from 2007, the start of a story that I wrote and published on Ficwad
It was called
Alternative Paths.
From the time he had left the Headmasters office after hearing the prophecy, it appeared that Harry was lost in thought, mostly because he was. He had plans, lots of plans to make, and a lot of things to get in line before he was forced back to Privet Drive. He was at this point letting his inner Slytherin out, being cunning and somewhat ambitious, During the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries his best friend was terribly hurt, and at that point he realized exactly how much she meant to him, and what he would be willing to do to prevent anything from happening to her again. It began when Dumbledore had shown Harry the prophecy that had overrun his life for the past 15 years.. Harry realized what had been done to control him, and keep him under control, he realized that the headmaster was directly responsible for the death of his parents, and for the unfair imprisonment of Sirius Black. he also realized the extent to which he had been manipulated for the last 15 years, being told information selectively, half truths and outright disambiguation. Dumbledore had just shown him the prophecy and explained the situation where Snape had scurried off and told his real master the part of the prophecy he had heard, which led directly to the deaths of James and Lily Potter, the assault on the Longbottoms, and the stories told which created the public image of the "Boy Who Lived" That whole story had no way to confirm it, because no one was there to witness it, unless of course Wormtail was hiding there somewhere. Harry added that name to the list.
While standing in Dumbledore's office he spied an object familiar to him, a time turner, the one Hermione had used while in the third year, Harry exploded with an emotional outburst, trashing the headmasters office, gadgets and devices flying everywhere, at least that is what it looked like to an outside observer.. Harry kept his mind focused on the death of his godfather, kept the rage burning as artifacts flew around the room. Perfect cover for the time turner to fly off the shelf where it was and insert itself into his pants pocket. That event over and an apparently exhausted Harry trudged up to Gryffindor tower, his mind racing at literally a thousand kilometers a second while fabricating plans. He disappeared into his room and got his cloak, invisibly going to the seventh floor and entering the come and go room. It was a bit of a cliche' using that room, and Harry realized this, so to make sure he did not make any mistakes or assumptions, he entered a completely black room that was defined by a grid of yellow lines. "Chairs,table, lamp, " the items appeared "Dobby" the elf appeared. "What does the great wizard Harry Potter need? "Sit please, we have much to discuss" Dobby hopped up into the chair, as Harry sat in the other. "Dobby, I know you will be willing to bind yourself to me, but before I make that offer I want to discuss terms with you, ok? Dobby nodded without saying anything.. he was smart enough to anticipate he master's needs. Harry did not yet realize that Dobby had already bonded to him. " I need someone who can be objective with me, and check that I don't make mistakes that get anybody else killed, I need someone who can get me what I need at a moments notice, and bypass the limits placed on me by the Headmaster, the Ministry and by the Dursleys." Dobby nodded "I can do that Master Harry" Harry grinned "and my biggest problem, at least with you and Winky, if she joins us, is Hermione." Dobby paused a moment and thought.. "I thinks that Miss Grangey just doesn't understand us house elfs.. we NEED the magic of our masters to survive, we will die without it" Harry looked pensive for a moment.."well, there's no excuse for treating someone like a slave, or abusing them , right? " Dobby nodded in agreement.. "Alright then, I think we will need to explain it correctly , that's all. "
"Now then, we have 5 days left before the end of semester, and I intend to use that time as completely as possible." he pulled the time turner out of the pocket and showed it to Dobby. "You know what this is?" Dobby looked closely at the object in his hand, "It is a time twister, very powerful magic" Harry nodded, putting the chain around his neck, yes it is, I need to take as much study and training and preparation time as possible, and I cannot run into myself, even once. so I need several places to be, for a period of .." he looked at the engraving on the bottom of the device.." 168 hours, seven days at most.. " "also I need a way to get around and not be seen, time to sleep and eat, .." "Let Dobby take care of that. you need to see miss Grangey first" Dobby stood and took Harry by the arm, and was about to jump, when Harry stopped him. "First, though..Dobby will you agree to be bound to me and the house of Potter, and keep our secrets, ?" Dobby nodded, "Dobby has already bonded himself to Harry Potter, but Dobby will bind himself to the house of Clan Potter." Harry looked surprised, and then knelt down to look Dobby straight in the eyes.. "I Harry Potter of the House and Clan Potter, offer my protection and magic to the being known as Dobby, of the Elf race, as long as we both agree to it", furthermore if Dobby or his children wish to be free, they have my permission in perpetuity." A glowing bond enveloped and joined Harry and Dobby, they both felt it, and it felt right. "That includes Winky if she desires it" Harry raised an eyebrow in question to Dobby. the elf nodded and took Harry's arm, "I will talk to her after we go" they popped away. The room regarded itself for a few moments and then reconfigured itself to a potions lab, a runes study area, and sleeping and exercise areas.
