Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: This story is H/Hr. If that is not the ship you sail, abandon ship and find another captain. Also, I don't particularly like Ron or Mrs. Weasley and this story reflects that. There is slight bashing, but mostly comeuppance.
Reviews are lovely and constructive criticism is as implied, constructive, but flames will be use to line my birdcage.
Chapter - 3
"Mum?" came Hermione's voice as she moved in to the room.
Harry quickly grabbed the plates she was holding and set them on a desk. The red headed woman stood and walked over to where they were standing. She pulled Hermione into a deep hug and said, "It didn't even occur to me that you and your friend were the two students I was supposed to meet with." She turned to look at Harry and said, "You must be Harry. I recognize you from Hermione's photos. I'm Heather McGonagall, you may call me Heather."
"Er, um, Harry Potter."
Professor McGonagall had sat hard and was staring intently, "Heather?" she whispered out.
"I will explain in a minute, but Hermione first." She pulled out her wand and the walls and doors glowed colors Harry had never seen used in a charm before then he saw the seams of the door do the same.
All of her attention was turned back on Hermione. "Little one, we had an agreement before you started Hogwarts. You told me that it was important that you attend. Something was making you go and I told you that I would send you, but only if I Obliviated you first. You agreed. Now, as my secret is out, or I guess it is yours, I will remove the charm. Do you understand?"
Harry looked at his friend and saw that she looked bewildered. He didn't think that she was able to make a reasonable decision and from what he knew about Memory Charms, they could leave brain damage. Stepping in, Harry pulled Hermione away and said, "Breaking though a Memory Charm can cause brain damage and how do we know you are who you say you are?" Harry's wand was out and he had pulled Hermione behind him. McGonagall was still sitting open mouthed on a chair.
"She was supposed to come skiing with me last Christmas, but lied and said that she didn't really enjoy it all that much so she could spend it with you and your godfather."
Harry nodded, but he still wasn't convinced. "You gave her a book over the holiday, not for Christmas, but because of something else. What was it about?"
"Did she really tell you about that? You two are closer than I thought. Teenage girls often find themselves in emotionally abusive relationships and I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
Harry nodded. He didn't know much else about Hermione's mum. "You're a witch?"
"I'll explain it all to you Harry, and Hermione, once I lift the charm. I promise it won't hurt her. I was the one that placed it, I can lift it safely. I would never want to damage that brilliant mind of hers."
Harry didn't know what to do. Finally he looked at Hermione and said, "Do you want to try it?"
"My mum's a witch Harry. She's McGonagall's daughter and that makes her my grandmother. I don't... Harry?"
Harry pulled her over to one of the floor pillows that she had conjured the day before and said, "It's going to be okay and then after the charm is lifted we'll talk. Okay?"
Heather walked over and said, "It's okay. Harry you may hold her hand and it will just take a few minutes." She pulled out her wand and began issuing a long string of Gaelic words. Eventually McGonagall came to sit next to him on a conjured straight back chair looking on with interest.
Finally Hermione blinked twice, looked at Harry and then back at her mother. "Oh, Mum," she burrowed her face into her mother's shoulder and held tightly.
"Okay, little one, we need to check it. Why did I use the charm?"
"Because I told you I wanted to go to Hogwarts, I needed to go, that I was going to meet someone here. Daddy told me in my dream, but I don't remember who. You said that I couldn't go as me, that it would be very dangerous because the man who killed Daddy thinks that you are dead, but when he... oh, that was Voldemort."
"Very good, keep going."
"Voldemort would use me if he knew, and then there is the whole issue of you never telling Gran that Gwendolyn and I exist, but um, since she's sitting next to Harry, I think she knows."
"I did get that impression, little one." She sighed and said, "So you know about the bloody Horcruxes then?" Hermione nodded. "Well at least I know that Mum's mystery student isn't going to turn Death Eater."
Harry cleared his throat and said, "I'm having the same thought about our help. It's been a long week for both of us."
"Heather," came in irritated voice. "Are you saying that Miss Granger is your daughter?"
"She is."
"And her father?"
