A/N – Usual disclaimer about HP being Rowling's, I just write for fun, and if you don't like what direction I take things, sorry about that, but thanks for giving it a try, I appreciate anyone taking the time to read through this. The story is developing a different way to how I first envisaged it, it's going to be a very different beast to how I thought it would be!

Chapter 13 – Wind Me Up

Whilst Harry didn't remember the details of his last dream, he did find himself being more aware of things around him since, particularly where the headmaster was involved. He was aware that Dumbledore always seemed on the periphery of Harry's life at Hogwarts. He couldn't put his finger on why but if he was being honest, he wasn't overly worried about the most of it. Indeed, for parts of it the result was positive.

Potions was the most obvious example. Professor Snape was far from pleasant to Harry or Hermione but had reigned in the worst of his antagonistic tendencies. He had noticed that Dumbledore had found an excuse to turn up at other lessons too and after speaking to Hermione and Susan had determined that it may have been so that the headmaster wasn't seen to be singling out the unpleasant potions professor.

Still, something in the back of Harry's mind told him that there would be a reckoning between them before too long. Oddly the idea didn't terrify him the way he thought it would. Harry was still something of a dichotomy. He was shy for most of the time, retiring, comfortable to learn in the background, would answer questions to the best of his knowledge but still wanted to just get on with things as unobtrusively as he could. Conversely, there was the flip side of him which would come out when he was around Hermione, Neville, Susan, and to a lesser extent Ron. This Harry was more confident, he smiled more, he was bordering on the jocular, he still listened more than he spoke, but when he did speak it was with confidence. It was like the company he kept fired something inside him.

That second Harry generated a unique feeling in the young wizard's head and heart and it was a variation of that feeling which he found manifest itself whenever he was in the presence of the headmaster. He was polite still, but questioning. Things came to a head when, at the start of the extended yule period, Dumbledore had made an announcement at dinner, advising students that there would be lists going up in each common room for students to append their names to should they be planning to spend the yule break in the castle. It was not an unreasonable request given that the staff would need to determine how many students would be around to give them a chance to arrange suitable staff cover. The lists would be up for two weeks to allow all students ample time to consider their options and where needed, make their own arrangements.

One week into the period of the lists being available Harry and Hermione found themselves sitting at breakfast in the great hall as Hedwig came sweeping down to land on Harry's shoulder, although she turned to look at Hermione and proffered a leg in the young witches direction. Penelope and Storm sniggered at the owl's antics and watched as Hermione's eyes widened at the contents of the letter she had received.

"Oh Harry" she beamed. "It's from mum and dad, they got the permission slip back from your aunt and uncle." Her expression darkened as she read on. "Those… those… I can't even…"

"What's wrong?" asked a worried Harry.

"Mum said that the slip had a note from your guardians saying that they would be delighted not to have their Christmas spoiled so as far as they were concerned, the longer you weren't there the better. Oh Harry…" Tears were close as Hermione for once struggled to put words to the emotions railing within her.

For his part, Harry just shrugged, a look of embarrassed resignation on his face. Normally, something like this would have been his trigger to return to the shell he had built around himself, but having his friends, including Penelope and Storm in that small but precious group, was a key part in the development of Harry's personality. For their part, Storm and Penelope didn't know what to say, sure as they were that Hermione had been so wrapped up in her letter that she wasn't fully aware of what she'd just broadcast to the two older students.

It took Hermione mere seconds to realise what she had done and with a look of shock turned to her best friend, fresh tears in her eyes as she fretted about his response. "Harry!" she gasped "I didn't mean to read that out loud, I just…"

Harry stopped her. "It's ok Hermione. Honest, I know you didn't. You know that my relatives don't like me much. If I'm being honest I sort of agree, the longer I'm not there the better for me too."

Penelope looked at the two youngsters. "I know this is really between you two but it's their loss Harry."

Storm nodded his agreement. "You are good kids. Hell if I wasn't staying in the castle, I'd being you home with me!"

Penelope swatted the older student. "You make them sound like a couple of strays."

