As always, I'm only playing with JK Rowling's toys. All credit goes to JK Rowling, her publisher and all the other people involved in bringing her work to life.
#
The courtroom had been empty for a while, yet still, Severus waited.
He felt guilty. He hadn't committed any crimes; however, he knew his actions deprived Harry of his parents. This was a burden that he could not carry for much longer.
'Sitting there feeling sorry for yourself will not help anyone, Severus.' Said a familiar voice,
Severus turned to see Narcissa standing at the door, as elegant as always.
'Perhaps not, but it is no more than I deserve.' said Severus.
'I had a chance to speak with Harry today; he is quite the force to be reckoned with. Something tells me that he forgives you for the part that you unwittingly played in making him an orphan.' said Narcissa, her voice soft and welcoming.
'I spoke with him recently; he came to my office and gave me a letter that was in his family vault. James had written to me before Harry was born asking for my forgiveness for his behaviour. I've been carrying this grudge against a dead man for so long that I don't know how to put it down, and then on top of all of that he tells me that because his mum trusted me when we were younger, he would trust me. No demands, no conditions, and no oaths. He simply walked out of my office when we were finished.' said Severus
'What does that tell you, Severus?' asked Narcissa
'I don't know, given who his father was I would have expected outlandish demands, but ever since the beginning of the year, it's almost as though he is a different person. The day following Ms Grangers birthday, he came into my lesson late, and he quoted a passage from a book that was a favourite of lily and mine. I was so taken aback by it that I never took any points from him.' replied Severus
'I think that you have needlessly put yourself in a prison of your own making, Severus, do you not think it's time that you released yourself? Harry has gone to Gringotts with Sirius. You could worse than heading over there and speaking with both of them. Sirius was always a prankster, but he was never unreasonable.' said Narcissa
'Are you certain?' asked Severus, his voice rising in alarm.
'Of course, I saw them enter the bank half an hour ago. Severus has something happened?' she asked
'Ms Granger was attacked and almost raped by two older students' explained Snape
'My God, is she alright?' asked Narcissa, her eyes wide with fear.
'She is fine; she took down her would-be attackers as easily as blinking, as well as the witch that set the whole thing up. I fear that when I tell Harry what was attempted, not even Merlin himself would stand much of a chance. I saw firsthand how he kowtowed Dumbledore only days ago. Forgive me Narcissa, I must go.' said Severus as he stood and rushed to the exit.
##
Sirius slowly opened his eyes, he took in his surroundings and realised that he was lying on a couch in a very ostentatious office. His hand shot to his eyebrows to check that they were still in place before he sat up as dignified as he could.
'Welcome back' smirked Harry
'What happened?' asked Sirius
'You fainted, is this something that runs in your family Padfoot?' Harry asked as mockingly as he could.
'Laugh it up short arse.' said Sirius
'Before your unscheduled nap, Lord Black, we were discussing deeply disturbing dark artefacts. I trust it won't happen again?' asked Ragnok
Sirius looked from Ragnok to Harry, and then back to Ragnok before the recent conversation came back to him.
'You had a piece of the bastards' soul in your scar?' asked Sirius
Harry nodded.
'Did Dumbledore do anything about it?' asked Sirius
Harry shook his head.
'That conniving old swine, I've just about had it with the old boys' BS. Is there anything else that I should know?' Sirius growled.
'Let me tell you, Sirius, I don't think that Albus is a bad guy. Is he misguided, deceitful, untrustworthy? Absolutely, but not bad. He has had it his way for so long that he can't see that he has become almost as big a problem as Tom has.' explained Harry
'Tom? Do you mean the guy from the bar? What's he got to do with it?' asked Sirius, slightly confused.
Before Harry could respond, someone wrapped loudly on the office door.
'Excuse me, Brother Harry.' said Ragnok before bellowing 'ENTER.'
A slightly smaller goblin entered and bowed deeply to the Director.
'Excuse the interruption Director. A wizard has come with an urgent message for Brother Potter. He says it concerns Sister Granger' said the Goblin.
Harry leapt up from his seat, all colour draining from his face.
'Please show the wizard in' commanded Ragnok
'Indeed, Director.' The Goblin said as he backed out of the office.
Moments later, a slightly breathless Severus Snape entered the office and bowed deeply towards the trio.
'Director, forgive my intrusion on your meeting. I have only found out that Lord Black and his grace had left the courtroom where I was waiting to speak with them. I got here as soon as I was able. I have an urgent message for his Grace' gasped Snape.
'Take a moment to catch your breath; Mr Snape, if it has waited this long a few more moments, won't make much difference.' said Ragnok.
Snape took a few deep breathes before telling his tale, he reiterated that Hermione was unharmed and that the perpetrators were detained awaiting Harry.
Outwardly there was no perceptible change in Harry's demeanour, save perhaps the odd crackle of magic between his fingers. Harry stood and addressed Severus,
'Thank you for bringing this to my attention Professor, I greatly appreciate it. Please accept my apologies for keeping you waiting needlessly.'
