Key: "Speech", 'Thoughts', "Speech laden with magic", §Parseltongue§
Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishing houses. The Films are owned by Warner Brother's Studios. The Champions of Lilith Challenge is owned by Paladeus. I do not in writing this claim ownership over any properties associated with the works of these individuals. I am merely playing in their backyard while I get these ideas out of my head.
Authors Note: These first two chapters I decided to post together so that I can prove that my story is not going to simply be a clone of Paladeus' work. After this chapter however my chapters may not be nearly so frequent. I have yet to decide if I am going to work on a set schedule, but I doubt I will as I have several stories that I need to write simultaneously to this one. But please do look forward to this story, as I fully intend to have this story being a good one.
xXx Story xXx
Harry awoke from bliss of nothingness and became aware of the fact that he was currently sitting in the spare bedroom that was located in the Dursley's house. He stood up and went over to the desk that he knew he kept a calendar on to keep track of the days until the first of September each year, and checked the date today.
31st July, 1992, is what the Calendar informed him of the date. With that information, Harry tried to recall back into his memory just what happened on this day. 'Ah, there it is. Today is the day the Dursley's host a dinner with the Mason Family. It's also the night Dobby decides to make a nuisance of himself.' Harry thought to himself recalling the disaster that occurred in the previous timeline.
Making his way down the stairs he confirmed that Petunia was in the Kitchen, and that Dudley was currently out being a nuisance. That meant that Vernon was probably out at work for the day. Once he had pinpointed where everyone was located, Harry went back upstairs and started gathering his meager belongings into his trunk. He then grabbed Hedwig's cage. With both his Trunk and Hedwig in hand he began making his way carefully down the stairs. Once down, he exited the house and promptly began making his way down the street to the nearby park.
Once he got there he withdrew his wand and raised it towards the street. It was only 2 seconds later when he heard a popping bang and the Knight Bus arrived in front of him.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Chris Beaker and I will be your conductor this evening."
Harry nodded as he got onto the bus, allowing the conductor to grab his things, though Harry handled Hedwig's cage, not trusting anyone else to handle it but him.
"Where'ya heading?" The conductor asked once everything was stowed properly.
"8 Beaumont Street, Crawley England, if you would." Harry said by way of explanation.
"That will be 2 Knuts if you would." The Conductor said.
"Oh, yes of course." Harry said, as he began digging in his trunk for the appropriate coinage. Once he found it he handed it over. Once he had closed the trunk, stowed it again, and sat down, the bus was on its way.
xXxXxXx
Hermione started awake as she heard a loud bang outside her family's residence. Hold on just a second… just a second ago she was at Potter Manor. Why was she suddenly now in her bed at the Granger Residence? Hermione frantically looked around trying to make sense of what was going on, and that was when she looked in the mirror over her bureau… she looked like a 12 year old again. That wasn't right; last she knew she was a young woman of 27, no this wasn't right.
Suddenly there was a knocking at the front door of her family's house. Shrugging to herself and thinking that she would be able to figure out this situation whatever it was whenever she got rid of whomever was at the front door, she went down to see who it was.
When she got there she opened the door and discovered that it was a younger version of Harry James Potter stood on the other side of the door. "Harry?"
"Yeah 'Mione, it's me love. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to let me and Hedwig in?" Harry asked calmly.
Blushing she stood aside so that Harry could bring his trunk and owl inside of the building. "So, by the expression on your face, I take it you are still trying to figure out what the heck is happening? Am I to assume that your logical mind still can't grasp that what Santa said is true?"
It took Hermione a few seconds to comprehend what Harry was saying, and then once she did, it took her a few seconds more before she remembered everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours prior to their jaunt through time. "Oh bugger," was all that she managed to get out as she promptly collapsed to the floor.
"Yeah, think how I felt once I realized we have to repeat second year all over again," Harry said.
"WE WHAT!" Hermione practically screamed.
"Yeah, it is currently July 31st 1992. Approximately 3 days before Ginny obtains a certain diary from a pompous blond git." Harry shrugged nonchalantly.