Storm just grinned. "Well, I mean look at Harry's hair, that's got 'stray' written all over it!" Hermione's look of indignation on behalf of her best friend got the others to laugh which was Storm's intention all along. "Seriously though I never thought I'd get to know firsties as well as I've gotten to know you both. Ravenclaw is better for having you in it."

Both first years blushed at the praise but Storm wasn't finished. "It's not just the house points you guys are rattling up nor is it Harry's crazy broom flying, it's just everything I guess. Even I never thought I'd wind up…" he stopped. Penelope had no idea about their plans to smuggle a live dragon out of the castle. " I never thought I'd wind up enjoying getting to know some of the stuff that first years get up to. Well, at least first years that weren't me!"

With a look which said that they would talk about it later, Harry and Hermione joined in with the banter for the remainder of breakfast before making their way to the first class of the day, which happened to be defence. As always Harry found the idea of the class to be much more fulfilling than the actuality of it. Like all Ravenclaws he had read ahead on the spells being covered in first year, none of which he thought would actually be all that useful if he needed to defend himself against anything. It was a source of frustration that the course so far had been almost entirely theoretical, being taught about the dangers of vampires, werewolves, redcaps, doxies and gnomes, but other than the red sparks spell, very little in the way of wand work.

Harry had mentioned this to Storm at one point and after mulling things over for a while, the older student had gathered Harry and Hermione into an empty classroom to give them an impromptu series of lessons on the practical elements of first year defence. Seeing how quickly the two were picking up on the spells, he thought he would challenge them by throwing in a few second year spells and even a couple from third year. The two first years had no problems with learning the incantations and movements, but their results were patchy at best due to no other reason than their power still developing. Harry, for the first time since starting Hogwarts however, was streaking ahead of Hermione. It was like he had in inbuilt instinct for defence, he even managed to conjure a shield powerful enough to deflect a couple of (admittedly underpowered) stinging hexes.

Harry's drawback with these lessons was his preponderance to keep pushing himself to the point of exhaustion, something which concerned both Hermione and Storm. It took the older student threatening to stop the unofficial lessons for Harry to reign in his enthusiasm.

The expected conversation with the Headmaster came one afternoon after Harry and Hermione had just finished an exciting charms class. As the students were filing out, they found themselves passing a smiling Dumbledore.

"Ahh, Mr Potter. Might I have a few moments of your time in my office?"

Harry looked at the headmaster and shrugged. "We are both here already headmaster, if it's just a short chat you want, why not talk here? Plus, Professor Flitwick is already here too, if I need to go to your office, I'd ask the professor to accompany me anyway."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow but didn't challenge Harry. "As you wish, I dare say Professor Flitwick's charming environment is as good as any." He chuckled at his own pun, frowning slightly when neither Harry nor Flitwick followed suit. "Oh well. Anyway, I note that you do not appear to have indicated your intent to remain in the castle over the yule holiday. May I ask your if it is your intention to return to your aunt and uncle?"

Something at the back of Harry's mind was knocking furiously, looking to be unleashed. It was the feeling that Harry had come to associate with his subconscious instinct. He didn't fully understand where it came from, but was learning to embrace it. Secretly, regular Harry wished that he was this other Harry all the time. Other Harry was more confident, more assured, more willing to challenge things. Regular Harry didn't know where Other Harry came from, or where he went when he wasn't really needed, but he absolutely wished he could find out. Accepting the change, Regular Harry let Other Harry drive his instincts.

"Why do you want to know sir? Is this a question which is being asked of every student who has said they are leaving the castle?"

Dumbledore looked surprised. "I admit it is not, Mr Potter, however there are specific security concerns which mean I have more of an interest in your case."

"What are those concerns?"

"I am sure you do not want to be bored with the details, but as you have become aware, you have a certain status, shall we say, within the wizarding world. That means that there may be people who wish to use you to further their own agenda, who may wish to control you."

"Would they wish to control me by demanding to know details about my movements, that kind of thing?" Regular Harry was shocked at the words Other Harry was putting in his mouth, but still let them be said. "I will be going back to the non-magical world, I more or less survived there for a decade, I'm sure I can make another fortnight."

Dumbledore could find himself getting annoyed at the responses given. "Harry, I act 'in loco parentis' whilst you are in the school. That means I am responsible for your safety, surely you appreciate that I cannot ensure your safety without being aware of where you are."