"Are you really asking me that question, Mum? Do you really think there could have ever been anyone else?"
"No, but Granger?"
"It's Richard's last name Professor," said Hermione.
Heather conjured another floor pillow and sat down. Hermione immediately jumped to her side and burrowed in. Seeing the look of concern on Harry's face, Heather said, "Give her a bit of time. Magical bonds between a mother and her child are very strong and because of having to send her here and using the charm, it has caused some damage. She's always like this for the first few days we're together."
"Right," Harry said with as much conviction as he could muster. Hermione was acting oddly, she isn't Muggle-born, she is his soul mate and her mother an expert on Horcruxes, Dumbledore was dead, and Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley were giving Hermione and him love potions. Deciding that he would risk her wrath Harry called out, "Dobby!"
POP! "Yes, Master Harry Potter sir, you is calling Dobby."
"Just Harry is fine Dobby, but um, you are still getting paid right?"
"Yes, Dobby is still receiving his wages."
"Good, um, would you please bring us a pot of strong tea?" Within a minute Dobby had returned and delivered the tray.
As soon as he was gone Hermione looked up at him and asked, "Did you just order him to do something?"
"I asked him, I made sure he was being paid, and if it makes you feel better you can buy him a new pair of trousers and twenty pair of mismatched socks, but yes, I asked him to bring us tea. I needed a cup and was afraid to leave the room.
"He gets a new jumper too. I won't have him wearing that one with a bloody 'R' on it anymore."
He knew she was stressed. That was when her language became typical for a teenager. "Anything you want, Hermione," Harry fixed Hermione a cup of tea then looked at the other two women expectantly waiting for them to tell him how they took theirs. After he had received instructions he sat back down and tried to put things in some sort of order.
"Heather, I am still waiting for an explanation as to why I have had my granddaughter in class for the last six years and was not aware of it."
Heather looked at Harry and said, "I don't know if you are aware, but one of my cousins lived with us."
Before Harry could respond McGonagall said, "I told them the other day when I used you as an example to explain... you will need to talk to Hermione about that, but he is aware of your relationship with Hamish."
"In a minute Mum. Harry and I will tell you about it in a minute," came Hermione's voice from under a mass of red curls.
"Hamish and I decided to put off having children. We worked as Aurors for the Ministry and did quite well." McGonagall snorted, but Hermione's mum ignored her. "We'd gone to school with Tom Riddle, that is the actual name of Voldemort."
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," said Harry. When he saw her face he said, "I'll tell you about how I know, but it is a very long story, relevant perhaps, but for another time."
"Very well then. Hamish and I are the same year as Rubeus, three years behind Tom."
Harry furrowed his brow and looked at the woman sitting across from him. Thirty-five was really pushing it and he had no idea how to fit Hermione's older sister into the equation. "Wait, that was something like fifty-five years ago. If you were thirteen then you're... There is no way you are in your late sixties."
"I appreciate that Harry, but you are thinking like a Muggle. Magical people don't age the same as non-magical. I turned sixty-eight last month." She laughed at him with a laugh that sounded like bells chiming and she said, "Don't try to wrap your head around it right now; it will just give you a headache. We will talk about it another time. Until then, just accept it and if you don't believe me, perhaps you trust..." she looked between Harry and Hermione several times and then blinked. "You and Harry are bonded, little one."
Hermione pulled her head out of her mother's shoulder and said matter-of-factly, "We're fated, we found out the other day. When we kissed we glowed gold for a bit. We need to tell you about that too, but Gran first." Hermione disappeared back into the sea of red curls.
"Well, that was unexpected. Huh. Welcome to the family, Harry. Okay, well, we knew Tom, so when it became apparent to everyone that he fancied himself a dark lord, to take over for Grindelwald; we began to build a file. I discovered that I was pregnant with Gwendolyn and Hamish insisted that we keep her away from everyone. He said he had a dream and it was the only way to make sure that she stayed safe. I learned long ago not to contradict his dreams."
"He was a seer?" asked Harry. He was looking at Hermione and McGonagall thinking there is no way for either of them to be related to a seer.
