snakes one last time.
"Ronald, you're stepping on my foot!"
"Sorry 'Mione, we're all too big for this thing anymore."
The trio had amazingly made it to the fifth floor corridor undetected before Hermione's foot was trampled by a larger-footed Ron.
"Okay, we're almost there." Hermione directed the group to the last door on the right and quickly ushered them through. Once inside, she quickly locked it and cast several privacy charms to aid in their staying undetected. She had done this continually throughout the brewing period and no one even noticed, not even McGonagall. She smiled at the thought she was being rather Slytherin about it all. Take that you bunch of inbred bigots!
Now that they were fairly secured, Hermione proceeded to divide the simmering potion into two additional cauldrons and turned to give further instructions.
"Now that we each have our potion, we are going to add three drops of blood, stir clockwise three times and chant the following phrase three times, one time per stir. Remember the incantation: ostendere veram caritatem, which means reveal my true love."
She had the boys practice saying the phrase until she was sure they had it right and then took a deep breath.
"We're ready. Now focus on what you need to do. I left parchment for each of you to add potion to once the image has cleared. Afterwards, we'll compare notes and see what we have." She was getting giddy now as she was so close to finding out who her other half is.
"Okay, on the count of three: one, two, three!"
Each of the trio added their blood, stirred and chanted, then waited for an image to appear.
For Ron, he saw who he considered to be a beautiful girl, perhaps fifteen, wearing an odd looking pink dress with silver accents. She had on a matching silver hat and was slyly speaking to another girl who was slightly older and wore a brownish/rust colored dress adorned with white lace. The girl in pink looked upset about something, but since he could only see her, he wondered what could have made her so angry. As he was pondering this question, the image faded from the cauldron. He quickly took a sample of the potion and dropped it on the parchment.
Suellen O'Hara, Twelve Oaks Plantation, in the vicinity of Jonesboro, GA, USA April 1861. Muggle.
Hermione waited impatiently as she saw the image form of a dashing man with dark hair, dark eyes and a neatly trimmed mustache standing at the bottom of a large staircase. He was looking upwards, with the hint of a smirk, as if he could see her through the mists of time. He was holding a glass of some type of beverage sprigged with mint. He had a sense of ease about him and as quickly as the image formed, it faded. She quickly applied some of the potion to her parchment.
Rhett Butler, Twelve Oaks Plantation, in the vicinity of Jonesboro, GA, USA April 1861. Of wizarding descent, half-blood, magic blocked by father during teenaged years. Subject unaware of background.
For Harry, he was a bit afraid. He wanted to know, yet didn't, because this woman represented an unknown future. He hoped she would be all he dreamed of, but as he was considering this, the image of the most stunning girl he'd ever seen formed in his cauldron. She had dark hair, eyes as green as his, and was wearing the most unusual green and white dress. She had a wide brimmed hat perched on top of her head, secured under her chin with a long, green velvet bow and she was carrying what looked like a small black umbrella. She seemed to be very popular amongst the men there as they were flirting with her everywhere she turned. She also looked as if she was enjoying every second. He wondered what that could mean for his future, especially as she stared with dreamy eyes at an elegantly dressed man walking down a staircase. In his mind, she looked like trouble, but if he went back, she'd be his trouble so he'd need to prepare himself for anything. The vision soon faded and he added some potion to his parchment.
Scarlett O'Hara, Twelve Oaks Plantation, in the vicinity of Jonesboro, GA, USA April 1861. Muggleborn witch. Subject unaware of status.
Once the three had their results, they came together to compare their findings.
"Well, it looks like we'll all be headed to antebellum Georgia. This is good and bad. We'll be together, but we will be facing the advent of the American Civil War."
"Uh, Hermione, what exactly do you mean by war?" Harry was sick of fighting, but if his soulmate was facing a war, he wanted to be there to protect her.
"In muggle school, did you learn anything about American history?" Harry thought about it and shook his head no.
"Well, I was able to learn a bit and the American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865. It was fought between the Northern states, or the Yankees as they were called, and the Southern states, who were considered as the Confederates. It was a bloody mess and the aftermath was devastating on the South who ultimately lost the conflict. I can do some research if I can get to the library in muggle London so that we can be better prepared for our trip, that is if we are going to go..." She looked at Harry and Ron for their opinions.
"Well, 'Mione, I'm in. If you can get the mirrors working, I'll break it to Mum that we're all heading to the past. I don't think I should let her know about a pending war, but I can at least tell her we'll all be together."
Harry was all in. "I haven't changed my mind and I won't change it. As soon as graduation is over, I want to be ready to leave." Hermione agreed.
"Alright. We're going and it looks like we'll have a lot to do before we can leave. We'll need proper period clothing, accessories, money, knowledge of customs. Ugh. Anyway, think about what you want to take so I can make bags with undetectable extension charms. Harry, you'll need to decide if you want to take anything from Gringotts. I'll have to check and see what the banking situation was back then in Georgia as I know their economy collapsed after the war. We will be on the losing side so we need to be prepared for trouble. I'll also need to see what their magical government was like at the time, if it even existed at all. At least we have about two months left to plan." She smiled dreamily, obviously thinking of the man she saw in her cauldron. He certainly looked like trouble, but just the kind she needed.
"I can't wait to leave!"
A/N: Update - 2/25. I made some minor edits to help with the flow a bit and correct some grammar issues that looked ugly to me in the light of day. That's what I get for being hyped up on caffeine and throwing up a chapter in a few hours. Again, reviews are most welcome along with constructive criticism. This is just for fun and the love of writing. Thanks for reading!