Authors Note: I do not Own Harry Potter, or any of the Stargate franchise. This is written for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours as well.
"May I present our Valedictorian, in both magical and non-magical subjects, Hermione Jean Granger." The student section applauded loudly as Hermione was well liked by her peers, often taking time to assist them with questions about their homework, or help them perform a particular spell. Salem did not have the idea of Prefects, or Head Boys and Girls, but Hermione had been involved in the student government for a number of years, only taking her senior year off in order to concentrate on her studies.
A smiling but blushing Hermione stepped up to the podium. "Seniors, graduating class of 1998, my friends, Congratulations!..." Hermione's speech was not long, but it was well delivered. She focused on the responsibility of witches and wizards to use the gifts given them in order to benefit others and the community as a whole. The crowd laughed at appropriate moments, and of course Lisa Granger was crying throughout the entire thing. Once she finished the entire crowd gave a loud applause, and Hermione took her seat with the students waiting to be called up to receive their diploma.
It was an hour and a half later that the ceremony was over and everyone was invited outside to the athletic field in order to mingle and eat the snacks that Salem was providing. Hermione found a familiar messy head of black hair in the crowd and ran up to him. "Harry! You didn't tell me you were coming." She scolded as she embraced him.
"Hermione, I wouldn't have missed this for anything." He returned her embrace.
Dan and Lisa Granger were standing right behind Hermione, a little put out that she had run right past them, but at the same time, amused as well. Dan cleared his throat getting her attention. "Dad!" Hermione turned and threw herself into his open arms. She soon followed with the same action for her mother.
Once that was complete, Hermione realized that Harry hadn't come alone. "Chaya! How did you..? Are you..? Oh, it's good to see you." Hermione wasn't really sure what she was allowed to say so she ended up pulling Chaya into hug number four.
"Congratulations Hermione. Harry explained to me the importance of this day for you, I was very pleased to be able to come and listen to your speech." Chaya whispered into Hermione's ear. "Harry and I will catch you up on the details soon."
Hermione nodded and the group headed off, following the crowd out to the field. Once they got there Hermione seemed to float from one group to another, taking group photos, giving hugs, and getting introduced to parents, siblings and cousins. She eventually brought a few friends back and introduced them to her parents, Harry and Chaya, leaving out last names in hopes that there wouldn't be a 'boy-who-lived' scene. Harry wasn't as famous in the States as he was in England, but he was in any recent history book, so every one of the graduates would recognize the name. Thankfully, everyone had been introduced to numerous people throughout the day, so by that point, people were hardly paying attention to names, simply smiling and shaking hands.
After a few minutes of small talk, Hermione got pulled away to meet someone else's cousin, or something. "Are you sad you didn't get a chance to do this Harry?" Dan asked him.
Harry just shrugged, "I am a bit, but if I had spent the last six years in school I wouldn't have been where I am now." He took Chaya's hand. "And I wouldn't give that up for the world."
Lisa swooned as the young couple for a second before realizing that they had not gotten an update on what Harry was up to since the Tournament. They were aware that he had graduated MIT and about his aging trick, but Hermione stopped giving them Harry updates since the Christmas that she had come out. "Speaking of which, what have you been up to the last three years?" Lisa asked in a friendly tone.
Harry and Chaya shared a look before Harry smiled and answered. "I promise to tell you everything tonight, but let's give Hermione her moment and take her out to a nice dinner first. This conversation isn't one to be had in public."
Lisa immediately got the message, nodded and let it go. The group waited another 30 minutes before Hermione was ready to go, having shed her thick graduation robes to reveal a nice blue sundress. They were soon in the Grangers car headed towards the restaurant where Dan had made reservations.
This was Chaya's first time in a car, well first time on Earth actually, and while she understood all of the details that made the car work, riding in one and experiencing it first hand was not something that her ascended knowledge could give her. She smiled as she looked out the window as the landscape sped by. She then looked over at Harry, the man that made this trip possible, along with many more like it in the future. Chaya thought back to that day several weeks ago…
3 Weeks Ago, Pegasus Galaxy
"Chaya!" Harry greeted her having been away for several days. He ran, swooped her into his arms spinning her around.