"But once I get back to King's Cross and off the train I am not in the castle, or in any extension to the castle which the train could be argued as being. You wouldn't have any obligations at that point."

Flitwick's eyes were flicking back and forward at the verbal tennis being played. Like Dumbledore he could barely believe that shy, hesitant Harry Potter was engaging in a battle of wits with the headmaster and holding his own. Harry though wasn't finished.

"Professor Flitwick knows where I will be staying, he has not expressed any concerns."

Dumbeldore looked at Flitwick who answered the unasked question. "Headmaster, you know as well as I do, I'm bound by the oath of confidentiality that all heads of house have to take in order to protect secrets of the students. Without Harry's express consent, I cannot tell you anything."

Dumbledore kept pressing the point until Harry lost patience. "Fine. If you must know, I'm spending Christmas with Hermione and her parents. As I said, the professor here knows, he's fine with it, Hermione is fine with it, her parents are fine with it."

"I must implore you to change your plans, Harry.." he got no further.

"No." The word was spoken quietly but it was so imbued with magical power as to be almost sentient. "I have made my plans clear. If you are worried about protection, speak to the professor here to come up with a plan which offers the Grangers protection, or speak to Madam Bones, I will be spending some time with her over the break too."

This stopped Dumbledore in his tracks. "You never mentioned that."

"I fail to see why I should? Madam Bones said she would like to spend time with me, from the few conversations I've had with her, she seemed nice and she's willing to tell me about my parents a bit more, so I told her I'd love to. Again, what I do out of the castle headmaster, isn't your business."

Flitwick had also had enough, Dumbledore was clearly playing at something here, but as always, keeping the 'what' of that close to his chest.

"If you have security worries, I will, with Miss Granger's permission, visit their house and erect some wards. I will also be happy to speak to Amelia, to Madam Bones and ask for someone from the DMLE to add to those wards. I'm sure, given that it's Harry, I can get the DMLE to give him an emergency portkey if that would be deemed necessary.

Dumbledore looked at Flitwick like the part-goblin had just kicked his puppy. Flitwick was unrepentant. "Of course, you are free to contact Madam Bones yourself and explain to her why you think you have the right, never mind the authority, to decide where one student can, and cannot, spend his time way from the castle."

Dumbledore stood and sighed. "I can see you cannot be dissuaded from this rash course of action. I can only hope that you are not exposing anyone to any undue danger." His hope of course was to plant a seed of guilt into the boy's mind, one which would fester over the remaining period before the train left once again.

"By the time I've finished, headmaster, he will be almost as safe at the Grangers as he is in the castle."

Other Harry couldn't resist one final dig. "I am pretty sure there won't be any trolls at Hermione's house, if that's something you are worried about?"

With a final sigh, the headmaster shook his head and turned to leave. Confronting the boy was not going to work, he didn't dare risk legilimancy after what happened the last time, he needed to reflect.

After he left, 'Other Harry' seemingly doffed his cap and returned to the further reaches of 'Normal Harry's' mind, leaving Normal Harry to start to fret about the confrontation which had just taken place. Flitwick being an experienced duellist recognised the signs of an adrenaline come-down.

"Relax Mr Potter, take some deep breaths."

"I… I… I don't know what came over me" gasped the young wizard.

"Fight or flight is a basic response in almost all living things. For most the primary instinct is flight, some choose to fight. You are one of those it would appear". Flitwick kept is tone deliberately light.

"But… He's the headmaster…"

"That doesn't make him infallible. I don't doubt that he has good intentions Harry but you are your own person, you are allowed to challenge people, even those in authority when you think you need to. As long as you avoid blatant disrespect – which you did – and avoid personal attacks or anything similar – which you also did – you are always allowed to advocate for yourself."

Harry had been breathing hard as the adrenaline washed out, but was still shaking slightly.

Flitwick tried another approach, still inwardly startled at the absolute change in the boy since the headmaster had departed. "Do you know why I stepped away from the duelling ciruit?" Harry shook his head. "At the risk of sounding big headed, I was one of the best duellists in Europe at one point. People would travel far to see my matches, I was revered in the circuit the same way some professional quidditch players like Gwenog Jones are, the same way that powerful wizards like Professor Dumbledore are.