"Not like Sybil, more like having visions or prophetic dreams, but he never gave a prophesy. Personally, I think the entire subject matter of divination is rubbish and has no business in a school. One is a seer or isn't and there is no learning to be one," Hermione's mother declared.
"The old fraud," Hermione said.
Ignoring her daughter, Heather continued, "The only people who did know were Cat and Julia," those names meant little to Harry, but McGonagall was nodding. "Gwendolyn was born in France. We bought her home and she was raised in secret. Julia came to me just before her second child was to start Hogwarts. He had not received a Hogwarts letter, nor has he ever done accidental magic. Hector wanted them to Obliviate the boy and send him to a Muggle children's home, that having a squib for a grandson would forever stain the name Granger. Figuring that they would eventually change their minds about him, we agreed to take him. The last thing we wanted is for him to be sent out in the world alone and that is what was going to happen. Richard, Gwendolyn's husband, is a squib, he is Julia and Paden Granger's son. We haven't seen or heard from them since the day he came to live with us back in 1974."
"He..." McGonagall shook her head and thought hard. "We were told that he died abroad."
"Is that what they told everyone? We wondered, but like I said, there has been no contact since that day."
"He isn't a squib Heather, I lined through his name on the enrollment list personally when the Prophet announced his death," stated McGonagall.
Heather blinked, "He's never done one bit of accidental magic. Not when he was very young and not since he came to us. Are you sure?"
"Very. I remember each name that I have to remove from our rolls. I will confirm it for you in the next day or two, just leave me with his date of birth."
"It sounds like I might need to have a talk with Richard. Anyway, we home schooled Gwendolyn and when it came time to take her O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s, she took them in France." Heather took a deep breath and said, "Then we were captured."
McGonagall looked at Hermione with a sad look on her face.
"You ready for me to tell this part little one?"
"It'll be okay. I sussed it out when I was ten."
"Of course you did." Heather held on to her teenage daughter tightly and said, "Hamish was put under the Imperious Curse. We were held by Rodolphus Lestrange, Avery, and Tom himself liked to come watch. Every few days Hamish was put under the curse and I was not. They forced him to torture me. When they lifted the curse, he would remember everything he did to me. I had realized several days into being held that I was pregnant. I wouldn't have gone on the mission had I known before. I kept waiting to lose the baby. I figured that it was only a matter of time.
"I hadn't spoken since that first time I was tortured. We were there almost two months. Telling Hamish about the baby was the first thing I said to him since that first time it happened. Our wands were on a table just outside of the cell we were being held in, they used them to taunt us. My telling him about the baby upset him so much he was able to summon our wands to him. We used them to unlock the door and make our way out.
"We almost made it, but Tom Apparated in just as we got to a clear location. I was maybe five feet from him. He had just started the curse when Hamish jumped in front of me. It hit him squarely in the chest. I hit Tom with some sort of spell, I don't remember, and Apparated back to a safe location with my husband's body. It just so happens that Mum and Dumbledore were there with five other people."
She was stroking Hermione's hair and whispering how much she was loved to her ear. "I didn't tell Mum about my baby. She was my last gift from Hamish. She is so beautiful and so perfect and I use to just hold her for hours on end. She is like Christmas and birthdays all rolled into one. Agreeing to let her come here was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but she was determined."
"So you Obliviated her?" asked Harry. It seemed awfully risky to him.
"We had warned Dumbledore that Tom had made a Horcrux, but he was convinced that it was not possible. So we told Mum. She also didn't believe it. I am glad; however, that she remembered the conversation. I knew he wasn't really gone and knew that he would be back. There was no way that I could allow my little girl to attend Hogwarts and be targeted by Death Eaters and Tom himself. I read Prophet articles and took it all with a grain of salt and then he came back, just as I suspected. I almost told Mum. I came close, but I waited.