She laughed, "And what has you so excited?"
He gave her a mock hurt look. "Can't I just be happy to see you?"
"Of course you can Harry, but there is something else, and we both know it." She responded with a smile, not taking the bait of his guilt trip.
"You are right, of course." He gestured to his ship, which was still gate size. "Come on board and I'll show you." He flashed to the bridge, their usual meeting place, she dropped her physical body taking on a purely energy form and followed. "Follow me." Harry said, not being able to hide his grin once she arrived.
She followed him to a hanger area, where smaller ships could dock if the Lilly was fully sized. "Satellites? Harry you are so excited to show me satellites? I believe the phrase on Earth is, 'You are such a nerd.'"
Harry laughed before responding. "Not just any satellites Chaya. I've worked very hard on these I will have you know. You remember when I explained the Fidelius charm to you? Of course you do, you remember everything. Well, I figured out how to modify it a bit, well a lot actually. Each of these satellites has a fully powered ZPM. I figured out how to use a ZPM as a sort of ward stone to power the Fidelius charm. Chaya, we are going to hide the entire planet!"
Chaya just looked at him as if he had gone crazy. "No, hear me out. " He quickly defended. "The Fidelius still allows things like gravity and sunlight into the area, and I gave it a little tweak so that anyone within the area when it goes active still knows where the place is. But I figure with you as the secret keeper, this will keep the Wraith from ever finding the place. We will have the satellites connected in a slightly lower orbit than the gate so anyone that dials doesn't get in as a backdoor. SG1 proved that the wormholes can break through if there is a gate inside."
Harry took a breath and continued, "Fleur ran the calculations and the satellites can keep this charm up for 15,000 years before needing more power. I plan on the Wraith not being around long before then. Also, if need be, you will be able to take the entire charm down with just a thought."
Here he paused and got a sly grin, "Did I mention that even though each of the satellites will be within the Fidelius, each one is armed with a defense beam weapon that can destroy a Wraith mother ship with a 3 second shot? And they will be on full defensive mode if any Wraith ships are scanned within the system. It took over 20 years before the Wraith could disable the 8 defensive satellites that were defending Atlantis, and those were easily visible. I'm proposing 30 hidden ones."
"Chaya, I think the only way a Wraith could harm this planet once these go live, would be to blow up the sun." At Chaya's panicked look he quickly continued changing his tone. "I don't think they have the ability to do that, but I will have some more created and have them orbit the sun cloaked just in case."
Chaya was starting to see that Harry's idea would work and the planet could be protected without her here at all times. However after 10,000 years, she was still hesitant to leave. "Oh, there is one other thing."
Harry handed her what looked like a miniature version of a Stargate. "I'm calling this a pocket gate. It has no dialing device, which won't stop you, and the wormhole is too small to transfer mater, again, not an issue for you, but it can send a signal to the gate you are dialing, which will immediately kill any active connection it has to another gate. Chaya, if you keep this with you at all times, you will never be more than a second away from Proculus. It will self-destruct after each use, as you obviously can't take it with you, but I have plenty more, and you get them all for the low price of one kiss." Harry finished his defense plan with a big grin.
Chaya was stunned that Harry would go through this much trouble for her. The protection seemed over kill, and the fact that she could return to the planet at any second was the kicker. She had long ago tied a small part of her consciousness to her planet, so, no matter where she was, she would always know of an attack immediately. Since she had not helped at all with the plan, and had not given Harry any ascended knowledge, the others would not be able to interfere without breaking their own rules.
"Ok Harry, let's do it. But you promise to send more for the sun?" She said after a moment's pause.
