Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thanks to Chris Marshall for reviewing and editing the story to make it as error free as it can get. Also to my sis Arunima and my friends Anukriti and Yuvraj for relentlessly hearing me go on and on about Harry Potter and supporting my decision to write when all others thought I'd officially gone mad.

Harry Potter and The Prophecy As It Was

Chapter 1: At Privet Drive

"Hey boy! Clean up your room and don't expect us to bring food up to your room again. Your aunt is not your maid. I want to see clean dishes when I get down for breakfast tomorrow. " shouted Vernon and banged the door shut to Harry's room.

It had been a week since Harry returned from Hogwarts and was still grieving over Dumbledore's death.

Ron had been sending him letters everyday just trying to tell him what's going on at the burrow. Harry had been sending pig back without a reply. Every time he wanted to write something, he just could not.

This time pig had come with a chocolate frog and not a letter. When Harry opened it, the photograph was of Dumbledore. After sometime the photograph became blank. Harry grabbed a parchment and wrote "thanks a lot mate" and sent it back to Ron

Just as the owl flew out of the window Uncle Vernon entered Harry's room. Harry knew he was in trouble when he saw the anger on his Uncle's face but was surprised when he turned around and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry could hear Vernon talking to Petunia just outside the door, "that boy needs to leave, it just won't do. He's not been contributing in any way since he came."

Harry slumped down on his bed and cried into his pillow. The air above him started swirling causing the letters from Ron to fly around erratically. Hedwig flew down to him with a blank piece of parchment and nipped at him. Harry looked up and asked "whom do u want this letter delivered to?" Hedwig hopped to the books.

Harry smiled for the first time after Dumbledore's death. He sat down at his table and thought of what he could write and then started.

Dear Mione

I don't know what to write but I just feel the need to get this out. I don't know if I want you and Ron to be my friends anymore. It's better than having to watch either of you die because you are my friends. I can't bare the thought that anyone related to me is put at a risk. I'm going to tell Ron the same but you know how he is, at least I can count on you to understand the logic behind it. Please explain it to Ron.

Love
Harry

He wrote a similar one to Ron, and then he rolled up the parchments and tied it to Hedwig's claw to be delivered to Ron and Hermione. Just as Hedwig left, Harry felt as if he would burst with so much of grief accumulating within him.

The next morning the Dursley's were watching the news, while eating their breakfast. The weather outside had become unusually dull for July. There was hardly ever a day when the sun shined throughout the day, but this morning at seven in the morning, all one could see was a thick layer of black clouds.

Meanwhile at the Granger house Hermione got out the shower sadly. Her eyes bloodshot from crying most of the the night. She had received Harry's letter just as she was going to bed and read it several times before falling asleep. Her sleep was interrupted multiple times by nightmares of losing her friends. Harry, Ron and Ginny were the only real friends she had, and she would willingly give her life to protect any of them. She shook her head to clear her thought and got down to writing a letter to Ron.

Dear Ron

If you receive any letters from Harry do not take it to heart and don't jump to conclusions. He is really miserable now. He just lost Dumbledore. I know you feel sad about Dumbledore too, but to Harry he was like a grandfather he never had. And that has brought back his grief from Sirius death to surface. Also Ron, I don't really know if you'll understand but he has lost all desire to live except to fulfill his destiny. He needs us now more than ever.

Luv
Hermione

She had tied the letter to Hedwig and just as she sent the letter to Ron, pig flew in and perched on the table where Hermione put some owl treats for Hedwig last night. She opened the letter to find another letter drop out of it. She read the first one.

Dear Mione

I'm not sure how to tell you this because I'm not the person one can expect to express emotions but Harry is really depressed. I've been writing letters to him everyday about knickknacks of what is going on at the Burrow and the Wizarding World in general. He hasn't replied to even one. I thought he might take time to get over Dumbledore's death, but I received a letter from him last night and I'm a little worried about him. I'm posting that letter as well so that you can analyze it. I really would like to help but I think he needs to talk to you first before I can be of any help.