He turned to Ragnok and Sirius and said 'Director, forgive me, but I am needed elsewhere, would you mind continuing without me?'
Ragnok smiled and said 'Go and see to your girl, my friend, I'll bring Lord Black up to speed.'
Harry bowed then added 'It may be prudent to include Professor Snape in the discussion; he was uniquely placed within Tom and Dumbledore's organisations. He might be able to give a new perspective on things. Sirius play nice, Severus is on my side.' And with that, he vanished.
Sirius and Severus blinked at the spot where Harry once stood.
'He could have used the door' chuckled Ragnok.
##
The weather in the highlands at the beginning of October is traditionally cold; this day was no different. The population of Hogsmead were going about their daily business when the secluded glen the village echoed with the sound of Apparition.
On the outskirts of the village, a figure appeared, this was not in its self unusual. The surprising thing was the figure appeared to thrum with magic. Some of the more observant villagers noticed that Harry Potter had appeared and he was seriously pissed off.
As Harry made his way to the gates of the school, his thoughts were burning with the desire to rip those who dared to put his Hermione in harm's way apart with his bare hands. The more he thought about what might have been, the darker his mood became. A small voice in the back of his mind whispered to him "go to her first".
The raging inferno that was his magic calmed, Harry took a deep breath of the frigid highland air to clear his thoughts.
He stepped through the opened gates and made his way to the main doors, the walk took all of five minutes, but it was enough to allow the last vestiges of his rage to dissipate.
'Your Grace' called out Professor Flitwick
Harry stopped in his tracks, 'Professor, where is Hermione? I need to see her' he asked, the concern in his voice evident.
'She is in the library with Mr Longbottom and Ms Abbott. Before you go, I should advise you that Mr McLaggan's uncle has arrived. He is currently in the hospital wing with his nephew. He was making rather a nuisance of himself I'm afraid. I think that he is expecting to see you at some point.' said the Professor.
'Thank you, sir; I shall keep that in mind. If you no longer need me, I would really like to see my girlfriend' said Harry as respectfully as he could.
'Of course, thank you for your time, your Grace.' said the Professor with a bow of his head.
'Professor' said Harry
'Yes your Grace?' asked Filius
'would you mind if come by later? I wanted to ask a few things.' said Harry
'My door is always open to you, Your Grace' the Professor said with a bow before heading back to the great hall.
Harry rushed up the stairs and made his way to the library in record time, as he bounded into the sacred hall of knowledge, he fell under the eye of Madam Pince, who scowled at him for disturbing the sanctity of her domain. Harry answered the raised eyebrow and folded arms of the librarian by saying 'Ook', much to Irma Pince's confusion.
Harry heard 'Honestly Hermione, and no one thinks less of you' coming from his right, he made his way over to the voices. He found Neville, Hannah, Susan Bones, and Daphne Greengrass sitting at the table comforting his girlfriend.
Daphne looked up and saw Harry standing there and said 'Hermione, I would bet you that Harry would say the same as us.'
Hermione replied 'How can you possibly know that?'
'Because it's true, Mia' answered Harry
Hermione looked up and saw him standing next to a bookcase, his raven hair as chaotic as ever. She got up from her chair and made her way to him, her composure cracking with every step. Finally, when his arms engulfed her, her walls shattered, and she wept.
Fearing that they were intruding of something incredibly intimate, the group silently left the couple to their devices.
Harry stroked her hair and soothed her with soft words and gentle kisses to her forehead as the tears came. The years of pent up frustration from all the bullying that she had to endure in primary school and latterly since she entered the Wizarding world found its release in her tears.
He wasn't quite sure when they had slumped to the floor or for how long they had been in the position they were in, but he didn't care. His love needed his attention, and that is what she would get.
Eventually, the tears gave way to the hitched breaths and little sobs, Harry had shed enough tears over both lifetimes to know when the catharsis had been achieved.
'How can you still love me after what I did?' Hermione asked between hitched breaths.
'You defended yourself, there is no shame in that, I am so proud of you darling, never doubt that.' he replied
'but..-' she began
'You saved yourself and countless other girls from similar fates. Let me ask you this; will you love me any less when you find out what I am going to do?' asked Harry
Hermione shook her head; she didn't trust her voice enough to respond.
'Good, because I made a promise the day that you died in my arms, I promised that I would never let another person hurt you. I spent my life finding a way to get back so I could keep that promise. They are going to wish that they had never heard your name, and the world is going to know that if they hurt you nowhere will be safe from me.' said Harry.
She looked up and saw the resolve in his eyes, it should have frightened her, but it had the opposite effect; she felt deeply comforted by it.
'What are you going to do to them?' she asked
'You can watch justice be done Potter style, or you can read about it in the Prophet tomorrow' said Harry
'I want to watch, I want to see those bastards suffer for what they attempted' said Hermione, her voice cold and emotionless.