The three weeks between early December and the end of term passed quietly and peacefully for Harry and Hermione. Once or twice every week, they would meet with Ginny, Neville, and Luna in the Room of Requirement to continue their combat training. They were making progress at an impressively rapid pace, Harry thought. They had mastered Disarming and Stunning in one evening each, and their Shield Charms were impressive as well. Neville was certainly performing a lot better with his new wand, and Hermione, too, seemed to grow into her temporary wand a little.

Neither Harry nor Hermione had been bothered by anyone in the past few weeks, aside from some girls who had hoped to score Harry as a Yule Ball date. Harry responded by simply taking Hermione's hand or pecking her on the cheek. Their hopes were quickly dashed. A few even ran off crying, which Harry felt rather bad about.

Neville had, at Harry's subtle suggestion, asked Luna to the Ball. He could not help but smile whenever he saw Luna skipping around the halls, happy as could be. Ginny, meanwhile, had been asked by Dean Thomas. Harry had played the part of the 'big brother' that Ron was supposed to play, and lightly hinted that Dean would find it quite uncomfortable to sit for a few weeks if he got word that Dean did something rude to Ginny. Ron, meanwhile, had dealt with the situation by loudly berating his sister for daring to have an interest in boys. Ginny responded by hexing him with a spell that Harry had taught her before storming off.

Ron had failed to find a date for the ball, and coped with it by loudly grumbling to anyone who would listen – that is, no one. Finally, Harry had enough and put him out of his misery by asking Lavender to the Ball for him.

Aside from the scramble for Yule Ball dates, the three weeks were quite tranquil. Ron was as moody as ever, of course, but aside from shooting glares at Harry or Hermione – or both – in class or grumbling loudly whenever he saw them together, kissing or cuddling on an armchair, he was pretty harmless. Draco Malfoy, too, had made no more attempts at confrontation. Sirius had written to them a week after their last meeting, telling them how Malfoy, or rather, No-Name's mother had come to him and begged him for his forgiveness and reacceptance, swearing a magical vow of loyalty to him. Harry supposed that No-Name's better behaviour might just be a side effect of the changes his mother was going through.

What worried Harry and Hermione the most, though, was Dumbledore. Harry had not heard one word from him since the day he tried to stop them from going to Sirius's hearing at the Ministry. Knowing what they now knew about what Harry's scar really had been, they did not trust that Dumbledore's silence was simply benign disinterest. It meant that he was plotting something. Something to do with Harry.

They would be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas Holidays because of the Yule Ball, of course, but given their magically of-age status, Harry had something else planned.

'Hermione? Would you like to go see your parents over the holidays?' he asked her one evening while they were sitting together in the Room of Requirement after a training session with Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

'But aren't we staying here for the Ball?' she turned to him and asked, evidently confused.

'We're magically of-age, remember?' Harry reminded her, 'And we know how to apparate. We can go anywhere.'

Harry had half expected her to give him a telling-off for his blatant suggestion to break the rules. Thankfully, she did not do that. Instead, her face lit up with a beaming smile.

'I'd love to! I haven't seen them in…well…to them, they've just seen me the past summer, but…'

'I understand,' Harry said quietly, 'I think we should see them and tell them the whole story. I think they need to know. Especially why their seemingly fifteen-year-old daughter is married to a seemingly fourteen-year-old boy.'

'But…Occlumency,' Hermione protested. 'My parents are muggles. They can't protect their minds.'

'And do you really think that Dumbledore, Snape, or any of the other Death Eaters will take the time to track down your parents and use Legilimency on them?' Harry pointed out. 'I doubt any of them could even find their way around the muggle world. Besides, why would they even think to do that? They don't have a reason to go to them for information.'

'I suppose you're right,' Hermione said, nodding timidly. 'Do you think they'll believe us, though?'

'I wish we'd had a Pensieve,' Harry mused, 'But they're rare and ridiculously expensive. How about this? I'll swear a magical vow that our story is completely true, and if I don't lose my magic by the end of the story, they'll know for certain it's true.'

Hermione gasped. 'You're going to swear a vow on your life and magic? For this?'