Laughing, Harry responded, "Fleur has already told the constructors to start, I have enough ZPM's so they should be ready in a few days." Harry's supply of ZPM's would be running short, but he had another large batch that was nearing completion in a few months. Also, his collection of constructors had grown significantly, and ever since he added several synthesizers directly on his dead mining planet, he could have satellites or ships constructed at an alarming rate, the constructors doing the mining for him and Fleur overseeing the entire process.
It took them a few minutes to drop the satellites in a grid pattern such that they always had line of sight and cover the entire planet. Once that was complete, Harry produced a comically large green button with the word 'GO' on it and handed it to Chaya. The Lilly was navigated back down to the surface. "I'm going to go up into high orbit to make sure it works. Just hit the button in 5 minutes and you will be the secret keeper. The secret is programed to be 'Proculus is the fourth planet from the Sun.' Hopefully I won't be able to find you, so come to the bridge when it's finished."
Chaya nodded and left the ship, taking the button with her. The Lilly sped up into the sky and was soon in orbit a few km above the Stargate. Chaya took a deep breath, not that she needed it, but she had never lost her physical habits from her previous life, due to almost always having a physical form. She pressed the button and waited.
She felt the power engage from the ZPM's and stood in awe that Harry had been able to do this as she felt the Fidelius take effect. Sure she could have done the same thing easily, but to do so without ascended knowledge was really incredible. Not many Alterans could have done the same, perhaps Janus had he thought of it, but the majority of their scientists wouldn't have been able to get it to work and none as quickly as Harry had.
Realizing the process was complete; she quickly shed her physical form and traveled up to the Lilly. Harry was cheering and dancing around the bridge in celebration that he no longer knew where Chaya lived. The planet below him had disappeared and all knowledge of the planet was removed from his mind. He did however know that he had asked Chaya to cast the Fidelius on something, and judging from the fact that he was in space directly next to a Stargate without a planet, he assumed that there must be a planet around somewhere that both he and the Lilly couldn't sense. Therefore it must have worked!
Chaya watched him dance for a moment before her giggling gave her presence away. "Hello Chaya," Harry turned to her with absolutely no shame from his dancing, "Anything you would like to share with me?"
She nodded, "Proculus is the fourth planet from the Sun."
Harry turned to the view screen in time to see the planet appear. All knowledge of the planet returned to him, and since he was in on the secret, he could direct Fleur's sensors to find it. Harry smiled and again turned to her, "It worked." Was all he could get out before his mouth was occupied by a very grateful and just as beautiful ascended being.
Back on Earth, in the car
"Penny for your thoughts?" Harry broke Chaya out of her day dreaming.
She turned and smiled at him, "Just remembering one of the reasons why I love you."
Harry returned her smile and gave her hand a small squeeze.
They arrived at the restaurant and Dan handed the keys to the valet. It was a fancy steak house that Dan and Lisa had been to once before on their anniversary. After they had ordered Lisa turned to Chaya, "So, Chaya, how did you and Harry meet?"
Chaya glanced over at Harry and let out a small smile, "Harry actually found me. He wondered into my village one day, and after speaking with an elder for several minutes, was directed my way. The elder felt that Harry might perhaps be more interested in my company than his own." Lisa gave her a smile and a nod to continue.
"We ended up spending several hours talking, and he hasn't left me alone since. This was several months ago." Chaya finished the very abridged version of their relationship.
"That's quite sweet, although I assume that there is quite a bit more to the story than that." Lisa observed, figuring that the story she was just given was heavily filtered.
Chaya nodded, "There is, however it is not appropriate for telling in such a public setting."
Lisa accepted that and changed the subject. The rest of the meal was spent on safer topics such as the Grangers Dental practice, the current political climate, both magical and non, and some talk of the science around advanced transfiguration, which was muted to those not at their table thanks to a quick privacy charm by Harry.
They left the restaurant and soon arrived at the Granger's house. Dan turned to Harry, "Ok, I think we have been plenty patient and I think it is about time that you explain what you have been up to, and why our daughter refused to even apply for college."
Harry nodded, "Fair enough Dan. I'm going to take us all somewhere that will help with the explanation, try not to panic in about 2 seconds." As soon as Harry stopped speaking the five of them were transported to the Lilly, which was cloaked and floating several meters above their house.
