A thank you to all my pat re on supporters and an extra-special thank you to Jimmy Adams, Jo Daviz, LegendaryWasabi, SvenGTX, Optimum Prime and Jack Schriner. you guys are all amazing and I couldn't do this without your support. as always the next two chapters are available there already along with the next two of my other ongoing work and the first three chapters of "harry potter and the stitch in time" the fic that will be taking the updates slot of this fic when it's finished.

I also have a new one-shot out that I posted a few days ago 'The Power of a Cupcake' is a fluffy one-shot that I think is worth taking the time to read.

Chapter 24

Harry was currently sitting in the reception area of the administration building of Smeltings Academy, waiting for the receptionist to come back from talking with the headmaster of the school

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Mr. Potter? The authorities will take care of it in a few days if you don't feel up to it," Professor McGonagall asked as she sat next to Harry, her regular witch's robes transfigured into an old fashioned tartan skirt suit.

Harry pulled at the blazer that Hermione had transfigured for him from his school robes, though she had left the school crest on the blazer. "He deserves to know now. It would be cruel not to tell him," he replied. He really didn't want to be the one to tell Dudley that Petunia and Vernon had been killed, but Dudley wasn't his parents. He may not have been very good at it, but he had changed after the Dementor attack proving that he could grow. Harry felt like he needed to at least try with his cousin.

The receptionist came back and sat back at his desk, but didn't tell Harry and Professor McGonagall that they could go into the office and see the headmaster for another ten minutes. Harry knew what the man was doing, Vernon had bragged about doing the same thing in his business often enough. "Making them wait tells them that your time is more important than theirs." It was a simple power play that only works if the person waiting doesn't know exactly what you are doing. When the two magicals were finally shown into the opulent office full of rich dark woods and padded chairs they were bidden to sit by the immaculately dressed man who looked like he was in his late fifties. Almost as soon as they had sat down, the headmaster of the school started on what must have been a well rehearsed speech

"Well Mr. Potter, Ms. McGonagall, my assistant said you wanted to talk about one of our students. Now, I don't know what one of our boys has been accused of, but I assure you-

Harry raised his hand to stop the man from taking. "Mr. Creedy, as interesting as it is that your go-to response to someone coming to speak to you about a student is to defend them against whatever accusation is to be levelled at them, I am not here to accuse one of your students of anything."

"Then can I ask why you are here?

"Of course, I need to speak with my cousin Dudley Dursley.-"

The headmaster cut Harry off. "We don't generally allow our students to have unscheduled family visits."

Professor McGonagall, who was getting a little annoyed by the man in front of her, cut in. "The matter Mr. Potter is here to discuss with Mr. Dursley is one of a particularly exceptional circumstance, and one of enough pressing importance to justify a bending of the rules." Only someone who knew the professor would recognise the presence of the Scots brogue in her accent for the indication of the strain of her patience that it was.

Overly irritated by this meeting not going as he had predicted, Mr. Creedy demanded. "And what information could be of such importance?"

Harry looked the man straight in the eye. "The death of my aunt and uncle, who are Dudley's parents."

The demeanour of the headmaster changed immediately, going from irritable to cooperative in seconds. After checking something on his computer, he made a phone call and had Dudley come straight to the headmaster's office.

Dudley waddled in looking nervous, but when he saw Harry his expression changed to one of confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Dursley, you might want to sit down. Your cousin has some news for you." Mr Creedy directed his student.

Once Dudley took one of the seats, Professor McGonagall turned to Mr. Creedy and said, "I think you and I should give these two some privacy for this conversation." Harry saw that the Professor had subtly drawn her wand and cast a mild compulsion on the man. "While we do so, I would rather enjoy a cup of tea."

Apparently Dudley had seen the magic as well, because as soon as the professor and the headmaster of Smeltings were out of the room he said, "She is one of your lot. She did that on Mr Creedy," his accusation making the word 'that' sound like something disgusting.

Harry felt no need to lie, so he told his cousin the truth. "Yes, she is one of my teachers and my head of house. They wouldn't let me leave the school without an adult. The magic was to make your headmaster think that leaving the two of us to talk was a good idea, so we can talk openly."

Dudley seemed to consider that for a few seconds before he asked. "That means you need to talk to me about that stuff, why would you need to do that?"

Harry hesitated; they were now at the main reason he was here, but now the time had come he didn't want to do it. This news would break Dudley, and despite what had happened to Harry growing up, he didn't want to be the one to do that. "Dudley, I don't know how to say this, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, your parents…they…they're dead."