The professor sat down opposite the boy and looked him square in the eye. "I got far too caught up in all the nonsense which came with that fame and adulation. One day I realised that I was no longer a person I liked. I had become so used to being feted that I'd started to believe the hype that surrounded me. I'd become arrogant, I'd lost most of my true friends, I was surrounded by sycophants and hangers on. I was using people for my own ends, not caring about the impact on them. You will forgive me if I skirt over the incidents which caused me to come to this realisation, just accept that it was a very unpleasant period of my life. When I made that realisation though I quit there and then. I had been on the international circuit for almost ten years, and…" he snapped his fingers. "… just like that, everything changed. It was like a switch had been flicked in my head. A sensation I seem to think that you are becoming aware of, hmm?"

Harry nodded. "What did you do then?"

"I went home. When I first got a bit of fame and fortune one of my early good decisions was to invest in a spot of land in a magical community outside Glastonbury. It is now unplottable and hidden, as most magical homes in the area are, but before I made it so I had a home built there, larger than I needed it to be, but I thought that it would be ideal for any future family I may have."

"You have a family?" asked Harry, his shaking now mostly gone thanks to him becoming engrossed in the tale being told by his head of house.

A sad look crossed the professors face and Harry quickly looked away. It was clear that he had hit upon a sore point. "I'm sorry…" he started before the part-goblin raised a hand to forestall any apologies.

"It's ok. No I don't have a family. There are reasons but I will keep them to myself. That part isn't important at the moment anyway. To answer your question I went home and I lived off my winnings for a while. I almost totally withdrew from wizarding society. Then one day a few months later I had ventured into Diagon Alley to get some money, do some shopping, pick up mail. One of the drawbacks about making the house unplottable is that owls can't find it, so I had all my mail redirected to a mailbox at the owl post office, once a week I would force myself out of the house to check for mail. Most of the time it was nonsense, but this time there was a letter from my old Charms teacher, Professor Higgs. He was retiring and thought that I needed a new challenge, one where I could use the charms knowledge I'd acquired during my duelling career. Duelling is largely charms based, although tactical transfiguration can be immensely useful. Anyway, he convinced me to meet with him, then convinced me to meet with the headmaster. They must have done something right, I've been here ever since."

Flitwick looked at the rapt face before him. "Starting from scratch again humbled me. These children were aware of my previous career, but the duelling world is a fickle one. You are either at the top or you are a nobody, a footnote on the pages of history. I had to prove myself not only to the children but to the rest of the staff, to the board who were against someone of mixed heritage being appointed in the first place and most importantly, to myself. Had I not, who is to say that the arrogance which plagued me would ever have left."

Harry was amazed that his head of house, someone that he looked up to was baring himself in such a way. It encouraged him to ask questions. "Are you saying that is what happened to Prof…" Once again Flitwick held up a hand to forestall the question.

"I wouldn't be so presumptuous to make any comments about anyone else, Harry. I just want you to understand the complex nature of life which can conspire to make people seem to be something different, something that they themselves may not be aware of."

The professor stood and smiled. "Now, unless I'm very much mistaken, there will be a certain young lady who will be sitting on the bench at the end of the corridor eagerly awaiting her best friend. Let's not keep her waiting any longer, hmmm?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Thank you Professor, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me."

"You are welcome. I hope it helped."

Another smile. "Very much so, sir." With that, Harry shot out of the classroom to go be reunited with his best friend.

As he watched his young charge leave, Flitwick sat back down, his eyes looking at the window behind his desk, but his thoughts churning to some twenty plus years previously. Memories long thought buried had come back to mind, ancient regrets, historic shame and wistful thoughts about a future which was fated to never come to pass. With a sigh he tried to re-centre his mind. 'The longer you focus on the past, the deeper you dig the grave of your future' someone had once told him. He had long forgotten who, but the saying stuck with him. Filius Flitwick's renewed his vow to focus on the future. He had a job to do, and he had someone he desperately needed to speak to.

Returning to his office he grabbed some floo powder and threw a small handful into the grate, enough to communicate rather than travel. With a clear voice he told the floo network who he wanted to speak to.