"Harry, do we have to go to Hogwarts again this year? I really don't want to repeat this year if I can help it." Hermione begged the boy-who-lived.
"I know. I really don't want to face that 80 foot snake that much either. But it's either that or we let hundreds of innocents suffer." Harry said with a bit of a helpless shrug.
"You and your saving people thing." Hermione harrumphed.
"Anyways, we have something more important to deal with before then."
"Oh, what's that?" Hermione asked.
"DOBBY!" Harry shouted.
There was a soft almost inaudible crack as a rather worn house elf appeared in the Grangers living room. "The Great Harry Potter Sir calls for Dobby?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she realized what was going on here.
"Yeah, Dobby, I know it is you who has been stealing my mail all summer. I also know you work for the Malfoys. I know what the danger at the School is going to be. I realize how dangerous it is going to be there. However if I don't go back so that I can deal with the danger countless others will suffer and possibly be killed just so that I can live. I am not so important as to allow the suffering of innocents. As such I would ask that you not try to hamper me in trying to protect innocent lives. Can you do this for me, Dobby, please?" Harry asked the smallish House Elf.
Dobby shuffled his feat as he looked from Harry and then to Hermione. Realizing that he might not be capable of getting Harry in trouble here because there are no adults for him to get him in trouble with here, the smallish House Elf sighed and said "Harry Potter Sir should not go back to Hogwarts. But if the Great Harry Potter Sir is certain he can defeat the danger, then Dobby has no choice but to allow it. Even if Dobby is uncertain how the Great Harry Potter Sir can know these things."
"That's great Dobby. Now do you think we could have Harry's mail that you have been withholding all summer?" Hermione asked.
"Missus has to understand, that Dobby kept some of the mail for the Great Harry Potter Sir's own safety." He said as he produced several envelops and one or two packages.
"You mean some of this mail is hexed or booby-trapped?" Harry asked.
"Yes oh Great Harry Potter Sir." Dobby said by way of explanation.
"Wonderful." Harry griped. "At least I know I have an adoring public."
And with that Dobby popped away.
"What are we going to do with this mail?" Hermione asked.
"I know, he didn't even tell us which ones are trapped, and we can't use magic until we get to Hogwarts. Such a bothersome Elf he is." Harry said.
"At least we know he is exceedingly loyal to you." Hermione said with some amusement.
Harry snorted, "Loyal to a fault I would say. Anyways I think we should handle these packages with care, at least till we can get to Hogwarts and get a Professor, preferably McGonagall, to look them over for us."
"I agree. Hold on a second I will go find something we can use to package them all in until we can sort through them all." Hermione said as she got up and walked off into the kitchen. After some shuffling about she managed to find a box that was big enough to store all of these items which she the two of them then packaged the items in.
"I wonder what Luna has gotten up to?" Harry said once they were settled in for the rest of the afternoon.
"Knowing her we will find out at the most inopportune moment for us. Hopefully she will be in touch soon. We do have quite a bit of stuff we need to plan out." Hermione said with a bit of a shrug.
xXxXxXx
Meanwhile over in the part of England known as Ottery St. Catchpole, in a rather lopsided house a blond girl was just now getting out of the shower that had been running for several minutes.
'Why am I all wrinkly?' Luna asked herself, as she looked around. She found some clothing and promptly put it on. She then contemplated what her last memories of this morning happened to be. Last thing she could recall she was being sent back in time by Santa. 'Ah, that must be why. Santa sent us back in time. I must have been sent into one of those days I decided to see how long the Hot Water Runes would actually last in my shower." Luna contemplated.
Skipping casually out into her room, she looked at the calendar and realized that it was just a few weeks before her first year at Hogwarts. Going in search of her father, she found him in the Croluptulus* Cell in the basement, "Father, I wanted to go over to a friend's house for the day. Would that be a problem?" Luna asked.
"Not at all Luna dear, as it isn't a full moon or a new moon you just need to be sure to be back before midnight." Xenophilius said without glancing up at his daughter.