Harry shrugged. 'So what? If we tell the truth, then nothing will happen to me.'

Hermione nibbled her lip. 'I mean, sure, but what effect would it have?' she countered. 'Think about it. My parents didn't grow up in the magical world. They have no concept of what a magical vow is or does.'

'Oh.' Hermione had seen the flaw in his plan as she always did. 'Yeah, you're right.'

'Well…I think we'll be fine without,' Hermione said pensively. 'I mean, my parents have seen a woman transform into a cat and back to a woman again in their living room. How different can this be for them?'

Harry chuckled. 'When you put it like that…'

'Exactly. They'll probably think it's just another obscure facet of magic,' Hermione said. 'Which, honestly, isn't very far from the truth at all.'

Harry nodded. 'You're right. Are you sure you want to go? I know it's a lot for you…'

'I'm sure,' Hermione replied firmly. 'How are we going to get out of school? We can't apparate in and out of Hogwarts grounds, remember?'

Harry chuckled. 'As you've so often reminded me. I think it's time I read Hogwarts: A History.' That quip earned him a smack on the arm. 'We'll use the one-eyed witch passageway into Honeydukes and disapparate from Hogsmeade. We'll have to come back here at night, though, so that nobody suspects that we've been missing.'

Hermione nodded. 'It'd be a good idea for us to come back here at night for…ah…another reason, too.'

'Somehow, I doubt your parents would like it if we were vigorously shagging under their roof,' Harry said with a laugh.

Hermione went boiling scarlet. 'W-Well, yeah. And…it seems like…like you've really thought this out.'

'I've been thinking about this since the end of November,' Harry admitted. 'When we came back, I thought you'd like to see your parents again. I've been planning this for a whole month.'

'Y-You have?'

'Do you have any complaints, oh my lovely wife?'

Hermione's face turned slightly pink again. 'No. Of course not. You're just so…thoughtful. That's all.'

'Thank you. So, is that a yes?'

'Of course! I miss my parents…'

Harry gave her a small sideways squeeze. 'I know,' he said quietly, 'Trust me. I know how it feels. Term ends this Friday. We could go on Saturday. You should write them a letter, so they know that we'll be visiting. It'd be just a bit shocking for them if we just showed up on their doorstep.'

'Can I borrow Hedwig, then?'

Harry gave her a lopsided grin. 'Do you even need to ask?'

Hermione's parents replied the next day. They were surprised that their daughter was going to be visiting over break, for they thought that she was to be spending the Christmas Holidays at Hogwarts, but they certainly did not seem sorry.

Hermione was giddy the rest of the week. Harry understood. He tried to imagine how he would feel if he suddenly got the chance to see his mother and father again. It was probably worse for Hermione, though, since she had actually known her mother and father before they had been taken away from her in the 'old timeline'.

Saturday morning, Harry and Hermione bade goodbye to Ginny, Neville, and Luna before leaving Hogwarts through the one-eyed witch passageway. The moment they passed the limits of Hogwarts's protective enchantments and wards, Hermione took Harry's hand and they disapparated together.

They reappeared in front of a handsome, healthy-sized, though not too extravagant house. Harry mentally took note of how different this place was from Privet Drive, with all its identical, utilitarian houses. He and Hermione walked up to the front door, and Hermione rang the doorbell.

Seconds later, a very pretty woman with long, slightly curly blonde hair and bright, intelligent blue eyes answered the door. Harry knew by the face that it had to be Hermione's mother.

'Mum!' Hermione squealed excitedly, throwing her arms around her mother. The older woman seemed surprised at her daughter's enthusiasm but returned the embrace gladly.

'Hello, Hermione,' her mother greeted. She looked up at Harry. 'Ah, this young man must be Harry.'

'Yes, Missus Granger,' Harry said, holding out his hand, 'Nice to meet you.'

Hermione's mother shook his hand. 'Helen, Harry.'

Harry nodded, and Hermione's mother…Helen smiled appreciatively, then turned her head into the house.

'Josh! The kids are here!' she called.

A few seconds later, a tall, thin man appeared from the first-floor landing. He had short, straight hair that was the same light brown colour as his daughter's, and looking at his eyes, it was obvious from where Hermione got hers.

