"Mr. Dumbledore did that to you?" asked Rose aghast.

"Yes." said Harry sadly. "I don't think I really trusted the man after that. I did, to some extent, but I stopped following his every word as if it was law. He might have believed he was right, but it doesn't mean that his actions had been."

"In retrospective, it wasn't too bad of a decision." said Hermione with a knowing smile. When Harry looked at her dumbfounded, she added "While I would prefer by far that you never had to live with the Dursleys for a single minute, had Dumbledore not done what he did to us, we would have grown up as siblings and the chances of us falling in love would have been extremely low and we wouldn't have Rose with us."

"What!?" said their shocked five-years-old daughter. "I want to be alive!"

Her parents chuckled. "You are alive Rose." said Harry. "And you will always be our daughter. We love you." he said, grabbing her in a hug."

The Battle of the Department of Mysteries had taken place three days ago. Three days ago, Sirius Black had died. Three days ago, Hermione had been cursed and nearly lost her life. Harry hadn't left her bedside since he came back from his talk with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore.

Harry was still angry at the old man. His simple actions had separated Harry and Hermione and made their next six years miserable. While it hadn't cost as much for Hermione as it had for Harry, Hermione had been incredibly lonely during her childhood while Harry had to go through abuse by the Dursleys. Abuse becoming worse and worse. Dumbledore's actions had made Hermione loose trust in herself and made Harry resent Hermione. And all that so that the Blood Protection could continue to exist.

Harry had stayed in the Hospital Wing day and night, holding her hand and sitting at her bedside as much as possible. Madam Pomfrey had reassured him when he had first arrived, telling him that Hermione would wake up in a few days and that she was simply unconscious to let her body heal itself efficiently. Ron was staying in the Hospital Wing because of his injuries as well but, unlike Hermione, he had woken up the first day. Ron was sleeping a few beds away from Hermione and Harry.

That night, Harry had fallen asleep while holding her hand, sitting on a wooden chair and his head on Hermione's lap.

Hermione slowly woke up in the middle of the night. It took her a few seconds to recognise where she was. She felt something sitting on her lap while something else was in her hand. Looking down, she noticed that it was Harry who had fallen asleep holding her hand. She smiled. That scene looked very familiar to when Harry had woken up three weeks after the troll in First Year. The roles, however, had been reversed.

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, remembering that he had done so in their First Year. Unexpectedly, Harry woke up and looked around confused until his gaze sharpened and he suddenly turned his head toward Hermione. Chocolate brown eyes met bright emerald green eyes.

"Hermione?" croaked Harry. She was surprised to see bags under Harry's eyes. He looked really tired. She realised that she must have been out for a few days. Hermione nodded to Harry. "Thank Merlin." he said, bursting out crying. His head fell back on her lap and Hermione took him in her arms. She slowly led Harry upward until his head was resting on her shoulders. With a kiss on the top of his head, she whispered in his ear "It's alright. I'm here, I'm fine. I'm with you, Harry." in repetition until he calmed down.

"I wouldn't have survived if I had lost you as well..."

The blood drained from Hermione's face, a cold feeling washing over her spine. "What do you mean, 'as well'?"

Harry froze before he started sobbing again. "Hermione... Hermione..."

"Harry... please... who?"

"S-Sirius!" he said. Hermione gasped. "S-Sirius is... he is d-dead!"

"No!" she said before she started crying as well. The couple held each other for a few minutes until both had stopped crying. "Who else?"

"H-He was the only one." whispered Harry. "O-Other got injured however. Ron got hurt by giant b-brains, Ginny's ankle and N-Neville's nose were broken and Luna got a c-concussion. T-Tonks is also at St-Mungo's c-currently but she should be fine."

"Everyone else is alright?"

"Yes." whispered Harry. "Everyone else is fine."

"Thank Merlin." she said.

…

"I'm sorry."

Knowing that Harry was blaming himself, as he always did, she said "Don't. I don't blame you for ending up here so don't blame yourself."

"But it was a trap! And you knew but you still came because of me and ended up injured!"