Harry watched as emotions flickered across Dudley's face, first confusion as he placed together Harry's words, followed immediately by understanding, then disbelief, and finally devastation. Harry had seen Dudley cry hundreds of times, as it was one of his favourite tricks to get what he wanted from his mother. Now, however, despite the real pain that Harry's news brought, Dudley didn't shed a single tear.

Showing an intelligence that Harry never would have attributed to his cousin, Dudley followed the logic and asked the question Harry dreaded. "How did you know about it before me? The cops wouldn't've been able to contact you at school." Dudley wasn't shouting or raging, but Harry could hear the edge to his voice.

"They were killed by a magical." Harry admitted. "The police still don't know, the magical police are dealing with it before setting the scene for the normal police. They said they are going to make it look like a gas le-" He never got to finish as Dudley's fist connected with Harry's jaw.

"Just leave. You and the freaks like you are toxic. Leave!... GET OUT!" Dudley now had a face that was flooded with tears.

Harry rubbed at his jaw before he nodded. "Okay. I'll go." He took out an envelope and placed it on the headmaster's desk in front of Dudley. "If you ever need to contact me there's an address in there. The people there will know how to reach me if you ever need help." Harry made his way to the door, but just before opening it he said what might be the last thing he would ever say to his cousin. "I will make sure the one who did this will pay." Then he opened the door and stepped out. As soon as he closed the door, Harry heard Dudley break down as only someone who had just been orphaned can.

Harry went and found his professor, who was indeed having a cup of tea with the headmaster, and indicated he was ready to leave. He told Mr. Creedy what state Dudley was in and gave the man an envelope as well. "The people mentioned there will know how to contact me if needed. As my uncle is dead, if you need money to cover Dudley's tuition, get in touch."

-ϟϟϟ-

"Harry, what happened to your face?" Hermione demanded when he got back to the castle.

"Dudley got a little emotional," Harry explained as he sat down next to her in the Great Hall, just in time for lunch.

Hermione started to make her thoughts on Harry's cousin clear but he stopped her. "Hermione, of every time Dudley ever hit me, this time I feel I actually deserved it. LeStrange went there looking for information on me. If it wasn't for me, Dudley probably wouldn't be an orphan right now."

"Harry, you can't go blaming yourself," she admonished him.

"Oh, I don't. I know exactly who is responsible. But I left there when I knew it was me living there that protected them. It was LeStrange and Voldemort who need to answer for it, but I could have prevented it. A solid thump is something I deserved," Harry explained.

Hermione frowned before pulling him into a hug. "We'll go see Madam Pomfrey right after lunch." It was a statement, not a request, which caused Harry to smile.

December came, and with it came snow. LeStrange's attacks had slowed down as people started to ward their homes better and take more precautions. Hogsmeade was still its usual festive self in the run up to Christmas. As dangerous as LeStrange was, the prevailing belief was that she would stay clear of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, if for no other reason than because she would be so severely outnumbered. The Ministry had put a 50,000 galleon reward for "information that leads to the capture" of LeStrange, though everyone seemed to know that the Ministry was going to honour the reward even if LeStrange was brought in dead.

Harry and Hermione were, a bit unusually for them, having a date. Or, they were at least combining a date with their Christmas shopping. After the thestral-drawn carriages had dropped the couple at the edge of the village, the two walked in together, Harry with his arm around Hermione's shoulder as she leaned into his side and wrapped her arm around his back. Walking like that was a little awkward, but neither of them wanted to change a thing.

Their first stop was Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Just like Harry's last time in the shop, it was decorated for a holiday, though Harry had to admit to himself that he found the Christmas/Yule decorations far less offensive than the Valentine's decorations he had seen previously. As both had already eaten breakfast in the Great Hall before coming, they only ordered drinks. Having come straight to the tea shop, they were given a small couples booth with a comfortable two seater bench that allowed them to sit close together, rather than on opposite sides of the table. They both ordered hot chocolate, though Hermione ordered one with peppermint flavouring while Harry ordered one with orange. When Madam Puddlifoot came back with their drinks, there was also a side plate with a pile of pink and white fluffy marshmallows, and both teens immediately dropped a few in the mugs of hot rich chocolaty goodness.

"Does your family have any plans this Christmas, or are you just staying home?" Harry asked, remembering that in the previous timeline the Grangers had planned to go skiing.