'Well, that's a welcome surprise,' the father said as he made his way down the stairs to the front door. 'I thought you were staying at school over the holidays, Hermione.'

'Technically we are,' Hermione explained, 'But we…uh…well. Can we come in? We'll explain everything.' She turned to Harry. 'This is Harry, by the way, Dad.'

Hermione's father surveyed Harry with his eyes before sticking out his hand. 'Josh. We've heard a lot about you in our letters, of course. Good to finally meet you.'

Harry shook the man's hand. 'Good to meet you, too.'

Hermione's mother and father led them into the lounge. Helen disappeared into the kitchen for a few moments and brought back a bowl of apple slices. Hermione winked at Harry and mouthed the word 'dentists'.

'Well, as I said earlier, a welcome surprise,' Josh began, gnawing on a slice of apple. 'How did you get here? Did you commandeer the school train?'

All four of them laughed. 'No, Dad. We apparated. That's magically disappearing from one place and appearing in another. Think of it as teleportation in the movies.'

'I thought you couldn't use magic outside of school,' Helen observed, raising an eyebrow.

'Ah…that's part of the story we have to tell you,' Hermione said in a small voice, looking a little nervous.

'You're not pregnant, are you?' Helen asked, her face suddenly contorting into a frightened expression.

'No!' Hermione shrieked. 'No, Mum! No!'

Helen narrowed her eyes. 'Okay…what is it, then?'

Hermione took a deep breath. 'What we're about to tell you is going to sound really strange…but we swear we're telling the truth, Mum, Dad.'

'We've seen a person become a cat right in front of us,' Josh said. 'What could be stranger than that?'

Hermione took another deep breath. 'Well…Harry and I are actually twenty-four and married…'

They began much the same explanation that they had given to Sirius and Remus earlier that month. Helen and Josh paled with every year of Harry's and Hermione's future lives that they recounted. By the end of the retelling, the Granger parents' skin resembled chalk. Their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were wide. Hermione's mother was running a hand absentmindedly through her hair. Harry supposed that was where her daughter got that habit from.

'I don't know what's more shocking,' Josh said in a faraway voice, 'The fact that you're both in your mid-twenties, the fact that you've travelled back through time somehow, the fact that a genocidal Dark Wizard took over half of Europe, starting what essentially amounted to a second Holocaust, the fact that you've had to kill probably over a hundred people just to stay alive, or the fact that you're married.'

'I don't think you need to rank at that point,' Helen replied in the same voice.

'But do you believe us, Mum? Dad?'

Both nodded absently. 'I believe you,' Helen said. 'It's just a lot to take in. I can't believe that…that magic can be…so horrible.'

Hermione nodded. 'I understand, Mum. We never believed, either. Not until we saw it. But this won't happen again. Since we know what would happen if everything just…played out…like they did before, we're doing everything we can to prevent it.'

'Do you really have to take up this fight by yourself, though?' Helen asked. 'I understand that it directly concerns you…you're a witch with non-magical parents and you can't get out of it and just let Riddle take over all of Europe…but…surely that Ministry of Magic…or the Headmaster of your school.'

'We have friends whose parents or guardians are important people within the Ministry and the Wizengamot – that's like the magical House of Commons – and so we hope that we won't have to take up the fight all on our own. We have the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement – think of that as the Home Secretary – on our side. She's an old friend of my godfather Sirius's, I think,' Harry explained. 'As for the Headmaster…we've found that he can't be trusted.'

'He has a tendency to keep secrets and "manipulate" people,' Hermione supplied. 'And those secrets and manipulations often end up getting people killed that wouldn't have died if he had just been a little more forthcoming. He's the indirect cause of what happened in the "previous timeline", because he wouldn't tell Harry about the piece of Riddle's soul in his scar, which led to Riddle coming back.'

'And you think you'll be okay without the aid of that Headmaster?' Josh probed. 'Isn't he supposed to be one of the most powerful wizards in the world or something?'