Luv
Ron

The letter that Harry had sent Ron was on the same lines as Hermione had received.

Hermione immediately wrote back to Ron

Ron,

I'm so sorry, I should not have underestimated you. I'll go over to Privet Drive at twelve. From what I know the Dursley's go out on Saturdays for lunch. Ill let you know what happened. Please send pig back so I can send you a mail when I return.

Hermione

She went to the kitchen where her parents were having their breakfast. "Sorry I got a bit late mom" she apologized as her mother got up to make more toasts and she started on her copy of the daily prophet which had just been delivered by a brown Tarny owl. Nothing in particular had happened except for the small column about the weather being unusual. A gusty wind being reported around London along with a bout of rain during the night. The rain had subsided by the time Hermione got to the kitchen.

"Dad do you have any plans for the day" she asked her father who replied " nothing much dear, your mother and I need to do some shopping. What did you have in mind?"

"I need to visit Harry dad, would it be possible to drop me off at his place or Diagon Alley, I could Floo to Mrs. Figg's place and walk to the Dursley's" she enquired.

"We are going towards Diagon Alley, privet drive is a bit off our course, will you be okay if I drop you at Diagon Alley" he asked.

"Of course dad, I'll be back for supper, when are you planning on leaving." she asked.

"Around ten, is that okay with you, we wanted to be back before the weather changes for the worse again. Those meteorological guys have not been doing their jobs right. They said it would be sunny" he said as he looked out of the window.

Hermione got up to leave when her mother called her "Hermione, you haven't touched your toast dear, are you fine?"

Hermione sat down at the table again and apologized to her mother. "I'm sorry mom, I'm just worried about Harry, that's all" and then finished her breakfast. At ten her mother called for her "are you ready dear?"

She came out of her room, she wore a baby pink flannel jacket and jeans which had a secret wand holster. She carried her wand with her just to be cautious in Diagon Alley.

Soon they reached leaky cauldron and Hermione hugged her parents and assured them that she'll be back by 8 at night.

She entered leaky cauldron as her parents drove away.

"Hi tom! May use your fire place please" she asked the inn keeper who nodded before entering the cellar to get more Butterbeer.

She threw in the Floo powder and stepped into the green flames shouting "Figgs residence".

She was greeted by a tabby cat and called out for Mrs. Figg who came out of the kitchen. "Hello Mrs. Figg, I'm sorry to drop in unannounced, I wanted to meet Harry, would it be alright if I came around seven to go back home" Hermione asked.

"Sure dear, feel free to come by anytime, I'm myself worried about that boy. Mrs. Dursley tells me that the boy doesn't come out of his room except to do the dishes and hasn't stepped out of the house at all since he came. But how are you going to meet see him, his uncle and aunt are at home." She asked Hermione for which Hermione replied "I thought they would be going out for lunch Mrs. Figg. I don't want to impose but would it be possible for you to ask for Harry to watch over the cats while you go out, they'll never let him out to meet me."

"Yes that can be done, I had to go and meet professor McGonagall anyways, so the two of you can chat here till I get back, just give me ten minutes dear." She said and walked off to her bedroom.

She came out of the room and asked Hermione to watch over her cats and help herself with the biscuits in the jar.

Mrs. Figg left and Hermione picked up the tabby cat and sat by the fire place waiting for Mrs. Figg to return with Harry. Meanwhile at the Burrow, Ron was in his room when Hedwig arrived, he started reading Hermione's letter and thought to himself "she must think I'm really thick to have written this letter." And just as he was about to finish the first one, pig came in through the window and flopped on his bed tired of all the scurrying back and forth without any rest. After he finished the first one, he read the next letter.

He was so worried about Harry after he had received the letter from Harry last night that he dint even think about anything except how it would go between Hermione and Harry.

Questions like what would happen if Hermione could not talk him out of it kept going through his head with a myriad of answer to that question. He shook himself up, he thought "if there is anyone who can help Harry now, its Hermione and she is doing that."