Once, Dan and Lisa had gotten a chance to look around Harry spoke again. "Welcome to my ship, the Lilly. If you look at that view screen, you will see that we are floating just above your house. The short answer to where I have been the last few years is space." Harry smirked as the elder Grangers' jaws dropped. "For the long answer, please follow me."
The group followed Harry, Dan and Lisa were in a bit of a daze, with Hermione and Chaya both smiling lightly, entertained by Harry's sense of the dramatic. He let them to a small conference room containing a triangular table. Harry motioned for them to take a seat. "The film that I am about to show you is something I threw together as a way of introduction. I tried to make it entertaining, but at the same time, everything it says is indeed factual and not exaggerated. Once it is complete, Chaya, Hermione, or I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. "
He then gestured to a screen that appeared on the wall. A familiar yellow cartoon man appeared on the screen. "Hi, actor Troy McClure…" For the next two hours Dan and Lisa were informed about the Alterans, and the current state of this side of the universe. Harry could tell that they were both fans of the Simpsons due to their reactions to some of the gags in the movie. That and the fact that they had both had been very understanding people in the past, let him relax a little.
"So, " Harry cut the silence, "Is this a bigger or smaller surprise than when Professor McGonagall came and told you your daughter was a witch?"
That broke the Grangers from their stupor and everyone started laughing. "I think you win on that front Harry. So, aliens huh?" Dan responded.
Harry nodded, "Do you want to see what Earth looks like in orbit?" Dan, who had been a big fan of following the space program for years, nodded enthusiastically.
The group didn't even feel it as the Lilly shot up through the atmosphere. "Let's go back to the bridge then and you can take a look." As they walked Lisa whispered to Hermione.
"You are going to join him?" Hermione nodded. "He isn't forcing you to or anything right?" Hermione scoffed and shook her head. "Ok, you know your dad and I will support you with anything right?" She put an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Just be careful out there ok? You may have graduated, but you are still my little girl."
Hermione for her part just nodded again and gave her mother a nice squeeze. They were the last to arrive at the bridge and both had to laugh at the sight of Dan running from view screen to view screen like an excited child in a candy store.
"Dan, Lisa, " Harry addressed them after a few minutes of letting them enjoy the view. "Hermione has expressed an interest, and will be joining me in Atlantis." He locked eyes with Hermione, who gave a nod. "We would like to extend that invitation to the two of you as well. We are planning on rebuilding the Alteran society, and we would like the two of you to be there to help."
Dan and Lisa looked at each other, using that silent communication that parents tend to use. Eventually Dan turned back to Harry, "That is an interesting offer Harry. I believe that Lisa and I will have to think about it. At the very least we would need several months to sell our practice and get things settled here."
"Of course." Harry replied. "It is an open invitation, and if you do decide come, you will not be stuck, at any point we can always come back to Earth."
Lisa went over and pulled Harry and Hermione into a hug. "You both have grown into wonderful adults." The topic was put on hold and Hermione, Chaya, and Harry answered questions from the two Grangers for several hours. It was almost one in the morning when Harry returned the Grangers to their living room, with a small device that could be used to contact him. Hermione stayed on board the Lilly.
"The Athena with you?" Hermione nodded. "So… you wanna… God! Why is this awkward?"
Chaya just burst out laughing. Hermione smiled along with her, "Probably because we didn't make any official plan other than 'After Graduation' and you feel like your abducting me."
Harry shrugged and accepted that response. "Ok, so, in that case let's make a plan. What would you like to do Hermione?"
"Well, first of all, some of us need sleep. Tomorrow let's check in on my parents and then go clean up Dobby's Ice Palace. Speaking of Dobby is he still with the Nox?"
Harry and Chaya nodded. "Yeah, I went to visit them a few weeks ago, he really loves it there. The Nox are actually quite taken with him as well. They are working with the energies that bind him to me to see if they can figure out a way to free him, what without the losing his magic and dying thing."