"Of course father." Luna said by way of agreement.
Luna then went down the lane and summoned the Knight Bus. She asked to be taken to Hermione's house as well, assuming that it was probably better to go to Hermione's house than to Durzkaban. Not even Luna was crazy enough to voluntarily go to the Dursley residence without a Snorkack Army backing her up.
xXxXxXx
Harry and Hermione were just sitting down to watch Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when there was yet another loud bang outside the residence. "Luna is here!" Harry said cheekily.
Hermione sighed and said "Yes, you're probably right," as she got up to go check the door. Just as she got there was a ring at the doorbell. Hermione opened the door and was promptly knocked over by a small blond bundle that ended up in her arms.
"HERMIONE! IS HARRY HERE YET?" Luna asked.
"Yes, I am here dear." Harry said with a chuckle as he saw the girl look up and promptly climb over Hermione in her haste to get to Harry. She had done this numerous times while they were on their own. Hermione fortunately never really minded, as Luna was really nimble and never really hurt Hermione when doing this sort of thing.
Once standing again, Luna promptly threw herself at Harry, who wrapped her up in a hug, "Good to see you too."
Hermione for her part stood and wiped herself off, she then closed the door and turned around and looked at the two of them with a bemused expression on her face "If you two don't mind, I think we have a bit to discuss regarding our plans for the next little while."
Luna looked up from where she was piled on top of Harry and grinned in a rather whimsical manner "Of course Hermione, if you want a chance to play with Harry, all you have to do is ask."
Hermione huffed and went to sit on the couch with a rather big frown on her face. This caused Harry to look chagrined and say "Luna, dear, we probably should discuss what we plan to do now that we are here in the past. It really wouldn't do for us to be back here and not actually have a well thought out plan for dealing with the situation we now find ourselves in, now would it?"
"I suppose." Luna said sorrowfully as she got herself up off of Harry and smoothed down her summer dress that she had been wearing which had begun to ride up a little bit.
The two of them went to sit over by Hermione and looked at her. It was Harry who spoke up first, "I think the biggest issue facing us that we are going to have to contend with at the current time is the Basilisk, and Diary Horcrux. Now while it would be all well and good to steal the Horcrux from Ginny, I personally want to get it after she has been taken down into the Chamber of Secrets."
Hermione piqued her head up in interest "Why would you want to do that Harry?"
"Because if we set it up to happen the same way as before, then we can arrange it so that the Weasley's, and Ginny specifically, owes us a Life Debt. This way we can make it so Ginny at the very least isn't a threat to us anymore. You both remember what happened regarding her in the previous timeline?" Harry asked.
"I'd rather not." Luna said with a sour look on her face, as it had been Ginny who had informed the Snatchers of how to bypass the Lovegood Family Wards, traps, and other things so that they could capture Luna for their own pleasures. It was onto a scene of potential rape that Harry and Hermione had walked in on that resulted in Harry performing the Killing Curse for the very first time in his life.
"As wonderful as that memory isn't Harry is right. Getting a Life Debt from Ginny and calling it in in a manner that results in Ginny not being able to betray us, or directly act against our relationship would be ideal. You two might not be aware of this, but Ginny was planning on dosing Harry with love potions during the course of his seventh year had he attended. I think she might actually have been dosing him with subtle ones during his sixth year as well." Hermione said.
"Okay yeah, that clinches it." Harry said, "We are definitely going to be moving to get a life debt from her."
Hermione nodded, she then went on to say "Harry, we also have another issue that we need to discuss. Wormtail."
Harry gulped and nodded, "Yeah, I hadn't actually forgotten about him. We are going to need to figure some way of dealing with him before the end of the year… Hey Hermione, think you can get Crookshanks a year early?" Harry asked with a wicked grin on his face.
"Why Harry, you evil little thing, yes, I think I might be able to. If memory serves me, the woman working at Magical Menagerie said that he had been at the store for at least two years without anyone buying him. Yes, I think I might." Hermione said with a huge plastered smile on her face.