Mme Pomfrey did a final check for the evening, ran her wand over the wound across the torso of Hermione Granger, it glowed with a pinkish orange glow, from her left shoulder to her right hip, Hermione was not particularly comfortable, , she had to wear the universal garment of hospitals, an open at the back gown, She had to take potions that were not the best tasting, nor did they sit well in her stomach, plus the topical potion she had to have on the actual wound itself, although it kept things clean and free of infection, it stunk with a particularly sour smell, not to mention it was sticky, just plain gross, she thought. The wound was healing, it had stopped weeping blood the day before, so she was finally off the blood restorative potion, and at this point she was down to three a day, morning and evening. All this was bad enough on its own, but she was bored spitless, she couldn't study, read, write, or anything. she wished there was something like the wizarding version of a cell phone, at least then she could call her mum and grandmum. Hermione tried to sleep , but she was all slept out, The ward door opened and Crookshanks shouldered his way in, , strolled over to her bed and jumped up, walked right up the blanket and plonked himself down at her side, "Ooh what a good boy you are, you came to keep me company" Hermione scratched the furry familiar around the back of his neck and ears. Mme Pomfrey looked out the office door and saw that the half kneazle was the one who had opened the ward door and set off her door alarm. She nodded and reset the charm, and went back to her quarters. Dilly the house elf did her work quietly on the other side of the ward, while keeping an eye on the patient . Hermione was nodding off and she felt a weight press down on the mattress beside her. Opening her brown eyes in the dark she saw nothing, but sensed a presence. She wasn't worried, because Crookshanks didn't make any move toward the weight, just blinked in assent.
"Hermione" Harry's voice whispered in her ear.. she closed her eyes and smiled. "are you sleepy? She kept her eyes closed and murmured "No.. I'm glad you're here" she felt him settle down on the mattress beside her, albeit on top of the blanket "how are you doing? Are you getting out of here soon? " She felt warm and finally whole. "I..I'm getting there, but its so bloody boring here.." she grinned "I know now why you always try to escape when you are in here.. " her eyes opened to see him slip the invisibility cloak back far enough to be seen . Green eyes met brown, silently, a volume of feeling and content passed between the two. "I have so much to tell you" She lay quietly eyes wide open waiting to hear.. "Dumbledore has been controlling my life for the past fifteen years, and as far as I can see he is directly responsible for Tom Riddle going dark and becoming Voldemort" she gasped , considering the possibilities.. "the prophecy in the Department of mysteries was broken, but the original was given to the old man, it says that I am the only one who can kill him, and that's why that blue eyed bastard has been keeping me in the dark all this time, I am his weapon to be sent out to die, taking voldie with me." Hermione started crying, her fist in her mouth to keep from crying out loud.. "This is where we, you and I are going to change things a bit." He reached into his collar and pulled out the time turner. "Recognize this?" he showed her with a raised eyebrow. "How did you get that?, the headmaster keeps it locked up in his office"
"Well lets just say he has a bit of a mess to clean up now, he may not notice it missing, dumbass left it sitting out in plain view.." Hermione was torn between being offended that Harry was insulting an authority figure, and figuring out some insults of her own.. "I have come to a realization about magic I want to share with you, it seems, that if you let yourself believe enough, anything is possible, and you can do just..."