"Oh. Well that's good." Hermione replied.
"Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love having the guy around, it's just that it would probably be a better life for him to be truly free." Harry shrugged again. "As it was, he said that he could feel his magic starting to weaken before this last visit, just being near to me for a day or so helped him with that issue, but it would be nice for him not to need me like that."
Harry saw Chaya's angry look and took her hand. "Yes, I know you could break it Chaya. But it's not worth losing you."
Chaya frowned and let it go, sending a mental note of 'Assholes' to the group of other ascended that was consistently watching her and Harry.
The next morning Lisa Granger woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. She looked over and saw that Dan was still sleeping. She knew that Hermione couldn't cook at all, so she quickly jumped to conclusions. "Harry is trying to bribe us." She said mostly to herself.
She got up and after putting on her bathrobe, went downstairs to see if she could help. "Good morning Harry, it smells wonderful."
Harry turned from where he was standing by the stove. "Good morning Lisa. Chaya insisted that we make you all breakfast this morning, and who am I to disagree with a Goddess?"
Lisa chuckled as a strawberry flew at Harry's head from the sink area. "Thank you for breakfast Harry, I hope that you weren't expecting an answer already were you?"
Harry chuckled, "Oh, no Lisa. Hermione just wanted to see you two this morning before we left. She actually slept here last night."
"And you and Chaya…?"
"Didn't." Harry finished for her hoping to avoid any questions about his sex life.
Dan and Hermione chose that time to come down to the kitchen. Having been awoken by the smell of fresh food. Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair, and after the dishes were done Harry and Chaya stood up. "We will let you say your goodbyes. Dan, Lisa, it was a pleasure as always, and please don't hesitate to send us a message." He gave them both a hug.
Lisa walked over to Chaya and gave her a hug as well, "It was wonderful to meet you Chaya."
"And you as well Lisa." Chaya responded.
Chaya turned to Hermione, "Take your time Hermione, we will see you at Dobby's Palace when you are ready."
With that, Harry and Chaya disappeared, one in a puff of snow, and the other as a glowing beam of energy. Ten minutes later the tearful goodbye was over and Hermione activated her portkey. All of her things she was taking with her were already on the Athena, which was in her pocket.
She found Harry giving Chaya a tour of the palace. "Hey Hermione, I was just about to show Chaya the chair and the room where I first learned about Atlantis. You want to come?"
Hermione nodded and followed them down.
Chaya was the first to speak, "Harry this is incredible. I learned about Earth and the Alteran outpost here in my history lessons as a child, but seeing it in person… It's just amazing." She sputtered, not at all acting like the ten thousand year old ascended that she was.
Harry took her hand and led her over to the room containing the Alteran writing. "This is where I taught myself Alteran. Well, how to read it at least…"
As Harry and Chaya continued the tour, Hermione walked over to the chair. She had sat in it before, but not very often, and never for very long. She ran her head over an armrest almost tentatively, and then decided to sit down.
Immediately her mind was assaulted with images before she was able to slow the flow of information. She clearly didn't want to send off any drones, so she decided to use the other main feature of the chair, the scanner. First she found the two Stargates on Earth, followed by finding the three ships currently in the solar system. (The Marauder in the garage of the ice palace, the Lilly, and the Athena)
Wondering if the scanner would be able to find Hogwarts through the wards she focused the scanner on finding people with Alteran ancestry, knowing that there would be a big collection at Hogwarts. An image of the globe appeared in her mind with a glowing blue dot representing each individual. Several areas had large concentrations of people which combined to create a sizable blue glow. Diagon Ally and Hogwarts were easy to spot because of this.
Hermione then wondered what the scanner interpreted Chaya as, so she focused the globe to zoom in on the South Pole. She immediately noticed that Chaya did indeed show up as a blue dot, but something else caught her attention. About 1 km from where Harry had found the Stargate was another blue dot. Buried deep in the ice.
Note: DUN DUN DUN!