"Dumbledore sent me an owl a few months back and we met for a cup of tea. He told me that he had a project that he needed my help with, and then he point blank asked me if Hermione Granger was my daughter. When I told him that she was, he just nodded with that twinkling eye thing that he did. She looks enough like me and then with her buck teeth, I doubt that it took him long to figure it out. He praised her for quite a long time, said she was as familiar with the library as I was at her age. I informed him that I paid for all of her books, I was well aware of how much she read. The last thing he said to me was that he would be contacting me as soon as school was out for the holiday and if something happened to him before, Hermione would have figured out how to get his notes. Then he said how delighted he was that she was my daughter and that history was repeating itself. He wouldn't tell me how, and that was that. So little one, just how did you end up with the headmaster's notes?"
Hermione blushed and said, "I summoned them." Feeling the need to defend herself to McGonagall, Hermione said, "They are just like I showed you the other day, Professor. They have my name in them. He's written me notes." She looked back at her mother and said, "I just said 'Accio any notes Professor Dumbledore has left for me' and they came in the window. I mean you never know how nosey the Minister is going to get or the Board of Governors and we didn't know Professor McGonagall knew about them at the time."
"Potter, you just let her do this?"
"She knows more hexes then I do, Professor," said Harry in protest.
"Mum, leave them alone. Dumbledore wanted her to have them or she wouldn't have been able to summon them. I didn't know she had it in her to be such a miscreant though." The last was said with a bit of pride.
McGonagall looked at Harry and mumbled, "You'd be surprised, don't know why I didn't figure it out with as much trouble as she has gotten in to over the years." She looked back up and said, "She brewed Polyjuice potion in her second year in a girl's toilet."
"Did you really?"
"Harry and Ron wanted to sneak into the Slytherin common room to see if any of them knew who the Heir of Slytherin was. I didn't realize I could ask my own mother all about it. Anyway, so we figured out how to get them to talk to Malfoy." Her voice trailed off and Harry squeezed her hand.
"Second year. Well done little one. Richard will be particularly proud also. Oh, that's how you turned yourself into a cat. Wrong type of hair." Heather chuckled to herself then continued, "Well, you will be more careful next time. Now I'm hungry and if I am not mistaken, you and Harry brought us dinner and while we eat you can tell me how you ended up bonded with Harry. Not that I am complaining, but last time we spoke you were interested in Ron."
Heather stood and began to move to the table Harry had set the food when Hermione gasped. She set her wand on a desk and hugged her mother around her waist. Harry watched as the older woman smiled and nodded at Hermione. When she separated from her mother she was holding a wand then instantly magical eddies filled the room and Harry felt himself lift several inches off the floor. Gold and blue sparks shot out of the end.
"Er, Hermione?"
"This is my wand Harry. Well, it was my dad's and I bonded with it when I was little, but when I came here I had to have a new one, so Gwendolyn took me to get that one from Ollivander's, but this one, this is my real one." She looked at him and said, "It's ivy and dragon heartstring too."
"How did you know she would have it?"
Hermione cocked her head to the side and looked at him for a moment then answered, "It was my dad's wand Harry. Of course she carried it with her."
Heather flicked her wand and instantly a table and four chairs appeared. McGonagall looked at the trio and said, "Heather, I have to get back to making preparations for tomorrow. As I told Mr. Potter and Miss Gr... Hermione... I suppose I don't have to tell you to get her home before her parents worry."
"No, I was planning on getting her from the train, but I presume that she can Apparate from Hogsmeade."
"Just let yourself into my quarters Heather. Goodnight."
As soon as the door closed Hermione took Harry by the hand and said, "Harry, this is my mum."
"We met a bit ago."
"I know, but I felt like I should introduce you."
Holding her fork with a piece of chicken on it, Heather said, "So little one. Tell me about being fated to Harry."
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the night, well past midnight, telling Heather about learning of the love potions, being fated, their plans for the next few months, and the prophesy. At just after two Heather looked at her watch and said, "It's time to turn in. I'll walk with you to your common room. The last thing we need to do is have a run in with Filch."
"Will you do it though, Mum? I mean that is the best we could come up with."
Heather kissed Hermione on the nose and pulled Harry into a hug. "Yes, if we can get the Dursleys to sign over guardianship of Harry and if both of you are sure this is what you want then I am willing to be Harry's guardian and my first directive as such is there is no way in hell that the two of you are going to be spending any time with the Weasleys this summer."