He heard his mother call him for breakfast and went down to the kitchen. Ginny was already at the table and Arthur was reading the newspaper. Ron sat in his place at the table and filled up his plate with toasts and spread some jam on it but his thought drifted to the day he had met Harry at the Kings Cross station and all those things that they had done together at Hogwarts.

The adventures, when they drove his fathers enchanted car to school and had been nearly expelled, and all those rules they had broken together. His eyes filled with tears at the thought that Harry was put in such a situation where he was stating to blame himself for everyone's death.

"I would gladly die being his best friend rather than live without his being my best friend, he's more than a just a friend, he more like a brother to me." Ron thought to himself.

Ginny got up to help their mother, when she noticed Ron staring at his toast. This was very unusual of Ron to do. "He must be really upset over something" she wondered and said "Ron! Can I talk to you after breakfast". Ron looked up in surprise, Ginny's voice having cut his train of thoughts; he could not comprehend what had just been said to him.

Ginny understanding this added" its just about some potion" Ron just nodded.

He finished his breakfast and went to Ginny's room. Ginny locked the door after he entered and asked him what was wrong.

Ron looked up at her, he dint want to burden her even more than she already was with her break up with Harry, but he could not bare it any longer and told her how miserable he felt about everything and that Hermione was going to talk to Harry and that he would have to wait till night to get to know what had happened.

By the time Ron finished his account of what Harry was going through, they were both in tears. Ginny reached up to Ron and hugged him. After sometime when they regained their composure, Ginny spoke "Ron, I don't know how to explain it better than saying I love Harry and on the day of Dumbledore's funeral, Harry broke up with me, it felt like my soul was being ripped apart, but there was such a conviction in Harry's eyes that I feared opposing his decision then. Hermione is going to have a lot of work at hand to convince Harry about it otherwise".

For the first time Ron saw what had become of his sister. Her eyes had lost their mischief, her skin had become pale and her hair had lost their shine and become limp without life. He just dint know what to say. He sat with her leaning on his shoulders. His agony now doubled. This was not how life should be for anyone. There was absolutely no hope in Ginny's eyes.

Nobody noticed her at the Burrow because of Bill's wedding next month. Everyone, especially Molly was busy with preparations.

Ron looked at Ginny and asked "want to race on broom, I'm loosing it sitting here" she agreed and they left with their broom. They mounted their brooms but instead of racing they just flew in spiral around the Burrow climbing in altitude. Both just chatting about the days they had together, at home, before joining Hogwarts. Ron started shivering and realized that they needed to get back to the ground. "It's been long since we talked this way. Its fun being with you even though you like my best friend more than you like me" said Ron for which Ginny replied "oh! Come on Ron! Don't get all possessive now. I'll always be your little sister, you know that and moreover my relationship with your best mate is out of question, so better I don't remind myself about that" and laughed an empty laugh.

They both went up to Ron's room to play chess. After around 25 games, 4 of which Ginny won and a draw, Ginny looked up at Ron and said "you must be really depressed to have lost 4 matches Ron" for which Ron looked up at his sister and asked "it took you 4 lost matches of chess to realize I'm depressed when I've been crying my eye out since morning?"

Ginny replied "I prefer not to think these days, its better to keep it off than to deal with the hurt". They got up and went for lunch. They decided to go to Diagon Alley and meet Fred and George after lunch.

__________***_____________________

Mrs. Figg rang the bell at the Dursley's, Petunia opened the door and greeted her "Good morning Arabella, how are you? What brings you here?" Mrs. Figg replied "I'm sorry to disturb you like this dear, but I had some urgent work in Bristol. Would it be a problem if I asked your nephew to sit for my cats? I should be back by 5".

Petunia thought for a moment, but realized that she should welcome the opportunity to have Harry out of their house and replied "It wont be a problem Arabella. I'll call him in a moment, please feel at home" and guided Mrs. Figg to the sitting room.

Mrs. Figg was not made to wait for too long, and as soon as Harry came they both left.