'He is, but he's not a trustworthy one,' Hermione replied. 'On top of all the secrets, we also suspect he's done some pretty awful things where Harry is concerned. We have no real use for him, anyway – we know everything that he knows already. We're only keeping him in the picture instead of getting Madam Bones to investigate him because Riddle fears him.'

Josh nodded uncomfortably. 'But even with him in the picture, you still have to fight in the war?'

'I don't think we have any choice,' Harry answered. 'Hermione told you about the prophecy regarding me. She wouldn't leave me even if I wanted her to. But it'll be better this time, I hope. Think of it this way: this time, we're getting the government to fight a terrorist, while the last time around, it was a group of vigilantes.'

'But you'll be safe? Or as safe as you can be?' Josh asked, concerned.

'Josh, I'll protect Hermione with my life,' Harry answered immediately. 'We'll be far safer than when this all happened in the "old timeline". We're much better at combat now. We know what's going to happen. We can take steps to prepare for it and prevent it.'

'I…I trust you,' Josh said with difficulty, 'If you two managed to keep each other alive for all those years…then I suppose you can keep each other safe now.'

'We can,' Hermione affirmed. 'We need to keep you safe, too. In the "old timeline", I had to wipe your memories and send you to Australia, and then when we brought you back, you still weren't safe.'

'How?'

'We can put up a mixture of protective enchantments and fixed wards around the house,' Hermione explained. 'That'll keep anyone you don't want to come knocking out. There's an enchantment that prevents wizards from mapping your house using magic. There's also one that prevents non-magical people from seeing magical buildings that can be easily flipped to keep magical people that we don't want away from our house. Then, there are wards that act from a fixed point. Usually this is an enchanted rock or stone. Those can get…quite dark and quite deadly. My favourite is one that rips out the soul of anyone carrying a Dark Mark and shreds it. That one's very hard to put up, though. We'll have to spend probably a full week here at some point to do it.'

'This isn't too urgent,' Harry assured the Grangers. 'Riddle won't return until June, and the Death Eaters will likely not do anything major for months afterwards. Plus, if everything goes well, he'll be severely weakened. We can do this over Easter Break or at the very beginning of the Summer Holidays.'

Josh and Helen both nodded gratefully. 'As long as you know what you're doing…'

Harry chuckled. 'Hermione definitely knows what she's doing.' Harry saw her glow bright pink out of the corner of his eye. 'She kept the dingy little flat we lived in out of the reach of the Death Eaters for over a year.'

'I still can't believe that Ron boy ended up being a turncoat,' Helen growled through gritted teeth. 'I thought from your letters that he was a little dim, a little insensitive, but all-around loyal.'

'He's sort of a fair-weather friend,' Hermione said with a sigh. 'He has a tendency to get jealous of others easily. I can understand why. He has five older brothers. But he still abandoned Harry twice when he was in need…three times if you count him running out on the Order when his family died. I think it was that that drove him to defect…his family was dead, and he was feeling totally hopeless.'

'But you and Harry never went over to the other side because your family died,' Josh pointed out.

'Well, they would've killed me on the spot for my descent. And Harry, they would've delivered to Riddle, and then they'd kill him, too.'

Josh shuddered and shook his head. 'It's not like it matters anymore, since that "timeline" is erased and you're not friends with that Ron, anyway. But I don't think you need to defend him. The deaths of your blood family isn't a very good reason to turn over the only other family you've got.'

'I agree,' said Helen. 'But let's not talk about Ron anymore. Like your father said, it doesn't matter. I'm curious about one more thing. Are you still married, even though you've come ten years back in time?'

Harry and Hermione both blushed brightly. 'I suppose,' Hermione replied in a tiny voice. 'I mean…we still love each other…a lot. We've known each other for…thirteen years…and been married for…two or three? I don't see a reason why not.'

'We never did it properly last time,' Harry said to Hermione. 'I promise you…after we leave Hogwarts…we'll do it right. Dress, ceremony, everything.'

Hermione leaned over and pecked him on the cheek as the older Grangers chuckled.

'Harry, I'd give you "the talk", but I don't think you'd need it. I'm more scared of what you can do than you're scared of me,' Josh jested.

'If I ever hurt Hermione, Josh, you can beat the snot out of me,' Harry replied. 'I'd probably deserve it.'