"Not a rule I have any intention of breaking. So do I break up with Ginny now or wait until we all have our chat in July?"
"If you break up with her things could get divisive. Mum already knows what is going on and as far as Molly is concerned Mum is your new guardian and I don't think she is going to push her hard, at least not at first. If Remus knows also, then I'm not too worried. You plan on telling them you know about the love potions just before Harry's birthday, after you are legally married, and bonded. I'd just wait to walk away from all of it then. You don't need her to scheme for the next month how to get you back. Who knows what she will do in desperation."
As they walked through the hallway Harry looked at Hermione and said, "With Lavender leaving this morning, I'm not entirely comfortable with you in your dorm alone all night Hermione."
"What happened to the other girl, little one?"
"Both of the Patil girls left the morning after it happened and then Mrs. Patil contacted the Browns. Since Lavender isn't seventeen for another week, she had to go home." Hermione shrugged, "It isn't like the Slytherins are going to come charging through the portrait hole Harry. Even Pansy and Millicent aren't that stupid."
"I was thinking more of Ginny. She was livid when McGonagall took off with us during dinner."
Heather looked at the pair and said, "How about I just stay over with you little one? We could probably use the cuddle time and it sounds like we won't have to worry about your roommates and if Mum had not had fifty other things on her mind, she might have suggested it."
Hermione nodded and said, "Okay that will work."
They made their way further into the castle when a ghost crossed their path. She looked up at Heather and stopped, waiting for some sort of response. Harry recognized her as the ghost that they had been discussing earlier.
Heather smiled and said, "Hello Grandmother, I was wondering if I would see you this trip."
"I heard from the Friar that you were in the castle. I am a bit disappointed that you did not come looking for me," the ghost admonished.
"I apologize. I had a meeting scheduled with my mother and then had dinner with my daughter."
"Daughter?"
Heather put her hands on Hermione's shoulders and said, "Are you acquainted with Hermione?"
"Of course. Miss Granger spends many hours in the library and we have discussed her courses several times. I was curious how she ended up sorted into Gryffindor house, but it does make sense now."
Harry took a step forward and asked, "You are the Grey Lady?"
"That is what I am called, Mr. Potter," she replied.
"Would it be possible for us to talk to you for a bit tomorrow afternoon, after the rest of the students leave on the train? I, er, um, we, have a few questions."
She evaluated Harry for a bit then nodded, "My granddaughter will know how to find me." With that she floated through a wall.
"Harry," Hermione whispered.
"I know Hermione. I wonder if that is what Dumbledore meant," he whispered back.
"Anything you would like to share?" Heather said with a raised eyebrow.
"The Grey Lady," Hermione started, "she was Ravenclaw's daughter and you called her grandmother."
Heather smiled and said, "You are descended from Rowena Ravenclaw, directly. She was also Godric Gryffindor's daughter, so technically you are their many great granddaughter little one."
"I'm her direct heir?"
"Yes, Alwyne is the youngest, but... I realize it is interesting, but you both seem a bit funny about it."
"Harry is the direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor. Technically the castle and the grounds are his and they are leased to the Ministry. Harry even pulled the sword out of the hat. Gryffindor's sword."
Heather blinked at them both and then said, "So we have Ravenclaw's heir fated to Gryffindor's heir who is destined to hunt down Slytherin's heir? Makes you wonder where Hufflepuff fits into all of this." She pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "Bed, we can deal with all of this later. I have you most of tomorrow and we will be paying regular visits to Harry in the next few weeks." She took them both by the hand and walked to Gryffindor tower.
"What are we doing tomorrow Harry?" asked Hermione.
"You mean in the morning?" She nodded. "What do you think? We aren't going to be able to ignore them tomorrow."
Hermione looked at her mother and asked, "Are you attending the funeral?"
"I had planned to all along, with a bit of transfiguration; I doubt anyone will recognize me."
"Well, just say that Hermione has been put in charge of a special guest and that will get Ron and Ginny away from you and with everyone there I will be able to keep Ginny off of me, but I will have to sit next to her. I think we should see Madam Pomfrey after everyone leaves tomorrow just to make sure, I just don't know what to say about the train."