Taking his head in her hands, she slowly lifted it until his face was straight in front of hers'. She kissed him. Harry happily kissed back, albeit rather slowly at first. "Listen here Harry. It was my decision to follow you. You tried to make me stay behind and I came for you. It is not your fault."

Her stubborn boyfriend finally relented before posing his head on her chest. "I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." she answered back. She was about to tell him to go to sleep when she remembered their first year. Hermione slowly moved herself away from Harry, to his confusion, before she let enough distance between them for someone else to climb on the bed. Hermione smiled before tapping the empty spot on the bed. Harry smiled in recognition.

"Wouldn't Madam Pomfrey be angry at us?"

"Well... she didn't punish us in First Year, did she?"

"No, but we weren't hormonal teenagers either." said Harry with a small snort. However, he didn't protest and climbed on the bed.

"Sleep Harry. You look tired. We can talk tomorrow."

"Yes..." whispered Harry, already falling asleep. "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Harry."

The next morning, Harry woke up confused. He didn't remember going back to Gryffindor Tower yet he was clearly sleeping on a bed. He could see through the window a dark pink sky, indicating that the Sun was rising. He was also confused by the sudden weight on the left side of his chest. Turning around, he was shocked to see Hermione. Her hair was splattered all around the pillows while her head was resting on his chest.

And then, everything came flooding back. He remembered now how she had woken up in the middle of the night and let him sleep on her bed. Harry smiled goofily before he put his nose in Hermione's hair.

"Morning handsome." muttered Hermione.

"Morning beautiful." said Harry. "How are you?"

"My chest hurt but it's nothing potions cannot help with." she answered, her head still on his chest. "You?"

Harry had learned a long time ago that "I'm fine." just didn't cut it with Hermione anymore. She knew that his "I'm fine." meant anything but that and had requested that Harry stop hiding his feelings from her when he was hurt. He decided to just blurt everything out without thinking about it.

"Physically, I'm alright. Mentally, not so much. I'm worried about you and everyone else who was injured, I can't help but blame myself for what happened, I'm still mourning Sirius and I am bloody pissed at Dumbledore for what he did to us."

Hermione frowned. She expected everything he said. Everything but his comment at Dumbledore. "What did he do to us?" she asked. She felt Harry tense. "Harry?" she asked, raising her head to look in his eyes.

"I'm not sure it's the right moment to talk about it..." said Harry, avoiding her eyes.

"Harry... please..." she whispered.

Her boyfriend sighed. "You remember the prophecy, right?"

"What happened to it?" she asked, suddenly. She had completely forgotten about it.

"The sphere was smashed when Neville dropped it during the battle." he said. "However, that sphere was a copy stored in the Department of Mysteries. The prophecy had been made to someone who was later able to tell it to me."

"Who?"

"Dumbledore. The prophecy goes as follow: 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. …'"

"What does it mean?"

"It means that someone both at the end of July of parents who defied Voldemort three times would be the only one to have a chance at defeating him."

"Y-You?" whispered Hermione, her skin becoming whiter.

Harry nodded. "It could have been two boys. Neville or I but Voldemort choose me and 'marked him as his equal,'" he said, pointing at his scar.

Hermione was slowly trembling in fear. Harry noticed that and took her in his arms. "I love you Harry." she said. "I'll always be with you, to the end."

"I love you too Hermione." he said, content to just hold her.

The couple stayed silent for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again. "Is the prophecy what you said Dumbledore did to us?"

"No, but it led to that." he said. "Do you remember when you refused your parents' idea of adopting me?" he asked. Hermione froze. Why was Harry asking her that?

"Y-Yes... why are you..."

"Hermione, please, tell me how you felt?"

She sighed. "Well at first, I was happy but before I could say anything, I just suddenly felt angry at the idea without knowing why. It was like I had been hit with a Compul..." she said before her eyes widened. "N-No... he didn't?" she pleaded.

Harry nodded sadly, knowing that Hermione had reached the right conclusion. There was a reason why she was considered the brightest witch of her age. Tears leaked out of Hermione's eyes. "Why?"