"We are staying home this year. We are hoping to have a couple of guests over for Christmas Day, though." Hermione snuggled into Harry's side more.

"Oh, who?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, just a couple of guys we know," Hermione said with a subtle emphasis, making it sound like she was saying more than she was, but Harry obviously hadn't gotten what she was hinting at and Hermione smiled to herself.

"Any one I know?" Harry asked.

Hermione giggled for a bit and debated with herself about teasing Harry more, but she decided against it. "It's you and Sirius, you prat. We're inviting you both over for the day."

A wide smile took over Harry's face. "We'd love to come!" Harry accepted for himself and his godfather.

"Well, you should probably talk to Sirius about it before I confirm with my parents."

Harry agreed with Hermione's point, though he was sure that Sirius would jump at the idea of spending Christmas Day at the Grangers. Christmas with just the two of them was nice, but it wasn't what the holiday was supposed to be about. Christmas was supposed to be spent with your loved ones and Hermione definitely counted as that. Harry put his arm around Hermione and pulled her in closer, and the two turned to smile at each other. However, Hermione's smile turned mischievous, and before Harry could work out what she was planning she leaned forward and licked a dollop of melted marshmallow off his nose that he hadn't noticed. "Mmmm, delicious." Hermione said as she settled back into cuddling into his side.

After they were done in the tea shop, the two set off looking for Christmas presents for their family and friends. Hermione's parents were both fascinated by magic, so shopping for them in Hogsmeade was not only doable but a good idea. They did split up for a bit to shop for each other's present, but it was less than an hour later that they met up again in the Three Broomsticks, a warm butterbeer exactly what they needed to recover from going shop to shop in the snow.

-ϟϟϟ-

It wasn't until Harry got home for Christmas that he was able to find out what was happening with Dudley. He found a telephone box near Grimmauld Place and, after looking up her dog breeding business in the yellow pages, called Aunt Marge. The conversation that followed had been hard. Not just because he was talking to the sister of a man who had died because of his connection with Harry, but because Marge Dursley was a vindictive bitch who had decided that if that if this was going to be the last time she ever spoke to Harry, then she was going to tell him exactly what she thought of him. It took ten minutes of Harry listening to Marge say what a waste of air and burden he was before she told him that she had taken in Dudley. Though she was 'gracious enough' to offer to let Harry share Ripper's kennel until he could arrange for social services to pick him up. Apparently her brother hadn't told her that he had moved out over four years ago.

Harry and Hermione were in Hermione's bedroom relaxing after the huge Christmas Dinner that the Grangers had cooked, while Sirius, Dan, and Emma were all dozing in front of the TV. The three adults were all slightly drunk from the case of wine Sirius had brought as an offering for the feast. Harry and Hermione had only been allowed one glass of wine each with dinner, and so they were feeling a lot more awake than the adults. The two of them were lying on Hermione's bed cuddled up together, enjoying just being hormone-riddled teenagers. At first Harry had been reluctant, but as Hermione had put in a firm line that they were going to remain fully clothed, then the reluctance (born mostly from the idea that Hermione's parents could walk in at any moment) quickly faded.

When Harry started kissing Hermione, she rolled onto her back and pulled Harry along with her so that he was on top looking down at her as he pressed his lips into hers. Their hands roamed over their sensitive spots and the two lost themselves for a few hours.

"Happy anniversary Hermione."

"Happy anniversary Harry."

What Harry and Hermione didn't notice was Hermione's door opening a crack and Emma looking into the room to see what they were up to. Once she saw that the two teenagers had opted to keep their clothes on, she let the worried mum side of her relax and snuck back down the stairs.

"They OK?" Dan asked as Emma walked back into the living room.

"They are keeping their clothes on." Emma smiled as she sat in her favourite armchair. Dan didn't look too happy at the news but when he went to get up Emma stopped him. "Dan, don't. They're not doing anything any of us didn't do at that age. In fact, if you just recall the story you told me of your time as a teenager, those two could do a lot more and all you shouting about it will do is make you a hypocrite. Oh, and your daughter mad at you."

"If it's any consolation, considering how magic affects relationships, if they have been together this long Harry is probably your future son in law." Sirius said from his spot on the sofa, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"What do you mean, is my daughter being controlled?" Dan was quickly on edge, the wine still in his system making him a little less calm than normal.