"That's easy enough Harry," said Hermione. "We tell Ron that since I'm not expected at home until evening, I have special permission to stay here and research our project and he can't because it would make his family suspect something and as for you, Professor McGonagall and Remus deem you a security risk and think that it is too dangerous for you to be on the train and in a Muggle car on the way back home, so they are taking you personally."
Once they got back to Gryffindor tower, the Fat Lady yawned and opened up for them without requiring the password. She nodded to Heather and said for her to visit her grandmother's portrait before she left.
Hermione led her mother up the spiral staircase to her dorm and indicated which of the three four posters was hers. It was obvious from her posture that the older woman wanted to talk.
"What's wrong?"
After using a locking charm and silencing the room Heather said, "I need you to tell me that this is what you want, Hermione. Not just because of a prophesy or because you and Harry are fated, that you are choosing this. Choosing to be with Harry."
Hermione slipped into her pajamas and sat down on her bed pulling her knees up to her chin. "Harry and I have talked about it."
"I'm not asking what Harry thinks or how he feels. I'm asking how you feel," the older woman replied.
"Everything is so confusing right now. Professor Dumbledore was murdered by Professor Snape and finding out that people we thought of as family were giving us potions, it's hard to think clearly."
"You are doing it again. We. Us. I need you to talk about you, little one." Heather smiled encouragingly at her daughter and waited for her to respond.
"I love Harry. I've been in love with him for ages, but figured that it would never be reciprocated and was okay being friends and then this year was so weird. We were adversarial and pushed each other away over a book. It's quite ridiculous really looking back. I'd like to blame the potions, but maybe it was just us. I don't know."
Hermione looked down and began to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. "Harry cares for me a great deal and has for a long time, but he's not in love with me. He probably loves me, but not in the storybook sort of way."
Looking at her daughter sadly, Heather asked, "Then why do you want to get married?"
Not looking up she replied, "We would eventually."
"Hermione"
"No, I know what you're saying, and if things were normal right now, if Dumbledore hadn't just died, if Voldemort wasn't about to seize the Ministry, and if our best friends weren't trying to give us love potions we'd wait. We would wait, but we don't have the luxury. The Order thinks that the Ministry could go at any time and if the Ministry goes, so will the bank."
"He's almost seventeen," supplied Heather.
"Do you really think that we should take that risk? Whoever becomes headmaster will be Harry's magical guardian. It needs to not happen. Professor McGonagall went down months ago just in case the headmaster died, but it's only temporary and only as long as she is headmistress. So whomever it is eventually, can just show up at Privet Drive and take him into the Ministry or worse, hand him over to Voldemort." She looked her mother in the eye and continued. "I won't let that happen. If you aren't willing to help us then we will do it without you. I'm of age and we're old enough to get married in Scotland without consent. I've already sent in the paperwork. We're four days in on the fifteen day waiting period."
Pinching the bridge of her nose Heather nodded. "I figured that we'd just have to Confund someone and get your license that way, but I'm glad that you started the process. Scotland?"
Hermione shrugged. "I didn't know how long changing his guardianship would take and this way we don't have to worry about the Dursleys giving consent. Are you going to help us?"
Heather looked up and nodded. "I told you I would little one and while I wish your reasons for getting married were strictly emotional and not practical, I can see your logic. I do still have some concerns, but like you said, you are of age."
"You think we are moving too fast?"
"Regardless of the potions interfering, Harry was or I guess still is involved with Ginny and you have been dancing around Ron all year. Five days is not a lot of time to get to know each other before you get married. There is a big difference between being someone's best friend and going to bed every night with him."
Hermione blushed. "We, um, we aren't ready for that. I mean we haven't done more than snog really."
Nodding Heather said, "You do realize that all of the benefits of being fated are not completely realized until you've physically bonded?"
"We know, but it's going to be a long time before we find all the Horcruxes. In the meantime we're going to date."
Heather pulled her daughter into a hug and began to chuckle. "At least it will be an interesting story for your grandchildren. Now let's finish getting ready for bed. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day."