They walked silently till they reached Mrs. Figg's home. Mrs. Figg knocked at the door and Harry asked "who is there Mrs. Figg? Have any of your relatives come to visit you" but before she could answer Hermione pulled Harry inside so that no one outside could see her there and hugged him. Harry was shocked to see Hermione there and blurted out "why are you here?" Mrs. Figg came in and said "you two be comfortable dears, I've to go to Hogwarts. I'll be back by 5", she spoke lightly in Hermione's ears and said "you might want to call that red head boy as well, he's been writing to Harry every day" and then she shouted "Hogwarts" into the green flames and was gone.

Hermione led Harry to the fire place and pushed him on the couch and sat down on the rug facing him. "you know Harry" she started "I used to go to Bloomingdale Elementary School before I joined Hogwarts. By the time I finished 5th grade I had read and understood all off 8th grade subjects. The teachers loved me, my classmates always came to me when they could not understand something. I was content with my life until I got you for a friend." Harry looked at Hermione trying to decide if she had come to say goodbye to him, but she continued "you know why?" he replied "because ever since you met me you ran the risk of being dead or worse expelled" a small crack of smile appeared on the corner of Hermione's lips and she said "no Harry, because for the first time in my life I felt I was loved in spite of my intelligence and not because of it."

Harry said "you do make it easier for Ron and me" Hermione shook her head and said "you are not getting away from my nagging you to study by saying that Harry, but what I'm trying to say is there was nobody who would have fought a full grown mountain troll to save me even after me being so rude that day. I don't have siblings Harry but since then you have been like a brother to me and I'm not leaving you ever." She held his hand and squeezed it gently before continuing. "I would rather be your friend and die fighting besides you than live without having you for a friend, Ron feels the same as well and you can imagine how stressed out Ron must be to actually put his feelings and emotions into a letter."

Harry had tears in his eyes, he said "I cant watch you die" but before he could continue Hermione interrupted him "put yourself in my place Harry. If I were the one destined to defeat Voldemort, how would you feel if I asked you to leave? You would probably jump in front of me to take a killing curse, how can you expect me to be different. Harry I'm going over to the burrow, I'll be back in 10 minutes, do you mind? And do you have a wand" she asked Harry quickly bouncing up to her feet.

Harry replied "I do have my wand, even though I cant use it and no it wont be a problem , but I still need to talk to you before I can talk to Ron, please don't bring him here now" she nodded and left through the Floo. Harry picked up Mrs. Figgs cat and scratched her behind her ears, the cat purred and settled back on his lap. It was warm and he dozed off, he hadn't slept for days.

Ron and Ginny were startled to see Hermione arrive at the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and before anyone could say anything Hermione stepped out and hugged Ron, who very surprisingly hugged her back without getting embarrassed, then she turned and hugged Ginny. She explained "Molly told me you would be here. I think I'm getting through to Harry but he has this really distant look. I just wanted to make sure you are ok Ron. I'll come to the Burrow to chat tomorrow but I need to get back to Harry now. Where are Fred and George?" Ginny said that she'll get them and left Hermione and Ron to talk. Ron began "Hermione!! There area few things that I need to tell you " he looked down and took a deep breadth and then looked back into her eyes "I'm in love with you and have been for quite a while, I should have told you this 3 years back but now is as good as any other time . will you go out with me?" Hermione was shocked but recovered quickly "what if I'm already in love with someone else lets say victor Krum or Harry?" Ron replied "I know you love Harry as a brother Mione, I can see it in you and as for Krum, he was just a school girl's crush but if you did love someone, I know that Harry and I would have known about it. We are after all your best friends, but I'm not pressurizing you into saying yes to it, whatever you say we still remain best friends." Now Hermione stared at Ron with a gaping mouth and then she suddenly realized it and closed her mouth "was this the same immature friend of hers who teased her all the time." She thought to herself. She replied "if you had asked me to the Yule Ball in the fourth year I would have said yes and I was angry at you then for not even giving a second thought about me. I was angry because I loved you then and I do now."