Footsteps sounded in the direction of Mme Pomfrey's office, Harry sprung straight up, as if he was a cat being awoken with a surprise. The real surprise was for Hermione, that he kept going, all the way up to the ceiling of the hospital ward and stuck there, lying on his back, on the ceiling, as if he was lying in the grass looking at the sky. Her eyes widened with shock, as Harry pulled the cloak around his body, completely obscuring it, except for his face which watched as Mme Pomfrey came in to check on Hermione. He put his finger to his lips and she settled herself back, with eyes half closed, keeping one on him, and acting sleepy. Mme Pomfrey came into the curtained area, and ran her wand up and down the various injuries on Hermione's body. "pull down your gown please, Miss Granger" Hermione hesitated a moment, looking up to see Harry cover his eyes with his hands. Satisfied he wasn't peeking, she pulled the arms off and lay the gown down in her lap. Leaving her upper body exposed. The mediwitch did a specialized cleaning charm on the scar, removing the sticky wound dressing, "toss the gown over there, we'll get you a fresh one" The girl complied, pulling it out from her lap, and tossing it toward the hamper that Dilly pushed up to the end of the bed. She pulled the sheet up far enough to cover her pubis, and lay back quietly , while keeping an eye on Harry. Pomfrey ran her diagnostic spells up and down, getting a mostly pink glow , and just a bit of orange near the sternum, directly between her breasts. "Just a little bit more and you will be back in form Ms Granger, then it will be a matter of time for the scarring to heal." Dilly brought over a fresh gown and helped Hermione put it on,
"How long will it take for the scar to fade?, Summer is almost here and I would like to wear a swimsuit at the beach." "thank you for the gown, Dilly" she thanked the house elf, in order to let Harry know he could look. "It should fade in about two weeks time if you follow my directions" Hermione nodded in assent. "You must spend about an hour a day morning and evening, lay back and clear your mind, and visualize your magic flowing out of your core, through and around the scar tissue, restoring your body to it's optimal form, does that make sense?
The younger witch nodded, "sort of like wandless magic that doesn't leave my body.. " "Yes, exactly, another way is if you had a magical relative or spouse, they could lay their hands on you and channel some of their magic towards healing you." Hermione's eyes opened wide in surprise, flickering up to the ceiling and back. "Ooh, well, that would be interesting to try now wouldn't it..I assume that's why some Healers have 'the healing touch'? Mme Pomfrey nodded, while gathering her potions and notes, "its a rare gift, although some people do have it, My brother Marcus can do it for a short while, but it can exhaust a person magically if they try to overuse the gift." "Get some sleep, and we will check you out in the morning, if you are all pink, you will be released" "Thank you Mme Pomfrey". The Mediwitch nodded and went back to her office, Dilly the ward elf pushed away the laundry hamper, and the young witch was left alone. Hermione's pondering was interrupted by an invisibility cloak thumping down on the bed near her feet. She looked up and saw Harry fall slowly off the ceiling toward her. He rolled over in the air and landed gently next to her right side, Crookshanks watched this with disinterest, as if he saw it everyday. He tucked in his front paws and closed his eyes, dismissing the scene.
"Can I give you some of my magic to help you heal faster? The brown eyed girl hesitated a moment, and made a decision. She pulled up the sheet till her pubic area was covered, and then pulled up the gown to just under her breasts, exposing the scar, a pasty white against an otherwise pale belly. Harry gently reached out to about the middle of what was visible and touched her belly. The warmth tingled them both' "here goes" Harry reached down into his core where the golden fire resided, he visualized it flowing out his hand and fingers, and melting into the girl's skin. A golden glow splayed out from under his hand, and across her skin, shadows flickered across the ceiling, the light became white, almost blue, the color of a plasma arc, as he ran his hand toward her hip. The skin that came out from under his hand was a pristine as if it were the day she was born, no signs of any scars, burns,freckles of moles. When his hand reached the bottom end of the scar, Hermione forcefully held it, not moving, not allowing his hand to move, as if she were having a seizure, the muscles of her abdomen clenching against themselves, her mouth falling open and her eyes rolling back into her head, she passed out and went limp. Harry almost panicked, almost, but her eyes fluttered open as she lay back with a dreamy look on her face. "Mr Potter, ... " in her best McGonagal voice.."You can do that to me anytime, anytime at all"..
she lay there panting slightly..
