Disclaimer: I do not own the potterverse, I'm just playing there.

A/N Everyone can thank Witowsmp and Paladeus for this update. Seeing two of my favorite authors reviewing my story, well that's a heck of an incentive. Lol now if we can just get Robst and Radaslab, or even Chem Prof :D

Also a big shout out to the Caer Azkaban group for linking me, thank you guys.

Artur Hawkwing, I wanted to reply to your review, but you've disabled PM.

Again this is unbeta'd yes there will be spelling issues, and likely incorrect word choices, Deal. Ya know unless you'd like to beta for me and are conversant with proper Britishisms

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That Wednesday while Harry and Hermione were reading the Potter House book, Hermione found some interesting facts.

"Harry look at this" Hermione said excitedly, "according to this, your family holds one of the first Earldom's in Britain. This says that your ancestor Owain Potter, who was a knight in Arthur's service, raised a force from around his lands in the West-lands and helped stop one of Modred's incursions from the sea. In recognition of Owain's valiant actions, Arthur created Owain as an Earl and lord of the Western Marches." the bushy-haired girl finished.

Harry looked a little confused. "I thought that the defenders of the Marches were called Marquess?" he asked.

Hermione giggled a little "Harry those titles didn't start until after the Norman influence which was definitely after the Statute of Secrecy. In Arthur's time, an Earl was the highest non Royal rank possible. And according to this the Potter Earldom is one of the oldest extant noble titles. Apparently there were four Lords of the Marches. Lord of the Northern Marches, Lord of the Eastern Marches, and Lord of the Southern Marches being the other three. Those four Lords were second only to Arthur himself, and equals amongst themselves."

Hermione thought for a moment, then muttered to herself, "I'm fairly sure I saw something in here." Before flipping through the book to the section on pure-blood customs.

"Oh Harry look at this!" Hermione said even more excitedly, "According to this, 'The last member of an ancient and noble house of whatever rank may assume their lordship upon the thirteenth anniversary of their birth' . This means that you can assume your title when you turn thirteen Harry. It means that you'll be legally emancipated and can be legally considered an adult. You can even take the Potter seat in the Wizengamot, though you might want to appoint a proxy for that." Hermione continued happily.

Harry looked stunned, "You mean I'll be Lord Potter?" he asked somewhat in shock.

"Yes Harry" Hermione answered "And according to this, one of the more respected lords too. At least based on your family name. And according to this, your family holds vassal some of the traditional Gryffindor families. Looks like the Barons Longbottom were one of the first families to swear a vassal oath. There are some non-noble families in here too, like the Lovegoods and Diggorys" the brunette continued.

Harry said "I know you want to look at it some more, but there's something I want to check out in the book tonight, do you mind leaving it with me tonight 'Mione?"

"No that's fine Harry, and besides we'll have all that time on vacation to read it." Hermione said with a smile, glad her boyfriend was taking the time to study important things.

About this time, the two teens looked up a noticed a medium sized shaggy black dog sitting next to their bench. Turning to look at each other, before looking at the dog as he whimpered a little and edged closer.

Harry held out his hand to let the dog sniff "Hey boy, where's your master?" he asked

The dog looked at Harry with soulful eyes, before letting out a soft "wuff" and gently nosing the raven-haired boy's hand. Apparently approving of Harry, the dog grunted, and putting his forepaws on the bench, licked the young man on the face.

As his bushy-haired girlfriend giggled at the sight, Harry said "Yuck dog slobber." before wiping his face off with the sleeve of his shirt.

The dog dropped down, and moved closer to Hermione. Easing herself off the bench and kneeling in front of the dog, Hermione also held out a hand to the dog. This time the dog took a bit longer smelling her. "Maybe he can smell that I was part cat for a while" she thought before the dog licked her as well.

Harry laughed a bit, before saying "I guess he likes you too love."

As Hermione scratched the dogs back and neck, she noticed that he didn't appear to have a collar. "Harry he's got no collar, do you think he's a stray?"

Harry thought a bit while rubbing the dog behind the ears. "I guess it's possible 'Mione, I mean he's pretty shaggy, and looks fairly thin too." he replied.