"Amelia Bones' office!"

- oOoOoOo -

The following weekend Amelia found herself back in Hogwarts. She had two destinations and was looking forward to the second far more than she was the first. Deciding to get on with it she approached the gargoyle which guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office. She certainly wasn't going to hang around to guess a password so with a flick of her wand she cast a messenger patronus and directed it to Dumbledore with a request to let her in. A few moments later and the tell-tale grind of stone on stone signalled the unveiling of the spiral staircase which would take her up to the opulent suite set aside for the Hogwarts Head. "At least I know how he stays thin" she huffed as she climbed the staircase. "Doing this a few times a day will help that!"

As she approached the door to the sanctum sanctorum it opened, seemingly of its own accord as was its wont. Amelia strode into the room and acknowledged the other occupant. "Albus"

"Good morning Amelia, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Courtesy call, Albus. I need to speak to Filius about Mr Potter and Miss Granger. He spoke to me last week about concerns you raised regarding Mr Potter's holiday arrangements. He has gone over some scenarios with me which I agreed with and I've agreed to help him with some wards." She sat down after her opening words.

"I may not agree with you trying to exert control over the lad the way you did, which is something else you and I are going to have a chat about sometime soon, but I agree that he should be protected. If you have any suggestions which might help us ward the Granger home, I'd be a fool not to listen."

"I assure you Amelia, I have no wish to control Mr Potter beyond ensuring that he is kept safe. That must be the paramount concern."

"Why? I get that the lad is unique, no one else has ever survived a killing curse, I get that there may still be dark factions out there, but there are others who have been much more high profile in their fight against the dark. What makes one first year kid more important?"

"I have my reasons Amelia, ones I consider to be the most valid, I am sure you being the professional you are understand that the more people who are aware of critical and sensitive information the more likely it is that said information can be leaked or acquired via nefarious means. "

Amelia bristled. "Wrap it up in as much flowery language as you want Albus, the fact is your secrets aren't helping. Damn it, I have a whole damn department I can call on to protect the boy."

"And how many members of that department would you trust with your life, Amelia?"

"All of them!"

"And they can all overcome the imperius curse? I am aware of how difficult that is, just as I am aware that we both have that ability."

"I'd say 50% probably. It used to be something we tested higher level aurors for as you know, but after the fall of You-Know-Who there was a push in the Wizengamot for a change in policy. Certain individuals claimed it was no longer necessary, and that references to that curse caused them undue distress due to them being inflicted with it to do the dark lord's bidding. Absolute bullshit if you ask me, but we are where we are."

"Indeed. I sympathise, Amelia, I truly do, but until you can be sure that each member of your team is able to overcome the effects of the imperius then you have an operational weakness. Should one person who cannot overcome the curse find out critical information then you have a very real risk that they can be imperioed into exposing it."

As much as it pained her to admit, Dumbledore had a point. Had she been thinking a bit more clearly, she would have challenged the old man regarding his admission that she should shrug off the imperius curse, stating that by his own logic she could be told any secrets. Maybe part of her accepted that there was some degree of antagonism between the two which meant that Dumbledore would never be likely to voluntarily offer up anything he didn't want to. Not that he was known for his gregarious attitude when it came to information in the first place.

Instead she returned to the matter at hand. "Well do you? Have any suggestions beyond the ordinary?"

The headmaster steepled his hands before him. "I presume you will be going with a notice-me-not, and intent based emotion ward, maybe a fire resisting ward, impervious charms on the doors and windows, monitoring wards and layered anti-apparition wards?"

Amelia nodded. "I'm also going to suggest a Sit Mihi Codex tied to a Vultis Veratis charm. It's something the unspeakables have been working on, basically it's a codex which allows the Grangers to add names, if anyone isn't added to the codex they will experience a modified variant of the fidelius. It won't hide the building, but it will work with the notice-me-not to help it fail to register in the consciousness of anyone passing by."

"Won't that cause the Grangers problems with simple muggle things like postal services and deliveries?"