Luna looked from one of her lovers to the other and then fell off her seat laughing, "Oh Wormtail is going to be so forlorn when he finds out that we are purposefully setting the Orange Fluffball of Doom on him."
Harry sniffed and said "Yes, well that little rat bastard would deserve it if he got shredded to itsy bits by Crookshanks claws." He then looked thoughtful for a moment and said "We are going to also have to figure out a way to free Dobby. I definitely owe him a few favors. And we will also want him working on getting Potter Manor ready for inhabitation this coming summer."
Both ladies agreed to that. And with their plans for the coming school year well laid out, the three of them settled in to watch the Star Wars Trilogy.
xXxXxXx
It was nearing dinner time and Hermione's parents were just arriving home, when they walked in the first thing they noticed was Luna and Harry sitting there in the couch with their daughter asleep. Emma ever so gently went over and woke the three children up, "Hello children, Hermione, would you care to introduce us to these two? I don't recognize them, and you don't usually invite friends over." Dan however had a carefully guarded look on his face.
Hermione started when she was awoken by her mother, it was then that she noticed what it was her mother was asking, blushing she said "Hi mom, and yeah, this is Harry Potter, a friend I met at School last year." She indicated the raven haired youth. She then nodded to the still bleary eyed blond girl, "This is Luna Lovegood; she will be attending Hogwarts for the first time this year."
Emma started when her daughter had introduced Harry Potter. Of course she recognized the name. How could she not, she had read the very same books that her daughter had on this very same boy. And then there were all those letters that her daughter had written home about having met the boy, and how he had rescued her from a troll last year. To say she felt indebted to the boy was an understatement.
Dan however was looking at the blond girl who had an arm wrapped around his daughter in a rather familiar manner. He was sure they were too young to be romantically involved, and he would have hoped his daughter would be more interested in boys than girls, but still there was something odd about the familiar way in which the blond was interacting with his daughter.
"Dr. and Dr. Granger; pleased to make your acquaintance. There are some things I feel that we should discuss, and which I doubt your daughter would have mentioned last year, and several things that only just became known to the three of us that I am absolutely certain your daughter wouldn't have mentioned last year. But perhaps we should do this over some dinner?" Harry said by way of introduction.
Emma nodded and got up to go cook some dinner, and to her surprise Harry stood up and offered to assist her.
xXxXxXx
As the five individuals in the Granger household were sitting down to eat, Emma asked "So Harry, what was it you wanted to speak to us about?"
"Well truth be told, I am not sure how to broach this subject. The first thing I wanted to ask, and which is probably the most forward of what I have to discuss, is if it would be alright if I were to stay here for the next few weeks until Hogwarts starts?" Harry began.
Dan started, and looked at the boy with narrowed eyes asking "Don't you have guardians who would look after you or something?"
Harry frowned and said "In the most absolute broad manner of speaking, yes. But if I were to be absolutely truthful, that house is little more than a prison for me. You see I live with my mothers' sister and her husband. The problem is that my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon both absolutely despise magic. They have for the past ten and a half years been trying their very best to drive the magic out of me using any means possible. And when I say any means, I mean ANY means."
Dan frowned, "Do you mean to say that they beat you?"
Harry sighed and said "Just about. Up until the end of last summer I had spent any time when I wasn't actively doing chores or at school inside of the cupboard under the stairs. Additionally all my clothes had been hand me downs from my vastly overweight cousin. That same cousin and his friends have a game called 'Harry Hunting' where they would chase me around, and if they caught me they would beat me senseless. Any time I was caught doing accidental magic I was either given the belt, or stuffed into the cupboard for upwards to a week without food. And the list just goes on and on."
Emma looked at Dan and the two of them appeared to come to an unspoken agreement and Dan said "Of course Harry, you can stay here. I will also be reporting the Dursley's to the police for child endangerment. At some point we will have to go in and speak with the Police about this issue. But hopefully we can make it so that you never have to go back there again."