Harry reached into the cooler the two had taken to bringing with them on their afternoon excursions, and pulled out a sandwich. "Are you hungry boy?" Harry asked holding out part of the sandwich.

To both of their surprise, the dog gently took hold of the sandwich and began to eat it carefully.

Seeing the manners the shaggy dog was showing, Hermione said "I guess he used to belong to someone, but he probably got abandoned or something. The poor guy."

Hearing this, Harry instantly said "I know how he must feel. Let's see if he wants to come with us. He could use someone to take care of him."

At this Hermione replied "Harry, are you sure you want to pick up a stray? You don't know how he might behave. He could hurt you or something."

Harry looked at Hermione for a second, then replied "Hermione love, I know how it feels to be alone in the world with no one to look after you. And I'd like to think that I'm following your example by bringing a possibly abused being into my home."

Hermione was stunned by Harry's response. She really hadn't considered it like that. "Of course Harry. I was just worried about you is all. I couldn't bear for something to happen to you is all."

Harry hugged his girlfriend, "I know Hermione and I feel the same way about you, and I'll be careful."

Hermione hugged Harry back. "You'd better, Harry."

Harry thought for a moment. "I wonder if Professor Dumbledore would let me bring him to school with me. I could try to pass him off as a guard dog" Harry said with a grin.

Hermione's brows rose in shock "Wow, you know that's a really good idea Harry. My dad might know some people that could help with training him that way too. I know he was talking about getting you some training."

Harry shrugged, he was used to physical training, after all playing Quidditch was very intensive. It look a lot of strength to muscle a broom around, especially at the speeds that he liked to play at. "Works for me, I'll see about asking the Headmaster before school. As a matter of fact, why don't we head back, and I can send the letter tonight." he said.

Harry knelt down in front of the dog, and rubbing his head some more, Harry said "Would you like to come with me boy? I'll make sure you get plenty of food, and get ya cleaned up a bit, does that sound good?"

The dog wuffed again, then licked Harry again. Hermione giggled again and said "I guess that's a yes Harry" with a smile.

Harry shot a playful glare at his girlfriend before chuckling as well. Turning back to the dog, Harry asked "What's your name boy? Do you have one?"

The dog tilted his head to look at Harry in a questioning manner, before snuffling the boy's hair.

"Your name is Snuffles?" Harry asked. The shaggy looking dog looked into Harry's eyes and then pressed his nose into the boy's chest.

Hermione's right eyebrow rose in surprise. "Okay, my boyfriend's a genius, his Owl knows when someone wants or needs to send him a letter, and let's not forget how smart she is, and now apparently his dog is pretty intelligent as well." Hermione thought to herself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Friday morning around 11 in the morning Professor Dumbledore apparated into Harry's bedroom.

At the *crack* of his appearance, the two looked up from their History of Magic homework, as they had been putting this off for last.

"Professor Dumbledore, how can we help you?" asked Harry as he set the roll of parchment aside to dry.

As the Headmaster settled into one of the chairs in the greatly expanded room, he looked around. Seeing the now well groomed dog laying in a patch of sunlight from the nearby window, Dumbledore replied "I'm very concerned Harry. Monday night, one of Voldemort's most dangerous lieutenants escaped from Azkaban."

Hermione looked up in panic. "What do you mean Professor?" she asked in a nervous voice.

Dumbledore looked at the two. "Harry I am about to tell you something, but before I do, I want you to promise me that you'll not take any chances."

Harry shared a look with Hermione. Seeing the worry in her eyes, Harry replied "I promise I will not go looking for trouble Professor."

Dumbledore sighed knowing that this would be the best he could get from young Harry. "Harry, Sirius Black, the man that betrayed your parents to Voldemort escaped from Azkaban. This is made even more worrisome, because the idiot of a warden placed your uncle into the cell across from Black. Black knows where you live I'm sure of it."

Hermione let out a gasp before throwing her arms around Harry. Hearing what the headmaster had been saying caused Snuffles to start growling, and the dog moved closer to Harry as though to stand guard. Harry squeezed Hermione with one arm, and started petting his dog with the other hand.