Ron asked "are you saying a yes Mione?"

"Yes" she replied "I'm saying a yes" and then they hugged each other. They broke away from each other and Hermione said "Ginny is miserable I can see that, but there is hardly anything we can do about it". Ginny returned with Fred and George, Hermione hugged them both and she asked "do you guys by any chance have a Portkey, I need to set it up in Harry's room so that we may visit him"

Fred asked "why don't you just Apparate, you could side along Ron. Its much more convenient. She replied "we decided to wait till Harry gets his license so we could do it together for the first time." Fred and George looked at each other and winked.

"Well well" said Fred "do we have a Portkey she is asking for?"

"Do we?" said George "hmm, we do have, but do you think we can trust her, oh brother mine"

"Trust her we could" said Fred "after all she just said yes to our brother here"

"of course" said George "she's like family now, but what'll we get out of this"

Both Hermione and Ginny hand their hands on their hips and Ron just rolled his eyes. "say Hermione" said Fred "do you agree to not confiscate our products at Hogwarts when you become the Head Girl?"

"I'll confiscate any artifact or product of your shop if I see it but I promise to not go looking for it if I become the Head Girl, and I don't know where you get such ideas from" said Hermione.

"She's a match for us , oh brother mine, do you think its fair" asked Fred "its fair enough and moreover its for Harry, for whom we have a soft spot in our hearts, so we'll give it to you for free." Said George.

They left to get the Portkey. Ginny turned to them and raised her eyebrow a bit and Ron explained, "I asked her out and she accepted when you had gone to call the twins and thanks for understanding that we needed to be alone. Don't look at me like that I didn't plan it." Ginny smiled and hugged her brother "I know Ron, I was just teasing you, congratulations" and then hugged Hermione and whispered "now I have a sister".

Fred and George came with three rings one silver, one gold and one bronze "we have charmed it so that when you activate silver and gold rings it will take you to the one wearing the bronze ring and when you activate it again you'll be taken to the place from where you activated the ring the first time. The bronze ring only provides as a location provider. It can be charmed to work like the other rings but its better that Harry keeps just this till the summer ends, anyways he'll be able to Apparate after that. To activate your ring say Portus" George sighed and said "that was enough seriousness for the day and now we have our fun stuff to do, so see you later" with that they Disapparated.

It was more than 15 minutes since Hermione had come out to the joke shop. She got up to leave; she promised Ron and Ginny that she'll come by the next day. She also said "you wanted to tell me a few things Ron, you told me just one of them, I know what the other is, I'll talk about it to Harry." When she reached Mrs. Figg's place, she found Harry sleeping on the couch curled up with the kitten which was very comfortably asleep as well. She looked outside, the wind had settled at least temporarily and it had been raining heavily the previous night and had rained again this afternoon. The ground was water clogged when she had left for Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, but now the ground was clear and soft and the light green leaves which had sprouted shimmered with droplets of rain reflecting the yellow rays of sun which had just appeared.

Hermione looked at the book shelf and found an old book with leather casing titled "wizarding laws for adoption". She wondered "did Mrs. Figg want to adopt a wizard or a witch even though she was a squib and her husband a Muggle". Not wanting to wake Harry up, she settled with the book on the rug leaning a bit on the couch on which Harry was sleeping.

She read about three quarters of the book and looked at her watch. It was 3 o'clock which meant she had been reading for the past 2½ hours now. She noticed that Harry was still sleeping peacefully so she continued reading. She was surprised when she came across the last but one chapter. It was on adopting siblings. From what she had read there was no such law equivalent in the Muggle world. She read it carefully. The gist of it was that "any adult wizard or witch who wishes to give another the protection of that clan may choose to adopt a wizard or a witch as their brother or sister. The difference in age not exceeding 7 years. Also if the wizard or witch already had siblings by birth then the sibling being adopted cannot be of the same gender as the sibling by birth. In case one wants to adopt more than one wizard or witch who are siblings by birth, then it is permitted only after getting an oath that they will not be separated from each other forcefully." Hermione closed the book shut without reading the last chapter. It was as though the book had been there for her to read and she sat staring at Harry.