"After what happened to my parents, Dumbledore brought me to Privet Drive. He wanted me to live with a blood relation of my mother so that he could put powerful protections based on the love of my mother. Dumbledore told me that many wizarding families had wanted to get guardianship of me but Dumbledore had fought all of their offers. In a way, it was a good thing since some families like the Malfoys and Lestranges tried to get my guardianship which would have been a disaster but for others, it wasn't. Some good families like the Weasleys also wanted me but Dumbledore was able to talk them out of it. What he couldn't do however was talk muggles out of adopting me since they didn't know Dumbledore and he held no power in the muggle world. So, when a small family of two dentists and a small girl living at Privet Drive tried to adopt me, Dumbledore caught wind of it and went to meet the young family hoping to stop them from doing so. He found the family while they were sitting outside of an ice-cream parlour. He heard the parents talk about moving out of town with both me and their daughter and Dumbledore realised that he couldn't allow it if he wanted me to stay under the protections so when the parents asked their daughter about her opinion, he... he sent a Compulsion Charm on her to reject the idea and then one Compulsion Charm on each parent to make them move out the next day..."

"Dumbledore separated us?" cried Hermione. For so long, she had believed that it was her fault and had endlessly blamed herself for it. To hear from her boyfriend, the other victim that it had been Dumbledore all along, a man she highly respected hurt her a lot.

"Yes. I'm sorry." said Harry, holding her even closer to him.

…

"You're coming to Crawley with us."

"W-What?"

"You're coming with us. It might be ten years too late but you are coming home."

"Home..." smiled Harry. "I can't wait until we have our own home." he said, making Hermione smile as well.

"Maybe we could have a small home in a village?"

"Like my parents had in Godric's Hollow. We could have our own small cottage in a mixed muggle and wizarding village."

"With a backyard so that our kids could fly with their father..." she said, smiling to Harry.

"And a big enough library where they could read with their mother..." he said before sighing. "I really hope I will survive the war because that's my dream, that's what I want for our future."

"You will survive or I will revive you just to kill you myself." said Hermione seriously before she started giggling. Harry quickly followed with a chuckle.

Hermione sighed before closing her book. Harry had spent the last ten minutes pacing in their compartment. In a way, she couldn't make him stop as she knew he was anxious. She also was.

While Hermione was in the Hospital Wing, she had written a letter to her parents explaining everything that had happened in the last few days including Dumbledore's confession before asking if Harry could come live with them that summer. The Grangers had been incensed to learn of the truth and had readily accepted to host Harry until they returned to Hogwarts.

Harry was nervous because in less than ten minutes, he would be reunited with the only two adults he had trusted and loved during his childhood, the only ones had come the closest to feeling like parents to Harry than anyone else. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had come close as well but not as much as Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

Another reason why Harry was anxious was because he had been pretty much avoiding them ever since he had reunited with Hermione. Thankfully, they had really only been close to each other when they were at King's Cross. It had been easy to avoid them when going to the platform because the Grangers always dropped Hermione early while Harry always arrived late and coming back, Harry was always one of the last to leave Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters although in that case, it was more about avoiding the Dursleys for as long as possible.

But now? Harry was about to meet them.

He hadn't seen them since he was five-years-old. He had glanced at them in the past but that was it. He was also anxious about how he would be treated by them now that he was Hermione's boyfriend.

"Harry." said Hermione, finally speaking up. "Just sit down."

"Yeah mate." said Ron. "I know you are anxious but pacing doesn't help anyone."

Harry sighed before he sat down alongside Hermione. His girlfriend gave him a reassuring smile before she put her arm around his waist. Harry did the same to her and together, they waited for the train to arrive at the station.

Precisely seven minutes later, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters. Harry and Hermione were already ready to go and left the train together before crossing the barrier toward the muggle side of the station.

"Do you see them around?" asked Hermione to her boyfriend. However, Harry didn't answer as his eyes were fixed on a point in front of him. Looking in the same direction, Hermione found her parents. "Let's go Harry." she whispered comfortably to him. She saw him give her a small nod but he looked like he was about to throw up. "It's going to be fine. They never forgot about you and already love you." she said before slowly dragging Harry toward her parents.