"And you think that he's after me?" Harry said with a burst of insight. "To finish his masters work?" he finished.

"Yes I do Harry. I want you to be careful. Sunday night after the Minister's annual visit to Azkaban, the human guards heard Sirius saying something in his sleep "He's at Hogwarts." Shortly after his escape, the guards informed the ministry, and when I learned of this information I became very worried. I'm actually a bit concerned that you found your dog not long after that Harry." Dumbledore said.

Harry shook his head. "I think Snuffles is perfectly safe sir. After all you said that no magical being that intends me harm could cross the blood wards. Snuffles had no problems coming into the house, and he's even slept near my door or at the foot of my bed. That means he must be perfectly safe sir. Either he's a normal dog, or he's magical but means me no harm" Harry said in a logical tone of voice.

Dumbledore thought about what Harry said. "You are of course correct Harry, I hadn't thought of that. Given that I am concerned about Sirius Black coming after you, I will waive the one pet per student rule for you and allow you to bring, 'Snuffles' was it?"

Harry grinned. "Thank you sir, 'Mione said that her Dad knew some people that might be able to help train Snuffles up as a proper guard dog too, so that he'll be able to keep me safer as well"

Dumbledore nodded, and replied "That is a very good idea Ms. Granger, if we were in school, I would say 'Five points to Gryffindor'" with a twinkle in his eye.

Snuffles wuffed almost as though laughing.

Harry and Hermione spent the remaining week studying and discussing their classes in the mornings, and the afternoon with their dog, for they had decided that Snuffles was 'theirs', at the park, either playing or just cuddled together reading the Potter book.

As the final day of Harry's stay at Privet drive arrived, Dumbledore arrived at 10 to deliver him to the Grangers, Hermione had already gotten her parents' permission for Harry to bring Snuffles, as he had proven to be very well behaved and house broken.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As soon as Harry arrived at the Granger's residence, Harry found himself the target of a bushy-haired hug missile.

Hearing her parents laughter, Hermione blushed and snuggled deeper into Harry for a moment, then let go. "I'm glad your back here Harry."

Mrs. Granger chuckled. "That's we're glad you're back Harry. I may understand the necessity for you to have to stay at that place for a time during the summers, but I don't like it."

Harry held out his hand to Emma, who again brushed it aside and reminded Harry where Hermione had learnt her hugging from. Harry said "It's good to be back Mrs. Granger" into Emma's shoulder

As soon as his wife had released Harry, Dan shook Harry's hand. "It's good to have you back son. You and I need to have a talk a little later tonight." Seeing the blush on both his daughter and her boyfriend's faces, he chuckled and said "No not that TALK." Shaking his head a bit sadly "No this one is actually a bit more important in some ways, but less embarrassing. When I was in the military, after every mission, we would be debriefed. It's where we discuss everything that happened during the mission, part of the purpose is that it helps us get everything straight in our own minds, and lets us deal with whatever demons develop because of what happened."

Hearing this, Harry turned to Dumbledore who had just returned with Snuffles. "Professor, is there a way I could show Mr. Granger my memories sir? At least the ones about school?"

Dumbledore looked between Harry and Dan. "Yes there is Harry. I have a device called a pensieve. It will allow one to extract memories, so that they can be reviewed. If you would like, I can have Dobby bring it later tonight?"

Harry replied "Thank you sir, I think that might be helpful. Just one question. How do I extract my memories for that?"

Dumbledore smiled gently, "Hold your wand to your head and think of pushing the memory to your wand, it will release a silvery string, just place that in the penseive. I'll make sure that the penseive is in projection mode so that Mr. Granger here will be able to view them with you."

"Thank you sir" Harry replied.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The next morning, a massively hung-over Dan woke up to see Dobby holding a vial of some evanescent liquid. "This be a hangover potion Mr. Grangy sir, it will help you." the diminutive house elf said.