"Oh god no. But when magical people get together, if they are incompatible then their magic makes them uncomfortable. Such relationships burn out quickly. If your partner is a good match you feel drawn together. It's not any kind of control, it's more like a magical dimension to attraction. After all, you wouldn't say your daughter is being drugged by the chemecalts? chamcalls? her own brain makes?"

"Chemicals," both Grangers said at the same time.

"Right, chemicals. But the point is, considering they have officially been dating a year now, there is a good chance that unless something drives them apart then they will stay together. " Sirius finished explaining.

"That's interesting and everything, and I'm happy my daughter will be happy, but what about what they are hiding from us? Have you had any luck finding out what it is?" Emma pulled them back to a recurring topic that they had been talking about for a while now.

"No, and it has me worried. I explained to you what Harry did at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, when he helped have three people fed to Dementors. But I realised something then. Harry was upset by that, true, but nowhere near as messed up as he should have been," said Sirius before he drank some of his coffee.

"What do you mean?" asked Dan.

"Harry helped destroy the souls of three people, yet a few weeks of moping and he was fine once Hermione spoke to him. And I didn't realise this at the time, but Harry cast a Patronus." At 5te blank looks from the Grangers, Sirius explained. "A Patronus is an extremely advanced spell not taught in Hogwarts, and it has only one real use: warding off Dementors. But here's my question, why did Harry learn to cast a patronus? Why did he think that would be a spell that was worth the time and effort to learn?"

"You almost sound like you think he planned it?" Dan asked disbelievingly.

"Harry? No, I don't think so. I think they both planned it. Whatever is going on, I think they are in on it together. Or at least Hermione knows and agrees, I don't get the feeling that Harry keeps anything from her, and I'm sure if Hermione disagreed then Harry wouldn't have done it."

"But wouldn't that mean Harry knew he was going to be kidnapped and just let it happen?" Emma sounded like she didn't believe it.

"That's the only conclusion I can come up with as well. But that's not all, Harry has an emergency kit prepared. He has a wizarding tent, bigger on the inside, with the one he has basically with a London flat inside it. I found it the other day when he came over here for the day so he and Hermione could work on their 'homework'. I went snooping through Harry's trunk to find what he was up to, and he has the tent fully stocked ready to go. There's about a month's worth of food in there for a family," Sirius said, feeling drained the more he spoke.

"You don't think they are planning to run off together, do you?" Dan asked.

Emma answered first. "No Dan, enough food to last a family a month sounds more like making preparations for all five of us to disappear to me. I'd call him paranoid but…"

"It's not paranoia when they are really out to get you," finished Sirius.

There was silence for five minutes with only the occasional bang or bump from the teenagers upstairs to break it up. "So…what do we do now?" asked Sirius. "I mean, you are the two with parenting experience."

"Move to Canada and enrol them in whatever magical school there is there?" Dan suggested, only half joking.

"Oh, not Canada, it's too cold there, how about Australia?" Emma joked. "But seriously do we need to do anything drastic? As much as it pains me to say this, but haven't they pretty much already dealt with it. Yes you have that one criminal on the loose at the moment-"

Sirius cut in "My cousin Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black."

Emma nodded. "Yes, her. But isn't she pretty much all that's left of the group that's after Harry? As much as moving to another country might satisfy our need to feel like we did something, what would we actually accomplish?" That calmed everyone down a little.

"I still wish that they would talk to us," Sirius said dejectedly.

"All we can do is be there for them until they are ready to open up," Emma told him and Dan nodded in agreement.

-ϟϟϟ-

On the train ride back to Hogwarts, Suzanne found them and sat with them for an hour. She told the two teenagers, who had become a sort of cross between tutors and older siblings to her, about her Christmas, going into detail about every one of her family's reactions to her stories about Hogwarts, before returning to her Hufflepuff year mates. Both Harry and Hermione were glad that Suzanne fit in so well in Hufflepuff. They had worried that word would get out that Harry was the one who was paying for her tuition, and that would make the other students nervous about approaching her. However, as far as Harry knew, the fact that he had stepped up when the Hogwarts hardship fund failed hadn't come out, and Suzanne had been able to make real friends who wouldn't abandon her if, but more likely when, the truth got out.

A/N

Not a lot of story in this chapter, just dealing with the fallout from Bellamort killing the Dursleys and some fluffiness. Oh, and would you look at that, Sirius and the Grangers are not so clueless that Harry and Hermione are hiding something.