"I didn't hurt you did I, I would never want to hurt you Hermione, you mean too much to me" She took the bottom part of the gown and used it like a fan, cooling herself off..
Looking down, saw no sign of a scar of any kind. "No Harry, you didn't hurt me, just the opposite, you gave me an immense amount of pleasure, more than I have felt in all my life, actually.. and look, no sign of any scarring, you fixed me" She took her wand from the nightstand and did the diagnostic charm.. her belly was perfectly pink, and above the point where Harry started it was still orangey pink. He sat there, unable to speak, not knowing what to say, so he said nothing, trying out the new think first speak or act later scenario. "Right then, do you feel up to trying the rest?" she indicated the scar up her middle to the shoulder. Silently he nodded, She pulled up the gown and took it off, tossing it on the foot of the bed, she lay back with her arms crossed demurely across her chest. "I'm ready Doctor Potter" she uncrossed her arms and lay them at her sides, fully exposing herself to him. Harry put his hand at the point he started before and locked his eyes with hers, not wanting to be distracted by her perfectly formed shapes. He pushed his magic out of himself, again the light flickering out between the fingers, making shadowplay on the ceiling, His hand drove the scarred highway in the valley between her breasts up the foothills of her chest to the mountain ridge of her shoulder. "how does that feel, Miss Granger?" in his best TV doctor voice, or maybe it was his Dudley Doright voice... she flexed and twisted, a smile creeping across her face, "Ah do declare, Ah think you all have cured me of this dastardly curse, how evah shall I thank you kind sah? Harry posed in a very manly manner while Hermione waved the sheet in her face, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Harry grinned a toothy grin and flexed his manly muscles.."No thanks are necessary dear Nell, Just doing my duty!".."oooooh, I swoon!" the young lady fell back onto her pillow with a sigh.. her familiar opened his eyes with a look of "are you done yet, I'm sleeping here.." Harry's stomach growled, he looked shocked as if something had snuck up on him.. "maybe you can get Dobby to bring us something to eat?" He nodded and went to the other end of the ward to quietly call Dobby
"Dilly" Hermione whispered, as she gathered up her nightgown to put it on. The ward elf popped up,
Yes miss Granger?" "I ..uh kind of made the bed wet, can you get me some new sheets? Please?" Dilly nodded and immediately set about stripping the bed of its sheets, flipping and cleaning the mattress and remaking the whole thing with new fresh linens. The brown-haired witch was just getting into bed when Harry and Dobby came through the curtain with a small dinner, some juice and tea. Harry stopped abruptly, almost turning and leaving, Hermione stopped him, "don't go, eat with me , please?" he nodded and said nothing, the new method of thinking again.. Hermione realized what had happened, he had walked in as she was bending over to pull the sheet back, and her bottom had fallen out of the hospital gown, accentuating her very pleasantly formed bum. "it's all right if you look at my bum Harry, I'll be glad to let you see it all you want after all you have done for me" She blushed as she spoke. "let me finish, you have always believed in me, you have never put down my ideas as foolish, even S.P.E.W. , you never try to take advantage of me to have you do your work for you, not like some people we know" they both grinned at the thought of Ron.. "You were my friend when no one else would want to be" she took his hand and held it tightly. "I know you think my being here in the ward is your fault, but it is not. I chose to go to the Department of Mysteries with you, I chose to fight by your side, and I CHOOSE to stay at your side as long as you will have me.." she looked carefully into his eyes, looking for a sign that he would accept her. He closed his eyes and concentrated, holding both hands over her right hand. She felt a stirring of magic around her hand, a glow, blue this time around their fingers, he let go with his left, holding her s in his right, got down off the chair to his knee,
"Hermione Jane Granger, will you accept this promise ring as my oath and intent to ask for your hand and heart when we graduate?" Her eyes widened in recognition of the ring that had appeared on her first finger, a 5mm ring of mithril with a perfectly triangular emerald green stone set in the mount. Her jaw dropped, speechless, as she flung her arms around his neck. "yesyesyesyessyess!" He put his arms around her, holding his head to her chest, her fingers entangled in his hair. "You know" his voice was muffled, because he was speaking directly to her breasts, "this is a wonderful place to be, but I must speak to your face, please" She blushed and pulled back a bit to let him breathe, and see his eyes. "he took her hands in his and spoke. "I found out exactly how much I need you and want you and care about you when you were hit in the Department of Mysteries, it was as if I were the one hit, I couldn't bear the thought of you being hurt, all because I was stupid." she started to protest, but he stopped her. "No, objectively speaking, I was stupid, I didn't check my sources, I forgot that I had a direct link to Sirius with the communication mirrors, I jumped without thinking it through." he sighed" "That said, I was immediately dumped on by Dumbassdore when he told me the prophecy that Moldieshorts was trying to get." Her eyes widened, remembering what he had told her earlier.. it felt like days but it hadn't been more than 2 hours tops.