Dan swallowed the potion down quickly, and after a short feeling of impending doom, his head cleared and his stomach settled faster than he had thought possible. "Thank you Dobby, you might want to give Harry one of those" Dan said thankfully.

"Dobby has already given Master Harry Potter sir his potion, though his Grangy said that he deserved the hangover." Dobby said

Dan shook his head. Hearing the voices, Emma had begun to wake up. Turning to her husband, she wrapped him in a hug and gently asked "Dan what did you see last night? I've not seen you get that drunk since Argentina."

Dan relaxed into his wife's embrace, and sighing replied. "Harry showed me some of his 'adventures' over the past two years." Shaking his head he continued "I'm frankly surprised he's survived them. His first year, you remember how Hermione's letter about that Halloween said that Harry had rescued her from a troll. She forgot to mention that it was a 12 foot tall mountain of muscle. Harry didn't even blink; he just jumped on to it like it was one of those American bull riding events or something. Then the poor boy ended up having to kill a man at the end of the year. Apparently one of his teachers was possessed by the spirit of the monster that had killed his parents. And last year, dear god, that boy got lucky. I know I've told you about some of those SBS blokes I crossed trained with, they wouldn't have lived through what that boy did. Picture a spider bigger than this house and capable of speech. Harry and that boy Ron had to escape from hundreds of those things, some were only as big as Snuffles, most of them were at least the size of a lorry though." Dan shuddered before continuing his tale, feeling his wife's tears landing on his shoulder, he turned and embracing her, finished "That Basilisk, the bloody thing was the size of a couple of double deckers, over 60 feet in length at least. The boy got bit as he killed it and apparently only the tears of the headmaster's phoenix saved his life. From what I've seen, and what I can guess, that poor boy is going to be in danger of one kind or another for most of his life. Em, sweetie. I'm going to have to start training him. He'll hate me for it I'm sure and certain, nobody likes boot, but the way our Hermione looks at him, I don't want him to die on her. She'll never forgive herself."

Feeling his wife's weeping, Dan hugged her. "I know he's had it bad sweetie, and though I hate to say it, I think Hermione's going to be good for him. She'll help him the way you do me love. She'll get him through the nightmares and motivate him to do his best. You might want to have a girl's night tonight while I'm giving him 'The Talk'. Tell her about some of what you've dealt with, with me. Let her know that she'll need to help Harry the same way."

Emma took a shuddering breath to calm herself and wiped her eyes. "Thanks love; you always know the right thing to say. And thank you for sharing that with me. It's no wonder you two got so drunk. I know Harry lived through it, but I imagine seeing it all again struck him pretty hard."

Dan nodded, "Yeah, when you're in the midst of everything, the adrenaline doesn't let you really panic much, when you're seeing it like that though, when you can see just how close things get, it's a completely different story. Truth be told I would be surprised if Harry slept alone last night, and I'm not talking about Snuffles."

Emma gasped "You don't mean? And you're not upset?"

Dan shrugged, "I don't think they did anything. If Hermione was there, she probably just held him through the nightmares. Let him know he wasn't alone. You've done the same for me."

As the two adults headed downstairs, they found Harry and Hermione already at the table eating breakfast. As they looked around, food appeared on the table at their places.

At Dan's look of confusion, Harry said "Dobby's making breakfast. House elves like to stay busy, so he cooks and will likely do any cleaning that needs to be done."

Emma's eyebrows rose, "Think we could borrow him while you're at school Harry?" she asked with just a hint of humour in her voice.

"Dobby" Harry called. When the little elf popped in, Harry continued "Dobby, would you like to stay and help out the Grangers whilst Hermione and I are at school?"

Dobby nodded rapidly saying "Dobby would be most happy to stay and help out Master Harry's Grangy's parents." before popping away again.

Harry turned to Dan and Emma, saying "There ya go, just please don't try to hand him any clothing, if you want him to handle the laundry, just put it in a hamper."

"Why is that Harry?" Emma asked.

"Because in the magically world, giving clothes to a house elf will free them. And to an elf like Dobby here, might be considered an insult." Harry said.