'I can promise that,' Josh said, laughing.

'Listen, Harry, Hermione. The British Army paid for my Dentistry degree at Edinburgh,' Josh continued seriously, leaning forward, 'I was a sergeant in the army for three years. I haven't seen a hundredth of what you two have seen, but if you ever feel the need to talk…know that I can at least try to relate to what you've been through.'

'Thanks, Dad,' Hermione said.

Josh nodded solemnly, munching on another slice of apple. Helen looked slightly uncomfortable at the renewed discussion of war and death.

'Since you're here, would you stay for lunch?' she asked, trying to lighten the mood, 'Or better, would you be able to stay overnight?'

'Sure, Mum, we can stay for lunch,' Hermione replied happily. Helen looked satisfied that her diversion had worked. 'As for overnight, we can't. We technically aren't even allowed to be here. We snuck out of school. If they don't see us during the day, they'll probably just think we're snogging on the grounds somewhere. But if we don't return at night, they'll be suspicious.'

'I can fix lunch,' Harry said at once, before thinking.

The elder Grangers looked shocked. Hermione put her hand on his thigh, willing him to stay put while shooting her parents a meaningful look.

'Don't,' Josh commanded, 'You're our guest here. Helen and I are more than capable in the kitchen, even if those skills didn't quite transfer to our daughter.'

Harry grinned while Hermione looked affronted. 'I can feed myself!' she protested. 'I can make…er…tea sandwiches?'

'You can feed yourself, sure,' Harry joined in the ribbing, 'But you can't feed yourself good food.'

'That's why I got myself a husband!' she shot back.

And everyone laughed, war, misery, and danger temporarily forgotten.

Ron thought that he should be happy to be going to the Ball with Lavender Brown, but he was not. On one hand, he could not wait to see her in a skimpy dress that displayed her cleavage for all to see – though he would, of course, get the exclusive top-down view. The only issue was his dress robes. He honestly thought he could truncate the name to just 'dress', for that was what the lacy abomination looked like. How was he to get Lavender into a broom closet if he was dressed like a ninety-year-old grandmother?

Harry was going to the Ball with Hermione. Ron was upset by that, but he was not surprised. Of course Harry would get everything that he wanted. Except Harry did not know what he really wanted.

He and Ginny were made for each other, but they were too blind to see that! Ron let out a growl of frustration.

Ron thought that showing up to the Ball with Lavender Brown might very well help put his plan into motion. He had discussed the mechanics of this with Seamus, the foremost expert on women. He had claimed that it was, indeed, all about the rack. Lavender was a double D, at least, Seamus had said. The know-it-all was probably a C-cup at best. Ron could just see it now: Harry would see the date the Ron had managed to score and immediately come to his senses about the know-it-all.

The only wrench in his plot was Ginny. She was going to the Ball with Dean. Of course, like any good big brother should, he had shouted at his sister for daring to go to the Ball with a boy – a boy that was not Harry, at least. Ginny, in return, had blew her top again, telling him once more that Harry was a hundred times the brother that he was, before hexing him and storming off.

Ron, after calming down a little, supposed that Ginny going to the Ball with Dean was actually going to play to his advantage. Harry would see Ginny show up at the Ball with Dean, then he would realize that he had gotten the worst date in the entire school – well, at least he was not going with Eloise Midgen or Millicent Bulstrode, but nobody would ask them to the Ball! – and ditch the plain little know-it-all for Ginny, like it was meant to play out all along.

With all his cunning scheming, Ron thought he could even make a good Slytherin – not that he would ever be associated with that slime, of course.

Albus was doing his traditional Saturday afternoon scheming.

After the New Year, he would be playing one of his most important hands in the game that was manipulating – er, guiding – Harry to fulfil his destiny. The Blood Wards. Albus had hoped to exploit another opportunity to present Harry with the truth, preferably a time when he was more mentally weakened. That way, he would be more inclined accept his word without question and most likely not think twice about the necessity of returning to Privet Drive. Now, however, Harry was sure to be on his guard. Miss Granger was too clever to not realize that Albus was hiding something.