"I have been suppressing my inner Slytherin for the last five years, playing the good Gryffie, and being Dumbles' pawn in his big chess game." he smirked at her and asked, how do you feel about dating a Slytherin?
She did something completely uncharacteristic of the proper Hermione Granger.. she giggled.
She bit her lip to silence herself, he held back until he could set up a silencing charm, then laughed out loud.. all the way from deep in the belly laugh.. till the tears rolled down the cheeks of both teens, both snorting and laughing until snot dripped out all over, tears rolled down their faces, until they were breathless. They lay side by side, holding hands, as their dinner got cold. Finally, Harry sat up. Composed himself, waved his hand over the soup, warming it up, made Hermione eat it, spooning it into her almost faster than she could eat, until she slapped his hand and took the spoon away from him, and she started spooning soup into him. Pretty soon it was all gone between them and on themselves
Another wave, and everything was clean, Hermione was beginning to see what Harry had been talking about, believing in your magic, she made a few hesitant moves, but nothing happened, so Harry described it to her the feeling of reaching out with a summoning spell, as with the time he summoned his Firebolt from almost a kilometer away. He reached over to her bookbag and took out Hogwarts, a History and threw it with all his might toward the far wall of the ward.. where it floated to a stop and levitated about a foot from the far wall. "ok , we know you can summon it with your wand, right?" she nodded "reach out your hand and think the spell 'accio book'." She reached out and willed the book toward her hand. It wobbled a bit and then smoothly floated across the room and into her hand. "it helps that I put a frictionless charm on it" Hermione clutched the book to her chest, "how did you learn all this? It's been only two days since..." "since Sirius was killed?, since I was possessed by Voldemort? Since Dumbledore let out the prophecy? Since I found out I have been a pawn in the game? Yes, pawn."
He reached into his collar and pulled out the time turner.. "remember this?" "for you and everyone else in the castle it has been two days, 48, er about 57 hours since we returned.. for me, it has been 48 times 168 or.." he calculated ..8064 hours, or about 336 days, or almost a year of continuous work, I studied for 6 days 14 hours a day, slept 6 and exercised and worked out 4, and took off 1 day out of 7 and watched a movie or read for enjoyment , I even taught myself to draw!" Hermione's jaw threatened to come loose, both surprised and jealous that she had never thought of this. She thought for a bit.."movies?" he smirked..
"yep I have seen all the Star Wars movies, I even created a spell, here". He pulled out his wand and a piece of broomstick handle, inserted his wand in a hole on one end, "lumos spados!" and a shaft of green light a meter long sprung out of the handle, he waved it about and it made the most fascinating vvvsssh vvvsssh noise.. "now I can't claim that one as my own , it was created by the wizards at Industrial Light and Magic" "who knew George Lucas had real wizards working for him?" Harry yawned deeply. "I gotta get some sleep now, I am beat.. remind me tomorrow to show you the movie coming out in 3 years.. its called The Matrix" with that he flopped down on the next bed over and immediately began to snore.. Hermione lay on her side watching him sleep, and rubbing her thumb over her new ring thinking of the future.
I will attempt to find the remaining chapters of this story and post them.
note.I used FFNET's built in editor to make page breaks, paragraph indentations, proper spacing and punctuation, as well as a final spellcheck.
if there is any error in this chapter, it's FFNET's fault.