"Mum! Dad!" she nearly shouted to them when they were only a few feet from them. Hermione immediately took her father in a hug before doing the same to her mother. Harry stopped behind her, letting the family reunite.

After receiving a hug from their daughter Daniel and Emma looked at her companion: Harry Potter. They hadn't 'seen' him since he was five-years-old although they had glanced at him in the past and had seen his picture on the Daily Prophet many times. It was obvious to both parents that Harry looked incredibly uncomfortable and nervous.

"Hey Harry!" said Dan, trying to break the tension. "You're all grown up!" Harry smirked, not knowing whether it was meant as a compliment or if it was just stated as a fact. Emma however decided that there was only one way to bring Harry out of his anxious shell. She walked to him and took him in a bone crushing hug. Harry gasped in surprise.

"I'm so sorry that we left you behind." whispered Emma in Harry's ear. "We saw you as the son we never had, yet we left without you."

"It's not your fault." said Harry, speaking for the first time. "Dumbledore used magic on all three of you to do exactly that."

"Still..." she started but was interrupted by Harry.

"I forgive you, if that's what you want to know."

"Thanks." she said emotionally. Emma let go of Harry before whipping the few tears that had leaked out.

"Emma is right." said Dan. "For us, you were the son we never had and you were always welcomed at the Grangers and you will always be." before he offered his hand.

Harry shook it. "Thanks Sir."

"Arg. Don't call me 'Sir'!" he said, making both women giggles. "Just call me Dan." he said, smiling.

"And Emma." said Emma.

"Thanks." said Harry, smiling.

"Well, shall we go then?" asked Hermione. The group all nodded and, together, they left the station. The family was reunited for the first time in more than ten years...

"And that's how I was reunited with Grandmum and Granddad!" said Harry with a grin.

"When will we visit Grandmum and Granddad?" asked Rose.

"This weekend!" answered Hermione immediately.

"Really?" said both Harry and Rose.

"Yes. We need to talk to them about... a few things."

"Oh okay." said Harry. "...About what?"

"Later."

"Oh okay."

"Anyway..." continued Hermione. "That summer was one of my best summer vacations I ever had."

"Same thing. Easily the best one for me." said Harry. "With your grandparents, we left the country and travelled to Germany! We spent a lot of time there and it was lovely. It really helped me come out of my semi-depression from Sirius' death. When we came back, I visited Gringotts for Sirius' Will reading and found out that I inherited everything he owned, including Grimmauld Place. I also found out that my own Grandparents had owned a house that they had left to my parents, which I inherited. It became important the following summer." said Harry.

"Where is it?" asked Rose.

"Shipton's Lynn."

"But that's here!" said Rose.

"Yep! That," he said, throwing his arms round to indicate the house "once was my grandparents. That's where your Grandfather James grew up." he said which made Rose grin. She had her mother's grin.

"Our sixth year at school was pretty basic." said Hermione. "We had a small problem in the first few months because of the Half-Blood Prince Potions textbook but after Harry let me study it in detail, I figured that there was no problem with the modified potions recipes."

"During that year, Professor Dumbledore decided to be more open to us and he told us about Voldemort's biggest secret. After he died, we were set on a mission to go hunt special objects that helped Voldemort stay immortal."

"Before we left for the summer however, Hermione figured that her parents would be in danger from Death Eaters and we all decided together that they would hide in my grandparents' house while we left for our hunt. The war escalated during the hunt and Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic. Things were looking grim and I'm ashamed to say that I wasn't sure if we would survive the war. So, one morning, I had an idea...

A/N: I few told me that Harry and Hermione could still have got married even if Harry had been adopted by the Grangers. While I don't doubt it, that wasn't the point I was trying to make! I said that Rose most probably wouldn't have been born because Harry and Hermione would have been raised as brother and sister! Because of that, it would have been very unlikely (not impossible but unlikely) that our favourite couple would even have seen each other as potential love interests, much less actually fall for each other. That was the point I was trying to make when I said that had Dumbledore not interfered, Rose would probably never have been born. ;)