After breakfast, Dan invited Harry into the sitting room, and Hermione and Emma followed along. Emma knew what Dan wanted to discuss, but Hermione was curious.

After the four had arranged themselves comfortably, with Hermione nearly on Harry's lap, Dan began to speak.

"Harry, given what you've been through in life, and given your 'adventures' at school, I'd like to make you an offer. I know that I mentioned that I was in the military last night, but what I didn't say, is that I'm former SAS, got out after 12 years as a Staff Sargent. The important part of this, is I also spent a few tours as an instructor in the Special Forces candidate selection course. I know that there's a better than even chance that you'll be fighting against this terrorist Voldemort for at least a good portion of your life, and even after you win, from what I've seen, you're likely to continue fighting against other so called 'Dark Wizards'. I'd like to began training you Harry. It's not going to be easy, and I'm dead certain that you'll hate me for most of it, but it will help keep you alive."

Harry and Hermione shared a look that contained a whole conversation, before turning back to Dan "Mr. Granger, I'd be honored if you'd train me. I would also appreciate it if you would help train your daughter as well. Except for the Basilisk incident, she's never left my side during one of our 'adventures' as you call them, and as she's just informed me, she has no intention of doing so now."

Dan turned to his bookish daughter "Hermione, are you sure about this? I'm going to warn you now, the kind of training we'll be doing is very painful at first, and will exhaust you quickly."

Hermione flashed a quick look at Harry, then replied as calmly as she could. "Yes Daddy, I'm certain. I know it won't be easy, but I won't leave Harry, and he'll need someone to cover his back. I'm the only person we can trust to do that right now."

With a shrug, Dan replied, "Okay princess, it's your choice. We'll start tomorrow."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Later that night, there were two very important talks taking place at the same time.

Dan covered the basics of human reproduction fairly quickly, but extremely accurately, especially as he had trained as a medic before volunteering for the SAS.

Covering some of the more advanced areas of relationships including the sections on kink were perhaps a bit more difficult. Thankfully Dan still had his copy of 'The Loving Dominate' that he had picked up a few years ago. The book was great for both an introduction to the D/s lifestyle as well as for those who had been living it for a while.

As Dan was discussing some of the aspects of D/s relationships Harry became surprised at some of what he had been told. "You mean she wants me to tell her what to do?" he asked

"Well not necessarily in daily actions, though some subs do go deep enough for their masters to instruct them on what to wear, say, and do for a number of things. Generally that level of relationship is more a Master/slave relationship rather than just Dom/sub. At that level, the slave, surrenders everything to their master; all decisions all choices, surrendered. At the other end of the spectrum, are the people that enjoy the occasional scene where under very careful guidelines surrender. It's all a matter of degree."

"And that part about punishment?" Harry asked still somewhat confused "Does that mean she'd like being spanked or something?"

Dan chuckled. As long as he could ignore the fact that this was his daughter they were talking about, this wasn't too bad. "Well sometimes. Not all subs are into corporal punishment though more than a few are. It could be anything really. Say for example she were to do something deserving of punishment, you might as example, take away her favorite book for a time. Or take her up on your broom. Something that she might night like per se, but would accept."

"Not the broom then, she hates heights" Harry said with a chuckle of his own.

At the same time in Hermione's room, Emma was having a different, but equally important discussion with her daughter.

"Hermione honey, I know that Harry wasn't alone last night." at her daughter's gasp, she chuckled then continued, "I also know that nothing happened. Harry was almost certain to have nightmares and your presence helped him with them. I don't have a problem with that dear. You've always been a responsible young women, and I know that you'll not let things advance before you're both ready for that."

When Hermione nodded, and her blush had dampened, Emma continued. "I know that Harry wasn't alone, because I remember spending quite a few nights of my own holding your father through his own nightmares. What you might not realize love, is that both of our men have been through an amazing amount of traumatizing things. Your father was and is still a warrior. He's had to do a lot of things that can effect him. He hasn't told me about most of them, though I do know that they were both necessary, and bad. He still has nightmares at times."