"If they don't know the name of their regular postman then it could. I spoke to one of the unspeakables who has a squib sister who lives in the muggle world. He has a much better understanding of muggle life than I do. Don't worry, I spoke only in general terms. I phrased it to say that we are looking for ways to offer protection to magical people who, for whatever reason, choose to live in muggle areas, tower blocks and the like. He suggested that whilst it might be a mild inconvenience for the Grangers for the two weeks the wards would be in place, they can get something called a post redirect, it will see their post held at a post office, they can go and pick it up. I'm going to mention all of this to Miss Granger when I speak to her today which is the main reason I'm in the castle."

"An inconvenience indeed, but one I am sure will be bourn stoically. I presume your Codex will use the magical ability of Miss Granger?"

"Yes. The magic will work on Miss Granger's behalf. I will be honest, we are not sure if it will be enough to allow any muggles she adds to the list to bypass the wards, something else I will need to make her aware of."

Part of Dumbledore was hoping that the various inconveniences would see the Grangers revoke their invitation, not that he was prepared to say that out loud to the present company. Even if it didn't, he could hope that the experience would so impress the Grangers of the issues at hand that it would preclude them from extending any further similar invitations.

He was going to offer some more charms and wards to suggest when Amelia stood up. "Leaving so soon, Amelia?"

"Tempus fugit Dumbledore, and I still have things to do in the office. As I said, this was predominantly a courtesy visit."

Bidding each other farewell, Amelia headed directly to Flitwick's office, having already told him to expect her. Getting there she was pleasantly surprised to find two first years also present, chatting away happily to their head of house.

"Ahhh, Madam Bones!" Filius was smiling. "I took the liberty of getting these two along so you could speak to them first."

"Good morning Madam Bones" the two offered in unison, causing the older woman to smile automatically.

"Good morning you two. Thanks for coming along, we need to have a chat about your Yule plans. I know the headmaster has expressed concerns about security, given the excitement which seems to surround Mr Potter here." The lightness of tone and continuing smile took any sting out of the comment for the two. "Professor Flitwick here contacted me with some ideas, I've added my own and that is what we want to talk to you about today."

Amelia outlined the plans as she did with Dumbledore and was brutally honest with both regarding the pros, cons and inconveniences which the plans would entail. As he listened along intently, Flitwick noticed the boy's face drop further and further. Resisting the urge to comment he waited until Amelia had finished her explanation.

"That's too much for Hermione's parents to deal with." Harry spoke slowly and sadly. "Professor Flitwick is it too late to sign up to stay in the castle?" He couldn't bring himself to look at his best friend.

"Harry James Potter!" The sharpness in Hermione's tone snapped everyone's head to her. "I appreciate that you are thinking about my mum and dad" she continued, her voice a bit softer "but that's not your decision! Madam Bones, do I have time to send an owl to my parents to explain things to them?"

"I will go one better Miss Granger. Send your parents an owl and let them know that I will be happy to meet with them to go over everything."

Hermione smiled at Amelia "thank you Madam Bones. Can I be excused for a moment to get some parchment and send a quick message?"

"What kind of professor would I be if I didn't have some spare parchment lying around, Miss Granger." Flitwick finally spoke, delighted that the young girl wasn't taking Harry's protestations lying down – not that he had expected her to.

Hermione quickly wrote her message and then looked over to a still forlorn Harry. Resisting the urge to give him a hug, she settled for resting her hand on his arm. "Can I use Hedwig?"

Harry nodded. "You know you don't need to ask, any time you need her just ask her to take whatever." With a smile, Hermione excused herself saying that she would be back in a few minutes. True to her word it wasn't long before she was back.

"That's Hedwig on her way, I've asked her to wait to get a response from mum and dad."

"Excellent. Once the response arrives can you please let Professor Flitwick know and he will alert me." Amelia hoped that the answer would be the one she wanted.

"I will Madam Bones. Do you need us for anything else at the moment?" Hermione was in dire need of some time to speak to (and hug!) her best friend.

After they left Amelia let out a sigh. "Too bloody noble for his own good."

Flitwick laughed at her exasperation. "I could see it in his face as you spoke. I can only hope that Miss Granger is as much an expression of her parents as Harry is of his. If she is, I can't imagine they would have an issue in putting up with a bit of inconvenience for a couple of weeks, especially if it would make her happy."