She just did not understand that there were some less savoury things Albus needed to do for the Greater Good.

Albus would have to spin some story about how seeing Harry in the First Task had made him see clearly that Harry was in danger, and that Albus, in turn, had to impress upon him the need to return behind the Blood Wards at his relations'. It did not bother Albus that he was lying about the mere existence of such Blood Wards. It was all so that the Greater Good could be fulfilled.

After letting him know of the Blood Wards, Albus anticipated that Harry would be far more willing to work with him without question, since Albus could place himself as the only one capable of casting and maintaining such powerful wards. That would repair the damage that was done by Sirius's freeing and Harry's own magical emancipation. The Greater Good would be secure.

Albus also had to repair Harry's relationship with the Weasley boy. From what Minerva and Filius – and even Severus, in his sneering, condescending way – had reported to him, Harry had made major improvements in his classes. Before the First Task, he was hovering between 'A's and 'E's in every class except Defence Against the Dark Arts. Now, he was scoring straight 'O's. Even Severus could not find ways to give him 'T's on purpose.

That would not do, Albus knew. Let that carry on further, and Harry would become too confident in himself. Splitting him from Miss Granger was out of the question. To do so would destroy Harry, and along with that, the Greater Good, as well. It might even make Harry Go Dark.

The only way Albus knew to reign in Harry was to return Weasley to his circle, but from what Minerva had said, he was currently entirely smitten with Miss Brown. Both were constantly staring at each other in class and earning 'P's and 'D's on their work as a result. Minerva had been concerned, and apparently Molly had already written her concerning his son's performance, but to Albus, it was perfect. Let Weasley drag Harry's performance in his classes down, reign in his confidence, and along the way return Harry to Albus's control.

Albus had a plan. Harry had long since figured out the clue for the Second Task. What he did not know, however, was who was going to be selecting 'what he'll sorely miss'. That would be the perfect opportunity to show Harry how much he needed Weasley, Albus thought. The Greater Good would be safe yet again.

A/N: Let me pre-empt the comments about how quickly the Grangers believed Harry's and Hermione's story. Let's cast aside the magical vow for now – that's just for extra 'trust' value – and focus on what they're being told.

If you've ever lied to anyone, you'll know that it's hard to make up a coherent story on the fly. You can practice it over and over again, but when you're staring them in the face, it's hard to stick to the story you concocted.

Josh and Helen are mature enough people to know that people generally suck at being civil towards each other. Josh was in the military and he would understand better than most. It's not a stretch for them to understand that the wizards are just as barbaric towards each other as muggles.

And when would you ever lie and say something horrible happened if it actually did not? That's not a funny prank, that's just completely sadistic. It's too big and too horrible of a lie to make up. I, personally, would be inclined to believe. So for the story's sake, so will the Grangers.

I also have good news: the draft of the story is complete. The story ended up being 53 chapters in length, including the Prologue and Epilogue but excluding a 'bonus' chapter at the end that I don't consider a part of the main story. A rough estimate of word count lands at between 230,000 and 260,000 words. There will definitely be more chapters posted per week from now on, time permitting, since it takes a lot of time to be my own beta and edit for grammar, style, and plot consistency. Expect a minimum of two chapters per week unless real-life circumstances make that impossible.

I apologize for the long A/N again, but I need to get this out there. A quick primer on my upcoming and planned projects that I will be working on now that this story is essentially complete. I have a short humour story in the works. Post-DH, EWE, all that. That will be written on a schedule of 'whenever I feel like it' and updated accordingly. It will be structured as a sort of series of connected one-shots, so the story should not be impacted too much by the sparse update schedule.

My main focus will be on a companion story to this one, which I hinted at in a previous A/N. I realized halfway through writing this story that my setup (Prologue, Chapter I) had a lot of untapped potential for a story of its own that was wasted because the time travel obviously necessitated the erasure of the entire 'old timeline'. I plan to experiment with a lot more original world and character building. I was inspired by Starfox5's incredible works Patron and Hermione Granger and the Marriage Law Revolution. I will be exploring magic and wizarding culture outside of Britain.

Please vote in the poll on my author's profile on the general direction you want to see that story take.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!