Shaking her head, Emma continued. "From what he told me this morning about some of Harry's 'adventures', your young man has already been through things that could be considered a lot worse. He might not have had to kill people, and no I'm not counting your teacher the first year, but I can imagine he'll see a lot of death in one form or another. As your Harry is a good man, this will give him nightmares, he'll more than likely blame himself for every death that happens, thinking that if he had been better, stronger, or smarter he could have saved them. What you need to be prepared for are those occasions. You'll also need to be ready to help him through his nightmares. Sometimes all he'll need is a sympathetic ear, at others a smile or a hug. And at times he'll need you to hold him tight, and let him know through words and your presence, that he is still a good person and that what ever happened was not his fault. Your Harry is as much a warrior as your father, and as good a man if I don't miss my guess. Which means that you'll need to be there to show him that he is loved and that he is worthy of that love."

With a bit of a naughty grin Emma said "You know after last nights discussion, your father said Harry had more balls than brains given his little 'adventures'."

Hermione's brain locked up for a second at that statement, followed by her blushing madly.

Seeing the blush on her daughter's face Emma couldn't help but ask "Penny for your thoughts?"

Shaking her head to get the very interesting image out of her mind Hermione replied without thinking "Sweet Merlin, Harry's damn near a genius, if Dad's right...Please tell me I didn't say that out loud"

Emma's peals of laughter rang though the house.

After each discussion had continued a bit longer, the two groups finished at nearly the same time.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

With a bit of a wicked grin Harry knocked on Hermione's bedroom door. "You decent in there 'Mione?" he asked.

Hermione opened the door wearing her robe over a cornflower blue nightgown. "Harry, come in."

As Harry entered Hermione's room, he started to whistle a song he had heard on the radio earlier that day. As Harry started to whistle, Hermione felt the sensation of Harry's hands gently roaming over her body again. These hands were very bold, almost as though they were being directed by Harry. As the hands started reaching some very interesting places, Harry stopped whistling with a smirk at Hermione's sigh.

"I'm guessing you liked that?" Harry said still smirking.

"Yes, very much so, but I'm fairly sure that we're too young to be exploring that Harry." Hermione said blushing deeply.

Well given that I've just had the most interesting discussion with your father, I figured you needed something interesting" Harry drawled the final word.

"Harry James Potter, that was pure evil" Hermione said with a bit of vigor.

"Hermione Jane Granger, you know you loved it" Harry said with an odd tone of voice, that caused Hermione's blush to deepen farther.

Lowering her head a little, Hermione replied, "Yes I did MiLord." in a husky tone.

Quirking an eyebrow Harry replied, "MiLord is it? Well 'Mione we certainly need to discuss a few things. Set a few ground rules about address, and how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go."

Her head still lowered, Hermione replied "As long as we're not in classes or detention MiLord I am yours to do with as you see fit. I would ask that we not have intercourse until our bodies and minds are ready for it, and I would ask that you not have me fly as a punishment MiLord."

After thinking things through, Harry settled on the bed next to Hermione, and replied "Well while in class, or if it's something that we need to discuss properly, how about if you call me Harry. When we're out of class then you can continue to call me MiLord as you have been. If we're in class or I need you to be the calculating Hermione, then I'll call you Hermione. Otherwise, I'll call you 'Mione or Kitten. How does that sound Hermione?"

Hermione thought through what Harry, her Lord, had said. "That sounds like it would work MiLord."

After another seconds thought, Hermione asked with a wicked grin "Now what was that song you where whistling Harry?"

Harry grinned back and as he headed to his room replied "Well the guy on the radio said it was 'I touch myself by the Divinyls' I figured it might have a rather interesting effect. I guess I was right".

Hermione laughed, "You're right, it did. But do be careful with that, I'd hate to see how other witches are effected."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

SBS the British version of the US SEALs, and from some discussions I've had with SEALs probably even more hardcore. Given that the majority of the SBS come from the Royal Marines, that's not unexpected. Marines with brains, that's just wrong, and deadly.

And I'm former Navy, I can make cracks about Marines, it's a god given right. That said, I have nothing but the utmost respect for our Armed Forces, no matter the branch.