"Susan told me that she used his owl, but I wasn't sure if she had picked something up incorrectly. Turns out she was correct."

"I have only recently become aware of that myself, and that was just from seeing the bird fly in and head to Hermione one evening. There's clearly a connection between the two of them that runs deeper than just friendship, not that they will realise that. You know what happened during their Sorting?"

"Yes, hat stalls are not that rare, but what was essentially a dual Sorting? Never heard of that before. Anyway, I hope the Grangers are amenable to the idea, I'd like to meet them before Harry goes there. On a vaguely related subject, have you anything further you have been able to glean?"

Flitwick shook his head. "I have to be careful how I approach the headmaster. I was aware I was getting close to a line when I sat in with his discussion with Harry. There's something going on, but I've no idea what it is. I'd ask Minerva but the chances are she wouldn't know. Even if she did, she is Dumbledore's thrall through and through."

"Reckon there's something going on with the two of them?"

"There have been rumours off and on, but there have been as many rumours which suggest that our esteemed headmaster prefers the company of wizards. Personally, I don't care if he prefers witches, wizards, both or, as I suspect, neither. All I worry about is his actions surrounding young Harry. There is so much I don't understand and I don't like that."

"You and I both." Amelia stood up. "Regardless of what happens, I plan to ask Harry at least to visit for a day or two. If he is at the Grangers I will of course ask her as well. If all goes well during the break, I'm planning to make a move on Plan A in January. When Plan A fails which I'm pretty sure it will I will need your help with Plan B."

"You don't need to ask, Amelia."

- OoOoOo -

The next morning Hermione was, for once, up and about before Harry. She could barely sleep the night before such was her worry about the response from her parents she was waiting for. She spent the previous day getting more and more agitated that her parents hadn't responded immediately. By the time lunchtime had arrived, she was bordering on the frantic and was trying as hard as she could not to let it show. She knew the reaction Harry would have.

As she sat down in the great hall a noise from her left caused her to look round just in time to see a very familiar snowy white owl glide down to land on her shoulder. With trembling hands she retrieved the note attached.

"Hi sweetie

Sorry we didn't get back to you quicker, your dad and I went out for dinner in the City after work, we decided to make a night of it and managed to get a room at a hotel. We got back home this morning to find Hedwig sleeping on the windowsill. The poor dear must have been there all night. I've cooked her some bacon, so hopefully she won't be too upset.

I'm not sure why people think we would need protection just because a friend is coming along for a visit, but I've spoken to your dad and we would be happy to speak to this Madam Bones. It might be short notice, but we are here all day today, and I'll be around after 3 tomorrow, my last appointment of the day is 1.30 so I should be done by half 2. Give Madam Bones our address.

Love and miss you

Mum"

Hermione squeaked with excitement as her head swivelled once again, this time to the teacher's table only to see that Professor Flitwick wasn't there. She looked over at Harry and letting him know that her mum had responded and that she needed to speak to their head of house, she shot off before he could say anything. She found Flitwick in his office and handed him the parchment. The professor said that he would contact Madam Bones immediately and would keep her appraised of what went on.

True to his word, as soon as Hermione had left he passed on the address to Amelia who in turn wasted no time in rearranging her schedule for the afternoon to free up some time for a trip to Hampstead. She checked her map of muggle London to see if there were any known safe apparation points in the area and was delighted to see there was one about half a mile up the road at Golders Hill Park. She left the Ministry building to the apparation point across the road and with a tell-tale crack vanished.

After reappearing in Hampstead she used a quick 'point me' charm on her wand and walked down West Heath Road in the direction she needed to go. A pleasant stroll later saw her turning into West Heath Gardens, looking for the number provided to her. She soon found the smart house of the Grangers and walked up to the front door.

After knocking the door was answered by a woman who could only ever be Hermione's mother. "Mrs Granger? Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforecement. Your daughter wrote to you regarding my visiting?"

"Yes! She did, erm, Madam Bones… Sorry, I'm not as au fait with terms of address in your world as I should be!" Sophie motioned for her to come in.

"Amelia is fine, Mrs Granger."