Harry woke up at 4 and saw that Hermione was sleeping on the rug curled up next to the fire. "she must have slept off waiting for me to wake up. Goodness knows for how long I've been asleep". He thought and looked at his watch. He was feeling hungry. It had been days since he had had anything proper to eat after all. He fiddled with the biscuit jar and started munching on some chocolate biscuits. Hermione woke up from all the noise that Harry was making. Harry sat down next to her and offered her some biscuits. She took them and sat in silence for a while before asking, "there is something I've to ask of you but before that I need to know how do you think of me?" the question startled Harry, but he replied a bit hesitantly "Hermione ! I was just talking about not wanting to have anything to do with you and Ron. What you said makes sense and if I was in your place, the thought of leaving you would not even cross my mind, but I don't know how to deal with so many deaths. You know how I feel about Ron and you. What is it you had in mind."

Hermione drew in her breath and spoke "Harry what I'm going to ask of you is big and it is a gift I want from you on your birthday. I want you to adopt me as your sister, while I could adopt you, it won't hold the benefit of providing you with the clan protection. So what do you say?" Harry gasped "Mione! It's not me giving you a gift, its you giving me one, but I've never heard of anything like that before." Hermione shoved the law book onto Harry and opened the pages for him to read and slowly slid next to him and whispered "you know Harry, we cant stop living the way we want to and stop loving the people we love. Doing so would be giving into fear. We have to lead a normal life otherwise it's almost like Voldemort's won this war. It is war Harry. People will be hurt. We can bare the physical hurt but its difficult to go on living without hope".

Harry nodded "I guess you are correct as always and I'm being a prat as always. I just wish Sirius and Dumbledore were here to fight the war with us and thanks Hermione. I would be honored to be your brother." They hugged each other.

After quite a few minutes of savoring the new bond they withdrew " Harry there is something else I need to tell you about" Hermione added meekly " Ron and I are dating each other. He asked me out this afternoon when I went over to meet him"

Now Harry gave a wicked grin and said "now I get to have fun with him, get him to realize how difficult he made it for me. About time you two realized it any way" and then his face fell again thinking about Ginny.

"Please Harry, don't do this to yourself and Ginny" Hermione pleaded "I met Ginny today and I'm worried for her sake. She looks sick. She looks like she has no reason to live. She is just existing. And she wont fight with you about it because you already have such a huge burden that she thinks one less might help. But I've known you for so long Harry that I can see you fading away without her as well. You need her as much as she needs u." suddenly an idea struck her. "I've got to leave now. Mrs. Figg must be about to return. I'll see you tomorrow. Just wear this ring" she produced the ring from her pocket and made sure Harry wears it. Then left for the twins joke shop.

She met George first. "Hi George, I need more help, I need you to charm my ring to carry more than one person and to also locate Ron's ring and take me to him. Is that easy for you?"

"Sure Mione ! just give me a second to get my advanced charms book", and went to the stock area, he returned with the book and asked "Mione, tell me how did you know that I was George and not Fred, my own mother gets confused at times" Hermione smiled a bit before replying "I noticed you are ambidextrous and Fred is right handed, so when I look at your work coat, its got potion stains an both your sleeves till the elbow whereas Fred has potion stains on right sleeves till elbow and a little bit of stain on the left gloves and cuff."

"Well, at least now we know how to confuse you, just exchange our coats" George laughed "your ring is charmed to carry 5 people now and you must specify the location you want to reach, say Portus bronze to get to Harry and Portus silver to get to Ron. Saying Portus will take you back one hop at a time" Hermione thanked George and left through Floo for Leaky Cauldron. From there she took a taxi back home. She was back home by 7.

Mrs. Figg had returned home within minutes of Hermione leaving. Harry thanked Mrs. Figg and walked back to no. 4 privet drive, thinking about how selfish he had been to drive Ginny away from him, but what could be done now.