Harry frowned and said "Actually that may prove problematic. Due to the fact that my magical guardian is currently Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, he has final say in who my legal guardians are, not the Police. And he is absolutely convinced that the best and safest place for me is at the Dursley's with a blood relative. Unfortunately that isn't entirely true. The actual safest place for me is Potter Manor with the 'yr amddiffyniad yn y pen draw' wards activated."
"I hesitate to ask, but what constitutes 'The Ultimate Defense'?" Emma asked. It wasn't a perfect translation but the basic understanding was there.
"It's a series of active and passive wards that include a Fidelius Charm layered underneath a Repulsion Charm, as well as several layers of Siege Wards. It also features a Disintegration Ward that affects anyone who gets past a certain perimeter in the ward boundary. All told it is the single most lethal warding array available, and it is only one of a handful of warding arrays available to the inhabitants of Potter Manor." Harry explained.
Hermione seeing the confused look on her parent's faces explained "A Fidelius Charm is a charm makes the knowledge of what it is cast on a secret and protects that secret from all who aren't privy to that knowledge. A Repulsion Charm is simply a charm that repels hostile forces. Siege Wards are simply really advanced shield charms placed over an object or dwelling that protect it against most forms of magical assault. They have different grades, but the ones over Potter Manner are powerful enough to protect against the equivalent to Bunker Buster Missiles. And a Disintegration Ward is exactly what it sounds like, it is also technically illegal to have active wards as deadly as a Disintegration Ward and if anyone in the Ministry ever found out about the full extent of Potter Manor's security details, Harry and all of his descendants would be enjoying a nice long stay in Azkaban."
Dan was looking scared now, "So why, why are you telling us these things, when it is obviously illegal."
Harry sighed and explained "Because I have absolutely no trust in the Ministry to handle the problems of the Magical World as they exist right now. It is only a matter of time before the Magical World is plunged into a war that it is simply not prepared for. To make matters worse, the one who wants to start this war will be targeting Muggles (yourselves), and Muggleborns (Hermione) as his primary objective. It is his stated goal to eliminate the scourge that is the Muggle Epidemic, his words not mine. He styles himself the Magical Worlds equivalent to Hitler with Muggles as his Jews."
Emma and Dan had both visibly paled now, and Dan was rushing to demand that he take his daughter out of Hogwarts this instant, but Harry raised his hand to waylay the older man, "Mr. Granger, I respect your desire to protect your family, but what you need to understand is that Hermione and Luna are involved now. There is more to this than I am telling you. Now what I am about to tell you may be particularly hard for you to believe, but please keep in mind that Magic exists, and with magic a whole lot of things become possible.
"Now the first thing you have to understand is that Wizards have created a device that enables a Witch or a Wizard to travel back in time up to eight hours at a time. They can't go back any further than that, and these devices hold the risk of damaging the time line unless specific rules are followed." Harry explained.
Dan and Emma nodded, while they didn't see how this was possible they had to concede the point that if Magic was real; then Time Travel was possibly real as well.
"With that said, Hermione, Luna and I managed to be given a means to travel back in time fourteen years so that we can fix several of the problems that led to the near destruction of the world as we know it. That means that the Hermione sitting in this room, though she looks to be only twelve, has the mental development of a twenty-six year old. I myself was twenty-five, and Luna was twenty-four when we traveled back."
Emma fainted at this revelation, Dan was looking noticeably queasy. Though he did stay conscious enough to get through it, "So, if you are as old as you say you are, does that mean you three were involved with each other in that other time?" He said with as level a voice as he could muster.
Hermione smirked at her dad and said "Of course daddy!"
This promptly caused Dan to lose the struggle with staying conscious.
"Well, I think that went better than was expected. I think we had best give them a day or two to rest or recover from this before we begin our plans to save Wizarding Britain and the wider world." Harry said with a shrug.
"I suppose I best be getting home. While it isn't a full or new moon, there is still the risk that the mimsies are out and about." Luna said.
Harry and Hermione just nodded having long ago gotten used to their blond lovers little quirks. With that they said their goodbyes to Luna, and Hermione showed Harry up to the spare bedroom, so that he could settle in.