"Oh, Sophie, please. Let me shout on Alex." The Granger dad was duly summonsed and introduced to Amelia. "Can I get you a cup of tea, coffee, coke?"

"Tea would be appreciated thank you. I know you are busy people so I won't beat around the bush if that's ok?" Two nods told Amelia that it was. "Firstly, I've spent a little time getting to know Hermione, she's a wonderful child, a credit to you."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why is the head of what must be a very serious department interested in Hermone?" Alex was polite, but direct.

"Because of her best friend. Which brings me on to the crux of the subject. Thank you." She sipped her tea as she gathered her thoughts. "The magical world has as many problems and issues as the non-magical one. Eleven years ago a dark wizard tried to usurp power in the magical world. He damn near succeeded. He was stopped and we believe killed."

"But what does this have to do with Harry?"

"It was Harry who killed him." Amelia saw the look on the faces of the Grangers and quickly moved to explain. "I'm not saying he deliberately cut him down in cold blood. No, the evidence of the scene suggests that Harry somehow did something that had never been achieved before or since. This dark wizard had murdered Harry's parents before turning his wand on Harry. He used a specific curse, the killing curse. If the curse hits you, you die, nothing can save you. No one has ever survived being hit with a killing curse except one person."

Amelia saw the light of recognition dawn on the faces of the Grangers. She nodded. "Harry was struck by the killing curse. You may ask how we know. We can cast charms which show the residue of magic. Powerful and particularly dark curses leave traces, we can pretty much track their progress through the air. Your law enforcement would say it could be something like a detective working out the path a bullet took based on where and how it hit something. We can do that only with more certainty. We saw the after-image if you like of the killing curse, saw it ended in the cot Harry was in, there was blood on the cot which matched Harry's. Somehow though, the curse didn't kill him. The track showed that the curse reflected back on the caster."

Sophie was shocked. That someone would try and murder a toddler was bad enough, that the same toddler could somehow do what had never been done before was unbelievable. "Hermione has never mentioned any of this."

"She won't know. I'm stretching a couple of laws almost to breaking point by telling you this, but I need you to trust me. Having Harry here may, and I stress the key word is 'may' not 'will' see a slight increase in risk. There are still dark wizards out in the world, some of which were followers of the dark wizard Harry banished. I would like to offer you some protection for the duration of his visit. Purely precautionary, there is nothing to suggest that there's an imminent threat, but Harry himself has expressed that if there was any risk at all, he wouldn't want to put you in that position. Needless to say, your daughter had something to say about that!"

The Grangers laughed at the image. Alex was the practical one. "What would these protections entail?"

Amelia found herself outlining the plan for the third time. The Grangers looked at each other once she had done. "Well, that would be a pain, but I'm sure we can get around it?" Sophie's half statement, half question was picked up by Alex.

"We weren't planning on having any of the extended family around. This is the first year Hermione has been away, we wanted to spend the time with her, and now obviously with Harry." He looked at Amelia. "Hermione has always been special, but her intelligence wasn't always well received by other kids. She struggled to connect with them, so when she started going on about Harry Potter at length in every letter we were delighted she had made a close friend. We were never going to deny her the chance to have that friend over."

There was one other thing Amelia had to broach. "We suspect that Harry has had a… challenging… upbringing. There is evidence to suggest that his guardians are not the paragons of love and care that you clearly are with your daughter. Can I ask that you don't press him for any details, but that you keep as close an eye on him as you can without him being aware?"

Sophie spoke up. "Hermione has raised similar concerns. 'Of course she has!' thought Amelia. "I am not going to lie, that was also part of the reason we agreed."

"I knew Harry's parents" continued Amelia. "They were the best of people. Well, James, Harry's dad, came with a reputation for being a bit of an arse, but once he grew up he went out of his way to try and redeem his reputation. I owe it to their memories to find out the truth about Harry's home life and to do what needs to be done to fix anything which may be wrong."

"Why was nothing done before now?"

"There may have been politics at play with Harry was placed with his mother's sister, I am trying to get to the bottom of that, but I'm encountering some very strong interference from some very powerful people in the Wizengamot. Sorry, that's like our government. But I will keep trying."

Sophie nodded. A glance over at Alex showed that the decision had been made.

"Tell me more about these protections…"